T'was a Happy Birthday, Kim!!

It was, it was. Even though yesterday wasn't OFFICIALLY Kim's 40th, we celebrated at Stephanie's anyway. As usual Stephanie made us a fabulous meal and we laughed and cackled into the wee hours. (okay, maybe not THAT wee, but to me midnight is wee.) Here's Kim showing how she REALLY feels about the age of 40, flashing her F*%?K Forty bling ring. Nice! I have to say 40's not all bad so far though (now that I'm the ripe old age of 41, you know)..and if I get to celebrate it this way 3 times, hey, not bad at all. Kim brought over a perfect 40 gift she was given, "God's Gift", as a matter of fact. A nice photo celebration of some 70's/80's cheesecake men. Some were quite scary, I might add.

Today, it's Serious Packing Time. My dishes, silverware, pots, pans...all that stuff, bye bye. (for a few days, anyway.) We are now officially onto paper and plastic products and soley take-out food. It's getting down to the wire, my friends! Vivian wasn't feeling well this morning, she's home today. I have to say it's nice to have her around, luckily she isn't REALLY sick. Personally I think she is emotionally sad about the house, and tired from the stress of it all and the new school business. She's allowed a day of hookey, and probably part of her wants a last full day in her house. sigh. Kids don't have the experience like us old folk do, knowing that even though you can be sad about leaving a place, the new place has great things in store. I pray in time she does come to love our new abode as much as this one.

And what the heck is it with these creepy Jeweled Araneus spiders I'm seeing everywhere lately?! Good grief, it's an invasion. At first glace one might think it's quite cool, they are pretty sizeable and weave beautiful perfect round webs. One might be cool, but when I start seeing them in numbers it's just darn creepy. I've passed under them at friend's houses, had to avoid opening the door the other night because of one in our vines overhead. In fact last night I couldn't even come into my own front door, one was actually on it and I was NOT going to chance that sucker landing on me as I was working at the lock. UG! Then this afternoon I was throwing a bag of garbage out and as I came up the back stairs my socked foot brushed a web with ONE IN IT, between a couple of the stairs. !!!! Enough is enough. Thank G-d Terminix is going to be at our new house the afternoon we close, ready to poison anything thing that crawls. And since it's so wooded and no one has been in the house since March, I have a terrible feeling the house itself could crawl right now. UG!

Happy Birthday, Kim!

Ahhh yes, the Maven will finally be joining us biddies at the Big 4-0. Okay well, technically it's not quite her birthday yet, but we peeps are celebrating tonight! With my upcoming move in less than a week, I knew things would be getting hectic and not leave much time for partying, so there it is. We shall we dining once again at Chez Stephanie, and I can honestly say I'd rather eat there than any ol' restaurant. How lucky am I to have a friend who loves to cook for me??? And remember, Stephanie is the one who can make popcorn be gourmet. So I am looking forward to an amazingly fun night of amazing food and fabulous company. Huzzah! I have a feeling 40 will be a good year for My Friend Kim. She's got a new job, doing something she loves, and she's Just Saying No. Go Kim!

Meanwhile, boxes and more boxes. And did I say Boxes?? It's amazing how much stuff you realize you have when you move. I have to say it feels a bit ridic to be packing all of this stuff away so carefully and in so many boxes to move it all of about 3 miles. I know it's what you have to do to make it more efficient and keep your stuff in one piece, but still. Plus it's disgustingly hot out there, especially for September. What's up with that? I am officially over the heat, ready for the cool temps of fall. Hey, a girl's gotta wear her new Uggs, after all.

Shakin' it Up!

I just had to post about my glorious friend Stephanie, who recently exhibited the most Metal behavior--makes a Metal Mommy friend proud. She was visiting her son's new Catholic school and was chatting with some of the moms. At one point she went to give a 'thumb's up' and absent-mindedly threw the Heavy Metal hand signal instead!!!!!!!!!! She was mortified by her own actions, especially upon seeing another mom's smile falter a bit. Long live Metal, I say, and Long Live being irreverent in these sort of uptight situations. Of course my dear friend never meant to offend, it just came out! Which is what makes it so sweeet of course, and so very Metal. You just can't keep a Metal Diva down, and that friend of mine is always shakin' it up. I love it!!

