My Life... Just Pretend You're Interested

I've moved!!!

2009-06-13T11:40:00.001-05:00

To visit me please go to www.swampbrat.net. Please change your blogroll to this address as well. THANKS!!!!!

Time for a TAD award

2009-06-11T07:07:00.002-05:00

What's a TAD AWARD you might ask? Tad is the name of the fish on "Finding Nemo" who says "I'm OBNOXIOUS." I, on occasion, bestow the TAD AWARD upon people who piss me off, offend me, make me sick, cut me off in traffic, etc... etc... So, it's not really an award you want. You can read about the other TAD AWARD winners by clicking on the link above or on the fish pic in my sidebar.
The recipient today is actually TWO recipients, but they go together.

We'll start with the chick at Alec's summer league basketball game. She is the mom of a boy Alec often rides his bike to school with. Her son has slept over at our house and lives in our neighborhood. I've spoke with her a few times in the past- always small talk, "Hey, how ya doin'?" type stuff. Well, she also knows my ex. Idk how well, but they know each other. Who knows, maybe she goes to his church like 1/2 the county does... Anyway... at the game I saw her walk in. She stepped up on the bleachers RIGHT beside me. I said, "Hey! How's it goin?" She totally didn't even acknowledge I said anything. Alrighty then. I assumed she's not very observant like me and figured she didn't notice who I was. She went a few bleachers up and basically sat in front of my ex. So... Tristan leaves the ex's side to sit by me because I am awesome. You'd think she'd notice this 5'8" kid walk in front of her and sit by me. And she knows Tristan too... Well, she came down to take her lil boy to the restroom, walked right in front of me, turned her head towards the court as she past me. Wha?? Ok... I'm playin' it cool. Maybe she really is that blind. She comes back, walks in front of me again and AGAIN turns her head. You're kidding right? Alec also ran off the court at 1/2 time and I stood up to hug him. You know she had to notice this, right? It's not like it was a packed gym or anything. But get this: Taj went over to her lil boy and asked him to play. So, for the last quarter of the game her son is playing right behind me with my son. Go ahead, ask me if she ever acknowledged me? Ask me!! No- she didn't. WTH???!?!?!? However, I'm not gonna hand her the award just yet. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that she's just that socially retarded. I'll see how she treats me next Tuesday at Alec's game. Stay tuned...

The other recipient gets his award today and can shove it. Seriously. He lives across the street from the ex's house and yes, he is an adult. I got to spend a couple of hours with the kids last nite for my weekly summer "visitation." HA! Anyway... I was dropping the kids off and Alec was still in the car with me. The neighbor came outside and noticed Alec, so he walked over to talk to him. Alec rolled down his window and this is the conversation that took place:

Tad jerk: "Wsup Alec?"
Alec: "Hey! Wsup?"
Me: "Hi! I'm Alec's mom."
Tad jerk: *blank stare* *turns back to Alec*
Alec: "Yeah, um, this is Scott. Scott this is my mom."
Me: "Hi..."
Scott: *does not even look at me* "I thought we were gonna play ball?"
Alec: "Oh, yeah, well it rained and I went out with my mom..."
Scott: "Yeah, well we'll ball it up later."
Alec: "Ok. See ya."
Scott turns around and walks off. No "nice to meet you", nada.

Ok, seriously. Who the hell are these people? It really hurt my feelings. And let's see... what do they both have in common? Who do they both know?? Hmm... hold on... I think I'm putting 2 and 2 together...

Please tell me this has happened in your house!!!

2009-06-10T08:03:00.000-05:00

So, Liv and Taj take baths together on occasion. Last nite they were bathing and I was in my room. Suddenly Taj screamed. I went running to the bathroom thinking someone was hurt. Taj had jumped out of the bath. "I'm never taking a bath with Livie again!!!"

I asked him why and this is what he told me:

....

....

....

"She PEED on me!!!!"

Apparently she had somehow balanced herself into a straddle position with her feet on the sides of the tub and yep, peed right over his head into his hair, down his face... gross

This is normal. Right?

Stuff that's exciting to me- but that's why my blog is called "PRETEND you're interested..."

2009-06-09T12:43:00.006-05:00

I think Liv may be ambidextrous. She writes her letters with her right hand, but she bats a baseball (like a pro!) with her left. It's interesting. And all I can think is "That's gonna be so rad!! She'll be an ambidextrous point guard!!" See, in basketball for the most part people are right handed, so when a point guard brings the ball down the court the defender usually tries to force them to dribble left because they aren't as comfortable. Well... Livie will be like on "The Princess Bride." (start at 1:18)

She'll start out dribbling with her left and they'll force her right thinking it's her "weak hand." It won't matter because she'll be just as comfortable. And if she can shoot right and left... oh, my dream come true!! And with her fiesty, kickbutt personality I know she'll be diving all over the court for the ball. I CANNOT wait!

So, that's my exciting news of the day. I know... Crazy. Oh, and I'm hoping she's a little more graceful on the court than she is in this video... (Thank you Newbaby.com for my new VADO this was filmed with!)

Weeks review

2009-06-08T06:50:00.001-05:00

Tristan, Alec and Isabel are at the ex's now. Let's just hope there's not a repeat of last summer.
Sei and I went to dinner and a movie with my brother and SIL. Ok, DON'T see "Drag Me To Hell." You will lose brain cells. I jumped a lot, but I think I laughed more than anything. A goat talked in it- if that helps you decide NOT to go see it. On a positive note, the "Mac" guy is in it. He's cute.
I have some major excitement coming up on my blog. I can hardly wait!!!! Visit Stitchblade Designs and Not So Average Mama for a clue. Not So Average Mama is also hosting another cool giveaway you should check out- especially if your child wears glasses!! Check it out HERE.
Lakers are in the finals. I live with Sei- the Kobe fan. Gag. But I did read THIS and it made me feel a lil better. Please read some of the comments and take the poll!!
I've been cutting carbs a lot and have lost a few pounds this week. I've been doing it without diet pills, but I'm not above using them. I wanna look good on vacation!!
Taj found an old birdcage and naturally he has his pet FROG inside it. I love my Tajy.
Speaking of Taj, he's quite the swimmer. He's been swimming floaty-less since last summer. This year he swims underwater a lot, which is cool but scares me at the same time. Here's a short video of him. No looking at my husband. ;)

Giveaway you MUST check out

2009-06-08T06:37:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm only telling you about this giveaway because it gets me an extra entry. I really plan on winning it... ;) If you go to The Dirty Shirt you can win a Step 2 Nature Station Playhouse!! Yes- the actual PLAYHOUSE. You know that Step2 is a name that can be trusted!! So, go check out the giveaway!!

Summer and... stuff

2009-06-03T10:41:00.003-05:00

So... tomorrow is the last day of school here. Then on Friday evening the kids leave to go to the ex's for their summer visitation. In the past they have spent the 6 weeks there all right in a row. This summer we're trying something different where we're splitting it 3 weeks in June, a few long weekends in July that equal a week and then 2 weeks in August. We'll see if this works better or sucks more. Poor Taj has been drawing pictures all day for Tristan, Alec and Isabel to tell them "Bye" and that he'll miss them. Yesterday he told Sei, "In a few days Alec has to go to M___'s for a very, very long time." It was so sad. So... on Friday the Suck-fest begins! On a happy note, I did work it out the where I have weekly visits for a couple of hours. Taj will love it although his heart will break again at the end of each visit. Kelsea and Karlea come on July 4 so we are all stoked about that!!
In July we'll be taking a weeklong trip to Florida. (Thank goodness for my parents and their timeshare condo & a beach that is free to hang out on all day!! ) (No, we aren't taking an Orlando vacations but we are going to a very cool area!) Bad people reading this- there will be someone housesitting so don't even think about trying to steal our 10 year old tv, Super Nintendo or Disney VHS collection... I am so ready for this vacay. It is so needed and I think deserved with all the crap we've been served this year. All I have to say is if MY ex thinks he has it bad with an ex-wife who doesn't interfere with visitation (and never has and in fact used to pay for 1.5 out of 2 trips to Texas from Utah), doesn't ask for more child support or money for extracurricular stuff, doesn't badmouth him (except on my blog, but it's MY blog so I can...) then I'm sure Seiuli would be totally THRILLED to trade exes.

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On another note...
In case you haven't noticed with the last 2 posts and probably emails you may have received... my new hobby is entering giveaways on blogs. So far I've won 2!! YAY!! So usually when I blog about it or send you an email it gets me another entry. Just so ya know...
Also, I'm trying to monetize a lil from my blog, so if you "follow" me here and on Twitter it makes me look more popular... I've never had the "Follow me" thing up in my sidebar because I think it's kinda high school-ish, but now I need it, so it's there. :) I'm also going to be hosting a giveaway on my blog soon that I will need y'all to spread the word about!!

And... apparently that whole thing with Eminem and Bruno at the MTV movie awards was staged. In that case... it's still totally disgusting. I talked to my boys about it and told them it's not ok for people to stick their buttcracks into other's faces. Yeah... it went along with my "hazing is bad" talk I was already having. Do you know that hazing is pretty huge at summer high school sports camps? I don't want something to happen to my freshman football player!! So... Hazing is one of the things I've talked to my kids about. And huffing and bullying. I have ZERO tolerance for bullying. I make sure to point out mean scenes in movies- like on "Spiderman" when all the kids on the bus are mean to Peter- and I threaten my kids... "If you EVER treat someone like that I will spank your butt IN FRONT OF YOUR FRIENDS!" I can feel the Samoan comin' out in me!! haha

I've talked to my kids about a lot of things that Sei is kinda like "You're weird..." about, but that's another post....

Awesome Giveaway!!!

2009-06-03T08:35:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! I was just wanting to let you know about The Giveaway's 1st Birthday Bash that will run June 5th-12th. Haven't heard about 'The Giveaway'? It's this great blog that has several easy-to-enter giveaways starting every week!

And the Birthday Bash will be the biggest week ever! There are over $2100 in prizes to be given out! Starting with a Giveaway Carnival on Friday, June 5th, a Photo Contest on Saturday, Scavenger Hunt on Sunday, regular giveaways Mon-Thurs, a LIVE Grand Prize Giveaway on Friday, June 12th, and Daily Door Prizes. This is going to be HUGE!

For more info on the Birthday Bash, here's the link: http://www.the-giveaway.com/2009/05/giveaways-1st-birthday-bash

Remember, it starts this Friday, June 5th with The Giveaway's 1st Annual Birthday Carnival! So if you are hosting a family-friendly giveaway on your blog, you can enter it in the Carnival and be entered to win a great Prize Package, as well as Friday's Door Prize!

And if you blog about this too (before Friday, June 5th) (just copy and paste this post), then you will be entered to win the special Early Bird Prize! Just come back here: www.the-giveaway.com/2009/06/birthday-bash-early-bird-giveaway and leave a comment with your blog post url!

Hope to see you there!
www.the-giveaway.com

Father's Day Idea

2009-06-02T11:56:00.001-05:00

Hey y'all- there is a cool giveaway going on over at Not So Average Mama. You can win a 18 x 24 Poster Print of your favorite pic! This could be a really cool idea for Father's day. I just had a poster made of Seiuli with his surfboard while on his trip to Hawaii that we do not speak of... (still bitter...) Go on and check out the giveaway. It's simple to enter- leave a comment!! Can't get much simpler than that!!

My thoughts on the MTV Movie Awards

2009-06-01T10:29:00.008-05:00

1st thought-
Yesssssssssssss. Jacob is lookin' all hot with short hair and a ripped chest. I think I can lust and not feel TOTALLY like a dirty old lady. (Maybe a lil, but that's ok...)

2nd thought-
WTH?!?! This was WRONG on so many different levels. Eminem should sue- and I don't even like Eminem. I'm sorry, you don't stick your buttcrack in someone's face like that. He deserved to get his a$$ kicked. Seriously. I didn't laugh at.all. It was wrong and disturbed me. A lot. Maybe I'll sue...

3rd thought-
The host, Adam Samberg, wasn't very funny.

The end.

Birth order-- pointless post

2009-05-31T21:14:00.005-05:00

There are 5 kids in my family. I always consider myself the middle child even though I am technically the 2nd child. "Why?" you ask. Well, because my brother, the 4th kid, wasn't born until I was 10. That's a long time to spend in the middle of 2 other girls. And then the 5th child wasn't born until I was almost 18. So, yeah... I was the "middle child" long enough to get warped. This what I found off a birth order website regarding the middle child of 3:

* Has neither rights of oldest nor privileges of youngest.
* Feels life is unfair.
* Feels unloved, left out, "squeezed."
* Feels doesn't have place in family.
* Becomes discouraged and "problem child" or elevates self by pushing down other siblings.
* Is adaptable.
* Learns to deal with both oldest and youngest sibling.

