It's Magic

I don't know if it's the super-secret chemical that will burn a hole in my pipes, poison the water table, and create three-headed fish, or the abrasive grit, but the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is the only thing that will clean my bathtub.

I love it.

I'd show you a before and after picture, but I'm not that into full disclosure.

And in other news...Seriously, am I the only one who is bothered by my question in the last post? C'mon. Surely there are opinions, especially after last night's petulant, childish thrashing the Supreme Court, Congress, Senate, previous Administration, and the American public took from the President.

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

I have a question. I would like everyone to chime in, whether or not I know you.

Does anyone have any idea when the American workforce began being referred to as "workers?"

This has troubled me for a while and I'd like to hear some ideas on the subject.

That is all.

Do You Want to Know a Secret

George and I have been keeping a huge secret from the kids. Over the Mardi Gras break, we're going to America's Mecca, Disney World.

We were going to pick up the kids from school on Friday, February 12, head east and see how long it takes them to figure out our destination.

Last night I picked up Zac from baseball practice. He asked me when was Valentine's Day. He grabbed my phone to look at the calendar to see which day was the 14th and pushed the key to open the day.



I figured I would let it slip eventually, but I thought it would be kind of like that scene in Austin Powers where he can't stop saying mole. I'm the worst at keeping things to myself. It's been all I could do to not blurt this out.

Cover Me

George and the kids were home today for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday. Around here we don't get Presidents Day, but by Jeebus, we will celebrate the Doctor. Don't get me started.

Anyway, in the spirit of President Obama's mandate to make this day a day of service, my people served me quite well.

They cleaned off the car port. Now I can park my Suburban under cover.

Doesn't it look nice?

Ice Ice Baby

Friday night was Jake's long-awaited birthday party at the ice skating rink. He had wanted Laser Tag, but after skating in San Antonio a couple of weeks ago, he changed his mind.

To say I was a little nervous about the party is a bit of an understatement. Jake hasn't had an official party since he turned 5, when we had a home party with a magician. That was super fun, but really small. When your birthday is in January, right after Christmas, before school starts back it's hard to get in touch with people for invitations. Also, most people's party cache is spent, including my own. I was determined to make a party happen for Jake this year.

I felt like we started this deal with a few strikes against us:

1. We scheduled the party for Friday night at 7:30. Saturdays are pretty busy for most people, especially us, so I didn't really want to pile on another appointment. The open session at the ice rink didn't start until 7:30, a little late, but still do-able.
2. The rink is in a not very nice part of Baton Rouge. It's not terrible, but not really great either.
3. The south isn't really known for its prowess in winter sports, so we weren't really sure how many people would come for ice skating.

I let Jake invite 20 kids in hopes that maybe half would show. By the time it was all said and done, 22 kids were "officially" invited (with an actual invitation). I was more than nervous. 22 kids at $9 each would turn into the party of the century for the Ragsland. Every day when I picked up Jake from school, he told me about another friend he'd "unofficially' invited. I think he asked another 4 or 5 kids. Finally I had to tell him to not invite anymore kids because this party was getting very expensive. He was very sweet and actually began to concern himself a little too much with the cost of this Throw Down.

I got the cake ordered and bought party favors for everyone. Every once-in-a-while, I have a moment of creative cuteness. The party favors we gave out were a pair of gloves and a pack of Ice Breakers gum (the pieces of gum are shaped like ice cubes!). We gave them out as everyone got there so they could use their gloves while they skated.

We ordered pizza from Papa John's on the way to the rink. It was delivered around 8:00 and as kids came in to rest or whatever, they had some pizza. When the Zamboni resurfaced the ice, everyone came to the table and Jake opened his gifts and we served cake. Everyone finished off the pizza too.

Jake got some really wonderful gifts. He got over $100 in cash and gift cards, if you can believe that! He also got 2 different Air Hogs toys that he's wanted since he saw the commercials on TV. He also got a game for his DSi. I was really stunned by everyone's generosity!

As it turned out, 14 kids came to the party. Add to that all of the parents and siblings, I think there were about 35 people there (We only paid for the invited kids! All the others were on their own). It was really a blast.

Sometime during the night, Jake came over to me and said, "I'm having a great time at my party, Mom; thank you," and he gave me a huge hug. That made the party priceless.

Here are some pictures:



The party favors.














Hockey-player cake.





























Gifts.













The birthday boy.

Baby It's Cold Outside

The kids are out of school today due to extreme cold.

That's right. I said cold.

The temperature this morning was 19 degrees. Ordinarily, that wouldn't call off school, but there was great fear that since there was rain yesterday that the roads would be iced over. I think they called off school prematurely, seeing as how the midwest has been experiencing blizzard after blizzard with feet of snow being dumped on them. At least we don't get much snow, if at all. The roads are dry this morning.

However, George was supposed to go with the confirmation class on a short retreat tonight and tomorrow in central Louisiana. This is the rescheduled retreat that was cancelled early in December due to the snow!

He just got a call about an hour ago from the camp director that the camp's water pipes were busted and they couldn't host the retreat. Two scheduled, two cancelled. I told George that the kids would get confirmed with or without this retreat. He just went to his office to start making calls to all of the kids.

The boys have been watching Transformers 2 this morning. I've been in my room catching up on TV shows I've recorded the last few weeks. Now I'm watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It's an interesting movie. It kind of makes me think of Forest Gump.

At any rate, the retreat was cancelled, which is what I was really hoping for. I also hope that George doesn't try to reschedule it AGAIN!

Double Vision

I'm listening to Glenn Beck on the radio right now. Actually, I'm streaming WGST out of Atlanta on the computer because my local AM talk channel carries a really nice, but boring local guy.

Something he said really cracked me up. He said that Nancy Pelosi looks like Fire Marshall Bill.

What do you think?






I think it's uncanny. Unfortunately, the fundamental dismantling of the U.S. is not a comedy.

hello goodbye

I only chose that title because it exemplifies "yin and yang" as it pertains to balance.

I laughed really hard at this commercial. I hope you do too.

Getting Better

Between Atlas Shrugged, the general state of the Union, and my Aunt Rhonda's car accident, I was in a little bit of a funk the second half of 2009.

2010 has arrived, I picked up Atlas Shrugged again (and WILL finish it this year), saw Rhonda last week (who, by the way, is up with healed legs, motoring herself around on a walker and on her way to a complete recovery, praise God), and read this article by Maureen Dowd (could the bloom be off the rose?).



It's getting better all the time
Better Better Better
It's getting better all the time
Better Better Better
Getting so much better all the time

And last, but never least, Jake's 8th birthday was yesterday.

We went to church where his name was included in the birthday reading for the day, had lunch at Jake's favorite restaurant, and let him pick out a new skateboard at Rukus Board Shop. After we got home, I changed clothes and took him to the skate park for the rest of the afternoon.

It's getting better all the time
Better Better Better
It's getting better all the time
Better Better Better
Getting so much better all the time

Indeed, it's getting better.