Hello, My Name is Tori and I'm a Yo Gabba Gabba! addict

Hello?
Hello?!
I'm waiting...aren't all you other addicts supposed to say "Hello Tori." ?!

Well, okay then.

Actually, I'm not really an addict.
I only watch it when I'm babysitting the twins.
It's not like I watch the show by myself or anything...

I don't!
Stop judging me.

I will admit, the first time I saw the show I thought it was the most awful thing I'd ever seen.
Worse than Barney.

And it scared me a little.
It seemed to have some kind of weird hypnotic powers over the twins.

I remember it all so well....

The twins were around 4 or 5 months old.
They were both crying.
I grabbed the remote to find something to hopefully distract them.
I stop on this program because of the weird name.

It was like a magic baby switch.
Suddenly, they were silent.
Mesmerized in fact.

They still are.

Every time I turn it on they stop and watch every minute.
And I can't figure out why.
At first I started watching it with them to find out what grabbed their attention.

I compared it to other kids shows.
I thought maybe it was the music or the bright colors flashing here and there.
But lots of other shows are colorful and filled with music.
And the twins could care less.

Maybe it's the weird creatures.
Even if you haven't seen the show you've probably seen them without realizing it.
Muno (the big red guy with one eye) for example, was featured in a Superbowl commercial for the Kia Sorrento "How do you like me now?" playing in the background. (love the sock monkey get a "MOM" tattoo sewn on his arm!)

I've given up on trying to figure out why kids love it.
Now I just enjoy watching it with them.
Well most of it anyways, some of it I still consider weird.


I'm a huge Alternative Music fan and I'm guessing that the writers must love Alternative Music too because they have featured some of great bands on the show.

I love seeing who they get to come on and the cute songs they sing.
All with a little "life lesson" of some kind.


Some bands that I've seen...
Jimmy Eat World...."enjoying a beautiful day with my best friend"
The Shins..."sometimes you win, sometimes you loose....it's okay to try again"
MGMT...."look around you....art is everywhere"
The Roots...."love and appreciate your family"
Ting Tings..."Happy Birthday song for Brobee"
The Salteens...."I'm so happy"
I'm from Barcelona...."just because it's different, doesn't mean it's scary...try new things"
Hot Hot Heat..."time to go outdoors...enjoy the sand btwn our toes, smell the flowers, see the trees, play in the garden hose".


and some groups I've never heard of until I saw them on Yo Gabba Gabba (who knew I'd find new alt music to listen to by watching a kids show!)

here's a couple.
Chromeo...."wash your hands"
The Mates of States..."no one likes to be left out...everyone offers something new"


There there is a Live Yo Gabba Gabba show touring around. They have had some groups that I hope will show up on the show sometime soon (Dinosaur Jr. and Cold Wars Kids to name a couple).


They also have a growing number of celebrities who make appearances on the show.


Jack McBrayer and Paul Scheer make recurring appearances doing knock knock jokes
Jack Black (a total must see episode...just to see him in a DJ Lance Rock orange outfit!!)
Amy Sedaris as the tooth fairy (although a mighty scary tooth fairy, if I must say!!)
Elijah Wood (teaching us a dancy dance)
Sean Kingston (also teaching a dancy dance)
Rhys Darby (from Flight of the Concords-a show I'll always LOVE) instructing us on how to pretend to be a robot!

And one of my favorite parts of the show with Mark Motherbaugh (The co founder of Devo). He does a recurring art segment that's very cute (and weird).

Check it out.

I won't tell anyone you did.

missing my blueberries

I'm headed back to Kalamazoo this weekend.
Nae is a bridesmaid in a wedding.

I can't decide what I'm more excited about....

seeing a bunch of friends I haven't seen in a while

or

blueberries.

I have been waiting for Michigan blueberry season since February

That's when I ran out.

Every year I freeze a bunch.

I eat them every morning in my oatmeal.

Mac and the Hubby love blueberry pie

I make a lot of those

they will fight over them.

Tony likes it when I boil the blueberries down and make a sauce for his pancakes.

I haven't found blueberries here in Illinois like the ones back in Michigan.
Maybe other states have ones just as good.
I just haven't had them.

Blueberries that are huge and sweet.

This year I've decided I will bring home 40 pounds.

Sounds like a lot but we'll see...

