Rear View

Welcome to the Halloween Edition of Rear View!

Happy Halloween!! Happy hump day!

Help!

I have officially flown off the deep end! I caved. I have succumbed to this November insanity. It was peer pressure I tell you. I hate feeling left out and I was REALLY feeling left out so I joined this silly thing called NaBloMoFo... no that's not it but that is what my brain sees or what gets translated to my lips when I try to say it. I will fail. No positive affirmations here. I will not be able to post every single freakin day for 30 days. But I signed up cuz I didn't want to be left out. Didn't want to miss the party! Cuz I so want to be friends with the cool kids..the IN crowd...

On to more important things. I do not like my blog name. Yes my BFF you were right I should have slept on it. I shouldn't have been so rash and changed my blog name. It was just such a good idea at the time. You are right, I should have listened to you. I am sorry.
I do not want to go back to the old blog name which really only my BFF knows. Except for the brave souls that ventured to my beginnings and read the post about me changing my blog name.. It used to be "Momma K & 3 Lil' Men" Not going back there. I changed it because I was much more than a Momma and I didn't want someone stumbling upon my blog and thinking "Oh fuck! Not another Mommy blog!" and hit the back arrow key. Plus I also wanted to write about way more than just the life of a Mom to 3 boys.

I am kind of back to square one. I DO NOT like my blog name now or then. Any suggestions would be appreciated. My email is in my profile or leave me a comment. I'm sure your thinking "Bitch please! I had to come up with my blog name you have to come up with your own." Fine just tell me what you think my blog is all about, feelings,etc. cuz my Muse has left me AGAIN. Now that hussie is getting on my last nerve!
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UPDATE
Ok so last night before I even typed this post I came up with a few ideas for a blog name I will share a few to see what ya'll think....

~ "Lil' Miss Sunflower" It is my fave flower and I am a KS girl
~"Beautiful Fucking Disaster" Really, my life is a fucking disaster yet it is kinda beautiful...
~ "Biergarten Goddess" The first word is German and is Beer Garden in English. It was another nickname I had in H.S. I love beer, I love gardening, my hubby worships the ground I walk on...
~ "Midwest Musings" I am a Midwest Gal. I heart the Midwest.

There you have it..those are a few of my faves...I did love WT's suggestion that he emailed to me,"Poles Apart" I do love Pink Floyd and my hubby and I are poles apart AND he did first see me on a pole...There is just something I'm not quite feeling. But Willowtree is damn Brilliant!

Fun Monday Essentials

Today's Hostess is that Candid Karina. She has asked to see what we can't leave home without.

I thought I'd take you into my car to for todays shot. I rarely bring my purse inside the house, otherwise I would forget to grab it on my way out. I have left the house without one or more of these items and have felt lost without them. The few times I forgot the cell phone I needed it to make a call or the hubs needed to get a hold of me.There's my ear piece so I can talk hands free.I think I have only forgotten it once and I turned my phone off once I realized I didn't have it. I am always losing or misplacing my sunglasses. Keep a pair in the car you say? They would just come in the house on top of my head. I need lip balm, especially in the winter. My favorite ever is Burt's Bees. It is the BEST! Back in Middle school and H.S.(8 years and then 5 more of my adult life) I was a Carmex lover.When I found B.B. he became my lip balm go to guy. They even make it with a hint of luminescent color. I have Cocoa, Champagne, and Raisin. You can see an original and a shimmer one, cuz sometimes you feel like a hint of color sometimes you don't. Their home is usually in my purse. I have another shimmer in the middle console. Oh, BTW don't get B.B. in a tin, get him in the tube. He is much more nourishing to your lips in the tube. Don't go for B.B. honey either.
My iPod is a must and it stays in the car except when it's almost dead, then I bring it in to charge. I need a car charger for it. You can see CD's on the floor in case of emergency i.e. dead iPod or forgetting it inside.
I am not whole nor human until I drink at least ONE cup of coffee in the morning. If I have to leave the house without having the luxury to sip a cup-o-Joe, I take him with me in my K-state travel mug.

I would literally go no where without the keys.I'd be in a world of hurt without the wallet, which was on the table...NOT where it is supposed to be. I would have left today without it and been up shit creek.

Don't forget to go to Karina's for the list of todays participants.

Memory Lane

The evening before I had my first child my Mom and I went for a walk after supper.10 years and 6 days later we took that same walk last Sunday. Thankfully minus the contractions and no lil boy either! It looks the same to me in these photos except it was 5 hrs later and not a cloud in the sky.
I love this shot. It makes me think of a yin yang.
This is the bench I stopped to take a breather when I was having a few contractions. That was the reason behind the walk in the first place!
Before I had my first child , I hated fall. Fall felt like death to me, everything around was dying. Fall always signified the depression that was to come in winter. The depression would melt away in spring as I started to see new life emerging.
Giving birth to a new life in fall has changed the way I look at the season. I can see it's beauty now. I appreciate the colors and the crisp air. I still get SAD in winter, but it doesn't keep me from enjoying this colorful, beautiful time of year!

Get Your Drink On!

Well I have been slacking on my duties here. I have missed posting 3 Get your Drink on posts. I will attempt to give you 3 drinks today,because I feel so damn guilty. I will just add the other 2 to this post. I don't want to give them their own post due to the fact that I have already planned out all the posts and how many I need to make sure my 100th post does not fall on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. It will be November 1st in case you wanted to know.

This is the morning edition of Get your Drink on. Yesterday and today the weather has been cold and cloudy and rainy. Blah fucking weather. Gloomy Nasty shit. So, I need something to warm my insides and I'm not talking about the liquor.
This mornings drink is Bailey's-n-Coffee.

Here is a peak a what you need...
I don't think it could get anymore simple. Brew up your favorite coffee. OH you know what I just thought of? Go get one of those single pot packages from Millstone and get the chocolate one and then add the Baileys to a cup of that delicious coffee and you've got heaven in the palm of your hand!!
Since I do not have any chocolate Joe on hand today I used plain Joe and he's just as F.I.N.E. fine!(I love you Aerosmith) Pour an ounce of Bailey's into your mug. Add Joe, stir. You can add sugar to taste if you wish but I would try it without first. It is so smooth and rich and creamy and it just melts in your mouth. My cup is almost gone. :( Boo Hoo. Well it isn't gone in the picture. What kind of hostess would I be if I showed you a 1/4 cup of the drink?
Tune in this afternoon when I will feature an afternoon pick me up called Cinnamon Toast.

I love my mug. Seeing the flying witch makes me think of Swampy. When I was traveling in Ks I saw something that made me think of her. I stopped the car, and turned around just to take a picture of it. Imagine how hard it was trying to explain to my Mother why I just HAD to take a picture of this....
I love you Swampy! I didn't know you had digs in Kansas. You are everywhere aren't you?
P.S. My Mom doesn't know what a blog is let alone that I have one.
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Afternoon, early evening it’s like the same thing. The second drink feature for today is called Cinnamon Toast. Here is what ya need…

1 oz Captain Morgan Rum

8 oz Apple Cider

I love apple cider and I love the Captain. This is a marriage made in heaven. I don’t think that I will ever be able to go back to plain apple cider. This is just the cure for a drenched gloomy frigid day! I will be back later tonight for the last drink for this Friday’s special edition. I haven’t picked it out yet, it will be a surprise!

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Surprise! I failed. :(
I went and got my drink on. It was a bottle of red wine...can that count for the 3rd drink?

My retreat

Someone asked where I went, others knew the state I was headed to. NO it wasn't the state of insanity or anything like that. My Mom wanted to kidnap me and take me to a Women's Retreat weekend in Kansas. My Mom and I had a great 6 and a half hour road trip. We also had a blast together at the camp.

This is the building we stayed in.

Here is a peak at the room we were in.My mom and I shared that room but in the next room there was a loft that could sleep 2. There was a woman up there. We had a shower room in our room, the loft mate had a shower room and we all shared a throne room. So what was called one room was 2 semi private rooms that could sleep 6 people total. There was a great room/common area with a fireplace,tables and chairs, couches, and lounge chairs. We could chat,read a book or play games. Sat night I played a game I had never played called Apples to Apples. It is a FUN game! I suggest getting it! I even won! Beginners luck right?!
The camp was over Sunday noon. The camp was located near a city I used to live, where I had my first son. My Mom and I went on a walk down memory lane at a very special-to-me place. That will be a post for another day.
Then we went to my favorite cafe. I was a regular at this cafe when I was pregnant and for at least the first year and a half afterwards. Even after moving away I managed to go at LEAST once a year. I kept the owner,who worked the cash register, up to date with our whereabouts,showing recent pictures I had on me. I talked with her as we were leaving. She was asking where we had been, where we are now and come to find out her daughter lives in the same city as me! She said she is a Realtor there and I said maybe she sold us our home. She told us what reality co. she works for and then her name and I said OMG we BOUGHT her HOME! Her and I flipped out for a bit, she couldn't wait to call her daughter to tell her. Talk about a small world. Screw 6 degrees of separation. It's got nothing on me!

Rear View

Happy Hump Day!

Fun Monday Graphic Art (updated)

Willowtree is today's Fun Monday Host. He wanted to see what is on our t-shirts, hats...any clothing with some cool graphics on it...Sorry WT I didn't copy and paste what you typed verbatim but I am away, using an unfriendly CPU...so without further whine, here are my most favorite shirts!

A few of you will recognize this shirt but you should remember it a lil more filled out to prove what is says!

These are just a few of my favorite Kansas State shirts. Yes, there's MORE!
This is a very favorite shirt that I have had about 13 years...the pictures of the 4 seasons are fading but don't forget to click them all to have a closer view!
I said Follow me here but I don't think I will be going all the way to the 1 and as of 2006 the only Hooters in Germany.
They imported American Hooters girls to work there for a year and train German girls how to be Hooters girls.

Ok the next is a Picassa collage. The unfriendly CPU I am on is not letting me see the photos...I know what is on there but not in the correct order... pretty much they are favorite concert tees of mine...one is my hubbys favorite comfy shirt...he stole it from me but I was the one that saw The Black Crows in concert not him. I think it was the rolling papers tour...it says, I just cant see it! Lilith Fair is there...Lollapalooza...Alice in Chains was the first concert I body surfed. They opened for Ozzy it was his "No More Tours Tour" Bwahahaha! Glad that worked out for him. OH yeah and the CBGB's tank my hubs gave me for X-mas one year...we both went to that famous Rock-n-Roll club in NYC a couple times! We both have matching T-shirts too. I think that was it....enjoy if you can see it if not I will fix it when I get home late tonight.
How about now?
YEAH!! OK so top row first 2 Alice in Chains, then Black Crows It was the High as the Moon tour...rolling papers is on the front...ooppps... Last 2 of second row Lilith Fair and then bottom row Lollapalooza then CBGB's!

OH CRAP! how did I miss this one? I took the picture before I left Friday and I see that I forgot to upload it to the post and just realized it was missing! It is another one of my favorites!!

My outing

6 years ago today I had my last smoke. It tasted like ass(I have never tasted ass I just say ass to convey how nasty it tasted) it was in the afternoon...after I had supper that night I thought about having one but I remembered how nasty my last had tasted and choose not to have one. By morning I realized that it wouldn't be much longer and I would have gone 24 hours without one so I thought to myself "Let's just see how long I can go without having a cigarette." 6 years that's how long. It was rough at first. I had to cut back on my coffee...I LOVED having one with my JOE. I had to occupy my hands after every meal..keep busy..chew gum... I even abstained for a while too, I really liked having one after that! I am glad I had already cut back in my bar/club hoping. If I was still into that scene I don't think I would have been successful. I continued to go to the gym. I filled my fridge with healthy finger foods.

I was a semi-heavy smoker. Before my first child I was a pack and a half a day smoker. I cut back A LOT when I was prego but after he was born climbed back up to a half a pack a day as he got older and I know for sure once I started working when he was 10 months I was back to a pack a day. I think when I challenged myself I was fluctuating between a half a pack to a pack a day. Notice I said "when I challenged myself" instead of when I quit? I never said I was quiting...I never told anyone I was quiting or trying to quit. I knew if I told myself I was going to try and quit smoking it would have never happened. I am quirky like that.

I am out,out of the no-showing-recent-pictures-of-myself closet. I know this is not a recent picture of myself but it sure beats that 14yr old girl one!

This photo was taken by my then 4yr old son. But what I love the most is that he took this picture on the day that would become the day I had my last cigarette.
So here I am in all my last day as a smoker glory!

I need some pills sleep

It is 1:00 and I am not the least bit tired...well maybe just a tiny bit. I really do feel wide awake.
I am sitting here with a very long mental list of things I need to do. I need to gather up the things I wanted to take pictures of for WT's Fun Monday, and take pictures of them. I need to pack. I need to go pay my electric bill tomorrow. I need to wash a few of the clothes I want to pack. I need to pack. I need to pack my books and my camera and my journal. I want to pack the CPU but there is no wifi where I am going. I need to unplug anyway. I still feel like I am forgetting something...Oh don't forget to pack the cell phone and ear piece charger. I haven't watched any of my shows...at least they will be on the DVR when I get home...then I play catch up on blogs and shows...how will I ever manage? I have already been getting behind as of late. Will I ever catch up? You know what I really need to catch up on? Sleep. But I'm not tired. My mind is racing a mile a minute and I cant even type it out. I wanted to paint my toenails. Maybe I'll take it with me, paint them while I am gone.

Oh yeah, I really started this post to let you know that my hubs is the greatest going to publish my post for me on Saturday. I typed it up at least 2 weeks ago if not more...I just didn't want you to miss me while I am gone out. I am sorry that I will miss yet another Get your Drink on Post...I just wasn't prepared like I wanted to be. Maybe next Friday I will give you 3 because I feel so damn guilty.

I'm off to see the wizard take some graphic art photos. Peace out.

Rear View

I didn't forget about hump day. I am just a lil behind. I also made an executive decision, from this day forward my bumper sticker posts will be called Rear View. I was getting board with rotating and Rear view is so simple...short and sweet and to the point.

These stickers are a few we have collected and have displayed on an old trunk, not a vehicle trunk...we are too chicken shit to hurt the resale value of our cars!! Plus for today only, you get a special treat...4 stickers instead of 3!! Try to contain yourselves!

I feel this way sometimes....

Ummm...I lived in a place where I wished this applied....one of my friends sent it to me..
I also hate being a Tourist.




Their food kicks ass! Their wings ROCK! What is that ham and cheese melted bliss sandwich? Their fry's!Oh my! I need to go to Hooters....come follow me! Happy Hump Day!!

Happy Birthday Big Guy

My baby, my first born turns 10 today. 10! I am in shock. I can't believe my baby is 10 yrs old. I cant believe that 10 years ago I became a Mom. I have been thinking about this day for some time...I should have written this post out before now...I think I didn't partly because it didn't seem real. Here I am writing this just mere minutes after he was born 10 years ago.... I bet right about now would be the time they brought him back to me after weighing him( 7 lbs 14 oz) and measuring him(20 inches) and cleaning him up. Once they laid him on me his blue eyes locked with mine he stopped crying. I know they cant see clearly but our faces were darn close let me bask in what lil memories I have left OK?! I cant believe it was 10 years ago. Now he is playing tackle football,has braces, is turning girls heads like I knew he would with those blue eyes, and he is so oblivious to the girls looking at him. He is still innocent and sweet and gullible. He still believes in the tooth fairy and Santa.

He is a mirror image of me but not in looks, in how we behave. Which causes me to clash with him. We butt heads a lot. He annoys me and pisses me off....all because I see so much of me in him. I just hope he turns out to be better than me. Better at everything. I bet that is what my Mom hoped for me. I hope that he learns from my mistakes, takes the things he dislikes about me or what I have done and tries to do better/be different/to change. At the very least that is what I hope for.

I really wanted to include pictures but it was such a busy day that I was not able to scan any. I will add them Wed.In August I watched a Post Secret clip that had a secret that nearly had me on the floor in the fetal position, I was sobbing so terribly....it was written on a balloon I think it was "It's a boy" ...On it was written " When we decided to keep you your life wasn't the only one saved." It still brings me to tears.Choosing to keep him when I didn't want a baby ended up
saving me. I struggled with the decision before I chose to keep him and after I chose I thought I was fine. Realizing that my first instinct to not keep the baby was what I really wanted and what I should have done; that I wasn't ready to have a baby hit me about 4 months after he was born...I worked through it, I couldn't change my mind then...couldn't give him back or go back in time...It was tough but somehow I made it through.

It wasn't' until maybe a couple of years back that I was hit with the realization that having him saved my life. Before I became pregnant I was headed down a road I know now I would have never survived.

I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, I felt that way 10 years and 8 months ago even though I didn't know why, I feel even more strongly today that everything that happens is meant to be for one reason or another. We may never know why at the time, only to find out later or we may never ever know why . I am content in just believing.
Happy Birthday Big Guy, Mommy Loves you.
(Date and time of Post reflect the date and time of birth)

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This was the first picture taken of my baby...we had just gotten home from the hospital, he was only a day and a half old!
Here he is almost 3 months old..it was the first big smile I got on film...then he goes back to serious...but look at those eyes!In the next 2 he is just a few days shy of 10 months old...he was teething...


Here is one of the many First Birthday photos I took...It is my favorite.

Fun Monday How I met my Man....

Today's Fun Monday host is Janet From the Planet of Janet and she wants to hear the story of how we met our significant other....I have told this story all ready... here goes...

Back in July(the 23^rd) WT hosted a FM in which he wanted to know about our Best Friend like where we met how long we have know each other….this is what I had to say about my hubby in that post…

“I met my hubby in January of 1997. I don't tell most ppl how/where we met. My standard answer when asked is a bar. Since I am open and honest here in my blog... no sugar coating, no shoving sunshine up anyone's ass.....
We met at a strip club; you know the ones with topless dancers and poles, fully equipped with an alcoholic beverage bar! Yup, that is the place where I met the love of my life and best friend.”

I got quite a few comments after that wanting to know who was in there for the $$$ and who was there for the view…that Tuesday was our Anniversary so I thought I’d answer the questions by telling how we met so here is the majority of that post…

“So, there I was in this strip club. In walks this sexy bald man wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket, the "I ride a Harley" type jacket. He sits down and I am interested. He looked like such a bad boy; I always liked the ones that looked like bad boys. So I make my way over to him and sit down... talk a lil'. I see that he has a few dollars folded a strange way; they were folded like an arrow. I thought it was strange I had never seen anyone fold a dollar that way. I asked him why he was folding them that way and he said to come back later and he would tell me. ohhh a mysterious man looking like a bad boy in all his bald sexiness! Of course I went back.....

I do not remember his answer. He probably didn't even give me one, I think he only told me to come back to buy him some time to figure out what to say. We talked about nothing I can remember now, he gave me his number and the rest is history! I bet he can tell the story much, much better than I did!!!

Wasn't that a lovely story? I thought you would enjoy it! What? I didn't tell you who was taking it all off? I didn't? Really? But, up there... I said.... oh..... I didn't tell you. My bad.... Let's see if I can remember what I was wearing when he first laid eyes on me.... I had on a pair of black Army jungle boots, grey cotton shorts, a grey ARMY t-shirt that was tight and cut just below my chest and a thong...... So it was me that was an exotic dancer. I flashed my ta-ta's for $$. I had several good laughs at the thought that anyone would think that my hubby with all his white boy rhythm would be shaking his cute bootie for$$$.

Not once has he ever boasted to anyone that he married a stripper. But once his male friends would eventually find out how we met I know he always (secretly) enjoyed their reactions! My man is such a good man! Now I just need to get a pole installed in my home so I can have some fun again and get a great workout while actually enjoying it!

After seeing me in all my glory... well almost all my glory... 11 years ago when I was proud of my body before kids destroyed it all.... that even now while things are starting to head south and I most defiantly do not have anywhere near the body I had then… he still calls me a hottie! I love that man more than words can express!”

He finally has told his side of the story. After that go back to Janet’s Planet to read other meeting stories!
(if you want to read the entire Best Friends FM click here, if you want to read the entire “our story” post click here)

The Cookie Goes to.....

Yes one of my lucky readers have correctly guessed what planet my 9 yr old son made for his science project. This lucky SOB has won some shitty totally lame spectacular prize from yours truly!
WT must have thought the answer was obvious...Mars would have been my guess, it is really fucking RED!
My son picked out the size of the Styrofoam ball, so we were not trying to make it to scale. He also picked out the colors he wanted to use on it. At one point he wanted to try his hand at mixing colors and ended up making pink which thankfully he didn't want to use...to bad he didn't do that prior slappin' half of the red paint jar on his planet.
Let's refresh...this is what my son did...
This is the image he was trying to paint on his Styrofoam ball...
My oldest is almost 10 yrs old. When he chose his planet it is clear the start of his manliness was showing...that one track mind and all... he was thinking about the Goddess of Beauty...Venus! That makes Fianna my victim winner! Now to claim your prize you just need to bring your ass to my house!

Award Planet!

Now before you start thinking I'm getting full of myself this post is about an Award AND a Planet...
First things first. I did get another award and this one is so very very special because I am so NOT a Stepford Wife...not in any way shape or form. So Miss Robinella gave this to me and she really said some splendorous things about me... I am honored to be called NOT a Stepford Wife. It is my mission in life...to be the exact opposite of a Stepford wife...this just proves I'm doin' a great job!! Thanks Robinella for your Award, it means a lot coming from a fellow deity!

Now for the planet portion of this post. My oldest had to make a planet for science. I think he got to choose the planet he wanted to do. He did a power point slide show on it at school and here is his planet.You know those parents that do the project for their child? You can tell by looking at it that a 10 yr old did NOT do it. Yes, we helped him paint it but only for the sake of getting it DONE as he is as slow as a turtle at painting and waited til AFTER the last minute to tell us when it was due! That being said....

Anyone that guesses correctly what planet this is gets a cookie. No, I can't send a cookie...maybe if you are in the states I would...I don't think it would ship to well overseas. I was just kidding about the cookie but I will come up with some crappy cool prize for the first person to guess correctly. I bet NO ONE will get it...or maybe it's just that no one wants a crappy cheap not-so-cool as yet unknown prize... If no one has guessed correctly by the end of business Sunday October 14th.... to bad so sad...guess you'll have to wait til I decided to throw another impromptu contest to win something from me. Oh and the only person that is ineligible to play is Retrohipster.

Rear View

Happy Hump Day!!!