The absolute joys of parenting two girls.....

How can you deny moments like this....bling for the little princesses!!!!

Sydney and I went together on Saturday and took the plunge, she was very brave. Then tonight we took Ashley, who was also very brave. This is the kind of thing that warms your heart when you're the mother of girls. They are looking in the mirror every five minutes and I'm loving it. Eveyone they see who they know (and that's almost everyone in this town) has to hear about their new earrings. They are already picking out danglies for when they can change them!! Another milestone..... boo hoo they are growing up so quickly.

OK WTF... I can't do this.... Urrghhhh

So...join flickr she said....OK... I can do that....not a prob, you did it right and I'm just as smart as you...now what the heck!!!!

I got the little verification email and now I have so many freakin' websites with so many freakin' log ins that I don't have a clue what I'm doing. There's some kinda thing between Google and Yahoo where I have to let the other look at that other and blah blah blahdy blah!!!

I'm tired and have had way too much wine poolside to get to grips with this... can't be bothered, hate learning new stuff.... would love to be a pro from the get go. Sounds like a new blog doesn't it.... "Pro from the Get Go"... I may have to copyright that.

See you tomorrow when I will try it all again and see if I can master this shit... if not I'll wait til Blog Camp and have RxBambi straighten it all out for me!

CCC...over at Spudballoo

Proving a point here.... I know I have posted this photo before but I want to do it again.

Check out Spud's Camera Club over at Chez Spud... she's awesome.... today she had a guest blogger give some insight into using a point and shoot... and that's what I used to take this awesome shot (Kodak Z740 Zoom Digital). I am sure with some of the techniques Amber talks about in the post I can make this even better so I plan to work on it this weekend and see what I come up with. I have renewed excitement in my little cameras (the Kodak and the Olympus) and the fear of getting it right with my big camera is diminishing!!!!!

Let's see what you can do.....

For Me?? For real???

How wonderful to have an award bestowed upon one!!!! Especially one which really represents my true motive for my blog.... Friendship... it's one of my strong points even if I do say so myself! Thanks to Marinik for this.... go check her out, she's a remarkable woman who I am proud to be friends with even if we've never met in person... You Rock Mari!!!!

Here are the rules:

"This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

And the winners are......

Spudballoo at Chez Spud

Sara at Turning Stones

Otin at Wizard of Otin (someone had to do him I mean it!)

Jules at Just Jules

Snap at Tales from Twisty Lane

Liz the Fragrant Muse

Liz at A Pub Landladies Life

Stacey at The Brown Zoo Tales

Barb at Sassy and Ginger Chronicles

As we all know there are tons more and I have deliberately left some out because I know they have already received this award.... and I still love you!!!! The only thing I don't like about these awards is all the freakin' linking you have to do!!! aarrrgggg but a little effort is worth it if someone discovers a new blog to be friends with. Cheerio for now, dahhlings.

Wierd and Wonderful Wednesday

OK you insectologists out there... I know there's a fancy name for it... what the heck is that bug I snapped pictures of at the weekend? It looked kinda like a humming bird the way it buzzed those wings back and forth quicker than the speed of light. He didn't seem to be bothered by the crowd gathered around looking at him wondering what in the world is it?

It's play time and I rock the Picasa...

OK well maybe I need to be a little less dramatic and say I am beginning to rock the Picasa. I mentioned before that I had started to play around with Picasa (you can download it for free from Google) but I rarely get the time to sit and mess with it. Tonight, I came home, prepared dinner, ate with the family and did the dishes... then announced that I am spending some quality time with my computer and beloved pictures. And these are what I have come up with, not bad for a start right? Of course you can't go wrong when working with babies, gorgeous eight year olds and donkeys can you????

