Poor Neglected Blog!

Oops, I did it again. I forgot to post. Yikes!

Well, it's not like I forgot. It's just every time I think of something to write, I'm not near the computer. The only time I really get uninterrupted computer time is when I'm up in the middle of the night feeding Z-man. And no one wants to read my incoherent 3 am ramblings.

Yesterday I jotted down some crazy notes every time a "oh, I could blog that idea" popped in my head.

Then I lost the paper.

Turns out "Organize my life" should probably be at the top of any list I write.

Luckily for you, I remember a few things. Also luckily for you, I forgot many. Turns out, it's a good thing I don't have a computer ready to record my every thought.

Here goes:

We were driving home from Long Island yesterday, and left during morning rush hour. Luckily, we could drive in the HOV lane. You know what the hardest part of driving in the HOV lane is? Not pointing and laughing at all the shmoes who aren't in the HOV lane.

__________________

Much later in the drive, I was reading my list to TK. I said to him, "you know what's the hardest thing about driving in the HOV lane?" He answered, "Not laughing at the people in the lane next to you." There's a reason why I married him.

Then we both said, "I didn't want to mention it at the time because I didn't want to jinx the HOV lane." Everyone who commuted on the LIE yesterday can thank us that there wasn't an accident in the HOV lane.

_________________

N-man randomly said, "Mom, do you know what's in an alien sandwich?" I thought it was the beginning of a joke. "No, what?" I asked. "Dead aliens," he replied, with a DUH tone in his voice. I'm still not sure if that was a joke or if just like a chicken sandwich is made from dead chicken, he was just generalizing that an alien sandwich would of course be made of dead alien.

________________

Why are pizza and bagels so much better in NY? Seriously, how hard can it be to make good pizza and bagels? Why hasn't any other place figured it out? I guess it's like Buffalo and chicken wings. Awesome wings in Buffalo, but I wouldn't even bother getting them anywhere else. Are there other regional foods like this, that are only perfected in one area?

_______________

Well that was random. I probably should have saved up all those awesome ideas for separate blog posts. *sniff sniff* Do I smell sarcasm?

_______________

Green tip for the day: Plant an herb garden. Tomorrow's Earth Day...the perfect day to plant something. Even if you have a black thumb--most herbs grow easily with little TLC required. Even if you have no room--herbs grow great in pots, indoors or outdoors.

Fresh herbs are so lovely to use. And think of all the packaging you can save...at least by us, I can only find small quantities of herbs in plastic clam shells.

Here's a quickie favorite way to use up herbs when you've got a lot: soften some butter, then mix in a bunch of your favorite herbs. Then use it on crackers, bread, pasta, for sauteeing veggies, over corn. Put the herbed butter in small containers and freeze it and you can have herbed butter all year long!

If you've already got an herb garden (or have one planned), what's in it?

I've finally discovered my superpower

I was with the kids, brushing teeth before bedtime. N-man once again cracked me up with his random randomness. I love how his mind works! Here's the conversation we had:

N-man, out of nowhere and completely unrelated to anything we'd been talking about: Mommy, you've got MAGIC in you!

Me: Oh boy! Thanks! What kind of magic?

N-man: Silliness!

Very astute, my fine fellow!

______________________

Green tip for the day: Rhonda had left a comment the other day on my post about shampoo asking about conditioner. I don't use much conditioner, but have been experimenting with using diluted apple cider vinegar as a conditioner. It works surprisingly well...my hair ends up really soft. I'm not a big fan of the smell, though. The smell does rinse out...I don't smell it all day. The jury's still out for me on the vinegar-as-conditioner thing.

Does anyone have any suggestions for environmentally-friendly conditioner?

Unintentional Best New Insult

Today N-man waved his magic wand and said to TK, "I turned you into a pink monkey ball".

Now, N-man was definitely thinking of a bouncy ball, but I don't care. This is my newest insult...you're a pink monkey ball! It works as an expletive, too: Pink Monkey Balls!

I'm ridiculously easily amused.

Consumerism finally strikes

I don't know how we did it, but N-man and B-man have never been big into the "I want it"'s. Besides the occasional whine of "MOOOOOOOOM!!!! I want a LOLLIPOP!" they rarely get the gimmies.

