Story Time, Braum's, & 'Sponsibility

Well...last Wednesday, Gage & I went to story-time at the Rockwall Library.

Will we ever go again?
I dunno.

This is the librarian....

...who really set the tone when my 3yo who is not super social to begin with, entered the room with sucker...she promptly provided a baggie for the sucker & informed the entire room that sweet treats such as these don't go well with library books. Yes, thank you....that was his keep-happy.

That's okay.
She paid.

How you may ask??? In the form of my little guy screaming at the top of his lungs at the start of the 2nd book. "Let's Go!" "I don't want to sit on the mat with THEM!" "I don't LIKE story-time!"
I would have only been better if he had yelled "THIS BLOWS! I'm OUTTA here" as he hopped on a mini-harley & rode (at 15 mph) far far away from story-time.

So....while I wanted him to either sit quietly, or heaven forbid---sit on the mat, interact with the other children, and actually ENJOY story-time...that didn't happen.
We scooted out of the little story room & just started exploring.








We read all kinds of kiddie books, and then Gage wondered over to the big kid section. We looked at a couple of animal books, and then he intently looked at every.single.page of a book about New Jersey. Hmm. Go figure.

After that---lunch at Braum's.
If you don't have a Braum's near you...well, then, I am very very very sorry because it's delicious. Hamburgers & ice cream & the best milk EVAH!





So, after the ice cream {I had German Chocolate BTW & it's so yummy with nuts & coconut....mmmmmm!}, we headed over to the little market area to load up on milk. Gage saw a box of Tootie Fruities (just like Fruit Loops, but made by Malt-o-Meal). He just HAD to have 'em. So, we got some jumbo family sized box of this sugar-coated stuff.

Came home. I unloaded the milk & sherbet, and left the box of cereal in the paper sack by the fridge. {yes, this detail is important...}

But now----now, I must back up & tell you something. THAT MORNING, Gage & I had a discussion about our responsibilities as pet owners; it's our responsibility to feed the dog, and water the dog, and love the dog, and take care of the dog, and take the dog outside...you get my drift.

So---we're back to afternoon time. Gage says that he's going to take his rest on the couch with cartoons {around here, you don't have to take a nap, but you WILL take a rest}. So, I told Gage that I was going to go lay on my bed for a rest. After a few minutes it got REALLY quiet with Bonnie & Gage in the living room....so I ventured down the hall to peek into the living room, just to see if Gage was asleep.

Well, HOLY TOOTIE-FRUITIES. They were EVERYWHERE! Gage & Bonnie were both eating Tootie Fruities off the living room floor. They were in the living room...and all the way through the house to the kitchen. Of course, I was irritated. Okay---I was mad.
Until I got to the kitchen. You could barely see Bonnie's food bowl because of the huge pile of fruity cereal. Her water bowl? Filled with Root Beer. Gage walked into the kitchen, where I was laughing out loud, no longer as mad as I was....and he shrugged his little shoulders, put his hands up and said, "What? It's my 'sponsibility."
Oh...buddy.

So, I guess I just lived the saying, "It's not always what you say, but sometimes what you DON'T say."
I didn't say, "It's our responsibility to give Bonnie PUPPY FOOD."

So...that was our Wednesday.
Clearly, after that, I was picking up cereal throughout the house!

Budget Busters

Okay, so with any renovation, there are unexpected costs, right?

So far, we've had a few....

The tool needed to remove the tile b/c it's set in concrete: $200.00.
{we could have rented one at $60/day with a $250 deposit, but we'll need it for at least 2 days, so that wasn't really a great deal, ya know?}

Sheetrock: $200.00. Why? Because as I mentioned before, there is no sheetrock behind these concrete tile & wire walls.