I am 99% sure that given some time and decent software I really can do wondrous things with my pictures, it's the time that's the problem these days. However, I'm enrolling in the thing with a long name that Spudballoo is doing here.... and with a little coaching I can do great things. I did study art in school and was fairly good at it... I believe that with some encouragement my creative/artistic side can come out again. My mother is a super artist, she really has a great eye and imagination, in her day she did some fabulous drawings and paintings, she studied art at some college in London before marrying without graduating.... silly woman. So I am claiming a tiny bit of those genes and I'll put them to work. My M-I-L is also very good and definitely has true talent, she should create more now that she has a little time on her hands, I don't think she's done anything in a long time. Of course I can't claim her talented genes but I can pick her brain now and again and get her input on the pictures.

I tried printing some of my pictures the other day and whhoooaaaa they looked like crap. I'm putting it all down to the printer and will order them online in the future. Of course it could have been the paper, cheap photo paper from Office Depot so if you have any ideas how to get better prints from your home printer just let me know. I'd be grateful for any comments.

If you saw my post this morning you'd realize I am craving this time alone with my blog and my pictures... thank you Lord for hearing my prayer!!!!!!

There are just not enough hours in the day for this crap...

Ever had the feeling you just want to run and hide, let others take over your never ending list of responsibilities and just do something that Me, Myself and I want to do? Just be left alone to be quiet, thoughtful, creative and non-combative. That's how I'm feeling currently. Just tired of the constant barrage of people, noise, demands, chores and duties that are sapping my energy until my head is saying please just let me be!!!!!

Some may be wondering what the heck, McG, you love your job and your family, you love to blog and take pictures, you live a perfect little life, how come so glum???? I don't know, that's the point, there are just some times even the things you love can get you down. It's probably just 'one of those days" and I'll get over it but my GOD I would kill for a little time just to be left alone and not have to justify what I am doing or feel guilty because I really should get that laundry done, or prepare a meal, or make sure the pantry is full of stuff for lunchboxes, or feed the dogs, or take dogs to the groomers, write thank you cards, unpack boxes of crap we don't need, recycle closets, take stuff to goodwill, put stuff aside for yard sale, trim the hedges, clean out the car, pay bills, sign weekly school reports, help with a report on rocks and minerals, blah blah freakin' blah.

OK got that all off my chest and I'm out of time..... have to get some of the above done... see ya later alligator!!!!!!

And the Winner is........

My 41st follower I am very proud to announce is Staci from Mamma's Gone Over the Wall!!!!

Check her out, the blog is great for mom's of young kids and she has all kinds of reviews and articles that will give you an AHAAA moment. This is a great way of finding new reads, and appreciating those who come and read my drivel.

Thanks for joining in the fun Staci and if you would email me your address I will promptly send your reward!!!!! Now remember you're dealing with me and promptly means sometime within the next month or so...so no breath holding or shaking of mail man please!!!!!

And really, thank you to all who read, I truly appreciate it and your comments bring me a little sunshine to each day..... muchos besos.

Thirty Nine Followers....I feel a giveaway coming on!!!

This morning I logged on and obviously the first thing to grab my attention is that I have 39 followers!!! yay me!!!! I've come along way since forcing my friends to follow me in the beginning and I'm grateful for everyone who reads and comments on my blog, I'm needy like that, I have to have responses in order to get through the day, it's like an addiction..... well it is an addiction.... Ali's Blog Addiction!!!!

So dear friends if you've been reading my blog and not FOLLOWING me it's time to take the plunge... go on... it's OK.. I don't bite and we're all in this together. Just click on the follow blog button at the top of the page and get you a Google account if you don't already have one and Bob's your uncle..you're a follower!!!!

What could be simpler? and then you can keep up with all the Inner Ramblings and never miss an episode of how ridiculously complicated I make my life, not only for me but for those around me.

I will even AWARD my fortieth follower (this being the year I am 40, get it, there's a link somewhere in there) with a Shih Tzu (pictured above) .....not really he's my pride and joy you can't have him but you will be awarded something wonderful, have no fear!!!! or it might be 40 somethings you never know!!!!

