Recap

Ok, so I've been out for a while. It's been beyond crazy at the house with so much going on. Due to all the excitement, my blog has taken a backseat. Err- trunk seat. Alright, so it's been more like I duct-taped it's non-existent legs together, threw it in the trunk, and left the car in the desert. My bad.

So, to recap for all of you who haven't been informed, the last moth has consisted of the following:

I started back into school (online classes), and found a not-so-pretty virus in my pc two days before class started. The virus spread to my laptop, completely erasing all of my photos. (When will I learn to make back-up copies?)

School started with a bang, and with little disappointment in how much work is assigned.

Dylan also started his first year of school. During his first couple days, I hid under the covers of my bed with a bottle of vodka, some heroin, a pack of Lucky's, and a life alert necklace. After seeing him return from school each day without gunshot wounds, I quickly warmed to the thought of having one child in school while the other took his afternoon nap. Three blissful hours of silence have done wonders to my brain. What do I do? Whatever the hell I want. I got a sun tan today, thankyouverymuch.

He's been doing well at school, but the one-hour home bus ride seems to let Dylan's wild side loose. He has already been banned from sitting next to his best friend on the bus, and can no longer sit in the back. Since those changes have been made, there haven't been any more problems.


Also newsworthy- I went out with a two girlfriends for the night, sans Mark for the first time since having kids. YIKES! Not such a good idea, I found out at the end of the night.... and many snakebites and jager bombs. After my one friend and I stumbled out of a local bar, the other friend noticed that two cops were coming towards us in the parking lot. The police focused all their attention on me (since I'm so stunning), and proceded to run my license- even though I didn't drive, have no valid license (due to the seizures), and wasn't doing anything wrong besides acting like a skipping ADD school kid through the parking lot. Words were exchanged, and they wanted to take me in for public intoxication. Here was the conversation:

Cop: Miss, you appear to be intoxicated.
Me: Nope, sir, I think you are confuuuuuuused. I am f%^& trashed. HAHAHAHA!
Cop: Okay, so let's get you settled into the cruiser, and we'll take you down to the station where you can sober up.
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Thanks to the grace of God, some jackass drove a million miles per hour right past us. The two cops decided that was more important, and allowed me to be driven home by our very sober (and annoyed at this point) designated driver.


In our local accident reports, one of our friends walked away with only a cut lip after rolling his truck.


So that's it, in a nutshell. Lots of big things happening in one small amount of time. I'm making a better attempt to update now. I promise. Really...no, really. It's not you, it's me.

I Have to Wash My Hair

No good pictures or updates for a few more days. Instead, I will leave you with a brilliant quote:

"My mum used to say to me, 'you can't have
fun all the time,' and I used to say, 'why not?'.
Why the fuck can't I have fun all the time?"
-Kate Moss

A +

So far, so good. I've been good. Really, I have. Nothing stressful whatsoever. I've been keeping busy by taking pictures, becoming an astronaut, and finding new ways to embarrass my kids when they grow up. Sorry- seriously, this has been my week.

Hors d'oeuvres

Stay tuned- I'm in a blogger slump, and can't think of anything nice to say. The vegetable dip is out, help yourselves.

Hey, robots- read my human lips:

This is the warning I received this morning by blog*spot:

WARNING: This blog has been locked by Blogger's spam-prevention robots. You will not be able to publish your posts, but you will be able to save them as drafts.

Save your post as a draft or click here for more about what's going on and how to get your blog unlocked.

(Obviously I removed the link to click on)

Blocked?! Spam?! Robots?! George W. Bush?!!! I think some robot is jealous of my sexy brain, and is trying to shut me down. Seriously, blog*spot, you need to control your bitches. (As you all can see, I have since been unblocked to carry on with my apparent spamming of people's minds)

As best said by Jack Woltz in the Godfather I: "Now you listen to me, you smooth talking son-of-a-bitch. Let me lay it on the line for you and your boss, whoever he is."

So sorry

I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I have been unexpectedly consumed by work and school work. Work isn't bad because it's been steady, predictable. School, on the other hand, has been crazy.

I am enrolled in three classes now. All are online. I am in Interpersonal Communications, Marketing, and a Mentoring class.

My Interpersonal Communications class has been controversial. Our instructor posts questions on a discussion board and encourages us to respond, and then reply to other's posts. The first controversial question somehow (you know how things go) ended up into immigration. While I believe that every human being wants to somehow improve their lives, and live to the best of their ability, some people disagreed with me. Fine. Disagree, I don't mind someone with a different opinion.

My problem came when someone said "Why do they (Mexicans) need to come to our country anyway? If they don't like it, they should stay in their own country and fix it. Megan's law came about when the little girl's mom worked hard enough for it." I cannot (CANNOT) stand ignorance. Someone who has no idea of the lives of other countries governments and infrastructures should not assume that things can just be fixed. And what the hell does Megan's Law have to do with it?

