Geek Parenting, I'm Doing It Right!

So just this past week we have finally started watching the Doctor Who series around here. I loved the show as a kid in the 80s but for some reason I put off watching the show starting in 2005. Now I wish I had been watching it all along because we're really enjoying it right now.

I have to admit though, everytime I see David Tennant all I can think of is this...

and it's just not attractive! Haha.

Anyway- so I just wanted to share a conversation I had a little while ago with my 10 year old geek boy...

Me- "What do you think of Chris Eccleston as Doctor 9?"

Hyper Heathen- "FANTASTIC!"

(sound of me snorting)

Me- "What do you think of David Tennant as Doctor 10?"

HH- ""EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

(short laugh)

Me- "Do you think Matt Smith will be a good Doctor 11 when we get that far?"

HH- "WHO?"

(Laughs and shows him a picture)

HH- "We kill the ones who sparkle for free! Gank him Sammy!"

(laughing until I cry)

When fandoms cross over then Geek Parenting, you're doing it right.

I'm Not Obsessed! Okay Yes I Am...

You know you may have warped your almost 10yo with your Supernatural obsession when:

1) He loves saying "gank" and runs around telling the dog, "GANK 'ER SAMMY!"

2) He tells you running out of salt is NOT what Hunters do!

3) His new fave car is a black '67 Chevy Impala. He has also decided he is going to have one and name it "Baby the Metallicar".

4) He thinks we should all get Protection Symbol Tattoos on our chests.

5) He walks around the house singing "Cry No More" and "Eye of the Tiger" (Complete with leg air guitar).

6) He makes sure everyone knows the radio rules in the car which are "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole".

7) He wants to learn Latin so he can exorcise the demon he is SURE is in his big sister's butt.

8) He tells his father that Dean Winchester is "a sexy piece of man meat" thus leading your husband to ask you if your son likes guys and isn't he too young?

9) He asks if you can redecorate his room starting with painting a Devil's Trap on the ceiling and Angel Sigils on the window.

And last but not least...

10) He is still afraid of normal monsters in the closet but not any monster from Supernatural because as he said when he slipped, "We know how to gank those bitches mom!"

I love this kid!

I Lost It In 'Nam...

Last week I was at the store with the Hyper Heathen (MonkeyBoy's new nickname) standing in line telling him "No" for the zillionth time when this woman just out of the blue asks me, "What happened to your tooth?". Now just so you know, I'm missing the third tooth over on the bottom front for clarification. Most people don't even notice it but for some reason Madam Rudeass did.

After I picked my jaw up off the floor (Who the hell asks a question like that??), the first thing I thought to say was, "I lost it in 'Nam". Before I could bask in how witty and funny I thought I was, without missing a beat the elderly gentleman in front of me popped out his dentures and said, "Those Vietnamese bastards got ALL of mine!".

His wife gasped, the cashier turned red, I burst out laughing, and the woman who asked the question in the first place just looked at the old man and I blankly.

That has to be one of the best replies to a rude question that I've ever heard!

Touché old guy. Touché.

Things A Parent Probably SHOULDN'T Say To Their Kid:

Im backkkkkkkk! The blogging bug has hit me recently and I figure its about damn time I do something about it! So I will set the stage for how this blog is going to go with my first post. If you are easily offended then this blog isn't for you. If you like sarcasm, aren't bothered by a potty mouth that would make Dane Cook cringe, and like to laugh then Hello my friend!

Things A Parent Probably SHOULDN'T Say To Their Kid:

1) "Quit talking and GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP!"

2) "Ignore your father, he's an idiot"

3) "Your grandmother is a psychotic whore" (my egg donor)

4) "Don't go in his house, he's probably a fucking pedophile!" (A neighbor)

5) "Tell your father to quit being an asshole, but don't SAY asshole you're not allowed"

6) "That kid ever touches you again punch him in the throat!"

7) "If your AWANAS leader tells you one more time that we should all get baptized, tell her Mommy worships Satan and the only reason she lets you come to AWANAS is because she thinks its a scout troop that allows gays. Nevermind don't say that!"

And last but not least...

"See that kid over there? Don't act like him because he's acting like a douchebag. He's one worth ganking" (Ganking is a word that my 10 year old and I picked up off our favorite show, Supernatural. It means kill on the show but mostly we use it as a way to say they need hushed up).

Real-world Wonder Women

Do you know that television’s Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter, left acting for several years to stay home and raise her two children? I mention this because to me, when Ms. Carter stopped “playing” Wonder Woman on TV she then took on the role of a lifetime: Motherhood. That is when she became a real life Wonder Woman.

We moms may not have bulletproof wrist cuffs (can you imagine doing dishes in those?), a magic lasso (though it would come in handy for wild children), or an Invisible Jet (how many carseats could fit in that thing anyway?) but who needs fancy accessories? We moms come specially equipped with many extraordinary superpowers like:

-Magic Kisses: Our magic mommy kisses can heal booboos, vanquish bad dreams, stop tears, and charm grumpy husbands.

-Soft Arms: These amazing arms provide safety from closet monsters, lovingly snuggle many children at once, and one hug can make all sadness in a child’s world just melt away.

-Super Senses: Every mommy comes standard with this awesome power. We can hear mischievous whispers from two rooms away, know a lie the moment it leaves our child's (or husband’s) lips, see through the back of our heads, and we always know who wrote on the wall without ever asking. Nothing gets past our super senses!

As mothers, our powers are endless. While TV’s Wonder Woman did a wonderful job of teaching a generation of girls about strength and self-worth, today’s real life Wonder Women go even further. We are raising the male and female “superheroes” of tomorrow. The future of the world truly rests in our hands.

So Lynda Carter’s character can keep the costume and fancy extras, for us real world Wonder Women they’d just get in the way. From the moment we hear our child’s first cry of life we instantly have everything we’ll ever need. How could a piece of rope top that?

Okay so maybe we really would love one of those bustier’s with the “W’s” on it for date night with the hubby, but that’ll just be our little secret.

What “superpowers” do you possess (or wish you did)?

*I wrote this for DotMom many years ago and just happened to find it again. Since I'm considering blogging once more I thought I would post this while I contemplate.*

Time To Start Living Again

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I have become somewhat of a hermit ever since my neck surgery in 2005. At first I hid away because I got tired of people staring at my neck all the time and just didn't want to have to face them. After that I pulled back even more from society because I was grumpy and in no mood to put up with people who were stupid or petty. Eventually pain was what kept me home more often than anything else and instead of fighting that I just let it.

It hasn't been fair to my kids because alot of the time they are trapped in this house with me. I'm not saying I cut us all off from the rest of the world or anything but since we moved outside of town we've not been going out and exploring as much. I hate that and miss our adventures. The kids still play outside, go to the park, take walks, etc but going into town hasn't been as often.

Now Big B is starting college and Sis is starting at the charter school which means that it will mostly just be MonkeyBoy and I from now on. I plan on filling the year with new adventures but I've also realized that I need to start making adventures for myself as well.

So on that thought I have signed up for a Tai Chi class on Tuesday evenings at the local Community Center ($2 a class how could I NOT?) and Bellydancing class at a studio on Wednesday evenings. I have to travel an hour and a half round trip for the Bellydancing class but I've decided that it's worth it and I deserve it. *smile* My rheumotologist has recommended Tai Chi before so that should be good for the fibro and maybe bellydancing will loosen some of the stiff muscles up a little so I can have more mobility.

Of course, I could just end up in even more pain too. I think it's worth a try and worst case I start but have to stop to keep pain at bay. I won't really be any worse off than I am now and hopefully I will be better off than now so it's worth it.

I chose Tai Chi because it has fluid movements that won't jerk my body around causing more pain plus I'm hoping it will help me with meditation and focus. I chose bellydancing because it looks like fun and if I'm going to be stuck in this body then I might as well learn to like it a little more right?

I hope that once I start shakin' my hips I'll be able to get the damn things to STOP cuz mama's fanny has more volume than it use to! Just kidding. Not about the volume but the stopping part. *snicker*

So wish me luck and I might post pics of Tai Chi but don't even ask about the other! Ha Ha.

Great Google-y Moogley!

After checking Statcounter today I couldn't help but post about some of the recent searches people have done thus bringing them to MY blog. Are you ready? Here we go...

1) "how to get friends naked at a party"~ Well I've found that lots of booze and a nice game of Nakey Twister gets things going.

2) "girls talking about getting naked with friends"~ Okay, typical male there. FYI, usually when "girls" talk about getting naked with friends it's because they are trying on clothes at the mall or just comfortable to go in the buff. It's not half as kinky as you wish.

3) "naked friends"~ Yes dear Googler, some people have naked friends. Good job Einstein!

4) "revenge i have the cell phone number address driver license info"~ Wow, someone is obsessing aren't they? I'm all for going after someone who has done you wrong (which is blatantly apparent if you read my deadbeat posts here on the blog or visit my MySpace page) but go slow there tiger. If you have that info for constructive reasons like to get say child support or such then go for it but doing it for out and out senseless revenge makes you bordering on stalking sweety. Get a hobby mmmkay?

5) "real naked massages"~ Most full body massages DO have you get naked genius but I'm afraid they won't play with your wittle peepee as part of it. Ask the guys at the local truckstop where to get one of the "me so horny" kinds of massages.

6) "why does joanne have to be such a bitch?!"~ Well, maybe Joanne was just born a bitch and can't help herself. Maybe entering a program like Bitches Anonymous will help Joanne stop being such a bitch. Does Joanne think she's a bitch? Maybe YOU are the bitch. Think about it my friend...

Is anyone else seeing a theme going on here? *snort*

7) "hot nakey"~ Hot nakey what?? Great, now I'm left wondering what the hell they wanted hot nakey of! DAMN YOUUUUU!!!

8) "kirk coiner"~ The searches for this one have come from several states. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm

9) "how to get woman naked in hot tub"~ Please see Google search number 1. Here's a thought though, why don't you just ask her if she'll strip for the hot tub? *shrugging shoulders*

and last but not least...

10) "doing house chores naked video"~ Yeah, I'm not touching that one with a 20 foot poll. Some people have issues even I can't explain. *wink*

Real Friends Get Naked!!

Okay, Google pervs first- look around and you'll see that this isn't a porn site and the title is a HUGE tease. Finished reading? Questions? No? Okay bye.