So come on, get up there and click, I'll announce the winner and the prize later! Good Luck... and to those who already are followers and therefore don't qualify to enter, don't worry you've been rewarded a plenty already with my wit and banter!!

UPDATE TO POST...

does no one read my stuff? This has been here for a couple of days and the only new follower I got was my own RW friend... and no comments from my blog friends??? Am I alone here???

Fun in the Sun... and I mean Fun!!!!!!

Whhoooaaaa there little bit..... go for it!!!!!

This is what the summer is all about here in deepest, darkest GA!!!!!

Blow up some floaties and let them have at it... just don't forget the camera!!

It's pretty amazing what a bunch of girls can get up to on a Sat morning...and pretty awesome what colors you can capture!!!! we don't have a pool ourselves but you never know now do you? We have plenty of room for one and don't plan on going anywhere in the next decade or so!!! The girls absolutely love swimming and we're lucky enough to have friends who are more than glad to let us use the pool, one more reason to to appreciate the great people we have around us here in T-Ville.

There's something so wonderful about seeing your kids just lapping it up, they can stay there all day splashing and laughing and playing. I am more than happy to get out there and take pictures too, can you tell? It felt so unnatural to begin with when they were babies, for some reason (and I can't think what justification I had) I was totally petrified of them being around water. A huge debt of gratitude to M-I-L, my in laws have always lived on or around water and she was totally awesome, getting the girls comfortable and teaching them how to be safe. Now it's all paying off and they swim like fish, Ashley just passed the swim test at the Y and we couldn't be more proud. I remember summers when I was a kid and would have KILLED for an outdoor pool (there were very few and far between in Bonny Scotland) we used to go to the public pool where you get an armband and can only swim for about 45 mins! I loved it though and we went every opportunity we got so I can totally see why my kids are the same, I don't think I have EVER heard them say... no Mom we don't feel like swimming today.

Summer fun is fantastic and these pictures will be ones to treasure for years to come!

Now this is Nikon!!!!

These here are unedited, unfiddled with, most beautiful shots and that's why you just have to be a Nikon girl! I am yet to even open the book telling me how to do even more wonderful things with this camera and this is what you get. Now that I am back into my real home I can function again and do the things that make me happy.

Apparently although I thought I had blogged about the flood, I guess I didn't really do it in a "Here's what happened to us" kind of a way... so just to recap; we went on a few days vacay, returned to a house full of water, fled the house to Comfort Inn, fled Comfort Inn to Small Apartment. Spent three or four weeks having real house repaired and living like students (no offense to students). Now we're home to a beautifully restored house and I can resume "normal" again... whatever that is?????????????

In the midst of all the above I got me a Nikon and haven't had a chance to use it properly or had the capability to fiddle with pics and organize them blah blah blah. Get it??? Good.

So what I'm basically rambling on about is it's a fresh start... I can get back to doing what I do best, flitting around the house and decorating it here and there, letting the kids have abundant friends over and then cleaning up after them, taking pics of everything and then playing with them on the 'puter.... and drinking wine~~~ Ahhhhh life is grand people, life is grand!!!!!

Just a quicky......

Five year old sitting at the breakfast table this morning..... (we always tell the girls to have their drink at twelve oclock...top of the plate)... she gets her milk and puts it up there and says "twelve oclock, party oclock!".

Hhhaahahaaaaa... she's definitely her mama's child!!!!!! see ya later with a real post!!!!!

And nnooowww ... it's WTF Friday!!!!!

Today's episode of WTF Friday is brought to you courtesy of Syd the Kid, she's the sweetest little thing you could ever lay eyes on. She's very polite, a little on the shy side, extremely smart and totally hilarious, which is why when she said the word "penis" it shocked the bejesus outta me!!!!

