i was rooting for liza from dallas....

so i just finished watching the season finale of the next food network star and i am so disappointed. while i liked aaron, i clearly did not think he was the true winner of the show. i was cheering for liza from dallas the whole way. any chicka that can compete in a competition such as this one in $500 heels and designer outfits with just about every hair in place on her perfectly makeup-ed head has got to be my favorite. plus, she prepared my kind of food....stuff that looks and sounds really fancy but seemed simple enough to create. however, in the past few weeks i have been secretly rooting for adam, the underdog. he just had such a great personality and food that made me instantly hungery and his concept for a show was one i would tune dvr. if you saw the last episode, his buffet in las vegas was horrible and thought the judges would have sent him home then and there which makes me believe there is an ulterior motive. but, seriously aaron just does not do anything for me...i doubt i watch his show even once. okay, maybe once just to justify this blog and the huge mistake the fnw just made. i think it was marketing thing, not a talent thing based on how well down home with the nelly's is doing in the ratings. i am not a fan of the nelly's and their shows (because they keep getting more spots)...i think it is mainly because her voice hit me like fingernails down a chalk board.

anyhoo, i was rooting for you liza and maybe this will open another door for you or once fnw realizes there huge mistake they will come here to texas and beg for you to take them back.



okay, so i am watching the today show while izzy goes to sleep....she went to bed really really late last night. i now know better than to let her nap until 6;30 last night. and they showed this reunion in the seventies of two men and their pet lion that was released into the wild of africa. it brought chills to my entire body and a few tears as soon as you see the lion recognize his "parents". here is a link to the video on youtube.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zviQ2HLKPDI&feature=related



i hope this works....have a great day. i am off to workout/return phone calls and shower before both girls wake up!

introduction of three things...

okay, so today i thought....maybe i will take my laptop with me to my hair appointment and see if by chance i can pick up an internet signal.....tada it worked and here i am sending out a blog.

i want to start something new....it will be called "three things" yeah, i know real original, huh. but, each week i will focus on three things that really irk me or truly excite me.

1st--three things comes from one of my favorite talk shows "pugs and kelly"....they did this as the opener to their show daily and i looked forward to being in my monster suv somewhere trying to hear the rant of the day. the sadness is that pugs and kelly have disappeared from live105.3, i mean just disappeared from the airwaves of the metroplex. radio stations do this alot and it would just benefit them to be upfront and tell us the listeners why the shit hit the fan.....now i know here in the past 22 months i have not been as much of a devoted listener but that does not mean i did not enjoy the few chances i actually had to listen. if anyone out there can tell me the real story i would love to hear it.

2nd--what is wrong with jennifer aniston! (warning if you are really a john mayer fan you might skip this section) i mean she has been through a lot in the past few years with her ex husband sacking the crazy blood drinking but incredibly gorgous jolie and then for them to start having more children than a pair of gerbels but really john mayer. the guy is not attractive.....not in the least bit especially with his new hollywood skin and bone skeleton shape. while i have to say his latest music is better than his first few poor me my life sucks hits, i just don't see anything about him that is sexy. i do get the whole i want to date a rock star thing (well not me personally) and i am sure it is a real trip to watch him wooo an audience of thousands and he probably strokes her hair while coooing her to sleep (i may throw up now) but what do they talk about outside of his super ego. maybe they just spend most of their time toked up and have crazy sex! she should dial up vince vaughn and see what he is up too.