For everyone else, the title of this post came to me Friday while I was spending time with my friend Leah (whom I met through our blogs and only lives about three miles from me). On the way home I told her that I was going to do a post titled "Real Friends Get Naked" and she's a rotten snot like me and said, "Oh do it!". *snort*

After my doctor appointment, Leah and I went to Betty's Bath and Spa to treat ourselves to a one hour massage. I'm almost ashamed to admit that this was my very first massage. When Leah suggested it last month, I decided that I deserved a little pampering for once so I picked her up at work Friday and off we went.

Our first stop was a restaurant called Mannie's in Nob Hill for lunch. Leah works at the local college and eats there on occasion so it sounded like a good place to start our day. The food was pretty good and it was nice to just sit and talk to her for awhile. Usually when we're around each other there are kids vying for our attention! Once lunch was over we headed to the spa and I have to say it was such an awesome experience that I will definitely be going again...SOON!! *smile*

The first thing we did was put on our comfy robes and "snazzy" flip flops then head over to the couch to wait for our wonderful massage therapists. We then went into our assigned room and honestly didn't say a single word to each other the whole hour that we were both getting massages. I think we were both enjoying the silence that neither of us gets at home with our families. Haha

After the massages we headed put to the hot tub for a nice soak. At this spa there is a communal hot tub where both men and women can go but bathing suits are required and then in the women's hot tub (which is the one we used) it's clothing optional. I have to say that this was a very freeing experience for me because I grew up with the whole "you should be ashamed of your naked body" stigma. I was one of those girls in Junior High who would take her clothes into a stall and get dressed so I didn't have to see the other girls naked and vice versa.

This was MY day though so just like all the other women I tossed off my robe and enjoyed a nice nakey soak in the hot tub. That is when "Real Friends Get Naked" hit me and I couldn't wait to tell Leah. You know you're bonding with your friend when you see them nakey on your second "date". I'd say it will be pretty hard for us to top that one anytime soon but considering that we're planning on making our Mama's Day Out a regular accurance, that means more nakey friends time!! Woot woot!!! *laughing hard*

We rounded out the day with a trip to a little local book store, the Library, Sunflower Market to pic up some sushi for Hubby Guy, and then had a nice chat on the way home. Sunday the youngest two kids and I went over to her house for her son's third birthday party. It was alot of fun and her little boy was so cute opening his presents. The boy definitely likes tractors! LOL.

Thank you Leah for talking me into going to the spa. I had a great time and really enjoyed your company. Thank you also for inviting us to W's party. MonkeyBoy had alot of fun and is still talking about how great his first attended party was.

Getting To Know You....

getting to knowwwww allll abouttttt youuuuuu. Sorry, couldn't help myself there. *smile*

I have decided that in order to get myself blogging regularly again that I am joining in on MommyFest 2008. The nice thing is that they have memes, prizes, and post ideas for me so all I have to do is type the post and they do all the hard work. YAY lazy me!!!

So the first thing I'm suppose to do is tell you a little about myself. Well if you want to learn ALOT about me then you are free to read my 100 Useless Facts About Moi. If you only want to know the non-gorey soso stuff then here goes...

~ I go by Jo but my full name is Jolene. Yes, my egg donor named me after that gawd awful Dolly Parton song. No, I don't like it when complete strangers sing it to me. Yes, I could possibly hurt you if you sing it anyway.

~ I have incurable cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation have no affect on it so we just play a waiting game until the tumors are big enough to operate on. Right now I have tumors in both sides of my neck, under both arms (armpits), in both lungs, and one in my right breast. I've already had several tumors removed from my neck and two from/with my adrenal glands. It's really not as awful as it sounds. At least I have time and that's more than so many others.

~ My oldest two children and myself have a rare disorder called MEN2a (multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2a). Basically it causes medullary thyroid cancer, adrenal tumors, and several other small noncancerous things. We caught the thyroid cancer early in the kids and they are now cured of it but mine had already spread so I can not be cured. I also lost my adrenal glands due to tumors and have to live on medication for the rest of my life.

~ I'm 6' tall and I really am a natural blonde. My natural haircolor is dirty blonde so of course there are times I will dye it a lighter color but all in all I'm a real blonde. Many people find that hard to believe because I have really dark brown eyebrows. No clue why and not much I can do about it. *laugh*

~ I had my first child when I was just barely 16 years old. I also got married for the first time at sixteen thanks to our families. We lasted two years and then the deadbeat became the scumbag that we all know and hate today. His name is Kirk Alexander Coiner by the way and he owes my son over $21,000 in back child support. He whines about how he can't pay it yet he can buy game systems, computer parts, pay for internet, go bass fishing quite often, and afford a truck sooooooooooooo.....

~ I love being a mom and I have three really great kids. My husband has been there for the oldest two for eight years now and I am so thankful. My two teenagers are so awesome and they give me very little trouble. Thanks to them the worst things I have to deal with are mouthiness, not doing chores, and my daughter being mad at me because I won't let her wear a bikini. Damn, life is good!

That's all I can think of right now. As I said, you can learn pretty much everything else about me by reading my 100 Things post. You are also more than welcome to ask me questions and visit my other blogs...

Homeschooling- Sona Creidhe Homeschooling

Medical/Cancer- Cancer Is The "Easy Part... It's Everything Else That's Killing Me!!

Reviews- LWH Reviews

Keep coming back throughout the week for more posts.

Hugz

Happy Birthday Hubby Guy!!

Yes, believe it or not it's ANOTHER post from me!

