Cancun

Something VERY strange is happening with me. The hubby and I are going to Cancun tomorrow for 5 days of fun in the sun. As I was packing today, I decided to pack my TWO piece bathing suits instead of my usual one piece. Seriously, the last time I wore a 2 piece in public must have been in the 80's. I've been working on my 'inner self' lately so hopefully this is part of my progress. As I was pulling some bathing suits out of my drawer, I saw a couple of my 2 pieces and said to myself, "What the heck I'm doin it!" SO out of character for me.

As for pictures, ha! There will be no postings of the Robin in a 2 piece bikini on this blog. I am not THAT far along in my inner self work!

In the meantime, I have family here to watch the kids, plus more family mid week so things around here are really hectic! If only you could see my book of lists and schedules that I put together for the grandparents. I call it being organized but I'm sure they'll call it the Control Freak with lots of Anal Retentive Tendencies Book.

I'm going to try to mobile blog from Cancun..Wish me luck..!

Boo Hoo..I'm Bummed

My brother and sister in law just left today. We are all sad. It's always so much fun when they come and visit. Hunter is especially close to his uncle so he was down when he came home from school today.

These are the times when it sucks to live away from your family..Not in the mood to write much more tonight.

I'm a Stalker

A few nights ago we were at eating dinner at restaraunt we really like. Our waitress was friendly and very sweet to Piper. Throughout dinner Pip would strike up little conversations with her. At the end of dinner, Pip asked her if she had brothers or kids (can't remember) then asked to go to her house (that's soo Pip, she is so friendly). The waitress laughed then said she had two young boys. As she walked away, I realized that I thought I had seen her blog before. I asked her quickly, "Excuse me, do you have a blog?" She looked a little startled and said yes. I described a picture I had seen on it and a post I'd read. She confirmed it was hers while still looking a tad startled. Paul and I started laughing as we both realized I sounded like a stalker. I told her I wasn't but it didn't look like she believed me.

Anyway, Paul, Hunter, Keith and Misty teased me on the way home that I probably freaked the poor girl out so that after work she would go home and delete her blog. They wanted to pull it up when we got home but the funny thing was that I had no idea what her blog name was. It was about 6 months ago that I saw it and I only ran across it by chance at the time. Yesterday my sister in law google'd her, her boys' names plus las vegas and lo and behold, her blog popped up. Now THAT is stalker'ish and scary at the same time how easy it was to find her info. I didn't have a chance to look at it until this morning and sure nuf, she posted a story about me (the stalker!). Luckily she was a good sport and said she wasn't freaked out which was good because I actually felt a little bad that night when we left. I mean really, it's one thing to have a blog but quite another to have a stranger approach you about it. Luckily I (the stalker) was with my family so I'm pretty sure I didn't look threatening!

The most hysterical thing of all of this is that I have the world's shortest memory. My family can totally attest to this. The fact that I even recognized her was so ironic.

Out of respect to her (and since I'm not a stalker :) I won't link this post to her blog. I left a comment on her post about me so if she chooses to comment on mine, you can learn more about her.

Waitress, if you're reading this, thanks for the great service that night and for being a good sport about the whole thing! Nice to meet ya! :-)

Stalker Out!

Week in Review

Last night, while we were cleaning up after dinner, we decided to measure our head circumferences. The results? In inches:

Paul: 23
Robin: 22 5/8
Hunter: 22
Piper: 19 3/4
Keith: 22
Misty: 21.5

How sad is that my head is almost as big as Paul's? Anyway it was funny at the time..

Some pictures of this week:

Goin, Goin, Goin...Gone Vegi..

My brother and sis in law are in town so haven't had much time to blog this week. I just sat down, read my fave blogs and now am having a rare moment of writers block.

Maybe I'll take this moment to thank everyone for their comments regarding my possible walk down veggie lane. After doing a lot of reading and soul searching, I've decided to change my lifestyle and give up meat. I wouldn't say I'm a total vegan though as dairy and eggs are still in the forecast (at least for now). What to eat though..Hmm. My bro and sis, the kids and I went to Trader Joe's yesterday which luckily has a plethera of vegan foods (which is good for me because I am still learning about various vegi foods, how much protein everything has, etc..). I've discovered tons of vegan blogs as well with some fab sounding receipes including tons of food I already love.

Gotta give lots of love to my bro and sis-in-law (Keith and Misty). They've been SO supportive and helpful this week. They are not vegitarians but are adventurous and healthy in their food choices which just gave me more inspiration to do this. Thanks K&M!