If I knew how we did it, I'm sure I could patent it. But I'm pretty sure we just got lucky with two kids who just don't have a big yen for material possessions.

Until now.

We got one of those catalogs filled with crazy junk. As an aside, one of the worst things about moving is getting back on the mailing lists for every catalog in existence. And this catalog was extra annoying because you can only call during the day to cancel it. So, I left it open sitting on the kitchen table to call the next day during business hours.

On the facing page was apparently the most enticing product ever. Here is the conversation that ensued when B-man saw it:

B-man: Mom! Look! There's a piggy bank shaped like pants!

Me: Oh yeah.

B-man: With a BUM hanging out!

Me: Oh yeah.

B-man: That is SO funny. You put money in the BUM!

[By now N-man has come over, too, and I realize that I'm not getting out of this conversation about a crazy plastic piggy bank that looks like someone's butt]

Me: Isn't that silly? And do you know what it does when you put the money in?

B-man and N-man: What?

Me: It TOOTS! Look, it say here "Drop some loot and hear me toot"

B-man and N-man: [dissolve into gales of laughter, punctuated by occasional exclamations of "It TOOTS!"]

B-man, with much seriousness: Mom, we *HAVE* to get this.

____________

For the record, I'm not getting them a farting piggy bank. I'm pretty sure we already got all the possible amusement out of this. But how funny is it that one of the first times B-man asks for a toy, this is what he chooses? I suspect there will be many fart jokes in our future!

Almost...

Big kids at school.
Little guy asleep.
A nice cup of coffee,
and a cookie.

And a big pile of bills to pay.

So close to perfection...
and yet so far away.

Unfreecyclable

So I'm still on the freecycling kick. It's so funny what goes and what doesn't. I listed 11 mis-matched mugs...got a ton of requests. But a rather nice glass bowl...completely ignored!

Anyway, after my post the other day about freecycling junk, I ran across a hilarious site: Item Not As Described. Basically, it's a site that collects listings where people try to give away things that are clearly garbage. Like our old grill! See, I should have posted it on freecycle, then I could have submitted my own post to the blog as a perfect example of someone trying to give away their trash!

One Man's Trash

I'm a big fan of freecycle and donating used stuff to charities, and otherwise passing along functional items we no longer need instead of trashing them.

But sometimes we have something that is so beat up, so disgusting, that I'd be embarrassed to even offer it to someone for free. Basically, it's trash.

I thought we had a piece of trash the other day. It was a grill that the previous owners had annoyingly left when we bought our house. SEVEN years ago. It was beat up and disgusting when we moved in, and we've just had it sitting outside, partially under our deck (though not really protected from the elements) for the past seven years. Time hasn't improved it. It was rusty, and dirty, and all around gross. So we put it out for the trash this week.

Thirty minutes later, someone took it! Honestly, I was so glad. I'm glad that someone thinks they can find a use for it, and I hope they're able to fix it up, or repurpose it, or melt it down for scrap, or turn it into art, or whatever. I hope they don't leave it under their deck for the next seven years, like some kind of barbecue cicada.

So what's your view on attempting to freecycling things that you clearly think are trash? Do you think it's okay as long as you're VERY clear in your description? I mean, I'd hate to drag someone out to my house for the promise of a free grill, only to have them get here and find out it's the most disgusting, rusted out piece of unusable junk ever!

I think from now on I'll try to freecycle big items like this, even if I think it's junk. You just never know what someone else is looking for!

_____________

I should add that I rarely see things that sound really junky on our local freecycle. Though I do have to say that someone once listed opened and partially used cosmetics...I was pretty grossed out at the thought of using someone else's eye makeup and face creams! But sure enough, next time I got a freecycle update, it was listed as TAKEN. So who knows!

I'm still around

Haven't fallen off the face of the earth, just busy. Or perhaps boring. Did I run out of things to say? GASP!

