NOT the Monarchs…
After some extensive research across the internets I have discovered we do NOT have Monarch Butterfly Caterpillars.
What we have are Mourning Cloak Butterfly Caterpillars. Still VERY exciting. AND…I think, prettier than the Monarch.
Check out the blue dots! Tres chic!
That would be post-metamorphisis…the caterpillar itself is HORROR movie! Spiky! Hairy! Cree–eepy!
The new family is resting safely at the neighbors house where all the ensuing action will take place. Apparently these are quite common around here and they should eat for two weeks or so, create their chrysalis, and in 10-15 days emerge, and take off into the sunshine.
Wish our little pupa’s luck!
Learning all kinds of new tricks!
I know I’ve been doing this about 4 months now, but I need LOTS of time to learn, use, embrace, cherish and share the technology I come across. Most things, almost everyone that can work a mouse, already knows, but I have been blind to. Ah, regrets.
Anyway, I’ve been off a few days putting out fires…THAT I STARTED!! Lesson to self…STOP BURNING SH*T!! But I think everything is OK now. Now I can get back to boring my very limited audience in all the mundane, stupid things I do all day, every day. Lucky.
Today I: (sister style) (please check back later for a post explaining her newly acquired nickname—see if you can figure out which one it is!—we had FUN over the weekend!!)
1. Checked E-mail.
2. Paid some bills.
3. Balanced checkbooks.
4. Went to doctor. (First of my physical exams/tests/etc…that I need for school!! Went smooth! Accomplished much. Yay! Love helping other people….hate going to the doc myself.)
5. Went to final Honor Roll Assembly for year at kids school. (Missed Stevie’s[10:15 am], made Mason’s[1:30 pm]. Actually almost didn’t make it to the later one because there was a scuffle at the bank I stopped at to deposit a check. Crazy. I was soooo sorry I sent my check up that little tube and was stuck sitting there waiting for my stuff. This was outside too! I thought for sure cops were going to pull up any minute…anyway, I got to leave after like 10 minutes so I have to check the news later and see if anything went down…)
Oh yeah…and the kids both got High Honors AND medals for having High Honors all year, every semester. Plus Perfect Attendence. Good job guys!!!
6. Mailed bills.
7. Picked up kids.
8. Went over to BF’s Mom’s to take out garbage and what not…(she had minor foot surgery in case you forgot–she’s ok).
9. Went to CVS. (Snacks—starving!! Didn’t want to eat in case I needed fasting blood work, and then kind of ran out of time–bought really healthy stuff like Trail Mix, but actually ate Cheese Puffs…staying on the track ain’t easy…)(Also, check back for another, later post about the huge mistake I made at the Fuddrucker’s eating Establishment…wasn’t quite “eating-until-I-die”…but it wasn’t the “healthiest choice” (even though I thought it might be at the time) either.).
(What’s up with all these parenthesis and periods??)
10. Typing now, while kids are outside traumatizing innocent catepillars just trying to metamorphisize into beautiful butterflies. They just came flying into the house (the kids) to tell me that, “There are five, OMG, five MOMMY!!! Monarchs!!”
“Do we have a container to put them in?”
“Do we have a new sponge to make them food?”
Apparently, caterpillar diet is the naturally occuring, sugar-water-on-a-cut-up-sponge.
“No, mom, that’s just what we fed them in class.” Oh. Never raised butterflies at school. I missed out.
OMG!! For real….I have been SUCKED in! My neighbor and the kids are creating a caterpillar nursery in a milk jug and sponges and sugar water and sticks and nets for cocoons…and they really are so interesting and creepy at the same time. There are 8 so far that are crawling all over the ground between our two houses. NEW UPDATE: just in the last 5 minutes: There are 11 now. Eleven orphan caterpillars.
I have to go look up caterpillar/butterfly care/housing on the internet RIGHT NOW! But I’ll be back later. Here’s the first pics of our new family below.
I’m also going to post a YouTube video–my original intent—Video Remake/Bonnie Tyler/Total Eclipse of the Heart (one of my favs as you know if you’ve been reading any of my music lists). Re-done, funny and clever!—that’s after the Nursery pics!
Enjoy a song while you wait for more updates!
Poker? But I hardly know her…HA…sorry…there was alot of ways I could have gone here…
My first choice isn’t AS funny, considering I’m a girl, but that’s for all you dudes out there. You’re welcome.
This is my next choice:
HA! The Elusive 500!