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum my glorious friend will be dining with Andrew Zimmern tonight, and being filmed whilst doing it! Stephanie, her husband John, and another couple will be on a future episode of Andrew's television show Bizarre Foods eating Lord knows what! Omg, I'd be so nervous about that. Forget about being on camera in front of millions, I'd be more frightened about what I'd have to be putting in my mouth. Considering Andrew travels the world and eats everything from giant grubs to still-beating frog's hearts, I can only imagine. Well, it's only Minnesota mind you...us Northwestern folk don't get too crazy up here. Maybe Stephanie will be eating raw lutefisk?! Perhaps she will be throwing the Metal Hand Signal at the same time! SWEEET!

As for me, I'll be eatin' cake officially one week from today. The countdown has begun! Strange. I'm very excited, although of course a bit melancholy about leaving this great house and neighborhood. We are definitely moving on to bigger and better, but this has been a wonderful place to live. The hardest part of it all will be dealing with the kids and their adversity to change, which of course is to be expected. It seems that there is a lot of change happening for a lot of people lately! A Time of Flux and New Opportunities. That's a good thing, it's always good to shake things up a bit.

Don't Give a Damn About a Bad Reputation

Ah yes, yesterday got better and better with time. Remember the bitchy car mom and her loud gaping maw at Sully's school? As I waited for my peanut at the end of the day I had another mom come up to me and tell me that she saw that whole thing and felt terrible for me! She was so nice, it restored my faith in my new 'burb. Of course I'm sure the fact that I was blasting "Bad Reputation' by Joan Jett , literally banging my head with my 11 year old daughter sitting next to me was enough to give her pause and think maybe that other mom was right...ha!

From there, on to my daughter's first conference of Junior High--I love her homeroom teacher! Always a good feeling. Then off to Stephanie's house for a rockin' Silpada party! Stephanie has the greatest friends, it was just a blast. As usual she outdid herself with amazing vittles and drinks. I am always totally pampered when I'm at her house--whether I'm just hangin' or being Susie Sales!!!

Today I get ready to welcome my brother and two of my nephews who will be crashing here tonight. Tomorrow bro John will be in a soccer tournament nearby, looking forward to that. I'm not usually a sporto, as you all know, but once in a while an outdoor sporting event can really be fun--especially when it's a beautiful fall day!

I think we'll be having another IKEA experience this weekend as well--why do we do it to ourselves?? I'm praying they have what we are looking for, the makings of my new Kitchen Island we'll be putting together for the new house. Did I say WE'LL be putting together?! Guess that will be the Coreman...heh heh.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Welcome to Cake Eater World...

Nothing like having your day started by being yelled at by some uppity Mom in a Lexus at your son's new school. I was innocently ignoring the 'no parking sign' to quickly run my son in--although of course I know I'm 'breaking the law' by doing so, who can resist that little face needing his Mommy?? This and the fact that I've seen many other moms doing this very same thing got me out of my car and heading into the school, only to hear a loud blaring horn accompanied by a loud blaring voice behind me. Long story short, this woman started off by saying," What makes you so special that you think you can ignore the sign? Can't you read??" uh, hello. This woman was totally ranting, it was actualy hilarious. She even asked me who Sullivan's teacher was so she could report her, since she had told me it was okay to do just what I was doing. Like I was going to tell some crazy lady with obvious anger management issues where my son is every day??? (that's one of those things I wish I had said to this woman at the moment, but alas, I was too shocked by the fact that she was yelling at me to be witty) I have to say it did make me think twice about the kind of 'burb we are going to be living in, after I went into the classroom and upon telling the teacher who was completely aghast at the story and hearing another mom close by describing this woman to a tee and saying that she also yelled at a friend of hers for the same thing, I felt better. You have to feel sorry for a person like that, really--imagine going through life known as a complete B?? OK, sometimes that's a good thing, not in this case!

Not only did I myself need to rant about this thing because these kinds of confrontations always make me uneasy and angry for quite some time after, but it also makes me want to get a point across...when are people going to learn that someone is much more likely to listen to what you have to say if you are NICE about it? Elementary School 101, people. If this woman is truly worried about the safety of our children, then more power to her. But she could easily say in a nice voice, "I'm sorry, but did you realize that you aren't supposed to park here? I know it's a pain but I am worried about the safety of the kids. Maybe you could park over *there* if you have to run in? Thanks!" Wow, now wouldn't that have made both of our days so much nicer? But of course I have a sneaking suspision that the safety of the children really isn't her main concern, I think it's just plain trying to make herself heard in a world where she must not get that very often. I drove away looking at yet another empty car parked in the circle wishing she were still there so I could point and say, "SEE!" I'm sure she wished she had seen that too, yet another innocent soul to pounce upon to make her feel worthy. I promise when I have my Cadillac I will NOT act that way...ha!

