My Bunco Night

This past Saturday my bunco met for our monthly get together. We had 11 out of the 12 players we needed (our twelve had to cancel that day due to her daughter falling at the park and needing surgery to fix a broken bone in her wrist – sad isn’t it? The day before turning 5 years old, this sweet little girl breaks her wrist). Any way, we were still able to easily play with one “ghost player”.



This month’s boobie prize had everyone bring greeting cards. I thought that was a real smart idea. Some of the cards were hand made, while others left us laughing.

During each round of bunco you have a different partner. I couldn’t help but notice things were a little more competitive this month. I had one partner threaten my kneecaps if I didn’t roll well (as she was out to win). I had another one threaten to kick me out of our playgroup if I didn’t roll poorly! Seriously! She was trying to lose so she’d get the greeting cards – ha, ha. Considering bunco is all about the luck of the dice, you really can’t control who wins or loses! :o)

Later we sat around talking with many of us enjoying Mohetos and a variety of chocolate desserts. On bunco night everyone brings an appetizer dish or dessert to share. This month we all had chocolate on our minds. After the way I ate I may need to look into some diet pills.

Any way, it was a fun night. I can’t wait until next month!

Bunco Rocks!

Last night our bunco group met again. This time my girlfriend who lives a long the river hosted the fun night. She has such an amazing view. We arrived when it was still light outside and watched the people in sailboats enjoying the beautiful day.

I brought my camera with me, however I forgot to take it out of my purse. So I have no pictures to share. This annoys me.

Our two resident expert bunco players helped re-explain the rules to us newbies. They also divided the prize money up which raised questions when we realized they won most of the pots! Of course they were not the only ones to raise some eye brows. Our poor hostess (who was playing for the first time) kept getting confused and would think she was playing Yahtzee. We had another player who was caught several time rolling the dice after her turn was over too. :o) This is all for fun and a great chance to laugh at ourselves.

This month we were all asked to bring something that glittered for the "loser" or "boobie-prize". People were pretty creative. There were items like sparkly nail polish and glittery 80's inspired earrings to a sparkled covered note book. My personal favorite was a lip stick holder. It was very 1960's disco inspired. I loved it. :o)

It was a fun night! There were a lot of laughs and a little wine. Okay... a lot of wine was happening. This got me thinking that I'll need to fill my wine rack up when it is my turn to host again. Ha, ha.

Next time I won't forget to take pictures. :o)

Baby Weight

Can you call it “baby weight” if the baby in your family is 4 years old?

It is that last 10 or so pounds that I was never able to rid myself of after both of my pregnancies. It makes me tempted sometimes to purchase some cheap Phentermine.

I need to start working out again. Something that I haven’t seriously done since I became pregnant with my oldest. I loved yoga back in the day. I truly loved it. In the past few weeks I’ve purchased a couple of palates DVD’s with the best of intentions to actually USE them. Seriously.

They haven’t made it out of their plastic wrappers yet. I have a ton of excuses. Before our trip I was too busy to work out for 20 minutes. Now that I’m back….well, I guess I am “recovering” from my trip. I don’t know. I lack the willpower.

Maybe… I mean hopefully this fall when both kids are in school I will take advantage of my free mornings and work out for REAL. Maybe join a gym and/or take classes. I just want to feel better about myself.

A Firken Day

Yesterday was a little firken stressful. It was a day when a Mother's firken patience was tested every firken 15 minutes. I know we've all had firken days like that.... yet, I was feeling a little firken sorry for myself by late afternoon! :o)

Thankfully, my day ended with a firken great dinner and conversation with a firken great friend.

Are you thinking, “Enough with the firken, talk”, right ??? :o)

I went out with a great friend last night and enjoyed a great dinner at a new restaurant called the Firken & Frog Restaurant.

The food was delicious and I enjoyed a tasty cocktail called the Milky Way (which I highly recommend).



They play up their name in the restaurant as well. When you leave you’ll notice a sign that says:“Have A Firken Good Day”And check out this Tiny Firkin Menu! Cute, right?

Any way after the day I had, it was wonderful to just get out and just relax and enjoy a nice conversation.

PS: Today is overcast (of course) with rain expected (of course).