Insulation: cost unknown at this point b/c we haven't gone to buy any yet. Why is my bathroom so cold all the time? Because there's tile on top of concrete on top of this wire stuff. Beyond that? EXTERIOR BRICK. {Lovely.}

Mirrors: remember how I said that we'd probably just leave the mirrored 3 sided vanity that's built in? Well, the tool used to remove tile affected the mirrors {as in, cracked it}, so we may be doing something else in that area, or reworking it in some way. {Again, lovely.}

Electrical: we have an electrical outlet ON our current sink vanity. Sounds weird, right? It is kind of. So, some way, some how, we've got to move an electric outlet & establish that some place else so that I can blowdry my hair in the bathroom when this is all said and done. An electrical outlet BEHIND the sink is not user friendly...{hey, honey? Can you come slide this sink cabinet out of the way so I can plug in my curling iron??? Thanks!}

I was joking with my mom earlier about all these unexpected costs. I told her that we may be tearing this bathroom up---insulating & building walls, only to put the pink tile back in some random-broken-mosaic pattern b/c the budget $$ will be gone!
{Lord, please don't let that happen!}

Bathroom Renovation

******************************************************
So....our house was built in 1949.
We've still got the original oh-so-pink bathroom tile.
I painted the walls chocolate brown to make the pink work for a while.
But alas, it is time for a bathroom renovation!

So, in sticking with the fact that our house was built 60 years ago, I chose white subway tile for the bathroom, in a herringbone pattern.....inspired by THIS picture {yes, I know...the picture is of a kitchen---look past that, mmmkay?}


For those that are familiar with our pink bathroom, I can tell you that we are leaving the built-in mirrored vanity & built-in storage behind the door, but will just give it a fresh coat of paint.

What else do I have in mind for this bathroom???

This vanity....


This mirror....


And this faucet...


Let's see....what else?
One window in there. White plantation shutters...
Lighting? Oh, don't even go there. I easily spent OVER AN HOUR in the lighting section at Lowe's. For lighting & ceiling fans, I think they have a better selection and better prices....but I just couldn't decide. I need an over the sink set of lights & then a pendant light for the mirrored vanity area. I'd fall in love with a certain pendant light, but then the other lights that seemed to go well with it would only be offered in chrome....or I'd like a brushed nickel light, but hate something else about it....etc.
Lighting selections will come. Just....not today.

Paint?
We've chosen a very neutral tan color that is pretty light, compared to the chocolate brown we have now. It's called "Dapper Tan". Yes, I know---this bathroom is very, very neutral. Not really my red-fireplace style....but, I am in charge of pulling this look together, and I'd really like to go with something neutral. So, there you go. Tan & white. I can accent with any color, and it will be much easier to switch out accessories when I'm bored of a certain color scheme.
:)

So....how are we faring on this project so far?
Let me tell ya....
Tile guy came today. Because of the intricate pattern that I want, the price for laying the tile went up by $1.50 per square foot. {dammit!}
Hubby's in there starting demo.
How's that going? Glad you asked. Well----the pink tile is set in concrete. {Lovely.}
And---behind that? Some kind of wire bullshit that has to be ripped out too. {Lovely.} So, we're about to be down to wooden empty walls until the tile guy returns later this week. No showers, only baths.

So anyway....that's what's going on in our world.

Offensive on the Apprentice....

Okay, so I love the Apprentice shows. Love them.

And---I'm watching Celebrity Apprentice this season.
But---Claudia Jordan (who has a claim to fame as a model who opens money cases on Deal or No Deal) said something that really kind of irked me.

Claudia Jordan:


Let me start by saying that she & Melissa Rivers had kind of been feuding, and Melissa Rivers is just annoying. Annoying.

But----when Claudia made a comment along the lines of "I can't whip her; slavery is over" when referring to keeping Melissa Rivers in line....well, I just thought that was awful. First & foremost, if the comment had come out of Melissa River's mouth instead of Claudia Jordan's----the whole world would be calling Melissa Rivers a racist. But instead, it is somehow okay for Claudia to say it BECAUSE she is black? I don't think so.

I think the entire thing was out of line, disrespectful, and offensive.
I wish I could find a video clip to show....

I'm just sayin'....

Friday Night @ the DMA

********************************
...as in, Dallas Museum of Art.

So, I got all excited about the DMA's Fun-Filled Family Friday night. The kids can go in PJs for story telling, and crafts, and family fun. Kids are free.

I couldn't wait!
So, when I got home from work, I informed my family that we had a family-date-night surprise, and Gage was to wear his pajamas.

We head out to downtown, and pay our $10 for parking...
We headed on down toward the museum....






So, if you judged from the above pictures, you might be inclined to believe that we all had a really good time....

Well---let's back up. We enter. Holy A$$-Whooping---there are more people in the DMA than I have ever seen at one time. Gage is free; Hubby is $10, and I'm $5 (way to go, Student ID!) So, we're out $25 so far.