A little more cryptic…what could I be referring to? And…you keep reading!
Next headline (actually typed, then deleted, so I could go with the above):
Poker Night for Everyone!
Kind of boring. Obviously referencing some kind of “poker” game.
So, that’s it for the headlines. Here’s the meat:
Pocket Poker is my downfall!
Well, ONE of my many downfalls (if you ask the BF—hardy har har) and I have just been playing and playing. My ex hubby bought it years and years ago for me, and then one day, it disappeared.
Fast forward to last Christmas, in Florida, at the great Grandma’s house. Grandpa has been gone for a year plus, and Grandma was just now cleaning out some of his “junk” drawers.
POOF! Like a magical gift from the heavens, it returned to me. It was in Grandpa’s drawer all these years. I remembered then, that when he was sick, he liked to play it, and I left it there for him. Grandma didn’t want it, and it was back with me.
I searched for some years for it, and I searched the stores for one just like it. Nothing. This is the best. The most straightforward. The easiest. You can play for many mind numbing hours. And I do. My goal (sights set high over here) was to get 500 points.
Well, today is that day! Mere hours ago, I achieved this spectacular feat! I don’t get anything for it except satisfaction, and the next time I play I’ll probably lose 100. But, I’m no quitter. On to the next “level”….SIX hundred points!! OMG! I could be up all night!
Here’s a picture of my outstanding achievement in Hand Held Pocket Poker Gaming (505 points with a Full House):
Running with the Rotation of the Earth
UN-believable! I felt like I was on the biggest virtual reality treadmill in the world.
Seriously. Well, seriously, because I guess I was. Running on the spinning Earth. But knowing, I was running on the spinning Earth, and noticing it and realizing the bigness of the whole thing. (Geez, today really is turning out to be quite a sapfest–it’s like I have overly emotional sentimental hormones coursing thru my body or something…)(Make it stop!)
Anyboohoo, for about ¼ of a mile, I seemed to be running in the same direction the Earth was spinning. It sounds crazy. It was awesome, and it felt incredible and strange. More importantly, I didn’t fall down from the weird effect, AND I’m not high or drunk.
If I had run the other way on the trail, I never would have noticed it. I started off in the other direction. 3.6 and counting down or backwards. I like to do it that way so it seems like I have less to go. Like, instead of running to the 2 mile mark, I only have “less than” 2 to go…make sense? Doesn’t matter.
At any rate, when I got to the space between the ½ mile mark, running toward the ¼ mile mark (going backwards) the trail opens up into a big field. No trees, just flat grass on the side. Nothing around. Just the trail in the middle of all that ground and sky. And as I looked up at the clouds, they seemed to be moving in front of me, rolling forward like giant cotton balls, and I was running with them on the surface of the Earth. It really felt like a giant treadmill with a slow motion moving picture show in front of me. I never even lost my balance! And then it was over.
I was back on the ground with the rest of the world, just running. Time sped back up and regulated. I made it to the end, walked to the car and drove home.
And here I am. Friday afternoon. The sun is still shining and I’m waiting on my son.
After I changed, I jumped back on the scale and weighed within .2 (that’s point 2) of the weight I wanted to start from on my 20 pound adventure. So I’ll start from here. Close enough. I am officially declaring myself even. Oh, what a feeling.
Back to hard boiled eggs and yogurt with granola. It was delicious. For real. Apparently, diet DOES make the difference. I felt a million times better running today than I did two days ago. The difference is the crap I DIDN’T eat. Ugh! How many times until I learn??
As usual, I had my music with me. I set it to shuffle on my ALL GYM play list and let it rock. 272 songs, and the following twelve rolled off the hard drive and into my head. I’m including them below. In order, as they played. It’s good for a 4 mile run. Right to the end, if you’re slow like me. Give it a chance. I was impressed. Luck mostly, but sometimes things just…work.
Today is the day!
It’s Friday. It’s beautiful. The sun was shining through my children’s window in such a way that it makes you feel like everything will be ok.
Not to say that anything is bad…it’s just that kind of day. If you can’t take the sap this early, I understand. Check back later for the post about my Wednesday Church experience. No cheese included. That’s kind of weirdly ionic huh? Sun=Peace. Church=No peace.
Back to today:
I found a dime, walking the kids to school (separate post).