Bingo Beach Weekend

Our 3rd Annual Moms Beach Weekend was a huge success!

Due to newborns, scheduling conflicts and illness a few of our moms sadly were unable to attend this year. However the 6 of us who could attend enjoyed a quieter (but just as enjoyable) beach weekend. There were no hangovers this time. A few of us even went to bed before midnight! !

Saturday we went shopping and came back with the newest “mom’s getaway” accessory…hats! That night we hit the local bingo hall with our new hats and the hope we would blend in.

Snicker all you want, but we had a blast playing bingo. However we didn’t exactly blend in. We were shushed numerous times for being too loud. It didn’t help that we’d giggle every time O-69 was called. The locals became a little annoyed when our table started winning all the games! In total our group won 6 games!!! From the back of the bingo hall we heard “You can leave now” at one point. An elderly woman suggested they take us to the ocean! No lie!!! We feared we’d be chased out of town by angry dobber yielding locals. Instead we were invited to spaghetti lunch the next day by our new bingo buddies!

As always… the weekend flew-by! I’m so glad my friends and I can get away each year for some silly fun.

Mommy Time !!!

It is Thursday night!!! Which means just one thing…

This time tomorrow I’ll be enjoying a glass of wine at my Moms Beach Getaway! Our yearly trip is finally here! As much as I’ll miss my family, I will admit I am looking forward to this mini holiday.

The weather out here (Pacific Northwest) is a little crazy right now. After a gorgeous weekend the rain returned. However they are predicting possible snow a long the coast this weekend. That is just crazy! Especially for the month of April. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us Friday afternoon when we are all driving up to the beach house. The last thing we want to do is drive in heavy rain, or worse yet SNOW.

Once we get there the weather can be as crazy as it wants to be. Except for a little shopping in the tourist shops on Saturday, we usually just hang out at the beach house. It is a weekend of wearing comfortable clothes, and no make-up. We’ve been known to play a few board games, but usually we just sit around with a glass of wine or a bottle of beer in our hands and just…talk and laugh.

I just feel very blessed to have this yearly get away with such dear friends. It is something that I hope we will continue for years to come.

I will try and update on Monday!

This Time Next Weekend...

Next Friday night I will be at the beach house with my mommy friends. It is 9:00 PM right now... I will assume at this time next weekend the wine will be open, the junk food will be devoured, and the laughter will be loud.

My daughter had a tough day today. A lot of tantrums and a lot of melt downs. She hasn’t napped in 2 years, yet this afternoon she fell a sleep on the sofa. “Aaaah… she is tired, maybe she is having a growth spurt”, I thought to myself. The thing is when she woke up her mood had not improved. So all I could do tonight while I tried to sooth her into sleep was think about next weekend. After a tough mom day, I could really use some me time!!!

Just saying :o)

I love my kids, I really do. We all have bad days. My little girl is only 4 so we are going to have many (MANY) more days like today, and that is okay. Still, with that said, I will be enjoying a glass of wine this time next weekend!

Moms Freedom Weekend

Soon I’ll be heading out to my annual mom’s getaway weekend. This will be our third year. We rent a beach house a long the Oregon coastline and just relax. No diapers, no spit up, no scolding… you get the idea.

We eat too much and shop too much. If you are wondering… yes, we tend to drink a little too much too! Well some of us anyway. The rest of us just laugh at the ones who will be hurting the next day. It is just a great time to get away and be with friends and have no responsibilities. We go for 2 nights and 3 days. The time goes by so fast. It’s odd because I find myself missing my kids while I am gone. Yet, as we are packing up to leave it feels like we just arrived and you wonder where the time went.

The beach house is gorgeous. It has huge windows that view the ocean. At this time of year you never know what type of weather to expect. However, we have always been lucky. There has always been at least one day where we can enjoy a walk a long the water.

I just feel so lucky to have such wonderful friends and this yearly opportunity to get away and have fun with everyone.

Any Big Brother Fans Out There??

It was brought to my attention at Friday’s bunco night that I haven’t written my thoughts on this season’s reality show Big Brother.

A serious and thought provoking topic I know! :o)

Yes, I'm one of those people who watch all the bad reality shows. I have no way to defend myself, I know... All I can say is I'm not the only out there. They keep making these shows, so therefore there must be a lot of people (such as myself) that waste hours watching them.

Any way, this season's Big Brother is...well... a little different. I think your impression of this year’s cast depends on one thing. If you are faithfully (yet naively) watching the show 3 days a week…

...OR if you know (and perhaps have SEEN) more then you may have wanted too on the website realitybbq.com.

Yeah… this site has a way of causing you to see the show in a different light. It has sort of ruined it for me. Let's just say it has taken some of the innocence away.

Anyway, I’m curious to hear what people are thinking of this season. I'd love to know what you think of BB9.

The bunco night that wasn't

So my friends and I want to start a monthly bunco group. We have a lot of people interested, unfortunately finding a day when we can all get together is proving difficult.

Last Friday I hosted our first gathering. We need at least 12 people. We had 10 people confirmed, however only 8 people showed. We can play with a couple of ghost players, but 4 is just too many. So no bunco for us.

Still it was a lot of fun. A group of friends together sharing wine and great conversation, what is better then that? It is always nice to relax and laugh with friends. It seems like the older my kids get, the busier I become. I think I forget to exhale sometimes. So nights like this allows me that luxury.

As for bunco.. we are hoping for a better showing in April! :o)

Bunco Babes

Have you played bunco before? It seems to be the latest crave among us stay-at-home moms. It is a dice game and you need 12 people to play it. It is easy and it is fun. Best of all it is a chance to get out of he house, relax and socialize with your friends and neighbors.

My girlfriend and I have been talking forever about starting our own group. It is one thing to talk about it and to actually do something. I finally took the step and sent out an evite to our group of friends. The response has been more then positive. We are having our first bunco night this Friday at my house. It will rotate monthly after. So really, if you look at it, you only have to host it once a year.

It should be a lot of fun. Wine, food, and friends… what more could you ask. Oh yeah! There will also be dice, a bell and a small stuffed animal that gets thrown around the room too. Laughs are guaranteed!

I’ll let you know how it goes

Reality TV Junkie

I love reality TV. Or at least I did. There were always what I considered to be “fringe shows”. This is probably a poor way to term what I considered sleazy reality shows. I have always avoided those ones. However, I enjoy shows like Survivor and Hells Kitchen. My all time favorite one would be the Amazing Race.

I will admit to watching Big Brother. In the summer when not much is on, it was a fun show to watch. So I will admit I was interested when I heard there would be a winter Big Brother. Okay, I will even admit that I am watching it faithfully right now. But I am embarrassed and not proud.

Big Brother was always close to being a fringe reality show. I know. Still the houseguests for the most part had some morals.

Oh gosh, I’m using the word morals!!!! I must just be getting old. Seriously.

Any way, they are not showing the “questionable” or should I say “risqué” happenings in the house. All you need to do is visit YouTube or type a few key words into Google to find out though.

Why people with cameras recording 24/7 behave in such a way really boggles my mind. I mean they know their parents, grandparents, employers and friends will see this. That it will be put on YouTube where thousands of people will see it. Not to mention the subscribers to the Big Brother live feeds. The pictures and video on the Internet right now will follow them for life.

Am I being overly dramatic? I don’t think so. I just don’t understand their rationale.

Happy Cupid's Day!

I think once you have kids, Valentine's Day becomes more for them. My son had a ice-cream party in his Kindergarten class today. He came home beaming with his decorated bag, now filled with Valentines from his friends.

My daughter attended a little party this week as well. She decorated (and ate) sugar cookies and made Valentine crafts. They just Valentine's Day.

As for me… Well, my husband and I don’t normally make a big deal out of Valentine’s Day. We exchange cards and either go out for dinner or have it delivered. This year he is bringing home my favorite food – Chinese! We will spend tonight watching Lost on TV. It will be a perfect night in my eyes. Either we are very realistic individuals or just plain old and boring !

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

Hannah Montana Anyone?

I probably only get out to the movie theatre once or twice a year. Baby sitters are expensive…and so is the movie theater popcorn.
Anyway I jumped at the opportunity last Saturday to go to the matinee showing of Juno with a girlfriend. It is a wonderful movie. I highly recommend seeing it. Seriously! Go see it! You won’t be disappointed. Just hide some candy and a bottle of water in your purse. It will save you $20.

