just shy of pretty

Too “Mutch” (clap-clap) Time On My Hands….Tuesday

April 21, 2009 at 5:15 pm (Day to Day) (Crawfish, Day to Day, Fish Tank, Games, Gourami, Oscars, Photographs, Sharks, Too Much Time On My Hands)

This is for my little boy today. We were finishing up homework early this morning, before school; two paragraphs on two words that are spelled the same but mean something different, and trying to work out a playlist for today.

Misspelled words? Time? Too much of something? of anything? Produce (fruits/vegs)? Produce (to make something)? Like my silly site that doesn’t offer any useful information?

“Hard boiled eggs? Really? That’s so stupid mom” That is a direct quote. Please check the previous post and enjoy the next helpful “Tip To Live”. Use it for your child’s next school lunch! My children. Always my inspiration for everything that I do!

Sunday PM: Kids came home and it’s a swirl of dirty laundry, leftover food and non-stop talking. A quick tour of the house to see if anything is new and a hug for the fishtank that my son loves more than his mom, and it’s time for bed. Spring Break is over. Back to school on Monday.

I forgot to mention the fish. (Or did I?) We have one large tank (125 gal.) Two smaller tanks (36 and 20) A brand new 3 gallon for the boy, a 1.5 gallon (?) and 2 fish bowls that the girl watches over. The smaller tanks have Betta’s–fighting fish. The 20 is goldfish that my son has collected over the last few years. The 36 is breeder fish. Messy and poopy but they do multiply! The big tank is cycling thru it’s second round of fish. The first set were killed in an unholy attack of Ich that wiped them all out before Christmas last year. Terrible.

Oscars, Sharks, Gourami’s, Silver Dollars, and an Electric Blue Crawfish. These are the new residents replacing pretty much the same thing…so far so good. Mason’s new tank is undecided. Set up is today and fish later on. I’ll keep all the waiting fans updated as it happens!

Monday: It was take-your-mom-to-the-doctor day over here. I took mine and the BF took his! Then we met up for dinner with the kids and some fishtank shopping! (Hence the brand new 3 for the boy and rocks for the girl) Stevie loves her tank too. She is moving her Betta out of its current home and into a smaller apartment and then putting in something yet-to-be-picked-out-until-later in the bigger tank. It’s like a cheap version of The Aquarium around here.

Tuesday: Me alone for the day. Catching up. It’s garbage day plus Recycling so I like to get as much in the can as I can so I can put more in for the next time. Every two weeks. (Three “cans” in a row–that’s funny). I have been cleaning my bedroom as I have been for the last 6 months. It is almost done. Boxes, shelves, papers, books, mags, all sorts of stuff off the surfaces and filed away. Last up: the actual dresser DRAWERS (yikes), kids artwork, report cards, school papers, etc., and…dum dum dum…PICTURES. The bane of almost everyone’s life if they have been taking them for 30 years and putting them in a box instead of an album. Like I have. Or haven’t been. I have taken countless pictures–thousands– I have been sorting thru these last few days…and why? Why have I never albumized earlier?  Lazy? Housework? Yeah right. I am near the end though. Alot of memories. Alot of junk. Why do we save blurry pictures?

Here’s a tip: Take those out right away. You’ll never want them. You might not even know what they are. Save time and space upfront.

I was up until 2 am finishing the last visible box (I have more in drawers—you see how this goes?) I have them separated by garbage, mine and my ex-husband. The kids collected a few too, and my next goal is to put everything into albums over the summer. Eventually it all goes to them anyway…might as well give them some nice organized books they can pitch out all at once…save them ALOT of time!

It is funny though about those pictures. I had a life before right now…I mean, we all have a life,  but the pictures of when I was in school, jobs, family, ex, kids, boyfriends, house, vacations, dogs, events, cars, birds…whatever. “Of-the-past.” What do you save? What do you give away? What do you want posted on the evening news after you become super famous and get caught in a scandal? (I’m keeping those pictures, separate and labeled, so that won’t be a problem.) All my “new” stuff is downloaded on the computer and I carry it around with me everywhere on my Ipod. I guess that’s how you can tell these days. Past from present. Digitally scanned. (I like the way that sounds.)

The good part is that I get to see how I looked–So Bad!!—some of those clothes and glasses!?! Ugh! WTF was I thinking?

And the good part is that I also get to see HOW I looked—really. Not that bad. The mirror of the past—it’s true. I hated how I looked pregnant. Hated it. But I am so grateful now for the pictures. Because 10 years later, it’s still terrible, and now I have PROOF.

Anyway, it’s all just illusion, smoke and mirrors, and this is getting way too long. It’s like a game after all these years. Trying to fit the pictures into the order of a particular life and doing it so that other people can understand. The pictures just capture the moment, but not the time. So it’s been fun and gruesome and funny and horrible and…fun. Like Monopoly or Risk is fun. Playing with your cheating family…heh, heh, heh…

So the music is about games. (And having way too much time.) Mason actually came up with it while he was half-listening to me ramble on the way I do. “Like a game, mom, ‘Poker-face, Jeopardy…’ get it??” Oh yeah I got it. And here it is, for you:

The “Game Play“ List. Play it now!

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