Friday Meme Time

I'm back again for Friday Fragments with Mrs. 4444.  I've got more than a few things to share today.

• The best bit of news is that I'm an aunt again.  Last night, Rich's sister gave birth to her second child, a beautiful baby boy.  Mom and baby are both well, and all of us here in TN are wishing we could be up with them to see the newest member of our family.  
• Today has been a home-bound day for all but Rich.  We've had the first snow day of the school year here in Nashville.  We got a small amount of snow overnight and some of the back roads were still iced.  Because of the way that the buses run in the district, it's an all or nothing thing - if they were to delay school, it would be a logistical nightmare.  So the kids have been home from school today, and loving every minute of it. I just wish there had been enough snow for them to really enjoy it.  Maybe next time.
  
• Earlier in the week, we'd planned for one of Teddy's friends in the complex to come by and play for awhile.  I wasn't sure how things were going to work with them being out of school, but his mom called about 90 minutes ago and asked if it was still ok.  The boys are all having a blast - even if my youngest is still naked.
• I managed to be disappointed in Goodwill today.  I headed over with the boys this morning, hoping to find a couple things on the cheap.  Mainly, I'm trying to get a couple used cookie sheets that I can use for the chore chart and some kind of handled base that I can put my silverware caddy on.  I also thought I'd possibly pick up some new sneakers for Teddy (since his are almost falling off his feet) and some jeans for Rich.  What did I find?  Nothing that I wanted.  The kids got some cool things, including a cute green bear and, a big find for Teddy, a Plastic Man Tot from Sonic.  (He's a huge Plastic Man fan.)  But anything that I wanted?  No luck.  I may try Big Lots tomorrow instead. 
  
• I finally decided when I'm having Teddy's 7th birthday party.  His birthday is directly mid-week, so one weekend is as good as another.  We decided to go for the Saturday before rather than the Saturday after, since one of his friends might be out of town the weekend after.  I'd wanted to take them bowling, but it's a lot more expensive than I'd expected!  So, once again, we're doing Chuck E. Cheese.  Luckily, I've got plenty of tokens and lots of coupons for more.  We never do the official party - too pricey.  But the kids always end up having a good time anyway.  One of these days, I will have a house where I can have a party at home!
• This weekend is going to be a busy one. Tomorrow is our usual library trip, plus a trip to Big Lots and a bunch of cooking to get ready for watching the Super Bowl on Sunday Night.  I'd love to be able to put the cooking off until Sunday, but we won't be home until it's time for the Super Bowl.  Rich and the boys have church from 9 until around 11:30 (90 minutes of Religious Education classes for Teddy, followed church for all three of them for an hour).  Then there's a Pokemon pre-release tournament happening at 12:30.  We should be out of there in time to get home and watch the Super Bowl.  I'm a casual football fan, but I do love watching the commercials.
• I'm actually making one of the recipes I saved on Pintrest tonight.  Chili Cheese Dog Casserole.  If I'm lucky, it will be something both my kids will eat.  I'm actually getting a few other things out of my Fabulous February board  over the weekend with what I'm making for the Super Bowl. Ham and Dill Pickle Appetizer Bites (mainly for Rich and the boys), Crab Rangoon Dip and Meatball Stuffed Biscuits.  I'm hoping during the week to actually get a few of the projects done.  We'll see how that goes.

Next up in the Meme schedule is 

This week's topic is one after my own heart - books.  As I've mentioned numerous times before, I love to read.  It's my favorite way to escape.  
So what do I like to read?  It really changes depending on the mood I'm in.  Lately, I've been in a big urban fantasy mood with a smattering of paranormal focus.  I've got a tendency to read through full series at a time, grabbing as many as I can get my hands on and only pull out of that mood when I have nothing left to read.  It's how I read through Lynsay Sands' Argeneau series, and Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series.  Sometimes, I'm a little tired of the paranormal and move into mysteries.  I love Agatha Christie.  Every once in a while, I get in the mood for non-fiction.  Then it's usually some kind of tutorial or self-help book, or a biography.  Those always interest me.
There's only one genre that I've tried but not been able to get into and that's westerns. I'm not sure why, but it just hasn't interested me.  Maybe it's because I'm a romantic at heart, and most of the stories I read in the other genres cross over into romance.  Though, oddly, I also don't like straight romance.  I've got to have some kind of intrigue or some kind of hook.  Bodice rippers just never kept me as interested.
You may wonder what I'm reading now.  Well, it's a long list. I read a lot of things at once, bouncing between books depending on the mood I'm in or the location I'm at.  Some of them are paperbacks, some hard covers, some e-books and some audio books.  Some I'm reading with my kids.   The list is:

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling - this one I'm actually reading with Teddy and Pete every night at bedtime, once chapter a night.  Pete's not really into it, but Teddy's loving it.  He's even chosen a Harry Potter cake for his birthday cake.
• The Alchemyst by Michael Scott - This is the first book in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flammel series.  It's a reread for me, but I'm wanting to bet back into the series.  I blame Adam at Roof Beam Reader.  He had it on his TBR Challenge list.
• Have a New You By Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman - With all the issues going on with me, I'm thinking anything that could help me figure out who I am and what I want is a good thing.  When I told my therapist I was reading it, she was very glad to hear it.
• Fantasy Gone Wrong, edited by Martin H. Greenberg - This is a book I'd picked up at the library book sale a couple years ago and had been wanting to read for awhile.  It's on my TBR Pile Challenge so I'm trying to get through it.  Being an anthology, it's perfect for quick reads.
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling - I'm listening to this one at bedtime.  I'm the kind of person that needs something playing to fall asleep to.  And since I've read this one numerous times (it's my favorite of all the books in the series), it's one that I don't need to worry about missing anything when I fall asleep.
• The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett - I've long been told I need to read the Discworld series.  And when I saw it cheap in ebook form, I decided that now was the time to pick it up.  It's slower going, because I've been grabbing other books instead.

And this isn't even the books that I have out of the library or I have waiting at the library for me but haven't started or the book that I'm desperately wanting to read but haven't requested yet (Bristol Boyz Stomp by Doreen M. McGettigan - someone I'm getting to know through blogging circles and hope, one of the times I'm back in Philly, have a chance to meet again.)  My reading list is always too darn long!

Of course, I can't have a Friday happen without joining Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun at Feeling Beachie!

1. I was probably the only kid in the world who watched just one channel growing up.  Ok... not the ONLY kid - there were others where I grew up as well.  But out in the country, where we were too far out for cable and satellite wasn't an option, we were left with what we could get on the antenna.  And what we could get was Channel 12, WBNG, the CBS station out of Binghamton, NY.  Sometimes, if I was really lucky, I could get snowy stations out of New York City late on Friday nights.  But that was never a given.
2. Mango is my favorite juice. When Rich and I lived in Philly, we regularly went to an Indian restaurant that gave free mango juice with their buffet.  Between that and mango juice's appearance in a Sandman issue, I was hooked.
3. I never thought I would make a good mom until I became one.  Seriously.  I was always scared to death that I'd be a horrible parent.  When I was a kid, I was so bad to my sister that I was convinced that I would make a horrid parent.  And when I was a bit older, I hated being around kids. I was nervous and uncomfortable, never sure how I should treat them.  but once I had my boys, I realized that it's a lot harder to screw them up than I thought!  I make my mistakes, but on the whole, I'm a good mom.
4. I have always wanted to travel outside the US but never had the money or passport.  It's still on my Someday list.

And now for the last meme I'm participating in today (though I will be back with my 30 Days of Blogging Prompt replies and my Daily Challenge post), I'm joining up, once again, with Mama M. at My Little Life for

1. What is your favorite book to read with your kids? That's almost like asking who my favorite kid is!  I can't choose just one!  Right now, I'm loving reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone a chapter at a time to the boys at night.  It's a little more than Pete's speed, though, so for him, I love reading  Dinos To Go by Sandra Boyton.  I really get into each of the dinosaurs in the book.  I also love reading The Mine-O-Saur by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen (hoping to teach my boys a lesson), Big Plans by Bob Shea and Instructions by Neil Gaiman (one of my all time favorite books ever).
   
2. After having kids, what body part has changed the most? I dunno if any really has.  I've always had about the same shape so that doesn't fit much.  I'd probably have to say my ears.  I hear things I'd never heard before.  Most moms will probably tell you the same.
3. Would you ever go back to college? What would you study? Oh yes, I'd love to go back to college.  One of my biggest regrets is that I never got my degree.  There are so many things that interest me, though I don't think I'd go back for math (which was what I'd originally planned on getting my degree in).  Lately, I'd have to say psychology.  The human mind fascinates me.
4. How do you close a phone call? Bye, bye bye or other? It depends on who I'm talking to.  Family, it's always "Love you!"  For friends, it's usually, "Talk to you later!"  Unless, of course, I'm distracted and forget who I'm talking to and will tell a friend "Love you!"
5. What is the one food that will always be your "cheat food" on a diet? Ice cream.  I'm a HUGE ice cream fan.  As a matter of fact, I stopped at Baskin Robbins today because I wanted some rocky road so badly!

That's all I have for this Friday Full of Memes!  Please, click on the buttons for each of the memes above and go check out some of the other wonderful bloggers that have linked up today.  There are lots of great answers and great stories out there!

A Friday Full of Memes

Rather than inundate with post after post of memes, I'm going to combine all the Friday memes into one post.  I hope the hosts don't mind me doing so.  It just saves me a lot of time!

First up is

• This week started out strong, but somewhere along the middle of the week, I lost my way.  I've been letting things slide again, but that is something I'm hoping to change today.  Right now, I'm being Laundry Diva, getting as much laundry done as I can.  It's a start, right?
• I had to go Mom Voice on a kid that's not my own today.  I'd driven Teddy to the bus stop, partly because of the colder weather and partly because I needed to go to the grocery store afterward.  I was sitting in the van, futzing on my kindle when one of Teddy's friends ran to the door of the car.  He was being chased by another boy that is older than Teddy's friend.  I rolled the window down and asked L if everything was ok.  "Sorta," was his reply.  When I asked if they were just playing around or if he was being bullied, he told me in a small voice, "Bullied."  I looked right at the other kid and told him to leave L. alone.  The kid just stared at me, balling his hand into a fist.  I refused to back down.  Finally he and L. both left.  My only worry with this is that he'll take it out on Teddy later.  I'm hoping it's just over-exuberance on the part of that kid, because if this continues, and/or Teddy becomes the victim, I WILL find out where in this complex he lives and speak to his folks.
• I've become addicted to NCIS.  I started watching it on CLOO and then, flipped over to USA.  Now I'm even catching the new eps.  The only bad thing about this is I'm watching it more than Arrow.  And I want to watch Arrow, I just can't seem to turn away from NCIS.
• We thought that the kids were going to have a snow day one day this week, but our school system didn't call it off.  All the surrounding counties did - we were under an ice storm warning for awhile.  Teddy has been very disappointed.  However, he does have Monday off for MLK day.  That should make him slightly happy.
• Speaking of Teddy, he got his report card yesterday.  They don't do letter grades in 1st grade (I'm not even sure when they start), but he did do very well.  He's meeting or exceeding everything they're giving him, and he's got Excels in all of his subjects except for Art and PE.  But even in PE he's getting an E for effort.  If he keeps up these grades, I may need to think of something nice to do for him when school is over.
• On the Pete front, you may have read my Pour Your Heart Out post about what's been going on with him in Parents Day Out.  (Briefly, for those who haven't and don't want to, he's been having a lot of behavior problems in school and it's killing me).  Well, yesterday was a million times better than Tuesday.  There were a couple incidents - not paying attention during story time, that kind of thing - but for the most part, he did really well.  And he was so proud of himself.  He threw his arms around me when I came in and said, "Mommy, I had a really great day today!"  I need to think of some way to reward him for his good days at PDO until the good becomes a habit.
• Rich is finished with this class at University of Phoenix, which will mean some income for us.  I can't wait.  This month has been really tight, thanks to the unexpected tire purchase.  His next class doesn't start up until the last Monday of January, giving us a week of breathing time.  Can't complain about that!
• I had to put my brace on today for the first time in about a week.  I didn't want to put it on, because I'd been doing so well without it.  But I think the ankle exercises, combined with the walking exercise I've been trying to get, is putting the pain back in it.  It should help me get some things done around here.
• I've gotten a lot of wonderful comments on my blog recently.  And I promise, I'm not ignoring you all. I've been in a bit of a depressive funk and that's made it hard for me to deal with these kinds of things.  But I'm planning on coming back to my blog later today (after I get the cleaning done I need to do) and answer those fantastic replies.  Thank you, everyone, for stopping by.

Now it's time for the next meme

This week, Joy is asking us to share a bit about ourselves , letting people that may be new to our blog get to know us a little better.  She doesn't know what she's getting into, asking me this one!  I could talk for hours! But, I'll try to keep it down to some facts so you can get on to other awesome blogs as well.
Here goes:
I grew up in a small town in upstate New York.  It was a place where you could leave your doors unlocked if you needed to run somewhere, and where everyone knew everyone else.  Secrets didn't stay secret and rumors took on a life of their own.  My school was very small - 400 kids, Kindergarten through 12th grade.  If I'd stayed there, I would have been in a graduating class of about 30.
"If you'd stayed there?" I'm hearing you ask yourself.  Yep.  My mom and dad separated when I was in 6th grade.  My dad eventually moved to Florida and, after a few years of visiting him in the summers, I decided that I needed to get out as well.  My mom and I didn't get along well at all, and that was a large impetus for my move.  So my younger sister stayed with my mom and I moved to Florida with my dad.
The new school took a lot of getting used to.  I went from 30 kids in my class to over 400.  I had a wider variety of classes that I could take.  And I didn't know 3/4s of the people I graduated with.  But I did make a lot of friends, had fun in chorus, took several AP classes and graduated in the top 10% of my class. (Barely.)  From there, I went to college at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, FL.
College was both everything I needed and too much for me at the same time.  I did well enough in my classes.  Not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but well enough.  And I had a lot of friends, a few activities.  The biggest problem was that I started too far along in my college career.  I entered college as a junior, thanks to AP classes, Dual Enrollment classes and CLEP exams, and I thought I knew what I wanted to do.  I didn't get a chance to really try much out, outside of the bubble of Math Education that I'd put myself in.  When I realized that I didn't want to teach, I was floundering a bit.  I took some computer classes because it seemed like the next, best option.  I took theater classes because I enjoyed them - even though I wasn't very good at it.  And then, because of poor money management and a boyfriend that wasn't good for me, I ended up leaving with one semester left to go.
I lived in the St. Pete/Tampa area for the next several years, doing customer service jobs to pay the rent.  And when I finally realized I needed to get out of my bad relationship and I was at loose ends job-wise, I moved back home to live with my dad and step-mom.  When I met someone else, I moved to NYC and lived there for about a year and a half.  I was in NYC on 9/11 and it was the scariest day of my life.  
I met my husband through an online message board and we'd been friends online for awhile before we started dating.  He lived in Philly, so there was a lot of travel back and forth before we got engaged.  After our engagement, I moved to Philly to be closer to him.  We got married in Cherry Hill, NJ, at the church his family had been going to for years.  He was getting his doctorate in molecular biology and I was working as a secretary.  After he got his degree, we moved to Nashville for his post-doc.  And we've been here for 7 years.
Both my boys were born here.  I was pregnant with my eldest, Teddy, when we moved.  I worked part time for a background check company for a few years, but now I'm fully a stay-at-home mom.  And while we don't get the snow that I'd love to have, I don't mind living in TN.  My kids have friends here, my husband and I have friends here, and it's a good place to be.  Someday, though, I'm hoping that we'll end up back in the Northeast.  For all that my dad is now in the area (he and my step-mom moved here about a year after we did), there's a lot of family and friends in the NE that I miss a lot.  But whatever will be will be.  It's all an adventure, after all.
Thanks for listening to my chatter!  And if you have any questions about me, feel free to ask!
Joy also has a bonus question. 
If you could read the life story of anyone – Who’s Autobiography would you like to read and why?
No question.  Neil Gaiman's.  The ideas that come from this man's head are completely fascinating, and I'd love to read about the life he lead.
Next up, we have

1. I am a complicated person.
2. Sometimes I don’t know when to stop, pushing myself to pain.
3. My two favorite words lately are goofball and sleep.
4. I would like Pete being at school if his anger fits didn’t happen.

And finally, I'm linking up my one word. Melanie, at Only a Breath, made me two wonderful buttons for my one word.

I chose my word for 2013 to be Focus because it's something I need to do to reach my goals.  I so often have hundreds of things that I want to do and I try to get them all finished at once.  I've even been doing it this year, when I'm supposed to focus on one thing at a time.  So I'm rebooting myself to focus on the individual things rather than the big picture.  Because when the little things become habit, then the larger things will be too.

Thanks for stopping by my page full of memes!  I hope you've enjoyed what you've read.

Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is a meme that I've read several time, thanks to Wayne at Touristic and Heather at Acting Balanced, but I hadn't participated before now for a variety of reasons.  Part of it has been forgetting about it until Friday and then realizing I don't really have any fragments to post, and another is realizing that I don't have the time to visit as many people as I'd like.  This week, I'm changing that.  After all, it's a busy day for blogging, so that should be part of it!

• This has been one of my busier weeks, made more difficult because I'm sans van at the moment.  My dad was borrowing it while I couldn't drive and I won't be getting it back until tomorrow.  Tuesday, I drove all over creation in Rich's car because of doctor's appointments, school, Rich at work and anything else that could come up.  It feels good being back behind the wheel, but can't I get it slowed down a little?
• I'm in day two of my daily challenge and feeling pretty good about things.  I've got a lot of things still on my schedule today and I really have only done online things, but those are still things off my list.  Plus, there's a lot of day left still.  I've got time to get it all done!
• I got a call from Teddy's school today.  When I first saw the number, my heart went into my chest.  I don't have a vehicle to pick Teddy up!  What's wrong?  Instead, it was a reminder call from the lady in charge of the gifted program, reminding me of my meeting with her on Monday to get Teddy involved in the program.  I think this is going to be a good meeting.  Like almost everyone else at the school, she knows Teddy well and thinks highly of him.  Yay!
• I've been trying to take a picture every day in preparation of Wordless Wednesday.  That, and I've been told that pictures on blog posts are more attractive than a wall of text.  I took a few today, mainly inside.  It's gray and yucky out, so I didn't want to head outside for one.  Of the ones I took, this is my favorite: 

Goofball child!

• The weather in TN has been insane.  Right now, the temperature is 76 degrees outside.  76 on January 11th.  At the beginning of the month, we were in the 30s with no precipitation. At the beginning of this week, the temperature rose and it started raining.  It's rained every day this week.  It's supposed to keep raining, with temperatures in the 60s and 70s, through most of next week.  By next weekend, however, the weather is supposed to clear up and drop back down into the 30s.  What's up with this?  I want snow!

If you want to add your own fragments, here's the link to this week's Fragments.  Come over and check out what others have to say, and add your own fragments into the mix!

Friday Fragments

This is the first time I'm participating in this wonderful meme at half-past kissin' time.  (Click on the picture and you'll be taken to her site.)  I've got a lot of fragments running through my mind right now, so this is the perfect time for it.