3rd--what the fuck is wrong with people....i will never and you can start sending me comments on this one...understand how someone can leave their child in a car for hours and not realize they are missing. for one thing would the silence in your home not make you wonder what they are into and secondly, is it not instinct to know where your child is at all times. i have heard some of the excuses like, "i thought he/she was napping" but then again i would think after so long you might go check on him/her when you don't hear any cries. and why are these people given a slap on the wrist for leaving these poor children in the car to die (i can not even think about what actually happens without feeling nauseous). with 22 children this year already dead from being left in hot cars i would think those people down in austin might be able to come up with a punishment worthy to counter the lost life of an innocent child.r

well, now that i pulled a debbie downer on you.....go watch a little flipping out of tori and dean and get lost in the unrealistic life of others.

thanks, husband

my super awesome...so off the shit list....husband just added some kinda device (from amazon.com) to the roof that is supposed to enhance our cell phone signal. it has been months since we have not had to run outside for every call or press our heads up to the nearest window. this should make my job answering the phone for clearwater plumbers much easier however, i will be losing all the extra steps on my pedometer.


a shout out to my s-in-l whom we saw last night via web cam at 23 weeks preggos with yet another longspaugh girl in the oven and her super cute belly. here is a picture of the girls room after our painter friend finished their names.......chris, you know girls cost a lot more money right?


oh, and for those of you wondering this pretty much means both brothers have to keep having babies until at least one of them produces a boy to carry on their name. yippie!

not going to cry over spilled milk....

so we have been out of milk for three days.....yeah, another award for mother and wife of the year headed my way,. i have found so many conveniences with the internet like, blogging to relieve myself of thoughts taking over my limited brain space, online shopping (most of it does get returned, nothing beats actually trying stuff on), online shopping for the girls (love my gap card...lots of discount coupons and free shipping with my "gold card"), amazon exploring (this is like hitting every store in the mall in one stop) oh, and of course, craigslist and ebay (for all your slightly used shopping needs). the one thing i have not found yet is how to grocery shop online....years ago when i was in college there was a website (i have no idea what it was anymore but they had a green and white delivery truck). i don't understand this....there has to be other people other than myself that find finding time to make that weekly/biweekly/monthly depending on schedule shopping trip near to impossible. for me it takes being out of milk and dear sweet husband saying, "we are out of milk again" for me to schedule a trip to the grocery store. this is no small feat because like i have said before*.....i despise the stores near me....it just puts me in a bad mood thinking about it. more than likely i will stop by 7/11 for a quick gallon because i know i have something scheduled for every day this week that will put me near my beloved central market.

this past weekend was dear husbands birthday and i surprised him and and a few of his friends with a box to the horse races at lone star park. we had a wonderful time, that being said, it is crazy how hard i work (like before the cleaning ladies come) to line every thing up for my truly awesome M-in-L. she stayed with both girls on saturday for over eight hours......i am not sure i have ever left izzy for this long except during the birth of her sister and then i was out of the hospital and home in 24 hours. however, she did a wonderful job and we walked in the door to this....

so......once we got to the races i gulped down a miller lite so fast i was embarrassed to look around and see i finished long before any of the other guys in our box did......slowly moving my bone dry cup to the back of the monitor on the table as i waited for the waiter to come by and bring me another one. i slowed down after the second and switched to diet dp for the next two rounds. i forget what it is like to be a part of the real world, you know one, without atleast one baby strapped to my side....one without the need to stop and change a diaper every time i can find a little privacy....one where i can talk to other "adults" and not be interrupted...one where hell it was okay to shout "oh, fuck", when i realized i bet on the right horse but not in the right way to win a small fortune (well, enough to pay for my starbucks habit the next two weeks). so anyways, i felt human again when we returned home and to top it all off we had dinner at my newest fav sushi joint, sushi axiom.

on sunday the girls and i joined jeff on a little road trip to somewhere between rockwall and sulpher springs to pick up a mower of some kind for the tractor we lugged out to granbury a few weeks back to purchase. gotta love craigslist! on the way back we stopped somewhere east of dallas and lake ray hubbard (i know kept up with landmarks..) at chucke cheese to burn off some of izzy's energy from being couped up in the suv all afternoon. now don't get me wrong, i like the fuzzy rat pizza shop as much as the next guy, but it truly trips me out to people watch there. in some ways it is actually a boost to my confidence level.....there are some scary people out there. it also made me realize most of the time in my stressed out, overly scheduled, lack of sleep state i am a pretty good mother, no i am a damn good mother. kuddos to all you out there who don't realize panty lines are not meant to be seen in public (i at least cover mine up when in the world outside of my front curb), thunder thighs are okay, but should also be covered up, the salad bar is not a "diet" with a plate full of lettuce drenched in ranch, non wearing bra lady or lady with racer back tank and regular bra....because of you i am feeling pretty good about my non showering, hairblow drying, three outfits that actually fit, forgot the make up wearing self!!!

