Archive for February, 2010

-image-How Many Showtunes Does It Take?

February 28, 2010 | I'm an Idiot,Mr. Squirrel

To get my husband to change the fricking lightbulbs I’ve been complaining about for the past forever months?

One.

One beautifully sung Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.

I took Paula’s advice and made it my own, suggesting Mr. Squirrel put down the Legos and for the love of Argentina, CHANGE THE LIGHTBULBS.

Maybe it was the $3 Target microphone. Maybe it was the vibrato and sweeping arm gestures.

Maybe he wanted to shut me up.

Yeah, that was probably why, but who cares?! It worked!

Next time you want your husband to finish that project he promised you, give my method a try.

I’m off to compose my next aria to encourage him to finish that damn basement project.

Posted by Mrs. Squirrel @ 9:48 pm | 2 Comments  

-image-Problem Solved!

February 24, 2010 | a girl's gotta shop,Showcase of Brilliant Ideas

Today a friend dropped off some movies for my cabin-fevered kids along with the latest Solutions catalog.

You’ve received this catalog, right? Everyone gets this catalog, or your mom does and you flip through it when you’re home for the holidays.

My friend was dying to show me what she discovered in the latest catalog.

That’s definitely not a back massager.

When did they start selling vibrators? I don’t remember stumbling across those in the pages of this catalog before. I wonder if it’s their first time selling them online or in the catalog, and if it will be their last.

I can’t imagine many customers letting this go. I wonder if the personal massager page made it into every catalog of those intended for more liberal-leaning states. I almost want to call their 1-800 number of find out.

What do you guys think? Is this old news? Do you think it’s weird? Weird good or weird bad? I think it’s all kinds of awesome, but I probably wouldn’t think that if I found myself on that page sitting next to my dad on the couch at Christmas and him seeing it and then me noticing him seeing it and then awkwardness ensues. But otherwise? I don’t mind.

Posted by Mrs. Squirrel @ 10:02 pm | 10 Comments  

-image-Confessional: I Like the Soup!

Confessional

I’ve been into soup for the past two winters. I love cooking up a batch on the weekends or throughout the day and having a steaming bowl for dinner with some warm bread (that I don’t bake). Let’s not go nutso, people.

A few days ago, I made this soup. It was reeedonkulously good.

After dinner, I popped back online to tag the recipe in my online recipe box and while farting around (figuratively, of course) (maybe), I read in one of the recipe’s reviews that the soup was modeled after The Olive Garden’s famous soup.

Me? Ms. OG Mocker vanMockerstein, cooking and devouring an OG-inspired soup? Oh. The irony.

I thought it might make some of you laugh triumphantly and raise your breadsticks in celebration of my pretentious foodie-asshattery. This confession is for you.

Posted by Mrs. Squirrel @ 7:34 pm | 4 Comments  

-image-Acceptance: I’m Getting Old (and other random stuff).

February 22, 2010 | Jojo,random randomness,The Nugget

But sweet meats and cheeses, I’m not a crumbling house. I don’t need patching and tools. It’s MY FACE, not drywall.

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My memory is not right. Last night, I was checking out the family calendar to see what was in store for the week, and for Monday it said “afternoon playdate with Jojo and Nugget.”

So I scheduled a playdate with my own kids? Great!

I placed this embarrassment up on my Facebook profile in hopes that whomever I scheduled the playdate with would let me.

Of course, it was one of my two local friends who won’t get on Facebook that I had the playdate with. It all worked out though and not just because her fridge was stocked with diet pop.

My self-imposed no-pop diet is not going so well.

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I do not like this tshirt.

That has nothing to do with the other morsels o’ bitterness up top, but I just thought I’d let you know.

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I don’t want to end on a crabby note, so I am posting a question about WHAT has gotten into Jojo and his baby brother and their posing for pictures?! It’s just dinner, bud. No need to throw signs.

Maybe they’re just psyched about the broccolini.

They’re going to go shiznit tomorrow when I throw down some brussel sprouts.
Word.

Posted by Mrs. Squirrel @ 8:58 pm | 3 Comments  

-image-Acceptance: I Have an Extraordinarily Large Cranium

February 21, 2010 | a girl's gotta shop,Me

PROOF: No “one size” adult woman hat ever fits me. I’ll pull and tug, and eventually, the hat will scootch up my head until it’s perched idiotically on top.

Am I the only one with this problem? Should I just suck it up and buy from the men’s section or are there vendors that cater to women with ginormous pumpkin-sized noggins?

Posted by Mrs. Squirrel @ 9:23 pm | 3 Comments  

-image-Quality Time with Jojo

Jojo

Today I spent a solid four hours with my eldest son, Jojo, out and about, on a mommy-son adventure.

First we headed into the city for a show at a planetarium. Jojo was a delight. I only wish I could have enjoyed watching him (stare at the stars, whisper questions, shout observations, and just be the great and wild 4.5 year old he is) while simultaneously napping in the comfortable, dark star-lit room.