Anyone have any questions for me that they've been desperate to know the answers to? Like what are the weirdest things I've eaten this pregnancy? (If you ask my family/friends, they'll say rye toast with grape jam or matzo with sunflower butter, bananas, and chocolate syrup. However, I must admit I've eaten those things plenty of times without being pregnant.) Or, what's the most annoying question you get asked regularly as a mother of twins? (Do you watch Jon and Kate Plus Eight? NO!!!! I loathe that show! They're awful, and I saw Jon speak at the last Mother of Twins National Convention and he, excuse my language, came off as a total wanker. Despite that, though, I hope the current rumors about them aren't true...). Or, have I ever ridden a unicycle? (Yes, poorly. Mostly I fell off said unicycle). Or, what's the most recent odd ailment I've diagnosed myself as suffering from, thanks to the internet, boon to all hypochondriacs? (Mal de debarquement syndrome, to explain why I feel sick for days after flying, and to add to my fear that next time I fly, the awful feeling will last for the rest of my life instead of just a few unbearable days).

See, I'm full of randomness, and free to answer most any question!

So bring it on! (Number of Bring It On movies seen? Three. Number of Bring It On movies enjoyed? Embarrassed voice: Three.)

_______________

I just finished Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. It was super, and I hope to get a review up on The Book Nook soon. Funny, enjoyable, and probably my favorite book I've read this year. The kind of book that's going to make me seek out all the other books Christopher Moore has written, so be prepared to be subjected to the likes of author-fandom you haven't seen since the days of my obsession with Michael Chabon's novels...

Many thanks to Alyssa for recommending this one. As an aside, have you checked out her (and her husband's) photography blog? The pictures are amazing, and it's really funny. They took pictures of B-man and N-man this January when we were visiting WNY, and they're my all-time favorite pics of the boys. Thanks again!
_______________

A number of my favorite bloggers also seem to be on a hiatus, or at least posting less frequently. Is it something in the internet-air??

Odd angles and empty glasses

We've been to see a lot of houses recently. (Not that we need to. Our house hasn't sold yet, or generated much interest. Ah well, we're lucky that if we don't sell, it's okay. We don't HAVE to sell, we just want to sell).

Anyway, in the process of looking at houses, we've seen a fair number that have obviously been staged, either "professionally", or by someone who read a few staging websites and thought they'd gotten the gist.

Here's my advice to stagers: Putting all the furniture at odd angles is not staging. We're not looking at mansions with big spaces. Having a table screw-jiggy in a rather small dining room is just not a good idea. Placing a couch at an angle blocking off 1/4 of a small family room is not a good idea.

Not to mention the fact that there are a number of left-brained folks who find all these non-right-angles incredibly distracting. Okay, fine, I'm talking about me. When I see these off-kilter rooms, I desperately want to straighten out all the furniture. It comes close to being a physical pain when I walk into a room and see it all out-of-whack.

Second piece of advice: empty martini glasses strewn about is not decorating, even if the glasses themselves are kind of pretty. All it does is make me worried that the boys will knock them over. And makes me wonder if James Bond is expected to visit.

Third piece of advice: setting your dining room table is just weird. Did we interrupt your dinner? It doesn't look homey, it looks like a fake photo-shoot set up.

That is all.

I realize that there are probably plenty of houses that have been well-staged that I don't even notice, and that it's only the badly staged houses that are cracking me up. I do have to say, though, that no staging is a vast improvement over bad staging! Of course, some houses, like the "velvet Elvis" house, could probably benefit from even terrible staging...

________________

Random unrelated thought: Thank you once again to those of you who gave me book recommendations. I've been starting to crack into the books you've recommended. I'll try to mention it, but if I forget, I'll always have brief reviews in my "books read" section on the right column. Some I may even review on The Book Nook...I have a review of Gig up there today! I also read Other People's Weddings by Noah Hawley, which I found to be a quick read, but didn't love. Anyway, I'm loving all these new books to try out, so thank you!

High on my list of "things I wouldn't do unless being chased"

Yesterday we went to watch the Boston Marathon. Despite the fact that we've lived in the Boston area for almost eight years now, we've never been to the Marathon. We've never been to a Red Sox game, either, though. I suspect we're failing miserably at integrating into the Boston culture.

Anyway, it was very exciting because my cousin qualified for the race this year. So we went to cheer him on. Things I learned in this, my first marathon:

1) Traffic is horrific anywhere near the race route. We've always steered well clear of the race area in previous years. It took us almost twice as long to get to the race as we thought it would. In fact, we got there just after the press trucks drove by.

