Why Hello There, Good Looking

March 23, 2013 | random randomness

I posted 8 times last year. I’m going for 9 this year. Yes, dreaming big.

I was planning on shuttin’ down without even a goodbye, but I can’t let the blog go without printing it all out so that one day, when I’m holed up in a nursing home, I can read it outloud to myself and whichever best friends I convince to join me at the home and we cackle ourselves silly.

So, I re-upped my account for one more year. Let’s see how it goes, shall we?

Things you’ve missed: Jojo is in first grade, 7 years old, and still so dreamy and kissable. Currently, he’s into all things Native American and wants to wear an ill-fitting costume to school everyday. When unable to wear said costume to school, he whines and moans that he doesn’t have enough track pants…which is true, because he refuses all denim and khaki pants and only wears pull-on gym pants. Unfortunately for him, his waist size is around the 3T range, so he doesn’t have a wide selection. This, my friends, is tragedy. You can feel his pain.

He also loves the ladies. Yes, he loves his female teacher, but he luuuuuuves the girls in class. He’ll play with the boys on the playground if there’s a game of kickball, foursquare or tag to be had, but in class, surrounded by all the cute girls, that’s all he cares about. Last year, there was a trifecta of cuties he talked about constantly (and lucky for him, they are again in his class this year). In addition to the trifecta of Kindergarten, there was The One last year. Jojo was crushing so hard and adorable on a little girl who didn’t speak much english, but well, as you know from the Lifetime Network or your mid-afternoon stories, love speaks no one language. Or is its own language. Or insert your own more makesenseable love/language analogy here. Thank you for doing my job.

Well, he and The One had to be separated during class story time because, in his words, “we were getting distracted.” Yes, he wouldn’t listen to circle time because he was stroking her hair or squeezing her or asking her to marry him (he was, apparently, waiting until she turned 7). It killed me in a good way. Unfortunately, they are in different classrooms this year, but they’re still friends. Plus, he has the trifecta AND even more cuties…including a new girl to the district who, the day she was arriving, prompted him to ask me to help him with his hair because “mom, the new girl is coming to class today, and what if she’s dreamy (insert moony goony love face here)??” Honestly.

But enough about my son’s love life. Onto my baby boy…

Nugget recently turned FIVE. Seriously. FIVE. He’s very tall and redonk in the cute department. He has a smattering of freckles on his nose and upper cheeks which I will share with you via photograph at some point, but let me assure you, they will make you swoon. Since the last time I posted, he has come into his own in terms of DANCE. Yes, this boy hears and feels the rhythm. I have several videos of him bursting into dance at various stores and environs. I don’t know where he picked up “vogueing” a la Madonna, but he did. And then some.

He’s in preschool three mornings a week and loves it. Last week was his last day in pre-Kindergarten story and gym time at Jojo’s elementary school which helps introduce incoming Kindergarteners to the school. Maybe it’s because he’s been to the elementary school for Jojo-related activities, but Nugget was all “smell ya later” from the get-go. My heart seizes every time I watch him go, and he never looks back. He’s comfortable enough to go forward to new experiences and confident enough in me to know I’ll be there for him at the end of the storytime, and I wouldn’t let him go if it wasn’t safe and good for him. I’m beyond proud.

What have I been up to? I sew a lot. I’m on the parent-teacher organization. I struggle to keep the house clean and the family fed. I’m still a tv-addict: I highly recommend Scandal and the Walking Dead. I’m overweight, tired and crabby, but wow, life is still great! Before I give too much away, I’ll post some pics of sewing projects I’ve been working on:

(insert awesome pics here…oh wait, I haven’t posted pictures in so long that I no longer know how to do it).
(Stay tuned…I have to run out and buy WordPress for Nimrods).

Scrabble Conundrum

July 9, 2012 | random randomness

My mom and I play Words with Friends on Facebook far too often for my schedule to permit. We usually have at least 2 games going simultaneously, with up to five at one point.

Today I have the perfect word for a triple word score, but I query… do I “dildo” or do I not “dildo” in a Words with Friends game with my mother? Will WwF even accept it? I would try it, but then it might play the word, and then well, it’s out there.

I’m not even contemplating quitting.

March 26, 2012 | blog business

Ok, so that’s a lie. My blog name or domain or something technical-sounding needed renewing, and I ignored the deadline for a while. Why SHOULDN’T I just give up the blog — I rarely write anymore. I’m busy, the kids are bigger and yet still demand a lot of attention, and I’m working part-time now. The real reason I find blogging such a ginormous pain in my expanding backside is that our laptop has joined the big dead laptop crappile in the sky, and managing photos and any complex blogging procedure on our laptop is a lesson in patience and blood pressure maintenance. I don’t think my body can take any exciting features, like, say a photo inclusion.

We have ZERO percent left of room on our hard drive. That seems to be a problem. Apparently we have over 160,000 photos on the hard drive. I’m pretty anal about organizing them. All photos are foldered by day, within a month folder, within a year folder. I’ve actually started the process of moving them to an external hard drive. Then I noticed the month folder of Jojo’s birth is missing, as are the folders for the first half of November following his birth month.

