I don't proofread my posts before I publish them... cause I keep my thoughts au naturale.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

My Thoughts On: Celebrity Deaths

I'm gonna throw my hat in the ring on this topic because with four down (Ed McMahan, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays) it seems like there might be a plague upon the entertainment world! And apparently bad things come in threes, so should we be expecting two more...?

First point I'd like to make is how unfortunate it is that Michael Jackson died the same day as Farrah Fawcett. Do you remember when Mother Teresa died? No? That's because it was five days after the death of Princess Diana. And her death was much more publicized. Now, I'm not comparing Farrah Fawcett to Mother Teresa... just saying.

How about Groucho Marx? He was a comedy legend, but he passed away a mere 3 days after Elvis Presley. Who do you think got more press? So, it's unfortunate when an iconic figure dies, but is overshadowed by the death of a "more famous" person.

My second point is about the huge difference in how people are talking about Michael Jackson. You go from seeing story after story that detail the legacy of his music, of his fame, of his mega superstardom. Then, you read comments people have posted online about how they don't understand why we would be honoring a pedophile.

Well, I don't know if he was a pedophile or not- no one invited me to that party. Do I think he was troubled? Yes. He didn't have a childhood. He was forced into the spotlight, worked his little feet off and had a jerk of a father. That would leave any adult with issues! So, perhaps since he didn't have a childhood, he was stuck in a little boy phase when he could finally have one as an adult.

I was never a fan of his just because he seemed creepy and his music was a little over the top for me. Sure, I like Billie Jean, Thriller, I mean, I am human. But for the most part, I wasn't a fan. But, I am defending him because he was found innocent and you have to admit the guy was probably messed up in the head. (But I do believe OJ was guilty- so being found innocent isn't always a guarantee you really are innocent!)

Anyway, that's my two cents! Hope it was worth your while!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Homicide and Heat

I hate heat- HATE IT! It is not unusual to get 100 degree weather where I live during the summer. But what I hate so much about the heat her is the humidity. It's not just hot, it's hot and HUMID! So, just walking out the door feels like you're in a sauna. It's disgusting. The smells of swampiness coming from the mud in my neighbor's yard, the fast growth of mold, everything about this weather makes me cringe and want to hibernate. And of course, living in this old farmhouse, there's no central air. I... crave... central... air...

Yes, when it's cold, it stinks. But when it's cold, you can bundle up. You can put on nice cozy warm fuzzy blankets and be good. But when it's hot... you can't get more than naked! You can be sitting completely naked and STILL sweat! Oy!

It is in that token, that I was thinking the other day that I wondered how many people have murdered someone because they were driven crazy by the heat. Heat makes me angry. I unfortunately have to admit that if I'm hot and can't get away from it, you should probably run from me... and run far. I am NOT a pleasant person to be around. I pity my kids and I try to focus and not be overly irritable, but I'm no saint. I can totally see myself snapping. (Although thankfully we bought yet another window a/c yesterday, so the living room is about 5 degrees cooler.)

But, it made me think about how often I get into a homicidal rage because I'm hot. Do you think anyone has ever successfully used it as a psyche defense in court? I might have to research this one...

Monday, June 22, 2009

A New Day!

I'm so excited about how L is progressing. He's almost 18 months and is clearly phasing from a baby to a toddler. In the last month I can't believe the transitions he has made! He says like over 50 words and repeats many new ones each day. Plus, he is getting that little kid girth where you feel like you're picking up a child and not a baby.

So, two recent happenings have made me even more thrilled about his progress. About two weeks ago he began actually sitting and watching cartoons! He will sit on the little couch and watch cartoons with A or even when A is not around, he will sit there. He will clap when the show says clap, he will repeat when they tell him to repeat a word and it's like he actually comprehends what is going on. Then, it was adorable the other day because he was watching Diego and I looked over and he had went and got A's Diego doll and was holding it- adorable!

Then, the new thing that happened today was even more spectacular! I have always said that I am jealous of those people whose kids will just go to sleep anywhere at the drop of the hat. My kids fight sleep like it's a poltergeist out to get them! They just do not seem willing to go to sleep. I try to explain to them how they should embrace these days of getting good amounts of sleep, but they don't get it.