The Blackberry photo I snapped of him holding up Mars in the planets lineup didn’t turn out, but just imagine an excited yet shy smiling Jojo trying desperately not to throw or bounce Mars because he knows he’s not suppose to as one of the children chosen to help hold up the planets. Then the boy holding Venus bounced her, and well, Mars got tossed about a bit, but he held it together remarkably well for Jojo.

He was so proud to be Mars, even though he wanted to be The Sun. Maybe next time, I said. But Mars, is pretty darn cool. Later at home, we watched videos of the Mars rover and how the robots arrived through space (7 months travel time!). Awesomeness.

Afterwards, we ventured around the small museum and giftshop. Then we ran hand-in-hand across the deserted downtown streets to our car. We hopped in, navigated the twisty streets in search of the highway on-ramp, and jetted to our next stop: LUNCH! Momma was getting a headache.

We decided on Panera, and Jojo opted not to get soup, although I should have just gotten it, because he would have eventually eaten it, unlike the grilled cheese, which he doesn’t like because “it’s not like our grilled cheese.” Being saturated with butter can be a good thing, but not for Jojo. One chocolate milk, chunk of bread and fruit cup later, we headed to our third stop: the Lego aisle at Wal-Mart.

Normally, I try not to visit Wal-Mart often and/or especially on the weekends, but it was next door to Panera, and I can’t be that close and not check out their Lego selection…that’s just silly.

We were halfway through the store, sans cart, when he noticed the escalator to the food section where you can have your cart ride along next to you on the escalator. How can we not try that out?

Back to the front of the cart for us! The Lego selection, btw, wasn’t all that. Nothing new or interesting, so we headed to produce to restock his daily breakfast of peppers and cucumbers. I’m really not complaining, except that I guess I am: peppers are expensive. I know. Breaking news! You read it here first.

Ok, after buying more peppers (green! red! yellow! orange!), we stopped into one last store: Party City. Why? No reason except that Jojo liked what he saw through the windows. Boy did he have some great ideas for Nugget’s upcoming 2nd birthday party: candy, balloons and bouncy balls. Really, I think he might be a party planner when he grows up, although he did reveal on our adventure today that when he grows up, he wants to be a Lego Builder.

Party City, I found out, is an excellent cold weather activity. Jojo thoroughly enjoyed trying on hats and glasses:

And if you do want to reward your child(ren) for excellent behavior or a special treat, they have individual candies or inexpensive prizes of allll shapes, sizes and colors. Jojo had already requested a cucumber for the ride home, so I was set from our produce purchases at Wal-Mart. So we just tried on silly things and left.

We had the best time. It was nice to share extended one-on-one time with him. And as much as we loved our time together, we covered daddy and The Nugget in kisses and hugs as soon as we arrived home. Boy did we miss them.

Posted by Mrs. Squirrel @ 10:38 am | 3 Comments  

-image-Question Answered with Picture

February 20, 2010 | Confessional,holidays

Question: How did Presidents’ Week School Vacation treat me?

Posted by Mrs. Squirrel @ 8:32 pm | Comments  

-image-Coincidence?

February 18, 2010 | random randomness,TV/movie addiction

I’ve noticed many of the families on Hoarders also have lots of cats (alive and/or dead). You don’t see many dogs sticking around though.

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In an anti-tech follow-up to this post, I’ve deleted my Twitter account.

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That’s all for now. As soon as I shut down the computer, the 14 odd stories I’ve been meaning to share will all come flooding back to me, but right now? I’m drawing a blank.

Posted by Mrs. Squirrel @ 9:32 pm | 6 Comments  

-image-Is it Too Late to Talk Christmas?

February 15, 2010 | holidays,Jojo

No? Good.

Jojo scored some pretty amazing Lego sets for Christmas.

Like his mommy, Jojo wears his heart (loving or red, hot and angry) on his sleeve…and well, the rest of his body.

So when he ripped open many of the Legos, he leapt for joy and then threw himself across the boxes, hugging the Legos and repeatedly thanking Santa, Grandma or the giftgiver for the most awesomest gifts ever! In the whole world! EVER!

One set in particular evoked just one LOUD WORD… a loud word none of us had predicted because the gift was a surprise and well, do you ever expect your four year old to YELL with fists raised in cheer:

GUNSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Mrs. Squirrel @ 9:17 pm | 3 Comments  

-image-Buzz Off

February 14, 2010 | bitterness,random randomness

I turned off my Google Buzz and Google Chat. I’m also going to close my Twitter account, as I haven’t tweeted in a while.

Too much technology…I’m actually thinking of restarting my blog as an anonymous one…but then I’d feel bad for those of you who come and stay only for the pictures of my wee ones. And if I had to go through my life without updates on my fave internet babies, I’d cry. So I’m not sure I can do it.

Other than that, have I told you that I don’t like the Olympics overall? Like except in the 70s when they showed more actual sports coverage on one fuzzy channel. Do you like my half-assed sentencry? Good. WOOPS ranted too soon.

Why hello there, Dale Begg-Smith.

I’m crabby. I think I’m getting hormonal. And not because I’m pregnant. Bite your tongue. Hard. Yay Olympics!!

Posted by Mrs. Squirrel @ 8:05 pm | 9 Comments