I wanted to share what happened AFTER the movie. It was the oddest thing. We were heading towards the exit and passed by a small group of preteens entering the lobby. I couldn't help but notice the girls squealing with excitement.

Immediately I found myself searching the lobby. Obviously there must be a celebrity among us. Why else would they be shirking, jumping up and down AND saying things like "Oh My God!!!" For a (very) brief moment I became excited. Who was here? George Clooney? Brad Pitt? Oh, the possibilities!

My friend quickly enlightened me. These girls were going to see the Hannah Montana movie. They were squealing with excitement over the 3-D glasses they were given.

Yes, squealing over 3-D glasses to watch Hannah Montana.

I just don't get it.

More proof that I am OLD!

I need to Quit

Okay... here goes...

I am addicted to Coke. The soda variety, that is.

I used to say things like, "I could have worse habits" or "I don't drink coffee, so I need to get my caffeine fix this way".

I can easily pass up a Pepsi or 7-Up. I only crave the taste of Coke. My secret New Years Resolution was to quit drinking Coke all together. I know that if you are not a soda drinker, this must sound crazy. However, I seriously crave it and I just can't go cold turkey. I wouldn't have it in the house, except my dear husband is "a user". In fact, he is the one who introduced me to the evil substance. I was never much of a soda drinker until we started living together. My hubby is not ready to admit to his addiction and give it up. So I am on my own with this one!

Any way, the other day my friend sent me this horrid link about the effects of drinking Coke. It got me thinking...

I need to seriously stop drinking the stuff.

Are you a soda drinker? If you are, read the information below (and click on the link). You may just want to join me in quitting.


What Happens to Your Body Within an Hour of Drinking a Coke?

Do you want to be healthy? Drinking soda is bad for your health in so many ways; science can't even state all the consequences. Here's what happens in your body when you assault it with a Coke:

Within the first 10 minutes, 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake, and the only reason you don't vomit as a result of the overwhelming sweetness is because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.

Within 20 minutes, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat.

Within 40 minutes, caffeine absorption is complete; your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream.

Full Article

How Do You Drink It?

Okay, so on New Years Eve (and being the big party girl that I am) I opened a soft drink and placed a straw in the can. I never heard the end of it.

Not because I was drinking a Coke and not alcohol...but because of the way I placed my straw in the can.

Yes! I am serious!

Apparently my friends have never seen a straw slipped into the tab (that is bent forward) and kept nicely in place. I've been doing it for years... and I know I am not the only one who does this. Any way, I was teased unmercifully!

So if I have any readers out there, please support me in letting my friends know this is a common and a often used method of soda drinking. :o)

It's a New Year!

For the new years eve we hosted a small get together. The kids enjoyed a gourmet meal of chicken nuggets and fries. Where as the rest of us ordered in Chinese! I can never fully explain how much I LOVE Chinese food. Seriously! There is nothing better…well chocolate (of any kind) is a very close second. :o)

Any way, I digress…

All the kids played really well together. Eventually they all nodded off too (around 10 PM). With all the kids and only so many bedrooms in our house, it really went well. I didn’t think within 30 minutes every child would be in dreamland. It worked out nicely and allowed the grown ups a chance to relax and socialize.

We played a favorite childhood game of mine called Romoli. It was a lot of fun playing for pennies, although a few people had difficulties remembering the name of the game! It was often referred to as Rigatoni, Shh-mole-li, and even Ja-mon-gee. Maybe you had to be there to appreciate the humor. It was a fun night and for the first time in a long time I was actually a wake to bring in the new year! :o)

Happy New Year and I wish you all the best in 2008!

On Tuesday I was cleaning the house. I moved my table and chairs into the living room to give the floors a good scrub. With the kids painting, using playdoh and various other craft material, it can get pretty dirty under there. :o)

Well... if you haven’t guessed, I managed to walk right into the kitchen light.

Ouch!

Yes it hurt!

It really hurt. :o(

I had a nice little goose egg, which has now disappeared. However I am now enjoying a variety of different shades of purple around my eye.

I just hope the color fades before the holidays! I'm such a klutz!!!!