I took a shower, fresh shampoo, fresh soap, fresh fragrance…I feel really clean, like, squeaky clean, AND I used a new deodorant that smells like Florida! The good Florida. Beachy, sunny, oceany, sexy southern sultry, steam off the street…man I miss that place…
Anyway, I’m posting a bit, catching up. Update the daily life and what I’m doing. I’ve been busy with actual out-of-the-house stuff. Had to get more school related paperwork, make 10 different appointments for body checks, myself and the kiddies, run to the drug store for cards and snacks and special lunch for my daughter who has 5th grade picnic, take the boyfriends mom to the doc, pick up prescriptions, take the mom back to the doc, talk to my mom, my sis, my niece, my ex, my exes ex….you know, just stuff.
One school year ends, another begins. My son is going into 6th grade! Jr. High! So exciting. He’s visiting the school today to see how it looks, get a feel for lockers, and changing classes, and being a teenager. Then he gets to have Basketball Pizza Party after school. Still no trophies though. He says Tuesday. I haven’t forgotten. I have the post all ready, just need to throw in the pictures. I know every single one of you is dying to see those Bowling and Basketball trophies. Stay tuned!
I have one more doc trip with the BF mom’s today at noonish, then I can hit the trail and wait for my daughter to get home.
I have to run, even though I’m plodding out there like a hippo in the heat. It’s pathetic. It feels pathetic. Every step, I just want to stop. But now I have to go to the doc’s this Monday and I don’t want to weigh too much. If you are still following my, “Lose 20 lbs. by Warrior Dash” extravaganza, here’s the update: I have to lose 2 pounds just to get down to the original weight I wanted to lose 20 from. So I’m working on that, but nature is battling against me. It’s like the perfect storm of weight gain. Natures gift wreaking havoc, bad dinners, late nights, early mornings…It sucks. I have to stop eating and try to live on coffee and breath mints until Monday for my “fake weight” at the doc’s, and then work on the real thing next week. I know, I know, It’s not healthy, it’s not a good example, but who cares. Those medical records follow you around FOREVER! I can’t be overweight every single time! It’s soul crushing! The good thing is that I am actually about 20+ lbs. down from the last time I was there, so it still looks good, but for my personal self and all you people—still too heavy. Plus, I can’t be running around an obstacle course with flabby arms and a weak belly. I want to look all cut and sexy covered in mud and sweat and swamp water. Wouldn’t you?
Now that I’ve really sidetracked…let’s see…the BF is playing Poker with the buds later, so dinner is all me and the kids. So how many people out there think it’s going to be chicken breast and brown rice. Uh huh. More like Taco Bell and Baskin Robbins…see what I’m up against? I guess I’ll just eat and throw up. Not. Please check the following post about that BAD IDEA. I just tell myself, don’t eat THAT much. Am I a F…ing idiot??? Sometimes.
I’m so far behind here. Let me wrap this up. School, Exercise, Posting, Dinner, Weekend Parties, Movies, Popcorn, Ice Cream…that sound about right.
Church post, Flower post, Money post, Mason New Toy Post, Cool Word, Quote, and Music List.
No trophies, no weight loss.
Pictures WILL be included.
Chicago is sunny and 70. It really is a beautiful day.
Check back here later for a laugh or two, but get outside if you can.
Later gators!
Sunday Morning
After re-reading that questionable Friday/Saturday ranting post, I feel as if I may have been drunk and crazy while typing.
It’s weird because it doesn’t make alot of sense, and it looks all scattery. I wasn’t even a little intoxicated. In fact, I didn’t drink anything alcoholic all day. Just coffee and water.
Let’s just say that I was, and never go back.
The party for my nephew was rocking. Not at all lame or boring. (Here’s to you J and A!) The presents were a hit of course, and the food was good. My sissy had cupcakes and mini-eclairs as birthday cake. ALWAYS an excellent choice. You can never go wrong with desserts you can put into your mouth whole. We stayed too late, and then stayed up a little later after we got home. Had to do something to work that pastry out of the system…
The only thing I didn’t get to do was play my music. Boo Hoo. I really don’t mind, I can always use it at my nieces graduation party we will be hosting in 2 weeks (8th grade–so it’s perfectly aged)
I will post it later for the masses. It’s really a good combo, and this is the season for it. I’ll even throw in the Mud Bug Boil play list, another one for the same family that I slaved on and never got played, but it’s good for the older mixed crowd. I had yesterday’s list named Birthday Party, but I guess I’ll just trim it up to Party or Popular Party or something that indicates a “younger” type party, but not baby, or kegger…don’t you love when I type the exact thing I’m thinking? I know Amanda does. That’s what makes this so interesting and exciting that people would want to read it over and over, and then post a comment about how very cool and interesting it is, because I’m just SO exciting and NOT stupid. Ha.
