Snark

So today I've been in total bitch-mode. It's not very pretty. I was even snarky to my boss, which really wasn't a good idea, but I couldn't help it. And then when I finally decided to email her a 'thank you for the heads up' (since she 'reminded' me that I forgot to do something...which really wasn't my responsibility to do in the first place: like I don't have enough crap to balance?!!? But I digress...) so then she emails me a reply, that I dunno.. in my snarky mood sounded a little...holier than thou, and it took all my energy not to email her a bitchy response. GRRRRRRR!!! But I DID respond. I don't think I was bitchy in it. At least I tried to restrain myself. That has to count for something, right? LOL

I've never been good with authority. The whole concept causes me to have serious anger issues. Take that however you want to, but it's the truth. LOL

In any case, today is Friday: THANK GAWD!!!!!!!!!!!!

funny, isn't it?

In my last blog I complained that the week was going to slow, and now suddenly it's Tuesday again. See? There was a point for my bitching, really.


So I'm feeling crappy again. When don't I? Seriously it seems like I just can't catch a break. One of these days I will be 100% healthy and feeling fine for like... a month! That would be awesome. I'm sick and tired of feeling like crap. It's been, like, five months! Sure, I get a day or two when I'm actually feeling like myself again... and then BAM! I wake up feeling like shit once again. And the doctors? All sadists, I tell you. Each and every one of them: sadists.

Oh well, enough complaining.
I can't turn this blog into one huge rant-fest.

So in other news... Mother's Day weekend was wonderful!!! And to top it off, my mum-in-law, dad-in-law and both my parents actually hung out together with Josh and I! I know, I was just as shocked about it. LOL They haven't shared breathing space in...wow...a really, really, really long time. So that was pretty monumental.

Umm...what else to say? Julius loves ice skating. I'm so proud of his persistence in learning how to skate on the ice. He totally rocks. And his vocabulary is phenomenal! I mean, he easily switches tenses, uses -ing and -ed endings appropriatly, used he/she/him/her/they/them/me/I/mine appropriately... and no one sat him down and taught it to him. He just got it. I've met three year olds who still confuse the he/she/her/him, but Julius was doing it when he was like, 26 months old or something.

We got his progress report back from his nursery school. The report checks off all different areas of development, and Julius reached all his developmental goals... in December. Seriously, this kid is completing 24 piece interlocking puzzles right now. I have no concerns about his cognitive abilities.

So yeah, he rocks.

And speaking of rock. I totally need to get a video of him singing at the top of his lungs, "I am iron toddler!!!" It is hilarious!

is it really only Tuesday?

this has been the slowest week ever. How can it only be Tuesday? I'm flabbergasted. It's not like I'm dragging my feet or anything... I've been busy; I've been productive... so what the hell? LOL I can't believe it's only Tuesday.

...I've been busy; I've been productive... so what the hell?

There is so much construction going on right now. Every road I take has either a lane closed or there's a detour, or it's just incredibly slow to drive on because of all the construction trucks everywhere.

This county is over-populated. I just can't get over how many people keep moving in. New homes, townhomes and apartments are constantly being built: and the prices are just ridiculous! But people keep buying and therefore more trees are being cut down, more pollution is being brought out into our air... it's just crazy. And though I don't live in California, this article really hit home: 'Pollution from diesel construction equipment has been taking a heavy toll on the health and economic well-being of California residents. The equipments contribute to particulate and ozone pollution that can cause severe cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, asthma attacks, acute bronchitis, and even premature death. Lagging emission standards and very old equipment have made construction equipment one of the largest sources of toxic diesel particulate matter pollution in the state, necessitating an accelerated cleanup program to protect the health of all Californians.' (The Health Risks of Construction Pollution in California: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/california_driving/digging-up-trouble.html)

I try to do my part for the environment, and then I see all these construction trucks and the dust, noise, etc. ... it's just so frustrating.

So anyways, thank you, Gillian, for showing me Madarian Design. I'm going to have a lot of fun with that site!

what a fun day!

Today Julius skated on the ice FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!! He had a blast, it was awesome! And I was so proud of how persistent he was! He kept wanting to try again and again. He would fall and get right back up... he was never discouraged or even the slightest bit frustrated! In fact, he didn't want to LEAVE the ice rink *LOL* But after an hour on the ice, we knew he was exhausted... the little boy ended up falling asleep on the car ride home... but woke up very upset because he wanted to go back to the rink! LOL

Yummy

I'm not a big fan of ice cream, but sometimes I get sooo in the mood for that yummy, sweet goodness... like today.

Chocolate syrup, sprinkles, ice cream and a chocolate chip cookie on top. SIGH. If I had a sliced up banana it would be perfect... but this is pretty close to perfection. :)

It's the little things that make life so worthwhile....

Pain

Pain: Pain is a feeling triggered in the nervous system. Pain may be sharp or dull. It may come and go, or it may be constant.
The word "pain" comes from the Latin poena meaning punishment, a fine, a penalty. Pain is an unpleasant sensation; nociception or nociperception is a measurable physiological event of a type usually associated with pain and agony and suffering.
Pain may range in intensity from slight through severe to agonizing. It is experienced as having qualities such as sharp, throbbing, dull, nauseating, burning and shooting. It often has both an emotional quality and a sensed bodily location. Medical professionals will sometimes ask patients to rate their pain on a scale of zero through ten, where ten is consistent with screaming and thrashing about.
Pain can be classified as acute or chronic. The distinction between acute and chronic pain is not based on its duration of sensation, but rather the nature of the pain itself. The primary distinction is this: acute pain serves to protect one after an injury. Chronic pain does not serve this or any other purpose. Acute pain is the symptom of pain. Chronic pain is the disease of pain.

The concept of pain has played an important part in the study of philosophy, particularly in the philosphy of mind. The question of what pain actually consists in is still open since any evaluation is dependent upon what subject one approaches the question from. Identity theorists assert that the mental state of pain is completely identical with some physical state caused by various physiological causes. Functionalist consider pain to be defined completely by its causual role (ie in the role it has in bringing about various effects) and nothing else. Some theologians and other spiritual traditions have much to say about the nature of pain and its various spiritual consequences, especially its role in growth, understanding, compassion, and in providing an aspect of life to be overcome.

Welcome to Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

His first pair of hockey skates

na na na na na

I have the Kaiser Chiefs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u43GGHjLyYo "Na na na na na" song in my head.... You should hear Julius sing it: it's awesome... I'll have to videotape him sometime. He dances and jumps around as he sings "Na na na na na!!!" It's pretty awesome.

So today was crazy busy. We woke up and went to get Julius' passport done. We got lost... I'm terrible at directions LOL But we figured it out and made it to the appointment (only four minutes late!). Then we went to visit the train station because Julius LOVES watching the train zoom by... dude, those trains are FAST and LOUD. Yikes.

Then after lunch and a supposed nap (30 minutes is not a nap!) we went to his nursery school to see the art work. I was very impressed by all the great art pieces that were showcased. Julius' art was very cool. He tends to use more of the modern art approach to drawing and painting... Mommy's favorite ;) We were all very proud of him, and he was pretty proud of himself too :)

Afterwards we played in the school playground, went to the store to buy him new shoes, then out to dinner and finally back home... whew!!! Now he's asleep and I'm pretty wiped out too!

Happy Friday

Happy Friday, Everyone! I am so thrilled that the week is over. I AM EXHAUSTED!!!!!! Of course this weekend is going to be pretty busy, but I don't mind because it'll be fun.

Tomorrow Julius' nursery school is having an art show. I can't wait to see the art work that will be displayed. What a fantastic idea to collect some art pieces from students and displaying them on the walls like an art gallery! I am so excited.

Today Julius was so funny. He is so good at making me laugh. I've been feeling pretty lousy the past couple of days (weeks, okay, maybe months) and he can always make me smile and laugh. He is such a great kid!!!

I'd write more but I am being called upon... LOL Good night, everyone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWnuGcI8QwU

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter and Passover, everyone! Things have been going great. Yesterday we had an Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood...and can you believe it? It snowed!!! Crazy weather.

Today Julius woke up to a big basket full of trucks and cars (and then he proceeded to ask me where this Easter bunny lived... LOL). Afterwards, we went to my parents' house, and then to church... and let me just tell you: Julius, being only 34 months old, was an angel!!! Sure he squirmed and at one point started to sing some made up 'dee-dop' song during the blessing of the Eucharist, but hey, it's a long service and the kid is only two and half. So all in all, he did spectacular!!!

Later, we returned to my parents' house for lunch. Julius was exhausted and we ended up leaving shortly afterwards.

I hope everyone has had a nice Sedar and Easter holiday :)

Spring Break!

I've been having such a fantastic spring break! Julius and I have been having a ton of fun together. He's at such a great age (2 1/2 years... technically 33 months.. almost 34 months old) and we've been having picnics, playing at the park, playing cars, pretending to be race cars or trains, baking cookies, cooking, dancing, playing hockey, baseball, riding his bike....Sigh, going back to work is going to be such a drag! :(

But I'm focusing on the present right now, and we're just having a blast!

Theme me

I've come to the conclusion that I am rather disappointed in my blog. It has no theme! I am a creature of theme. It provides me with structure. I crave themes! Every party I ever threw had a theme, even if it was so subtle that only a select few noticed... it was there.

So my blog needs a theme. At the moment, this so-called theme appears to be chaos. *eye roll* which isn't such a bad thing, but I'm becoming bored with it and need to move on.

There are some great blogs out there, like PINK IS THE NEW BLOG http://trent.blogspot.com/ and then there is POSTSECRET http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/ My sister-in-law has an awesome blog too http://iamaloverofchaos.blogspot.com/ Now I'm not saying that I want my blog to be up there in the list of awesome blogs.... but I want a purpose!!! The Realist http://realist.liberalsonly.net/ had purpose... Shakespeare's Sister has a purpose http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/

So what should my focus be on? Motherhood? Politics? Art? General hobbies? .... sigh...

I think I'll stick to chaos for a little while longer.

La la la

I am so tired. I have so much to do, but I'm just too tired to do anything productive. LOL I've been fighting a cold for over a week, and I'm feeling a little on the lazy side.

I have reports to write, service coordinations to complete... a closet to clean before it swallows me one day... magazine articles to read that remain sitting on the table, covered with more articles, books and magazines that I would love to one day read... maybe during Spring Break.

Yes... spring break can't come soon enough! Maybe I might actually return to drawing or painting even... HA. Yeah, I know, that was funny... LOL

Above is a photo of Julius, snoozing in our bed... he usually joins us with his pillow around three or four in the morning...

Hi there!

It's been a little while since i've updated. Let's see... work has been draining the life out of me. I have a yucky cold... oh, and I just recently had a birthday! Yay Me. I'm 28 :)

So we've been working on Best Practices for children with autism spectrum disorders. That's been very exciting. I'm really happy to be a part of this decision making process. I presented what we've done thus far at a teacher meeting a few weeks ago. I got a lot of nice feedback.

Do you know that 1 in 150 children under the age of 8 in the USA have a diagnosis of autism? And that in New Jersey that number is 1 in 94?

For more information, you can check out:

The autism society of america http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer

cure autism now http://www.cureautismnow.org/site/c.bhLOK2PILuF/b.1021889/k.BFD8/Home.htm

NIMH's brochure on ASD http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/autism.cfm

Autism Speaks http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Tenple Grandin http://www.templegrandin.com/

some much to say...but thankfully I don't have to

LOL. I have so much to say, but there are people better equiped than me, so I'm just going to post the links LOL

1. http://liberalsonly.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=417&sid=ec2847e0141439a18e73df1612396f7e Basically, an Arabic linguistic was discharged because he's gay. Seriously, read the whole thread.... it'll make you want to scream.

2. http://www.pollyticks.com/item/2027 Bush Cuts Off Diplomatic Relations With Congress. This is a really funny site, BTW... you should check it out.

3. http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2007/01/30th-carnival-of-liberals.html Carnival of the liberals. It's a light-hearted read (sometimes)

4. http://www.theblindphotographer.com/main.asp?CL=ENG A happier note. I think this is really awesome and just wanted to share it.

So.. that's what's going on. I mean, wow. What a wild world we live in. But I suppose there has to be bad with the good, right? But if you don't believe in complete BAD and complete GOOD... then what? Where is the balance in the world? People like to make believe that everything is so simple, but it is and it isn't... and somewhere you just have to choose where you stand. I think balance is really a "personal perspective".: just like so many other things in life.

I think it should be a requirement that every individual take a class on sociology of social psychology. The world might actually start to make sense, even if it is sometimes rather fucked up. And don't think that because I'm saying this that I'm actually agreeing with the nonsense that is going on right now in the world. No way in hell! I'm just saying that it helps to understand why people are doing and saying what they're doing and saying, and all it all interconnects. We all mesh someway or another whether we like it or not.

What else to talk about? Hmmm..well I have been loving the show "Bad Girls" on logo. OMG, it is really intense. I love it. http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/bad_girls/series.jhtml

I just wish that Logo didn't censor so much. I mean, they have awesome movies and series, but, (holy crap!) they censor so much, that sometimes they actually ruin really important scenes. But I can't complain too much, because at least they have the balls to show stuff that other networks won't.

So, as a shout out to logo, here is their website: http://www.logoonline.com/news/ I've linked you to their NEWS page because it can really open your eyes.

Have you guys heard of NEED magazine? It's incredible. http://www.needmagazine.com/index.htm It's the most beautiful humanitarian magazine I've ever seen. After reading it, you just have to sigh and be grateful that there are still some really incredible, wonderful and compassionate people out there in this world that we live in. And thank goodness for that because we would be in a terrible state without them.

I heard about NEED from (RED). http://www.joinred.com/home.asp Which, is another one of those beautiful organizations that people should really get to know and be a part of.

I haven't written in awhile. I've been overwhelmed at work. As much as I love my job, it can be incredibly emotionally draining and often downright frustrating... but the reward is immesurable. So it does balance out in some way: but I'm tired, and sometimes I feel like I'm cheating out on spending time with my own child... and then that Mommy Guilt rears it's ugly head and I get all sad and mopey... but then I just have to shake it off and "keep on swimming," and hope that it all works out: and it usually does.

Julius is so awesome. I sometimes just sit back and watch him in utter amazement. I mean, he just blows my mind sometimes. He's creative, smart, sensitive, funny... he's his own person, and it wows me on a daily basis. I can't believe he's going to be 32 months... he'll be three in about four months?!?! I can't believe it! Time has really flown by.

TGIF

I'm so glad it's Friday!! Even better, it's a three day weekend :)

It's not that I dislike my job or anything, but some of the people I have to work with are so arrogant and snarky and have an incredible talent of PISSING ME OFF.

So, like I said, I'm glad it's Friday.

gender roles

Today Julius, my two year old son, astonished me with his observation of gender roles.
I mean, before he was even born, Josh and I knew we would expose him to all toys and not fall into the trap of gender specific toys and "this is for boys" and "this is for girls."
Julius has played with dolls, pushed toy strollers, owns a kitchen set, and enjoys painting, singing and dancing. He also loves rough-housing, playing hockey, ball games and playing with cars/trucks/trains.
So to me, I felt we were doing a good job raising Julius to not believe in gender specific toys, etc.
But then today, Julius blew me away with a comment he said:

We were in the car. I was driving and he was in the back in his carseat. I hear his voice ask, "Mommy, are you a boy?"
Now I thought that was a silly question since Julius was able to identify boys vs. girls since he was 18 months old. So I figure he's being silly. I answer, "No, silly goose. Mommy's a girl."
He pauses, then says, "No, Mommy. You're a boy."
I'm baffled. So I ask, "Why do you think Mommy is a boy?"
He replies, "Because you play with my toys."
"Yes, I play with your toys with you."
It makes so much sense in his two year old mind, "You're a boy."
So I ask, "What would make me a girl?"
Again, his logic astounds me. "Claire (his neighborhood friend) plays with girl toys. She's a girl."
So I explain to him that boys can play with boy toys and girl toys. And that girls can play with girl toys and boy toys. And that it's okay to play with whatever toy you want to play with.

So now I sit here wondering how he had come to that previous conclusion about Mommy being a boy because I would play with his toys with him? Did someone tell him in school that he had to play with certain "boy" toys or else he was a girl? And if so, what two year old says that? Did he see it on television? And I think about what shows he watches, and none of them are gender specific. In fact, he barely watches television. But he does love watching Little Bear before dinner, and that is rather conservative IMO. Though I like the idea of Little Bear using his imagination and flying to the moon, blah blah blah... the roles do seem a bit gender specific (mother bear stays at home: cooks and cleans. father bear is a fisherman and often at work. Emily plays with dolls and has tea parties.... hmmm, could that be it?)

How can a two year old (okay, he's 31 months, but that's still a two year old) conclude that boys must play with boy toys and girls must play with girl toys? Is this an example of the Social Learning Theory at work? But I always thought that children didn't notice gender roles until the age of four or five....
Julius is TWO!!

Blows my mind. Totally blows my mind.

It's a new year!

A new year. I can't believe it's already 2007. So, let's start this blog off right with some really funny videos!
http://break.com/index/effect_of_drugs_and_alcohol_on_spider_webs.html My friend Jen sent me this and I was LMAO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8x14cLGh5o&eurl= This one has caused some controversy over at YouTube... but I think it's funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NINJQ5LRh-0 Just a really fun video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHPS6do13V8&eurl= Sweet video from one of my favorite bands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE6UOHJcyjE&eurl= My other favorite band performing an old song based on a story I remember hearing when I was younger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yEOjcU4ZtI&eurl= Just a really cool video with a great beat
And lastly, for any QAF fans out there, this video will definitely make you laugh, or at least smile http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9Jof9zf2vo&eurl=



HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY :) :)

December 30, 2006

Early this morning, Julius and I began putting away the Christmas decorations before Josh came down the stairs. Josh was bit more than surprised, but I told him it had to be done. Better to do it now and spend this weekend together doing whatever we wanted without the gloom of having to clean up and put the decorations away at a later date.

And once everything was cleaned and stored away, I could breath a little easier. It was then that I realized that even though Christmas is my favorite time of year... it's exhausting!! I was actually happy that it was over and we could start the new year fresh.

I was tired of hosting parties and going to parties and shopping (yes, shopping.) and dealing with the emotional stress of life in general. I just wanted to relax and do nothing but spend time with my husband and son. And I also knew how important that would be for Josh as well. He has been working such late hours and has been so tired this week...

So now it looks like we're hosting a New Years Eve dinner. How the hell did that happen? (cue scream now)

LATER THAT AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING:
So I'm really excited about hosting dinner tomorrow! I know, what can I say? As tired as I am, I'm excited. :)
I'm planning to make a risotto and stuffed zucchinis. Josh is going to barbecue steaks and we also picked up some fresh shrimp. Being the vegetarian in the family, I had to make sure we had plenty of non-meat items... so we did a lot of shopping. Oh, and wine! I love wine. I wanted Kahlua, but it turns out that not many places sell it because it's a liqueur. Drat. LOL
Happy Holidays!