And this is what is says for the 2nd child:

* Never has parents' undivided attention.
* Always has sibling ahead who's more advanced.
* Acts as if in race, trying to catch up or overtake first child. If first child is "good," second may become "bad." Develops abilities first child doesn't exhibit. If first child successful, may feel uncertain of self and abilities.
* May be rebel.
* Often doesn't like position.
* Feels "squeezed" if third child is born.
* May push down other siblings

Hmm.... yep. Sounds pretty right on to me. I'm not sure *why* it works out that way, but it does. Maybe it's because back when I was born there weren't cool things like camcorders so unlike with my little sister- my first 3 years aren't all on tape!! And I think it may have been different if my older sister was a boy, etc... I think that makes a difference. You should go check out that site and see if it matches up with your birth order.

I don't think anyone did anything to make me feel "squeezed" or turn me into a "rebel." I was born with a rebellious streak, I think, but I don't think that's handed out just because I was the 2nd child. And I think that streak can be a blessing as much as it has been a curse. It's a certain strength I have when I reign it in to do good. lol

I've written warped middle child stories in the past. Such as my "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" post and my "Tattle Tail" story. There's plenty more where that came from if you keep reading my blog... (say that like Napoleon.) I had another story planned and I just totally forgot it. I must be healing. haha

Things I heard

2009-05-28T08:47:00.012-05:00

Heard on the way to school today:

"Mom, I wanna listen to "Cuz I'm just a teenage dirtbag baaaaaby...."
-Taj

"I kissed a girl and it's yucky. I wish I had listened to Mommy..."
-Me, singing my new version of "I Kissed a Girl" for Tristan

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Heard last nite during the 4th quarter of the Lakers/Nuggets game:

"Tori, you know if they win you'll get LU-CK-YYYYYYY."
-Sei

"Man, if they lose I"m gonna have to cut you off babe."
-Sei

**ROLLING EYES REALLY LOUDLY**
-Me
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Heard everytime I walk in the bathroom... still

"Pee or poop Mom?"
-Liv

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Heard 'round the world and blogosphere:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NO COOL STORY!!!
I ♥ ya!!!!

(ps. I mailed your gift late. UPS should deliver it by Monday. That is all...)

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You can go to Reidsupply.com and check out the free cad drawing designs!!! It's a super cool site and easy to navigate.

Blah

2009-05-26T09:35:00.004-05:00

Hey, remember these lil plants from back in April?? Well, this is what they look like now!!:

Yeah. We pretty much rock at gardening...

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I've been having a bum time lately. Idk what the deal is. I kinda feel like I did in high school where I'm thinkin "Who the heck am I?" Do y'all ever do that or am I just weird? I feel like I'm such a mix of like 40 different personalities. Thankfully my husband loves every one of them- for the most part. I know he has a hard time understanding my "rebellious" nature, but he tries his best not to look at me like I'm a total dirtbag. lol "Dirtbag" is my word of the day. I was listening to Wheatus' song "Teenage Dirtbag" and Tristan thought that was the funniest word ever. lol Heard another funny saying I'll be stealing. When we were chatting, Not So Average Mama said "I think we all have a first crap bag..." referring to sucky exes. lol Crap bags indeed!
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I had a garage sale this week and made $175. YAY! We have a trip planned to Florida this summer which will be our 1st complete family vacation since I was pregnant with Taj. We don't have the money to go because all our money (and then some;) has been going to an attorney in Canada. But thankfully my parents own a timeshare in Florida, with a built in kitchen, etc... so basically all we have to do is get there and buy groceries and hang on the beach. I am thankful that certain people haven't completely ruined everything. And now with the $175 we can decide between gas money to Florida or 1/2 an hour of attorney fees. Decisions....