Now I know all you parents out there who are taking the whole raising kids thing seriously are thinking "come on Ali, where have you been? this is the 21st Century and we no longer use words like ding dong, pee pee and willie! you need to teach your kids the correct anatomical words so that they are fine with them when they grow up". Well, sorry to bust your bubble, but I still call them wieners, junk and dingle dangles, and I just can't bring myself to teach the correct words to my kids...when they grow up do you honestly think they'll be saying penis???? I don't and it's never bothered me so why should they??? it's just such a funny word and to hear it from the Sydster was a real wtf moment.

Apparently it was necessary to ascertain the gender of the ponies they were playing with last night and she told her 'lil sis, "this one is a boy, you know how I can tell? he has a penis!". That's when my ears did the cartoon thing where they fly off the side of my head and then snap back into place with the sound of an air horn!!!!! A what????? I asked little Miss Biology where she'd heard that word and she replies "What???? that's what it's called!". OK, so I'm in my place!!

It's still ringing in my ears... that little innocent voice of hers, the high pitched, giggly, girlie voice and that word!!!!! I think the reason I shy away from it is because its the word they use in those hideous sex ed videos they showed us in school in the early eighties and therefore it's not just a body part but a tool to make babies with and it's related to words like flaccid and erect!!! Eeewww...... and another thing... girls are the majority in my house, we don't need to use words like that 'cos we don't talk about Daddy's goings on and there are no brothers who need to know what their deal is really called.

So that concludes wtf Friday... I am off to douche my ears and try to recover from the shock!

OK...From a Fiveyearold.... really!!!!

There are some things you just can't believe.... like what your five year old might have to say!

In the car at pick up from school.... I want my friend Gracie to come over, we can hang out, watch tv in my room, listen to the radio and rock out!!!!

to which i replied.. what are you? 5 or 15??????

Just now, getting ready for bed... I want a birthday party at Zoinks..(she's a Gemini, therefore has 11 months before next birthday) and I want a limo to take me and my friends there.

this is where the needle scrapes across the record... wtf.. it will be your sixth birthday and you want to take a limo full of little friends to Zoinks... Woah!!!!

There are way more.... last night she told Daddy that he's not really annoying!!! That made me laugh. Now she's begging me for a video before going to sleep, just told me she'll do whatever I want and will do all the chores... now it's Sydney's bedroom therefore her rules!!!!

Rules for Ashley's room... you can jump on the bed, no throwing anything special, no slamming the door.

Rules for Sydney's room... you can watch tv, watch a video before bed, you can take out stuff but you have to put it back.. do not break anything that's special... or paint on it!!!!

Now... I'm off.. have to get away from these little funny monkeys before I pee my pants!!!

To Do List......To Don't List......

Still need to unpack, took this picture on Saturday I think....and no...it hasn't changed since then!Need to get out and fish with the girls...had a whole summer of fishing planned and only went once or twice... bad mama.
Don't need to eat any more Tootsie Rolls, for those of you outside the US these are fabulous little chocolatey soft caramel type things!!!! off the menu!!!!
Need to get Mac a haircut, poor baby is starting to look a little dishevelled and unloved... yes mommy loves you wickle baby boy!!!!
Need to get a vacuum out and vacuum new carpet even though you can't see the dirt... I know it's there!!!!
Need to get my ass off this computer and head out to work, that's top of the to do list today! Lame post I know but just had to get something out there.... need to take more pictures for my posts... been very slow week for pictures!!! Should have something better for my wtf Friday post tomorrow.... see ya then.

A Day in the Life of a Would Be Bambi.....

Today I want to say a few words about my good bloggy friend, the wonderful, RxBambi!!! I have been planning this post for a very long time, since I did this, in the comments of that post she whined in her needy little way that she wanted a post all about her!!! So here it is.....