Have a great weekend everyone!

how people find my blog (ie. weird google searches)

When I started getting more serious about blogging someone kindly told me about Site Meter. It's a service that helps track visits to your blog.

I have the most basic level of this service (which is the free-you can spend money and find out a lot more!).

Site Meter lets me see how many visits I have per hour and per day. How long visitors looked at my blog and how many pages they looked at.

Sometimes I can see the country, state and city the visitors are from.

Sometimes I can see how they were referred to my blog.

What has been fun is seeing what words people type into google and end up here.

Sometimes it can be a little confusing (and disturbing)

I thought I'd share a few with you today.

Some gave me a chuckle and I hope they give you one too. (and there's nothing else going on today...)

my comments are in red.

~"I'm gonna blow my diet on vacation and die" (I know that feeling)

~"I got disowned now what do I do?" (it depends...if it was your teen disowning you then I say celebrate...you're doing something right!)

~"I lost my high school yearbook and now I can't find my mojo" (poor guy, I'm quite sure they didn't find any mojo here)

~"how to get back at your friend who is a *%#@&$!" (Yikes! I don't think I've ever talked about that before!)

~"the mission has failed, tell Sally I love her" (is this a song lyric or something?)

~"how to disown my daughter" (kinda sad)

~"all i wanna say is that we are going down" (hmmm. lyric again?)

~"things that make me angry" (does this have something to do with parenting teens?)

~"are doughnut trees real?" (uhhh, DUH! of course!)

~"that blog people like in kalamazoo" (I'm flattered but I'm sure not everyone in kzoo likes it, probably just my dear friends)

~"what's that foul odor is Kalamazoo?" (gosh, I glad I'm not there to smell it)

~"skinning a Kenyan goat and cutting up a Belgian sheep" (now that's a little scary!)

***and my all time favorite!***

~"Are there any cool people left in Kalamazoo?" (I know quite a few, actually.)

where's the delete button on this thing?

I was invited to a lovely garden Bible Study last week.
I was invited by this nice woman that I met at one of the dog parks Ace and I visit.

I was telling Mac about it the other day and she asked me who I went with.
"Kathy" I said.
"Kathy who?" Mac asked.

Blank.
I got nothing.

And adding to my distress, it seems the harder I concentrate on what I'm trying to remember, the father it gets sucked back into the depths of my murky mind.

She told me her last name the day I met her.
She said her last name when she called me.
I heard her last name a dozen or more times that morning while people introduced themselves to each other.

What is it with my memory?

It wouldn't be so frustrating if there was this general forgetfulness for all things.
But what really drives me crazy are the things that I do remember.

Completely useless things.

Like my address and phone number of the house I grew up as a little girl.

Or the word for word conversation of an old high school boyfriend pointing out my "flaws".

Or pretty much every annoying song from the 80's. (and some 70's songs....who needs to know all the words to Copacabana anyways?)

Things that I wish I could just delete.

You know make some room up there for the important stuff.

If anyone out there knows how to do this please let me know.

why I love Cedar Point

I just got back from my annual trip to Cedar Point.
My brother and I have been going there every year since 1979 (I've only missed a couple times).
We are both roller coaster fans.
Not over the top kind of roller coaster fans~ otherwise we'd probably be going to other parks just to ride different coasters.

Both of us have been to other parks, but there is something that keeps us going back to Cedar Point each year.
For me, other than number of great coasters, it's the sentimental feelings I get from going there (another aspect of my warped sentimentality?...).

Jason and I always have fun reminiscing as we walk around the park.

Remembering the year the Gemini opened. The thrill of that huge wooden coaster. Racing friends in the other car and reaching out over the tracks to slap hands. Laughing at how everyone ducks their raised hands when you go under that one set of tracks that you would never really touch anyways. How we had to wait in line for 3 hours for a coaster that you can now walk right on.

Or the year the Top Thrill Dragster opened.
If you don't know about this coaster, it's called a "Strata Coaster" because it is the first coaster to top 400 feet (420 ft actually), and it has a hydraulic cable launch system that launches riders from 0-120 mph in less than four seconds. It takes you into a 90 degree climb up a hill, twists you 270 degrees and drops you down the other side to hit 120ish miles a hour again. The whole ride last a whopping 17 seconds. Here's a little video of it.