This week, another question posted by the instructor- What should we do about holidays and schools? I think that giving each child a set amount of vacation days per year sounds like a good idea. Well, the woman from the previous spat sought me out and make fun of my ideas. She attempted to ridicule and belittle my thought. She made horribly snide remarks to others about me. I feel like I'm back in high school.

OK, my Marketing class isn't anywhere as emotionally charged as the COMM course, but aggravating nonetheless. It is the class where I have to (this sounds arrogant) put up with people who cannot write in complete sentences. They say things like "lolz!!! OMG! Roflmfao!" Need I say more? In addition, my instructor puts into "groups" to do collective projects. I am always doing all of the work so that my grade won't suffer for it. When I talked to the instructor about this, she said that it was a situation which happens in real life, so I should learn how to deal with it. WTF?! LOLZ! OMG!

Finally, Mentoring... I read a book "Purple Cow" to write a book summary for the semester project. The book is complete garbage. I should write exactly that....repeatedly on 4-5 pages, double-spaced, with one inch margins on all sides and hand it in.

Don't get the wrong impression, good things have been going on as well. Mark and I are going on a trip in a couple weeks to the New York Wineries. I pulled Dylan out of preschool because he was bored and learning nothing, so I have been able to spend more time with him. He will be going to kindergarten this coming fall, so I am relishing in this time. I went to an art opening for a man named "Chris Rainier" who is a photographer for National Geographic. He worked as an assistant for Ansel Adams. OMG! LOLZ! His show was titled "Ancient Marks." It was all about tattoos. It was nothing less than inspiring. A local newspaper was there to take pictures for their article, and lucky me was in one of the pictures in today's paper. Yeah, I looked good. I'm so glad I wore the red peep-toe shoes. It elongated my legs. Hey, this is MY blog. It's always all about me. Right?!

Random thought s which have occupied too much valuable brain power lately: Cereal. I have been obsessing over the marketing that has gone into cereal. Damn school...makes me think about things. Target markets, marketing segments, multi-market segments, demographics, "Purple Cows," etc.

Also- American Idol. Yes, I am one of those people. I watch and laugh, but I can't carry a tune. Tonight I was going to pick up pizza, and in the car (sans children) sang Mr. Big's "Be With You" very loudly, and very very poorly. It was so bad that at one point, I was laughing at my own singing. Bad.

Anyway, this post surely makes up for my negligence. I'll try to be better this week. LOLZ! OMG!

Quick Update

It has been a while since I posted, but understand that it's not you. It's me. Seriously though, I have been trying to get the house, family, and clothes in order for the giant holiday spectacular.

I have just registered for classes in the spring at my college. I was told that because of my grades, I may take the classes in the comfort of my own home, via the internet. Sweet.

Tomorrow night, very exciting news- I have HIRED A BABYSITTER! (GASP!) My brother in law turned 21, and Saturday night is when the whole family and all of our friends will crowd on a rented bus and go bar hopping (ahem- again). The babysitter will be here once the kids have gone to sleep. I did tell Dylan, just in case he wakes up to a stranger in the house. Then, turkey day is coming up, and although I won't be hosting a dinner, I'll be bringing food to the ones we are attending. Directly after Thanksgiving is Jordan's birthday.

Most bloggers are taking some time off as well, so I am following the pack. At least for a few more days.

Special Edition: Decision 2006

I thought that the interactive modules were slowing down the blog. So, I created a poll for everyone to vote for the module that they chose was least liked. After all of the negative campaigning from all of the interactive modules, things got sketchy. (No, not really, but it makes the entry sound good). The results are in, and after a whopping 8 votes (cough, sarcasm) the people have spoken. I will be keeping all the interactive modules, and holding the option to add more.

I hope more of you will make it out to vote today for the election spectacular. Although I would want a democratic majority to come out of this vote, I just want to see people vote. Happy Election Day. (Subliminal message: vote Democrat)

Pick one

The blog is taking too long to load anymore. Help me decide on what needs to go. Take my quiz.

Which interactive module should Sarah get rid of?

• 
  
  The clock. I don't need to know what time it is where you are.


• 
  
  Today's Reason to Drink. I need a reason?! Last time I checked I didn't.


• 
  
  The weather. I don't care about your weather. I have weather of my own to worry about.


• 
  
  Washington, the pink monkey. Even though I can grab his little head and violently shake him about, he is not necessary.


• 
  
  Gullible info. Hey, if I need to know useless information, I will decide when and where I do that. What, are you my mom or something?


• 
  
  Bush quotes. Although it refreshes with new quotes on each page load, I do not need to be reminded of this dolt.


• 
  
  The photoshow. I hate you so much that I want to take away the only meaningful thing on your blog. Jerk. Take a picture of that, Ansel.


• 
  
  Nothing. I want it all. 24/7. In fact, why not add more crap?

view results

Wipe your feet, you animals!

Pretty, isn't she? I was growing increasingly bored of my template, (and on a Halloween candy sugar rush) so I went in search for a newer, prettier, more interactive template. I've left the links for the template designer on the bottom. Check them out if you're bored and/or graphic design retarded.