The pictures are of the pharmacy that I use here in my little quaint town, and I love it. I love the building, the pharmacist, the ladies who work up front, in the back, at the sides and all around it. I love the fact that they know my name, and all my little ailments and quirks, I feel no embarrassment at all when I go in and tell them I'm out of happy pills can I please have some more!!!! The girls love to go in there with me and it's like when I was a kid, they have individually priced candies in front of the counter so the girls like to pick one and it's a little treat for them if they behave while we're in there. Have you been counting? I have used the word love a million times so far. This place just takes me back to good old fashioned values, taking time out to get to know people, there are no numbers, there are no lines and no hassles, it's just a pleasure to be there. On days when I am exceptionally busy or just can't get there they will deliver to me at home, at work, wherever I happen to be, at no charge!!!! No Charge, ya hear me!!!! It's fantastical. When was the last time a big ole chain did that for anyone????? Also they have the bestest little cutesy gifts and they'll wrap them and deliver them for you.... also at NO CHARGE!!!!!!

So if you remember when I told you about this, you'll see that I am fairly often in there self medicating, this is what brought me to do a post just for the lovely Bambi, she's a pharmacist and therefore now she's one of my BFF's (Bloggy Funny Friends). I love to go and read her Pharmacy Friday Posts, it's a hoot and an interactive one at that, just send her some questions and they don't even have to be about drugs, she's very informative in other areas too, like shoes and purses!!!!! Who knew!!!!! Well the wonderful people following her that's who!!!!!!!

So my dearest dahling Bambi this one's for you.... I'm on my third teeny tiny glass of red... cheers missy and I can't wait to meet you in person in Sept here....... BC Reno!

Arrghhhh...when will it ever cease????

OK there are a million worse things that could be happening to me, and I'm a very fortunate person to have all the wonderful things I have in life, not just the material things but those you cannot touch or hold in your hand. So why am I feeling so freakin' depressed at the moment? Why is it I can't just jump for joy and get these boxes unpacked instead of feeling down in the dumps and wishing they could just stay there forever? They can, I mean, really none of it matters that much in the scheme of things. If people come over to the house does it HAVE to look a certain way? Why don't we just live our lives as ourselves instead of striving to be "mainstream". Does it matter if you have boxes in the living room? Are they hurting anything? Or would I really DIE if someone just popped in and the place looked like this? No... so why do we need to get it all done right now??The contractor will be here in a few minutes to walk through and make sure it's all to our satisfaction.... well no it's not. There are still things to be done but they're not things he's going to do for us!!! He won't hang every one's clothes back in the closets or decide where to hang pictures and stuff. He won't tell me which crap should go to Goodwill or what should be sold in a yard sale, maybe it should all go to Goodwill I certainly don't need it!!! I'll feel a little foolish when I tell him that they missed a spot of paint here or a doorknob there but that's what it's going to boil down to. In the big picture does that even matter????? I grew up in a house that was never finished, there were always projects that were half arsed and bodged so why should I care about a perfect home now? Well that will go unanswered cos the fact is I just do. I'll stop procrastinating, put on my big girl panties and get the hell on with it. No one is going to do it for me...... and if I promise myself a huge glass of red at the end of it, I may even just get it done quicker!!!!!!! Here Goes............

why don't you know???

So, where have you been? what in the heck do I have to do to let you know I have started another blog....didn't I mention it? didn't i put it on my sidebar and say "look it" I thought I tweeted about it? i thought you were listening????

For all those who don't know.... I have started another blog..... it's not a mommy/family blog, more of a me, me, me and more me blog. Just the wee secret stuff that you think of when you're growing older, fatter and none the wiser!!!

Just so you know.. it's perfectly legal to follow Ramblings and Pink Clock at the same time, I won't be posting as often on LPC but I'll try to do something very worthwhile at least two or three times a week so check back now and again.

It's not hiding, it's not a secret, you don't need a code or a handshake or anything and comments are highly encouraged...sought after....demanded in fact!!!! So come on, don't be shy, lets see you over at Little Pink Clock, read, participate and leave, nothin' to it my sweet!

this has nothing to do with anything, it just makes me smile!! hee hee.

When you just know.... .