• When I got out of my funk and started checking out my blog again late yesterday (yep, the mood from Wednesday kinda bubbled over into yesterday too), I found a wonderful surprise.  The wonderful people who host Thirsty for Comments Thursdays (and that would be Acting Balanced, Silver Faeries and Dragonflies, Thoughts 'n Such, Crazed Mama and Touristic) honored me my making Sanity's Overrated the featured blog for the day/week.  They even linked me up in the top link-up spot.  Thank you, guys.  You really helped turn my mood around with that!
  
• Yesterday, we got news that relieved a little of my stress.  University of Phoenix offered my husband another class.  He's been working for them as a second job for the last couple of years.  It's been pretty steady work, giving him a 5 week class or two to teach pretty close to constantly.  But for some reason, the last couple months have dried up.  He had one class through September, but nothing new seemed to be on the horizon.  Now it is.  And today, he got another class to start around the end of the time of the one from yesterday.  It's taking a HUGE weight off my mind.
• I had a DUH moment the other day.  I was coming into the living room where the boys were watching the pilot episode of Planet Sheen. There was a seen where Sheen was introducing the king of the planet he crash-landed on to the monkey (who is far more intelligent than Sheen, but then, who isn't?) that had crashed there many years before.  He said something like, "This is Nesmith.  He's a monkey, but we call him an ape."  And it was only then that I put together those two facts along with the fact that Nesmith wore a wool hat to realize the homage that was being paid (for those that may not catch it either, Mike Nesmith was a member of The Monkees and he wore a signature wool hat in the show).  And I could have slapped myself for it.  I've been a big fan of the Monkees since the mid-80s when they did their first reunion tour, and I missed this completely obvious reference.  And I don't have the excuse of it being the first time I watched the show.  No.  I've seen, in part or in whole, at least a dozen episodes where the info was right in front of my face.  Yeah.  Sometimes I'm a little slow.
• I took a big step last Sunday and played a few games of Pokemon with people that were NOT in my family.  It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.  I may do the same on Sunday... or I may shop at Goodwill for Halloween Costumes.
• Speaking of Halloween, I wish my boys would make up their minds.  First Teddy wanted to be the Hulk.  Now he wants to be Ash from Pokemon.  I'm actually ok with him being Ash because I've got a lot of the things for that already.  Though now he's talking about being one of the gym leaders.  Pete keeps bouncing between Pikachu (which would be easiest because, unlike Teddy, he still fits in last year's costume), Panpour and Tepig. I told them they needs to make up their minds this weekend.  I'm going to Goodwill to look for things to make their costumes on Sunday.
• I'm catching another cold.  Or maybe the same one wasn't as dormant as I thought.  I'd gotten over the scratchy throat, the stuffy nose and the cough sometime in the middle of me getting the flu.  But last night, the stuffy nose came back and this morning, the scratchy throat is.  Time to start pounding the zinc!
• I'm so grateful that the boys have found a love for Pokemon.  While it does often get tiring to hear about Pokemon constantly, they've found a great community in our local league, with everyone being supportive of everyone else.  And they're also learning the right way to act when a game is over, with a handshake and a "good game".  It amazes me when I hear the two of them playing a game in the other room and then, without prompting, I heard, "Good game."  And not just from Teddy, but Peter too.  Now if I can get them to work that attitude into the rest of their lives....
• I'm thinking of starting a weekly meme.  Just a fun little thing to do and, hopefully, get others to join in the fun.  I was going to start it today (it will be called, tentatively "Friday Favorites") but I haven't had a chance to build a button for people to snag for the hopping.  So I'm hoping next week will be a little calmer, both in terms of stress levels and things I need to do.  But watch this space for a new meme!
• Finally, I had to buy a webcam today for something Rich needed it for,  It's the first one I've had in... probably 5 years or so.  It's so much smaller than I'm used to!  But I am hoping that, having it hooked up to the desktop, I may be able to start doing some vlogging once in awhile too.

Thanks for stopping by and reading the fragments of my mind.  If you're interested in more fragments, head on over!