So today is Hubby's 37th birthday and the poor guy is upstairs asleep because he caught the cold/virus that Big B and I had last week. Hubs spent the whole weekend trying to sleep and recover but my guess is he still has another two or three days until the virus is finished with him.

Hubby is one of those hard to shop for people so his gifts this year consisted of money, a pocket watch, a DVD, and some Cadbury eggs. Exciting I know but the rotten shit buys himself anything that he wants so that leaves nothing for the rest of us to use as gift giving ideas.

MonkeyBoy just helped me make Daddy's cake a few minutes ago and then tonight I will be making Jaegerschnitzel for Hub's birthday dinner. It seems to be one of the few meals I cook that he actually likes plus it's really not that hard to make so it works fo me! *smile* Someone please slap me the next time I think eating chocolate cake batter is a good idea. I didn't even eat very much and I feel like hell! Evil damn death by chocolate!

Since Hubby is sick we are just hanging out here at home today but that doesn't mean MonkeyBoy didn't try to get us out of the house anyway. He felt he had a great idea this morning of what we should do for Daddy's birthday...Chuck E. Cheese!! That's right, MonkeyBoy thought it would be a good idea for all of us to go to Chuck E. Cheese's to celebrate the day. Of course, Daddy can relax and just sit in a booth and MonkeyBoy will play all the games for him. Awwww how sweet and selfless of MB! *snort* That kid is way too smart!

Happy Birthday Hubby. It seems like just yesterday that you were turning 30 instead of 37. I'm glad I've been there for all of it though and while there is much I would change out the last 8 years together, being with you wouldn't be one of them. Love you sweetheart and I hope you feel better very soon.

Okay, back to watching Superman cartoons with MB. I can't help but have one question though... how come the Superman in the cartoons we grew up with could breathe in outerspace but the one in the newer cartoons has to wear a space suit? Hmmmm? It seems to me that this newer version is nothing but a big ole red skivie (on the outside of his tights) wearing wuss! That's right, I said it. His mama dresses him funny! HA!

Kickin' Off 2008!!

I didn't want everyone thinking I had disappeared again especially considering it's a brand new year. Hopefully 2008 will be a great year for everyone. I'm still having problems with fatigue but it's getting better each day.

I just wanted to post some fun things to kick off the new year. Nothing too serious to start you know? So here we go...

~ I guess Parent Bloggers Network liked the review I did on Printakid for them because they quoted me many times on their site. Go take a look! Isn't that cool??

~ Voting is going on for Blogger's Choice Awards which means LWH has another chance at Best Blog About Stuff. So don't embarrass me people, go vote and if you are up for an award let me know too. I love checking out and voting for other blogs as well.

~ Over the last few months several friends have given me some more awards and I didn't get a chance to thank them. So Andrew, Janice, Angie, Christy, and anyone else I might have missed... thank you for always thinking of me. You can find ALL of Life With Heathen's awards HERE.

~ Thanks to some fantastic friends, I've been having alot of fun snapping pictures with my snazzy new camera and hopefully I'll get to share some really great pictures with you soon. The hard drive went out on my computer but it's almost back up to par which means I'll be uploading pics soon and then I can show off how awesome my new camera is! I'm so excited!!

~ In a few weeks a very lovely friend of mine will be arriving from England to stay for a bit. She has fibromyalgia as well (only the poor dear has it much worse than I do) and is coming back to the States to seek treatment at a clinic in Denver. I'm looking forward to watching her progress and if it works out for her I will definitely be looking into the clinic for myself. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the folks at this clinic will be able to bring her some relief to the constant pain she's been in. I can't wait to have her here, load ourselves up on painkillers, and just sit and do nothing but talk to each other. LOL. Hey, when you have fibro that IS a good time! *snort*

~ The only thing I even have to complain about right now is another stinking sinus infection. :( Actually I think I've got both a cold and sinus infection. Yay, fun for me. So far the only one of the kids who has it/may have given it to me is Big B. He's been just as miserable as I have for the last three days. Poor kid. Tomorrow I'm having some antibiotics called in to try to get rid of this and then no biggie.

Eight And Eight Equals ALOT!!

I saw this MeMe...somewhere that I can't even remember but I thought it was cool so I'm doing it. LOL. Plus it gives me a post for tonight and then tomorrow I can post a blaugh cartoon and you'll feel all happy inside. hehehe

This is an Eight Things About Eight Things MeMe and it was honestly a little hard on some of them but I did it! Go Me! So enjoy whether you want to or not. :p

Eight Things I am Passionate About (In no particular order by the way!)
-My three awesome kids
-MEN2a awareness
-Medullary thyroid cancer awareness
-Living (it's worth being passionate about!)
-Setting an example for my kids and showing them that cancer doesn't have to rule your life
-Child abuse awareness
-Kickass tattoos
- My kids knowing I love them no matter what.


Eight Things I Want To Do Before I Die
- Travel Europe, Asia, and Africa with a nice stop in Canada too.
- See all three of my children reach adulthood
- Have something I've written published in print
- Be organized just once in my life to see what it feels like.
- Either place the order for my ashes to become LifeGems or buy and inscribe the boxes for my ashes to give each of the kids. This might sound weird to others but it's important to me.
- Feel true and deep love from a man just once in my life. I've never had that and I'd like to know what its like.
- Have a family vacation somewhere nice since we've never had one.
- Make sure Vin knows how thankful I am for all he has done for me and my children.