After even more thought, I've decided to create a separate blog to document my (mis) adventures of going vegi. I'll still keep this one going but thought it would be easier to blog and get feedback/advice from other vegis if I create a separate one. I need help though. What should the name of my blog be? I have a couple thoughts:

* Veggie Bitch (ix-nayed it quickly because it's just too negative)
* Vegas Vegan
* I'm Afraid of Tofu - The Chronicles of a Gal Going Vegitarian
* The Vegi Monologues

Any others? I'm open to suggestion..Will let everyone know when the new blog is up.

The Toddler Files

I am exhausted. Let me restate that - Hunter and I are BOTH exhausted. He fell into his bed tonight and fell asleep instantly. Guess why: a 3 year old named Piper. Between not listening at the grocery store by getting out of those annoying car carts then freaking out in the check out line because I wouldn't buy her a bouncy ball, I am tired. I'm talking lying-on-the-floor-kicking-and- screaming-while-the-cashier-pretends-like-it-isn't-happening-but-she's-gritting-her-teeth FREAK OUTS. Seriously, try punching in your pin number on the debit card machine while trying to hold (wrestle) a toddler who is trying to run out of the checkout line to chase her brother who is putting the ball back. This is the kid who at dance all the moms say what a perfect kid she is because she always listens, never gets in trouble and is always happy and pleasant. I laugh when the moms say it because I know NO child is perfect, definitely not any of mine LOL. They never believe me when I tell them she definitely has her moments.

Cut to going to Walgreens to pick up my prescription, the drive thru is taking forever. Of course, ONCE AGAIN, they mess up my meds and give me generic. A still screaming toddler (who by this time has boogers and some sort of black dirt substance on her face from the grocery store floor) plus a grumpy teenager leads me to take it all out on the poor pharmacy tech (who deserved it because she was snotty in the beginning of our conversation). The convo basically she accusing me of not telling her it was a brand only script and me telling them to get their act together, I go through this almost every month, it's in my file to give me brand only (for some reason the generics don't work on me) and I am SICK OF THIS. Once they confirmed that I was right (it was in my file and they did screw up) 10 minutes later, we drive away with the toddler now saying how happy she is because she can roll her window down with her foot on the button. Teenager and mom stare at each other and wonder when toddler's head is going to spin around.

Cut to home - Toddler fussy again, teenager and mom unloading groceries. Toddler goes in time out for pulling her brother's hair continually plus smacking me in the butt continually. I don't know why because we are not a spanking family. Give up trying to tell her we don't hit and it makes Jesus sad when Toddler runs out of time out into her brother's arms because she's mad at me. Teenager crumbles and starts to baby her which makes me mad because 2 seconds before he was the one putting her in time out.

Cut to phone call from hubby at work - Slight bickering match which normally would be nothing but because I am already SO on the edge, I make it a bigger deal than it should be. Nothing like putting some extra spice in a marriage I guess.

Cut to dinner - In a nutshell, Toddler fusses during dinner. Bo-Bo and I have had it. Toddler loses her bedtime books plus didn't get stickers for listening today.

Cut to bedtime - We get ready for bed, toddler is mad because she doesn't get her books. I still rock and sing to her though because that's my fave part of our bedtime ritual. I snuggle my nose into her hair and hold her tight while we sing our last song,her favorite, Jesus Loves Me. When I tuck her in she smiles, gives me big kisses and hugs then tells me to "Have Fun Mom!" as I leave her room. I laugh because I guess it may have been a little obvious I just needed to fall face first on the couch and chill for a bit. I tell her I love her, catch her kisses she throws me then leave the room.

Cut to Bo-Bo's room-He's fading fast, tuck in, say prayers, kiss, hug, luv u's, then he tells me his lil sis exhausts him and falls asleep.

Although I am grateful that she keeps these moments confined to her family (mainly) and doesn't show them to the public at large, plus I know these are normal things that happen during the toddler years, yet.......I AM STILL EXHAUSTED.

PS. Fender Bender update - We both felt fine this morning. No soreness but I think that both us are a little rattled today, hence above.

The Green Monster Kicked It's Arse...

It finally happened. The Green Monster, Pip and I were in a MINOR fender bender today. Someone teenage girl rear ended me. Luckily she was not going too fast. Yes, my neck hurts and sure as poop I'm sure it will hurt even more tomorrow. Piper was in the car with me but didn't even notice the bump. She seems fine so far. She was more mad that it knocked the dvd screen over so she couldn't see her movie..The girl's mom was with her and did all the talking. Let's not go through insurance she said. Too bad I said, give me your info. She did and then got a little nervous when I started taking pictures of her car and mine.