Anyhoo, my brother and I had just entered the park and we were at the base of the ride watching it (it's even fun to watch). The coaster launched and went into it's climb up the hill. As the car climbed the hill you could tell it wasn't going fast enough. It didn't make it to the top of the hill it just hung the on there for a second and started falling backwards. My brother and I both started screaming thinking that we were witnessing some horrific death scene you see in the movies.

We didn't realize the coaster did this sometimes (actually quite a bit the first couple of years that the coaster was getting it's bugs worked out).
But we laugh about the terror we felt that day.

We also like talking about the rides that aren't there anymore. Like that round ride that you stood against the wall and it spun and the floor dropped down and you just hung there.
It had a metal floor and a hose nearby...I have never seen so many people throw up on a ride as that one.
Ah, the memories.

Every year we wonder if the park splurged and bought new uniforms for the kids working there. And every year the answer is 'no'. I think they have had the same hideous blue and red jumpers since 1979. I have never seen an employee that actually looks good in it.

Maybe they make them wear them to cut down on the kids fraternizing with each other.

People watching is always fun at Cedar Point. Every year I think that I have now seen it all, only to be shocked by something new the next year.
Kinda like going to Walmart or the county fair but because of the water rides inside the park there's even less clothes.

A couple other things....the roar of the coaster as it goes by....my once a year treat of an elephant ear....

But my biggest reason for going every year is spending time with my brother.
I can honestly say the thing I look most forward to is hearing him giggle as we go down that first big hill of a coaster.
It's the same giggle as when we were kids.
I actually close my eyes and take it all in and suddenly I'm a preteen again and life is simple and carefree.

poor babies

I had my first experience with the twins being sick last week.

Maybe it's because it's been 14 years since I had a little one around, I don't know. But I hang my RN head low when I admit that it took me all day to figure out they weren't feeling well.

I probably should have noticed something wasn't right when they slept an hour longer for their morning nap (I was ecstatically doing laundry).

I should have had a clue when they didn't want to swing in the baby swings at the park.

this is a different "happy day" at the park...I didn't take pics of them crying

Or fussed over their afternoon bottle.

It finally dawned on me when they slept for another 3 hours and woke up feeling warm to the touch.

Of course, they didn't have those fancy ear thermometers when my kids were little and all my rectal thermometers have since disappeared (maybe it was after one of my kids used the wrong one to take his own temperature orally a few years back---"you put this where?!!!!" he said disgustingly--like I never cleaned it or something).

So I ran next door and asked my neighbor if she had an ear thermometer I could borrow. Her youngest is 5 so after a few minutes of searching she gave me an old one and said "I don't have anymore covers for it and I don't remember how to work it. Good luck."

I took it home and replaced the batteries and finally figured how to get around the "cover missing" error and got it to read.

The only problem was I couldn't (for the LIFE of me!) get it to switch to Fahrenheit.

Another shamefully nursing admission was I couldn't remember the formula to convert it.

And my Internet was down that day and my math genius daughter wasn't answering her text.

I was pretty pleased with myself when I found a way to figure it out.

It was about the same time that the Hubby called.

After relating my story of not being able to find a thermometer in our house to the whole Fahrenheit conversion mystery....which was (in his defense) a little long and he probably wasn't paying very close attention to my story due to the fact he was busy at work...

I triumphantly exclaimed "So I finally got out the meat thermometer....."

"You what?!! You can't stick a meat thermometer in a babies...."

"No!!!!

I used it to convert the temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit!"

"you want to stick that sharp pointy thing where?"

Kids and work

I'm very excited that my oldest daughter, Nae will be living with us for the summer.

She got an internship as an environmental engineer in downtown Chicago.


She's been home now for a couple of days and I'm loving it.


We took the train into the city this morning to get the timing of the Metra down and to see exactly how long it will take her to walk from the station to her office.
Her office is only two blocks from the train station but the train ride is over an hour each way.
It will make long days for her (leaving the house at 5:20am and getting home around 6pm).


But she is pretty excited.
And so am I.



Or I should say I'm pretty nervous.


I asked The Hubby if he was nervous. He said "no".
I asked him when he thought I would stop getting so nervous about our kid's first days of work.
He said "probably never".
He also said I should only be nervous about their first day of their first "real job".
That if you screw up and make a bad impression on the first day of your real job it can haunt you for a long time.