The crowd: completely overwhelming for all of us really. Craft tables---way crowded. Story time---over. There's a line longer than the lines to ride something at 6 Flags! What are all of these people waiting for??? To get into the gift shop to have their copy of the story-time book autographed by the author. Yup, we'll be skipping that...we didn't even hear the story.

So, Gage enjoyed exactly 3 things: (1) a "tunnel" piece of art [if you can call it that, but I'll get into that in a minute] where no photography was allowed, (2) the texture wall (pictured above), and (3) the boxes. Now, in the box area, he would stack up some of the boxes & then knock them down. These two girls (whose moms were wrapped up in their own conversation) would grab Gage's boxes when he knocked them down, so that they could build a biiiiiig tower. In fact, after the little rip-off artists snatched Gage's boxes, they could no longer reach the top of their tower, so one mom got off her fat-ass to stand on a chair & put boxes on top of their tower. Of course she was oblivious to their stealing-ways b/c she only helped the girls so they would be quiet & she could continue conversing with her friend.
But whatever---did I just get off on a tangent there???

So....we were there for an hour---maybe an hour & a half tops. That includes drive time & parking time.

My comments on SOME modern art.....
A completely dark room with a light that goes around the wall. To me---not art.
I've seen better light shows at the club.
Puh-lease!

This tunnel thing that someone calls art---granted, it probably took a while to construct....but art? Not to me.

Which takes my memory back to a NY trip I took in college. A childhood buddy, Jason, went to NYU. (Jason, if you're reading, 'What up, dog??') So anyway---he & I went to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). Some things there: totally awesome.
Some things: wtf? [Lainey-Paney's inner thoughts at the time: well, I'd like to sit---but is it art? is it JUST a bench, or is it art?.....oh look---someone wadded up a sheet of notebook paper & threw it on the floor. I'll pick it up to help keep MOMA tidy. WTF? does that little piece of wadded up trash have a title? and artist? THEY CALL THIS ART??? Damn....if I'd known that, I could have been rich. I had at least 20 of these on the dorm room floor last week when I was working on that paper!....]

So anyway...I'm not a super huge fan of all Modern Art. If it looks like trash & you're slapping a label on it calling it art, well, that's just stupid. Or, maybe I'm bitter because you thought of it before me. Whatever. If it looks like trash & I threw 20 things out just like it---well, then it is trash. To me anyway....

:)
Okay...that's all for now.

Last Wednesday....

So, yes, yet again, I'm backtracking!

Last Tuesday (one week ago today), we got Bonnie (a.k.a. "Free Dog").

Wednesday morning we took her to the vet.
Wednesday afternoon, Gage & I took her over to visit Tera, Nathan, & Aubri.
:)







It was all well & good until we turned our eyes away from the toddlers momentarily & looked back up to see them using their sidewalk chalk to color the garage doors. AAAUGH! Tera assures me that it will wash off with the hose....but man, I felt bad! (Tera, I still feel bad! Okay....not as bad as when I ran over your gutter drain pipe thing when it was like 24 hours after installation....but you know, still---I feel bad)....

After that, Gage & I headed down the road to the park....with Bonnie.
It was so nice to see my socially.....challenged...son to be the center of attention. All of these kids at the park were all over us. "Lady, is that your dog!?" "No, it's HIS dog." And then, wham---they were asking him all kinds of questions about his new puppy.
It just made me feel really happy for him.

My son can be very overwhelmed by lots of kids all at once. He doesn't go to daycare or preschool (yet). His social interactions with other children his age have not been on an absolute daily basis. He just...he gets overwhelmed. So, to see him shine & actually ENJOY the interaction was great.

Granted, it was a challenge to tend to Bonnie & tend to Gage while all of these kids wanted to pet Bonnie & hold the leash, etc.

:)

***Free Dog!***

******************************************************
She digs.
She bites.
She chews.
She whines.
She escapes during her bath.
She pees inside.
She poops inside.
She wiggles out of the backyard fence.
She attacks your feet like a cat.
She's not fixed yet, so some day she'll go into heat.
And she's free to a good home!

Okay....not really. I'm in this for the long haul. But seriously folks---Tending to Bonnie is wearing.me.the.f*#$!.out.

This dog will chew the shoes right off your feet, if you'll let her.