My prediction: The girl's car was taken away and is grounded for being an idiot.

The best news: The Green Monster has nary a scratch in the bumper. The girl's front end is toast. Judging by the look her mom was giving her, her rear end probably is as well.

Family: Don't freak out, all is well, it really was minor..

The Wynn, Le Reve, and John O Hurley

Last night, Paul and I saw La Reve at the Wynn..By far THE most fabulous show I've ever seen. We've seen most of the Cirque shows but this one topped them all..Highly recommend it. One of the best things though happened AFTER the show. As we were walking through the casino, we saw John O'Hurley ! I told him I loved him and that I'm a big fan! He smiled at me, gave me a big thumbs up and said Thanks! Trust me gals, he looks just as good in person..

Ok so I sound like a dumb high school girl but I've liked him since his Seinfeld days. I'm allowed to have a school girl crush aren't I? Well how about several, ie-Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Kurt Russell, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Robert Downey Jr (well not really him but I just saw IronMan and he looked dang good in it), David Beckham (although being married to Posh lowers his stock with me), Adrian Brody (love the nose..)..I could go on and on ;-)

Meat, Poultry and Blogging...Oh My..

I've been contemplating a couple things lately - I'm still doing some research but need opinions from everyone.

1. I'm thinking of giving up meat. First, let me state it's not because I'm a member of PETA or because of religious reasons. I've done this a couple times before in my life where I just lose the taste for meat and the thought of eating it just seems gross. I've never been a huge meat eater anyway and can barely finish eating half a chicken breast or steak. Also, I came across an article recently detailing the incredibly unsanitary conditions in which cows, chickens, and turkeys get slaughtered, including how (without becoming graphic) enormous amounts of bacteria are transferred to the meat/poultry products in our grocery stores. I'm a tad nauseous just thinking about it.

Anyway, my point is that I'm considering doing this again. Any advice, articles, vegi web-sites I can visit for food ideas? I'm not going to force this on my family but they are aware of my thoughts (and probably think I'm neurotic as usual). Dairy & seafood will probably still be in the picture..Yes, I know meat/chicken is protein but there are tons of other ways to get your daily recommended protein intake. I've finally gotten to the point where I know I need to take care of my body and am tired of stuffing it full of crap (which I know realistically I will continue to do on occasion) so I'm trying to make a life change rather than just diet. Seriously, I'm getting sick to my stomach thinking about meat right now so next subject...

2. How realistic is it to make money blogging? I'm talking dooce.com type blogging. Heather makes tons of money each month but at what price? She bares a lot and is a great writer which I'm sure is the draw for her readers. I've opened up a lot since I started this blog (which I'm still surprised at myself for) but I'm not sure how much more I'd let loose on..Hmm, well maybe I'll take that back. There are still some times where I want to blog about the dip sh*# who cut me off on the freeway or the dad at swim who when I got up for 2 seconds to grab Pip from her teacher to dry her off slid into my chair with his kid. Um, maybe I should give it a shot.

Pros -
*Start making some minor income to contribute to the household (or keep it all for me and buy more Coach purses plus tons more shoes)
*Continue to document my day to day activities which sometimes can be such a sitcom, throw out my opinions, observations, etc..for the world to see
*Throw my hubby under the bus everytime he irritates me
*Design a cool hip website that will constantly be evolving

Cons-
*I am a sell-out
*Bare too much and have my dad call and give me an intelligent, eloquent lecture that makes perfect sense which will make me 2nd guess myself because he's so smart..then have my mom call and ask me 100 times why I wrote that she asks the same questions 100 times.
*Selling out but making no money at it
*Possible therapy to handle all the mean and nasty comments I'll get.
Although:
1. My brother told me it'd be worth it if I'd make a lot of dough.
2. I've never really cared what people think of me and usually just laugh at them (now I could blog about them).
*Possibly be too time-consuming....?
*Someone figuring out where I live and tee-peeing my house..or worse..egging it.
*Throw my hubby under the bus everytime he irritates me then feel guilty about it (until the next time he irritates me).

I am being realistic. I know this won't be the blog-where-i-can-bring-home-my-husband-from-work-because-I'm-making-so-much-money-he-doesn't-have-to-work-anymore-blog. Or the blog where we can finally buy a boat (even though we're landlocked), travel more, and put all of our kids through Harvard.

Thoughts? And please tell me what I want to hear or I'll delete your comments. LOL, just kidding. I really do need some feedback.

Bye Syesha!

Mobile blogging this morning so this'll be short and sweet.