When people find out that I am not a true Southern Belle but a little impostor from across the pond there's always the same question.... what brings you to South Georgia???? Well there is one good answer to that one.... a good lookin' American with enough charm to make me follow him to the ends of the earth.

I know I have quickly mentioned our meeting and the joining of man and woman in Holy matrimony in previous blogs but I haven't given you the complete unabridged version.... and this still isn't the complete unabridged version, for a couple of reasons, one being I have too many friends and family reading the blog as well as hubby told a member of our Church staff about it and I think he's stopping by now and again!!!

So....it was a beautiful day in sunny Salisbury, Wiltshire and Ali is just talking on the company phone as usual when her lovely friend Lisa calls to nonchalantly ask if she can attend Lisa's honeymoon in Majorca, yes that's right, "Ali, my friend, can you come on honeymoon with me, my fiance has ditched me and the holiday's already paid for, just bring some drinkin' money and we'll have a right knees up!"....."fantastic" said Ali, "I don't have anything going on in May and would love to spend two weeks getting drunk and behaving badly on a Spanish Island with you Lisa, my BFF, beats being a bridesmaid!".

Off they go, back in the days when it was ok to smoke on the plane in coach... urchh... and more urcchhh back in the days when Ali was a smoker but it still made her bleeuucchhhh to smoke on the plane. Fourteen days of sun, sand and sangria.... but what's that... a few days into the holiday word on the island is there's a ship bigger than Palma Nova and it's full of randy young AMERICAN's... visions of Top Gun danced in the girls' heads! Not really, they thought "OMG six thousand of those arrogant, big mouthed yanks spoiling our Brit holiday, not freakin' likely!!! "

Then one night while they were having a great time in a bar called the Underground (as in the Tube) it happened, his gorgeousness walks up and asks Ali, "would you care to dance with me fair maiden", "oh alright then, if you insist" replies Ali all cool and British like. So off they go, and before they get to the dance floor he turns around and properly introduces himself, "I'm Steve" and he shook her hand very politely. "Blimey, this blokes really polite, and gorgeous" she thinks.

So they dance the night away, let Lisa go home alone (wtf was that about, what kind of a friend is Ali anyway) and then they walked to the water front and sat on the beach all night talking until the sun came up. He lied about his age, she didn't.... he lied about visiting England... she didn't. Ali later found out that the little white fibs he told were all in an effort to impress her...forgiven!

The next day Lisa and Ali met Steve for lunch and took a tour of the USS George Washington.. very impressive...Lisa made the comment as they sailed to the boat that it looked like something out of a James Bond Movie... yes you had to sail to the ship to get aboard!!! Woo. The couple spent another day or two getting to know each other in Spain and all too quickly the US Navy had Mr Gorgeous back on the open seas heading to other parts of the Mediterranean, Ali reluctantly returned to Sunny Salisbury.

Love knows no boundaries, they stayed in touch by phone and letter, growing more and more fond of each other as the days passed. Then, what's this, he was to have some time off around July 4th when the ship would be docked in Cannes, France. OK said young Ali, never one to let miles stand in the way of true love, she promptly booked a room in Paris, booked herself a flight from London to Paris (why the heck didn't she take the train? Charles De Gaulle is worse than a hernia!!!). Leaving no detail undone, the young lovestruck maiden called her beau and gave him step by step instructions on how to take a train from Cannes to Paris and how to get to the hotel. (she's pretty cool like that). All the time she was sure he wasn't an axe murderer but you never know so she contacted Patricia her very good friend in Paris and made sure that Patricia knew the details of her little romantic getaway, that way if things went pear shaped Ali had someone to turn to. (again,she's pretty cool like that).

