Stay Away from the White Ones....

I have 3 projects each year that I ADORE.

Decorating Christmas cookies
Coloring Easter Eggs
&
Carving Pumpkins.

If I had the money (and anywhere to put them) I would buy 10 of them and carve them all. I LOVE it. I love to be creative and see what I can make my pumpkin become! I don't allow pumpkin patterns in my house - oh no no - must be imaginative!!

This year Essie picked out a white pumpkin. I don't know if all white pumpkins are like this - but this one had "meat" that was at LEAST 3 inches thick - and not that big of a pumpkin. We couldn't manage to get into the top.. we had to give him a colonoscopy in order to get in there and get the gunk out! but in the end it turned out cute - as did Essie's.


So without further ado - here they are:

Gert's:

Essie's:


Mine:

Further Proof

I know you all love Mr. B, and I know I love him. And it's not like you need further proof, I'm mostly blogging about this so I won't forget. Not that I think I ever could, but Alzheimer's does run in my family.

Yesterday there was some sort of kerfuffle on Essie's bus. She got to the house, and Mr. B was there, and she started telling him all about it. He was working on some stuff for work, but rather than just half-listen, he went and poured them each a cup of spiced cider, and they sat down at the kitchen table, and just talked - about what happened on the bus and school and just stuff.

I cried, cause Essie's Dad isn't ever going to do that. I cried, cause Essie's mom sometimes gets all wrapped up in mom stuff and forgets that time like that is important. Essie's mom needs to follow the example. And keep a hold of Mr. B... for SURE!!!!

The One Where I Almost Say the N Word But I Don't

Have you seen this article? "Should Fatties Get a Room, Even on TV"

Fatties. FATTIES????

Now, thankfully, the writer got an earful (comment section full) of backlash and "you should be ashamed of yourself." But she's also got columns dated the following 2 days. So clearly she's still employed by Marie Claire.

Let's change the title a few times...

"Should Chinks Get a Room, Even on TV"

"Should Fags Get a Room, Even on TV"

"Should Camel Jockeys Get a Room, Even on TV"

Fatties? SERIOUSLY???

There's all kinds of talk going around about bullying. I'd say 90% of it is regarding bullying of kids regarding their sexual preferences. But I can tell you for sure there are WAY more kids out there being teased and bullied because of their size.

Fatties. FATTIES. FATTIES?????!!!!!!!

I just can't even imagine a magazine (other than like... KKK Monthly) allowing their writers to be so... so.... gosh what even is the word? So mean? So hateful? So biased? I mean... even Fox News isn't THAT mean. And while there's been plenty of backlash regarding this article, I think it's fair to say if her article had been titled any of my "suggested" titles, then Marie Claire would be facing a boycott to end all boycotts, and there would be all kinds of 6 o'clock news leading stories about the outrage.

But it's ok to pick on the "Fatties" because we "choose" to be this way. Because if we just wanted to, we could be 110 pounds, we just don't want to. So we're fair game.

Boys and girls - can we say "Double Standard"

Ying... and Yang

13 years ago today I made the biggest mistake of my life. Maybe.

I got married.

To a man WAY older than me... who lied to me... who lied to others... who didn't really ever seem all that interested in what I wanted... and who didn't seem all that interested in what I could give.

But I married him anyways. Because I figured he was my one shot at happiness. I always wanted to be married, and to be a mom. But I didn't look like girls in a magazine. I didn't have a body that looked hot in a swimming suit. And my mom always said "Men don't marry fat women."

I'm not sure what makes me more sad. That she said it to me. Or that she believed it.

I married this dork I'd met on the Internet. I had stupid red-neck stuff at my reception just to make him happy. I don't think he even noticed. There was a point a couple weeks before we got married that I had serious 2nd thoughts. But I didn't want to make people mad since dresses and gifts and reception food had been purchased. So... I made myself believe it would get better.

I found the dress of my dreams. People I love dearly traveled long distances to share my special day. The weather was good (for Minnesota at the end of October). It really was the wedding I dreamed of as a little girl.

Here's my favorite part of the day. After the reception we were going to go stay in a bed and breakfast for the night. It was time to leave... people were lined up with birdseed. I couldn't find the groom. How hard is it to keep track of a Groom in a little church? Then he appeared. He had CHANGED HIS CLOTHES. Jeans and a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. So we went running to the car... me in my dress... him in his Jean and Mickey Mouse Sweatshirt. We drove to the Bed and Breakfast, went in to register. You wanna guess what was going through the mind of the Inn Proprietor as we were standing there. Me in my wedding dress and him in his... Jeans and Mickey Mouse Sweatshirt.

It sure wasn't the marriage I dreamed of. I won't dredge up all that mud. It's over now.

Let's think of the good things...

Well, DUH - Gert & Essie. I wouldn't have them. And that would make life boring. And quiet. And dull. And I don't think the sun would shine as brightly as it does and I don't think I would know the true sound of delight and I don't think I would know how to get to the Big River because I would have never watched Dora, and never known that I needed to go past Friendly Forest and Happy Hill to get there.

My step-mom wasn't going to come to my wedding. She didn't want it to be "uncomfortable". I wasn't down with that. Actually... I kinda pitched a fit. She'd been my Julie since I was 5, and I wanted her there. So she came with my dad, and my sister. And things were fine. And after the wedding and reception were over, and Mr. Mickey Mouse Sweatshirt and I had taken off, they all stayed to help clean up. And ice melted. And hearts started healing. And my mom and step-mom started a friendship. A beautiful one that to this day means that when my kids have a birthday, they don't have to worry about whether or not Grandma & Grandpa or Mimi should be there. They can all be there. And we can even all go on vacations together... and it's all good.

If I hadn't married him, I would have never lived in Tennessee or California. Those were great places and I met wonderful people.

And then there's the biggy. If I hadn't married him, I wouldn't appreciate all that Mr. B has brought into my life. If you never see ugly, you don't truly understand beauty. Coke tastes good, but it tastes even BETTER if you've just tasted a Beverly (Those of you who've been to World of Coca-Cola will get that). I wouldn't realize that Mr. B treats me like a Princess. Cinderella after... not Cinderella before.

So... it's a weird day. Do I rejoice? Cry?

I think I'll let it all go, and be REALLY thankful that whatever needed to happen, happened, so that I would be where I am today.

Thoughts on a Wednesday

I need the laundry fairy... badly.

My mom says God is the Builder of our Lives. I say still get everything in writing.

Mr. B is getting me a massage this Saturday.

I have to remember to measure Gert's waist when we get home tonight.

I'm not as wild about Glee this season. Story lines people... we need story lines.

Mr. B and Essie has a conversation today about wearing shirts with sayings that may or may not be true (her's today said - Trust Me, I'm Perfect) and she was talking about how no one is perfect. He said "I have a shirt that says 'Instant Human - Just Add Coffee' and that...." She interrupted him and said "Is totally true." HA HA!!!!

I'm at a place in my life I never thought I'd be. And it's a good place.

I'm craving Taco Bell. ?????

Sometimes I wish I had my 7-year-old's body, just in adult proportions.

I make decisions for myself that I know I'm going to regret later on, but I just can't stop myself. Argh

If I won the lottery today, I'd march my butt into a Honda dealer and plunk down the money for a new van so fast your head would spin. And then I'd plunk down more money for something else really FUN to drive.

I pass 4 elementary schools on my way to work in the morning. I always get tailgated when I go the school zone speed limit.

I want a puppy.

The song stuck in my head today is "What's New, Pussycat"

I hope by saying that it's now leaving my head to go stick in yours.

House Update

We have Paint!

A Never Ending Story that Must End

Tease - to irritate or provoke with persistent petty distractions, trifling raillery, or other annoyance, often in sport.

Bully - a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people.

I was teased in elementary school. You go through life with the last name "Beaver" and you are going to get teased. I got called "Bucky" and people make chewing noises. I was constantly asked where Wally was. Once I got into high school, I think we can all figure out what the teasing was about. It wasn't always fun. But I learned a lot of lessons from that. I learned how to take the power away from someone by making a joke first. I attribute 90% of my sense of humor to learning that. Kids tease kids. Adults tease adults for the matter. Always have, always will.

I was bullied in high school. I was a chubby (fat) kid. A kid in my class told me constantly that I was going to blow up. I won't go into everything he did, but it was beyond teasing. It was bulling. It hurt. A lot. It made me cry. It made me sad. It made me want to hide in a shell and not go to school. I was scared to turn corners in the hallway in fear that he would be there. Kids bully kids. Adults bully adults. And I'm not naive enough to think it's going to ever totally stop.

We've moved into a communication age like never before. People can instantly tell the world their opinions and thoughts and current bladder status. They can also do it in relative anonymity. They can post pictures and videos taken with phones. They can do so in the blink of an eye, before giving the ramifications of their actions full thought. And sometimes the damage done is irreparable.

It's not easy being a parent now. We didn't grow up with Facebook and Twitter and texts and cell phones. Yeah, we know how to use them, but I'm not sure we know how to police them, and keep tabs on what our kids are doing on them. But we have to figure it out. We have to teach our kids about the consequences of actions. We have to teach our kids that the "beings" around them are HUMAN beings. They have feelings and thoughts and can be hurt, just like we can. We have to be the example to our kids. We have to look at our actions and how our kids see them. We can't just sit back and "hope" our kids turn out ok.

I'm sure you have heard about the young man at Rutgers who committed suicide after his roommate and a friend posted a video of the young man having sex with another man. I haven't read enough to know if this young man had already come out to his parents, or if this video "outted" him. I do know 2 things. He couldn't take the pain caused by that video being posted.... and the kids who did it had NO idea that their actions would cause this end reaction. But it did.

I think I'm rambling. Here... Ellen sums it up pretty well: