New Site!

Yippee! The new site is up and running and I've imported all the posts from here to there!

You can find the new blog at:

http://www.bellowtoyou.wordpress.com/

You may want to reset your links if you have this old address saved. See you over there!

New Stuff

As you know, I have a need to change things up once in a while and so I'm currently working on a new site for this blog. So while I'm fiddling around with the new site, please bear with me - I'll try to get back to posting as soon as possible.

Oh, and my email is down for some unknown reason - which is really irritating because I've become accustomed to checking it every five minutes.

What's Happening Right Now . . .

I'm sitting at the computer (of course, that's why you're reading this) typing away and hoping for some email that's not from Old Navy or Sears or someone trying to sell me 'cheep R0lex watches.' Also hoping for some email or phone call that might be job related. Unfortunately, that has not yet occurred.

Matthew is also sitting in this chair, well, actually right now, he's draped over the back of the chair. Now he's settled down in the seat between me and the back of the chair. He'll interchange these two positions as long as we double-occupy the office chair. There are two other chairs in this office, but Matthew prefers to sit in the chair with me because he's the kind of kid that has to be touching you all the time. This is not too big a problem unless I want to get something accomplished. He is also eating his second lollipop of the day. Yes, I realize it's still early, but it keeps him quiet.

Oh, he just ran down the hall and stuck the lollipop in Binki's mouth. No more lollipops for the two of them!

We're also watching Happy Feet for the 1 millionth time. It's a great story about how penguins can be overly judgmental and how humans are destroying the planet. The music is awesome, by the way.

Here's Matthew's review of Happy Feet: Good. Very good.

Moon Pie! Moon Pie!

I'm sitting here eating a moon pie. I haven't had a moon pie in, oh I don't know, 20 years or so. They are just like I remember - and the same size, too. I swear Chips Ahoy cookies have gotten smaller over the years. It's a conspiracy.

We procured said moon pies in Illinois, where we spent the weekend with Chris's mom and her husband. They so graciously invited us to spend last night and today with them and we had a great time touring central Illinois. We ate at a wonderful restaurant in Mt. Vernon - the bread - it was incredible! We went to a park and let the kids play on the playground. I think it was the first time they've played on an old-fashioned merry-go-round, mainly because the schools don't use them anymore - too dangerous, too many lawsuits. But we let the kids play on them anyway and they had a lot of fun.

Brandon has been trying to negotiate either staying up an hour later or waking up at 2:00 am to witness the time change. We keep telling him that there's nothing special about 2:00 am and we'll set the clocks back before we go to bed. I most likely will let him stay up an hour later, because I don't want the kids waking up an hour early - one of the hazards of having young children when you can get an extra hours' sleep - they don't have the concept of 'sleeping late.'

Wonder Pets! Akin to Waterboarding!

Of all the morning shows that Matthew watches, nay - obsesses about - Wonder Pets! is my least favorite. You may remember a previous rant of mine about Wonder Pets. Needless to say, I haven't changed my feelings about the show.

I try to do other things while Matthew is watching Wonder Pets because I just can't stomach the show and if I hear the theme song, it sticks in my head all day: "What's going to work? Teamwork? What's going to work? TEAMWORK!" Then I want to go sit in a corner and repeatedly bash my head against the wall. Which is not productive, mind you.

I do want to suggest to the current Administration that they consider using Wonder Pets as a method of interrogation instead of waterboarding (which at first I thought sounded like fun - like surfing or skiing or something. Turns out it is actually 'simulated drowning' - not so much fun, actually.) See, if you show Wonder Pets non-stop to the person you're trying to interrogate, eventually the person will crack because because the song is stuck in his or her head and is causing chronic insomnia. I think Wonder Pets would most likely be a good compromise for the whole torture/waterboarding controversy. Really.

This Is What Happens When I Ignore the Children

Heavenly Architecture

Matthew has an eye for beauty. I mean, what other 4 year old thinks his outfit is incomplete without a belt? And a vest? He often comments on things that catch his eye - people, animals, clothes, trees, flowers, you name it, if he likes it, he'll tell you.

So the other day, we were in the car and we passed by a funeral home. Not just any funeral home, but a HUGE funeral home fashioned after the style of Greek architecture. White marble, columns, on top of a hill, big . . . you get the idea. And of course, it's surrounded by a large grassy graveyard. Matthew says:

"Mama, look over there. I want to go there!"

"We can't go there right now." (I don't know why I put a time frame on it, like we were going to go tomorrow or next week or something, but I did.)

"Why can't we go there?"

"Well, (pause for a second while debating if I want to get into a deep discussion with a four year old about death and dying - then say the wrong thing:) it's a place for dead people."

"THAT'S heaven?"

Sugar High 2007

Witch Hunt

This seems a little excessive to me - and a colossial waste of money and manpower. Of course I want children to be safe, but parents ought to accompany the kids on their annual night of begging trick-or-treating. The "sex offender" registration status is frought with a bunch of problems, anyway - I foresee some civil liberty suits arising out of these Halloween "lockdowns."

Matthew Sings: "You Are My Sunshine"

You are my sunshine
You are my sunshine
You make me happy
Those guys are great

Tuesday Complaints

It's headlines like this that make me so disheartened about the future:

Ex-Merrill Lynch CEO to walk out with $161.5M

The guy is retiring - with $161.5 million. Could be more, if Merrill Lynch's profit goes up. Oh, he also gets an office and an assistant for the next three years. I guess to schedule . . . what? He's retiring. He's probably going to fly around the world to speak to elite CEO's and CFO's on how to earn waaaaaaay more than you're worth and retire with a ridiculous amount of money. It just seems indicative of greed in our society and government.

Now, I'm not against making money or even being rich. Maybe the guy is a philanthropist. I hope so. Think of the good someone could do with even a fraction of that money.

Any more complaints? Let's see . . . health care for kids should not have been vetoed . . . FEMA's boneheaded "press conference" . . . cost of health insurance and health care . . . Halloween candy makes my kids super hyper . . . Blackwater. That should do it. I feel better now.