Not quite Wordless Wednesday: Peonies, and some unfortunate euphemisms

Do you say Pee - uh - nee or Pe - OH - nee? We've been discussing this at my house and the hubby says one thing and I say the other. Well, I looked it up today and this is what I read:

Pronunciation of "Peony" Plants and Word Origin:

The standard pronunciation is pee'-uh-nee (accent on the first syllable). However, many people place the accent on the second syllable: pee-oh'-nee. As is often the case with anglicized versions of Latin words, rulings on what should be the standard pronunciation seem rather arbitrary. The word derives from the Latin genus name, Paeonia, which, in turn, derives from a figure in Greek mythology, Paeon (see below). If you want to be safe, stick with the standard pronunciation: pee'-uh-nee.

So, I would say that both are acceptable, right? I don't think I can teach myself to change the way I say it so it shall be acceptable (so sayeth me).

Here's the original:

I had to hold the stem up because the Peonies are so heavy they droop. (Like a couple other things I know and have to hold up sometimes as well. You know, sometimes you have to be big to be glorious. The heavier they are the more impact they make. The bigger the better. Size is impressive. I could go on. What? Sheesh).

Peonies. Peonies. Peonies. It's fun to say either way.

Bitchfest & IG LW review

I'm annoyed. For several reasons:

1. I'm at work and it's Monday. 
2. I'm getting a cystic/nodule type acne bump on the side of my chin. I could ignore it but it freaking hurts. Like I-can't-forget-it's-there kind of hurt. So that sucks.
3. What started out as a nice Mother's Day yesterday went south in the middle of the day when my kids completely forgot that they ever had manners to begin with and proceeded to act like whiny, annoying, born-in-a-barn, selfish 2 year olds. They are 9 & 7. I was taking THEM shopping for stuff for THEM. On Mother's Day. Ungrateful little wretches. People used to compliment me about their manners. What the hell happened??
4. My oldest decided to continue this trend through this morning when he laid on the floor for 30 minutes because we were making him wear jeans to school that make his butt look big. For reals? I mean, really? He's 9. He's small. 51 inches tall and maybe 52 pounds. Nevertheless, kicking, screaming, pounding the floor tantrum this morning. He is grounded from the TV & the computer now.
5. We decided to try an ADHD med for my little one this weekend. He has never taken ANY meds, and there's some concern with treating the ADHD because the medicine can cause Autism characteristics to become "worse" or just more defined. Well, we tried one on Saturday and, OMFG, the child turned into a holy terror. We were in survival mode with him until it wore off. I held him until he calmed down and then quietly handed over the the Wii remote and slowly backed away. So, yeah, we won't be trying that again. I would rather deal with his concentration issues than that mad, angry and aggressive little spawn of satan.
6. My insurance guy keeps calling (when I'm not home so I just get these annoying messages) to sign up for a service or I'm about to lose a discount for the next 6 months. This is my thing: I obviously was signed up for it the last 6 months - why the hell are you bugging me about it again? When I sign up once I expect it to stay in effect. Do you really think I have time to deal with ONE MORE THING? And I have to carve out the time to do this during the day while I'm at work. 

Which brings me back to WORK. I try not to talk about work too much here - but I just have to say something. I've been doing this job for over 5 years. Which is a long time, in this field, to stay with one company and in the same position. I'm getting a little freakin' burned out. I'm tired of the same problems and the same non-solutions. Home annoyances on top of the typical work stuff makes days like today really hard.

I would love to be Susie Sunshine and see the bright side of every thing, every day - but that's just not me. Sometimes I can do that. Other times I want to wallow in my annoyance with the world or just go back to bed already. 

I know I'll get over it soon. Except for this stupid cystic pimple. That's going to take several days and a lot of oil massaging.

So enough bitching. Here's a look at how last week (LW) went, in Instagram (IG):

Sunday: We shot off the rocket my 9 year old got for his birthday. It was SO COOL.

Monday: I took my little guy to his developmental pediatrician. This was in the waiting room. 

Tuesday: I got new specs.

Wednesday: We went to see Wicked. This is the stage before it started. It.Was.Awesome.

Thursday: There was a duck in the road. I persuaded her to move for her safety.

Friday: Read Night at my oldest's school. Every year we put on a puppet show for the event. We = my husband as the puppeteer with help from a nephew and friend. It's a real crowd-pleaser. 

Saturday: The hubby got all handy and installed our new water heater.

Saturday: During the medication snafu: angry eyes and a thunderous brow.

Saturday evening: Hot water. Bubbly toes. Fantastic.

Sunday: Mother's Day breakfast in bed. Crepe with Nutella & whipped cream. There was bacon too but somehow it disappeared before the picture was taken.