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I've still been doing P90X although not 6 days a week. It's more like 4 days a week. I switched from Classic to Lean because let's face it- pull ups aren't gonna make my butt smaller. The lean version concentrates more on weightloss. Sei is doing the classic version. Oh- speaking of pull ups... If I jump I can do one. ONE- which is the same amount I could do in 5th grade. Yesssssssssssssss.

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That's about it. I would write more but I don't wanna bore you with my depressiveness. :P Have a happy day!

3 things

2009-05-22T15:32:00.003-05:00

1) When you're making an online payment for something make sure you click the right box. Because if you accidently click the "Pay statement balance" and you still owe $7000 on your car, they are going to try to take $7000 out of your bank account. And you won't discover this until you're trying to buy chicken nuggets in the McDonald's drivethru.

2) Some people suck. I can't believe how bad some people suck. I tried to find a pic to post that would give a cleaned up version of a middle finger salute, but couldn't. But if I did I'd be waving it to the north- and I'm not talkin' about Oklahoma. (Or you, Yvonne!!)

3) Speaking of Yvonne!!! I got to hang out with her and her sweet hubby for a while yesterday. Jealous?? You should be!! Thanks again Yvonne! You're awesome!

Nice excuse Sei...

2009-05-20T10:54:00.002-05:00

So... on Monday Sei was feeling sick so we didn't watch the "24" season finale. Last nite on my way home from the library I text him "24 tonite?" and he said "10-4." Yeah, ask me if we watched "24"??? Go on, ASK ME. That would be a big NEGATIVE GHOSTRIDER. Sei watched the Laker game instead. This morning when I confronted him about our broken date he said, "Oh, I thought when you said '24' that you meant Kobe."

DOES NOT =

Lameness

2009-05-18T07:08:00.000-05:00

LAME BLOGGER: I have been so lame about commenting on blogs. I really have. It's not that I don't love y'all. I am just lazy. I don't feel like commenting. But I AM reading. I am just lame. I see a lot of y'all on Facebook so I feel like I'm still connected... That's all. Don't hate.

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LAME MOM: So, Tristan got a detention. He brings the slip to me, I look at it and start laughing uncontrollably. The teacher had written:

"This is a non-gum chewing campus...."

For some reason that just struck me as hilarious. Not a non-drugs campus or weapon-free campus or whatever. A "Non-gum chewing campus." So... yes. Instead of reprimanding my child for his rebellious gum chewing (gum I supplied him) I laughed at his teacher. Niiiiiiice.

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LAME MOM again...: Alec has started riding his bike to school because he likes to stop at a friend's house to play basketball before school. This morning I was taking Tristan to school and passed Alec playing. He had on his Kobe jersey, so instead of yelling something like, "Have a great day at school son!" instead I rolled down my window and yelled, "KOBE SUCKS!!!!!" The kids were all shocked thinking "Who is that crazy lady!?" but then Alec laughed and yelled back at me something like "MOM, DON'T HATE!!" Better than, "Mom, I hate you!" I am such an embarrassing parent. lol

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LAME WIFE: I left my husband home with Liv and Taj on Saturday for a girls nite out. Some of my friends and I were going out for my bday. I just felt bad because when I left he was cussing at a ceiling fan he was trying to hang. I brought him cheesecake to make up for it though...

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LAME POST: Yeah, my bad...

6 spazzy letters

2009-05-13T11:39:00.005-05:00

Dear Livie,
Yes, you will one day "Get big boons." But could you maybe refrain from asking about them and touching my "boons" when we're in line at Kroger? Also, when I am in the bathroom with the door shut it is totally not your business if I "have pees or poop." Besides, chicks don't poop.

Love you.
Mommy
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Dear Alec,
I love you and you're awesome, but will you please, please, please cut your hair? You're really starting to look like Napoleon Dynamite. And although you're still handsome & I love your curls, I really wanna take you to the "Cuttin' Corral" to get yer hair did.

:):)
Mom
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Dear Tristan,
I'm sorry that the bishop wasn't diggin' your fo-hawk at church. I loved it and thought you looked great. Don't worry- I took the blame. He knows I'm a troublemaker, so it's all good. I told him he was lucky I didn't use the red hair gel. I'm just sayin'... I gotcho back.

xoxo
Mom
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Dear Isabel,
You are so beautiful and I love laughing with you. I also don't mind that you choose the music from my iPod to listen to when we get in the car. But do you think we could play something different than "Poker Face" occasionally? It's gettin' a little old. Plus, I don't really want you to learn all the words. I still feel bad that you sing "Gives You Hell." I blame myself for that.

