As I said, vacation is great!

We're still on vacation. Joe took the day off work so we are livin' it up. For example, right now we are watching TV and watching Antiques Roadshow. We just finished our bowls of ice cream. Just as popcorn is a necessity for movies, ice cream is a must for Antiques Roadshow. The best part is that we even learned some things. Like:

• old time sugar boxes had dividers to separate the brown sugar from the purer, more expensive white sugar; the bigger part of the box was for the brown sugar (of course!)
• a belt buckle from the civil war can be worth up to $6000; "Condition is everything with these things"; this one was from the confederate side in case you have one and were wondering what it was worth
• Joe's favorite--the antique duck calls; hang on to those duck calls--in 70 years they may be worth $500 "now that isn't bad appreciation" according to the host
• Host: "What do you think this is?" Guest: "Honestly, I don't know" Host: "It's quite rare" Host:"This is where design is everything. I would say this is worth $10000-$15000" Guest: "Wow I never dreamed my horribly ugly necklace would be worth so much money" (Okay, you're onto me--the last quote by the guest I made up. It was a really ugly glass necklace though!)

See what you missed because you weren't on vacation!

The vicious bull with a long mustache

Since my kids are gone I have been exercising my freedom in what I listen to on the radio. I've taken a vacation from Dora, Veggietales, children's hymns (sung with freakishly high voices), etc. Yesterday morning I was jamming out to the local country station while I was fixing my dh his favorite--blueberry pancakes. Joe came downstairs, I flipped off the radio and we sat down to eat. After breakfast I was cleaning up the kitchen and singing the last song I had heard on the radio prior to shutting it off--Live like you were Dying by Tim McGraw. I think that is the name of it--that is the chorus so if you've ever heard it, you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I was singing it and got to the part where he sings "I went 2.7 seven seconds on a bull named..." Well, I think I sang the bull's name something like "boo man do" Joe raised his eyebrows and I immediately knew that I had once again messed up a song. There is a history of this that goes all the way back to high school. If anyone remembers the theme song to Pretty Woman (I am NOT recommending the movie), it was a fairly well played song on the radio. For years, I sang it "It must of been love, but it's alright now" Made sense to me. I guess the real words are "It must of been love, but it's over now" Anyway, one of Joe's jobs in being married to me is policing my songs so that if I happen to sing them in public (while grocery shopping or something) I don't make a fool of myself. So he stepped in this morning and informed me that the bull's name was "fu manchu". He then launched into the full history of where the name fu manchu comes from and why it would make since for a bull to be named that. I have to be honest, the song was still playing through my head and I didn't entirely catch all the reasoning. He went to take his shower and I turned the radio back on. The song that came on was It's a great day to be alive, again, not positive that's the name, but that's the chorus. I think Travis Tritt sings it. Anyway, so I was singing along to it and then, I couldn't believe this, he sings about growing a fu manchu. It was at this point that I regretted not listening to my husband and his description of fu manchu. (I often regret it when I don't listen to him.) How could a person grow a fu manchu and it be a good name for a bull??? So, determined not to seem out of touch with modern day culture, I decided to hop on the internet and research it. Yes, I know I could have asked Joe, but with pride and all that.... So in case you don't know, here is dictionary.com's definition of fu manchu:


a mustache whose ends droop to the chin.
[Origin: 1935–40; after the mustache worn by Fu Manchu, an Oriental master criminal in films of the 1920s and '30s, based on novels by British author Sax Rohmer (1883–1959)]

When I mentioned to Joe that I had never heard of the Oriental master criminal Fu Manchu he told me that he was very much like Frito Bandito. Who???? I guess I'll have to look him up too. Ah well, at least both songs make more sense and now I won't embarrass myself in the grocery store or wherever I accidently find myself singing them.

Isn't Vacation Great?!

Even though I am technically on vacation I figured I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some much needed cleaning done on my house. And I have to say it is absolutely amazing how much I can accomplish by myself. Not to be boasting or anything, but if I detailed it out you would see how great multi-tasking is when there are no children around. Wow is the only word I know to describe it. Anyway, for those of you who frequent my blog regularly I thought you would be interested to know that I found another stuffed Winnie the Pooh this morning. Yep, that makes 7. So evidently the 6 that I found a couple of weeks ago were not enough for this family. I have a problem though--this Winnie the Pooh is looking very cute to me and I don't want to get rid of him even though I kept 3 of the last 6 that I found. (This is probably how we ended up with 7 to begin with.) And so this afternoon I will have to make the decision as to whether or not Winnie the Pooh stays or goes. I know, I know--what a wonderful blessing for that to be the biggest decision I have to make all afternoon. Isn't vacation great?!

The latest conspiracy theory

As our children are away we have taken the luxury of going out to eat. We were tremendously blessed at Christmas with restaurant gift cards and so we shuffle through them each night to make a decision. The frequent eating out reminded us of one of our pet peeves (and no, it isn't that eating out can make your pants not fit--although that is also one of my pet peeves). This one is related to drinks. We both enjoy water. Well, I should say I enjoy water. Joe---not so much, but it is healthier for him. So we order water at the restaurant. (I should probably make note that the particular restaurants I am speaking of are not sit-down with waitresses although sometimes this happens there too) Much to our dismay, we realize that there is some sort of unwritten restaurant code that stipulates if the customer orders water it can be assumed that the customer is not thirsty. They direct us to the 4 or 6 ounce clear plastic cups next to the soda machine. Who knows--maybe this is just true of Joe and I, but just because we order water doesn't mean that we are not thirsty! It happens so often that I am almost convinced that there must be some sort of published scientific survey out there proving their point. Maybe it is a conspiracy......

Nathan's guardian angel

My kids are gone this week. They are livin' it up at Grandpa Horns house. I'm realizing how boring my life can be without them. Now I have a good time with my husband and we are going to have an AWESOME week, but it is very, very, very quiet around here. I'm also realizing that my material for writing this week is going to be less. I'll have to get more creative. As an insight into what my life is like when they are here (especially my youngest Nathan) I thought you would like to see some of the instructions, and shall I say, warnings, I gave Grandma, Grandpa & Aunt Alissa before they took the children:

Some things you should know about Nathan:

• He likes to go head first down slides. Sometimes he forgets to sit (or lay down) and just steps off onto the slide
• He can open pretty much any cabinet, drawer, door (especially if they don't latch) and probably will open them all
• Sometimes he shuts himself in closets and can't get out. So if you hear a muffled jabbering...
• He has absolutely, completely no awareness of streets or cars (cars make a loud noise so he tends to be fascinated by them)
• He likes to throw his plate on the floor when he is done eating. He also will throw chicken nuggets (and they can go amazingly far) if he gets bored
• He likes the big boy swings and has no interest in the baby swings. (I think if he could talk he would say "why would I swing in that? I am not a baby!)
• He will call every animal at the zoo a "doggie" I actually had a 10 minute conversation with him the other day when he was trying to convince me that a cow in a book was a doggie. I finally gave up.
• Keep him out of the bathroom. He is way too curious
• He can (and will) take lids off the sippy cups if they just snap on. He also enjoys then making a waterfall with the water in the cup
• He doesn't want anyone else to touch the grocery cart besides him and the person driving it (I think I've mentioned this before.)

Joe and I are working on all of these issues, but parenting takes time. Let's just hope and pray that we survive and that Nathan's guardian angel doesn't quit before he's five. (I understand that Nathan is already trying to drive Grandpa's golf cart by himself.)