So here's the thing...

I'm getting tired of seeing the same old post up here. I'm sure if ANYONE is reading this blog, that they are too. Good things happening here! The Rock Star at a mere 16 years old has become Adobe certified in web design. And he had a 4.0 this semester! It looks as if at some point in his life he will be able to move out and live on his own. Hopefully while Hubby and I are still able to enjoy it. The Girly Girl is a tougher nut to crack, but we are working on it. Perhaps a rich husband could be had.....

Great Christmas Giveaways

The fabulous blog, 5 Minutes for Mom, is having a great Christmas Giveaway.
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Checking in!

Well, I'm not dead yet. It is SO hard to get motivated when you are a busy working mom. Now I know why all these "bloggies" are from stay at home moms!

Anyway, the Rock Star is bringing his grades up nicely.
Girly Girl got herself in big trouble at school so we are working on making good choices!
Mom and Dad are hanging around the Opera and the pay us for it. Can't beat that.

With a Vengeance!

I have not forgotten you!

The theatre season has started with a vengeance and it has been terribly difficult to post here.
I barely had a day off in October and here is November half gone already. The Ballet's first program was a nice treat and the Opera kicks off this evening with La Traviata. The good thing is that the bank account is recovering nicely from the off-season, but I do miss having the time to post here. I promise to keep up as much as possible.

The kids are driving us a bit crazy. They suffer somewhat when we work too much, even though their grandparents hang out to keep an eye on them. Report cards were not so good and the constant bickering is just too much. We just keep plugging as any parent can.

I would have liked to post some pictures, just to keep things going, but of course my camera died just when we got busy. I did manage to pick up a nice Pentax at a great price from Woot.com. So I will leave you with this little tidbit:

That's my view of things!

Is Anyone Else Pushing Daisies?

I love this show. It is wonderfully campy and sweet.

Ned the pie maker (Lee Pace) has a gift. If he touches the dead, they come back to life. If he touches them again, they are dead for good. If he keeps them alive for more than a minute something else has to die in their place. He and his partner private investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) have a business where Ned touches the recently deceased, asks them who killed them, then they solve the case. Add to this Ned's dead - but no longer dead - girlfriend Chuck (Anna Friel), who he can't touch or she will be dead again, a lovelorn waitress, a couple of maiden aunts, and a poetic narrator and you have a wonderfully silly murder mystery.

After being nominated for 12 Emmy Awards in its somewhat brief first season, I was afraid it might not be able to keep up with its great beginning. I am being pleasantly surprised! Pushing Daisies' alternate universe is wacky, its stories are fresh and unique, and the whole thing is a lot of fun.

ABC's website has full episodes, recaps, "audio piecasts" and more where you can delve into Ned and Chuck's strange little world.

I think they have a winner!

Where is the Rest of My Pepsi?

I went shopping yesterday as I usually do. Coupons and lists in hand I attacked the aisles hunting down the elusive deals, seeking out the "buy 1 get 1 free" items, trying to find some type of protein that I could afford with which to fill up my bottomless pit teenager tummies. And then on to some goodies.

For years we have been addicted to Diet Pepsi. OK, first it was regular Pepsi, but the expanding waistlines demanded diet. Seven 2 liters a week was good for us, but as prices started to rise over the $1 per bottle mark we sometimes switched to Coke Zero if they were on sale. As prices hit $1.50 and 12 packs were on sale for less per ounce we switched to cans. Now those 2 liter bottles are $1.79, so off I headed to the 12 packs. The shelf tag said $3.39. Not the best price, but I could live with it. Until I looked closer. These were not 12 packs! These were 8 packs! Every Pepsi product on the shelf was an 8 pack. What had they done with my other 4 cans?

So I searched out some information. In this article in the St. Petersburg Times online, I found the truth. Supposedly it is a test in Florida markets. They think that people would prefer 8 packs because their "entry point price" is cheaper. Next up, they think that we want 1.5 liter bottles, 12 ounce bottles and 16 ounce cans. Um.... NO.

I want all my cans and I don't want Pepsi to try and sneak a smaller package on me (that looks the same, by the way). I've already seen that with Breyer's and Edy's ice cream. I switched to store brand on that one. Of course the store sodas are lousy and Coke wasn't on sale. So this week we are drinking tea and lemonade. By the end of the week I will be dying of caffeine deprivation.

Sources say that Coke is looking into this little marketing ploy as well. All that I can say is DON'T DO IT! It is water, sugar or "sweetener" and caffeine. It is already overpriced. I mean how much can that cost anyway.

So Pepsi, give me back my cans. I can understand a price hike now and then, but don't try and fool me. I can count.

It's October!

Goodness, how far behind can someone get?

It's October. Not only that, it is a week into October. How did that happen?

October is my favorite month I think. The weather starts to turn just a little crisper. I hear that in some places the leaves change color! (OK, everywhere but here.) Pumpkins, lovingly carved into jack-o-lanterns. Halloween! I love Halloween. Wouldn't it be great if you could dress up every day and people would give you candy?

We will have to send the kids up to the attic soon and get all the decorations down. We try to overdo it as much as possible!

Like this guy:
He's a lot of fun. And then there's Bob:

I guess you can't keep a good man down!

I was looking back a bit. The kids have outgrown trick or treating. Girlygirl would rather hang out with friends. Rock Star likes to help decorate and see the neighbor kids' reactions. But I remember how fun it was when they were little and I guess I'm having little pangs that they are growing up.
Just a little while ago they looked like this:

I kind of miss it.