Blue Monday - The Tank!

About 4 years ago I purchased a fish tank for my girlfriends son. I was going to put two fish in it and give it to him for his birthday. That same week, his father bought  him one so mine sat in the closet in a box for two years until my kids found it. It came out of the box and they pretended to have fish occasionally. My plan of course was to eventually get a filter and use the tank. Money, time, tank location (where would we put it?) all put it on the back burner until Saturday.

My niece, since getting her license comes up to see us when she can. We love having her here and over this summer she has been here a few days at a time. My daughter loves having her here as much as I do and this past weekend they went frog hunting. This is something Goddess has been dying to do. We have a creek that runs in the middle of my back yard which was a great location for this hunt.

After much conversation, some screams, a whole lot of laughter and bug bites, my niece caught a frog. We brought it up to the deck and when they started talking about where should we put it, I remembered the tank.

Finally, the tank had a use other than taking up space until the perfect time to use it. We put some water in it and added the frog. Before you know it, the tank was filled with three frogs. We held onto them for a few hours and than released them. The next day, they went out hunting again. They were catching them easier this time and there were no screams.

It has been fun watching the frogs in the tank and releasing them, one day I may let them keep one once we do more research on the best way to feed it and how to regulate the temperature of the tank but for now, the excitement of catching and releasing is good enough for us.

Not sure how these guys feel. It looks like one is trying to console the other. Hahaha..poor things.

I Have Found My True Hair Companion

I have very long hair. It is down to the lower part of my back. There has only been one time since the age of 18 that my hair was short. However, I am someone with long hair, who has no idea how to style it. I can't braid, put it in a bun, pony tail, blow it dry in a style that looks polished. I am a wash and wear girl and get it cut once, twice at the most a year. Getting it cut causes me grief because I worry that they will take off too much and when the stylist asks what I want, I usually say, just clean it up, I like it better long! So, here I am with this big, full, thick, head of wavy hair and I have no idea how to style it until now....

Thank you Conair. I LOVE the Infiniti Pro by Conair™ Spin Air Brush. Wow! Let's see where do I start?

Ok, now here is What I Can Tell You:
The Infiniti Pro by Conair™ Spin Air Brush is my new best friend. My wash and wear days are over and I cannot wait to get my hair cut to make it look even better.

The first time I used it, I admit I was concerned about tangles. I wasn't sure if my hair would react nicely to the warm air, brushing concept. My wavy hair gets frizzy if I brush it. It needs to be finger picked and played with as little as possible or it just looks, dry, frizzy and big!

With the Infiniti, I was able to achieve the look I love but better and updated. I love big, bouncy, sexy, penthouse hair. I seriously must have been from Texas in one of  my other lives. With the Infiniti, you no longer have to use two hands to dry your hair. The days of holding the blow dryer in your left and the brush in your right as you fight and get a kink in your neck holding your arms above your head for 20 minutes are over.

I honestly, no lie, love this product. When I started talking about it on my personal Facebook wall, my friends chimmed in telling me they either have wanted to try this or bought it because they love the big, bouncy girls you get with it.

It is true, my hair looked great. I used it for 1 week and everyone asked me about my hair.

So, lets start with the progression of my hair over this month...

Straightened with a flat iron

Wash and wear on family movie night

Now, photos Goddess took with my Blackberry after using The Infiniti Pro by Conair™ Spin Air Brush for the first time.

Not bad for a 6 year old! I love how bouncy it is. I get layers of curls that look amazing. A new haircut and I am a whole new woman!

Conair wants to give my readers a chance to try this for themselves by entering to win a giveaway below. Good luck!

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova + A Giveaway

 Left Neglected

What I Can Tell You: 
This is truly one of the best books I have read this year. The writer, Lisa Genova, creates a "real" character. There were times in the beginning, I felt like she was talking about me and I had to remind myself this was a book not about me but about
Sarah. Sarah, our main character was busy. Her life was speeding by with way too many obligations. Multi-tasking through life and missing all of the details until life came
to a complete standstill after a vehicle accident leaves her with a brain injury.

I can completely relate to Sarah's character who now has to rely on her family for
the simple thing. She has to see the world in a whole new way.  This was a total
and complete wake up call. Life is too precious to let it pass you by and not take time to smell the roses. I loved Sarah! I also loved the back story of her relationship with her mother. Sarah's brother drowned when she was a child and her mother and her have
had a rough relationship since.

This is an emotional book and a wonderful read. I had never heard of left neglect
before this and found the research very interesting.

Thanks Lisa Genova, you are an amazing author. I cannot wait to read your other
book Still Alice!

My Readers Are The Best, Thanks For Listening

I tried to comment back to my wonderful readers this morning but my comments were wayyy to long! They require a whole post of their own.

