Owner: Tragically Unhip URL:http://sotragicallyunhip.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:34:45 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: The day-to-day musings of a minivan-driving soccermom who still thinks she\\\'s a 15-year-old drama geek in fishnet stockings and combat boots. Site statistics:Click here
guitar 2007-06-01 07:48:00 Just some art I'm working on. I sketched it out at work last night, and then this morning I started experimenting with painting it in Photoshop. I've never done that before; it's kinda neat! :)
all done 2007-06-03 21:07:00 Here's my guitar drawing, all done. I know it's nothing spectacular, but I'm proud of it anyway. ;)
to do 2007-06-07 21:44:00 So...I've been slacking big-time on my blogging. I vaguely remember a New Year's Resolution about blogging every day.Oh well, resolutions are made to be broken, right? ;)Well look. I've been busy, ok? Trying to get to the gym, spend time with my kids, actually clean the house and keep it clean... I have a to-do list a mile long, and my computer time is the first thing to go when the rest of my day is packed.I can't help but think how much more I'd get done if I didn't have to sleep, y'know?!Here's just a little sample of the stuff I have to do:go to the gymemail so-and-so about guitar lessonsfinish mother & son drawingfind the next local Zumba certification classbring books back to the libraryprint new schedule, nametags for nursery and toddler rooms at church and bring them thereblogworkcleanpraysuck it up and call the damn dentist before teeth fall outfind presents for fathers' day, sister's birthdaylook up that word my coworker called metake kids to playgroundbuy milk.
Tag! 2007-06-15 13:40:00 I was tagged by KB and thought I would share, since y'all know I love memes.Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:Maggie at CoffeeShopMofiaSlacker-Moms-R-UsBig Dreams and Pixie DustK.B. SquaredTragically UnhipNext select 5 people to tag: (that means you have to post this on your blog!)ConnieHillyand um...you. and you and you. I don't have too many blogging friends. :)What was I doing 10 years ago?Let's see, 10 years ago I was 18. So that was a little before kids. I was just finishing my first year at college, trying not to fail too much but not really succeeding because I liked skipping class better than I liked going. I was starting practice for my second season as an apprentice actor in the local rennaisance faire (dork!). I played a pirate, and I totally totally loved it. I was living in an apartment with my family--we'd just moved out of the house I grew up in. I was working too man
My first troll, yay! 2007-06-20 08:36:00 Hey, I had to change some stuff on the blog because I started getting nasty stupid comments from nasty stupid people. So now you can only comment if you are registered with Blogger, and there is a word verification form too, which I hate, but I thought I'd get that in there while I was at it.So I'm sorry if you want to comment, but can't because you don't use blogger. If we're cool, you can always email me! ;)OK, back to packing for Florida. And cleaning. And packing and cleaning and cleaning and packing and cleaning...
tipping 2007-06-28 06:52:00 I would like to take this time to reflect on something that has popped up a lot over the last week of our vacation: tipping
. It's everywhere. I want to know what you think about tipping. How did it start? Why does it continue?I don't really get it. Aren't people getting paid? Why should I pay them more? Because I thought they did a good job? Shouldn't they do a good job because it's their job?! I understand that a lot of jobs don't pay very well, and that a lot of waitresses and stuff like that make much of their living from tips. But then, why don't you just charge me a little more for the service so you can pay your employees more, instead of involving me in this intricate game of how to tip, when to tip, and how much!?So I mentioned I got my nose pierced the other day. They guy who did it was very nice, and very clean, and did a good job, so thumbs up. But all over his parlor there were signs about tipping--tip me! tip me!!! But um...they guy owned the place. Doesn't he get
things about florida (or at least orlando) that are really weird but that i love anyway, with the exception of exit only lanes and stripper joints 2007-06-27 09:16:00 The animals are crazy. If they want a piece of food on the ground and there are people all over the place, they totally don't care. They just march on up, look you in the eye, and say "step off my food, beeyatch!" and then run away with it. There are lizards everywhere. Prior to this little trip I was under the impression that lizards came from the pet store. And if you wanted to find one in the wild you had to go to, like, Brazil. But at SeaWorld the other day there were little anoles all over the place! The people trying to catch them to bring home included a 12-year-old boy, his 9-year-old little sister, and me. ;) Well, OK, I didn't actually try to catch any, but I might have yelled out "Run, little lizards, or you're coming home with me!!" And they were sunning themselves on the curb between the sidewalk and the bushes, and as you walked by they'd scoot into the bushes, then as you walked and looked back, you'd see them pop out again to continue their sunbathing.The signs her Read more:things