Love you!
Mom
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Dear Taj,
I really need your teeth to stop falling out. The Tooth Fairy called and said that a 5 year old losing 7 teeth already is unheard of and she is going broke. She also would like to request you NOT lose any more teeth on Saturday evenings.

Love,
Mommy

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Seiuli,
Um, hi. Could you do me a favor? Stop lookin' so hot in your police uniform. It's getting ridiculous. You come home, dinner's on the table and all I can think about is you. Much yummier than the meatloaf. You know I can't trust all those badge bunnies out there. So, tone it down a bit Officer Gorgeous. Love you.

Your wife

*"The great Larry Bird, jersey 33..."

2009-05-11T00:20:00.007-05:00

* If you can tell me what my title is from you get 1000 cool points!! So... today is my birthday. My 33rd birthday to be exact. I was born at 11:33 pm 33 years ago. I was a bit oxygen deprived before delivery which may explain a lot. I'm sure the trauma at my birth is to blame for a lot of the trauma in my life. ;) But I was a pretty baby. I'm just sayin'... ----------------------------
For Mother's Day the kids and Sei decorated a couple of aprons for me. I needed an apron in a big way, so I was excited to receive them. The boys and Sei went on a father/son campout in Oklahoma on Friday and on the way home they stopped and picked wildflowers for me. So sweet. I ♥ wildflowers.
(You can't even tell my butt is totally sore from the x90p legs & back dvd.)
Sei grilled some yum meat for fajitas. I made potato salad (Heidi!!), corn, rice, and Eclair cake- and then we headed to my parent's to eat. It was a great weekend. I hope everyone had a wonderful Mom's day.
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Thank you, Nancy, for the birthday card and recipe cards!!!

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I'm still doing p90x and hoping to drop some pounds. I would really like to find a diet pill that works!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

2009-05-10T11:07:00.003-05:00

To all the women who set a great example for the children in the world...

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

Texas Wildflowers courtesy of my boys, Seiuli, Tristan, Alec and Taj :)

Holla!!!

2009-05-06T09:46:00.004-05:00

* Last nite we had an activity at the church. A few of us made easy crockpot meals and shared them and the recipes. I added these yum recipes to the Eazy Mealz blog today, so go check it out!

* I started P90X on Monday. It's suppose to kick my butt and hopefully be one of the best weight loss products out there. I hope so. I am sore from the "pulls ups" I did even though not one of them was done without the help of a chair. And my push ups... yeah. Taking my before pics was PAINFUL but when I'm a hottie I will post them. Not.

* The school district decided to have the kids come back to school tomorrow. I think that's great except that they told us the kids would be out all week so now people left town, etc... I know 3 different families that are gone out of town now.

* My thought on "The Biggest Loser": Tara should win. She has stayed above the yellow line the entire show. She's gonna have a tough time beating Mike (who I am assuming will be the 3rd finalist) because he has more weight to lose. She's getting down to where there's not much left on her to get rid of. But I am for her. I've liked her the entire show although I was for Sione, then Filipe...

* My thoughts on my Mavs: GET YOUR BUTT IN GEAR!!!! They are down 2-0 to the Nuggets. Stressing.me.out. I honestly don't think they'll win the finals, so I'm just gonna say if they don't win then I want the Cavs or Celtics to win. Just say NO to Kobe!!

* I saw the most interesting tattoo last nite. It was on the INSIDE of the lower lip. I thought it was pretty rad. She said it hurt like they were carving it with a pocket knife. Nice.

* Free food from KFC!! Click here!! Hurry- you can only download it today!!

RaNdOm

2009-05-05T08:48:00.005-05:00

** So... you may have noticed that I added a "Daily Movie Quote" to the top of my blog. When I say "daily" I mean "whenever I remember to change it." You are welcome to name the movie in your comment or if you clickety on the movie reel it takes you to the answer. Yesterday's was "We look like bad guys. Incompetent bad guys!" which was from one of my all time faves "The Incredibles."

** Lately Liv has become obsessed with "boons" aka "Boobs." She asks me about mine all the time, shows me "hers", asks to see Isabel's, talks about getting "boons" when she's bigger, etc... It's funny except when she feels me up in public.