I’m pretty sure the computer Gods are trying to drive me to drink. more.

Speaking of drinking, did I tell ya that I gave up coffee? AND, AND, AND POP (or soda as some of you weirdos call it). Done and done. I haven’t had coffee since before Christmas, but I did sip a ginormous Coke Zero at the Hunger Games movie yesterday. It tasted good, but I’m not neeeding a Diet Coke twice a day, and my migraines have decreased from 3-5 a month to one just before my period. Awesomeness.

So yes, I saw The Hunger Games. It. Was. Legen…wait for it…DARY. Loved it. Loved the books. It was as good as I expected. THANK YOU MOVIE MAKERS. I’m in the need for a gripping book/book series, as the books I’ve been getting from the library recently, while favorably reviewed by others, are just tough for me to get into. Anyone want to suggest my next great read?!

Well, see, that wasn’t so hard. As long as there’s one of you lovely friends out there that smiles when reading this, then I’m happy to continue. I just may not have pictures or smelloblogvision or flash animation for a while.

Race to the Oscars, Part 1 of Several

February 3, 2012 | TV/movie addiction

I’m making headway this year. Thankfully there’s one fewer movie to see before the Oscars…which, can I do worse than last year’s goal by JUST finishing the 10th movie earlier this week from LAST year’s Oscars? Whatever. Who reads this blog, Scorcese? Negatory. But some other REALLY IMPORTANT people do, like you.

Yes, I’m talkin’ about you.

BUT LOOK! Mr. Squirrel and I have seen THREE… and, like last year, I’m ranking them as we see them, so I hope this makes sense.

1. “Moneyball” — I’m surprised that I liked this movie so much, and I’m not a big Brad Pitt fan. I also don’t enjoy baseball that much, but what I do love? Statistics. So, there ya go. I liked the movie, and I’m not sure why exactly I like it more than “the Help” — maybe I wouldn’t if I hadn’t read “the Help” already, which made it less surprising and appalling — I’d already felt those emotions. Jonah Hill was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Moneyball,” and if he wins, I will effing crap my drawers and yell at the tv (the yelling is rather common, the crapping not so much). His performance was fine, but worthy of a nomination? Dude. No.

2. “The Help” — I’d read the book. The movie did a great job following the book. I thought Viola Davis rocked the vote, and I’m so glad Jessica Chastain received a nominated as the awful, Hilly. She was fantastically awful. UPDATE: Thanks to Britt for knocking me on the head with a brick of DUH that Jessica Chastain played “Celia” and NOT “Hilly.” Ergo, Bryce Howard got screwed out of a nomination, and Jessica Chastain was good, but well, if she wins the Oscar, I’ll lose that bet.

3. “Hugo” — You may remember my thoughts on this movie. Art Direction, cinematography and director awards would be well-deserved, but that doesn’t add up to a Best Picture.
—————
Still to come…

“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“Midnight in Paris”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”

Your thoughts? Have you been able to see any of the ones I’ve seen — do you agree with my opinions? Have you seen the others? My dad’s take on “War Horse?” He told me not to waste my money and that he could have written better dialogue. He did not, however, crap his pants.

And the Oscar Goes to…

February 1, 2012 | TV/movie addiction

Just in time for Oscar Season 2012, I’d like to give my final ranking of last year’s best picture nominees and award my own belated, yet incredibly important, Hollow Squirrel NotOscar Best Movie of 2011 Award (aka HSNOBM 2011`):

Last you knew, I’d seen seven of the 10 best pic nominees and this was the order of my preference:

1. The Social Network
2. The Kings Speech
3. 127 Hours
4. Inception
5. Toy Story 3
6. Winter’s Bone
7. The Kids are All Right

I finally saw Black Swan this past summer with our family babysitter– dang. That was creepy, and Mila Kunis is stunningly gorgeous. I think it was worthy of a nomination. You’ll see where it fits in the list at the end of the post. Nail-biting, isn’t it?

Then showed up on Netflix, so we caught that last month. That was good, too — I love the Coen brothers, and I hadn’t known before seeing it that Matt Damon was in the movie. Jeff Bridges is wicked talented and deserved the nomination. I love how much he loves acting. I also love that I live in a time period with better dentistry practices. There were some gnarly chompers on deck.

And just this week, I made my husband watch , which watch out top of the chart, because holy jeeez that was some good acting. A well-deserved Oscar to Christian Bale as supporting actor. I’m still not sure why Amy Adams was nominated. She was good, but not nomination-worthy. Also? Crack is whack.

SO, the FINAL list of the venerable Hollow Squirrel Oscar Movie Review (2011…because YES, it’s hard to believe, but the

1. The Social Network
2. The Fighter
3. The Kings Speech
4. 127 Hours
5. True Grit
6. Black Swan
7. Inception
8. Toy Story 3
9. Winter’s Bone
10. The Kids are All Right

Yep, that’s right. I’ve gotta sew up some ribbons for the winners and runners-up. It’s over, people. Roll up the red carpet and head home.