So after five days of wonderfulness in Paris, sightseeing, drinking wine, dining in lovely french cafe's and restaurants, wandering around the Louvre, ascending the Eiffel Tower, blah blah blah, the couple knew Cupid had done his thing. Steve returned to his ship, she returned to England and so it went on.... a fairy tale romance... both knew they would be married when Uncle Sam though fit to issue a Visa and they would live happily ever after. With a little help from their friends (IE: parents with sky miles) they courted long distance (trans-Atlantic to be exact) and eventually the blessed day arrived when they said "I will" in the Hunt County Courthouse in the great State of Texas.

Ali moved to the States to be with her wonderful Sailor boy and dedicated her life to being the perfect wife and homemaker, Steve said goodbye to the US Navy and hello toTexas and a career with Raytheon using his skills in avionics to provide a home for his new bride. Those were the Dallas days, two young lovers with nothing but a wonderful future together to look forward to ... crazy fools!!!! After a couple of years his career took him to Georgia where the young newly weds made a home and soon started a family, another brief move to Tallahassee, FL and then to Thomasville GA where they laid down their bags and called it home. "Mmmm, I like it here, do you darling?" asked Ali one day, "I sure do, my sweet" replied the still dashing Steve and that was it, home it was and home it remains to this day.

And so my friends, when you meet someone from the next town and worry that it wouldn't work because of the distance just take a look at these kids.... love will conquer everything...miles and all!!!!! Don't be afraid, just listen to your heart and if the guy doesn't go along with it... he's just not that into you, move on.

This outpouring of nostalgia was inspired by the beautiful photographs at Spudballoo, she captured all the romance and chic, and even cheek of Paris ... many thanks my little Spud, I totally heart you! I think everyone knows that by now!

I have arrived... safe and sound.....

Look what I found in my "real house" mailbox last night......

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

How fantastic to get a little pick me up from across the pond!

Thank you NBF Spud, my heart sang at the absolute cuteness of your creations!

What a beautiful, magnificent world we live in when you can become

friends across a virtual blogoshere and make people happy with

pictures and some lovely words!!!!!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Merci bien, thanks, mucho gracias.

Confusion Reigns.....

OK obviously when you're a bear of little brain like me, it's hard to do two blogs at once!!!! I just posted something here.... that was meant for Inner Ramblings... so comment wherever you want but please, please comment!!!!! Otin, I know you're a man but feel free to give your 2 cents worth, might be interesting to get a male POV... thanks luv!!!!!
I want to note that I have not had any wine today.... you'll get it when you read the post!!!!!!

Miss Funny Fanny (the American meaning)

Fanny is a funny word it's has very different meanings on each side of the Atlantic... this time I'm using it in the American way, only cause I like the sound of Miss Funny Fanny and it fits the story! glad we got that outta the way and I have probably ruined the whole story with that preface!!!!!

Ashley the cute five year old is now officially Miss Funny Fanny..... she's been coming out with some really doozies over the past couple of days. She was planning her ensemble for the first day of school, she wanted the pink shorts outfit that has a little short sleeved jacket with a zipper in the front. She announced very loudly she was going to wear the "noodle" shirt under the jacket.... pause.... the noodle shirt??? she meant the sleeveless shirt, she's heard the term spaghetti straps banded about lately and it became the noodle shirt... and that's how it will stay!!!

I went to wake them up this morning and there she was already dressed, she had gotten up in the middle of the night and changed in order to save time in the morning! Daddy thanked her for laying on the wrinkle bomb and saving the rest of the family!!!!

And the piece de resistance has to be following her bath tonight, she told me how sometimes she gets afraid in bed, she was naked and hopped up to stand on the bed, she turned around and clenched her buttocks and told me that's what she does when she's scared of vampires and stuff at nighttime!!! Hilarious... I could not stop laughing at her... which makes her mad by the way!!!

I'm thinking of renting her out to the seriously depressed, she can bring a smile to the biggest misery boots and will always leave you thinking what the heck was that?????????????

Oh for the love of the kids.....

uh... yeah... where's the crayon's people?

Zoink babies....

Ashley never was one to hold back!!! Waaahhhhhhhh!!