So, anyway... I had put A down for her nap and was doing a couple things while L watched cartoons. I went to check on A and when I returned, L had fallen asleep on his little couch! I was floored! I didn't have to rock him to get him to take his nap! I laid him on a blanket on the floor and he's been there for about 45 minutes sound asleep.

Is this a new day for me and mine? Are easier days a'comin? If so, I will totally embrace them with open arms! It would be great if by the time grad school starts in the fall, L is oodles easier, because that will just make life easier in general.

Hooray!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Response from Charmin

Cool beans, I received a nice response from Charmin (Proctor & Gamble) in regards to the Dear Charmin blog I posted.

"Thanks for writing Charmin, Cara.

I enjoyed reading your blog with your letter to Charmin. You are definitely a creative, fun writer!

Meanwhile, we realize people have many different preferences, which is why we offer a variety of roll sizes to choose from. Hearing from consumers like yourself also helps us decide what is and isn't working with our products. I'll be sure to share your comments with the rest of the team.

With that being said, we value your loyalty to Charmin! I hope you have a nice weekend.

Pattie
Charmin Team"


I love it!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

One of Those Unwritten Rules

You know how sometimes in etiquette there are unwritten rules about things you just shouldn't say or do?

For instance, you should never ask a lady when she'd due unless you know for a fact that she is actually pregnant. Wait for her to mention it or wait until someone else has told you (that is reputable for telling the truth) that the lady is indeed pregnant. Otherwise, you might be placed in the awkward position of finding out that they are not even pregnant or that they have given birth- six months ago!

Well, I have thought of another one that I think is quite important! As a friend, when your good buddy breaks up with their partner, your immediate reaction is often to talk about what a bum said ex was. For example, if my friend Crystal and her husband split, I might think that it would make her feel better if I told her how much better off she was without him or how much of a bum he was. (Whether I felt that way or not.) We do this because we want our friends to realize that life will go on and that they are a good person and can do better.

BUT, I have never done this and would never do this because it is my experience that over half the time, the people end up getting back together! Then, not only does your friend now feel awkward that you dogged on their man like that, but if she tells him what you said, he will always question your sincerity when you are being friendly.

This works on both sides, too, not just if it's a girl or a guy. As a girl, if I were to find out that when my fella and I split, his best friend was instantly trying to find him tail, then we got back together, I would have lost quite a bit of respect for said friend.

I know, I know, the men reading this (if there are any) would say he had every right to do it, but... I'm not going down that road!

So, this is my warning to all of you that don't follow this unwritten rule of etiquette. Give the relationship a little cooling off time before you jump in on the mudslinging bandwagon. Even if your friend is bashing their ex themselves, it is better not to put in your two cents on the ex until it is pretty obvious there is no hope of the relationship surviving.

Monday, June 15, 2009

MOTR Recipe: Tator Tot Casserole

Okay, okay. I know several of you are freaking out right now that I am writing something as domestic as a recipe! Believe me, I thought long and hard before I did it, lol.

But, I absofrickinlutely LOVE tator tot casserole, and since I made it for lunch today, I just had to share my recipe for it. I had never eaten it until I was around 21 and working at a mental health institution. I didn't even ask how it was made, I just kind of fiddled with it until I was happy with the result. And I know for you fine diners out there, this probably does not sound great, but embrace your white trash self and give it a try!

Must have ingredients:

tator tots
ground beef
cream of mushroom soup


Now, the amount of these would vary with family size. For my family of four which includes two smaller kid portions, I use one pound of beef, 1 can of cream of mushroom and like half a pound of tator tots.

Optional ingredients that I use:

onion (i just use the dried ones in the shaker)
frozen peas
shredded cheddar cheese


With these, I pretty much just add enough that it's noticeable, but not overpowering. The cheese can be as much or as little as you want. I do the frozen peas to trick my family into eating vegetables.

Okay, now comes the variation. If you want the whole thing creamier, you mix the tator tots in at the end. If you want it more dry, you bake a layer of tots on the bottom of a baking dish and then spoon the meat over top, then add another layer of tots and continue baking.

For creamier, I start the tots in the oven while I'm cooking the meat and then add them all together at the end.

To cook meat
: brown your hamburger and while it's cooking, add the dried onions. I also use a bit of seasoning salt on my meat. After you've drained the grease and the meat is brown, add the can of cream of mushroom, frozen peas and cheese and keep your meat on low until the tator tots are ready. Then, just spoon them in and mix it all up. Voila! Done!