Eight Things I Say Often
-Dammit!!
-Quit whining!!!
-Ya think?
-I love you
-Knock it off!!
-Fuck, my head hurts
-Damn I hurt
-Ewwww who faughted?

Yes, I curse too much. I'm not proud of it but I do it so get over it and yes, I really ask who faughted at least 10 times a day because the people in this house are gassy and I'm not which just isn't fair dammit!

Eight Books I’ve Recently Read
-The Reincarnationist (didn't like)
-Priestess of Avalon
-Interred With Their Bones (loved it)
-Dr. Seuss' Sleep Book
-I, Elizabeth
-Beauty Confidential

-The Dangerous Book for Girls

-Lady With Ten Thousand Names

Eight Songs That I Could Listen To Over And Over
-I Would Do Anything For Love by Meatloaf
-Stand by Rascal Flatts
-Live Like You Were Dying by Tim McGraw
-Walk On Water by Eddie Money
-Switch by Will Smith
-Hips Don't Lie by Shakira
-Don't Blink by Kenny Chesney
-Anything with a bellydance or Hindi beat


Eight Things That Attract Me To My Best Friends
-Must have a wicked sense of humor
-The ability to at least feign intelligence
-Brilliant debating/arguing skills. (Okay so I would settle for great. Great is good.)
-Ability to count on them when I really need them (Thank you Carrie)
-Allowing me to be myself
-Totally and brutally honest even if it hurts
-Openmindedness in as many things as comfortably possible
- The talent to be a royal smartass

Eight Things I Have Learned This Past Year
-Life is precious so quit screwing up and letting it slip away
-Snuggling with my kids fixes just about everything
-Sometimes I AM smarter than doctors so stand up for myself more
-No matter how hard you think you've got it, someone else's life is always much harder. Be thankful.
-My oldest son is going to be a great man one day soon and he's a great friend now.
-I'm hard on my daughter because I'm afraid she'll grow up to be like I use to be- a doormat who lets people abuse her. I'm scared for her but I'm too hard on her. I also learned she is becoming even more beautiful than I thought possible.
-My youngest is a handful and I've been too lax with him yet he's my last baby and I never know if I'll see him grow up so I'll deal with it.
- That I have Adult ADD which means all those years I thought I was stupid and lazy, I wasn't and that means alot.


Eight People That Should Do This MeMe and Not Complain
Andrew, Summer, Janice, Nicole, Andrea, Karen, Jenny, and Robin

Oh and I have a few more MeMes to catch up on this month so expect payback bitches! ;P

HA! Take That!!

Oh you guys are just plain evil you know that? Not only are you making sure to comment more now that you know I have to exercise in return but SOME OF YOU are being very very bad!! Paybacks woman, that's all I'm gonna say! :p

So far you have left 23 comments/minutes and today I was able to use up 15 minutes by taking the kids to the museum. Since I was walking so slow to look through everything I didn't count the whole hour and more that we were there but instead just cut it down to 15 minutes. I figure taking an actual walk, doing my Tai Chi, or finally trying those beginner Bellydancing dvds of mine are better ways to use my time up. Of course, when I left there were only about 17 comments so I thought I would get ahead. Smartasses! lol

I wish I could take up running or even kickboxing. Wouldn't that be cool? Then I could kick a certain person's butt everytime he dares to tag me for a meme. AHEM!! Oh well, maybe in another life and in a new body right? With this body I'm limited to things that don't cause stress on my body (which means even yoga...booooo) so that's why I've chosen walking to the duck pond with MonkeyBoy, Tai Chi, and bellydancing.

My arms are getting flabby too so I might just toss in some mild weightlifting. I know I can lift 5lbs without my right shoulder going out so I'll work up to that and see how things go. It all sounds so pathetic doesn't it? I sound like a little old lady who thinks she's supergranny and is hittin' the gym. Ugh.

Thank you all for loving me enough to comment and make me get off my duff. A real problem I have had is that I've been afraid of the pain for way too long now. I'm afraid to exercise because I know it brings on the pain and the flare ups but because of that I never get to find out what might be on the other side of that pain. My mind just figures it's more pain and da hell with that! I want to see if maybe some pain relief is on the other side plus I want to feel healthier, look better, and have more energy if that is possible for me.

So keep the comments coming and I'll keep moving muh bum to keep up with you.

Will Sweat For Comments!

Okay so maybe I won't actually agree to sweat but I will agree to exercise. Thanks to Elizabeth at Table4Five, I found this great idea of exercising for comments and have decided it's just what I need. Moving my fat ass has never been one of the top things to do on my list even but I know it's something I really need to do. I need more exercise to combat some of the pain and I'd really love to lose at least a few pounds.

So here is where YOU come in. For every comment you make on this blog (any post past, present, or future) I will do one minute's worth of exercising up to 45 minutes per day. I'd go a whole 60 per day but I'm not going to push it just yet.

The way it will work is if you comment on one of my posts (with more than just "Hi Jo" please) then I will owe you one minute of exercise. There is no limit on how many comments you can make so enjoy going back through my archives and getting to know me a little better. I will compile the time up to 315 minutes for the entire week and work off what I owe as the week progresses.

I will post the total number of minutes I owe for the week each day plus how many minutes I've already completed. So it will look like this...

Jo Owes Her Readers ___ Minutes Of Exercise This Week.

She Has Completed ____ Minutes So Far This Week.

So how badly do you want to make Jo move her ass? I guess we'll find out right?

Can I "Hack" It?

My my, it looks like Bill Gates will be getting a new hacker employee in a few years. Meanwhile, I wonder what Mom is going to do to Dad's blog. Hmmmm. If it were my hubby and I, we would write embarrassing things on each other's blogs and then wait for the other one to log on and the fun to begin! Yes, we're sick like that! HA!

Anyway- speaking of hacking it (you didn't think the cartoon was it did you?) I have been a very busy girl the last few days. It all started this weekend when my wonderful blogsister, Eliza, and I were talking about reviews we had coming up. It is important to both of us to see our review blogs succeed so while we were talking and nervously asking each other if we should just email some companies, I remembered something my husband always says...

"The worst they can say is NO"

That's right, the worst they CAN say is "no". It doesn't get any worse than that so why not give it a try? Eliza and I spent the rest of the evening and into the early morning searching for email addresses, deciding how to word our emails, laughing with each other, passing on links that didn't work for us but worked for the other one, and just having a ton of fun!

Eliza- thank you again, I'm so glad to get to know you better and I AM sending that chicken soup and chocolate, woman! ;)

I'll be honest and say I expected mostly "no" from these companies so my hope was if I sent out 20 emails I would get at least 2 "yes" emails back. Ummmm yeah, didn't work out that way at all! I sent out 20 emails and got about 18 "yes" emails back!! It has been a wild few days but so much fun and I have finally found my niche. It feels good to find where I belong in the blogworld whether that makes sense to others or not. I've never been a "mommyblogger" because I've never fit in with most of them and I don't write much about my kids. I'm a "mom blogger" in the aspect that I'm a mother who blogs but that's where it ends.

So that left me floating wondering if I even had a purpose with blogging. Do I keep being funny, run 5 or 6 blogs because I can't organize all my thoughts on one, and burn out too quickly? Do I find out what I'm suppose to do, probably lose a few readers, and have a little fun in my life that not only makes me feel better and gives me a chance to pretend I'm not sick all the time but it also gives me more time with my kids?

I chose the second one and don't regret it a bit. I will be doing only a few reviews here on LWH and sponsored/paid posts are probably going to be slim to none. I'm not making actual money doing reviews right now but I don't care, I'm meeting some of the most amazing small business owners and enjoying that so much. Yes, I'm happy. Not happy as a mom. Not happy as a wife. Happy as a woman who has found something that is just her's yet doesn't leave out the people she loves most.

The best part? My health keeps me from working a "real" job which leaves me watching my poor husband work and wear himself thin while I can do nothing about it. Now, this is going places and it's going to help my family so much without quite bluntly.... literally killing me.

So far this week I have become a Product Reviewer (is there a fancy name for it?), a Homeschooling Consultant (one of the PR people from a company asked for MY advice! It rocked!!), and in the new future I will be helping a company with a game of their's in the prototype phase. Just unreal!

That is why I've been missing and why I'll probably be missing quite alot. I'll still post in between reviews here but I fully expect all of you to read my reviews over at Sona Creidhe Reviews too. If things go well there may even be a LWH Reviews soon. Right now I'm sticking to educational games and toys that you can learn from and have a ball with. Christmas is coming and these companies (most) are small businesses, so support the little guy if you see something you like in my reviews. Definately leave me comments as well.

Sunday Linky Love 08/26/07

I felt it was way past time to give a little "Linky Love" to those who repeatedly show it to me. I know, you're wondering when I'm going to do your MeMe aren't you? Yeah? Well when I get to it! How 'bout that huh? Yeah, take that!!

Where was I? Oh yeah, if you're not on this list it's not cuz I don't lurve ya. It's just because I haven't slept since 6am yesterday morning and my little blonde brain is thoroughly fried. If I miss ya this week I'll get you next week okay?

So here...

Untwisted Vortex- RT is constantly giving me drive by linky love and I greatly appreciate it. He's got alot of info but he also posts about who he is as well. I like that because it is easier to remember there is a human behind the typing. Thank you, RT.

I'm A Home Mom- Eliza who constantly lets people know about my giveaways and who also stayed up WAY late with me last night looking up businesses. I can honestly say it was the most fun I've had in a very long time! Next surgery I am getting a laptop, a wireless connection, and Eliza on yahoo messenger! LOL. Thank you girl, have you seen what all that searching has done now? If your mail looks anything like mine then we're in trubble! hehe

Twist & Skewer- Janice is amazing plain and simple. She tries to mother me every chance she gets but it's just not working. She's quickly becoming the big sister I never had and it's really nice to have someone else be able to give me advice for once (instead of me always doing it for my siblings). She brightens every day for me whether it's just a quick message, a phone call, or a post mentioning me. Thank you sweety, I love blogging more each day because it has brought such great people into my life.

Mischief aka David- Him and his wonderful wife, Terry, are alot of fun and I'm so glad to know them. Check out David's cool new blog theme! Swank ain't it?

Everybody Loves Coupons- Andrew is really great to know and he always puts a personal touch on his coupon posts. I like that because it's interesting and my ADD doesn't start going haywire because he tells a story with almost every post. Check out his site he just might save ya some money. ;) He also awarded me my second Nice Matters Award. Oh and he thinks like I do which is scary yet so very cooooooool!

