Thursday, June 26, 2008

Dear Beauty Editor

Dear Beauty Editor:

Today I made a very important discovery. Why spend $6 on a pack of oil blotting tissues when tissue toilet seat covers work just as well?

You can just as well use the toilet tissue covers in the restroom to blot your oily face. Better yet, you can pop out that center circle, place the toilet cover on the seat, sit down, and blot your face while you do your business. How's that for multi-tasking? Genius!

That was my beauty secret of the day and I'm sharing it with all of you. Enjoy!

Sincerely,
ShoeGirl

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Dogged By My Own Son

Yesterday I go to pick up my son and he's asleep. My daughter informs me that he has a big scratch on his face. My sitter tells me that he went into the pantry, without permission of course, to look for a box of animal crackers. The box fell out and scratched him all along his nose.

Last night I told him something about the big scratch. Something like, "You had to go get and get that big scratch before the party. It probably won't even clear up by Saturday."

And he answers, without missing a beat, "Yeah, well your pimple isn't going to clear up." (I wish I could remember his exact words!)

FOUR YEARS OLD!! Can you imagine! Dogged by my own son. I can only imagine what he's going to dish out when he's a teenager.

I've never been very good at comebacks. I always got dogged as a pre-teen and teenager and I never felt like I had quite the best come back.

What do you say to the kid in middle school who tells you on the bus, "Your butt is like theeeese!" as he runs his hand along the flat wall of the bus?

My response was usually to crack up. It was my natural reaction. It was freakin' hilarious! I was being honest. But I must admit that there was one part of me that wished I had come up with a better come back. A funny one and not necessarily a mean one.

I reacted the same way with my son. How can you reprimand such a great sense of humor? If I reacted like my parents would have 30 years ago I could endanger affecting a future comic in a negative way.

OK, we broke down. We got "Rock Band." I know, we're geeks! My daughter is belting out, "Say it ain't so," as I type this.

Crazy stuff going on at work, but I can't tell y'all about it. I just took my harassment training and blogging was actually touched upon. Yeah! Seriously! Gotta love Corporate America! And I do! Yes I do! Where else would I be collecting such fine writing material? Just kidding!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Bath Time Conversations

Son: I want to take a bubble bath!!
Me: OK. Let me wash the tub.
Son: I want for Sissy to take a bath with me.
Me: No, let Sissy take a bath later. You take a bath first.
Son: NO! I want to take a bubble bath with her!
Me: Y'all are getting too big to take a bath together.
Son: Why? Our big butts won't fit in the tub?
Me: Sigh! Never mind. OK. Ask your sister if she wants to take a bath with you.

Later...
Daughter: Yay! Let's take a bath with Mr. Bubble!
Me: Ooh! You're in trouble with Mr. Bubble!
Daughter: Ha ha! (she's heard my joke before)
Son: (all concerned) Why???
Me: It's just a rhyme.
Son: OH!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

You've Got Mail

I just googled my own blog and I saw that I wrote about You've Got Mail back in 2005, almost three years ago. I love watching this movie because: 1) It reminds me of how much I love New York and 2) It reminds me why I want to write.

New York is also a character in this movie. It is portrayed in this movie a lot like it is in Sex in the City, before the Sex in the City New York craze. In fact, the show Sex in the City debuted in June of 1998 and You've Got Mail was released in December of 1998. That was way before all the New York craze that the Sex show created. Now if you go to New York they even have Sex and the City tours.

I doubt they have You've Got Mail tours, but if you go on the Warner Bros. website you can walk through the Upper West Side and see the different spots that are featured in the movie. I walked around the area a couple of years ago when I first went to NYC.

Which reminds me, I'm going again in October for work and then hopefully for a long weekend. I can't wait! I love NY! I am one of those people that honestly believes that she could live there. I don't think it's completely ridiculous. I had a girlfriend from the Houston suburb area who went to visit when she was around 21 and she moved there. She lived there over 10 years. She ended up marrying a guy from there and then ironically they moved back here.

So yes I believe I could live there happily. At least for a while. New York, sigh!

The movie also reminds me of why I want to be a writer. I admire Nora and Delia Ephron so much for their writing and how their work makes people feel. Between the two of them, together and separately, they've written many of my favorites, like You've Got Mail, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sleepless in Seattle, and When Harry Met Sally. New York and writing. They just go hand in hand!