Take a look at the picture below. It is a helicopter that you control on an arm and try to pick up a cargo box with. My brother, the engineer, got it for my 4-year old nephew as his birthday present. Two hours later and one battery change in, he (my brother) finally figured out how to make it pick up the box. The pick-up hook attached to the underbelly of the helicopter actually EXTENDS. One more time around, and…hooked! Up it went. I took photo proof so all those years of schooling wouldn’t be a complete waste…Next time, Tom, just buy the kid a talking firetruck.
Here’s to you my brother:
Unbreakable…
The new Dodge Challenger has but one arch enemy; one adversary; one nemesis in all the land…
The new Chevy Camaro.
A superhero rivalry forged in the 70’s; depicted with copycat body styles and similarly hued skin paint. Both left for dead, but brought back now to battle each other for American supremacy. If you favor one, you tend to dislike the other. I’m not really sure why that is, but it holds true for me.
I’m all about the Mopar, cool as hell, and popular with all the fast, Hemi-power people. Six pack and all that…without the flashy graphic help of a cool movie…ahem…
But, the new Camaro did receive quite a boost last year thanks to a certain yellow Bumblebee, in a Transforming motion picture flick…and that’s the only one I’ve ever seen. And I’ve never seen one on the street. And I’ve never seen it in red.
Until yesterday.
Saturday afternoon, on my way to my sissy’s…we stopped at the oasis for a coffee and there it was in the parking lot. I barely had time to get my camera out before it sensed the enemy and took off.
The picture is grainy and from a distance. I tried to get it, but it was too fast. I am not really fond of the Camaro but you have to keep an eye on your enemies… Vigilance is key; Complacency is death.
I’ll get her next time.
Friday Afternoon and I’m about to start the party…Scratch that…Saturday Style now…
Catchy huh?
Update:
It WAS Friday: (from last night):
It is Friday. There is going to be a party. I’m not starting it though. I’m going to it. I’m bringing the music. It’s tomorrow. It’s also Memorial Day Weekend kickoff night. I know alot of people are confused because it seems like Memorial Day is a weekend too early. Me included. Plus the BF is off of work today so that just threw my whole lazy tv/computer schedule right off the track. The kids are gone now for the weekend with their daddy and apparently the BF thinks I mean something else with that saucy headline. We can get to that soon enough, but first a recap of the day, because I know how much everyone enjoys reading about my daily life. (Especially my sister. Haha.)
After the kids went to school, we were supposed to hit a “spin” class. Luckily, I am still in the dark about what that might be…the BF had a killer migraine until noonish, when I forced him up and out to go to my favorite running trail in the woods. Nothing cures a splitting headache faster than walking around in the broiling midday sun for four miles. And it was hot. We are in the midst of freaky spring here in Chicago. It’s the time of year when outdoor temps soar from 40 to 90 overnight, and everyone rejoices for summer and takes off all their clothes, and buries the heavy sweaters until suddenly, on a random afternoon, 1 week later, the temperature mysteriously begins to drop 10 degrees per hour and by the next day it’s raining and 39 and everyone in the city has pneumonia.
Summer in the city. Catch it!
We did the exercise, got food, went home.
The kids arrived from school, packed themselves up, made their beds, and left with their dad for the weekend.
We went to a funeral wake; sad.
And then to various stores, for fixing items we need, for all the things that broke this week.
My sister had texted me early morning to create a music play list for her son’s party. Fun, kid, modern, with an 80’s twist. Nothing obscene or graphic and vulgar. So while the BF took pills and waited for his head to stop hurting, I sifted thru all the fun music I could think of and made up a pretty good party mix. (Then we went exercising–I’m messing up the time-line a little bit–jumping back and forth.)
I wanted to post last night but I got sidetracked with a mini emergency and let the night go after it was resolved.
Current Notice: It’s Saturday!
Still can’t post though because I have to go to the party right now! I spent the morning, cleaning up…my personal self…my back yard…my bird feeders…laundry…I even planted some seeds for the front of my house! (I use the word “planted” loosely, as I really just shook a bunch of seeds out of a can onto the dirt and then watered them.) I’ll post progress pictures as the days go by. That will be fun! Expect a picture of wet dirt and the flower can soon! (It’s all for you sissy!!–I know how much you love my play-by-play days!!)
Look, how are YOU spending your long weekend??
Anyway, I’ll be heading out. I need to stop at the Starbucks to get a coffee, so I need to go now.
Check back in a few hours. I’ll have the list of the party music and let you know how it all turned out.
Enjoy your Saturday!
(Last years flowers are below, to brighten up the place while you wait!)
There IS death in the cup…Beware!
Death in the cup by way of Vodka and Pepsi. Aren’t I smart?
Had such a good day yesterday, just hanging out at home, and posting silly stuff on the internets, and then I had to go and ruin it by trying to eat myself to death and drinking the vodkas and the pepsi’s.
Seriously, I thought that I would have to go to the hospital. I stuffed every last single piece of pizza into my mouth that I could ferret out of the large pizza box. If you’re hand was anywhere near the zone of the pizza box you would have gotten hurt. Then, I was chugging down Pepsi and Vodka, it was good, better than popsicles and vodka, but even more filling.
By the time I was done sucking every last drop of Pepsi from the 2-liter and picking every crusty olive and onion off the cardboard and watching the last episode of 2½ Men/Season 3 (CLIFF hanger!), I was over. I was paralyzed and in a food coma. Not even a coma, because in a coma I would have been sleeping. This was like being pregnant again. A giant ball in the middle of my stomach that I couldn’t move or manuever with. I wanted to go and make myself throw up just to relieve the pressure, but I couldn’t stand.
And now I was thirsty as hell. The pizza we get has, like, every ingredient you can think of except sardines. So obviously, you can get kind of parched from all the salt. So I tried to sip water, but it was so good and hydrating. Now I’m water-full on top of full-full. I put the kids to bed and laid down. The BF tried to be nice and rub my belly, but I didn’t want anybody or anything touching it.
I was actually thinking about those sitcom shows that have people who eat too much laying around with their shirts up and pants off, moaning and groaning all droopy eyed and turning green and running toward the toilet getting ready to vomit. I felt exactly like that. I even thought, “Hmm, I guess this is an actual reality.” I have never eaten that much in my whole life. Or maybe I have but my stomach is smaller now, it doesn’t really matter, because obviously I didn’t die, but I have made a vow to never eat that much again. Or crap food. I will however, continue to drink vodka with various mixers, it’s not the alcohols fault for cry-yie!
In honor of my new vows to health, I went immediately to the trail after the kids went to school, and ran my still-bloated ass around the track for 3+ miles. It wasn’t pretty. It was hot and I was sweating pizza grease. That IS as gross as it sounds. I think I could smell sausage…YUCK.
I ate one banana so far, and drank a whole pot of coffee. That’s how I de-tox. Do it your way, I’ll do it mine.
It’s 5 pm and I am heading out to buy 2½ Men/ Season 4. Then I’ll be eating Chinese with the BF. (I’ll actually only be eating white rice, but I can smell it and that’s just as good.)
Tomorrow, the BF is off work and I guess we are doing a “spin” class. First time for both of us. That should be fun, she says sarcastically. It always looks hard. Those people are always sweaty and beat looking when it’s over. I’ll let you know.
And in case you were wondering about a weight update…didn’t gain a pound. Didn’t lose anything either, but I think that’s ok. I should have died with all that food I ate, but it didn’t stick. I might not get so lucky next time. Better stay on the safe side. Besides I still have 2 days before the day I deemed my official weigh in. Which will always be 2 days from today…hahaha.
I actually have a playlist to put out, in honor of all the colorful things that would have spilled into the toilet if I had enough nerve to make myself throw up. I don’t. Bulimia is not for me. The list is called,
And it was originally for all those crayons I picked up off the trail a few weeks back. So you decide which personal event in my life you’d like to associate it with. It’s like a mystery ending web post! Exciting!
The picture below is a memory-refresher. Crayons on a table.
The actual list will be posted shortly. Wait for it now, it’s 99 songs long. I went a little crazy with color. You can use it for more than running, or you can use it for a week of running…again…your choice! (“Choose your own ending”, that’s what those books are called)
Enjoy the picture.
Relive the memory of how I got them,
and the memory continues here,
and check back in say, 7 hours. It’s 5:20 now, I have to drive and eat and watch tv, and then type 99 songs in a row and add color and links and finally hit publish. It WILL be worth the wait.
Update!
I actually got 101 songs. Thought of two more typing the list–2 great songs that bring it all together at the end.
And it’s in under the 7-hour mark. Goodnight Chicago.
just shy of pretty 