What Floats My Boat- Angie Lee is my other long lost sister. I just know it! We're too much alike NOT to be! Angie is great and is totally blunt and honest. Just like I like 'em! hehe. I'm totally digging her new blog theme too.

EVERYONE who joins in on Mad Click Mondays plus these ladies who post about it- Karen at Mommy of 3, Jessie at I Am David's Doll, Julie at The Ravin' Picture Maven, and Nicole at Scribbles N Scraps (if you've also linked to MCM please let me know and thank you very much). I have alot of fun with that post and knowing you guys enjoy it too makes it even better. If you haven't joined yet then make sure you do tomorrow!!

Oh and if you visit Nicole's site you will see that she has made a Mad Click Monday button which I will proudly show in tomorrow's post. Thank you Nicole. I know you made it for your own use but ya said I could use it and I'm gonna! :)

Have a good night everyone. I'm sleeping tonight. Oh and there are going to be a few changes around here including MAYBE saying goodbye to one of my blogs. More to come....

What Brightened My Week- Part 1

Grab some caffiene because this is going to be a long post! So long in fact that I've had to break it down into two posts and I'm going to have to do the other half tomorrow after my doctor's appointment. If you actually read the whole thing then I think I love you. LOL. If you don't read it all... I don't like to read boring crap either so I don't blame you. haha. This post is just a personal post of me sharing something good for once. I know I've whined alot over the last few months about being sick and I apologize. I know that's not why you come here to read and I appreciate you sticking around anyway. This time though I want you to see the good things that have gone on just this past week alone.

What Brightened My Week- Part 1;

1- Andrew from Everbody Loves Coupons: Last night I forgot my usual little insert that lets people know a post I've written is sponsored and because of that combined with me not blogging or commenting much, Andrew was worried about me. So he sent me a message asking if everything was alright and was I okay? As far as he could have been concerned I'm just some foul-mouthed chic who snorts too much but he actually cared enough to check on me. People like him are the kind I love getting to know because they have real blogs and really seem to care about others. It's such a fun part of blogging. Thank you Andrew, you honestly made my night. I'm sorry I worried you. :)

2- Jennifer from The Life of a School Bus Driver awarded me with my second Schmooze Award. She said about me "She is a walking schmooze and an inspiration to so so many. Go read about her and feel better being you". Thank you Jennnifer, knowing you think so highly of me truly brightened my week.

3- Mischievous David gave me an award this time and you gotta hand it to a guy who's not afraid to put a fufu pink award in his sidebar. David awarded me with the Nice Matters Award. He said "How could I not include my benefactor?! Thanks to Jo for the contest where I won my soon to be revealed new template! Actually, Jo is more than a contest! She is a lot of fun to read. I enjoy exchanging e-mails in the background with her as well". Thank you David not just for the award but for your wonderful stories, encouraging emails, and allowing me to be even a small part of your and Terry's life. You are both very amazing people and I'm proud to know you.

4- My wonderful children for being so patient with me while I'm dealing with this vertigo stuff and trying to get work done online with my eyes constantly freakin' crossing! They even cooked dinner last night so I wouldn't have to. I've got three really great kids- a fantastic 16yo son who is becoming such a wonderful man, an almost 13yo daughter (my only girl) who is becoming a beautiful woman literally faster than I can keep up and is like her mama in pretty much every way (except she's a little hottie!), and a 4 1/2yo amazing little boy who constantly turns all of our lives upside down. He knows more about dinosaurs than anyone I have ever met, loves to learn with such passion that it almost makes me want to cry, and is probably the biggest smartass in this whole house! lol

5- While it's hard for me to keep up with all the memes I get tagged for (people seem to like me for some reason. Have you not read this blog?! ;) ) I do want everyone to know it makes me feel good knowing I'm one of the people you think of to tag. I owe people several MeMes right now. The ones I know of are: another round of 8 Things that Sara of Mother Anarchy and Nikki from The Guilty Parent tagged me for, the Seven P's Of Me that Christy tagged me for, the Ten Things I Like About Myself that the fabulous Madame M tagged me on, and the 4 Things About Me that Andrew got me on. I must say, the one Andrew tagged me on is one I've been able to avoid for almost a year now. Rotten man!

6- Everyday has more fun thanks to the Jurassic Park game that Brighter Minds Media sent me to review. Monkey Boy loves dinosaurs and the first Jurassic Park movie so I was really excited to get a game in that theme but when it said ages 6 and up I figured we'd just let him watch us play it so I could review it and then make up a game with it so he could play. That is so very far from what happened! That kid is just so amazing. Let me put it this way, I played against him last night and the turd not only won but kicked my butt so hard it is still sore! He didn't miss a single answer and left me eating his dust (and I didn't even LET him win!). It's fun looking forward to the joy on his face everyday when we play it. Thank you Brighter Minds Media.

And that would be half of what I wanted to say. Yeah, that's six which means there is another six coming tomorrow. What can I say? It's been a good week.

"Nature Always Finds A Way"

I think that is one of my favorite Jurassic Park quotes. Well that and "God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs... Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth...". Priceless!! lol.

Recently my family and I were given the opportunity to play with and give our opinion on the new Jurassic Park Explorer DVD game from Brighter Minds Media, LLC and I can honestly say it was one of the funnest games we've played in a very long time!