You could jazz it up by adding fried onions to the top if you want as well, or even more cheese if you're baking it all.

As I mentioned, if you choose the variation where there's two layers of tots and you bake it, start the tots in the baking dish at the same time as the meat. Cook meat the same, then when it's done, spoon it over the bottom layer of tots. Then add another layer of tots to the top and bake it until the top tots are browned.

Any questions? It's a super easy recipe and is pretty quick and painless, so it can be made by anyone from beginners to Martha Stewart!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Dear Charmin


Why hello there, you makers of paper that is much needed, but little discussed!

You are by far the brand that I turn to when looking for the perfect toilet paper. I don't care what the price is, I am going for Charmin. When I'm feeling more frugal than usual, I will go with Charmin Basics, but my favorite is Charmin Ultra Strong. The reason for this is because it makes you feel like you need to use less and therefore lasts longer. And for some reason when my husband blows his nose with toilet paper, it tends to tear, so Ultra Strong insures that he does not get snot everywhere. That and my 3 year old does not feel the need to use the whole roll when she goes potty.

And here's my beef. Is it really necessary to have mega rolls? I mean, I feel as though this could be contributing to society's ever growing laziness. I may be in the minority, but I find it kind of sad when people are so lazy that they can not change the roll of toilet paper when they empty it. I won't name any names, but I visit someone who has a trash can within reach of their toilet. And they store the toilet paper within reach as well. So, when I see that the toilet paper roll is empty, but the trash can AND the new toilet paper are within arms reach of the toilet, a little piece of my soul begins to weep.

So, I understand that you created mega roll in order to save people the effort of changing the roll as often... but... seriously? I think we should not encourage such laziness as the inability to take TEN SECONDS to change a roll of toilet paper.

Much love and thank you so much for caring about our bathroom habits!

Sincerely,
hamsterkitten

Saturday, June 13, 2009

For the Dogs: A Moral Question

Okay, so I find myself in a moral debate with... myself. These neighbors moved in about a year ago a few houses down. (I live out in the country.) When they moved in, they had 3 dogs. The dogs were always running out in the streets, chasing cars, etc. At one point, my dad almost hit one and called me to ask whose dogs they were. I told him and he stopped by to talk to them about it and they didn't care. Surprise of all surprises, two of the dogs have since "disappeared" and one neighbor told me that they knew for sure one was hit by a car.

Our other new neighbors moved in around the same time and got two little dogs. Both were hit by a car and died. So, before getting new dogs, they put up a little fence in their backyard and the dogs don't run loose. Good thinking!

Now back to the first idiots. So, what do they do? They go buy this adorable little cocker spaniel puppy. And since they've had her, she's always out in the road with the original car chaser that's left. And she comes over to my yard on a daily basis. It is so often that I have trained her not to jump on my kids. She hangs out all the time, but she crouches and cowers like she's been hit. I feel bad cause she's a sweet dog and clearly these people should not have dogs.

Add to the fact that they had these two ducks they bought for their pond that now for some reason hang out in my yard too... what am I, the Beastmaster?

So what should I do? I've thought about trying to find someone to take her and have even considered throwing her in my dogs' fence until the people come looking for her. But both those things would be considered stealing. Should I just wait for her to get hit by a car? We live outside the city limits, so there's no one I can call about it cause it's not violating any ordinances.

Oh, plus they named her Buttercup. And that's just reprehensible.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

My Thoughts On: Jon & Kate Plus 8

Because I know you guys really care about what I think about this topic and because it is mommy related and in pop culture right now, I've decided to throw my hat full of two cents into the ring.

I have mixed feelings about who I blame for the dissolution of this marriage. My first instinct was to blame Kate because from watching clips of her on the couch, she seems like a total B. She's always putting Jon down and belittling him in front of the whole world. And if there's one thing a dude hates, it's being embarrassed.

Then there's the side of me that wants to blame Jon. One, cause he's a guy... and they are usually wrong. But, as my friend Crystal pointed out, you try being a stay at home mom to eight kids and try to be in a good mood all the time. I say amen to that, sister! I didn't think about it that way. For years, Kate was a stay at home mom...to... EIGHT... kids. I only have two and contemplate blowing my brains out every five minutes. And if snapping at people is all I do, then they need to consider themselves lucky!