Now I'm still nervous and have something to look forward to when my kids get "real jobs".

Speaking of first days of work, here's a picture of Mac just before she left for her first day of her VERY first job. She is a hostess in a restaurant.




I always take a pic of the kids on their first day of their first job.
It's a tradition. Just like the first day of school picture.
And they love it just as much.
As you can tell by Mac's "hurry-up-and-take-the-stupid-picture" smile on her face.

And yes, I was super nervous for her that day.

I had a really great picture of Nae on her first day of her first job.
She was working for a civil engineering company and had to wear one of those cute hard hats while on the construction site. I got a picture of her in that. You'll have to trust me when I say it was cute because it mysteriously disappeared.

Anyhoo, it was a really nice day. We went out for lunch and The Hubby gave us a mini tour of the surrounding area.


We saw some interesting variations of panhandling that I've never seen before.




Not your normal signs like the one this weirdo is holding.

The first one we saw said this:

GIRLFRIEND KIDNAPPED BY NINJAS. NEED MONEY FOR RANSOM AND KUNG- FU LESSONS

The next one we saw said this:

NOT GOOD LOOKING ENOUGH FOR PROSTITUTION. NOT SMART ENOUGH TO STEAL. I NEED SOME MONEY PLEASE HELP.

These guys looked pretty young and clean cut. I'm wondering how much money they actually pull in a day with these kinds of signs. And if this turns out to be Tony's first job (which is the first thing I thought of when I saw them...I have no idea why) I won't be nervous or taking any pictures.

the unwanted theater experience

http://myhaven.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/movie-theater.jpg

I finally broke down and went to see Avatar last weekend with my friend Gigi.
We decided to splurge and go to the IMAX.

I figured by now there wouldn't be too many people in the theater.
Boy, was I wrong!

Gigi and I got there early and listened to one of the guys who worked at the theater talk about the best place to sit in order to get the "best IMAX experience".

We picked our seats and all was well.
Then the theater started to fill....and fill....and fill.

Just as the theater lights were dimming a man and his wife scooted in front of us sat down next to me.

And I immediately noticed a horrible smell.

It was a combination of strong cigarette smoke and really horrible body odor. I thought to myself, "It will be okay. I can take it". That thought lasted about 30 seconds before I realized I couldn't do it.

So I scanned the theater to look for a new seat. It was packed. There were no seats anywhere.

I decided to try and put on some of my Bath and Body Works lotion to try and alleviate the stench. I nonchalantly applied it under my nose and around my mouth. It didn't helped much.

Then he started to cough a smokers cough of a magnitude that affirmed his habit. I'd estimate about 3 1/2 packs a day hacking.

Yeah. all with out covering his mouth.

Luckily, he only did this a few times but then there was the constant wheezing that accompanied each breath. By the time the previews were over, I had diagnosed him with emphysema.

I was praying under my breath that the movie would be really loud, otherwise I would never get my ADD mind to focus with all these other sensory distractions going on.

I'm pretty sure I sound intolerant, I don't mean to be.
Maybe it because of my ADD mind and having a hard time with distractions but this explains why I don't go to movies very often. I hate paying for the "theater experience" ($14/ticket) and getting more "theater experience" than I want.

You know,
~cell phones ringing, or the light of cell phones flashing while people text (which btw, according to some teens I've talked to recently, is perfectly acceptable to do in theaters because "it's not ringing!")
~people talking through the whole movie
~babies crying (never could figure out why people do that-bring a baby to a movie)
~people kicking you in the head when they rest their feet on your seat
~and now something I had never thought of before or experienced--hacking smelly wheezy people sitting right next to me coughing on me. YUCK!

I did finally get absorbed enough in the movie to forget the guy next to me but it took awhile. I'm going to say that it was worth it this time.
There are some movies you just have to see on the big screen.

I think I forgot how to take care of babies

I'm watching the twins again today for the first time in over a month.

I'm not sure why but I feel like I'm all thumbs today.

Fumbling like I haven't cared for a baby in 20 years....

Brogan began our day with lots of crying and a colossal-five-wipe-alert messy diaper.

He seemed really mad that it took me so long (like 2 seconds after he started screaming) to figure out he needed changing (hey! I was busy smooching those big chubby baby cheeks....give me a break!). By the time I got out the changing pad, wipes and clean diaper he was furious.

