And you know you don't want to be on that second list.

Some funny things at the moment:

1. my parakeets have been loose and on the run (around the upstairs of my house) for 48 hours. They go back to their cage at night but as soon as the sun rises, they're in flight mode. And yes, I've been finding myself vacuuming and wiping up bird doodie. I feel it's a small price to pay for the jungle-like atmosphere they're providing. I love those little birdies.

2. I found one of the little parakeets perched on Timmy's (my sweet chihuahua) tail earlier today while Timmy was asleep in his doggie bed.

3. Zeke and the Under Armour sitch. He thinks he's the bee's knees in his Under Armour. It's pretty hilarious/ridiculous. Must post picture soon.

4. I had a random snapshot of Zeke sitting on my dresser the other day. I had put it aside to slip into a scrapbook. I found it today, on the floor of the hallway, with the name "Zeke" scrawled across the back in a 4-year-old's handwriting. I asked Zeke if he wrote his name on the back and why, and he said it was so that I'd always remember who it was in the picture. Like I'd ever forget.

5. An older woman in front of me at Rite Aid was picking up about 9 prescriptions today along with asking the pharmacist to "sort out her pill bottle". Ummmmm, the pill bottle contained about 4,936 pills in every color of the rainbow. What the????? She then proceeded to tell the pharmacist that her head hasn't been the same since she "ran her car into that tree..." OMG. Buckle up for safety, people.


And of course, a few things that are currently on my nerves:

1. my rental car. I want my own car back.

2. my hair. I need Dawn to work her magic.

3. the fact that it's about that time when all of my dentist/doctor appointments come due. DOOOOOOOOOOOOD, that's total B.S.

4. I need a pedicure but I'm afraid of dirty nail salons. I don't like someone else peeling skin off of me and the smell of those places sends me into the Migraine Hall of Fame.

5. School starts soon and that means that Zeke will be gone 4 days a week. Ok, it's only 2.5 hours a day, but still....4 days a week is A LOT!!!! 3 days a week was fine last year. Why did he have to get a year older????? waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Good TImes.

August is flying on by at warp speed. I know this because my birthday is right around the corner. I say this with gleeeeeeeeeeeeee in my heart knowing that Pauly and Zeke will make my day special in their own funny ways. Pauly, if you're reading this, I'll forward you some links for gift ideas...we all know how brutal your jewelry taste can be. Think red necklace Pauly, red necklace. Anyway, Zeke and I have been enjoying this final spurt of summer to it's fullest and here's what we've been doing (in as few words as possible):

we've seen a travelling petting zoo, cat sat for a few weeks and fell in love with her (the cat), went to see Blue's Clues Live! and met the "real" Steve (I like Joe better), played on the beach and witnessed a beach wedding, explored the Delaware Museum of Natural History with friends, we camped with Mom Mom Mare and Poppy, we went to the library and finally confessed to losing Percy and the Pirates (only cost $8.95, oh well), ate a lot of fresh corn on the cob from Wynoor Farms, hid Otto in 4,951 of Zeke's stuffed animal friends, went to Dutch Wonderland and it was clean, went to Sesame Place and it was dirty, saw the Chik-Fil-A cow and realized most of our table was eating McDonald's food, we had an afternoon pizza date - just the 2 of us, we Chuck E. Cheesed with Brandon, took pony rides, nursed Pauly through an infected spider bite that required antibiotics, played on the Sporty Squiggles Sports Team, celebrated many birthdays (happy b-day Rocco, Tristan, Lukey, and Meadow!), took swim lessons with Corey, fed the geese down the street, pampered the horsies on the corner with apple and peppermint snacks, ate unbelievable pizza at Tacconelli's with the Duffs (had such a good time - love them!), saw a Blue Heron at the pond down the street, bat watched, helped Tommy and Sue move into their beautiful new home (or rather helped them break in the new pool!), and finally, we had a slumber party at the Hampton Inn in Bethlehem with Mom Mom Mare and Poppy.

It's been a full month or two. And I've loved spending it with my favorite kid in the world...

Loser.

I'm at a loss right now. An absolute loss. I just heard on the t.v. that Michael Vick has been signed to the Philadelphia Eagles. People, don't even mess with me on this one. Don't argue the point, don't give me opposing points of view...just go with me. I am ADAMANT that this man be banned from being allowed to PLAY any sport let alone be paid tons of money to do so. I can't even begin to tell anyone how deeply I'm hurt with this decision. Doesn't anyone have any respect for the animals on this earth anymore? Surely there must be someone, just one person out there, who understands. Michael Vick doesn't deserve another dime. Nothing. But...he will be getting millions. To play football. Again. After he tortured and killed dogs. Nice. Really gives me lots of faith in the human race...

Crumpled

So it's been not-so-fab around here. And here's why: on Saturday we were in a car accident. Thankfully, all three of us were fine, but it was waaaaaay scary. Oh, and my car? Not good. It has $6K worth of damage and won't be out of the shop for weeks. I'm sad and depressed that I'm now driving around in a disgusting rental car. The thing that's making me more sad is the fact that Zeke is a paranoid back-seat driver now. He seems to be afraid that we're going to get in another accident. It's not good. I guess it'll pass but I just wish he didn't have to experience the terror that comes along with a pretty significant car accident at such a young age.

Besides the accident, another thing weighing on me is the imposing fear that summer is coming to an end. I feel it. I sense it. I see it on t.v. with all of the back-to-school ads. Most of all, I know it's coming because my birthday will be here soon (wooooohoooo!). As soon as my birthday ends, summer ends. Sad. I'm hoping that my attitude will change, as it does most years, and I'll get excited for fall...but so far I'm not feeling it. One bright note: I checked out Missy's blog and it pumped me up for some fall fashion. Thanks Missy - and I LOVE the Equestrian Frye Boots!!!

sigh, headshake, eyes-r-rolling...

Way too much sports-related stuff going on in my life at the moment. Phillies, rumblings of the Eagles, and just to ramp it up a bit....4 nights a week of pee wee football. Can't...go....into...full...story....yet. I'm just now understanding that summer may be coming to an abrupt end before I've really gotten my toes wet yet.

The Quest(ion)

We thought we had a good idea to take off on Saturday and head for the beach. "Just do a quickie day trip" Pauly and I said to each other. After all, that's one of the perks of living so close to the sea, huh? Sadly, everyone else had the same idea. A car ride that should have taken an hour and 45 minutes was painfully stretched into almost 5 hours because of traffic. To be fair, I must disclose that 2 potty breaks were inserted into that 5 hours, but c'mon...5 HOURS????? Brutal. Honestly, I think I would have rather a re-do of the Sesame Place Massacre that was put upon me last weekend (long story, but let me just say that S.P. is horrific and I'll never go back: dirty, crowded, smelly...need I say more?). I CAN say that once we planted ourselves on the beach, it was nice. But even then, I felt like I was smothered by tons of other sea-worshippers. I'm not sure anymore of what exactly is relaxing. It's a constant quest...something of a mystery now that Pauly is uber-connected to work both physically (via Crackberry & computer) and mentally. Running miles and miles away from home to supposedly "get away from it all" didn't quite work out this weekend. And now that I think about it, why did we run? We should have stopped to smell the flowers right here in our own gorgeous backyard. Note to self: slow down and slow Pauly down. Every weekend doesn't need to be action packed to the hilt. Sometimes just sitting on the deck, hearing the horses and sipping some tea is the best way to escape it all. How 'bout that?