You’re the boss, Brandice » 2008

16th Dec2008

I entered them all.

by The Boss

There is a fabulous contest going on right now through Sears and IZEA. Apparently, they gave some bloggers $500 giftcards to go on a shopping spree at Sears. The bloggers could buy something for themselves or buy for those in need. Then these bloggers get to offer 3 different $500 packages for their readers to choose from.

I learned about this all through BenSpark.com. I like his blog, he takes some good pictures and always has a nice little story to tell. I also won the contest for a digital photo frame that he sponsored! Woo! Don’t tell my husband though, that’s gonna be his Christmas present. BenSpark is also giving away a $100 dollar gift card to sears.

When I was reading through all these blogs and the different packages they’re offering, I told myself I would enter only one. I lied to myself. I entered them all.

The first you can find at HowToSplitAnAtom.com. The package I wish for is:

Package 3 (The Homeward Bound Package)

I chose this one because if I won I’d be able to give Ben the iPod. He really wants and iTouch but he would be happy with this. Also, the home theater would rock! Plus, I haven’t seen the Dark night. If I won, I could watch the Dark Night on my new home theater, and Ben could watch whatever he wanted on his new iPod.

The next package I wish for is from chris.pirillo.com. This one was hard for me to choose because his 3 packages involved LEGO’S, Star Wars, and a Family Game Night package. I went with the Family Game Night package. I love board games and the idea of a family game night. I can also give some away a gifts.

The 3rd package I wish is from jimkukral.com. It’s called the BLU-RAY/DVD Player Package. It comes with a BLU-RAY DVD player and 2 portable DVD players. The portable DVD players are the reason I entered this one. Sometimes, when the kids are acting crazy in the car I daydream about having these. Wouldn’t it be lovely? I’d rather hear some annoying kid movie than to hear, “Zion’s touching me!” 75 times!

The fourth package I wish for is from techipedia.com. I chose the Camping package, because I want to take my family camping at the Dismals Canyon. To go camping we need some supplies, otherwise we’ll just sit here and continue to get the kids hopes up.

The 5th package I wish for comes from technosailor.com. I chose the iPod pack because I really want Ben to have an iPod. If I don’t win one, it’s probably not going to happen.

The 6th package I wished for, for my true love once again, is the Image, Music and Words package. You can wish for it at successful-blog.com. “Why Brandice, why did you choose this package?” you might ask. Because I want to give my husband an iPod! This package actually has the iTouch, the “gold” as I like to refer to it.

This one, lucky number 7, is a package (the fun package) from jaffejuice.com It has an iTouch, for Ben and, a Wii Fit for me. How much fun would that be? A Wii fit! I need this because Santa never once brought me a Nintendo or any other game system for Christmas growing up. And my mom can’t say that this one will make me lazy.

Number 8 comes from chrisheuer.com. This package is called the media package. Guess what comes in this package…another iPod! But it also has digital camcorder…I have 4 children and they need to be recorded.

The last one comes from Ted.me. Even though he has a package that has an iPod, I had to go with the Shapeshifter package. He put it like this, “Ready to loose that chunky butt? How about winning this Schwinn SR23 Recumbent Bike. Set it up in front of your television and you can drop the pounds while watching Dr. Phil.” Even though I never watch Dr. Phil, I could bike my hiney off during those CSI marathons on SpikeTv.

There you have it folks. Now you know what I’ve spent my morning on. I received lots of little things in the mail this past week to review, so I’ll be getting on that sometime in the next few days.

Seriously, go visit these blogs and enter to win this stuff. Let me know if you win anything. Winning things on blogs is the most fun ever. So far I’ve won 2 DVDs, the digital photo frame (remember, don’t mention that to my husband,) and a Thomas game. It’s worth it to leave a comment and say something about the contest in your blog.

Category : Contests and Giveaways

Tags : Contests and Giveaways

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15th Dec2008

I learned a lot this weekend

by The Boss

Note: I have 2 cousins who I will call K and H for this post. H is the older sister of K. :) Carry on.