2) Ten gazillion people watch the marathon. If you're not there early, you're not getting a good viewing area. At least not without walking far further than would be recommended with three year old twins. Arriving when the press trucks are going by is not "there early".

3) A crap load of people run this race. When I think "marathon", I think oh, 10 or 12 insane people. Turns out it's a giant convention of insane people. Okay, fine, I knew a lot of people run the Boston Marathon. It's just hard to imagine the sheer volume of runners that go by. I've watched a number of other races in my day, and I've never seen anything like this.

4) My facial recognition abilities are completely worthless. Not only was my cousin running, but so was my neighbor from when I was growing up. Did I see either of them go by? Nope! And I know they both did, as they both finished the race. In my defense, though, there were just huge constant packs of runners, and you couldn't really see anyone running toward the other side of the street. Perhaps it's because we were watching at about mile ten. Maybe things spread out further toward the finish line?

5) Because the cheering sections along the road were so crowded, you couldn't really look ahead at who was coming as ridiculously tall people were next to us, blocking our view of the upcoming racers. Watching people run by directly in front of you for an hour or so actually makes me kind of motion sick.

6) It's tiring to cheer for an hour. Yes, I just complained about how one hour of cheering (and watching insane people run) tired me out. Clearly actually running 26 miles would not be something I'd be up for.

7) Despite the fact that I believe marathon runners are probably certifiable, I was kind of touched and amazed at these insane people who get out there and run, either to raise money for a cause (it was nice to see so many people wearing shirts for the charities they were running for), or just to prove that they could do it. So congrats to all you marathon runners. I'm impressed!

Haven't you always wanted a monkey?

Random weird happening in the house of cards:

N-man came into our room in the middle of the night, woke me up, said "here, Mommy, this is for you", and gave me his stuffed monkey. Then went back to sleep.

I would have thought this was some weird pregnancy-induced hallucinatory dream* except sure enough, I woke up in the morning with his monkey.

___________________

*Why doesn't anyone warn you that you'll have completely vivid and believable dreams while pregnant, and you'll wake up thinking things like, "wait, am I attending a private boarding high school? How old am I again?" or "Whoa, we totally should have planned that trip to Disney better as it was really confusing trying to find where to buy tickets at the gate."

For the record, I am not now, nor have I ever been, an attendee of a private high school. Nor have we planned a trip to Disney. And yet I woke up twice this week, convinced of the validity of these "memories".

It's a...., plus silly stories

We had our Level II ultrasound yesterday and we're expecting another BOY! Boy oh boy oh boy, I'm so excited to have a house full of little guys! I think I'm biased as N-man and B-man are so awesome that I can't imagine not wanting another little boy. I'm sure a girl would have been fine, too, though I would have been far more scared. I feel a little badly as TK always wanted a girl, but oh well, he's happy with a boy, too. And we're done after this little guy! So three boys it is (and I've never even seen the TV show My Three Sons!)

________________

B-man is the only one in the house disappointed with the little brother situation. When I told him, he said, "but I want a little SISTER!" I explained we don't get to pick, and he said that he wants FOUR kids in the family. Keep wishing, big guy!

________________

Unrelated to the new little guy, N-man told us the other night that he wants a dog. TK explained that he's allergic to dogs. N-man then said, completely unconcerned, "Daddy, can you leave?" We cracked up! TK asked where he should live instead, and N-man said he should just stay at work. Hmmm, it's not much of a confidence builder if your kid ranks you right below getting a dog!

________________

In another unrelated story, TK got N-man dressed the other morning, and put him in a pair of truck underwear. Now, most of the boys' undies are communal, but they each have one set Grandma and Grandpa got them that is THEIRS. N-man has doggies, B-man has trucks. Well, obviously N-man wasn't paying attention when TK put on his undies that morning!

The boys went to school, and when they came home, N-man had to use the bathroom. He was sitting on the potty, when all of a sudden, B-man runs in, horrified. "Are those MY truck undies?" he asked indignantly.

N-man looked down, and just as horrified, ripped the clothes off his body to get the offending B-man underwear off.

