But I think I’d much rather either be fat or eat less and exersize than let some weird deal Brazilian dude perform liposuction on me in his basement.

Swiped from Paula.

You Are Most Like George W. Bush

So what if you’re not exactly popular? You still rule the free world. And while you may be quite conservative now, you knew how to party back in the day!

What Modern US President Are You Most Like?

Your Driving Is is: 33% Male, 67% Female

According to studies, you generally drive like a typical female. You are a careful, skilled driver. And you are patient in sticky driving situations. You may get aggressive from time to time, but normally you’re a cool, collected driver.

Do You Drive Like a Guy or a Girl?

Your son brings you this and says, “If you’re so grumpy, here…drink this.”

It’s hot, I’m tired, and I’m bored. I don’t feel like watching T.V. and I tried reading but got too jumpy from just sitting around. But I wouldn’t necessarily call that grumpy, would you?

On second thought…it’s well after five here. Maybe I WILL try a little of that medicine The Boy brought me….

****UPDATE****

I just walked past the front entry and saw this:

Now I KNOW I need that drink! Before The Boy gets back with the controller. Is the weekend over yet?

I don’t know why, but I found this article kind of interesting. It appears someone actually did a study that tested how handling a gun vs. handling a child’s toy effects testosterone levels.

The man had to take apart the object and put it back together according to instructions.

For half the men, the object was a pellet gun that mimicked a Desert Eagle automatic handgun. The other half of the men worked with a child’s game called Mouse Trap.

Mouse trap? A little subliminal messaging there, perhaps? With a name like that….well you see what I’m saying.

….later, the men were given a 3-ounce cup of water and a bottle of the hot sauce. They were told the water would be given to the next man in the study, and that they could — anonymously — put as much hot sauce in the water as they liked.

Oh, boy…you can see this one a mile away….

Sure enough, testosterone went up about 100 times more in the men who handled the gun than in the men who handled the children’s toy. And the gun handlers put three times more hot sauce in the water — on average, about a half ounce — than the toy handlers……The more a man’s testosterone went up after gun handling, the more hot sauce he put in the water.

I guess the moral of the story is don’t let your man play with a gun (toy or not) and then leave him alone with the hot sauce.

Special guest kitty post with my sister’s cat Lilly. Doesn’t she look pretty?

Now go visit The Friday Ark.

Because really, lady who was in the seat one row ahead of me. I think you thought we were all on a great big car trip. There are certain things that we all do from time to time while on a road trip – IN A CAR – that are perfectly acceptable and fun. However, these same things can make a plane ride (even a short one hour plane ride) more than miserable for those seated in your general vicinity.

I can understand you were glad to see your friends and it was fun to hoot and holler and reminisce about this thing or that you experienced either last night or “that one time” you were all together. Really, I can. But lady (and I use the term loosely), there is no need to yell and scream at the top of your lungs. And I actually think your friend sitting next to you was trying to read that magazine she was quite forcefully leafing through. At least that’s the impression I got. But then she sighed, gave up, and put it away so I guess that was okay with you.

And I know you really appreciate very strong meaningful poetry by Maya Angelou. However, I really don’t think it was necessary to read the entire five minute poem at the top of your lungs. Really, it wasn’t. I’m sure if we were interested there are lots of places we could have found that poem and read it quietly to ourselves so as not to disturb the 20 or so people seated in our general vicinity.

And I know it’s fun to shout out clues to your friends to see if they can guess the thing you’re trying to describe. That’s a really fun game to play in a car when on a road trip. But again, if you’re on a plane and getting lots of strange looks from your fellow passengers…so much so that your friend seated next to you is truly leaning out halfway into the aisle to create some perceived distance between you and her (that actually was kinda funny)….then you might want to at least re-think the volume level.

Oh, and when you looked like you were riding a horse in your seat and yelled “giddy yup…whooo!!! come on, baby work those hooves!!!!!” during take-off. That was truly special. I can honestly say that in all my travels I have actually never seen that before. What a treat.