I got the outcome I was hoping for. I actually warmed up to Syesha a tad but still glad she's outie. The battle of the Davids could swing either way. Should be very interesting.

Snippets

Last night, Pip was messing with the dogs so Hunter told her:

"Piper leave the dogs alone or they'll bite you then eat you."

Pip told me she tooted at school while playing with her friends Caitlin and Brooke. Caitlin told her it stunk and Brooke told her it was gross. I asked Pip how that made her feel. She said "It made me feel sad.....but not really that sad. We still played together." We had a funny little toot talk after that.

As I was leaving the house yesterday to pick up Pip at school, Baxter got out. So here I am chasing him down the street like an idiot. Even more idiotic, I had taken his collar off earlier because his jingling tags were driving me nuts. So I had to run back into the house, grab his leash, collar, and some treats then run back out across the street to try and lure him to me. Luckily, he is such a piggie as soon as he saw the treats, he turned around and sped back to me. I had to straddle and almost sit on him to get his collar and leash on.

Hunter had a choir concert last night. He looked so handsome. I had to beg him to get some pictures that little stinker.

Check out this interesting blog.. http://www.adamsachs.org/blog.html

American Idol...Battle of the Davids

Last night was strange. The first round of songs were pretty good. I was shocked when it was announced that David Cook was going to sing a Roberta Flack song...Crazy! Simon was right though, David totally pulled it off. His Switchfoot song was awesome as well..Syesha's first song was amazing then she went downhill from there..She's got a great voice though so I'm sure there's a record contract in her future. Big fake smile girl..

I actually liked David Archuleta's version of Chris Brown's song. I just love that song in general but David covered it well. It showed a younger more hip side of him, FINALLY! I didn't like his Dan Fogelberg song though..Seriously, for the semi finals? Really David! You're 17! I know you're definitely in the adult contemporary genre but not THAT song..Maybe Daddy should be allowed back in pre-production..

I think Cook won the night & Syesha will be gone on tonight's show.

Happy Mommy's Day!

I had a very nice Mother's Day. We moved a little slow because of our party the night before but that was fine with us. The kids and Paul woke me up with some funny cards and gifts then we went to the clubhouse for an absolutely fabulous brunch. We ran into some of the families who came to our party. One really funny guy asked us "So after last night are we allowed back again?" Hysterical! He's so funny. Yes, definitely come back and hang out with us again Lindsey, Scott, Hunter and Jakey!

We didn't take too many pictures but here are a few at brunch.

The Fiesta

We had an awesome party Saturday night. All in all, we had between 50-60 people.

Great food + a margarita machine = a fab time!

The playroom carnage. This was the next morning right before the kid and I cleaned it up. Wasn't too bad actually. All the kids had such a fun time at the party, this was so worth it.

Adios Muchacho!

American got it right this week..Bye bye Jason! You're a great guy but your time was up!

Bo Bice rocked last night. He brought the house down I thought he was way more than Maroon 5 did. I like Maroon 5 as a whole but I'm not really a big Adam Levine fan. He kind of looks like a grasshopper.

Don't let the dreads hit ya where the good Lord split ya

Does anyone other than me think that Jason totally sucked last night on American Idol ? I liked him a lot at first but week by week I get the distinct impression that he just doesn't try very hard. Ick, last night was badd with a capital B. Even his dreads were gross. I may vow not to watch AI anymore if Jason doesn't leave tonight. Seriously America, get with the program!

Also, I thought Simon was too hard on Syesha, who I am not a fan of really. She did a great job on her second song. Normally Simon and I are eye to eye but not this time.

Anyway, the David's are still my faves even though I know David A. doesn't really have a genre that he could fit into on the airwaves. Maybe adult contemporary at best. David Cook's Duran Duran song was so cliche and boring, I was shocked. His second song was awesome (even though sitting here I can't remember it. I'm sure it's the wine..)

Let the chips fall where they may tonight (but they better be cowchips all over Jason). The funniest thing was when the hub said, "The saddest thing about Jason is that he is just dumb. If he doesn't go American Idol is rigged." You have to know him to realize how funny this was. Speaking of the hub, he should be walking in any second so time to finish up cooking dinner.
Sauteed chicken with red bell peppers and onions, yum..He just walked in, I love it when he comes home..

Disneyland

Some pictures of our Disneyland trip this weekend. It was so much fun watching Pip discover Disneyland for the first time. Hunter had a choir concert while we were there so he spent Saturday running around the park with his friends.

Check out this fab video of Hunter fighting Darth Maul at the Jedi Training Academy in Tomorrowland. He's going to kill me for posting this. Hunter SO won this fight ;-)