My comments from this post to my readers.

Freda, Thanks honey. I struggled with putting this up but after seeing the nonsense I just couldn't hold back and did it in a forum that none of our hometown friends would see. On Facebook, we have 15 mutual friends and word spreads fast. I even had a mom ask me if she was talking about me on Facebook! Losses are cut! Believe me, there comes a point when you refuse to be abused and finally stand up for yourself. I am a nice person but ever since the first two times we have had problems, this person was held at arms length. Momma didn't raise no fool. I am nice and give people the benefit of the doubt but this was getting just down right mean. She has been erased.

Clary, Hopefully this person means what she said and learns from these people. You are right though when you say "they are not allowed back in", there is only so much verbal abuse someone should allow themselves. Everyone has their breaking point. Me and this friend did everything to make sure this persons feeling were never hurt. We worried about her and her family. We called to see if she was OK, if we didn't call, we didn't hear from her. The friendship was very one sided and my friend and I have zero guilt for where it is right now. Our conscience is clear. We knew we didn't do anything wrong and that this persons interpretation of this is clouded. We knew we could end up here because she NEVER likes anyone, has something nasty to say about everybody and has kicked friends from her life before. Lesson learned. First impressions are always correct!

Sarah, Exactly and when it is family it is even harder. I have a sister who I cut out of my life for less bs than this. My sister is family and if she needed me one day, I would be there. I just don't go looking for her. Her negativity and darkness keep me far away because she has messed with my head one too many times. There are people who will always choose darkness. Always be miserable, they bred drama and negativity. You can't help them but you can be there for them when they need you. Unfortunately, this person has kicked me too many times. I would be a fool to let this continue or let this back into my life.

Bloomerbear, this is exactly how I feel. The girlfriend I referred to in this post was concerned that our names are being dragged through the mud. That this is a small town and knowing this person, we know she will talk about us to everyone. I however, know that our TRUE friends will know us enough to listen to the BS, nod when she talks but know that she is full of it. I am not worried and anyone who chooses to follow her, was never our friend in the beginning and they will (if they get close enough) end up where we are too! It is who she is.

Hollow, Exactly! This is so true. She would have done the same. My girlfriend in this post who I refer to had a communion for her daughter, it was in the city. For whatever reason, I didn't get there. She also knows I have never driven to the city and I have no way to get there otherwise. It is a driving phobia of mine. She has the same one. She wanted me there but knew and stated, it's in the city, I know you won't come. Everything in me wanted to be there it didn't happen. I love this girl, her family and her daughter yet I wasn't there for a very important day. She never held it over my head. She missed me there. I wanted to be there but we have a mutual understanding and know as friends, the other would never intentionally hurt us. I totally agree. My daughter and I had the best time. I know I made the right choice and my own sister understood, (we will do all the summer birthdays together at my families house next month) even if I had gone to this baby shower, something else would have come up. Plus, how can you expect people to cancel plans, go out of their way, when you have been rude, distant and nasty over the past few months/years?

I agree about Facebook! It should never have been there. This shows you the kind of person I am dealing with. She had plenty of time to leave horrible messages on our walls or in posts but didn't have the time to call us as a friend to say how upset she was we weren't there. We really figured she would understand and knew us enough to know that we would be doing something for her baby and her. Oh well, she just saved me money and time.

It's funny because another friend had a baby shower last month, I was at a birthday party (another for my daughters friend), I could have made it but would have been 45 minutes late. It was only 18 minutes away and I still didn't get there. She didn't hold it against me. She understand. Family IS first. Most people understand this, some people (especially those with bad family turmoil) will never.

Thanks you guys for listening. Talking it out even if it is in written form reiterates what I already knew. This is all for the best!

I've Been DeFriended And I Feel Fine

This week I was defriended on Facebook by someone who used to tell me I was like a sister. It amazes me how insecure, self important, one sided, fickle, bitchy, nasty, dark, negative, catty and pathetic some people can be.

This does not come as a surprise to me though. I always knew this about this person. She was always negative and has had beef with me over 8 times in this totally ridiculous farce of a relationship. Correct me if I am wrong but I always thought a friend is a friend all the time, not just when it serves them and certainly not if something is bothering them. Friends talk! I could literally be standing next to this person and she would ignore me, giving me the back of her head. In fact, there were times when she dragged my name through the mud because of some slight in her mind she had suffered because of me. She is completely irrational and when asked if anything was wrong would say nothing.

When I met her, I felt she was loud, negative and abrasive. Her trash talking mouth made me keep my distance unless I had to be around her. One day I was invited over her house because a good friend of mine was also there. We lived only 5 minutes apart so I drove the kids there. She was nice enough but I kept my distance. I met her son, maybe 8 at the time and feel in love with him. He was such a sweetie. Very deep and sensitive. I liked him immediately. Eventually it became something that happened more often and the three of us got together even when our kids weren't around. It was OK, but I always felt she was negative and abrasive, something I usually distance myself from. If you hang out with negative people all the time, you will be affected. I kept my distance.