So I told him I'd run upstairs to get him a different pair of undies. I ran up, got new ones, and when I got back down, B-man was naked, pulling on the truck undies N-man had worn all morning. I don't know why, but that simultaneously cracked me up and grossed me out.

__________________

More book recs coming soon! Just had to get all this random randomness out!

Tattooed Grandma, Porcupine Skin, and Unsold Houses

Hold on to your hats, this post is going to be all over the place!

My mom got a new tattoo. It's very pretty...she sent us a picture. It's on her shoulder, so the picture just shows a bit of her back and arm and the back of her head. I showed it to the boys with no description, just said, "Hey guys, come look at this picture." B-man's immediate comment: "Is that Grandma?" I love that when they see a tattoo, they immediately know it's got to be Grandma! Then N-man followed it up with "Why is Grandma naked?" Hey, bud, that's just the kind of Grandma you have! Scantily clad and tattooed. (I should have asked her if I could post the picture...it really is quite a nice one!)

_______________

N-man came into our bedroom this morning just as we were starting to wake up. He happily announced, "Bones are hard. Skin is soft. But not a porcupine's." Um, okay? Thanks for the early morning bit of randomness.

_______________

We've made an offer on a house. I'm starting to get a little nervous and have second thoughts. I know, kind of late for that, and I'm hoping my second thoughts are just the nerves I'd be having no matter what. Our offer is contingent upon our house selling by the end of April, and if anyone else makes an offer before then, we'd have to match their closing date (which we wouldn't be able to do, so we'd just have to pass on the house at that point). So this offer is far from a sure thing. We'll see what happens.

We dropped the price of our house, but we're still not getting much interest. Our house is definitely much nicer than the other two houses in our town that are priced the same as ours is now. So if someone is looking in our town in our price range, I feel confident they'd pick our house now that we dropped the price. I guess it's just a waiting game for that person looking in our town, in our price range. Where are you, home shopper?

25 Random Things About Me

Because I'm exceedingly lazy, my post today is from my facebook account, where I was tagged for a facebook meme to share 25 random things. So I'm stealing it for my blog today, and tough noogies to all of you who are my facebook friends as well as blog readers!

1. I was going to skip this, but it seems like EVERYONE is doing this and I've been tagged a bunch. Aren't you all so happy I've decided to go along with the crowd? Now let's just see if I can get up to 25!

2. I'm making awesome Chicken Tortilla Soup for dinner. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Tortilla-Soup-I/Detail.aspx

3. I was quite tall as a child but am now a completely average 5'6". I wish I was taller. Before kids, I used to wear unreasonably high heels all the time, and people would be shocked to find out I wasn't tall.

4. I met TK at a Super Bowl party when I was a senior in high school. My boyfriend at the time introduced us.

5. TK lived upstairs from me in the dorm my freshman year of college. He remembered me from the Super Bowl party. We started dating within a month of when I started college.

6. I always thought I'd have twins. Perhaps having a twin for a mom and twin brother and sister had something to do with my psychic prediction.

7. In a high school talent show, I danced as Lola to Barry Manilow's Copa Cabana. My more talented friends sang. Believe me, we were all glad I didn't.

8. I've defined "normal" as similar to me. Therefore, I am the most normal person I know.

9. I blog at http://whatacard.blogspot.com I chose "what a card" as my online handle because a) TK and I collect playing cards, and b) I'm ridiculously funny...such a card.

10. Okay, to clarify that "ridiculously funny", *I* think I'm ridiculously funny, but it turns out I'm my best audience. Fine. My only audience. When I told my parents I thought I could be a standup comic, they both looked at me like I was crazy. They didn't laugh.

11. I play my kids' webkinz account. Sometimes when they're sleeping.

12. I'm yet another over educated stay at home mom. I have a BA in Psychology, BS in Accounting, and MEd in Elementary Ed. Can anyone say "unfocused"?

13. I've written two novels. One terrible and to be hidden forever, one slightly more promising with just a rough draft finished two months ago.

14. I played soccer in high school, where my biggest skill was having no fear for my own personal safety. And missing the net by a mile. Oh, and butt checks.

15. I've always wanted to grow a vegetable garden. We've tried a number of times, and never had ANYTHING make it to ripe. Some track record, huh? And that's why we joined a CSA!