Sunday: some of my Mother's Day loot. Chocolate (of course), funky socks, and homemade books. Plus a card with a tropical island and tropical music in it (no drink with an umbrella in it though). I also got a color bowl (flower pot) for the front porch AND, drumroll please, I did not have to wash a dish all freakin' day. Hallelujah!

Not quite wordless Wednesday

So, I mentioned in my previous post that I was having all kinds of fun with my new iPhone and the Instagram app. I've taken a few good pictures, a few scary pictures, and a few awww moment pictures. Now I'm going to share them with you.

Lucky, lucky you.

First, a mommy and bubba moment. Me, in my orange Life is Good slippers and my little guy,"Mom, take a picture of our feet!" Okay, buddy:

There are those little feet again, at the river this time. The water level was raised over the weekend and we went to check it out:

Climbing on fallen trees is important business, yo.

So is skipping rocks.

I went to a Tastefully Simple party in a small town called Star. Rest assured, it's not as shiny as it sounds. The Merc in town (short for mercantile, you see) sells food, automative and hunting supplies. What more could you need?

  

That's an awww husband & wife moment, isn't it?

After the party I enjoyed the scenery on the way back to my town, the "big city" in these here parts:

Back at home I set about re-purposing a room to accommodate some growing-up boys and their computer gaming homework needs:

Half way through. Tortoise Bob is happy to be in the sun.

After

I went on a date with my husband to a winery where we had good food and listened to a great singer. I had a hard time seeing the singer through this glass though:

(I love this picture so much I want to marry it. Or something.)

I watched my husband put together his new fancy-dancy turntable (thanks in-laws!):

I made cookies. Yum:

Dark chocolate and butterscotch. Swoon.

I lamented about my 80's style bathroom. I love my house, but I don't think hate is too heavy of a word for this rose pink & teal dysfunctional cold pit of hell that has missed any refurbishing the rest of the house has received:

Bathtub. Fits 24 1/2 people and takes 5,000 gallons to fill.

(Someone please tell me how to win a bathroom makeover. I'm begging you. There are roses on the tiles for pete's sake.)

Then, to recover from my bathroom mourning, I got my hair did:

So did my husband but he won't let me post the picture of his foil-wrapped, ahem, naturally blond (not gray, oh no) roots. In fact, this isn't a picture of him under the dryer. Nope, not at all:

I hope you enjoyed this journey through Instagram with me. I'll try not to make it too much of a habit but I make no promises. I'm in luuuuurrrvveee with my iPhone. You'll just have to bear with me in this heady, swoony beginning of a relationship infatuation stage.

Yours in iPhone bliss,

Stef

The week in photos: a recap

Warning: lots o' pictures in this post. Some of food. Some of people. Some of other stuff. Some of teeth (or missing teeth). It was a busy week.

Unfortunately all the photos are from my phone because I have misplaced the cord to charge my camera. (I hope I didn't leave it in the last hotel room I stayed in. I hope, I hope. I did that last year with my phone charger and have been kicking myself ever since.) Anyway, apologies for the quality of the pics. I really, really want a good camera but until I can afford that it would be nice if I could at least find the cord to my little Fujifilm point & shoot digital.

The boys (all three of them) were on Spring Break so they were all very, very happy about that. I had to work, a lot (end of the financial quarter and I was covering for my boss) but the fun stuff off-set the work stuff nicely.

We started the week by all going out to lunch.

 

We rented Just Dance 2. The boys thought it was going to be L.A.M.E. and that they couldn't possibly get up and DANCE, like, in front of PEOPLE. But after watching me & the hubby do it, they were more than ready to try it. And, no surprise, they freakin' loved it. (Note: if you are well-endowed, like me, then when your 7 year old begs you to play Just Dance before bed and you have already taken your bra off do NOT dance to "Jump.")

We also had a wide range of weather (a friend of mine remarked that Mother Nature must be menopausal). Snow, rain, and later in the week sunny & 70 degrees. I never get tired of looking up and seeing the snow on the mountains just 20 miles away from us.

 

I went to the chiropractor 3 times (where, one day, an adorable 2 yo fell asleep on the table waiting for his adjustment and then SLEPT THROUGH THE ADJUSTMENT). Wow. 

And I made flautas for the first time. They were oh so yum. (Fattening though. Warning: You may gain a pound just looking at the pic). I also made the Pioneer Woman's Brother's Chicken Tacos - but didn't snap a pic of those. I make Mexican food at least once a week.

The sad news of the week was the untimely demise of my favorite pizza stone. I had it even before I had my children. Even before I was married. So sad. It was left on a hot burner and cracked down the middle. You can't see the crack but it's there. (The odd white round mark was left by a pan lid that was on top of the pizza stone.) Can you see how perfectly seasoned it was? Oh, the tragedy. 