So, now I'm riding the fence. Do I like Kate? No. I can't like anyone that takes picture of her children's poop. That's right. I attempted to watch ONE episode like the first season and it happened to be when she was potty training the kids and she literally took pictures of their poop. I quickly turned the channel and emptied the contents of my stomach. I'm sorry if you take pictures of your kids' poop cause I probably just totally alienated you, but... it's so wrong it hurts.

And do I like Jon? No. First being that he's kinda ugly. And that bothers me. Second reason being that I don't like guys that cheat. Whether he's cheating or not, I don't know for absolute certain, but running around with another chick when your wife is not there is not okay in my book. That is humiliating to her and so disrespectful.

So my conclusion? Take their 8 kids plus the Octomom's 14 kids and give them to Angelina Jolie. Everyone's a winner!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Separation Anxiety

I know that when kids are young, they go through stages of separation anxiety... but is that supposed to happen to the parents too?!

As I've mentioned before (in the random blogs where I actually get into that whole mommy thing) my son is a TOTAL mama's boy! It's insane. Well, they're transitioning him from the infant room to the toddler room at daycare and I hate it. In the infant room, he gets coddled and he adores the woman. It literally took NINE MONTHS for him to not cry when I dropped him off there. He was getting to the point where he was excited to go. Well, he's 17 months old and they move them up anywhere from 16-18 months. In the toddler room, the woman is not very friendly and clearly hates her job. When I take L in the room, he clings to me for dear life and does not want me to leave. If I try to leave he cries hysterically. He even does that cry where he doesn't breathe because he's crying so hard and his face starts turning purple.

What's a mom to do?! My kids only go to daycare two days a week and my daughter LOVES it. But I just feel such horrendous guilt when I have to leave L there. I know he plays and has fun after I leave (he does the same thing when I leave him with my parents) but it's just the thought that he's so upset that I'm going. Plus, today the only other kids in his group were rowdy, obnoxious heathens and this one little girl kept picking her nose and I about threw up!

And yes, I've cried... so far twice. And are the daycare ladies sympathetic? NOOOO. They just keep saying, "he has to get used to the toddler room." I want to face punch them repeatedly. It just breaks my heart and I immediately think, "is what I have to do today THAT important?"

Does anyone else know what this feels like? I'm sure some of you go through this when you don't get to see ME, but I'm talking about parent/child, lol.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Look at Me All Changing!

So lately I've been engulfed and overwhelmed by a great many things. And one of the many things that has shocked me about myself and my new attitude is how much I enjoy my girl friends! I've always been a firm believer that girls are backstabbing b's, but recently have found, that I actually like having them around! Yes, men are from Mars and women are from Venus, so in that line of thinking, why not surround myself with Venusians? Clearly they would know what a girl is going through because hello!- they're girls.

I like to think that I understand a lot and can read people pretty well. I took about a billion psychology classes, so I'd like to think that I've learned something about the human mind. But, when I want sympathy, I go to my girls. When I want advice that I won't listen to... I go to a guy.

Now, I'm not trying to knock on guys. This post was purely to point out that I've decided to admit to yet another thing I was wrong about... girls CAN make good friends!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

So I've Realized...

That I have control issues. Shock of all shockers, I know! But seriously, I get these little clickers that go off in my head that make me realize something or become more self aware. And I definitely have realized that I have some major control issues and I need to figure out how to get past them...

Anyway, just a random thought for the day! Enjoy! lol

Monday, June 1, 2009

You Suck, Paypal!

Okay, so I find Paypal to be very essential.

But right now I want Paypal to get stabbed with a pitchfork, thrown in a hole and set on fire!

I love to sell stuff on ebay. Especially if it's something in my house that is going to be nothing but clutter.


I don't want to make this really long, so I'm not going to get into what I sold and the fact that is 100% worked when I shipped it. Anyway, after the buyer repeatedly sent me rude messages on ebay and I even called them to see what I should do, they told me I should let it be escalated to a claim on paypal because they were so sure I'd win. I didn't. Cause Paypal is retarded. As if I need any more frustrations in my life right now, stupid @Q#$!@%!$#! Paypal decides to go and screw me over.

*deep breaths* Okay, I need to go break something.

Stupid Paypal!!!