16. When TK finished grad school, we took a three week vacation driving across the country. It was so much fun, and we're planning to do it again someday with our kids. Very Clark Griswold.

17. When we were thinking up names before the boys were born, I kept suggesting characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, leading TK to enact the "No Names From Buffy" rule of naming our children.

18. I met many of my good college friends at a scavenger hunt during orientation. I remember it was lots of fun, but I have no memory of if we won or lost or what we even scavenged.

19. I was the editor of my high school yearbook (along with my friend Maggie). We had such an awesome time doing it...working until all hours, dancing on tables, having pica wars, planning parties for when we met deadlines, etc. Along with soccer and track, it was my favorite part of high school.

20. I've discovered in the past 5 years or so that I really enjoy cooking. Prior to that, I hated it. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I was reprogrammed without my knowledge. This past summer I wrote for a vegetarian cooking blog, which was pretty funny since I'm not a vegetarian. I was always worried I'd post a picture of a recipe with bacon in it, or something that used chicken broth.

21. I'm allergic to chalk dust. And it's not just a fun asthma trigger, it also causes conjunctivitis. Yep, you can get pink eye from allergies! My crap immune system + a chalk dust allergy = Me being sick nearly constantly for the two years I taught elementary school.

22. If I had enough black clothes, I'd wear black every day.

23. I tore my MCL playing indoor soccer six weeks before my wedding. I did major PT and managed to be off crutches in time to walk down the aisle. It still hurt a lot, especially on our honeymoon doing things like biking down a mountain or hiking up a waterfall.

24. I have this weird thing where street lights always turn off around me. Then I found out there's a group of nuts who think it's a real ability. They call themselves SLIders. SLI stands for "Street Lamp Interference". People are crazy. But I'm SLI!

25. I'm pregnant. Hee, let's see who read this all the way! I'm due 9/1, with a singleton. TK and I are pretty excited, while the boys are just confused about the whole thing.

_____________

On facebook, you're supposed to tag 25 people. I'm not doing that here! Instead, I'm just going to tag all of you who have done this already on facebook, and all of you who haven't been tagged on facebook. Oh heck, how about I just say, "play along if you'd like!"

Submitted for your approval...

I got to thinking about that Freedom Rock commercial, and how much I used to love it back in the late 80's, watching endless hours of MTV with friends.

But there was another commercial round about that time. It was for a skateboarding video, clips of famous (at the time) skateboarders.

Remember skateboarders? I went through a brief period where I only dated skateboarders. There was both positive AND negative graffiti about me at local skate areas. Though I'm not sure which were really the "positive" and which were the "negative". My opinion is probably in direct opposition to the boys who wrote it! I'm sure it's gone now, right? Good times.

Anyhow, my google skills are on the fritz, and I can't remember enough about this commercial to effectively search for it. I seem to recall it started with an announcer guy saying "Submitted for your approval". I could be wrong though. It's been a while!

I actually used to have the commercial taped. Yes, I was weird enough to tape favorite commercials (including Freedom Rock! Those fake hippie dudes are just way too awesome!) That was back in the day when I used to have a VCR, though, or the VHS tape it was taped on for that matter.

Dead Milkmen hosting MTV's 120 minutes was on that tape too. So were The Red Hot Chili Peppers, on to promote Mother's Milk (awesome album, no?) What a great tape that was!

That's what wrong with DVDs...you can't make "mix tapes" like you could with VHS!

Yes, I'm looking back on the back-in-my-day days in this very rambling post. Wow, this is all over the place, even for me. And I'm known to, shall we say, wander in my writing.

I'll sign out now.

Like you couldn't have figured that out, all on your own, without my announcement. But there it is.

Apparently it was a big lie, though, since I didn't sign out. See, you can't trust me.

Hey man, is that an awesome commercial?

Yeah, man! Well turn it up, man!

I hope at least some of you get the reference before seeing the commercial.

And please, tell me I'm not the only one who, twenty years later, still sings this ENTIRE commercial every time I hear any of these songs...



Is there anything greater than infomercials for CD (or in this case RECORD!) compilations???

Gotta love those State Universities!

