F is for...

It's been a holiday weekend full of fun, friends, food, fireworks, Rock Band frenzy and film! A much needed break from the chaos of working life, to be sure.

Friday afternoon just before we headed across the street to our friends' for a BBQ, I asked the little man if he wanted to bring his new Guitar Hero III with us. It was one of the games he got for his birthday and hadn't tried out yet, so we scooped up the unopened box, our food, bevvies, camera and whatever else we needed and headed across. After some yummy snacks (while the ribs, yum, were cooking) the kids went and set up the game.



While having fun, it's kinda hard to play Guitar Hero III with only one guitar and three kids. I headed back to the house to retrieve the guitar from Rock Band in hopes it would be compatible. Not. So. Much. After dinner, diappointed that the guitars weren't working together, I asked the son to help me grab the remainder of Rock Band. (I'd been told the guitar from Guitar Hero worked with Rock Band - still not sure why it doesn't work in the reverse?).

Even the adults got in on it!

(You'll have to pretend there's a video here since Blogger was being a beeyotch and wouldn't load it.)

We finally found the perfect mix of talents for our band - friends' son on lead guitar, little man on bass, me on the drums, and friends' daughter singing. We played and played for hours until it finally got dark enough to head outside for the fire works (if you could really call them that considering our city banned all fireworks a few years ago). Sorry for the crappy pics but my camera was out of battery so I had to use my Blackberry.

Saturday afternoon the little man and I finally went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I have to say though it wasn't one of my favorite of the bunch, it was still good and I'm happy we saw it on the big screen rather than waiting for the DVD.

When we got home there was a voicemail from our friends inviting us over for pie. We'd discovered the pie we tried to eat the night before was still raw in the middle despite it supposedly being a fully cooked, ready to eat pie from Safeway. But in true Safeway fashion, when they returned the pie yesterday, they were given a new one (with apologies) and this time it was fully cooked and yummo! After pie and ice cream I asked if anyone was up for another round "road trip" (aka round of Rock Band) and we headed back to our house for more frenzy.

Our band name... The Goofballs!

Hope you've all had a safe and fun holiday weekend!

sunday seven

Seems like the week's gone by and I haven't gotten around to posting - again. {sigh} Several of the blogs I read have Sunday posts that sort of wrap up the week on topics that don't necessarily have enough meat to be stand-alone posts of their own, so I thought I'd go ahead and make a Sunday Seven. So, without further delay, here's a few items from the past week I thought I'd share.

1. Why is it every time we have a weather pattern a bit out of the ordinary that sweeps through the area they have to come up with some stupid ass name for it? This one was named something completely lame like The Big Wind of 2007. Uh, duh! There was a lot of wind, and it was big, but c'mon. Can't you come up with anything a bit more creative? The only good thing about this one is the kiddo's school lost power and after about 30 minutes decided to close school for the day so I got an afternoon off work. Of course that made for a pretty busy Friday catching up from what I'd not done Thursday afternoon, but whatever.

2. Boo! Eek! Trick-or-Treat! The house is finally decked out in all of Halloween's glory complete with pumpkins, skeletons, spiders, webs and lights. I usually get things going before it gets this late but being that the half of my garage not housing my car is full of crap all over the floor keeping me from getting a ladder close enough to the shelves to get to the Halloween box and the fact that I won't get on a ladder if I'm the only one home for fear of falling off and cracking my head open (which some days wouldn't probably be so bad except I'm afraid the blood oozing out would mat my hair and I'd look unpresentable when found some days later) I figured if it didn't get done today, I might as well just scrap it this year.

3. I hang out with the craziest group of girls at work. The other day one of them started talking about feet. Ewww! One of the lesser known things about me, and one I've probably never discussed here, is my absolute abhorrence for feet. Seriously. I know it's weird but I loathe looking at the bare foot. It just creeps me out. Try and make me touch it and I'll scream like a little girl. Yuck! Anyway, back to my crazy friends. One started talking about feet and I cringed. She's the one who likes to find the little things that bug is and ride us about it. I'd hoped they'd never find out my dislike, but now that they know feet seem to come up in conversation just as much as poop, snakes and grasshoppers - the other phobias of the group. Yeah, I know. We're a weird bunch!

4. I was gonna do Hilly's Phraseology game, but I seriously don't have a clue what words I use more frequently than others. I'm sure some of you could tell me (and probably will), so go for it!

5. This last week I've been hooked on tea. And not just any tea. Trader Joe's spice tea. It's kind of like chai spice tea, but not exactly. I find myself craving it around 10am and then again around 2pm, both of these being after my morning pot of coffee. It's so yummy with a bit of sweet (either Equal or honey) and a splash of milk. Yum!

6. I had good intentions to go see The Nightmare Before Christmas this weekend but didn't quite make it.

7. And last but not least, the drama that I've been dealing with for the past 5 months and not talking about here is slowly taking baby steps in the right direction. This is a HUGE relief to me and my body's already reacting to the release of pressure by completely falling apart. It's amazing how we can keep pushing ourselves when needed but given the opportunity to relax even the slightest bit, it's all over.

movies, teevee, and the start of another new me

This is the end. No. Not of refusing to blog -- though things might slow down over here a little bit in the days to come. Here, have a kleenex. I know you were getting all watery eyed there cuz you love me so much. It's the last day of the last weekend of the last 10 months of going from employed to unemployed to just plain jobless after draining my unemployment account thus falling off the headcount entirely to heading back to the ratrace of the employed world. I can't wait!