The pull string above needs to be pulled twice in order to open the menu when I'm using my laptop, but my desktop doesn't seem to have any problems. I've checked it in both Mozilla and Internet Explorer, and besides the irregular layout (which was normal before), everything seems to be in check.

If anyone finds something askew, let me know. Some menu items are above, some are on the itty bottom. I figured that anyone coming here is pretty much a regular at this point, and gets the main drift. I didn't put everything back on this blog. Give it time though. It'll get crowded soon.

So, thumbs up or down?

UPDATE:
**So, yeah- scratch everything I just posted. By the end of the afternoon, I hated the template. Commenting was a pain, the screen flickered, it was slow.... So, hold tight while I search for a new look.**

Low Maintenance

Monty got a pet. Sarah got jealous. Sarah got a pet. Go ahead, click on him to see his tricks.

Uhhh, hello? Is this thing on?

Seeing that I haven't blogged all week, I will consider the week a complete loss and start back up on Monday. Lots going on this weekend, so I should have something to say by then. Until then, have a spooky good Friday the 13th.

It's Friday already?

Sorry about the lack of updates this week. I can't seem to peel the camera off of my eye.

I've just joined a well known area photography club which has an exhibit at an art gallery tonight, and is holding another next month. I am planning on entering some pictures for the show, and want to make sure that I have enough pictures to pick from.

I don't know what I will hear from the jurors in the show, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

Miscellaneous piece of information- Dylan's new favorite song is Michael Jackson's "Bad." We heard it on the radio this morning, and with its lack of sophistication, Dylan was singing along to it in no time. Now all I've been hearing today is "I'm bad, I'm bad. Really really bad. Who's bad?" (include jazz hands.)

It's the new blog smell

You may have noticed something different here. I spent hours (literally) trying to figure out this html crap to change colors, fonts, etc. When I finally accomplished that task, I noticed that Blogger has a beta version.

Wow! Eager as ever to jump into something shinier, I packed up my stuff and headed to beta. No need to change bookmarks or anything. The change is really "on the inside."

Very hush hush.

It's just some changes on my end to help make things easier (in the long run) to blog. They have also added a couple new templates (this is not one of them). If you use blogger, you may want to check out the new features. If you are a reader- just enjoy the pretty colors that I worked very hard to bring to you.

Third door on the left

A blogger search led one person from Hicksville, New York to my blog.

No, I did not make that up.

Here are the exact search words: "i unfortunately had to poop bathroom"

Yep.

Multiple choice

Sorry about the lack of posts. There are valid reasons why I haven't posted.

1. migraines
2. death in the family
3. laziness
4. computer malfunction
5. brain malfunction
6. husband malfunction
7. taxes
8. Petty the horse ran away
9. can't think of anything good to say
10. I've been cleaning poop

Now, out of those ten, three aren't true. Which three, I'll leave to you guess.

Flickr and Blogspot

I love the both of them, but it has been nothing short of torture bringing the two together in harmony. Please be patient as I arrange, rearrange, delete, and blow up parts of this blog.

Speak up, would ya?

I am wondering how well (if at all) anyone can see my Flickr photo album at the top. I am able to view it using Firefox, but not with Internet Explorer. I don't know if it's just my computer, or if the same applies to everyone else. Any feedback would be helpful.

Recess

The weather has been nothing short of amazing. The crisp January mornings have been a perfect start to our increasingly busy days. Dylan is finally old enough to skip his afternoon naps and still act like he is part of the same species; so my afternoons are reserved for The Dylan, as Jordan sleeps soundly upstairs. Since Jordan's transformation to a normal child of one year, I cannot seem to get enough of him. I think he feels the same.

For these reasons, I need to take a weeks hiatus, or hibernation (depends on the weather) to etch these times to my memory. I fear that it's going too fast.

So, feel free to come in and make yourself a nice cup of tea. There should be a couple of Christmas cookies in the freezer, eat them up, you're looking too skinny. Leave your dishes in the sink-I won't be long.

So We Understand Each Other....

My sister, Lauren, is on her way at long last. She is slowly making her way home. What does this mean to the family? They will no longer have anything exotic to read.

You see, Lauren is the traveler. I am not. I do not like to live anywhere but on this farm. Lauren has provided entertaining posts for the family through her journeys in Asia. Each time I speak with a family member, Lauren's incredible blog is normally the topic of conversation.

She has done a beautiful job writing her experiences as only she could do. She has a knack for writing as you can see. She also has quite the photographic eye. Her pictures allow her stories to sing. I know she wants to continue her blog when she returns, but I highly doubt she will.

So, I need to step it up a bit. As I see it, Lauren's blog is a beautiful, silk kimono, while mine is merely the new embellished pair of khakis from Old Navy.

**After checking my email, my mother informed me of my brother, Todd's, trip to NYC, and his incredible pictures of his gorgeous wife and children. That's it! I'm bringing my camera with me to the supermarket tonight. Take that, you guys! I wonder what type of clothing I should classify him as.

(Credits: kimono picture; khaki picture)