I got my college alumni magazine. Here's what they led with on the cover:

Why children are getting so fat, and what the University is doing to help them.

Um, shouldn't we be trying to PREVENT them from becoming obese? I mean, even though I was educated at a state school, I still know we shouldn't be trying to help children become overweight!

Proofread, anyone, for possible meanings in direct opposition to the intended meaning?

Just call me Crash!

So, I was in a car accident. With the boys in the car. I know, freaky, right? Luckily, it was a minor fender bender and we're all fine. And it was the other guy's fault, which in a refreshing "restore my faith in humanity" moment, he owned up to right away and apologized for not paying enough attention. Isn't that nice? No fake "why'd you stop sharply" or "you should have gone" junk.

Anyway, this guy rear-ended me. I was actually driving TK's car. Mine was in the shop, and the boys and I were just coming back from dropping TK at work when, exiting the highway, the guy behind me ran right into us.

It's not that bad. I drove away, though the cop wasn't too happy about it as I was missing a tail light (okay, fine, I was missing most of the left back side of the car. Well, missing is a bit of an exaggeration. I picked it up and stuck it in the trunk ;).

Only problem is I was driving a 2000 Civic. That's not worth a ton. So we're waiting to hear if it's totaled or not. For now, it just sits in our garage, with its big ol' owie.

In related news, the boys were totally excited about the whole experience. "That guy BOOMED us!" they tell me excitedly. "That BAD car hurt our car!" they say with total glee. They got to see a police officer! I swear, this was possibly the most fun activity we did all week.

________________

Random Unrelated Thought (ohhh, remember these? These had fallen by the wayside for a while, but are making a reappearance today!): Did you ever notice that Yellow by Coldplay was the last song they released that didn't become unbearably annoying by the third listen? Here's how it goes every time I hear a new Coldplay song:

First time: Hey, is this Coldplay? This is pretty good!

Second time: This Coldplay song again? I feel like I just heard it.

Third time: Oh geez. Let me channel check.

________________

Oh, bonus random unrelated thought, though it is marginally related to the coldplay thing but unrelated to the main gist of the post, though if I keep this up for too long, who's really going to be able to say what the main point of this post is: I heard Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue on the radio the other day.

That's it. It's kind of noteworthy, isn't it? I mean, what radio station is still playing Home Sweet Home? Did this one lose some kind of bet with another radio station?

I tease because I love it! I listened (and sang) to the whole song. Rockin'! Now Motley Crue, those are some songs that can handle more than 3 listens each decade!

Hanukkah races

I'm new to this whole Hanukkah thing; we've really only been lighting the menorah regularly in the past few years. Before that, we might remember a night or two, but never all eight nights.

So I just have to know: does everyone bet on which candle is going to win? I mean, how can you not?

And secondary question: how do you define "win"? Is it the candle that burns out first, or last? I contend that the candle that burns out first is the winner, while TK holds that the candle that burns longest is the winner.

My position is that I'm being far more positive: of course the candles are racing to the finish line (being burnt out). Just watch 'em and you'll see...they want to burn out! If they're trying to stay lit longest, well, it's a Pyrrhic victory at best as even the last burning will soon succumb to the extinguishing of its flame.

And how come it's not the center candle that burns out first every time? It's lit first, it should go out first. And then the other candles should burn out from right to left, in the order they were lit. Why doesn't it work out that way? Can I please get completely uniformly sized and shaped candles? Are drafts of air in the house responsible for the different burning times? Has anyone ever studied the order in which Hanukkah candles burn out?

Do I think too much about this?

Well, I hope all of you who celebrate had a very happy Hanukkah this year!

What, other people noticed?

Do you know how many blog hits I get for "Stephanie Meyer terrible writing"? A zillion, every day. That's hyperbole, or an accurate count of the number of times we were told Bella was clumsy. Wait, was she clumsy? I can't remember.

Yes, I agree, the writing was terrible. Want to give a shout out all you random Googlers? Who are you, people who are searching for others who agree that the writing in the series was horrific? Or are you all Twilight lovers looking for blogs to boycott? Hee!

For the record, I enjoyed the first two books despite the writing. It wasn't until the last two books that things became unforgivable.