We had a blast hangin' out with Dave & Amy, Tara & Ray and all the little kidlets! For the record, I have mad cow racing skills (ha ha...mad cow!) but my bowling leaves a little something to be desired (and my shooting, and tennis, and fishing, and log jumping...but I'm one heck of a cow racer)!
We girls got to sneak away for a fancy evening at the OG! The waiter shamelessly flirted with Tara while she obsessively tried to wipe away her cataracts (poor girl...everything looks like a bad 80's rock video!), Amy snuck mints off the floor, and I stowed my wallet in the equivalent of a mommy sea bag...can you believe that kind of behavior at a fancy place like the OG!!! Shameful!
Now my family *needs* a Wii, a 52" TV, and bunk beds! To quote the fab. Miss L "They're drivin' me nuts!"
Z has early release all week which is really cutting into my Disney research time! I'm obsessed, and pretty sure I will be able to write a book when I am done (Poor Amy! Poor, Poor Amy & her inbox full o' my Disney Obsession!) Did you guys all know that in addition to the free and discount tickets they are also offering 40% the nightly rate at Disney resorts??? We are staying at the Grand Floridian which is normally 475 a night for only 270! Sweet! (really wanted Wilderness Lodge, but Amy has magical powers and sometimes she uses them for evil...don't get on her bad side!) Some of the Disney resorts are as cheap as $56 a night with the discount...that's Disney for the price of Motel 6!
It's been in the 20's or below all week, and still no snow...no fair! I am going to have to resort to doing a snow dance soon, this is getting ridiculous!
We are selling Girl Scout cookies if anyone is interested!

So there is not much going on in Monkeybug land this week.
We joined a new gym, and I'm happy to have a couple hours to myself every morning now! Even if it is spent feeling like I will surely die at any moment, and being completely bewildered at where in the holy heck all of that jiggling is coming from??? Surely it couldn't be my backside??? I mean, I didn't eat that many cookies did I??? Oh Crap!
We are really excited about going to Disney World in April! We were not planning on going until next year, but with no guarantee that the offer will be extended beyond '09, we thought we better just go while it was cheap! I am a little worried that it's going to end up being the week that Z's class is heading to the White House. (they don't have specific dates yet, we just know it will be sometime in March or April) I would be really bummed if she missed that, but I guess we will have to take our chances. I was surprised that they do background checks on all of the kids (the white house, not Mickey and crew)! I guess you have to watch out for those pesky terrorist tots!


Speaking of the White House, everyone around here is gearing up for the Inauguration. Hotel rooms are booked all they way to Richmond Va. and people are renting out floor space in there living rooms for crazy amounts of money. Bill and I considered renting out our spare room (probably against housing rules) because we could get a lot of money (we are only about 15 minutes from the metro station that takes you to DC) but we are way too chicken to let a stranger stay at our house! If any of you want to come "witness History" (Lord, I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard that in the last few weeks!) you are welcome to it!

We get to go to Medieval Times on Friday! Yay, skinny white nerds with fake swords!! Housing hosts an event every month for their residents (housing is privatized here) and this month they are giving us free tickets, a $200 value for a family of four! We went once before and it was a lot of fun (foods not so great, but whatever) and the kids are really looking forward to it.
I finished reading the Poison Study book. (and magic study too) It was actually really good, so thanks Google Gods! It was not very romancy at all, which is good, because that is not really my fav. genre to read. I would guess that if you liked Twilight, you would like Poison study.

Oh I almost forgot! I totally need some help! One of the kindergarten mommies asked if we would like to do a play date sometime, I told here we would love to! She has a daughter in Z's class, and a son close to J's age, and they live just a block or so from the school. So here is my dilemma- How do I know if she wants me to stay or not? Every play date I have had so far has been with friends, or the moms club, so of course I stay and we chit-chat while the kids play. I have no idea what to do! I don't want to stay if she expects me to go home, and then feel all akwardy and weird, but I don't want to just ditch my kids in her living room and then leave if she expected me to stay!!! AAkkk! What is play date protocol????

Resoulution Schmezalution!

OK I will keep it short and simple since I did long and boring a couple days ago!
Happy New Year Everyone!
We were going to go downtown and join in all the festivities (they had a reggae group called the "barley mob band" as one of the performers...how funny is that?) but with 20 degree temps and 50mph winds, we opted for a quiet night at home and some sparkling cider. They ended up canceling the fireworks anyway, so I guess we didn't miss much.
Today I celebrated with a trip to Ikea for some Swedish meat balls, ligonberry juice, and sweet deals! After Ikea I headed to the mall to hit up William Sonoma, PBK, and Barnes and Noble. I was hoping for some good deals on Christmas stuff, but I should have gotten there a little sooner for that 'cause it was bye, bye baby goodbye! Oh well at least I got a book and a Starbucks!
I don't know about the rest of you but after I finish a series of books I always feel a little like "great, now what?" So last night after losing smoothie moves for like the 10th time, and with nothing on my DVR but old episodes of the Girls Next Door (I know...I'm lame!) I actually googled "So I finished the Twilight Saga, Now what?" and you know what???? The Google Gods had an answer! Ask and you shall receive I guess! apparently there are like a bajillion websites and lists dedicated to telling you what to read next! Who knew? Anyways one of those websites said that based on the books I said I had liked I would like one called the Poison Study...it's about a woman who is scheduled to be executed when the person who tastes the kings food to make sure it is not poisoned dies (I am assuming from poison????) Apparently the law says the next in line to be executed should take over this role (as the poison checker) so she is spared at the last minute. It was in the romance section so I assume the king falls in love with her or something gooey like that, but it is the first in a series of three and it got good reviews so I am going to try it! Yay Google!
So I am not a resolutioner either (I am joining a gym, but not because of any weight loss goal or anything, just that an hour with my ipod and no kids is shear bliss and they always have the best deals in January) I am going to try to focus more on something this year though. (is that the same thing? Probably Huh?) As most of you know I have a bit of a crafty side, but other than Christmas I mostly just buy the stuff to do things, and then never actually do anything. I figured that this year with the bum economy and everyone being a little conscientious of the environment and all that, it would be a good year to focus more on a little DIY! Homemade is usually (but not always) more budget friendly than it's manufactured counterparts, and with out all the preservatives, transportation, and packaging I figure it's probably better for the environment! So I am going to try to make more of the stuff we use instead of buying it (and if I get good enough at any of it I may even try selling some of it at a craft fair in DC this spring with my Aunt)
I promise to post all the good, bad, and ugly of what I make on here in case any of you want to make it too! (trust me some of you give me way to much credit 'cause most of the stuff I make requires the skill level of a 10 year old!)
So I know that Amy makes her own curtains, bed skirts and dryer sheets, but does anyone else have any DIY tips?
OOps...Kinda' lost sight of that whole short and simple promise...