I feel like all weekend I've been spewing "No!" & "Stop That!" at both Bonnie & Gage. They get frustrated with each other, and it's worse than two squabbling kids. I know, without a doubt, that it would have been easier if someone had just handed me a free baby instead of a free dog.

Bonnie-Girl, I love you....but to the rest of the world---beware of the "Free Dog!"

Mmmm. Highland Park Cafeteria.

Okay....okay....it's a cafeteria.
Whatever. It's easy. It's fun for Gage, and they have Mac & Cheese which makes him happy. They have yummy Deviled Eggs, which make me happy. [Are those a Southern thing???]

Saturday night dinner out....


They have all the Presidents on the wall, and I was surprised to see that they already have Obama's pic & little bio up....







Why, yes, that roll does look incredibly large!
:)

Bonnie Goes to the Vet

Okay...we're back-tracking here....this post is actually from Wednesday, 3/18....

Bonnie had her very first visit to our family vet.

And....Gage held the camera & took the pictures....




Yes, I look like a goober...but whatever.

Bonnie weighed 9.2 pounds on 3/18/9. Looks to be right at 8 weeks old. Born in January 2009. Got her first round of vaccines. Got her nails clipped. Goes back in a month.

:)

She was a good girl at the vet.

Tending to Bonnie

Meet Bonnie:



How did this little gem come into our lives?

Well....after the pet store with Leslie & Sadie, Gage mentioned that the pet store didn't have any dogs. He wanted to see dogs. So, I offered to take him to the SPCA shelter over off Industrial.

So, off we went.... But, we got there about 20 minutes before they opened. So, we sat on the steps playing a little lame game of "What color is that?" [you know---I point to something & say, "What color is that?"]... This woman comes up to wait on the steps too. There are other people there waiting in their cars.... This woman who is at the steps with us has a dog to surrender. Gage started the conversation by saying "Is that your dog?" and it was all over. She told a sad tale that involved a landlord, a no pets policy, and two dogs: Bonnie & Clyde. Clyde had already found a home, but Bonnie had not. She was at the shelter to surrender Bonnie & was fighting tears about Bonnie being put to sleep somewhere. Anyway....before the SPCA doors even opened, this woman & I were hugging & THANKING each other, and I was back in my car with our new dog, Bonnie.

You always hear the phrase "a boy and his dog".... I swear, my heart has just grown & grown today watching that phrase play out in my backyard. Oh my goodness....

But really, we need to pause because I'm getting ahead of myself.

Before noon, we had a new dog & we were headed back to a pet store. We needed a collar, and shampoo, and food bowls, and puppy food, and a leash, and a dog bed, and dog toys & at least one bone, and a box of treats....did I forget anything???

So, we're at the pet store, and of course I didn't put her on the floor b/c she's 7-10 weeks old (I think...) and I didn't want her to catch any dog sickies....so, we got a cart & went straight to the doggie bed aisle. Got a dog bed & put her in the cart. She loved it. She slept almost the whole time we shopped inside the store. In a random poll of pet store shoppers & employees who commented on how cute she is, the winning for breed mixes in Miss Bonnie: some sheperd & lab. Who knows what else??

So, we check out, and we head out to the car. Gage crawls up into his seat. I pop the trunk & unload the stuff. I set Bonnie down next to the car while I put my stuff in the front seat. I turn around----she's under a Carolla parked next to our car.
GREEEEEAAAAT. I've owned her for what??? an hour??? I'm like the perfect dog owner, right? So, I found myself belly down on an asphalt parking lot staring up at the unercarriage of a Carolla. Let me just say---if you find yourself in this same situation---laying in a parking lot staring at the underside of a Carolla, you MIGHT BE "Tending to Bonnie." Clearly she was happy to be in the shade, and in no hurry to respond to my pleas for her to come out. People in the parking lot quickly came to my side, only to find that I was attempting to fetch a puppy underneath the car. A brainiac who stopped to help suggested that I try dog treats. "I've owned her for like an hour. I don't even know if she knows what a dog treat is!" Well, she saw that little milk-bone & her ears perked up. Worked like a charm....thank goodness!

