Well, and another part of the problem is that I’ve been hanging out with and listening to and learning from some pretty successful marketing people. I’m learning a LOT from them. A lot of times, I’m just getting swept up in the industry gossip. And let me tell you, that can be quite entertaining. Anyway, though, reading and learning from these people is great, but, it’s making me think that I need to sound just so and I need to write just so - you know? Well - pshaw! I just need to jump back into the game - period. If you’re not in the game, you’re not in the game. And besides that, this is not a marketing blog.

So, look here, dear, sweet blog ‘o mine - you are mine and I’m not afraid of you. Nope. No sir. And as is apparent by this post, I’m not afraid to mindlessly babble on you, either! So there! Take that, you big, scary blog!

BOO!

Whew! That feels so much better! Blog, blog, blog - that’s what I do. That’s what I do. Oh yeah. It would feel even better if I didn’t have a migraine starting, but, hey - them’s the breaks, right?

My son and I watched a few too many episodes of Burn Notice this afternoon, and my head is revolting. We just kept watching one episode after another - we couldn’t stop. My sister-in-law had recommended it to me, and I marched right over to Hulu to check it out! And boy, was she right that I might like it! I shouldn’t, however, watch TV in the afternoon. Or the morning. Or too early in the evening. Every now and then I can get away with it, but, generally - I’m in for a migraine if I don’t wait until night time. My silly migraine head and all of its ridiculous rules by which I have to live.

I recently told the eye doctor about the ‘TV rule’ and he was really surprised. He’d never heard anyone say such a thing. I bet he could learn a lot about migraines from talking to me for a while. I dance my way around them all the time.

Shawn is dying to continue watching more episodes of my handsome new boyfriend, Michael Westin. *SWOON* He is so cute! I think I’ll give him the computer so he can watch and I’ll go lie down. I am in the middle of a great Janet Evanovich novel. If I rest for a little while quietly, maybe my head will be generous enough to let me read for a little while.

All I know is that I’m happy I poured out this ridiculous, meandering, nonsensical post. This is my blog and my words should be on it. Whether profound or shallow, whether thoughtfully researched or just spilled out of my spasmodic brain - they should just be on here!

It was a very sweet movie about a young girl and her newly-divorced dad, taking a visit to his youth, through stories. She has been asking him repeatedly how he met her father and up to this point, he has put her off, saying, “It’s complicated, I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

Maya, his sweet and very precocious daughter puts her foot down this time, however! So he gives and tells her he will tell her the story - but! But what? He is going to change the names around and Maya has to figure out who in the story is actually her mother. Oh! She likes that idea! She calls it a “love story mystery” and excitedly fluffs up her pillows, arranges her stuffed animals, and sits back to hear the story!

The rest of the movie is a walk down memory lane with her father, exploring and remembering his young adult years, trying to make his way in the world and figure out what he wants to do with his life - and just with whom he wants to spend it!

It is a delightful story and the only part that I had a problem with, somewhat, was the ending. It was not entirely believable, given the newness of the divorce, but, I managed to suspend belief long enough to let myself enjoy the movie all the way to the end!

I can’t wait to see Abigail Breslin (the young girl) in more movies. She is absolutely adorable!

I checked in my microwave - it was manufactured in 1987. 1987! Good Heavens! It’s a wonder the thing still works. Well, it has its moments, that’s for sure. It has a mind of its own and cooks things how it wants to - undercooked, overcooked, just right - depending on what kind of a mood it is in that day! Heh!

I have tried to figure out the manufacture date of the dishwasher, but, I can’t find it. Let me tell you, though, the thing is o-l-d. So when I was asked to review dishwasher detergent, I figured I was the perfect candidate for that job! I mean, just about any detergent is going to ‘work’ in a fancy schmancy brand new dishwasher, right? You (as a detergent) have to really work, to get the dishes clean in my washer!

The first detergent I tried was Electrasol Advanced. I had a couple pieces of silverware that were not completely rinsed off, and I just put them in the dishwasher like that to see how they would come out. There was a spoon with a tad bit of peanut butter on it and a fork with some tiny bagel pieces stuck to it, and they both came out clean. There were only two glasses in there (we use a lot of cups) and one of them was clean and one of them came out with spots. There was a small, plastic cup that the kids had used to melt butter in for popcorn, and it was still very greasy when it came out. The rest of the dishes came out pretty clean. The second wash I ran with Electrasol had more glasses. Three out of four of them came out with spots.

My vote is definitely for Cascade Complete! Electrasol was pretty good, but, Cascade was definitely better! I’m glad I got the opportunity to try them both out!

Look at the awesomely cool things you can make there!

Isn’t that cool? Most people are using a TON of words, but, I’ve never really been one to play ‘by the rules’. My own beat and all…

Here’s one I made with my main sites on it:

I am going to use my Vista snipping tool to grab that one for my Twitter profile. I could seriously spend HOURS there messing around! I love that site! My only critique is that I had to fix the spacing in the coding to make it work on my blog. Otherwise, I freaking love this site!