That resulted in him arching his back and kicking and screaming through the entire diaper change.

Due to my five-thumbs-today-handicap I ended up getting "it" all over the place.

I thought I saw a little diaper rash (maybe this is why he's so mad?) so I decided that he needed a little Desitin.

I kinda forgot, a little of that stuff goes a long way and with all the kicking and squirming, the thick white goo ended up on his legs, his chest, in between my fingers and under my nails. I tried wiping it off but that just spread it around. I tried just rubbing my hands together....it doesn't rub in. I think I see some in my hair now.

I had to lay him down to make his bottle which made him even happier and caused Marcus to join in the screaming. The can of powdered formula was bran new and I went to pop the top and it broke off. I had a moment of panic and images flashing in my mind of failing to pry it open, sliced fingers and blood squirting everywhere, screaming hungry babies and a humbling to call Brian and Amber. But the can opener worked just fine on it and all is well.

Of course, they both wanted to eat at the same time so I had my first experience of propping babies, balancing bottles, and tandem burping.

Just as we were finishing up the last few ounces and I swear I hear water running. I have not started any laundry today (I know that when I can actually accomplish something other than childcare on these days...I will be a well adjusted twin babysitter!)

In the past our washing machine hose has broke off and flooded the house and that is the first thing that I think of.

I gather both babies in my arms and run upstairs to check to see if it's the hose or maybe a pipe has burst (been through that too).

The noise seems to disappear upstairs. So we go back to the living room.

I hear it again.

We take a trip to the basement.

Gone again.

Back in the living room I realize it's this stupid thing....

Back in my baby rearing days we didn't have all these fancy noise making motion simulator thingies.

Doesn't he kinda look like Archie Bunker in his old chair?



It was a long day for Ace.
He needs his nap time to be uninterrupted.

I think at one point he purposefully barked to wake the boys up just for pay backs,
and of course I loved every minute of the day....

flying Forrest Gump style

The Hubby used to travel a lot with his old job. Even though it's nice having him home now, I'm gonna miss all those frequent flyer miles we could use on vacations.

We used up our last free miles for this trip. And there was just enough left over to bump us up to first class....but only on the way there.

I've never flown first class before and I'm sure it probably isn't what it used to be but it was definitely nice to have the big seats, pillows and blankets, "first class" bathroom up front [sure I didn't have to share it with all the other passengers but there's nothing special about it....you can trust my professional bathroom connoisseur opinion].

The best part was getting on the plane first and not having to fight to stow your carry on.

To me, that is the worst part about flying, especially since they started charging to check luggage.

I wish they would start enforcing their rules about carry-on's. You know, one carry on that you can store over head and one you can stow under the seat in front of you. There are so many people who bring two HUGE pieces on the plane, shove them in the overhead compartment at the front of the plane as they head to their seats in the back. Then the people getting on later have no where to put their stuff and end up having to check it anyways.

They need to have the overhead compartments labeled with the seat numbers. You get to put your ONE carry on in that space only. Then have a stewardess at the back of the plane when you board who is watching these people who try and shove coats another piece of luggage up there and say "No I'm sorry, you'll have to check that if it doesn't fit under your seat." They can sit there with it on their lap until everyone else boards and then go to the front and check it.

I know it would take extra time, but it seems like it takes forever the old way with the stewardesses trying to move luggage around in the overheads and shove things in there anyways. We still had a line of poor souls who were the last on the plane and only had one carry on and had to check it.


The last time I flew, I was alone after helping Nae drive out to Colorado for her summer internship. I flew Northwest Airlines. They have this "choose your own seat" boohaha. It was awful. They still assign you a "zone" and a "number". You get called to board by zones then when you get in line they ask you to get in numerical order. I felt like I was in kindergarten again. Of course, I was in the last zone and the last number so I was the last one on the plane.


Our flight wasn't full, which in a "choose your own seat" arrangement is considered a nightmare. Trust me.


I looked down the center isle and there were open seats scattered through out the plane, but with at least one person sitting in each row. I looked into the face of the person sitting next to the first open seat. He was a big man who kinda reminded me of the boy who would throw rocks at me at the bus stop when I was a kid [yeah Kim, you know who I'm talking about :)]. He kinda glared at me and spread his big muscly arms out to demonstrate how my personal space would be violated if I chose to sit next to him.


The next guy who I looked at with an open seat quickly looked away and suddenly developed this phelmy nasty cough that he obviously couldn't possibly cover with his hand if I chose to sit next to him.


There was a woman who was knitting who decided that her yarn needed it's own seat as I passed by.

A teen who threw her legs over the next seat.

Some people didn't do anything but glare at me and give me the "I'll kill you if you take this seat" message.


Even though no one actually said "Seat's taken" I still felt like Forrest Gump on the school bus that first day of school.

And there was no "Jenny" volunteering up a seat.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/forrest%20gump%20images/uploader2010/snapshot20091030063117.jpg

I finally asked the stewardess to find me a seat "or otherwise someone is gonna hurt me".

I'm wondering if the people at Northwest Airlines who decided this "choose your own seat" was a great idea have actually tried it themselves....

fighting kids

I'm not talking about human kids.

I'm talking about the four legged kind.

Yeah, we've all heard it before, puppies are worse than babies.

Can't take your eyes off them even for while they are sleeping.

Sometimes I wish I could stick a diaper on him.

He is sleeping through the night thou...most nights.

But now he seems to be at that age fighting constantly with his "siblings".

I feel like I have a couple of 5 and 6 year olds.

Kitty moews "Mommm he's touching me again!" every time the puppy tries to even sniff him.

"Mooommm he looking at me!" the kitty growls when puppy just enters the same room.

Come on kids! I want to scream. Unfortunately I can't make them sit on the couch and hold hands until they can be nice to each other.

And kitty acts like the proverbial little brother. Taunting, sticking out his tongue whenever I have my back turned.

Does he really need to sit just out of puppy's reach and stare at him like that.

Or walk by puppy's head and meow when I just got puppy to sleep?

I swear kitty is giving me the "Mom! Ace just bit me!" meow when Ace did nothing of the sort. Just to get him in trouble. Then he struts around with his nose in the air, turning and giving Ace the butt view, just to say "neener...neener...neener!!!" while Ace is dealt his punishment.

Look out kitty! I'm getting wise to your shenanigans!

I was a little sister once too!

ode to a dear old friend take two

I put this picture up first on purpose.

All my regular readers know what this post is gonna be about.
(and can run, run away if you choose but please come back tomorrow-I'll try to be normal then)
All you newbies can read this if you want to see into how my befuddled, sentimental mind works.

So grab your box of kleenex....this is gonna be a tear jerker!



This motorcycle was given to me by my dad a couple years ago.
(I know isn't she pretty!)

This is the same motorcycle my dad had when I was a little girl.

I have many memories of riding this motorcycle with my dad.

I can remember him putting all three of us kids on it at once when we were real little.

I would sit behind my dad and my older brother, Jason would sit behind me.

My little sister, Alex, would sit on the gas tank and wrap her arms around my dad's forearms to hang on.

Don't worry we didn't do that very often (it may have only happened once-that's how my memory works sometimes) and we when we did, we just rode up and down the street in our neighborhood.

I remember how I much I loved being on the back of that motorcycle with my dad.

The thrill I would feel when he would accelerate quickly from a dead stop.

How he would nod his head at other guys on their motorcycles, like a secret code for "yeah we're cool we're riding a motorcycle!".

I would get so jealous when my mom and dad took off with all their friends on their motorcycles for an afternoon ride.

I used to feel so safe and free on the back of that motorcycle with my dad.

Things have changed.

I'm not having those same feelings riding it now a days.

I'm usually pretty terrified and not because Hubby is a crazy driver or anything.

I think about my kids constantly and what would happen to them if something happened to both Hubby and I on that bike.

So we weren't riding it much.

And we were so sad. Yes, me and the motorcycle (I could tell--we have a bond)

So after much long debate and many tears (from me, I didn't tell her) we decided to sell it.

We listed her on Craigslist a while back.

You immediately turn cynical when you list something for sale on Craigslist. We've all heard so many crazy stories of people getting ripped off by someone on Craigslist.

So when Hubby got a call from a guy in Denmark who wanted buy my baby, I mean bike, I was a little sceptical. He claimed he was a collector and he had "a guy" who would pick it up for him and ship it to Denmark.

So we waited and waited. And the guy from Denmark always had an excuse. And we'd wait some more.

And nothing.

So finally Hubby called the guy and said "if you want me to hang on to this bike then I need you to pay for it now".