Saturday was Christmas with my moms family. Apparently one of my younger cousins, K, has been bitter all these years due to some remarks I made as a child and teenager. I think my favorite was when she told me, that I told her, “You can’t ride in my car, you’re not a teenager.” Teenagers are the picture of stupidity.

K’s the same younger cousin that told the neighbor to go to “you know where.” She also flipped off a school bus full of children. Which was bad for her since her mother was a teacher then. They all exited the bus and went straight to my Aunts classroom to tell on her.

One magical Christmas, so long ago…well it was magical for H and K anyway, Santa brought them the Nintendo. Santa also brought my other cousins a Nintendo that same Christmas. I guess Santa didn’t like me as much as he liked them. I never got a Nintendo…ever.

Apparently, K found that it was unfair for me and H to play Nintendo without her. This isn’t true because we clearly let her play with the Duck Hunt gun. It may not have been actually plugged into the Nintendo, but it’s still part of the Nintendo and we let her play.

These were H’s rules. She played Mario, I played Luigi, and K got the gun. Now, this is the part where my bitterness comes in. In order for me to actually get a turn playing Luigi, H had to mess up and kill Mario. This NEVER happened, because H never died. She’s like the James Bond of Super Mario Brothers. If she did let me play Mario, I’d die almost immediately. There was never a reason for me to even bother. Which is why I think she let me be Luigi in the first place. If by some chance she did die, she wouldn’t have to wait long for me to die, then it would be her turn again.

I will take credit for the stone retainer wall we tore apart in order to find hidden treasure (they got in SO much trouble for that); jumping from really high places because I was convinced we could fly if we’d just climb higher and try harder; setting traps in the woods to catch a pet bunny rabbit; playing on top of waterfalls; and not letting K play with us unless she jumped in the pool in the middle of winter. I will not take credit for the Nintendo incidents, I will blame H.

Category : Memoirs

Tags : childhood, Memoirs

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11th Dec2008

woo!

by The Boss

Today, I will be sewing, I have Christmas presents to make! I am so excited!

You may not see me for a while. When I start sewing, I can’t stop.

::weeeeeeeee::

Category : Featured, Memoirs

Tags : sewing

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10th Dec2008

There is no such thing as Santa Claus

by The Boss

With the holidays approaching I can’t help but think about my childhood. My dad was really big on Santa when I was a kid. Looking back at all the toys Santa brought me as a child seems a little excessive now that I am a parent.

I was always suspicious about the existence of Santa. He just seemed too good to be true. My parents assured me he was real over and over again. Still I doubted, so I would make them promise he was real, and they would.

I was 7 before I found any hard evidence that Santa didn’t exist. I remember looking around that Christmas Eve very carefully, paying attention to the tiniest details.

In the morning, the first thing I noticed was a closet door that was slightly ajar. I pointed out to my parents that the door was completely closed when we went to bed, and they just tried distracting me with my new presents. Later in the morning, I found the wrapping paper and colored tape that had been used to wrap my presents. My parents said Santa wrapped the presents while he was putting them under the tree. I couldn’t break them, they had an answer for everything.

The following Christmas came as quickly as they all seem to. This year, my parents weren’t together and I stayed with my dad on Christmas Eve. I fell asleep as soon as possible. The next morning, I had a feeling that Santa just wasn’t coming. I lingered in bed just a little while longer until my curiosity got the best of me. My suspicions were right. Santa had not come.

I went back to bed, and stared at the ceiling. I think I even felt a little foolish. About 2 minutes passed, and I heard my dad jump out of his bed and run out the front door. A few more minutes passed and I heard him come back in. I suspect he knew I had already been up and seen that Santa had not come. He had to act quickly so he yelled out, “Thanks Santa! See you next year!” Santa had brought me a new bike.

I never said anything to my dad about that morning. I just let him think he had tricked me again. He likes to think he’s smarter than me. But I knew, if I said anything I would not be getting anything good for Christmas the next year.

Category : Holidays, Memoirs

Tags : childhood, christmas, Santa

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10th Dec2008

A protest.

by The Boss

Today is one of those days, the horrible kind, the worst kind, the laundry kind. After checking out my laundry room, I have decided that everyone in my house will live as Zion lives, naked.