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de vaccaciones 2007-06-26 07:02:00 Hey people, long time no blog. Guess where I am? No really guess. I'm in F-L-O-R-I-D-A!We've been here since Friday and (apart from the missing of the kids and the worrying of the mom) I'm totally loving it. I just dropped hubby off at his conference and now I'm sitting in BadAss coffee house, sipping a BadAss Mocha which is a very, very tasty mix of hot dark and white chocolate. Yum. So much for my light, lowfat breakfast. ;)Hubby and I spent all Sunday at Disney-MGM studios. That was fun. I've never been to Orlando before so everything's totally new to me. We saw an Indiana Jones stunt show which was really nifty cuz they reenacted scenes from the movies with the actual stunt doubles (so...how long have you been doing this show, exactly?!) to show how they do everything. It was pretty cool. I was bummed we didn't get to go on any rides--these crazy summer t-storms kept washing through, which made for prime time to browse the streets while everyone else ran for cover but closed
i'm back 2007-07-02 00:11:00 Well finally, after a whole week of lovely, lovely vacation, I am finally home with my family where I belong. Don't get me wrong--I had a blast in Orlando, hanging out with my hubby, going out exploring on my own, meeting new people and all. But it is so good to be home. Pretty soon I will be asleep in my own bed with the sleep-sounds of all my kids as evidence that we're all together, safe and sound and happy. :)Actually, I don't think the kids wanted to come home. Bek, my little baby who is a total mush for all things mommy or daddy, barely even moved when we came in the house. I was expecting an ambush! And the girls had tons of things to tell me about their week--I hope they're not bored to be back to the everyday routines.I missed them so much! I was pretty good most of the week but by the time Saturday night came, just watching someone else's kid cry about something or be happy about something or really, just exist and be cute, was enough to send me into melt-down mode.Hey,
summer movies 2007-07-09 22:45:00 Summer. I have a love-hate relationship with it. On one hand, summer means squeezing into shorts and tank tops and bathing suits and worrying about who sees me in them. It means sweating a lot. It means mosquitos. But on the other hand it means school's out, daytrips with the kids, summer camp and my favorite summer thing: summer movies
!I'm not really a huge moviegoer. Too much other stuff to do to get to the theater. But there is so much coming out that I just have to see.Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixDo I even need to explain this one to you? You know what it is. I'm dying to see it, and then to read the last book.Pirates of the Caribbean 3Just saw this. Loved it! I'm really really hoping there will be a fourth. Note to Hollywood: you keep putting Johnny Depp up on the screen, I'll keep paying hard-earned cash to see him.TransformersMy boss says this is the best movie he's ever seen. While I do think that might be overstating a little, I am excited to see this. Which
get mad 2007-07-19 08:16:00 I am so mad about this. The New York Times somehow got its grubby paws on a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and has published a review, complete with too much information for anyone who wants to, oh I dunno, wait until they can read the book for themselves.Who'd'a thought the NYT would stoop to scooping a story like HP#7 and spoiling it?! I'm in disbelief. That's something I'd expect from some trashy tabloid. Not that I read those. Well, OK, I might. I might even use them as my main news source. But anyway...back to the NYT.The Leaky Cauldron has posted a letter you can send to the paper at letters@nytimes.com. You can use theirs, which I am reposting here, or you can write your own. Theirs is pretty good though. Here it is:To whom it may concern:I am writing to express my disappointment that your publication printed an early review and details of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This goes against the express wishes of the author and anyone that calls themselves
book 7 is coming. be ready. 2007-07-18 23:25:00 If you've been living under a rock for some time, I'm going to tell you: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the 7th and last book of the ten-years-in-the-making Harry Potter series, comes out at 12:01 on Saturday.I'm very excited.I get like this with any series of books in which I'm all invested in the characters. To me, any writer who can make me feel like I know his or her characters personally is a good writer--even when it makes me look superdorky, talking about (and caring about! and crying over!) the characters like they really exist. Like, they're real live people whose lives will continue on even if we don't get to read about it.But this one gets me even more excited because there are movies! And merchandise! And book release parties! And billions of other fans who want to do nothing else but theorize on what's going to happen in the very last book!!! So, it's all pretty intense. Which cracks me up because if you're not a fan, you probably haven't even noticed."Hm? Read more:ready
i'm done! 2007-07-24 14:50:00 Finally done with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and it was SO SO good. It ended just exactly the way I wanted it to.I don't know anyone else who has finished it yet so I'm dying for someone to talk about it with. If you read the book and want to discuss, email me at kimberlypaine at comcast dot net and we'll chat. :) I'm reading it again, slower this time. That's how good it is--as soon as you finish you want to go back and do it all again. ;)Well the downside of all this (besides no new HP books) is that I seriously have to go clean my house. Three days of reading nonstop except to pee and possibly eat means that my house is a total disaster. Fun fun!