But then my little one wanted a pic with his mom & dad and the world was okay again.

I received this picture texted to me while I was at work so I'm not sure what happened, but the Tooth Fairy visited us again that night - just a week after her last visit. I really need to make this guy some Jello so he can learn how to shoot it out through the holes. Hee hee. (Oh, I WAS disappointed to find they didn't buy any chocolate chips. Duh, they were right.there.)

On Saturday the hubby's acting group premiered a new train show. It's a Wild West idea, and the hubby is a bit of a bumbling but dedicated Confederate General. This is him the night before trying his costume and crazy face on. 

We went to our nephew's birthday party on Saturday. My little one insisted he wouldn't go outside because of the dog - and then proceeded to follow the dog around and eventually try to ride him like a horse. Also my twin nieces are in the picture. So stinkin' adorable I want to eat them up.

Then we marked World Autism Awareness Day, on April 2. You can read my post about it here. We put a blue light bulb in our front porch light and we all dressed in blue to show our support for the event. When we went outside to take this pic we noticed our neighbors next door had also put blue light bulbs in their outside lights. I WAS STOKED. 

I hope your week was as fun as mine. 

Hasta mañana, peeps.

Family Flashback Friday

In conjunction with my sisters post last night, here's a family themed Flashback Friday:

From left to right, that's my brother, my mom & dad, me holding my nephew, my sister holding my niece and my brother-in-law. I think this was when I was in 8th grade. I loved those white pants! They had zipper pockets just above the pleated front. Eeek. Go 80's fashion.

This was back when our family was fairly normal. Or so I thought. My brother & sister were from my dad's first marriage and I was from my mom's first marriage - but then dad adopted me as a baby so he's the only dad I know. Because I was a baby when this family "merged" it was a long time before I realized that we actually were a combined family. 

I was only 7 when my sister got married so my brother-in-law has almost always been my brother-in-law, you know? (Except now they are divorced, after 27 years of marriage, and he's set up housekeeping (antiquated terminology - love it) with my cousin on my mom's side. That's another story for another day. At least he's still in the family.)

Happy Friday, my friends.

Wordless Wednesday? Not quite.

Today started out rainy. Rain, rain, rain. 

At 1:30ish I ran out - in the rain - to get a quick bite for lunch before a meeting. I noticed then that the rain was what the weather people like to call a "wintry mix". There was substance to the rain drops.

Back at my desk I scarfed down my lunch and got on my conference call. A little while later I looked out the window in my office and saw this:

This was taken through a window with my cell phone. Adjust expectations accordingly.

See that? That's snow. On the ground. Coming down. It's March, people. 

So then I had to talk on my call and I was distracted for a bit. When I turned around and looked out the window again there were big, white, fluffy flakes coming down! As soon as I hung up I went outside and took this pic:

You can see from the sidewalk that it's *mostly* too warm to stick.

Holy snow in March, Batman!

Anatomy of a snap-happy Sunday

Bless him, the hubby let me sleep in. Then, when he was so hungry he couldn't wait anymore, he crawled into bed with me and said he had already cooked the potatoes and could I please get my lazy arse out of bed and make him a scramble? Fine, fine! 

I got up and staggered my bones to the kitchen and began cooking. In the same pan as the cut up and sauteed potatoes, I added diced ham, aromatics (onion & garlic), and let it all combine on medium low heat. Then whisked 5 eggs, a diced scallion, and salt & pepper in a separate bowl. I added the egg mixture in and stirred a few times to scramble all together. Then turned the burner off, put some cheese on top and put the lid on to let the cheese melt. It was YUM. Plus I had enough leftover to make 6 breakfast burritos for us next week. Total score.

We sat down to eat breakfast and decided to flip on the Netflix and watch the 1st episode of Doctor Who (since it was restarted in 2005). It's been highly recommended from our friend, Britt. But I think the jury is still out with me and the hubs. We'll have to watch a few more before we decide. 

Then we started our day in earnest. I sent the kids to take out the recycling and play. Lo and behold they decided to do work:

Took out the recycling

Swept out the laundry room . . .

. . . and continued in the garage

The hubby continued working on my oldest's invention for his Invention Convention - due this week at school:

the Pull & Dress - more on this later

Bob was doing his thing:

Russian Tortoise. Bob.

So I lit some candles:

A gift for Valentine's Day from the hubby

and began snapping some pics of a few of my favorite things:

My fancy Jane Austen books - a gift many, many years ago

Willow Tree people - gifts from my family

My grandmother-in-law gave this egg cup to me from her collection. I love it dearly!

I'm thinking of making something now. Something a little sweet and possibly a little savory as well. Hmmm . . .