Friday, June 20, 2008

The Girl Scout Badges I Never Had


I was telling my sister about my badges and she said, "So you earned your Girl Scout badges." Never having been a Girl Scout myself I hadn't gotten it. How hilarious!

Here they are in this order: Babysitting, Reading, Organizing, and Baking Badges.

I may have never been a Girl Scout as a kid, but who needs the Girl Scout badges when you can earn your very own Mommy Badges? Priceless!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

I Have a Mommy Badge! Do you have one?

My seven year old daughter came to me and said, "Dear Mommy. You have earned your mommy badge because you have done a good job of being a mommy."

"Next you're going to earn your baker badge. Then you will earn your babysitter badge, then your reading badge and then your organizer badge. (Don't ask!) The END."

OK. Here is my mommy badge. I bet you all are jealous and want one of your very own!

Funny, I thought I earned it after being in labor with her (my first child) for 23 hours!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The Bloggess is like Oprah

First of all I love hummus. I don't know why I'm telling y'all that, but I felt compelled to share that about me. Today I bought a hummus mixed with black olives at Kroger. I'm also currently in love with cranberry juice and vodka. Don't ask me why, but I am. I figure I might as well ward off any urinary tract infections while drinking.

Another thing is the love just keeps coming. I have had so many visits to my blog just because Jenny, the Bloggess, mentioned me on the Chronicle's Good Mom/Bad Mom. Today I had at least 4 visits that came from that referral, that I can see. I can't see all of them if their info is protected. Yesterday it was around nine. The first day it was more than twenty. CRAZY! Being mentioned by the Bloggess is obviously like Oprah recommending a book or like, endorsing someone for the Democratic nomination. So just for today I'm putting double spaces between my sentences just for her.

I head a hilarious segment on NPR today about the new IKEA opening up in Brooklyn. Apparently the IKEA is providing a free ferry ride across the water and it drops you off right in front of the IKEA. The reporter was interviewing New Yorkers on the ferry. I don't know why I enjoyed that so much but I did.

I e-mailed my cousin Cindy on the drive home and asked her if she had gone to the new IKEA in Brooklyn yet. She said it barely opened today. OH! I guess I was in the know because I listened to NPR on the drive home. I actually learned something because I listened to the radio instead of talking on the phone all the way home. I forgot my earpiece at home today and I don't talk on the phone without it while driving. I just e-mail people.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Summer Reading & Writing


The summer is already a month in and I've had some stress free evenings with no homework for my daughter, now that school is out. I need to take advantage of this because all I have left is July and part of August. I'll be back to my usual routine in no time.

I saw an ad for this book and this author, Jane Green. I've only recently become more familiar with chick lit authors. This book just sounded like such a fun summer read and I couldn't resist! So I ordered it from Amazon. I'll let y'all know what I think of it when I'm done.

I have a bookshelf full of great literature that I have never read. I have a thing for collecting books by authors that I've read and that I like. But I collect books by them that I've never read. So I have a ton of books to read, but I still go and buy new books. Go figure!

I'm also going to start on a new writing project finally. A novel. More on that later. It's hard to concentrate when you have a four year old whining in your ear, "I wanted to go to Starbucks later!" while tugging on my hair for comfort. So I will bid you all adieu, so I can show him some love.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Yay! I'm Famous and Apparently Oscar De La Hoya is Even More Famous

I was featured on Good Mom/Bad Mom. Jenny listed my blog entry about my son peeing in my trash can. Too cute! Thank you Bloggess!

Of course I know Oscar De La Hoya is famous, but I had no idea he's like movie star famous! I actually thought that he was going to come to this VIP reception tonight and that he would mix and mingle and talk to people. Not so! He was shuffled in with security, HPD, and around the room with people pressing up and trying to meet him, get his autograph, and picture.

Rey won a copy of his book, but in Spanish, so he asked him to sign it, which he did. Later we went over to the book signing at Barnes & Noble and we were able to get in line first to have our English edition signed, since we were also invited to the reception. That was pretty cool.

Thank you Tony Diaz and Nuestra Palabra! It was a lot of fun and a nice outing for me and husband. We had some yummy Mexican food over at Doneraki and some delicious margaritas.

I have a lot more to tell y'all but it's getting late. I have to tell you all about my recipe that will be featured in an upcoming book, "Bodega Party in a Box," published by Neighbor's Project. I'll blog all about it soon!

P.S. By the way, I wasn't domestic at all yesterday. I didn't do any of the domestic things I had planned except keeping the living area- living room, dining room and kitchen presentable. OH! and I did cook dinner like I had planned.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

A Domestic Day at Home

Design by Anne Taintor.
I have done something every single weekend for the past 4 weekends. Wedding, Visitors, New Orleans trip, Assembly (religious meeting), and every activity that goes with those events. I even took the kids to Discovery Green on Memorial Day.

So this is the first Saturday to just stay home and take care of house things.

At first I was thinking of the kids and doing something with them because we are going to see Oscar De La Hoya tomorrow and we are leaving them at home. I felt like we should do something with them today in exchange.

But then I thought, "Why do they have to do something every weekend?" They really don't.
I think that as parents, especially working ones, sometimes we feel obligated to entertain or kids every weekend. But we don't have to. Think about when we were kids. Our parents didn't take us somewhere every weekend. We definitely didn't go out to dinner as much as we do in our day.

Even last weekend. On Sunday we had a nice dinner after our meeting and then we met our friends for ice cream. Later we went grocery shopping as a family and I went running. (I forgot to blog about running. I was thinking of doing that the day I went running) We had a nice day.

So you see, any time we spend with our kids is good. Like right now, they are watching cartoons and my husband is dozing on the couch. In a little while I'm going to turn off the TV, so they can play and use their imaginations.

I am going to start on the huge mountainous task of folding clothes, putting up clothes, sorting dirty clothes, etc. etc... It's scary even thinking of everything that I have to do, but it has to get done. I'm even defrosting some meat to make with tomato sauce and wheat fettuccine for dinner. (we're trying wheat pasta for a healthy change)

I am not the domestic Goddess that I wish I was, but today I will have to try.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

I Totally Can't Unpark and Karaoke on You Tube

(I know unpark is not a word but it fit better) I was so embarrassed today and thank goodness it was a friend/co-worker who saw me because then I was a little less, no I was really, embarrassed.

When I parked this morning in our garage I was just fine, but when I got out in early afternoon to go to my main office I could not get my big butt SUV out of my parking spot. I kept pulling up and pulling out. I'd get closer to the car to my right so I could make the turn when I started backing up. Nothing worked. I was parked right in front of a big post and it had a big red box with the fire hose on it. My sensor kept beeping like crazy every time I backed up. I thought I was about to hit the box or the post or both. Then I saw a car parked with the person sitting inside and I was mortified. Someone saw me making a fool of myself!

Finally, frustrated, I was about to call the security guard to ask her if someone could come help me back out. Right when I picked up my phone to call my friend/co-worker knocked on my window and asked if I needed help. She was the person who had pulled up, parked and saw me trying to get out of my parking space. I was embarrassed, but relieved. She stood in the back and told me how far to back up before hitting the pole. Then I was finally able to turn my wheel and get out. It was crazy.

P.S. My house is a mess, but we had fun singing karaoke as a family. My son swayed and danced to the music (very Stevie Wonder-like) for a little while since he's too small to read the lyrics. We had great fun! My husband was hooked. He found karaoke on You Tube. It was great! He continued to sing and my daughter went on to write her own song and to play her little pink piano in her room. Now my husband has a sore throat. Yes, we are a family full of characters. My house may not be clean, but some things are more important.

So My Son Peed in My Trash Can

I'm eating dinner tonight and I hear my son calling, "Mommy, I'm done!" or so I thought.

I thought to myself, "Oh great!" but then again as a mother of two I have become accustomed to wiping butts in the middle of a meal and then going right back to eating. Gross, I know, but I really try not to think about it.

I got up and went looking for my son, but he wasn't in the restroom. "Where are you?" I asked.

"In here!" I heard him say. He was inside my bedroom.

I pushed open the door to find him with his pants down to his ankles and with a look on his face that told me, "I know exactly what I just did."

"WHAT did you do?" I asked anyway, knowing full well the answer.

"I went pee-pee in your trash can!" he said pointing proudly at the trash can, "It went down down down."

I yelled his name and then I yelled, "REY! Come here! Come see what your son has done!"

He got up reluctantly, because he could just imagine what was up.

When he asked him why he peed in my trash can his answer was a very crazy, "I couldn't make it!"

"The restroom is just a few feet from the bedroom! You know you could have made it!" and then he went on to get after him. I could tell he was trying real hard not to laugh. I on the other hand was not being successful.

While I let him get after our son I went into my bedroom and closed the door and laughed so hard. I couldn't help it. It was freaking hilarious! Who wouldn't laugh at that?

Oscar de la Hoya

In case you haven't heard. Oscar De La Hoya is coming to town to promote his book, "American Son."

Sunday, June 15, 2008
07:00 PM
BARNES & NOBLE
7626 Westheimer Houston, TX 77063

I was already planning on going, to support Nuestra Palabra, but then I received an invite to the special VIP reception and Rey and I are looking forward to it! We're going to see the Golden Boy.

Monday, June 09, 2008

"School is YUCK!" or so my son thinks

My daughter has been so patient trying to encourage my son to go to school. He is not budging. Not even the idea that the two daughters of a good friend of ours go there changes his mind.

Yesterday we were in the area so I told my husband we should drive by his new school to encourage him to go to school.

My daughter, age 7 (in a very excited voice) "You're going to school this year!"
My son, age 4 (in a flat tone) "THAT is not exciting!"

So later that evening we did drive by his school and we showed him the playgrounds, both the Pre-K (that will be his) and the older one.

"I don't want to go to school! School is YUCK!" he yelled.

I didn't want to tell him he was partly right. I don't think that would have been the motherly thing to do.

My daughter on the other hand will ask me, all interested, how many years did I go to school. I do the math with her. Kinder plus 12 years = 13 years. Plus 4 years of college and it took me 4 years to get my Master's. Twenty-One years of school! She is in awe. She thinks that's super cool!

My son on the other hand, if he could reason that out, would probably have a heart attack.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Very Disturbing Discovery

I am tall enough to play in the kids' play area of Chick Fil A. Very disturbing. You know, I know I'm short, but I really don't feel that short. I'm 5'2. But when I see something like this it really puts it into perspective.

Crazy!

Random Post

Family Photo.

Light House on Clear Lake. Photo by Rey

I just wanted to share these random photos. Rey took so many great pictures of that light house at different angles with the sun on it and behind it. I just chose one because all of them are great.
We went to a cousin's wedding on a boat, the Republic of Texas. I'm doing something I hardly ever do. I'm posting a photo of my kids. But I'm doing so along with a picture of my husband, so that no one gets any ideas when they see how big my husband is. He serves as a really great body guard for all of us. ;-)
I was just telling my husband that we have had something to do every single weekend for the past four Saturdays. I think we finally get a break next week. Nothing to do. I don't have another major event until June 28th after today.
I don't really have anything funny or insightful to write about today. I wrote a pretty good blog entry over at my skirt blog based on this great article called "The Missing Years." I loved this author's insightful look into being a mom and having a past. How much do we share with our children when they are adults?

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Vacation in the Big Easy

It was quick. It was fun. I did something I never ever do. I went on vacation without an itinerary. And I actually had a really good relaxing time. Saturday we went to the French Quarter and walked around. We got a daiquiri and went back to the hotel. The kids swam in the pool. Then we took our in laws out for dinner and a night out. My step-daughter was kind enough to babysit.

Sunday we went to IHOP for breakfast and then the Oak Alley Plantation. Here's a photo Rey took above. Beautiful 350 year old oak trees! You have to see it. Too cool! We did the tour then we went by the gift shop on the way out. They also have a little restaurant, but it was closed. It's also a bed & breakfast. I would love to to stay there one day!

Monday had breakfast, went to see step-daughter's apartment and then we came home. It was short and sweet, but very restful, even with the kids. It was nice to have nothing to do. I just read my O and Vogue Magazines on my down times.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

My Son Again

Son: Hey Mommy! When I was a little baby I was inside your belly and I was crawling around inside of you looking for you.
Me: You are so funny! You didn't know you were inside of me?
Son: No, I couldn't find you!