I’m already on the path to seeing the nominations for THIS years awards… I’ve seen “Hugo” (seriously? Best Picture nominee? booooooo.) and redboxed “Moneyball” today. I plan on seeing “The Help” this weekend…and then I might actually have to *gasp* go to the theater.

Happy 2012!

January 3, 2012 | I'm an Idiot

Things I forgot to tell you about in 2011:
1. We went to Vegas for Thanksgiving.
2. I crafted or sewed at least 10 gifts this year — it was such fun, and I plan to do more for next year.
3. Jojo has a girlfriend. Or so he says.
4. My six-year bloggiversary was 12/26… oops.
5. I think I blogged less than any other year in blogtory… double oops.
6. My hubby and I haven’t slept in the same bed in 3 months, but last night we DID because we finally bought some split-boxed springs for our upstairs bed. We now have to high jump into bed. I could have said “pole vault” but I know some of you would take that the wrong way. Sickos.
7. I’ve become a much better artist because Jojo BEGS ME almost constantly to draw him Pokemon figures or Dragonvale dragons. According to my six year old, I am “better than an artist — a genius… a professional!” LOVE him.
8. Nugget is driving me nuts as he attempts to become the house dictator. Luckily, he’s still squishy and cute and I can pin this dictator down and smother him in annoying mommy kisses.
9. I’m toying with some names of the Etsy store I’ll most likely open. Top secret, natch.

Anyway, thank you for checking in with me this lovely year! Off to draw dragons.
xoxoxo

Yet Another Facebook Revelation

December 18, 2011 | trips down amnesia lane

So there I was, innocently and wastefully playing Words with Friends, when I checked backed into FB and noticed a ‘friend suggestion’ who I recognized as a boy I knew from middle school…

and Wednesday nights at the roller rink.

He did attend my school and was a grade ahead of me. My good friend and neighbor, also a grade ahead of me, had a crush on the boy, so we’d be giddy on the busride home Wednesday afternoons fantasizing about this boy (and the many other awesomely 80s-tastic boys on 8 wheels).

After lacing up our rental skates and tying on my rainbow pom-poms, we’d head out for some laps and check who showed up. Halfway through the night, the DJ (seriously) would announce some special skate where the boys would be on one side, girls on the others, and you could skate out and ask another person to skate, hand in hand.

That. Is what it was all about.

My friend and her crush often skated hand in hand. Mostly, I stood and waited and…then shuffled to the edge and grabbed a surprisingly delicious hot pretzel and melty cheese from the snack bar.

Or, just as often, I’d skate to the bathroom and put that big ass comb from my back pocket to work on my feathered locks.

Fastforward to now, when my friend’s crush, the boy, popped up on FB, and I clicked over to his profile.

He’s married with children. Not surprising.

He lives in the south. Somewhat surprising.

He and his children are a religious country singing group. um, what?

He owns a salvage company. For UFOs.

The end.

Oh Yeah, What to Wear…

November 30, 2011 | Confessional

So tomorrow night is my husband’s workplace holiday party. It always sounds appealing, and then I remember that I cannot show up in jeans or pajamas.

Absosmurfly nothing fits in my weak collection workplace holiday party attire. We no longer live in a household where I can head to Banana Republic and pull something, sale or not, off the rack to bring home.

And, unless I can swing a homerun in the 2 hour gap I’ll get tomorrow while Nugget is a school, I’ll have to bring him along on the torturous shopping excursion.

During my solo trip to Target yesterday, I hurriedly tried on a couple of options, three of which were from the maternity collection.

I’m not pregnant. I am, however, carrying baby Fat Bastard around my midsection…but the (adorable otherwise) Liz Lange dresses did make me look pregnant, and I don’t want to risk causing Mr. Squirrel a heart attack.

I’m pretty sure last year, I made my husband go without me for the same reason I’m thinking of backing out this year — nothing to wear. I’m not going to do that to him this year, even if that means having to drag Nugget along, thereby establishing a hatred of shopping most men seem to harbor. Awesome.

Movie Addendum

October 28, 2011 | TV/movie addiction

I totally forgot about the movie that Nugget and I ran into one of the stars when we were out-and-about.

Nugget and I had just finished storytime and decided to get a treat at a local indie coffeeshop. I’ve never taken in him there, and we shuffled to the back of the store near the baked items, and there in the booth behind us was a very skinny, pretty yet exhausted woman. I recognized her as someone I’d seen before, but didn’t make the connection until she spoke to the waiter with an accent. I had given her my classic “I know you from somewhere, and I know you’re friendly” smile already.

But I know better than to do the whole “I know you from somewhere” exchange since I almost IKYFS‘d the registered sex offender from up the street at the grocery store. Seriously. Glad I bit my tongue and repressed my inner midwesterner on that one.

Anyway, all the clues came together and I realized she must be in town for the movie — she told the waiter she was going to the set, and this I like — she walked back to her hotel by herself to catch a lift to the set. It’s not the best part of town, and it was rather chilly, but off her skinny little legs went.

AND cut.

Am I That Old?

October 27, 2011 | Uncategorized

I just saw the status update on Facebook of a girl I graduated with from high school wishing her grandson a happy 2nd birthday. GRANDSON. Sweet serenity.