** "24" is stressin me out. I do not like Tony Almeida being bad. 3 more hours left!!

** Our school district is closed for all this week due to the swine flu. I can kindof understand *why* but here's my questions:

1) What about the thousands on kids that receive free breakfast and lunch? For some kids that's all the food they get. I know they have a couple of food programs set up to help, but seriously, I worry for those kiddos. I'm dropping some food off at a drop off site today.

2) What about the parents who don't have sick time or vacay time to take off work, yet their kiddos are too young to stay at home alone? How do they find and afford childcare?

3) Do they really think we're gonna keep all our kids "quarantined" in the house? I have EIGHT kids here this week including the kids I babysit. If I kept them all quarantined we'd all end up hanging in a closet.

** Wassup with the price and lack of ammunition these days? People are worried about new gun control laws, etc... so they are stockin' up. Bullets for my .38 are selling out as soon as they come in. I have 5 bullets left. I better not miss.

** My birthday is coming up. When I turned 30 I was really upset. Seriously depressed. But now 1/2 the time I can't remember how old I am anyway. Is that a sign of aging?

Deep thoughts by Tori

2009-05-04T12:08:00.006-05:00

"Do you ever get insecure and think people don't like you as much as you thought?"

Nobody in Texas 09

Sei and I went out on Saturday. Nothin' major- we went to a burger joint with way yummy onion rings and went to Aeropostale to spend the rest of my gift card that I got a Christmas. :) As we were sitting at the table eating I started thinking (and these are my exact thoughts so sorry- I didn't sensor anything), "How the hell did I end up with such a rad man? What the hell is he doing with me?? There's no way he loves me as much as I love him."

I am so opposite of Seiuli in so many ways.

I am rather introverted until I get to know the people I'm around. He, on the other hand, will find out that the guy carrying something out to our car actually knows his aunt who lives in Pago Pago.

He was a good boy his whole life. No drinking. No smoking. No real girlfriends until after his mission. (Ok, so he took the chick to prom who had a Burt monobrow. She doesn't count.) He has been so good his whole life that the police department totally didn't believe it and tried to say he lied on his lie detector test just to get him to "admit" to something he had done. He stood his ground because there was nothing to admit to. I got in all kinds of trouble and was boycrazy from age 5 on...

He's a cop and arrests people. I have been arrested by a cop (or 2.)

When another meeting is announced at church or something he totally just goes- no complaining. Me- I whine about him going and try to talk him out of it. I am bad.

He plays the piano by freakin' ear & sings and I... don't. I can't sing. I can't dance. I can't play the accordian. I must have gone to the bathroom or something when God handed out musical talents...

Anyway... my point is that sometimes I get so insecure and really wonder why Seiuli would pick ME of all the tens of thousands of women on Ldssingles.com (that sounds really funny, but whatev). I mean, there are people his mom would have liked immediately rather than taking 5 years to warm up to and then decide that her son must like me for some reason so I must be ok.

There are girls that are not shy and would have been fine meeting his 4000 family members and not come off as a stuck up winch.

There are girls without bumpy thumbnails. (Mine have ridges!!)

There are girls that are skinny naturally and don't have back fat.

There are chicks who like Kobe Bryant.

There are chicks that can fix their daughter's hair super cute.

There are women that actually iron and clean and ENJOY cooking.

The list could go on and on.

So when these thoughts come into my head I have to ask myself if all those other women in my head that I think would be better for my husband:

Yeah- I didn't think so. I win.

Repeated left turns rock!

2009-04-29T20:19:00.006-05:00

So... as many of you know I was blessed (yes- I used the word "blessed" and I totally mean it) to have 2 great friends come all the way to Texas to visit me. ME. I'm still in shock over that. My online twin, NCS and Nobody hung with me for 4 days straight y'all (maybe 5, but I got there later on Thursday). FOUR days I had them all to myself other than when I shared them with a couple of Nobo's old friends from when she lived in Texas (who were totally cool!!) I had a blast meeting them. We are planning a trip to Sprinkles and a tattoo shop...