On the ride home, I called my Hubby. Went to voice mail. So, I text messaged him (odd for me b/c I'm textually slow)... I hadn't even had time to lay the phone down before my phone was ringing. It was Hubby. The text read "We got a dog." He must have been in a meeting or something when he returned the call because his response was, "I just got your important message. Could you elaborate on that please?" SAFE! So, I did, and he chuckled at me, and he's excited to meet her.
:)

So, she rode in the backseat all the way home, just right there at Gage's feet. We brought her inside & quickly marched right out the back door to see if she'd potty outside. She did. Like a champ. In fact----we've had one wet accident in the last 10 hours, and that was right by the back door. She's been TTing outside like a champ! Wooohooo! [I'm sure I just jinxed myself by even typing that!]

So, we get home to the backyard, and Bonnie was no more than 3 feet behind Gage at all times. It has been soooooo cute. As I'm typing this, she's laying to my left on the couch JUST A'SNOOZIN'! She is so worn out from such an adventurous day with Baby Gage.

Okay, okay....pictures from this afternoon....











So, after some playing in the backyard, Gage started making mud with the waterhose & had a ball in the mud. So did Bonnie!







So...they both got baths....


And then we got dressed....ran by Mark & Pam's, and ran out to Rockwall. Stopped off at Sonic for the ol' brown bag special, and took burgers to the in-law's for dinner. We had to go out there to get Eddie's old kennel. They'd used it for a while when their dog, Sadie, was brand new to their home & so scared of everything...

Anyway...Gage & Bonnie had fun out there too.







(Bonnie is not yet super-excited about her leash.)

So, that was our afternoon.
We've been busy..."Tending to Bonnie."

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

Well, we had a breakfast date this morning with Leslie & Sadie aaaatttt:


Leslie picked the restaurant b/c she's familiar with (and actually a big fan of) their other restaurant in Destin, Florida.

Anyway, she was wanting us to go there, and we did, and it was AWE-SOME. The only downside: the tables (a 4-top) are a little small for 4 people plus all the stuff they bring. The food---great. Fan-tas-tic. Really. Yummy.

:)
And then, we all ran over to the pet store nearby. Gage & I actually went there before breakfast while we were killing time waiting for our b-fast date. Anyway---Leslie needed dog food, so we all ran over there, and the kiddos had a ton of fun with the ferrets....









Why I'll never own ferrets:
---their poop looks so gross & they just romp around in it...so gross.
---Leslie told me that they take stuff & hide it. Oh, I'd have to kill the little fur ball if he/she ever hid my car keys!
---Thanks to Leslie's comment about the white one with red eyes looking like a demon ferret who sucks the others' blood at night, well, let's just say Lainey-Paney & Baby Gage can't unhear that! That thought will give us nightmares for weeks!

Anyway.....that was our Happy St.Patrick's morning, and we were all appropriately decked out in our green!

Let's Talk Real Housewives, shall we?

So, I have Loved.loved.Loved this show in the past.


In fact----LuAnn used to be my favorite. Loved her last season.
This season---not so much.
And she's writing some book about etiquette & manners b/c she is after all, a COUNTESS (which she reminds everyone of at every turn).
How about this---don't be so rude all the time??? How's that for manners. Don't be so belittling of others---there's a lesson in good manners.

I loved (sarcasm there) when her housekeeper returned from visiting her family across the globe---and LuAnn says something along the lines of, 'oh, i know you're jet-lagged'....'I'm so tired because I had to do all of your work. Well, [so & so] came to clean the house of course....' and 'we'll keep it light today so you can rest, but we need to get ALL of this laundry done.'
blah, blah, stinkin' blah.

She is on my nerves this year.

Alex & her husband. What train-wrecks. This inflatable-above-ground pool that we have in our backyard on the patio means that we live in the lap of luxury!???? WHAT??? I have to admit though---they are interesting to watch. They really are.

Bethenny's boobs----did anyone see the episode where she was in Jill's pool at the Hamptons---and I think she was wearing a green bikini (how do I remember that???)...her boob job....that area around her sternum. GROSS. Maybe it's because she's just so skinny. I don't know. I just know that her chest was like a train-wreck itself---it hurts to look, but you can't look away. In clothes, I think she looks great. But in a bikini---um, that was just gross. And why is she even on the show? It's "Real HouseWIVES of NYC". Last time I checked---you had to be married to be a wife. Hmmmm.....

And now, I'm feeling guilty for throwing these opinions out there b/c these are people somewhere....but, they put themselves out there for the public to see....and well, I have formed opinions.

Anyone else watch this show, or agree with me....or both???