Your dreams are only a monthly payment away...

I have been really working a lot lately, and Todd asked if I would go to a time share presentation with him for a few hours...his reasoning...

#1 We would get a free breakfast in Celebration.
#2 We would get $100 visa gift card
#3 We would get a 4 night/3 day Daytona Beach vacation
#4 I have never experienced this before, and I needed to.
#5 He wanted to brush up on his sales tactics.

Well off we went with Brett in tow! I felt sorry for the schmuck that would end up trying to sell to us. We are the toughest people to convince to do anything if we don't want to do it. Nothing works on us. Ask our kids..they know 1st hand. :) We had a great breakfast at Celebration and the realtor lady was very nice. We did have a couple of short stops where we got out of the car a few times, and this was irritating Brett. He said to the realtor, "Hey, lady, you are driving us crazy!" All of us including the realtor was laughing. Then after showing us the condo--it was time to try to sell it to us. Todd and I decided to do the good cop/bad cop routine. I would be wanting to buy it, but my mean husband would not let me...Basically, the condo timeshare started out at 30k $657 a month. Todd got them down to $5957.00 by merely saying, "no". I don't know how these people can sleep at night they really tried to guilt us into buying this! If you know me "guilt" does not convince me to do anything rather I get angry that someone is trying to manipulate me. I don't manipulate well...We received our visa cards and vacation as agreed. I have decided that this is more lucrative than giving blood for money, and a great way to earn some awesome Christmas gifts! Hee Hee. Pictures are from after our adventure at the Lake Toho/St Cloud Lakefront--one of our favorite spots! Bretty got tired really fast!

Please watch

Rorschach Evaluation--Anyone?

Well, Brett brought home some fascinating works of art from pre-k. My first inclination was to secretly toss them away. Ok, at this point, some sappy Mommy reading this is crying her eyes out with her hand on the phone ready to dial child services for the heartless act I was contemplating. People...hello! I learned long ago only to save a few examples from each grade. No, I have no clue where all my teenage kids baby teeth are--I have them, but I don't know if they are Nessa's or Adrien's. I will say that their baby books are filled out--I did that two years ago :) so there! Does my blatant disregard for their doodlings, old teeth, and baby books mean I love my kids any less? No, it actually testifies to how much I do love them. Instead of taking time doing all that stuff I played with my kids. I went places with them. Well, anyway, what do you guys think these inkblots look like? Now, Freud has his ideas...Rorschach his ideas...and Brett has his own ideas, too. Let us analyze you! Answers will be posted later.

We Will Not Forget...? I will not forget...

I remember that day very clearly...my boyfriend, Todd, and I were supposed to be on a flight from Oakland to Orlando. We did not even make it to the airport. Through the sadness I did feel united with other Americans. I don't think people remember that feeling anymore. Nutty conspiracy theorists and the main stream media have stolen that away or did we quietly give it away? I take comfort in remembering thousands of American flags flown or draped proudly in a united, patriotic spirit. Songs were written about being an American. Our President acted swiftly and firmly to the heinous act committed on our soil. President Bush has kept us safe the past seven years, and remains a man of integrity. A man of his word. I respect him.

A Masterpiece and a Master

I was at our annual 4 day teacher's conference this past week. It was awesome! When I got home Todd told me that Brett brought home his first piece of artwork. Bretty proudly showed me his "art". Expecting an elaborate answer to what this fine piece represented to him and the "artsy fartsy" people of the world...he gave me an incredulous look, rolled his eyes a bit, sighed heavily and said, "Mom, it is just "Brown"..that is it mom, just brown." I am smelling a Picasso or better yet a Monet!.....I may sell it on Ebay......
The other picture is me with Erin Gruwell, master teacher. Erin is the teacher featured in the motion picture, "Freedom Writers." She is an inspiration. I got the chance to chat with her after her keynote address...the rest of the teacher's went to some "classes"-- bleh! Erin had nearly all 700 teachers in tears after her speech..she spoke of her foundation and the students she taught in Wilson High School in the inner recesses of Long Beach. I want to do that! One day....maybe I just might. We also talked about my Mom and Grandma's experience in a concentration camp. She said that I needed to write about it to preserve it for my kids..maybe I just might. I learned more at that conference than I ever anticipated.

Lazy Labor Day

Nahhh, these guys were not asleep most of the day today! I issued an executive order #132.. Mission: Garage Cleaning. Funny how everyone disappears when one of these babies is launched!
Well, the garage did get cleaned. I kept hearing, "Oh, there is my Dance Revolution mat", "My Tiger Woods cereal boxes!!" (guess who that is) and "My Wace caws (race cars) are write herah (right hear)"....notice none of MY crap is ever missing...uh huh....We rotated the food storage--exciting stuff, my peeps! We also discovered, to our dismay, a small leak from the roof where the garage meets the house (HEAVY SIGH). Why did we stop renting???? Well my babies were all tuckered out, y'all! They had themselves a nice nap! Last picture was snapped by Nessa...Brett managed to drag a stool over to the kitchen island, fully stand up on it, and grab some Ho Ho's --his favorite treat. He stuffs both in his mouth at the same time, so his does not miss any of the flavor...Have a great Labor Day..Oh ....work tomorrow! Blech!