*just realized i never posted my blog about grocery stores.....will finish it and get it up so maybe this makes more sense.

how to cure a funk

so, i have not been blogging as much lately.....i am in a deep funk. yes, i know i have so many things in my life to be happy about and grateful for, but hey some times you just feel a bit blue. without going into a pity party for myself, i am trying reorganize my home and office and make both run more efficiently, plus i am trying to log in at least 45 minutes of extreme exercise a day.*

anyhoo, i am sitting here in my bedroom putting the girls down for a morning nap so we can go take some overly priced studio portraits, you know the ones my husband believes are a true waste of money. he prefers the day to day pictures and i really like to have both, especially during that first year. back to my point, i am watching the second part of the today show, which is hard to watch these days because i really don't like kathy lee gifford.....she just gets on my nerves and is always interrupting hoda....and back to my point again. shirley mclain is on today and trust me i do believe she is a bit of a nut job, but she just said something truly inspiring to me in my current funk.

"you know the saying, seeing is believing, well i believe it is believing is seeing"


and these words just hit me somewhere deep in that place where i finally get it is my attitude towards my daily life that is making it unbearable right now. if i believe in my own ability to change the stress and priorities that consume me each day than i will see the difference in my kiddos, marriage, home and 24 hours a day consuming business. no one else can do this for me......thus i am setting forth with a new attitude today!

here are the girls feeding the ducks last night. i was leaning over their heads trying to capture a frontal view photo just waiting to lose my balance and fall over into the lake and ruin yet another camera!


this picture just made me tear up.....i am so lucky to have this beautiful family!

*okay, i am off to jump on the elliptical for a quick 30 minutes before we need to leave...tonite is the first "family yoga night" . i figure if i can not get out to the studio anymore i will bring the studio here. hopefully no one will complain over my turning off the a/c in the front of the house to raise the temperature to optimal stretching warmth. i actually purchased several power yoga dvds because i am very picky about my yoga trainers and really like to push myself. i will let y'all know which is my favorite and if one of them just plain sucks. (no, cade, you can not spend the night away.....)

and more shit....

so i have come accustomed to changing many and some days it is over 5 poopy diapers (thank goodness i am not nursing anymore) from the girls and i am picking fandango's dog doo up in the yard most days and i get my blood pumping with the neighbor's little yapper shit, but this is my breaking point! one of my almost 14 year old cats (jeff refers to them as rabbits and i am not sure anyone has ever appreciated them but me) is not making it from the bedroom to the cat box some time during the night. now at first i was not blaming her, but our one male much younger cat who stalks around the house all night just waiting to "play" with one of my much older delicate cats, i have to give him some slack because these days he has been "hangin" outside some where more often than not and we still have little pieces of shit to be stepped in.

by now i should be used to all types of shit, solid firm had too much banana yesterday shit, extremely soft extra foul smelling dark blue shit from blueberries, 60lb or rather probably 70lb black lab shit, smaller firmer dog shit*, and believe it or not i may or may not have to relieve myself every now and then, but this is too much that one little i missed the cat box turd might find my squirrel looking fuzzy furball of a cat a place in line at the bus stop with a one-way-ticket to the farm in the country where the lonely little old lady lives and needs a pet to keep her company. (did anyone else ever get this line from their mother?)

on the positive side (i am trying to do this more) maybe my super intelligent husband can find a a way to recycle all of the shit into fuel for my SUV that takes two swipes of the credit card to fill up these days.

well, i am off, i just watched one of the girls complete her first batch of the day.

*there is defiantly a difference in dog shit based solely on the type of food they are feed.....and i am positive our neighbors are feeding their dogs processed horse meat mixed with bits of recycled plastic and topped off with three year old grains or whatever it is that comes in the $3 bag of dog food.

so really putting myself out there....

a few pictures of our completed float in the neighborhood parade...pretty damn good work if you ask me especially for first time, last minute float designers.

this is how i found jeff and izzy last friday night when i finally came out of the office around 3am.

so for the first time in several weeks i am actually sitting in bed well before midnight. i dreamt about this all day (especially after reading a friend's blog and living through her toddler free moment she is having. just wait girl, two will change this).....both girls have not been getting enough sleep lately either, therefore it should be really easy for us all to get to bed early. by 7:00 I was one down with one to go and she was watching happy feet in our room surely she will fall asleep soon. *note added later (while I was putting away the toys Izzy decided to get up and check out the commotion therefore not going to bed until late again.)

so, I am a freak about how things are put away....or at least the things I want to be a control freak about. jeff was sitting there talking to me while i started removing all the toys from the should be store extra blankets while being a foot stool ottoman but really is a leather box that stores toys, acts as a stage for izzy's theatrical shows and table top for the bribery snacks i gives the girls so they can watch barney in the living room while preparing dinner and he starts to help. He starts by putting some of the big things in and then says "what about these, why are they out"...opening the door to my explanation of system for putting toys away. i explain, "all the little toys that are not related to bigger toys go in this box, while baby accessories belong in this basket, however, all the parts to each toy must be together, therefore everything looks real inviting in the morning when i open the lid with a big TAADAA for the girls.

but, i am like that with everything, thus the other day i almost lost it when he did not wrap a diaper up with the wipes inside preventing any potty germs from touching the diaper genie in any way. i have this vision in my head of little gross potty germs climbing there way out of the diaper pail and into the girls beds cuddling up with them and the binkies they put in their cute little mouths. however, this one back fired on me because i think the few diapers jeff changes a month he has vowed to himself not to do anymore because i just might freak out on him and his inablity to wrap a diaper like a true pro.

Annie playing...notice cardboard box next to her just waiting for her to pull out all sorts of surprises...this is part of my madness.

mommy's little helper

okay, here it is....it has taken all of the above blog for me to talk myself into what follows...

a couple of weeks ago jeff's brother posted the pictures from our trip to the guadalupe and while i really enjoyed all the special moments caught on camera i choked, started to hyperventilate, and then cry when i saw the few photos of myself. now i know i gained a shit load of unnecessary weight while preggos with izzy. if i am going to do this, i might as well go all the way......i gained 80lbs...yes, i know what the fuck was i thinking. i went from being the hot married gal that religiously went to the gym daily, usually in bike shorts having just completed a spin class, relaxing in a sweat session of power yoga and followed up with an easy 5 mile run on my way home to the whale of a pregnant person. so, point is i still have around 40lbs (the amount most normal women choke on when reached during pregnancy) and 4 sizes to go until i am back to my i feel comfortable in my own skin, bring on the confident six-pack toting lean machine i am accustomed too.

with tears running down my face, my dear sweet husband tells me i can find a good deal on an elliptical for the house "but nothing to cheap, it has to be a good one". prior this moment of self pity on my part he would tell me to use the gym, walk the girls in the overpriced stroller i had to have (even though it is 100 degrees outside), hop on my bike or just plain watch what i eat. he being one of those people that has rarely been 5lbs over his weight of 10 years. he forgets he physically works out all day long every day and can shovel what ever is the fastest thing around to eat down his throat....

so i found a not cheap, but dirt cheap elliptical and we set out last weekend for dallas (why is everything i look for on craigslist in the dallas area? do the good people in ftw never feel the need to sell anything i want) to pick it up. in the past 5 days i have burned almost 3000 calories and this thing is awesome. i can hop on in the evening for a little tori and dean or next foodnetwork star trash tv watching party or in the morning jump on while the girls watch mickey mouse and play together and try to read one of the 8 magazines i receive monthly collecting dust on my night stand.

with that i just might throw up feeling i have right now........i am going to post the inspirational video jeff took during my first voyage as a public commitment to a healthier me or rather the omg amy looks fantastic christmas card i want to take this year. oh, and please no comments on my unmade bed....my really awesome husband (he is so off my shit list these days)took a nap earlier with izzy and i never re-made the bed.

i will post another video in three months and share my progress along with weekly updates.......good luck to me!

pictures finally...

So, with really awesome camera to replace the one I threw away I have begun to take pictures of the girls again.....now I truly appreciate it more.

This the beginning of our float for our neighborhood parade. My husband is a genius and built the canopy to protect the kiddos from the sun, however, I think he did it more for adding decorations to the top.

Here is Jeff all nice and sweaty taking a look at his hard work. I think he is proud of himself.

Here is sweet Annie being a real trooper after riding around in the float, stopping by the Cook's for muffins and bloody marys, lunch at the Garcias and swimming.........this was right before her almost 2 hour nap to prepare for the fireworks. Thanks to our friends, the Pounds, we had a front row spot for the boat club show not to mention their amazing private show they put on afterwards.

Here is Izzy, this pictures was not actually taken on the fourth....but just look at those pretty eyes and we hope her hair stays this color.

I hope they continue to play together......


Well, I must complete something on my to do list from Jeff while the girls are napping. Hopefully, tonight I can share my new toy with y'all.

new mommy trick...

so i have started loading the girls up in my almost the size of the mini school bus suv before annie's morning nap time to "make phone calls"......yes, i know that i should not be talking on the phone while driving but what else am i to do with two small children when i have a mile long list of calls to make. i know what some of you are thinking, however, i am betting next week i will see you making the loop around 820 just to complete one task without interruption. and the thought process is.....put annie in the truck to take her smaller morning nap and turn on a movie for izzy, stop by starbucks for a vanilla milk box, stock an extra binki or two to be tossed into the back if one were to fall out of her reach and return a dozen or more calls from the holiday weekend.....i just may be a genius because my plan worked with only a few pull overs to change one poopy diaper, put annie's binki back in and to wipe up izzy's spilled milk. the major draw back... gas is almost $4 a gallon...but hey, i did break in my hands free earpiece!





a big thanks to my brother-in-law for commenting on my blogging. while i am truly enjoying it, i like to hear i can still make other people laugh with my craziness. of course, dear ole husband responds with "i bet chris does like it, he doesn't have to sit on the phone for 45 minutes actually listening to your stories that go on and on wondering how he is going to get you to quit talking". i would rather think he enjoys hearing about our daily adventures (i say adventures because i never know what will happen each day as i roll out of bed....will i answer 20 or 60 calls today, will the girls shit once, twice or three times, will dinner make it to the table or is it a cheese omelet night again, etc.)





i am sitting in the "fake" dark created by pb blackout curtains sipping or rather guzzling my mommy juice waiting for izzy to nod off so i can go watch the season finally of hell's kitchen and follow it up with flipping out. okay if you do not watch this show, i think it is on bravo, please watch just one episode because you will be addicted. this guy is a complete nut job! when jeff and i first watched the show last season we thought there is no way this guy is for real....it has to be scripted, but he was on ellen and now i believe nothing he does is played up for good tv viewing more likely toned down because no one can be this nuerotic.





so, today i failed at winning a slightly used rainbow playset on ebay i have been diligently watching the past 4 days. before i went to bed last night i put post-it notes everywhere, on the coffee maker, fridge door, garage door, tv remote to remind me my item was ending at 11:58 today and i did not forget because i have been kinda, but not really searching that hard for six months to find a playset for the girls. i am one of those people who up and decides i have to find that perfect rug right NOW and sets out in search of it all day long dragging tired, cranky, cookie bribed kiddos in and out of ten storess o you can imagine jeff's not so much jump on board attitude when i decided this week to find the perfect but not some cheap china made crap yard toy, one that will last through all the little longspaughs i want.





anyhoo, i did find a good deal on ebay and in the last two seconds lost it to some bidder who apparently was secretly watching the countdown laughing his/her ass off because i thought i was the only one that found this really awesome deal on 20 miles away. but, hey, i am determined to find one NOW and didn't waste time calling on the ones i found on craigslist. i even told jeff if we can find one this week i will give up our anniversary dinner reservations saturday just to set it up.....i tell you if i set my mind to something.....

well, i am off to bed for a little one on one time with the tv.....sorry jeff maybe tomorrow night.

lesson of the year never leave precious photos on camera....

well, last week was the hardest week i have had in a while....both girls had a viral infection (meaning antibiotics won't kick it in the ass) of which annie is still fighting, most likely needing to go back to pediatrician tomorrow, i might have lost my office/baby help (partly because i can blow like a volcano that has been dormant for 150 years) and it was a holiday week so payday was a day early. i will finish catching up some of the sleep i am most defiantly deprived of tonite and open a bottle of wine tomorrow for a sit in the dark while the girls fall asleep chat session with myself thus sharing a tale or two of mommy meltdown with you.
the one great thing from last week is my new camera arrived...ok, so it is the replacement to the really awesome camera i bought jeff last father's day. i discovered four days to late i threw that really awesome gift in the trash when we returned from a mini vacation last month. now i am taking full responsibility being i am the one who actually placed the shopping bag with really awesome father's day gift inside the trash can, BUT to my defense when the trucks were unloaded everything went through the front door and into the main living room, so when i found said shopping bag in the garage with empty plastic bottles and west, texas goodie boxes in it i figured it had to be trash......the worst part of it is i came to the realization literally 3 minutes too late. after asking jeff where the camera was because for the second day in a row the girls looked extra cute he replied with an "i don't know, where did you leave it".....so thinking back the last time i remembered seeing camera with two full months of baby can't get that on camera again pictures including new vacation photos not yet downloaded to computer was when we were packing up the vacation house. OH, SHIT..i quickly called my sister who was at my house and she sadly told me the trash man just picked up the trash. she hopped in the truck and chased him down with me frantically freakin, as jeff would say, in her ear. my sister actually pulls in front of the trash man five houses down the street and begs the trash man to wait because i am doing 90 mph to get home and climb through his truck to find my now lost pictures of super adorable girls. through the language barrier he somehow explains to wendy that the truck automatically turns the trash and it is most likely on the bottom of the pile but, he remembers the bag from our trash can (weird, huh) and will look for it when the truck is dumped...of course, i am trying to get her to find out where and what time because i want to be there myself.
anyhoo, after a not so friendly customer service representative at tarrant waste management tells me i am not allowed to rummage through the dump site to try my hardest to find lost camera full of precious once-in-a-lifetime pics i go to the bathroom and throw up. and again, i won't be winning mother of the year, or any other i can keep it together awards, hell i can't even blow dry my hair daily what am i thinking.
so back to only thing keeping me going last week.....i used some of our credit card points and purchased a new camera to replace the really awesome father's day gift i bought jeff last year. without getting into the technicality of it....we could almost think of it as a free camera....a bonus for all my credit card swiping, ha, maybe i will be up for the thrifty mom award (that one is for you, honey....you can pick yourself up off the floor i know it was a far fetch).
so with this replacement camera i will be adding pictures to my blog.
oh, we made it to storytime again last week....15 minutes late but hey it still counts!

see you tomorrow after a glass or two of "mommy juice".