Life Goes On

Not much to say on the homefront. Life is progressing as usual. Work is crazy, kids are driving us nuts, etc. J is growing up so quickly. They really progress quite fast at this stage I think the Montessori day school we have her in now* is really helping because she has really started to formulate a certain amount of logic which she applies at random.

Toddler Logic:

J: *sitting on my bed staring out the window* Shhhhh, Momy. There are dinosaurs there and they will get us.
Me: There are! Oh no, are they coming to eat us?
J: No, they just go roar. That's all they do.
Me: They just roar?
J: Yes, they roar. Roar. Like that. That's how they do it.
Me: Well, are they going to scare us?
J: Yes. I will be scared becase they have big teeth and go roar.
Me: Big teeth! Ohhhh, that is scary.
J: Yes and then they brush their teeth. Like that *pretends to brush teeth* That is how they brush their teeth.
Me: Hmm, I wonder if they use toothpaste?
J: Mommy, you so silly. They have dinosaur toothpaste and it is green because dinosaurs like green. I have princess toothpaste and it is pink because I like pink.
Me: I wonder how they brush their teeth with such short little arms?
J: *thoughtfully* I think their mommies do it.

9 Year Old Logic:

C: Mom, I, like, totally have to go see High School Musical 3 when it comes out. It is going to be soooooo awesome!
Me: What happened to HSM 1 and 2?
C: *gives me the duh look* Uh, they're already out on DVD, Mom. But this one is going to be in the theater, and I can't wait to see it! Squeeeeeeeeeeee!
Me: I think you just popped my eardrum, also how are you planning to go see this movie?
C: *thoughtfully* I just won't eat for a week and I will save all my money and buy a ticket.
Me: Oookay. Supposing you could actually go a week without eating, how are you planning to get to the movie theater.
C: *shrugs* I'll just get my friend's mom to take us. Or, I could ask my grandma.
Me: *skeptically* And you think your grandma is going to want to se HSM3?
C: Um, yeah. It has Corbin Bleu in it, and he is, like, soooo dreamy!
Me: You're right, your grandma will definately want to see HSM3.

1-Year Old Logic:

A: Ahhhhh, goo ga ba ga ba. Heee heee heee. Mama?**

*Just PT, that shit is expensive!
**I couldn't very well leave A out even though there is clearly no logic to what he says ;)

Punkin Patch Pics

Guess what we did this weekend (besides watch the Bills whoop some Charger ass*)

*5-1 beeyotches, 5 and 1!

Boombastic..

We really don't have the slightest idea where we will be 1 year from now..
And life is a bit rough these days, out here in the desert for us...
However, this post has nothing to do with either topic?
I feel as long as we have eachother, everything will be alright..has Bob Marley not taught you people anything??...geesh! I thought I would take it one step further in the appreciation department by posting on her blog..BTW, Lisa is not a burrito head..most of the time..

She's actually the best mama in the land and I need to give my girl some extra appreciation because from my collected evidence below, these kids just ain't right sometimes man..

And

I even think our cat may be on drugs!!




You all know her, Lisa, , that's my smoking hot' hottie... and she looks more f-i-n-e to me everyday..(yea, Go Bills!!)

However, we can't all be perfect..(De-I and Ms De-I, please seek the real tomato killing culprit--damn tobacco smokers!!).BAM!

And the Lord said "Let's go Buffalo"..!!

Name That Bug

Seriously, if anyone knows what kind of bug this is, I'd love to hear it. It spit in my cat's eye the other day (he's okay, but we were totally freaked out).

Also, Sabres are 2-0, yay!

Grad School Follow-Up

Thanks to everyone who replied to my post below. I think RM, especially, brings up some excellent points. My personal reasons for wanting to go to grad achool is to really learn about a subject that is very interesting to me. I am looking at Chinese or East Asian studies programs exclusively. I am not interested in a broad poli-sci or international relations program. My goal is to re-learn the language (my skills have drastically decreased since I have rarely used my Chinese since graduating from college) and to get a better understanding of Sino-American relations, especially within the last 10-15 years (in my BA program, I concentrated on the Qing dyasty and beyond but, really, I only studied Sino-American realtions as they related to politics). Attending a program like that accomplishes two things for me: it would allow me to spend time learning about a subject I find extremely interesting and it would help me to advance in my career field. My ideal program is through the Naval Post-Graduate School, which offers an education in exchange for service program (civil service, that is, I'm not talking about going back into the military). If accepted, I would receive free education, a small stipend (in addition to my GI Bill, though I would still be making less than 1/2 of what I make now), and I would be required to "pay back" the government by being automtically placed in government service (i.e. a guaranteed job).

Additionally, I have been feeling more and more dissatisfied with our current situation as of late. I like my job because I find what I do in general to be interesting; however, there is absolutely zero opportunity for advancement (not what I was told when I took the job), we contractors have very little say in what direction our project ends up going (as evidenced by the last project I was bitching about) or how to utilize our talens, there is no training to advance your skills as an analyst (the gov't guys can take all the training classes/conferences/events they want so long as there's $$, contractors are supposed to be "fully trained" - you figure out the difference), my boss sucks....he just sucks, there's no other way to put it. I always thought leaders were supposed to support their people and make sure they had the tools they need to succeed, in our case, to act as a conduit between the analysts and government expectations. Instead he trash talks us to make himself look better, makes snidely, inaccurate remarks about the work we've done, and (instead of bringing up issues beforehand) calls us out in front of the big gov't boss when we're presening our projects.

In addition to all of that, Hubs has had a very difficult time finding a worthwhile job out here. I say worthwhile because his field seems to pay nearly 50% less out here than it did in LA, while childcare costs are only about 25% less, so it ends up that he only takes home a very small amount after all the costs involved with getting him to work in the first place. He is now going to school full-time and working for his old company at home on a pay-per-placement basis, which will actually end up paying him more in the end (an dis more satisfying work for him), but we have to wait on $$ since he is not salaried. So, to make a very long story shorter, we are not making the kind of money we thought we would by making the move from LA to NM. In fact, I would venture to say with the loss we've taken in income combined with the current economic circumstances everyone is facing, we made a very poor decision in coming out here. Not that I don't absolutely adore my parents, and that has been the one bright spot in all of this, but watching my savings dwindle down to next to nothing with absolutely no safety net (thanks to the value to all my investments going in the toilet)...well, I'm thinking I would have been better off staying in the higher cost of living area where we made nearly 2x what we're making now.

I don't know. I realize the grass is always greener on the other side, but I also think we have to be realistic. I'm unhappy professionally and I would like to get back to the area which excites me most, and Hubs is also unhappy both professionally and personally as it is difficult to find and make friends when you work from home. I know that it would mean a severe change in lifestyle, but I think it would be worth it in the end. Besides, there's no guarantee I would even be accepted, so this may all be for nothing. I just feel like I'm not getting any younger, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life stuck doing things I don't really care for when there is the opportunity to continue doing what I love (don't we all feel that way???)

Should I to Education Me-self?

Recently I have been toying with the idea of returning to school. I have always wanted to get my Masters (and had taken a few courses when I was in Japan and only had 1 child), but my life is very much at odds with the average grad student lifestyle. Other concerns: my verbal GRE score is excellent, my quantitative score is on par with a doughnut; how would I pay off the loans; how would we live without my income? What do you all think, should I throw caution to the wind and pursue my dream? Should I chuck my dreams and be a practical wife and mother? Should I say fuck it and get a cake degree from a no-name, online school just to say I have my Masters? Should Joslyn win ANTM based purely on her awesomeness? Will Russia take advantage of the current financial crisis to take over the world? Er...sorry, got a bit off-track there. I am also concerned with my personal statement. I am fortunate to have several old bosses/co-workers who are willing to write me glowing letters of recommendation, but I would need to write a personal statement on why I deserve to be a grad student and what I would do with it if they deigned to accept me, and I have no clue where to start. Really what I'm having trouble with is being concise...I have a lot that I could say, but I realize that whoever is reviewing my application is also reviewing the hundreds of other applicants' statements and (of course) I want mine to be the best and have a lasting impact. Any suggestions?

Random Tidbit

Today marks the first real hockey game of the season (Sabres 25-1 to win the Stanley Cup this year). Today also marked the annual softball game our organization plays (read: lots of old guys with "something to prove:). Because I am a contractor, I would actually have to burn my vacation time to attend this event, but, really, I would go only if the competition were more like this, anyway.*


* These guys are freakin' hilarious

Glendale Gaffe

So we lost. I had a bad feeling that going to see our beloved Bills in person might jinx the whole undefeated thing. In our defense, our QB (Trent Edwards) went down on the second play with a concussion (and still managed to complete that pass!) and it seemed like the entire team just said, fuck it, we're screwed without Trent. And so they were. The offense couldn't get anything going and the defense just got exhausted after all the constant 3 and outs.* In spite of the loss, we still had an awesome time in Arizona.

It was a gorgeous and sunny 85 degrees (yet still freezing inside the Dome. WTF, Pheonix!?)

We literally sat 5 rows up froom the field (the better to see JP get sacked, oh ho!)

Had a great time with my FIL & BIL

And, we managed to get on tv! (the DVR is the best invention ever!)

*Ya know, we Bills fans have gotten bit greedy with all this glory. If you had told me last season that we would be 4-1 going into the bye week, I would have been ecstatic. So I really can't complain. Besides, the bye gives us a chance to get healthy and come back strong in week 6. Go Bills!