Let's see... we had a 5 star meal in a gas station. Seriously. This awesome restaurant was in the gas station. I also had to call Lauren to let her know that I believe my gay BIL's gaydar is not working correctly when he said Zac Efron was gay. We watched "17 Again" and that boy is... such a sweet kid. (I can't say what I was thinking because I would have to change my last name to LeTourneau.) I enjoyed the movie thoroughly and I think Nobo enjoyed watching my mom-ish reactions thoroughly as well. (Is that how you spell thoroughly?)

We got pretty pedis. They make me look so niiiiiiie. We went for Pho where I ate chicken.

We visited the Dallas Holocaust Museum because nothing says "Girls Weekend" like a trip to the holocaust museum. I also took a pic of the "X" that marked the spot of the fatal shot into JFK. It sparked my interest enough that I checked out a book about the whole conspiracy behind the JFK assassination. Um, yeah... I could say more but I don't wanna die. So.... moving on.

We got lost so so so much. The GPS system we had with us was so patient with me. I would have cussed me out but she just said, "Turn left. Turn left again. Turn left again." For those of y'all keeping track- that equals a U-turn.

Sei made us dinner on Sunday and it was de-lish! He is a much better host than I am. He was so sweet. I love him. Nobo served Taj his food and even cut it for him and NCS played with Livie. Liv hasn't stopped asking about "her friend." We stayed up late, talking, playing truth or dare and watching trashy reality shows. It was awesome. I was sad to take Nobo to the airport on Monday morning. I showed my great hostessing abilities by taking NCS to Burger King for lunch. We were suppose to meet Sei who was an hour late because he is apparently the only cop in the entire city so everyone needs him. Then right after he took this pic of us: he got a call to look for a particular truck- which happen to pass us at that exact moment- and he jumped in his car, lites and sirens, and sped off. Taj and Liv are still talking about it. "Daddy catched the bad guys??"

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. I missed my family- even though I saw them quite a bit, but came home a better wife and mom. I also really got to learn a ton about friendship. These chicas are true, true friends. I am still in awe that they actually came to Texas to see ME. They are awesome. Thanks y'all!!!! You know I love ya!

**For more entertaining reviews go here and here.

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Sidenote: Sei and I were discussing a neighbor who is disabled. It really concerns me- if something happend to Sei or I we'd be in trouble. Thankfully there is disability insurance thru awesome providers like allsup.com. Allsup has a 98% success rate for those who complete the SSDI process with them. They are a leading nationwide provider of financial and healthcare related services to people with disabilities. Since 1984, Allsup has helped more than 110,000 people receive their entitled Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare benefits.

My teen really IS sweet. He just doesn't look that way.

2009-04-28T09:03:00.007-05:00

What's the deal with teenagers thinking they CANNOT smile in pics? It's like against the rules or something. Observe:

You're so handsome Tristan!

Happy Thanksgiving Tristan!!

Happy New Year Tdog!!

Tristan was having a GREAT time at Turner Falls. Does it show?

He won't smile, but he'll make faces..."Good job in your game Tristan..."

"Heh- thanks."

Finally, after being threatened by his loving mother... -----------------

Tristan is a lucky teen and has been blessed with virtually zit-less, acne-free skin. However, that is not the case for many teens and adults! If you are looking for a treatment for acne try visiting acnecuresrevealed.com. (Acne cures revealed)

Tori's Time Machine

2009-04-21T22:36:00.004-05:00

"You made a time machine... out of a Delorean??"

Have you ever wished to be back in the day when the zits on your face were caused by being a hormonal teenager rather than by stress?

Or when eating a gallon of ice cream could make all your problems disappear rather than just make your pants not fit?

And when a cheating partner meant you dump him and spread rumors rather than spend the rest of your life sharing kids and hiring lawyers?

Have you ever wished to be back in the day when you played sports so working out was fun, rather than... work?

Back when if your jeans didn't fit anymore it meant you grew up and not out?

Have you ever wished to be back in the day when you could ask your dad for $20 & think nothing of it, rather than paying him $50 a month for 12 years to pay off the $7000 you borrowed?

Or when you could eat 4 party burritos, 1/2 a pizza and drink REAL Coke, not diet, and not think a thing about it rather than smelling a pizza and gaining 3 pounds?

Ugh. I'm having one of those weeks. Where's my Delorean? Or maybe one of these: