Happy Birthday, Redpac
I post this because he cried last year when I didn’t post a “Happy Birthday” to him.
So happy birthday, brother…hope you’re having a great time in Detroit city!
On the Edge
I still sleep with Benjamin in our bed because he’s my little teddybear. However, by the time morning comes, this is pretty much what happens. I’m pushed off the side of the bed, having less than a foot of room on the bed. He’s a bed hog!
New Trivia Rules!
It’s been brought to my attention that people have been playing multiple times in the trivia game, giving them better scores if questions are re-used. So I just wanted to post a couple rules and notes about the YWIM trivia game (which you can find HERE if you’re interested in playing - it’s fun!):
1) Only one login ID per person. Which means you can only play once per day. I have access to all the IP addresses of players so I know who’s got more than one ID. I also know that there are some players that live in the same household, so if that is the case, please leave a comment below stating the ID’s for your household. I have having to do this, but this is what happens when people take advantage of the loose rules I had before (which were no rules). If I see anything suspicious, I’ll give a warning, and after the second offense I will ban the IP address from playing.
2) If you ever need to recreate your ID, let me know.
3) I try to change the topics as often as I can, but things happen and sometimes there will be a sucky topic two or three days in a row. Shit happens! Literally, that’s all I do nowadays…clean up shit.
4) Weekends are the best time to play because I usually make it an easy, generic subject like “Easy Trivia” or “80’s Trivia”.
5) Feel free to trashtalk…just be nice! Everyone’s been pretty good about it so far!
6) If two or more people play the trivia before I’ve had a chance to change the topic, chances are I won’t change it for that day. Remember, the games reset at around 11pm CT. I usually change the topic between 10pm - 3am.
7) Feel free to suggest topics…most of the time I’d be happy to use them.
If there are any questions, suggestions, comments you’d like to make about trivia, please say them now! I’ll be constantly monitoring this post and linking it in the trivia so feel free to comment here anytime!
Swiffer’s Holiday Home Tour Sweepstakes
Swiffer’s going to have a cool holiday contest, where you can win $3,500, a Swiffer WetJet or a year’s supply of Swiffer products. I just bought a Swiffer wetjet last week before the Thanksgiving party, and let me tell you, it was so much easier to use than a mop to clean the floors! I didn’t have to deal with a dripping mop and bucket with water sloshing around everywhere. The wetjet has this button that you press and it shoots out cleaning liquid and you just mop right over it. Even if I was the mop and pail type, (like Dave is), the wetjet is great for little cleanups - like under Ben’s highchair where you can find a whole assortment of pureed fruits and vegetables that have been spit onto the floor.
Anyway, all you have to do for the Holiday Home Tour Sweepstakes is enter. However, you can also send in photos of your decorated home and win a prize for having a swanky looking holiday home. I haven’t put up my holiday decorations yet, but we’ll see if I deem my holiday house good enough to enter. Here’s the details:
There is nothing that interrupts dinner or a holiday gathering quite like the sound and hassle of a vacuum. Therefore, “Flicking” away carpet messes means that there is no need for a heavy vacuum, long cords, or a hassle.
In lieu of the holiday season, Swiffer is conducting a pre-holiday national sweepstakes featuring the CarpetFlick as the MUST-HAVE cleaning tool for the holidays.
Here’s how it works:
Consumers will be able to visit the Swiffer Holiday Home Tour Sweepstakes beginning November 15 through December 30 and submit photos of their interior holiday decorated home. During this time, one photo will be chosen each week and posted as “favorite home of the week”
In addition, participants will be chosen via random sweepstakes selections and will win the following:
1. Grand Prize Winner: $3,500 toward a home makeover
2. 25 First Prize Winners: A Swiffer WetJet
3. 6 Weekly Winners: A year’s supply of Swiffer Products
I have not yet tried the Swiffer carpet flick, but it sounds like a pretty useful tool, considering how much I hate lugging our huge vacuum cleaner around. Ben’s going to be in that Cheerio stage so I’m sure I’ll be cleaning them off the floor!
So if you’re interested in winning some money, or just want to show off your decorating skills, make sure to enter the contest!
A Shark-a-riffic Thanksgiving!
This year I hosted our family Thanksgiving party. Normally we have it at my aunt’s house, but I decided, with some hinting, to have it at our place. I usually would be so excited to host it at our place, but with Ben being a bit fussy and needy lately I knew it would be a challenge to get all the preparations done. Dave’s parents were out of town, as well as my father, so I couldn’t ask them for help. Fatima was working that day, Claudine was in Michigan, Dave had a big project and was mostly AWOL, so I was left on my own. Thankfully Dave quit early and helped out with cleaning the house, but it was as if Ben knew that I had a ton to do that day - he was extra fussy.
I had several dishes that I wanted to make, as well as a couple desserts. I ended up just making 2 of the 4 dishes and some bibingka and cupcakes which I didn’t get to decorate the way I wanted to (I wanted to decorate them for Melanie and Dave’s birthdays).
Parties always get me flustered and stressed out for the first hour or so - there’s just so much to take care of. My aunts were great helping out and even at the end of the party, they made sure to clean up all the dishes and pack all the leftovers. I was able to relax once everyone got there and have a good time. It was fun to watch the kiddies run around and be silly, and to just hang out with the family. We had a pretty nice spread of food, with some great main dishes to eat and a LOT of desserts. I asked the cousins to pitch in with the food and dessert was a popular choice - my cousin Marlon even made some pumpkin pies that were DELICIOUS! It was great that they helped out, too.
I brought out Benjamin’s shark costume for Kenzo to try. He hated it, but he looked adorable in it. After that, we all tried on the shark suit. It was hilarious! Maybe I’ll bring it around to the next Thanksgiving and make it a tradition…
So here’s some fun shark pics for you to enjoy!
See more pictures here
Shark Attack
Just a preview of the Thanksgiving pictures that I’m going to eventually post. I’ve also got pictures from the Minneapolis Science museum, and yummy sushi pictures. I just haven’t had the time because my regular sitter (Dave’s dad) is out of town and I’ve had to drive Ben around town to whoever can babysit him. I’ve also had several things due for work so that’s been sucking any of the free time I have.
I miss my blog!
He’s Brought Sexy Back
I’ve got a TON of posts I want to make, but no time…I’ll do ‘em later today. But for now, here’s my favorite video right now - Justin Timberlake’s “My Love”. I LOVE dancing in videos, and this has some great choreography…
Three Years
Today is the three year anniversary of day my mother passed away. You know, I’ve wondered if I’ll always be waiting for this day to come every year, a day to reflect on the past and re-live everything that happened that day. Truthfully, it does get a little easier, but in many ways there is a sadness there that I don’t think will ever go away.
Before writing this I looked at my other posts from this day for the last couple years, as well as the posts that I made on that sad day and the days following. Life has gone on, and things have changed, but I can still remember so much from that day - the sadness that filled the room, the crying, trying to hold myself together for the sake of everyone else…I guess those are memories that will never fade.
Last year around this time, I was pregnant with Ben. I was so excited knowing that I was bringing a new life into the world, that I’d finally be starting a family of my own. But at night sometimes I’d think of my mother and how much I wished she was around. When she was alive I never really thought about how much I relied on her opinions and advice. I really didn’t think we had anything in common where her past experiences would help me. As I’m getting onto this new phase of my life, I realize that her words would help out so much…
I still like imagining things about her - what she’d be like with Ben. She’d give him her own special nickname, like “Benji” or “Bentoot”. She’d sing him little songs that would teach him to close and open his hands, she’d show him how to bat his eyelashes and make “beautiful eyes”, she would come over and grab the baby before even saying hello to me, she’d tell Ben that his mommy was crazy and that he should grow up to be a good boy, she’d babysit for him and I’d come home to find him chewing on her curlers. When I was pregnant making up these scenarios made me pretty sad, but now that Ben’s born, it gives me a sense of comfort to run through these little scenes in my head. She would love Benjamin so much, he would be her little prince, her little superstar.
Something that always makes me well up with emotion is thinking back on the day that Benjamin was born. That night, a bunch of my aunts and uncles came to the hospital to visit. They were so happy to see the little baby! Amid all the happiness, I know there was that underlying thought in everyone’s head - “I wish Cris was here”. I know part of the reason they all came was because ever since my mom passed, they’ve all been watching out for me. I can tell that they all miss her so much, and they want to make sure that their best friend’s daughter is taken care of. My aunts, in a way, have become surrogate mothers to me and my sisters.
I haven’t taken Benjamin to my mom’s grave yet. I was talking to Fata yesterday and said that I’d probably take Ben to the cemetary today if I had time with work and the Thanksgiving prep. I said, “He hasn’t met Mommy yet…” She replied with, “I’m sure he has…” Which is true. Though he hasn’t been to her resting place yet, which really wouldn’t mean anything to him - it would just be a place with weird shaped rocks and a lot of grass to Ben - I’d like to think that my mom is his personal guardian angel. There are so many times when I’d see him looking off into nowhere as if he’s watching someone and then he’d break out into a smile. It would be cool if my mom was watching over him - during her time here she raised 3 good kids (with my father’s help, of course!) and I’m sure she’d do a great job guiding my little Booger through life…
So yeah, I miss you, Mommy, but I know you’re still here watching over us and shaking your head at all the crazy things I’m doing to your grandson.
by Train
Whether I am up or down or in or out or just plane overhead
Instead it just feels like it is impossible to fly
But with you I can spread my wings
to see me over everything that life may send me
When I am hoping it won’t pass me by
And when I feel like there is no one that will ever know me
there you are to show me
Cause when I look to the sky something tells me you’re here with me
And you make everything alright
And when I feel like I’m lost something tells me you’re here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here
Happy Birthday, Melamonster!
Just wanted to wish a quick “Happy Birthay!” to Melanie, who’s out in Vegas somewhere living like a rock star…
John Mayer Goodness
This is one of the reasons why I miss the Chappelle show so much!
Hilarious!