If ya’ll make some, tell me about it in the comments and tell me where I can see yours!

Haha - adorable boy!! And yeah, he’s not really a puppy anymore, but, that’s just what I call him. We got him from the SPCA and they had already named him, Lucky. And that just didn’t seem to ‘fit’ him, so I started calling him, “Puppy” and it just stuck! LOL!

He’s five and half years old and he weighs in at a svelte 120 pounds and he is my love!!!!

Besides that, though - GO ELLEN! GO ELLEN!

I meant to come back here and actually ‘talk to you’, as well as add some more pictures. I took my sweeeeeeet time now, didn’t I? Ok, well - in May, I really had Mother’s Day, my birthday, and my anniversary. It was a presentpalooza! It is every year - I love it! Ha!

I didn’t get a pic of the flowers Mark got me for our anniversary, and I can’t believe that I did that, because, seriously - after 16 years together - I think these were the prettiest flowers he has ever bought me!!! No kidding! And I didn’t take pics - what a weirdo I am! They were red and white, mixed, and a mixed variety of flowers - roses, daisies, carnations and more. It was so beautiful. In fact, the last living flower (it’s huge!) - the kids and I put on the tray we used to serve Mark his Father’s Day breakfast and now it’s on his bedside table!

Oh - and above - the picture of the blank plate? No, I didn’t get that for any of the above-mentioned special days. I did use it to eat my birthday brownie, though. I just love that set of plates. My mother bought them for me for my very first apartment. I moved into said apartment on December 10, 1988. It was 514 square feet and the rent was $269 a month. Damn - I loved that place! Sweet, sweet memories of my very apartment. Heehee.

I tried to get a pic on here of all the gifts that my in-laws bought for me, but, apparently Wordpress is unhappy with its size. If you’re super-mondo curious, you can see all the ‘in-law haul’ here:
I Love May a.k.a. ‘Spoil Lisa Month’ at that silly, old blogger blog that I keep ‘breaking up with’ and ‘getting back together with’. LOL!!

This morning was one of those times! My lovely Twitter comrade, sheagunther, posted a link to a delightful video! It was absolutely, deliciously delightful!

And being the good mother that I am - duh! - I had to share it with my children:

Would you like to partake of the fine video in which my children were delighted? I thought you might! Here you go:

Given these tricky circumstances, I went into the dining room to turn on and zoom the camera, so that he wouldn’t hear it. I then sneakily came back into the office, making sure not to actually step into the living room, where the beast lay resting peacefully - with a curtain on his face! Ha!

With my camera at the ready, and fully expecting him to jump up and leave - I quickly snapped this pic…

I was so excited that my subject lay ‘undisturbed’ that I hurriedly zoomed a little more and shot this picture:

Now, so far, it’s just been ‘adorably cute’, as I said before - and just an ‘Aww…you’re so silly’ giggle type of moment. Then - I checked out the pictures on the camera! There was one thing I was not seeing with my ‘naked eye’ - the goofball was awake and looking at me! When I saw that, that is when I started cracking UP! My sweet boy is five and a half years old and he has never, ever done that! He is the most ornery picture subject ever!! I mean - EVER!

Dogs are so awesome - that was the perfect stress-reliever for the middle of my day! I love that damn dog!

I’m not so sure how he feels about me right about now, though:

(And yes, that is me –> in the fourth grade! Aren’t I cute? I loved that shirt! It had one of those cute little wiggle worms on it! It was one of my favorites!)

I thought it would be really cool if I could sing it to her on video this year for Mother’s Day and post it on YouTube, and consequently, here on the blog. Wouldn’t that be cool?


“No, Lisa! Nooooo! Don’t do it!”

Who in the hell said that?! Hahaha! Some level-headed creature that lives in my brain, that’s who. So then I thought, well, I could get Sammie to sing it and film her! And she’s almost the same age, so that would be cool, and she has a brand new, fancy-schmancy Karaoke machine, too! Sammie somehow wasn’t game with the whole thing. What’s her deal? Hrmph! But we don’t need her - we’ve got all kinds of people already singing their hearts out on YouTube! So let’s get this party started! We’ll start with ‘the original’!!

Debby Boone
This song was a HIT for her in 1977, spending ten weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and winning her a Grammy the following year.

Leann Rimes
Dare I say it? I absolutely love Leann’s version of this song, I love the quiet gusto she puts into songs - can’t get enough of it. She is one of my very favorite singers, though, so it’s kinda not fair. Ya’ll just don’t tell Debby, okay? Thanks.

Bianca Ryan
This young lady is a rockin’ young chick who just happens to have been born the same month that my sweet Shawn was - September 1994! And apparently, after winning America’s Got Talent in its debut season, is just taking the music world by storm! And I was really happy to find her singing this song, because, it’s the closest I can come to ‘fourth graders singing it’. Ok, she’s not exactly your typical singing youngster, like we were - but, she is a youngster - and that’s cool!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a Mother’s Day card I made for my mother oh-so-many long years ago! Was I crafty, or what? Here’s the front of the card: