Bones

Don't you hate when you are bone tired? How do bones get tired? Its like you're tired from the inside out. Tired. Everything seems hard. Yuck.

Good news: I started my new job today. Party! I get to work for one of my favorite people in the world doing something I feel good about. And I get paid!

More good news: The tropical storm, Ernesto, seems to be missing us here on the coast of Georgia.

Rain and Sunsets

I love when sunset comes after a gentle rain. The air smells clean and the colors of the sunset become exceptional.

I walk Marco, the psychologically needy puppy, every night, rain or shine. It rained this evening and everything was wet, fresh and new. Bats came out to feast on the bugs brought out by the rain. They spin and dance in the air.

Have you ever noticed how different your neighborhood sounds after a rain? There's the irregular pitter-patter of water falling from trees and the tinny sound of the rain coming down rainspouts.

As we walk, a variety of scents from flowers greet me from one yard to another.

Life is good.

Pre-teen Hell - Update

Okay, it's 1:00 in the morning and the boys are downstairs burping their ABCs. Shoot me.

Pre-teen Hell

What is pre-teen hell, you may ask? Its when you, as a parent, are insane enough to allow your pre-teen male child have a sleep-over. Nothing is more grating than watching 2 nine-year-olds have a pissing contest to see who is going to be the alpha male!

I made the rules simple and clear:

1. Do not go outside after 9:00pm. I'm setting the security alarm and will know if you leave the house.
2. You can eat or drink anything you find as long as it does not contain alcohol.
3. Lights, video games and TV off at midnight.
4. DO NOT get my attention!! Getting my attention is a bad thing.

Less than 15 minutes after hearing the above rules, they had my attention. A Nerf gun was being used as a weapon of torment. It now sits on my desk.

A couple minutes after the seizure of the Nerf gun, they had my attention again. Apparently Monkey Boy has morphed into Bossy Boy. Threats have been made by me.

You know that classic bedtime prayer that has the line, "Now I pray my soul to keep"? Y'all forget my soul and pray that I keep my sanity!!!

What do you do?

Have you seen what Ellia at greenbeanbaby has started in the blogging world? She wants to know what we do when we aren't making art (I consider my knitting and scrapbooks art!). I love this topic. I pretty much love any topic that lets me get to know more about the bloggers I read. Here I go:

1. Talk on the phone with my friends. I love keeping in touch with them. They add so much to my life.

2. Read. I love to read. I wish that I could give up sleeping so that I could read more. I tend to read LOTS of magazines because they're short and they're something I can put down if I need to. I love books but am one of those people who can't put a good book down. I will ignore food, my child and sleep to finish it. So, I only ready 3 or 4 fiction books a year.

3. Walk my dog. Marco, the psychotic needy puppy, does much better with his house-breaking if I walk him rather than throw him into the yard. I love walking him on the beach as I can take him off his leash and let him chase seagulls.

4. Be a mom. This entails an endless cycle of cooking, cleaning, washing, folding, etc. Ya'll know the routine.

5. Spend time on the Net. This means reading blogs, emailing, shopping, downloading stuff to my iPod and checking out what's new on eBay.

6. Watch movies. I love going to the movie theater. I love getting popcorn and watching a great movie on a big screen. I also love watching movies at home since my DH bought the family a totally bitchin', huge, plasma HDTV for Christmas last year.

7. Drink coffee. I live for coffee. I love going to my favorite coffee shop. I love talking with the other regulars there. I love reading the newspaper there. Life is good.

8. Hang out in bookstores. I can spend hours in a bookstore, as long as it has a coffee shop. This way I can combine my love of reading with my love of coffee!

9. Travel. I love roadtrips. Sometimes Monkey Boy and I just take off for the weekend. Sometimes we drag a friend with us; sometimes we don't. Atlanta is one of our favorite destinations because there is so much to do there and we have lots of friends there. Spring breaks usually take us to New York. Monkey Boy has been there so many times that he can tell you how to get around on the subway.

10. Cook. I cook a lot. Monkey Boy and I usually only eat out once a week, which isn't too bad for a working mom. I also love to have friends over for dinner and for parties.

So what are you up to?!

Small Town Woes

As some of ya'll know, I live in a small, southern, sleepy beach town. What do I hate most about living in a small, southern, sleepy beach town? Apparently there is a strange belief system here that people don't need coffee until after 8:30 or 9:00!!! I dropped Monkey Boy off for his 1st day of 4th grade and pulled into my usual coffee stop at 7:50am. There was a sign on the door saying that they wouldn't be open until 8:30 today! So I decided to try another coffee place that I hadn't been to before. And I won't be going back to again because they were closed!!!! Are people unclear on the concept of coffee?! Are they unaware that coffee is America's morning beverage of choice?! Why can't I get a freakin' cup of coffee?!!!!

Back from the Weekend

Another busy weekend at the House of Pod. Friday, which was my last Friday off for the summer as I go back to 'normal' hours this week, we ran down to Jacksonville for some shopping. I scored two knitting magazines at Barnes & Noble. Am I the only one who gets a rush when she sees a new knitting magazine on the stand? Next stop, Toy R Us, of course! Monkey Boy found a 'must have' video game and was quite happy to play it the rest of the day. The last stop was my beloved Target. I loaded up on polo shirts, school supplies, Archer Farm yummy snacks, etc. Monkey Boy found yet more toys he 'needed' because, as those who know him, he doesn't have enough yet! We were going to do some more shopping, but Monkey Boy had swim class, so we headed back. Didn't make the swim class, though, due to the worst rain storm I've seen in years. I had to go 15 mph on I-95! Should have stayed in Jax and shopped more!

Saturday morning was the end of season swim team party at Summer Waves. That was fun except the part when a yellow jacket bit my butt while I was laying face down on a tube in the lazy river! The rest of the day we vegged out in front of the TV, catching up on shows that I recorded on the DVR while we were in Mississippi. I finished a scarf and worked more on the 'hairball.' I'll post photos later as I've lost my USB cord for my camera and have ordered a media reader to add to my PC.

Sunday included more vegging and a trip to the movies to see Talladega Nights. I'm not a big Will Ferrell fan, but Monkey Boy and I both really had fun with this. I cast on a cotton washcloth during the movie and got about half of it done. Pictures later.