Jamie's blog

He's A Handy Man!

I don't think I showed you guys this last year..I couldn't find the video of if I did anyway. This is our Jack-In-The Box..he's the distraction in the room that gets your attention while the real Jack sneaks up behind you. (He's not so scary in the light but glowing under the black lights with creepy Monkey Chased the Weasel music..he is.)

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DeWitte made him work with the air compressor, a screen door closer and a switch. How he did that, I have no idea..I just tell him what I need and he makes it for me because DeWitte's awesome like that.

Think I got enough silly string?

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A Cautionary Tale..

DeWitte and Nathan do a lot of things for me they'd never do on their own, like set foot into fabric stores, watch chick flicks, attend arts and craft shows and put the seat down. I'm almost a sadist, I know. So, when they ask me to do something like go traipsing through mosquito and briar filled woods (that's just asking for an infection and malaria.) Geocaching or attend Hot Wheel Car Shows, I usually comply.

 

A couple weeks ago, Radio Disney, which is the only radio station Nathan's allowed to listen to at night after I went up to tuck him in and the station we usually listen to was filling him in on the pros and cons of booty calls, not that I don't think it's important information..at least the cons, I just think it might be a smidge early...anyway, Radio Disney had a commercial on that said they were having a Hot Wheels Car Show at Kmart..11 am on Sat. and Nathan went ape shoot. Could we pppllleeeaaaassseeeee go? I didn't see why not.

 

Now, I've gotta tell you, I've been to lots of car shows..we've even held Hot Wheel Car Shows in our living room..

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but what we encountered when we got to Kmart at 11am on that Saturday morning..every preconceived notion about what to expect went right out the window. It wasn't a Hot Wheel's car show in the living room type of thing, it was a Pixar Car's Collectable Event! and Nathan was the only child. Mostly it was a bunch of old men standing around waiting for I didn't know what. It was our first ever Pixar Car's Collectable Event..our naivety was apparent.  There was a man who must have gotten up late for the "Event" and so he didn't have time to put pants on. I guess if you're gonna miss out because you might be late, sweats are the next best thing. Two other men stood there talking about the merits of getting their collectable Maters off EBay..The movie was about McQueen but Mater seems to get all the glory! And one man stood there popping his false teeth in and out of his mouth. I don't usually mention race but he was a white man and his false teeth were clearly not. I think he must have gotten them from a thrift store.

 

Finally, a Kmart employee came by to get the party started. He told us all to take a box, open it up, get the collectables we wanted out of that box and then put our box on another table, where we were then given the opportunity to go through boxes that other people had opened. I passed with a no thanks but those collectable guys went crazy! They took their boxes into little dark corners, went through them and hid their stash under their coats or in other boxes. While DeWitte and Nathan were going through their box I started to wonder how much these things cost. I mean, Nathan only had the $10 of the $15 he got for mowing the neighbors grass and those guys were acting so weird, maybe they were really expensive. We asked..and in only a short half hour later we had the answer..$3.69. Nathan had found three cars he wanted. While he and DeWitte were negotiating the money thing (DeWitte owed Nathan $10 for a birthday check that didn't get cashed) Collector Event guys were asking the Kmart dude about the "auction".

 

The auction went like this..the Kmart guy takes a scrap of paper, writes two #1's, 2's, 3's..you get the picture..gives you one and puts the other in a box (Collectors Events apparently involve a crap load of boxes!). If he calls your number, you get one of the unopened boxes left on the table. He called all three of our numbers. I'm thinking that this might turn out to be a pretty sweet deal if we get to keep entire boxes of cars! But, sadly, no..you win the opportunity to look through those boxes and pick out what you want before any other collection people can accidentally drop their false teeth into them, there by contaminating them for all of eternity. They were supposed to auction off the free posters the collector guys kept eyeballing like they were Penthouse centerfolds but thankfully, they had enough for everyone so nobody had to get into a fist fight.

 

So, now you know what to expect should you ever find yourself at a Collectors Event...expect the need to bring Fixodent.

Finally...Halloween Progress!

Sorry I haven't been boring you to tears with talk about Halloween this year..I know you're heart broken! :P

Actually, we're using the same Carnevil theme so there's not a lot to do other than put it up. The couple of things that are new haven't really taken a lot of time (which is good..I don't have a lot of time!)

We have a friend for Jack (He's our theme clown)..he glows in the dark but sadly, doesn't have a name yet..

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I added a new freak room "The real Spider-man!"..none of that other fluffy Spider-man for us! Before and after..

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Whoever (whomever..sorry, can't be bothered to look it up!) will shoot silly string..which is gonna be awesome.

So, that's what I did today..shopped for treat bag loot for school, cut plastic sheeting (we use that for walls) and painted masks..which equals a pretty fantastic day!

Yesterday, we (That's the royal We..I just got people iced tea and cooked dinner) did this..

They done good! :-D

Nathan's cat is so weird..

She follows me around the house all day until Nathan gets home from school. No matter where I go, there she is. She hates it when I talk on the phone because I pace from the kitchen, through the laundry room, into the living room over and over. After about 2 min. she gets tired of pacing with me so she attacks as if to say would I please sit down! All of that is pretty normal, at least for her..but this morning, not only did she follow me into the bathroom..she followed me into the shower! She perched herself in a tiny bit of corner where she wouldn't get wet. That's weird!

Ok..I'm off, it's Library Wednesday. I love Library Wednesday! :-D

I just want you to know...

my  chickens kitties are a bunch of freeloaders.

My hens are 21 weeks old today. I've had..oh, lets see...zero eggs. Not one. So, I went out and had a little chat with them. I told them I didn't want to make them feel bad about themselves but my mom got chicks after I did and she's already gotten two eggs. It's not that I think they're lazy or anything but if they want to continue to live in the coop, at least Flo and Esther, (the others aren't ready yet)..as opposed to the butcher shop or the fridge, they might want to step it up, I mean, it is soup season (I'd never do that but don't tell them!). I also told them that I was gonna come in and tell everybody on my blog that I've got good for nothing chickens! Lets see if a little shame makes any difference.

Eggwatch 2009 continues.... *sigh*

Halloween 2009!

                                                                     Jacks back!

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Finally..I've got time to work on Halloween!

Here's this years maze..bigger than ever before, 42 x 45 feet. Last years was the biggest at like 39 feet, I don't quite remember. I could look it up but I'm lazy like that.

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New additions this year include the "real" spider man freak show room..

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That room will have a big spider web with a guy (not a real one) wrapped in spider web in the middle. Whoever my spider man ends up being will have a little space to hide in. They'll come out behind the kids and shoot them with silly string. I think that will go nicely with The Beast in it's unreliable cage...

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And Nathan will graduate from a painted face to his own foam latex mask. They're SO much better than traditional masks..they glue to your face so that when you move your face..it moves. It's really creepy and they're about $50 a piece so I can only add a couple a year. And then you've gotta paint them!

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He'll be a guide again because I think he'll still probably take off when he sees one of his friends and I don't want him leaving a post unattended.

I'm getting so excited! This weekend we'll start spraying painting it on the lawn.

Happy Birthday DeWitte!

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Sorry you have to spend it at work, then taking Nathan to dinner/piano lessons, then meeting me at school for PTA meeting/Open house (And thanks for picking up my slack! You're awesome.). Good thing we celebrated this morning! ;P

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The Animals..

Food

When Nathan's cat was getting over her infection, she'd only eat 10 or 12 pieces of food at a time. So, that's what Nathan fed her, multiple, multiple times a day. She liked it..she really like it! When she got better, she still demanded (in an I'm gonna smother you in your sleep if you don't get off your ass and feed me 10 pieces of food! Right Now!) that Nathan feed her 10 to 12 pieces of food at a time..about a million times a day. And he did. Well, Nathan's gone back to school and I'll be damned if I'm gonna stop what I'm doing..or worse, get tripped coming down the stairs, to feed a spoiled cat 10 to 12 pieces of food, a million times a day. Yeah..if I wouldn't do it for a kid, I'm certainly not doing it for a cat. Today is day two of her "Oh my god..stop acting like such a brat!" regiment. She's getting used to it.

Gertrude, Nathan's cat, thinks DeWitte's cat's food (she'll only eat canned..Nathan's cat will only eat dry..they're like Jack Sprat and his wife.) smells like poop. Every time DeWitte feeds Cleo, Nathan's cat runs into the room like the poop patrol, trying to rectify the situation. And she's diligent! She'll spend 10/15 min. trying to cover up that food. After that it must lose some of it's odor or she's just exhausted because she finally gives up.

Fleas

How can two cats that never leave the house have fleas! Cleo used to sun herself on the deck but she's too old now..she's officially in "a home". She hates it, like most old ladies but we don't really care. She's safer that way..the most she can do to hurt herself in here is fall off of a window sill that she can hardly climb onto. Anyway, fleas..they both have fleas! I'm either gonna have to start a flea circus (which might be pretty cool) or go get some Advantage and some of that sprinkle stuff for the carpets because GROSS!

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They're still the same stuck up bastards that they always were. Or a heron got them but my money's is still on stuck up.

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I drove Nathan home from school on Wednesday (It was Library Wednesday!). We pulled in to find a Cooper (chicken) hawk sitting on one of the banisters on the front porch. Umm..Yikes! I don't know if it was waiting for a free meal or what but needless to say, my girls have not been getting their evening constitutional. I feel bad for them, they love to get out in the evening and destroy my koi pond garden. I read that if you put shiney stuff in your yard (pie tins, old CD's) it confuses the hawks..I just wish I had some decoy chickens kitties to try that theory out on. 

My chickens kitties will be 18 weeks old on Monday! That's the earliest they'll start to lay. Time to open up the nesting boxes, add some straw, a few golf balls for good measure then hurry up and wait for those eggs (it could be a long wait but I hope it's not)! I am SO! EXCITED! Based on they're comb size and color, I think I even know what order they'll start laying..

Flo, Esther, Mildred, Lizzy, then Pearl. Flo's combs are big and red..Pearls are almost non-existent, but that's OK..she's just a late bloomer.

just shoot me

we're at the hair cut place. It's backed because of back to school. I've spent the last 45 min. Listening to two yuppie mom's discuss the price of fuel for their private jets...it must be pretty bad if they're at the cheap haircut place *eye roll*