Tuesday is my first day back to work after my excrutiatingly long hiatus and I'm returning to none other than the same corporate computer giant (which will from this day forward be referred to as "The Winnebago") I left 10 months ago. I'm sure there will be assorted pleas for my sanity, bitching about stoopidity, and maybe a few sighs of relief to keep you entertained during round two.

Last week was insane with trying to get a ton of shit done before the big day. How is it that I could be not working for 10 months and still not be caught up with everything around here? But this weekend's been about just hanging out, enjoying the simple things in life, and relishing in the fact that I'll now be able to pay my bills without looking over my shoulder to see if someone's coming after me.

And because I'm crazy and like to pack my schedule fuller than it should be, I've taken on another new venture and joined the gang at Snackie Teevee. I figure since I'm already watching enough teevee to choke a goat (but I have a coopin for the goat!) I'd might as well dish about what I'm watching. The fun part is I'm in the company of some other great blog writers and don't feel the pressure of holding down the fort all by my little self. Not that I consider myself a great blog writer or anything. Especially when comparing myself to them. Anyway, go check it out.

We're also gearing up for pirates around here! In case you don't already know, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End opens on Friday, May 25th. So last night we watched The Curse of the Black Pearl, and next weekend will be Dead Man's Chest. Both rewatches for me, but first watches for the kiddo. Enjoy the trailer, but keep your drool to a minimum as I can't afford to be replacing keyboards or anything.

playdate at the movies

Yes. We actually went to the movies this weekend. Without the usual cajoling even. Why? Well, because WJ's friend who he wanted to have a playdate with this long weekend---no school last Friday and today---wanted to see TMNT. Not exactly on my list of recent releases to see, but I have to say it was pretty good.

Being the old fart that I am, I don't remember the original turtles much. Hell, that was 20 years ago and I was in college already. But I do remember the craze they caused with the kids. Every other kid on the block just had to be a TMNT for Halloween that year. I'm sure there'll be a similar wave a panic this year as parents knock each other over trying to get that last Leo or Raph costume because their kid just has to be one of the cool turtles or their life will simply come to an end and they'll die of embarassment.

Anyway, we met up with one of WJ's little friends and his mom, paid way too much for popcorn, and snuck our water in under his coat cuz I flat out refuse to pay $3.00 for a freakin' bottle of water. We put the boys in the two seats in front of us so they could yap and we could visit without having to talk over the top of them.

And the movie was actually entertaining. I am just amazed at the animation. It was this cross between regular cartoon animation, anime, and total reality. Seriously cool! Of course the storyline is the typical good vs. evil, so no surprises there. All in all, it was good. The kids had fun. And I didn't have to drag the boy kicking and screaming.

Did you see any movies this weekend? What's the last one you saw?

got any new music lately? or how about a movie?

I did! It all started last week when I saw the new Norah Jones album Not Too Late was released. I already had her other two albums and listen to them frequently, so knew I needed to get the latest. It's awesome! Just like the other two.

But I didn't stop there. Last night I went shopping and picked up a baker's dozen of assorted music from various artists including Rosie Thomas, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Mark Joseph, and Amos Lee. Some very good stuff! Have you got anything new lately? Tell me about it.

I also saw the most hilarious movie. The Aristocrats. No. Not The Aristocats. Disney would have a heart attack before he's put his name on this movie. You have to see this. If you want raunchy, side-splitting humor beyond measure, rent this movie now. I seriously thought I'd pee my pants. It's a documentary about a private joke that's been passed on from comedian to comedian throughout the years since Vaudeville. It's disgusting, shocking, hysterical fun told by some of the best comedians out there.

Other than that the weekend was pretty much the same as most weekends around here. A little laundry. A little cleaning. A little football. A little craziness. All in all good. Hope yours was the same.

Oh, and lest I forget the Joke of the Day...

Rabbi: Do you know why Moses wandered the desert for 40 years?
Little Joey: Because he wouldn't ask for directions?

Exactly.

afternoon at the movies

Yep. I did it. I dragged the kid to see Night at the Museum. And, just as predicted, he loved it! It seriously is a great movie. If you haven't seen it yet, get out there while you can. For those of you who don't "go" to the movies (you know who you are), put it on your list for when it comes out on rental.

We laughed so hard! The special effects with animals and statues is terrific, but the allstar casting of Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, and Brad Garrett really puts it over the edge. All incredibly talented and equally hysterical. Williams plays President Teddy Roosevelt, and (yes Stacie) I now can't imagine anyone else in the world filling that role. Wilson is Jedediah (the little guy in the picture above), a cowboy out to run Stiller over with a train. He may have been little in the movie, but his character proves to be bigger than life.

On the way home I was told "I loved that movie! Can we go rent it?" For a kid that had to be hogtied to go, he certainly had a good time. This one will definitely be on our must buy list when it's released.