And the topper. Oh, you outdid yourself with this one. Singing that song from The Color Purple at the top of your lungs. Yeah, that was good. You know what? Come to think of it I really didn’t need that short nap I was counting on during that flight since I’d been up since before six. Oh no…I would have much rather listened to you belt out that off-key rendition of that song from the movie.

After my short one hour flight with this truly…ahem….”unique”…. individual, I can honestly say it is now crystal clear to me that what’s okay to do in a car during a road trip is SO not okay to do in a small regional jet filled to capacity.

Well it’s me so of course I think so. But some might think I go a little too far…you be the judge. Today while my sister’s at work I thought I might help out a little around here since we’ve been basically messing the place up since Sunday. I don’t think I did much but when I told her my cousin she said “da-yummm.” Here’s what I did:

1. Unloaded and loaded the dishwasher and wiped down kitchen counters

2. Swept and mopped kitchen floor (hey, I didn’t get on my hands and knees or anything…)

3. Picked up the toddler’s toys in the living room and vacuumed entire upstairs

4. Dusted a little and did some Windex in the living room

5. Windexed the bathroom mirror and wiped down the counter, sink and toilet (hey, I didn’t brush the bowl)

6. Vacuumed one flight of stairs

7. Swept and mopped the front entry hall and vacuumed entry throw rugs

See? I really didn’t do very much, did I? If someone did that while they were staying with you when you were out of the house would you appreciate it or take it as an insult that you don’t keep your house clean enough? She works and her hubby is gone and she’s got work to do tonight on some plans. I just didn’t want her to have to look at all that too and know she’d have so much housekeeping ahead of her once we leave. I was trying to be a considerate guest.

At least…that’s how I meant it when I did all that stuff. So….do you try and help out around the house when you stay with someone? Do tell…..

After the toddler was finally put down to bed tonight after dinner at my mom’s house, my sister, The Boy and I played Catch Phrase for a while. Â

The Boy:Â “Okay, this is a place where people meet.”

Me and my sister (at the same time):Â “A bar.”

Note: The answer was “church”. It appears that at least we haven’t totally corrupted the child yet.

I am watching my sister’s 2 1/2 year-old while she is at work. And I can definitely say I can now clearly remember why I never got anything done during days at home with my son. Shall we recap in a list the day so far?

1. Up at 6:45 the minute after the garage door went down.

2. Cartoons for 30 minutes.

3. Breakfast – he ate a bowl of cereal-Yes!

4. It’s 8:15 now and I still haven’t had any coffee. Time to wake up The Boy.

5. Make coffee. Make pancakes for me and eat while The Boy occupies the young child.

6. Drink more coffee.

7. Make pancakes for The Boy. The toddler decides he wants a pancake too so I give him one and he eats half of it.

8. 10:00 and time to do the toddler’s Nemo sticker book.

9. Sticker book has gotten old. Time to go outside.

10. It’s 11:30 now and time to go back inside so The Boy can have lunch.

11. At 12:00 (after changing yucky poopy diaper…..eww) it’s time to give my nephew lunch.

12. 12:20-12:40 – sit at table with the young one insisting he swallow his bite of sandwich.Â

13. Oh, he tried to win. He put on the pouty face and crocodile tears and rubbed his eyes and laid his head on the table.

14. But I was stronger. I won! And in a few minutes I will be putting the wild child down for a nap.

15. And then maybe I can eat and get a shower……

God, I’m glad The Boy is 12! How does anyone ever get anything done with young kids at home? It’s a mystery to me…..

Well, after finding out that many flights got cancelled last night due to bad weather on the east coast and that this week happens to be when they put on the annual air show in OshKosh, WI – I am quite surprised we got seats on our flights here.

But we are here. And it is quite cool. But tomorrow it will be 90. But I don’t care because tomorrow it will not be over 100 which is what it would be if we were in Dallas this week.

I must go now and celebrate with my sister that we made it. And yes, that will involve alcohol. We are Irish Catholic. Of course it will involve alcohol.

Drinks for everyone!!