OK! Enough ranting. I have yet another lovely day ahead of me--I may even go shoe shopping. A girl needs a new pair of fall shoes, that's just all there is to it. I am loving the glossy patent leather pumps that are in style right now--that candy apple red color is to die for. So is the sparkly pewter! ooooh! How is a girl to decide? The nice thing is that I have great boots, shoes, and tennies so really I only need one pair of funky fun shoes this season to rock my Silpada parties. Need, she says. heh.

And as a matter of fact, I just happen to have a Silpada party tonight! At Stephanie's house! WOO! I can't wait, what fun that will be. Stephanie could be pushing Life Insurance Policies at her house and it would still be a fun party. That girl knows how to entertain and of course you can't get better company. So I'm very much looking forward to that!

Back to School Shopping

(not the most attractive photo of me, but at over-40, I just don't give a shinola anymore! yeah!)

Ah yes, the school year has begun indeed, which means weekly coffee dates once again with Stephanie--and now Kim!!--and Metal Mommy gets to go shopping. I had a couple of gift cards burning a hole in Ms. Coach and of course now that I'm free to take all the time I need (well, at least of a 6 hour day) to contemplate Gap Classic boot cut jeans or Curvy fashion ones, I'm going to take advantage. And here's some good news, at least to Metal Mommy who has had 2 kids me...the rise of jeans is rising once again. Oh, you can still get the low-rise, but now you have a choice of low, mid or high. I'm not a high-rise jeans type person, but middle is JUST right. No more Muffin Top! Wooo! Unless you are a total Skinny Minnie, low rise jeans definitely give you the dreaded Muffin Top, Bacon Belt, whatever you want to call it. Whatever it is you call it, it's not attractive, so this is a very good thing. I guess fashion had to make up for Wide Leg pants that are now in style--had to throw us shorties who wouldn't be caught dead in such things a bone. I mean, isn't that Wide Leg pant thing what rebel kids wear in Junior High and High School, along with pants that hang down past their butts?? Well, I guess one way to get them to stop rebeling with them is to make them fashionable. We practically had the butt thing going with those low-rise jeans.

But enough about fashion! (for now.) After a bit of a rough start, school is now going fabulously for both kids. They are getting into their grooves, thank goodness. Here's a nice photo of Sullivan looking pretty relaxed at his new desk. No worries there!

Into a busy weekend ahead with a goumet dinner and a Silpada Jewelry party. Yay!

Another School Year

Lordy Lordy, I just sent my daughter off to the wolves...to her first day of Junior High at a brand new school. I think Coreman and I are more nervous than she is, neither of us slept a wink last night. She on the other hand, said she slept like a baby and she seemed cool as a cuke this morning. Soon I'll be sending Sullivan off to his new school as a 1st grader, as well. sigh.

Of course any parent is lying that says they don't look forward to that first day of school--well, at least any home-parent. My days to myself again! It feels good after a month of craziness. This past week of getting the kids registered and all of the rigamarole that goes along with that was quite overwhelming, on top of all of the moving stuff. I'll celebrate my new-found all day freedom by having coffee with my peeps this morning, yahoo! Now that Kim has her new job, she can join Stephanie and I for our weekly coffee ritual. Stephanie's Nathan is also starting a new school today, and with a new job to talk about as well, I'm sure the coffee shop will be buzzing this morning!!

Somehow this week we also managed to slip in a day at the State Fair. Nothing says 'end of the summer' like the State Fair. Once again our fine daughter managed to get her artwork accepted--and this time she won a blue ribbon!!!!! It was all I could do not to stand around the display telling everyone that peeked in that MY DAUGHTER drew that cool blue-ribbon-winning haunted castle. (yes, a haunted castle. very metal indeed.) We ate the usual fair fare and had a wonderful time. A family tradition!

And, a happy happy birthday to our sweet Sir Digby, who turned one yesterday. What a gift he has been to our family! Here he is with his new birthday toy!