And he did.

So we've been waiting for "the guy" to come pick it up.

He came yesterday.

Hubby and I had no idea that when he said he was a collector that he collected like this.

This guy has been driving all over the place picking up these motorcycles (from Minnesota to Delaware). Then they will be crated and shipped over seas. He said he does this 2 or 3 times a year for his client.

Sniff. Sniff.
So here we go....

seen enough pictures of her yet? I have like 100 of them

Ode to my beloved motorcycle

Your 1970's orange-ness is awesome

you always looked great paired with my dad's American Flag helmet.

You've been such a sweet motorcycle
and you've help create many wonderful memories

except the time I burnt my hand on your muffler when I was 3

but I know it wasn't your fault.

We grew up together. We both survived our awkward teens in the 80's

(orange wasn't so trendy at that time)

But now some people think your pretty cool

just like people think I'm pretty cool....

And you're headed on a long journey

and I know how scary it can be when you are the last one to join the group

and they are a rough looking group

I'm sure someone will be nice enough to scoot over a little...

and there are some scary things that you might see

look away! just look away!

there are some with you who have had a hard life

there are others who used to be pretty fancy

but have seen better days

Oh lookie here!

he looks like he could be a new friend.

or maybe she is looking for a friend.

Woah! Hold your horsepower!

oh my! and what is this?
purrrrr....

(or should I say vrooooommm!)

Oh honey I hate to say this but....
I think he may be a little out of your league

but wait! I can't believe my eyes!

Look over here!

I think we may have found your long lost little sister!

I know you will be loved and cared for

think of this as a trip to the spa.

You will be pampered and buffed

maybe some new paint

kinda like a motorcycle face lift.

good bye dear friend

enjoy your new adventure!

I will miss you!

More facebook talk

a little pic of the Wrigley building in Chicago (because I like architecture almost as much as flowers)

I've blogged about facebook before (click here if you want to read it).

And how my kids harass me about how I use it.

Today, I'm not feeling much blogger creativity so I thought I'd show you a little evidence of some of that harassment.

I fully admit that I facebook stalk my kids. They know it, it's part of the agreement we made when they signed up for it. Mom and Dad get full access or you get nada.

I also fully admit that I steal pics of them out of their albums and then repost them on my site.

It's my right as a mother.

They spent 9 months in my womb (yes, I will also admit, I'm almost looking for reasons to say womb now- just to torment Mac) and 20+ hours of labor on each and countless other humiliating things related to the birthing process.

It's my right as a mother.

So a couple weeks ago, I decided that it had been a while since I posted pics of the kids so I spent some time perusing their albums for something I liked. Of course my girls (or their friends) each post about 12 thousand pictures every couple of weeks so finding nice ones of them is easy. The two boys are a little more difficult and I ended up adding some from my own stock.

All and all, I think it ended up being a nice little album. I titled it "facebook stalking my kids #2".

The next morning I find this comment on my album from one of my offspring (again, I won't name names):

mother i dont know how you dont get the facebook photos concept.. let me explain..1. make an album in yourcase you could sum all of this into "im a creepfest" 2. add photos**important** two weeks later you think hmm i want to add more pictures to my facebook you DO NOT create a new album!! you just go to "im a creepfest" edit and add photos! then youre not a loser who has 43 thousand albums of 15 photos!! do you understand?!

Have I mentioned lately that I love my teens?

But I had some lovely friends who happened to give me some facebook love and support.

Awesome Wendy had this to say~

I personally prefer the multiple photo albums, then I don't have to search through photos. I can skip right to "fb stalking my kids." But then, I'm a loser too.

And the Very Hip Vicky added this~

Loser here too, love, love,love your mom's way!

There ya go. We facebook mom's need to stick together.

Since I'm on the subject of facebook. I have spent a little bit of time looking at some of the other kids facebook walls that I'm friends with- not in a stalkerish kinda way, I assure you. Looking to see if what my kids say is true about how we use it. I looked at kids that range from teens to twenties. The biggest difference I see in our facebook usage besides the photo album thingie is how they don't comment on each others posts.

I think that is a little sad. I would think it would feel like your talking to yourself and no one cares (kinda like blogging and no one comments-*hint*hint*).

Maybe they don't care if anyone is listening. Maybe it's just a generation thing.