We just got a call yesterday telling us that the f... 2007-07-26 14:10:00 We just got a call yesterday telling us that the father of one of Jo's classmates was killed in a really bad car accident. He wasn't even 40.The phone call was to ask if we wanted to donate to a group donation in the daughter's name. Then we got another phone call today asking if we wanted to come to a big birthday dinner for the daughter. I guess her dad was planning a huge bash for her.It's so sad.I want to do something for the family that's a little more personal, and that might help with with what they really need the most, like making dinners or taking Jo's classmate out with us to the zoo for the day or something. But I feel awkward asking, since we really didn't know the family besides Jo going to last year's birthday party.What do you think that family needs most? Money? Food? Time alone? Fun time? Right now, I'm just praying for their peace.
mind yer p's and q's 2007-08-01 11:03:00 Is it just me...or is politeness way out of style?It seems like everywhere I go nowadays, people don't look at each other. Don't smile as they pass. Don't say "excuse me" when they squeeze past you in the aisle at the store.At my job there are a bunch of new hires--kids, all just out of high school. I smile, try to act friendly so they'll feel welcome in their new jobs, but apparently I am just too old and uncool to react to because they just stare straight ahead like I was Kimmy the Uncool Ghost.And at the store! Just the other day I was looking for some stuff in Michaels and their aisles are really tiny and this kinda big tall lady squeeeeezed past me and didn't even acknowledge that there was another person in the aisle with her.And at work the other other day I was helping one woman and there isn't much room at the counter so when she backed up to get away from the desk the other woman who was right behind her almost got stepped on and instead of saying "excuse me" she just g
no sleep for me tonight 2007-08-03 22:23:00 We've been having trouble with the air conditioning lately. Trouble as in, it's just not working. And we've called the landlord about a billion times, and he's called the A/C guy a billion times. Trouble is, we're on the bottom of the totem pole because for some reason that I've forgotten already, the landlord doesn't have to pay the A/C guy for service. So we get the shit end of the stick even when, oh, say, it's been 90+ degrees for like a week and there's no A/C. So today, FINALLY, the landlord comes over and says the guy should be here to fill up the coolant tank or whatever and he's dying the coolant so he can come back in a couple of days and see where the leak is. Sure enough there was a noisiness at the back of the house indicating that either a small plane had landed in our nonexistent backyard or a very obese air conditioning service man was trying to fix our unit.Then said service man came into the house to ask where the filter was so he could change it. I told him
such a dork 2007-08-08 23:07:00 Do you ever find yourself saying "It bugs me when..." or "One of my pet peeves is..." and then thinking Gee, I kinda say that a lot. Maybe I need to lighten up. Well, anyway. One of my pet peeves is when I go to a place that says "Open til Midnight" and I get there at 11 and I just got out of work and I'm starving and I have a lot to do and need some caffeine so I order a bagel, toasted, and a latte, but the bagel toaster is shut off for the night and the latte machine has already been cleaned so I have to settle for just nasty burned iced coffee and a stale sliced-but-not-toasted bagel instead and still have to pay the same amout I would pay for good food at 8 am.I mean, I know you want to go home. But if your sign says you're open til midnight then I should be able to get what I want until midnight. And if you have to stay til 1 am to close up afterwards, well, that's what you're getting paid for isn't it?Is it because not a lot of people come by for that sort of thing so late a
post secret 2007-08-12 19:09:00 Have you ever checked out Post Secret? That's the site where people send their deepest secrets--the ones they've never told anyone--and they get anonymously posted on the site. Sometimes they're happy secrets, but they're mostly sad (and then there are the ones I think/hope are just sent so they'll get posted). They make me want to find these people and hug them. But then, that would defeat the whole anonymous thing.New ones are posted every Sunday, and today's was in the form of a movie. Check it out: post secret
stop the world, i wanna get off 2007-08-17 18:02:00 New designer eyeglasses: $300Glitter paint for the girls: $5Realizing you just set your new glasses down in the girls' glitter glue art: pricelessAgh, I'm so stressed. Why can't I be one of those together moms who is, like, organized and on time and with it and on top of things?!! I'd kill to be one of those moms.Devy is starting Kindergarten in three weeks. THREE WEEKS. I haven't even registered her yet.I agreed to help out as co-coordinator for the nursery and 2s and 3s room at church a while back because--well, basically because I was asked to and I was too chicken to say no because I was afraid that if I got a reputation for not wanting to do the dirty jobs no one wanted to do, I'd never be trusted with the fun stuff I wanted to do. Now you're probably thinking that it's pretty arrogant of me to label the position a "dirty job" because it might be right up someone else's alley and you'd be totally right. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking that way when it came up. And I'm Read more:wanna