This game is coming out mid-August (any day now) and is a dinosaur and Jurassic Park lover's dream come true! Jurassic Park Exploror DVD game is designed for players aged 6 and up with a choice of up to four teams or individuals playing it. Each player or team can choose from three levels of difficulty, in what sequence they want to take their turns, and as a whole you can choose to play a long or short game.

The idea of the game is that you are on the island of Isla Sorna where the Jurassic theme park is located. Your job is to try to help the scientists there collect DNA to bring the dinosaurs back to life. There are seven different sections/games that you have to answer questions or complete games of skill on.

The best part? The game is on a DVD that you watch and you use your remote control to give your answers. The graphics on this DVD are awesome! No matter what level you play there is always something new and exciting to see.

The way the game works is you have a board, a die, four game pieces, and 25 dinosaur cards. You set up your difficulty level, number of players, and length of game on the DVD then the first person rolls the die. Each player takes a turn rolling the die, moving their game piece, and whatever area they land on that is where they must do their challenge. For each correct answer you get you are given a dinosaur card. The first person with five or seven cards (depending on the game length you choose) is the winner.

I would say that their age range is pretty appropriate and at first I was worried that my 4 1/2 year old would be broken hearted because he couldn't play. All I can say is if you have a little dinosaur fanatic like I do that is younger than six then give them a chance to play too. My youngest son is obsessed with dinosaurs and made us all eat crow when he played. To be honest, he kicked our butts three out of five times one night and we weren't even letting him win!! The kid knew the name of every single dinosaur and there were some pretty hard ones.

Our favorite parts were the Screening Room where you had to basically stare at the scene so you didn't miss anything, the Bone Dig where you uncover fossil bones, and the Plains where we tried to beat each other to name the dino in the fog first. The hardest area for all of us was the Chasm because if you don't jump just right... well, you want to make sure you jump right trust me.

I have already recommended this game to several people because it really is a great game for those who like dinosaurs. The only worry I have about the game is that the DVD is going to give out on us from playing so much. As I said, my 4 1/2 year old is obsessed and there isn't a night that goes by that he isn't begging to play the game.

So please check out not only the Jurassic Park Explorer DVD Game but also the tons of other games on Brighter Minds. They have been a favorite of our family for awhile now which made this even more fun.

*The only thing even remotely close to compensation that I received for this review was being allowed to keep the game. I think I made out pretty good!*

Proud Mommy Moment

My oldest son, Big B, started a music related MySpace profile a few months ago at my urging to "do something that interests you". He worked hard on it, contacted bands, and even did his own weekly Top 40 Songs list. It was nice seeing him actually put some time and effort into something.

Last month he started an actual blog where he could post his music list, have an artist of the week, add song samples, display new bands, and hopefully do some interviews with various signed and unsigned musicians. When he was ready to start contacting different bands about the interviews I helped him word the email and we sent it off to one of his favorite new singers.

As the days passed it was sad to see his disappointment in not hearing back from them but that all ended this morning when in his inbox sat an email from the agent telling him to send the questions and they would be given to the artist. :)

My boy is officially a music reporter and interviewer! Heck, I've never even had an email interview with someone famous so he's already got me there. lol. I'm very proud of all the effort he has put in to things and I really hope this turns out being alot of fun for him. It's so nice to see that little kid excitement in his eyes even at Sixteen.

So that's all, just some mommy bragging since I don't talk much about my heathens on here and said I would start.

Might I also brag that I am on day three of no soda and only just today the migraines are starting. I don't know how long I can hold out considering that there is more Wild Cherry Pepsi in my veins than blood but at least I'm giving it a try. It's either that or make my stomach feel even worse. So wish me luck. I know I'll break down and buy some eventually but I'm determined to at least cut back. ;)

Go Look!!

Before I run off to bed I just wanted to tell you guys to head over to our homeschooling blog- Sona Creidhe Homeschooling- and tell me what you think of my very first book review for Mother Talk. I'm very excited to be a part of Mother Talk and this is probably one of my new favorite things I enjoy about blogging. I love to read, I horde books like I own a library, and now I get to right reviews on books. It gets no better I tell you.

I didn't make it to my doctor's appointment yesterday because I've recently been hit by a horrid case of nausea at different times of the day (definately not morning sickness..no chance at all) and yesterday it was joined by such awful vertigo-like dizziness that my eyes were actually crossing! I had to laugh because you know that shit has got to look funny! My oldest darling son helped me to the couch though and then sat to talk with me for two hours while I couldn't move. My kids are so great and so easy to love. *sigh*

Thanks to this nausea/dizzy crap I had to let Onorach and Sona Creidhe Reviews fall by the way side this week. Nice way to start new blogs I know but if I have to choose, LWH is my baby and it comes first on the blog list. :) I'm going to work hard on both blogs this weekend so that doesn't happen again anytime soon so stay tuned to them.

Besides all the stupid crap in the last two paragraphs it has actually been a pretty good week. I have started receiving alot of the stuff I won from the A Girl's Gotta Spa's "Mom: Get Glamorous" contest. I plan on doing a full post solely about all the great stuff I won by the weekend. You can find the list of great products included in the prize package here. Talk about feeling like a queen!

Goodnight my friends and thank you for all you do and all you are. I for one greatly appreciate you.