I am taking away all rights to peoples closets, they will be allotted one outfit per week. They will be instructed to “wear it wisely.” This works out great for Andrew, cause he hates change, even changing clothes.

I’m throwing the towels away and forcing people to stand and air dry after showering or bathing.

“What about our socks?” They whine.

“Who cares about your stinkin’ socks, we only know where one of each pair is, anyway!”

I feel so liberated, so free, just thinking about the possibilities of this new way of life.

Category : Memoirs

Tags : laundry

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09th Dec2008

Things that make you go, hmmmmm…

by The Boss

Category : Daily Video

Tags : Daily Video

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09th Dec2008

Reason #1 I need therapy

by The Boss

My mother sings this song when I can’t reach things, it goes “Short people! Ain’t got no reason to live, short people…!” It’s like clock work. I ask her to grab something for me, she starts singing.

The annoying thing is, she has conditioned my brain to hear that song anytime something is out of reach. So I hear that song in my head 100 times a day.

Thank you mother. Thank you.

Category : Memoirs

Tags : i need therapy

2 Comm

09th Dec2008

I quit.

by The Boss

I give up trying to clothe someone who will not keep their clothes on. Zion is at the kitchen table having a snack…and he’s naked. He likes it that way, and cares nothing for clothing. I care nothing for picking up his clothes that he has thrown around the house immediately after I put them on him.

I know people who visit our house think I just don’t care about him because every time someone comes to the door he is practically naked…. OR he’s wearing his sisters clothes…When he wears his sisters clothes you can tell people are trying not to make a face. They seem so confused like, “don’t you have 2 boys? wait that is a boy…right?”

Is this genetic? We used to have a hard time keeping my younger cousin in clothes. I remember it had snowed one day, and she was walking down the driveway in nothing but a tshirt and panties. The neighbor told her to put some clothes on, and she told the neighbor to go to hell. She was like 4 or 5, she didn’t mean it.

Category : Memoirs, Raising Boys

Tags : Memoirs, Raising Boys

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08th Dec2008

One fine day

by The Boss

It was last week, Ben and I were cleaning the house and the boys were laying on our bed watching a movie. I just got that feeling that things had been going to well. That things were way to quiet. They were. Zion had dumped a whole thing of sugar on Ben’s nightstand and the floor. It wasn’t just any sugar, it was my natural cane sugar. The good stuff. The $4 a pop stuff.

You would think after that that I would put a deadbolt on our door and never let them enter again, but I didn’t. I. Am. Stupid. Last night, they got to hang out in our room again, while we had company. They got in my craft stuff, and dumped 100,000 craft sticks on our floor, followed by 300,000 tiny beads.

They have been sitting in my bedroom floor ALL morning fighting over who gets to the hold the bag the craft sticks go into, trying to eat the beads and breaking my paint brushes. They have rolled around on the floor, stood on their heads, pulled each others hair, but they haven’t picked up anything.

I was taking care of Zoe when I realized that they were being very quiet, so I went to check on them. I walked into my room, and saw they were hiding under the covers on my bed. My heart melted, they had been playing hide and seek and I didn’t know. So I pulled back the covers, and it turns out they were hiding but they were not wanting me to seek. They had grabbed some homemade bread off of the counter and were eating it in my bed.There were breadcrumbs everywhere. This is going to be a long day.

This is the part where I get slightly dramatic, I don’t like this part, so we’re going to go quick. Someone said to me once, “The days are long but the years are short.” One day, I’m gonna wish my boys were here, eating bread in my bed. I’m going to miss all of this (I feel a Trace Atkins song coming on.)

I am sure the boys will be off somewhere, doing there own thing one day. I hope when they get done doing there own thing, they find their kids eating bread in their bed! I hope they call me to complain about it, because I am gonna laugh at them, and then I’m gonna buy my grandkids a ginourmous box of craft sticks…ginourmous.

Category : Raising Boys

Tags : Raising Boys

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08th Dec2008