From the archives 2007-08-30 14:37:00 Because I'm too sore to think straight, here's "one from the vault" (and OMG if you get that reference? We are totally BFF). And I'll try to write a real post later:Is there anything quite so disappointing as when you get a craving for iced coffee and then you get some iced coffee and it's all burnt and bitter and nasty?! Then do you go back and ask for a new iced coffee?What if you were driving thru when you ordered it? Do you go to the nearest dunkies and say, Hi I bought this at the last Dunkies and it sucks so I would like another please? Or do you just open up a vein and stick the straw in so you get the caffeine without the nasty taste?Today I took Miss D. and Baby R. to McDonalds for lunch. We went to the one with the new playground as a reward for the girls' being so good on our errands this morning. I needed caffeine so I tried the new Newman's Own iced coffee and it was gross gross gross. Burnt and yucky. So I threw it out.Why did I do that? Isn't my money worth anythi
some random observations from the tragically unhip household 2007-09-18 21:48:00 It doesn't matter how many Zumba routines, kids' birthdays, song lyrics, gossip details, or job prodcedures I can memorize--if it is a dentist appointment, I will forget it.The fake cobwebs we put up for Halloween are competing with the ones the spiders left...and losing.It doesn't matter how long or hard I clean the house all week long--after a weekend of me working and the rest of the family home, it will just look like it did before.Just because a diaper is cheap doesn't mean you should buy it. In fact, diapers are one of those things you should really splurge on. Unless, y'know, you like cleaning up that kind of stuff. Freak.Babies can't digest corn.Goldfish crackers make good last-minute coating for homemade chicken nuggets.I feel guilty spending $30 on fuzzy warm boots I will wear all fall and winter, but it's way easy to spend the same amount on a Halloween costume my kid will wear once for about two hours.I seriously need to hire some 12-year-old kid to teach me how to u Read more:observations
people like me shouldn't blog, redux 2007-09-05 23:48:00 I posted this on my weight loss blog but thought I'd bring it over here too. It's two! Two! Two posts in one!Why do some people
just have to try to bring other people down? Are they SO miserable?That's it. I'm way too sensitive for this internet crap.I was on YouTube browsing through videos looking for choreography videos for Zumba class. There was this one chick who make a whole series of videos on how much Zumba sucks/is stupid/should tell people they look bad in tank tops before letting them up on stage. She was so mean! I couldn't help wondering what she was doing there if all she was going to do was make fun of people.Oh. You mean, like, maybe that is why she was there? Do people really suck that hard?Part of me really, really, wanted to comment and point out that she's no prize-winner herself. The better part of me argued that that would just make me like her. So I totally started a flame-war on her butt.OK, kidding. I kept my mouth shut.And then I commented on this other v
i wanna be feared and despised when i grow up! 2007-09-05 10:44:00 I had a dentist appointment this morning.The good news is, not only did I actually go, as opposed to the last two or three appointments that I skipped, but only once did I get poked in a place that sent me jumping out of my chair. I thought it was going to be much worse. I credit God for listening to my desperate prayers while squirming in the chair waiting to start. Thanks God, you're the Man.The bad news is, I have so many freaking cavities that the dentist's office has to call my insurance company to schedule the treatments. You know, so the insurace will cover them all? Yeah. That sucks.The other good news is I got a prescription for Valium! Real live Valium! Because if it takes me three or four tries to go in for a cleaning, just imagine how nauseous I get when the words "root" and "canal" come into play!Now I just have to get someone to take care of my kids all day so I can sedate myself before my Appointment with Hell.In other news...T-minus 24 minutes and counting until Devy Read more:wanna
colors of fall 2007-09-01 00:42:00 Signs that I am not ready to send the kids back to school:I'm bothering to blog about it.I still haven't bought school snacks because looking at anyting vaguely back-to-school related makes me all teary.I'm pouting as I write this.I refuse to go to sleep because when I wake up it will be one day closer to back-to-school and don't bother trying any of that "It's coming regardless of whether you sleep" logic crap.There are large amounts of things not normally found in the Tragically Unhip household such as Pop Tarts (which suddenly come in delish ice-cream-y flavors like mint chocolate chip and cookie dough) and expensive sugary brand-name cereals and Oreos and five cartons of ice cream (although one is actually a box of ice cream pops, so there) partly because I want to give my children special treats--and we don't usually use food as reward around here, not healthy, don'tcha know--and partially (OK, mostly) because I'm all emotional and eat-y.It isn't usually like this. Usuall