Over time, I learned who she was and like most people in MY family, I accepted her for her faults and concentrated on her positives. She generally is very good with kids. She likes angels as do I. She tries HARD to see the positive (she just doesn't know how). She spends time with her family and puts her kids first. If she could DO better, she WOULD do better.

We had a problem two years ago because she felt she should have been one of my emergency contacts. We had problems because she was jealous of another friendship. We had problems because one day she likes you and the next day she doesn't. I came to expect that there would be a problem every few weeks and that eventually there would be a time when we would no longer speak.

What is the most annoying thing about this, is how little she sees her ROLE in why the relationship has dissolved and she never will. She had a baby shower this month. It was in the city. I do not drive to the city plus it was my sister's birthday and I had planned on celebrating it with her. My daughter was invited to a birthday party for a classmate and my own SISTER understood. I had an amazing day with my daughter and was so happy. Another friend and I had decided we would do our own baby shower just the three of us. Something special for the baby because this other friend couldn't get there either because she was going to Hershey with her family.

On the day of her shower this now ex-friend wrote on her wall something like. "Thank you to all my "true friends" who gave up family obligations to spend this very special day with me. You have opened my eyes to who my true friends are!"

Me and this other friend who couldn't go were so happy for her. We were thrilled she had a great time at her baby shower and talked about what we would get for her and the baby.

A few days later we saw another few Facebook messages about how she wishes people would grow a set of balls and stop acting phony. Then there was another about how sick she is of people who "pretend" to be her friends.

Eventually we realized she was talking about us when she posted on both our walls things like, "oh how interesting this video (which was posted on the 9th at 7:00 PM) is so much more important than being at my baby shower, all of my truly good friends were there). On my girlfriend's wall: Oh you went to Hershey twice this month, hope you had a good time, you missed my baby shower, all of my truly good friends were there.

Yes, it is true we, hadn't been to her baby shower but had planned on doing one for her just us. We had run to her house with our kids in tow or without whenever she was having a dark, needs a shoulder to cry on kind of day. We, who drove her and her daughter to and from school, picked her up on the street, drove her to the supermarket, drove her daughter to CCD, whenever she didn't have a car. We, who spent time showing her how to blog, took time away from our family to take photos for her, got her out of the house when she was having a terrible day, took her daughter on a playdate whenever she had something to do, picked up her son to talk to him whenever she told us he needed someone to listen to him etc., Her true friends, I guess are the people who were "invited" to spend time with her. People who put up with her bullshit and accepted her as a person and forgave her for all her faults and attitude are not!

We have been removed from her wall and while it hurts that I will not be able to speak to her son, what hurts the most is how much time we invested in a friendship that was never going to withstand the test of time. We, know this person enough to know that we will have other issues. She is a nasty, vocal person who will trash talk us until the day one of us leaves this area. However, me and this other person are good people and know a lot of personal things about her that we would NEVER discuss with anyone. We would never go so low as to trash another mother in this town with children in our school. We would NEVER dish on her skeletons! We are good people, we have zero guilt and we will continue to smile and be friendly because that is WHO we are.

Negative people will always look for the negative! If that is what you choose to see you will always see it. I on the other hand see this as a positive. I now know how truly certain my first impression was. This was inevitable and bound to happen.

Moral of this story: Always go with your first impression, it is usually the right one.

Favorite Photo of The Week - July 29, 2011

I love how happy she looks playing with our Fijit Friend.

Send Them To Dream Land With A Smile With Shushybye - Handsome Loved It

We received Shushybye Sleepover Surprise a book complete with read along CD and a CD by The Shushybye Dream Band called Close Your Eyes.

Handsome loves listening to music before bed. It is something I used to do for him way before he was born with the headphones around the belly and he still needs it to fall asleep. He has been listening to the Close Your Eyes CD for the past two weeks and loves it. In fact, my husband and I also love it. Right after we talk and do prayers we hit play for the CD and end up singing the songs for the rest of the night. It is such a relaxing CD with 11 tracks of calm, sweet songs like:

• Pillow Park Rock
• Beyond the Stars and Past the Moon
• Who's Makin' Dreams
• Close Your Eyes

The whole house feels relaxed and calm the moment we hear it the CD no matter what time of day. It is a total zen feeling.

The book is perfect for my 8 year old son to read alone and my daughter (6) loves reading with the CD to help her.

In the book has a wonderful message about being nice to your friends even on not so special occasions. It is a great reminder even to adults that, "you don't need a special occasion to be nice to your friends."

Mattel Takes Interactive To A Whole New Level With Fijit Friends

What I Can Tell You: We received a Fijit Friend plus one for a guest to throw a Fijit Friends play date. It was an awesome playdate, friends and family were present and no one had ever heard of Fijit Friends prior to this review. Willa and Sage came to our house Monday along with a bunch of fun, necklaces, bracelets, music, boas and rings. My kids decided Willa was the one that would join our little family. 

Willa likes to dance, sleep, chat and tell jokes. She is very funny. My kids love her and we will probably be adding to our family with more Fijits the kids are talking about adding them to their Christmas lists this year.

Here is our first time using Willa!

My daughter, 6 years old had trouble getting Willa to understand her. I had to constantly remind her to speak slowly and not shout. You have to speak clearly.

Fijit Friends understand certain commands, none of them difficult! Each command is considered a mode which sets your Fijit to ask and answer appropriately.

"Chat With Me"

"Tell Me A Joke"

"Dance With Me"

"Good Night"

We loved talking to Willa. The jokes are very cute and my daughter has been saying some of the jokes for 3 days now.

There are a few times that Willa either didn't hear my daughter's reply or she had run out of the room to do whatever it is little girls do when they run out of rooms and Willa finally does the talking for you.

Today we had three girls over for a Fijit Friends Dance Party. We had a basket of fun stuff for them to put on and use for their dance party. We started upstairs as I showed the kids and their parents the features of Fijit Friends. The moms were really excited and found them to be very "smart, cute" toys!

Eventually the kids went downstairs to play. When I got down there they had a beach ball and were rocking all over the family room.

So cute.

If you go into "Dance Mode" Fijit Friends will ask your music or mine. If you say yours, Figits will play their own music. If you say mine, you can play music or clap. Fijit isn't picky. They kids actually loved having Fijit dance to their clapping, stomping beat!

We went online and pressed the "Chirp Button" on the back of Fijit. There will be features you can unlock for your Fijit in the future. We pressed the button and played the features fo Fijit. There is a high pitch chirp sound that Fijit hears as long ass her belly button light is lite. Can't wait to get more updates. Very cool toy indeed.

Pros:

Fun

Colorful

Interactive

Cute

Plays Music

Cons:

Loud

Takes 5 batteries

Doesn't always understand your child.

]

Wordless Wednesday With Words - Quietude

This is exactly what I am looking for today. The noise inside my head needs quiet. Work, family, drama, schedules, life all leads to the need to slow down and just be! Be quiet, solitary, regroup and then move forward. It is the only way to survive and remain calm and intact.

Perceptive Perspective - Bold Color

A store in town recently got a face lift. It is very eye catching to say the least!

Recently Goddess stole a flower from the neighbors snow ball bush for me. I know it was a beautiful gesture but I had to give her a speech about not talking other peoples property.

Blue Monday - Cub Scouts

This week Handsome was in his very first parade with his Wolf Pack. There was a whole lot of blue although my color was red! It was way to hot for me. My entire body was so red that everyone was asking if I was OK or if I needed water.

I loved seeing Handsome walk with his den but tried to pull him off the line 3 times because I felt for sure I was going to have a heart attack. He just kept shaking his head no. My pride overtook my need to cool off and we did the whole parade. Walking back to the car was the worst. It took me 4 hours to cool down. Wish my body knew how to sweat like the rest of the world, it would make everything so much easier.

Phineas & Ferb's Very First Movie Friday, August 5th from 7:30pm-9:30pm

 We are huge Phineas and Ferb fans in this house. If you haven't watched this show with your kids yet, you are missing out. It is a great show for kids and parents alike and it is TV's Number one animated series in Prime among kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14.

August 5th my house will be hosting a Pajama Party along with 10 moms and their kids ranging in age from 1-15 for the Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension" on the Disney Channel!  If you miss it don't worry it will air again on August 14th at 10:00am ET/PT on Disney XD.

During the "Perry the Playt-bus On Tour" event fans can marvel at nearly 4,000  pounds of Perry, come aboard, play the newest Phineas & Ferb games, and sing Perry-oke. And admission is free!

You'll also find new soundtracks, video games, novels, novelty books, action figures and magazines.

The kids haven't stopped talking about the Phineas and Ferb Party and Goddess has been working hard on party decorations.

Plus we found this really fun Hole in the Face for us to stick our mugs into. I so need to print this out for the party.

The Simple Things - Still Amazing

Growing up in Millbrook NY in the middle of nowhere, deer on the property was a normal occurrence. Probably have seen them for a better part of my almost 45 years but it never gets old. Now, I get to enjoy them with my own family. One of us will spot them through the window and call everyone else to check them out.