Do you ever have those DAYs where you can’t even look in the mirror because you feel blah, like a giant mish mash of nasty?  You avoid confronting yourself because you just don’t feel put together??  Those days are the ones that are just plain dismal, and really the only way to draw yourself out of the funk is to go back to bed and start over.  Am I right??  We’ve ALL been there, admit it or not.

Well, that’s pretty much how I’ve felt about my blog.  I know what I want it to be, and I can’t seem to manage to get myself there.  Granted, I’m not ready to put money into making it the way I’d like, and I don’t have any fancy programs to make cutsie themes and layouts so I needed to make due with what I had.  I was so eager to start blogging neary a WHOLE YEAR ago that I just jumped on the first thing I saw.  Thank you WordPress.  Well, here we go – here’s the “it’s not you WordPress, it’s me” speech.  I think it’s time we moved on.

So I’m pleased to announce that starting MONDAY I will be posting more regularly at my new space.  Ready, got your pen and paper handy?…..

www.handcuffsandhighchairs.blogspot.com

The title is so much more our life and I feel like this blog has evolved into more of a family type blog rather than a girl talk kind of thing – which was where I was originally headed.  Hey life takes turns you gotta flow with it.  I haven’t posted anything over there yet, I’ve been waiting for you guys before I do, but I can’t wait to get started.

I’m sure I’ll lose some people, but it’s not like Totally Bananas was a cult following – most of you are good friends, and I trust you’ll find me again if you misplace the napkin you just wrote the address on.

Oh Boy – I’ve been busy.  There is going to be some big news coming to the blog front.  Well, this blog anyway.

Stay tuned!!!!  I know you can hardly wait!

5.  I gave my husband a list of 5 or 6 lights at Lowes to replace the one over our kitchen table – he did NOT chose to buy one of my selections but instead purchased one that is 2 feet wide.    Which he will end up returning later this evening when he discovers, yet again, that listening to me in the first place saves alot of time and energy.  I love him anyway.

4. The high temperature for today is 8 degrees.

3. Not one of us (except the one that went to work) has gotten out of our jammies.

2. I took James to the museum yesterday and completely forgot he only had undies on.  Thankfully they had a stock of pull-ups in the bathroom.  Phew – oh no accident to report either – it’d be awful chill-ay with  soggy drawers.

1. I can’t fathom how someone can continue to believe that there is no God after yesterdays events.  God can move a mountain and land a plane in the most ominous circumstances.  He simply decided that it wasn’t time for any of those people to be called home.  Miracles do happen!!!

Wishful Thinking – since the high over the next few days isn’t supposed to get above 15 degrees, we are dreaming of warmer times!

For more WW click here.

So I mentioned yesterday that my beloved 24 is taking a plot twist that I just couldn’t handle.  Tony Almieda, one of the major ‘good guys’, had switched sides and was the terrorist at large this season.  Well, rest assured, he’s the villan but only because he’s under cover!  I KNEW IT COULDN’T BE TRUE!  I am however a little disappointed that Tony, Chloe, and Bill Buchannan have gone beyond the government and set up their own CTU operation.  Seems like it can’t end up well for them – but I guess thats what keeps us all watching.  I wanted to jump into the TV and tell Jack to stay out of it, but as usual, he doesn’t listen to me.  Typical man.

There are an awful lot of people involved in this seasons terror plot – which creates it’s own sub plot.  Money laundering, killing off people who know too much, secure concrete rooms…….  ohhh boy!  Jack got into his first major sting/shoot out last night.  That means 2 things: 1. A new season is officially underway and 2. He is no longer going to be clean shaven and in the nice oxford shirt and tie – out comes the leather messenger bag and there will forever be sweat on him and a scratch somewhere.  I LOVE this show!!!!!

Did anyone watch the Golden Globes???  ….

-

Yah, me either.

I was busy watching my long awaited season premier of 24.  It’s been 2 years in the making, thank you writer’s strike.  So I watched the “Redemption” special that was on a few weeks ago, and then again last week.  I have to say that I’m not really a fan of anything that involves terror and children – and this Juma guy recruiting all these little boys to be soldiers didn’t sit well.  That seemed to be a big theme in the “Redemption” episode, so I held my breath for the rest of the season.  As it turns out, it is really not based on that at all, and to be honest it wasn’t even mentioned in the premier at all I don’t  think. 

So I’m allowing myself to watch.  I, however, do want to make it know that I absolutely do NOT like the fact that Tony Almieda is the terrorist at large this season.  I’d like to say that I feel the same way about Tony as Jack does – but probably more in a girl/hot guy sorta way.  I can’t handle him being the bad guy.  Anyway, he’s supposed to be DEAD!  I cried when he died, I went through the grieving process – sorrow, anger, denial…. and finally during the past  nearly 2 years, I made my peace with it.  And What? Now he’s alive??  And he’s gone rogue??  Nope, can’t do it!  Cannot wrap my head around that one!  We shall see what tonight brings!!  Hopefully no plane crashes either (I got real scared last night!) those rate right up there with the children in war…. not good!

We interrupt this blog to remind you all…

Please, Please…

SAY NO TO CRACK!

If that wasn’t enough, try this one….

Our neighbor across the street was having his front door painted, and the boys loved watching it.  That is until I saw that this gentleman’s pants had quite the fear of heights.

So here I sit looking out my kitchen window and all I can is a layer of ice covering everything but the inside of my house.  The high today is supposed to reach about 25 degrees.  This makes me think about moving….. south ……..way south………… like Key West or Brazil.  Every year I hate it, and every year I complain so today, I’m looking at all the positives of the cold weather and snow.  Ready, this very well may be the shortest post ever.

5. Snow is beautiful.  I love the trees with a fresh covering of snow on them.  It’s straight out of a Currier and Ives picture.

…that same snow on the trees weighs down the branches so they fall on power lines and we loose power for a week.  No power means no heat.  And it’s cold.

4. Ice skating is fun, lots and lots of fun.  I grew up on a lake and that was just what everyone did.  The boys played hockey and the girls skated around and talked about the boys.

…ice skating hurts after you reach age 24.  And falling hurts at any age.  And it’s cold.

3. Cozy sweaters.  I love to get all bundled up in front of a fire with some comfort food and a Lifetime movie.

…can’t exactly do that with 2 boys, and it’s probably wrong to hire a sitter so I can sit in another room and get fat. But it’s cold.

2. Sledding.  Our boys have discovered in the last week or so that sledding and snow angels are loads of fun.

… 2 small boys + 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of snow pants, 2 pairs of boots, 2 sets of mittens, 2 jackets, 2 hats – and then dress yourself before one of them passes out from the heat.  You’re lucky if you get outside before nap time the next day.  All that because it’s COLD

And the #1 reason why I LOVE winter in New England….. *insert drum roll*

1. When you find an old sippy cup in your car, you don’t need to be afraid to open it because it’s been in a glorified refrigerator the whole time!

….because IT’S COLD!

Do you think they know how much we love them??  Or is it something that they will never know the scope of until they have children of their own?  Do they have any clue how much we revel in their simply being themselves every day.  How I wish that there was more time to soak up their personalities.  Do they know that we wish that we could video tape every single second of every single day so that we will never forget anything.

Do you think he knows that a little piece of my heart broke when I signed him up for pre-school for this fall yesterday?  It means he’s growing up, like he should, but he’s becoming such a big boy and a little bit less of my baby.  Do you think he realizes that he hasn’t had a birthday party yet because his mommy doesn’t want him to be 3 yet? 

Do you think he knows what is going to happen as soon as his daddy pushes that sled down the hill?  Do you think he knows that we love him more than all the stars in the sky, and he will always and forever be our little baby?  No matter what he does in life, we will always be right behind him.  Does he know that 6am is very early, but I absolutely love our quiet time together each morning?  Or that I love the smell of his hair after a bath, or that I don’t mind if he still takes a bottle when he’s 12?

Do you think he knows how badly I want to put chapstick on his lips?  I know they hurt, he tells me they do, but he insists on wiping off whatever we put on them.  Does he know that I put Aquaphor on his sippies in a lame attempt to get something on them?  Does he know that I admire his strong will and his determination to have things the way he wants them.

Do you think he knows that when this boo boo happened last night, my heart stopped beating for about 2 minutes?  Does he know that whatever pain he was in, I hurt 10 times more because I couldn’t make it all better?  Do you think he knows that I didn’t want to wake him up every hour last night as much as he didn’t want to be woken up -but the Dr. said to?  Does he know that throughout his entire life I want to be there to catch him every time he falls – physically or otherwise ? 

Do you think they know that we would go to the ends of the earth so that they never have to experience one second of pain or hurt??

Do you think they know just how much they have changed our lives for the better??

Do you think they know exactly how much we love them???

I hope they do.

Whew – the holiday whirlwind is finally over with the small exceptions of a few people that we still need to get together with, but the bulk of the mayhem is behind us.  It’s so bittersweet.  I love love love the holidays especially now that I get to see it through the eyes of my boys and that is so much more fun than one could ever imagine.  But, on the other hand, I’m a homebody and I really don’t like the craziness that goes along with seeing people only at this specific time every year.  So while I hate to see the fun of it all end, I’m exhausted!

So all that being said, my creative bone is in hibernation and I’m stealing a post from Tasha’s blog.  She did a video blog, and you’ll thank me for not doing that because well, I’m in my jammies and a little freaky right now (oh what, it’s quarter till 2, don’t judge me – my husband’s working a double, the Jehovah’s witnesses have already been here,  honestly, who do I have to impress??) – back on point… she did a video blog about things that bug her.  So to get out all my negativity (HAHA) early this year instead of saving it for Festivus like I usually do I’m going let it all fly right now.  Please don’t get offended, I mean nothing personal by any of this.  (oh and Tasha, my husband ’and whatnot’s’ in every other sentence he says.  I never noticed until now – thanks!!) Get ready….

1.   Again, with the offending anyone business… I’m really bugged by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Not in general, hear me out.  This one couple of ladies came by a few weeks ago, mid-morning mid-week clearly to catch all the stay-at-home mom’s desperate for adult conversation in the neighborhood ( The normal routine of ducking down below the windows and pretending to not be home until the coast is clear gets the shaft when there’s a handfull of rowdy toddlers to out you).  So I answer the door and they go into their business and hand me a tract – fine I don’t mind (much) I can be respectful of their time and their endeavor.  But today, they came back.  She reviewed what she went over with me and wanted to give me more literature.  I proceeded to tell her that we were members of a church already, and we really don’t have any questions about what happens when we die or what the purpose for the Earth is.  I saved the fact that I spent 13 years in a Christian school and by 3rd grade had memorized every piece of Scripture that she was tossing at me.  She wouldn’t let it go, my 3 year old was calling me, Aiden was crying, and this woman wouldn’t stop going through her little booklet – which she finally generously gave to me (oh THANK YOU!) but it was obvious that this wasn’t a good time, I had an irritated look, but she wouldn’t take the hint.  So I started talking and closing the door and finally she got it.  I just have a hard time with people trying to sell me their religion.  I would share the Gospel with anyone that I felt was open to it, but honestly I think it is more of a turn off when it is pushed at someone and they have no way out other than to be blunt and rude.

2. The holiday obligations.  The business of buying a fabulous obligatory gift for someone that you will neither see nor talk to for the next 364 days.  What’s even better is when you don’t see those people at all because your kids have a bedtime, so you leave the gift at a dinner party and now haven’t seen or talked to them in 2 years but will certainly be expected to buy a gift again next year.  These are the people that you probably wouldn’t even send a Christmas card to in normal circumstances – but because somewhere along the way you got a gift from them or they got one from you, you are now locked in for life because no one wants to cut the gift ties.

2b. The obligation to be in 8 places at once.  Ok, 8 is a bit of a stretch, but on Christmas eve I am expected (expected is the correct word) to be in 3 places at the exact same time.  I have finagled one to be earlier in the day and I think it is just wrong that “home” is last on the list.  So this year it got bumped to #2, and I never made it to stop #3.  Sorry.  But my boys putting out reindeer food was much more important than a dusty gift basket from someone that I haven’t seen in years.

Ok, that’s about it.  I think I’ve chewed your eyes out long enough.  There are other things but I’ll save my continued tirade for another day.  

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday.  I’ll give the run down and pictues later.