shut down orkut 2007-09-25 23:05:00 Hey y'all:There is this website called Orkut. I won't go into what it is but read up on what's going on with it here: click here and click hereAnd then click here to sign an online petition to get rid of it: petitionIt's about protecting our children, so please check it out.Thanks. Read more:shut down
time off 2007-09-25 13:17:00 So I just got back from my retreat this weekend, and I have just one word.Aaaaaahhhhhhh.I love my annual women's retreat. It comes right after the most hectic time of year at the Tragically Unhip household--right when summer is over and school starts and we're all trying to work out our new routines. Right around now is when I'm just about to go over the deep end--and then comes my weekend away.Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.So yeah. It was fun. We had a speaker, as usual, but this time it was my favorite speaker so far, Priscilla Shirer of Going Beyond Ministries. She spoke the first time I went to this particular retreat too, three years ago. She's a very engaging speaker--nothing is worse than a speaker who has a good message to give but who loses the message through a haze of too-quiet mumbling and foot shuffling. So yeah, she's good. I want to check out one of her bible studies sometime.There was so much other stuff to do. I climbed a huge new rock wall and almost got to the top of the ha
quick post 2007-09-24 10:22:00 I have a lot to write about--I just had a blast at my weekend retreat--but for here's something to tide you over until I get back from the bus stop with Devy.
2007-10-01 23:57:00 It's almost one in the morning. I was just lying in bed, completely unable to sleep. It might be all the things I have to do, circling around in my head.Or...it could be that Diet Rockstar I drank a few hours back. Hm...maybe.So while I was lying in bed for some reason I was thinking about my j-o-b. You know, the one I can't mention online under penalty of death.I was thinking specifically about people who get paid a straight salary or hourly wage, as opposed to people who work for comission.See, my company pays us REALLY good money to do what we do. It's ridiculous how much money we make, really. Not that I'm complaining! See, I make the same amount of money whether I'm working my rear end off trying to make mucho dinero for the company, or sitting around making photocopies.That makes me a happy employee (I like my easy job, and I'm well paid!) and a competent employee (I've been there forever because they pay me too well to leave!) and it makes the customers happy because they
2007-10-16 11:57:00 I'm in geek heaven because November 1 (which is only 16 days away, people!) marks the start of NaNoWriMo, or, National Novel Writing Month.For those of you not in the know, NaNoWriMo is an opportunity for literary-minded people to write a 50,000-word novel. So those of you who have always said, "One day...one day I'll write a novel!" can now put an end to the "one days".The writing is fast-paced and crazy, which is great for people (like me) who tend to over-analyze to death the stuff they've written. See, when you only have a month to finish your novel (that's 1667 words a day, people!) you don't have time to sit back and criticize yourself!So pick up a pen and a ream of paper, or set up your computer somewhere where there is easy access to the coffee maker and the bathroom. Lock the door. Count down to 12:00:01am, November 1 and start writing until your hands hurt.Then meet me at the local coffeeshop. Preferably one with free wifi. For, you know, email breaks.I'll be the redhea
pretty pretty links 2007-10-25 13:58:00 Hi, remember me!OK, first thing's first. I would like to say:GO SOX!!!ok, got that out of my system. ;)Hm...what else to write about? I've been kind of in a funk lately, which is why you haven't heard from me. I don't know what it is--I love fall, it is my very favorite time of year--but I think I am just overwhelmed, trying to juggle everything. So what better way than to deal with everything but to stay in bed late, not leave the house, and only shower when the kids complain?OK, OK, kidding. I do try to shower once a week, at least. ;)No really though--I've taken on too much stuff and I can't keep all these balls in the air. Got to learn to say no! And a several of my "things" keep me in close working relationship with people I don't like very much, which is stressful. Grr.What I need is to get off my behind. Get organized. Get de-cluttered. Clean my dang house. I can't drop any of the balls neatly until the end of the school year so I just have to keep up and, God help me, Read more:links
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