Today they are back in school, safely tucked away where they should be, out of my freakin' hair and into someone elses... someone who's paid to listen to their shrill jibberings all day.

So yesterday, being the wonderful dedicated and selfless Mama that I am, I went to Tallahassee to a place called Zoinks... a mecca for kids who wanna bounce and boing and get their sillies out. Fortunately for moi, they also provide comfy leather couches and wi-fi so Mom's can blog about the experience while there.

BUT MY GOD could it be any freakin' noisier in there????? I am somewhat of a noiseaphobic... yes.. I have turned into my Grandad, I turn the tv down constantly, cringe when I get into the car after hubster has been driving and he leaves the radio at 300 decibels and I am always telling people to pipe down, zip it, hush and just plain shut the fook up!!!!!

It's all for a good cause though, tire those kids out completely before getting them home and into bed early ready for the first day back to school. So even if I did walk out of there with the mother of all migraines it was worth it... it was worth it... it was worth it!

We went to Atlanta Bread Company before going there..... those people are definitely run by a corporate office where no one has kids. They give you a little activity paper with the kids meal but no crayons.... duh... why the hell would you give kids an activity thingy with no crayons???are you a complete moron??? or just set out to aggravate the crap out of the parents. And no, on this occasion super Mom didn't have any pens or pencils in her purse... bad super Mama.

When asked about it we were told they're not allowed to give out crayons... corporate says so. The next strike was that instead of giving them a cookie with the meal, there's a little coupon thing on the activity paper that says go to the bakery counter and get a free cookie... that's really when the fun began. MrMcG is not known for his patience or his tolerance of incompetent people... we get to the counter and wait ... and wait... and wait some more. Finally hubby donned "the look" and took care of business, he cracks me up when he does this, he is purposely an asshole just to point out the shortcomings of the service givers who aren't giving a service!!!! He charged up to a little guy who was hanging around the other end of the counter and said, "hey buddy, what do we have to do get our free cookies?" to which little guy replied "you need to wait at the bakery counter"..hubby "we've been waiting there for ten minutes and you have all looked at us but no one is serving us".... oh he said, and proceeded to go and get the cookies and put them in a bag for us. Then hubby asks "tell me why the hell you don't give the kids the cookies with their meals, now that would make some sense!" and little guy just shrugs and says..."uh dunno". All the time this is going on the manager was standing there, we knew he was the manager 'cos he had a different colored shirt on and looked cowardly, he didn't say one word or offer a solution to the problem or anything. They have great peach tea but sucky service toward kids... off my list of places to visit (for now anyway).

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge....

Bridges scare me... always have done.... they are high... there's generally something dangerous underneath like deep treacherous water, fast moving traffic or trolls. Mostly I just get tense up a little, close my eyes and pray until i get to the other side and off what I consider the worst of the engineering achievements of mankind. We were quite happy going around weren't we?

However, this last time that we passed through Tampa we thought we'd take a little detour over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, it's a doozy for us bridgephobics. We stopped on the fishing pier for a closer look (I think the fishing pier used to be part of the original bridge before a disaster involving a boat colliding with the bridge~see there are always disasters!).
I stuck the camera (pre Nikon so don't judge) in front of me and just snapped.... this was a little distraction from the fact I was one a bridge (first strike) it was pretty high (second strike) and there were HUGE flapping birds (third strike)!!!!!!

Enormous feathered friends and regular blokes just fished along side each other like they had been doing it all their lives. Kids were holding out little fish that they were using as bait and the birds would just come along and eat out of their hands... or catch the fish if you launched it up into the air..... too cool!!! for a land lubber like me anyway.

Steve and Ashley enjoyed the view while I snapped away at some of the wildlife sharing our experience... herons, terradactils (hee hee), pelicans, seagulls and others I just don't know the names of.... all out there enjoying the Florida sunshine!

Now get me the hell of this pier and back onto dry land....