The Life and Times of a Pirate

It's been a fairly busy summer, despite it feeling like we haven't really done a whole lot. Both kids had birthdays pretty recently. Dominic asked for a party, and dinosaurs, so both were had. The cake:



I am told this is what all five year old boys want at their birthday party. Chocolate, dinosaurs, and chocolate cookie sandwiches filled with frosting. Enough sugar to power a small army.

Molly then turned two the beginning of August. She and Dom are both growing like weeds. Well, she is. Dom is growing like a slow growing weed. He's gotten a lot taller this year, though, or maybe I'm just shrinking.

Grandma gave them both new outfits as gifts, which they insisted we take a picture of:



Dominic's first day of kindergarten is this Wednesday!! I'm excited, but a little freaked out too. Anxious to see if he loves it or hates it, but I think he'll have a good time. We go in tonight so he can meet his teacher and we can find out his bus schedule. Gotta remember to drop off the paperwork from his physical, too.

That's about all the news that's new. How are all of you?

I know I've actually hung out with the majority of you on more than one occasion, but humor me.

Post a picture of you in the comments that is *not* your icon picture. Hell, give me three or four. Lemme see that mug.

Feel free to copycat and repost.

Leave me a comment and I will give you a letter. Then, write 10 things that you love starting with that letter. Post the list in your journal. Give out letters to those who comment in return.

I was given a "T".....

1. Trying on new clothes/shoes
2. Trips in the car
3. Turning the music up loud
4. Teaching my kids new things
5. Thunderstorms
6. Tortoises.
7. Thai food
8. Trees, especially when the leaves turn colors in the fall
9. Tea
10. Tolkein

How ridiculous is it that it should take an hour and a half of digging around online and playing phone tag to find the correct phone number for a moderately large collection agency's human resources department?

Idiots.

1. Pick 15 of your favorite movies that you have on DVD.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote dialogue from each movie.
3. Post them in your own LJ for everyone to guess, but not before you take a crack at these!
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No Googling/using IMDb search functions.
6. As always, winner gets My admiration and thanks!

1. "You just put your pickle on everybody's plate, college boy, and leave the hard stuff to me"- Dirty Dancing, guessed by celticshrew
2. "Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends"
3. "at the birth of the sun and of his brother the moon, their mother died. So the sun gave to the earth her body, from which was to spring all life. And he drew forth from her breast the stars, and the stars he threw into the night sky to remind him of her soul"
4. "My only shot at ever being in a gang fight and all I get is one stitch?"
5. "What the hell is this, a piano bar or a Nazi work camp? I'm singing my heart out for bupkus, peanuts. I'm eating dog food and you can't even give me fifty dollars you already owe me?"
6. "I can not promise you riches. What I can offer you the chance to save the world one case at a time."
7. "The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It's drawn the finest people"- Braveheart, guessed by thalen
8. "I do believe in spooks. I do believe in spooks. I do, I do, I do, I do, I *do* believe in spooks"
9. "Good morning, my lord. I see you are open for business - so let's to church"
10. "It seems everyday ends with a miracle here. And whatever God may be, I thank God for this day"
11. "I just realized, I've been remiss. Forgive me, I forgot to thank you for protecting me yesterday. That is your job right? Protecting me. Well done 'Bob.' You don't mind if I call you Bob, do you? I knew a Bob once; God, he was ugly as a mule. Are you a ladies man, Bob?"- The Last Samurai, guessed by thalen
12. "This is the tale of an ordinary man, who had everything. Until a man of power stole his freedom, destroyed his family and banished him... for life. And in his sorrow a new man was born"- Sweeney Todd, guessed by thalen
13. "In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns"
14. " Men can't be friends with women Howard. They must posses them or leave them be. It’s a primitive urge from caveman days."
15. "I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time."- Forrest Gump, guessed by thalen

Joo want cards, you say? Crissssmaaaas cards? Leave me your info so's the cards actually get where they're going!

Civic duty done, and all that. The cool thing was getting Sean to come along and vote for the first time. :)

And since everyone else is commenting on their voting experience-small towns are great. ONE voting booth. One person in line ahead of me. I think I was in and out in about 10-15 minutes, all told.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY unrooly !!

My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haul
piratessclare goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as Geisha.
candyctdrebar tricks you! You get a 3.5-inch floppy disc.
falquinn tricks you! You get a used tissue.
kalidascopeeyes gives you 13 light yellow cinnamon-flavoured jawbreakers.
kyeli_unlikely gives you 3 blue watermelon-flavoured gumdrops.
lady_chaos tricks you! You lose 10 pieces of candy!
leeflower gives you 1 purple chocolate-flavoured pieces of taffy.
luvdasandy gives you 1 dark green coffee-flavoured pieces of bubblegum.
madplanet gives you 7 dark blue cherry-flavoured pieces of taffy.
midget2005 gives you 7 purple spearmint-flavoured wafers.
nightrisa gives you 3 teal cinnamon-flavoured nuggets.
piratessclare ends up with 25 pieces of candy, a 3.5-inch floppy disc, and a used tissue.
Go trick-or-treating! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.

I really need to update this thing more often, I know.

Not ever all that much new to report. Work continues to go well, but winter is coming, so we'll see. Once the summer people go home, it always slows down some. Sean started a new job out in Deposit as well, working for a stone company. He's making those do it yourself pond kits, which their company then sells to places like Home Depot and what not. He likes it, but it's hard work, and so he's quitting smoking, "so I can breathe at work", he says. It should be an interesting couple weeks, to be sure. Everyone give him lots of love and support, he's going to be a cranky, cranky man.
With Sean and I both working in Deposit, we're actually going to be moving in to an apartment out there. It's a nice place, and now that we've got all the dust and stuff cleaned up, we've been able to start moving stuff over. We're getting a UHaul on Saturday to bring over the big stuff. And yes, Maryland folks, it is temporary, just until we've been able to save up enough to move back. If I keep making the amount I'm making, and with Sean making what he's making, we'll be able to put aside a lot of extra money every month towards moving back.
Kids are good, Molly's giant, Dom is Dom. :) Molly's up to 8 teeth, with a molar coming in. Dominic has been doing preschool stuff at home and is learning how to write all his letters.

If you were shopping at an Amtgard or Ren Faire type general shop, what would you want to see included in the stock?

Molly can walk! She's been walking with help for a month or more now, but she took her first all by herself steps yesterday! Four of them! And then she lost her balance and fell on her butt, but hey. :)

Some of you will have seen this already, but I'm reposting, for those that haven't:

"Teacher lets Morningside students vote out classmate, 5
By Colleen Wixon
Saturday, May 24, 2008

PORT ST. LUCIE - Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.

After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about
Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher
Wendy Portillo said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.

By a 14 to 2 margin, the students voted Alex - who is in the process
of being diagnosed with autism - out of the class.

Melissa Barton filed a complaint with Morningside' s school resource
officer, who investigated the matter, Port St. Lucie Department
spokeswoman Michelle Steele said. But the state attorney's office
concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child
abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed, Steele said.

Port St. Lucie Police no longer are investigating, but police
officials are documenting the complaint, she said.

Steele said the teacher confirmed the incident took place.

Portillo could not be reached for comment Friday.

Steele said the boy had been sent to the principal's office because
of disciplinary issues. When he returned, Portillo made him go to the
front of the room as a form of punishment, she said.

Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with
Asperger's syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began
the testing process in February at the suggestion of Morningside
Principal Marcia Cully.

Children diagnosed with Asperger's often exhibit social isolation and
eccentric behavior..

Alex has had disciplinary issues because of his disability, Barton
said. After the family moved into the area and Alex and his sibling
arrived at the school in January, Alex spent much of the time in the
principal's office, she said.

He also had problems at his last school, but he did not have issues
during his two years of preschool, Barton said.

School and district officials have met with Barton and her son to
create an individual education plan to address his difficulties, she
said. Portillo attended these meetings, Barton said.

Barton said after the vote, Portillo asked Alex how he felt.

"He said, 'I feel sad,' " Barton said.

Alex left the classroom and spent the rest of the day in the nurse's
office, she said.

Barton said when she came to pick up her son at the school Wednesday,
he was leaving the nurse's office.

"He was shaken up," she said.

Barton said the nurse told her to talk with Portillo, who told her
what happened.

Alex hasn't been back to school since then, and Barton said he won't
be returning. He starts screaming when she brings him with her to
drop off his sibling at school.

Thursday night, his mother heard him saying "I'm not special" over
and over.

Barton said Alex is reliving the incident.

The other students said he was "disgusting" and "annoying," Barton
said.

"He was incredibly upset," Barton said. "The only friend he has ever
made in his life was forced to do this."

St. Lucie School's spokeswoman Janice Karst said the district is
investigating the incident, but could not make any further comment.

Vern Melvin, Department of Children and Families circuit
administrator, confirmed the agency is investigating an allegation of
abuse at Morningside but said he could not elaborate."

Also, there is this:
"It's possible to send cards with words of support or encouraging messages to the boy and his mother at this address:

Alex is Special
c/o Barbara Curtis
15648 Britenbush Ct.
Waterford, VA 20197

As the boy is emotionally sensitive it's requested to avoid lambasting the teacher or the other children in the class in a letter to him, but messages of praise, reassurance, and hopefulness for the future are all appreciated. I believe the cards are being collected by another mother of an autistic child and she will then send them on to the family in a group."

We will be sending a card, I think. What a terrible thing to do to a little kid.

Hippo birdies 2 ewe, thalen!

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about.

Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Ask for anything (except for naked pictures). Repost or not, so that we can all make each other squirm.

I reserve the right to say no or reply via email.
You are also welcome to ask further questions regardless of what my first answer is.

Comments are screened.
Anonymous posting is allowed.

Oh...it's been a week. Last weekend, we went to MD to take care of some amtgard stuff, and it was good. Come April, I'll be one of the people in charge of cooking feast for 300 people.

Get home Sunday, wake up monday. Go to work...this is where the suck comes in. One of my best work-friends bumped his head last week, nothing major, right? Turns out, it was. He passed away in his sleep Saturday night, from a bleed in his brain. I'm dealing, but it sucks. Yesterday would've been his 30th birthday. His oldest (of five) just turned 4 not that long ago. His youngest was born the first week of January. The funeral's Monday morning in Syracuse, so Sean and I are heading up there with some other friends from work. I miss him. :(

Other than that, pretty much status quo around here; good days and bad days, but the kids are healthy and happy, and the job goes on pretty much the same as ever.

( my valentine postbox )

I am the worst updater EVER, but not nearly as bad as Sean. :) Things at Casa de Stack are pretty good, all things considered. I like my job a lot, wouldn't have thought collections would be for me, but it turns out I actually really enjoy it. Sean started working where I work about three weeks ago, and they put him on my team, so we're on the same work schedule for the first time in forever. It makes life about a million times easier, for sure. I finally got Halloween pictures of the kids onto the computer, some of you've seen them up on the respective myspaces, I'm sure, but for those who haven't, I'll include some here.








Jodie's been staying with us over her winter break, but she heads home Sunday, so the hunt for a new babysitter was on. (Well, it was on anyway, but Jodie allowed us to have some extra time to actually find someone who we liked AND could afford). The new sitter starts on Monday, hopefully it'll work out, cause she's dirt cheap. $2/hour for the first kid, $1 per hour each additional child. I can totally live with $3/hour for child care for two small children. She's got a bunch of boys, so Dom has plenty of people to keep him company, and it can only serve to help him. Poor little guy spends too much time stuck hanging out with the grownups.
Speaking of Dom, adventures in potty training is going well, and is almost all the way complete. 95% of the way there, I'd say-he only has the occasional accident, mostly that happens overnight or while he's napping. Less and less so every day, though. He's getting to be such a big kid I can barely believe that he'll be going to preschool later on this year. He's grown up so much over the past year.
Molly is getting bigger and bigger. She's rolling over like a fiend, can't quite crawl, but she's almost got it. I give her another month before she's mobile, so it's time to start hauling out the baby gates and childproofing everything again. She was just shy of 15 pounds at her last checkup in early Dec, she's got her next appointment early in February. She's started eating cereal with her bottle, and if I can just get her to start taking it from a spoon, we can start moving her towards eating regular baby food, which can only lead to less ANGRY MOLLY faces.
Sean's mother is planning a trip up sometime this spring, which saves us some money-we were thinking about planning a trip down there to surprise her.
Pulled my free credit report for the year, found out I'm WAY less in debt than I thought I was, so by the end of this year, heck, maybe even by June, we should be totally debt free. What an exciting thought. Maybe, just maybe, a house can get moved from the ten year plan back into the five year plan. Owning certainly beats renting, any day.
Company holiday banquet tonight-yeah, we're a little behind the times. Apparently, someone waited too long to book the hall, so we had to wait until after the new year. Whatever, it's free food, a reason to get dressed up, and even if it IS the work crowd, it's a chance to go hang out with grownups without the kids for a few hours. Don't get me wrong, I love them both to pieces, but every once in a while, a night out is the best gift.
We're missing everyone who's far away, and we're hoping to see you all soon.

Happy Christmas to everyone!! Santa was good to Dom and Molly, and *I* got the Dirty Dancing ultimate edition 2-disc DVD. Life is good. :)
Sean says he loves and misses everyone who's far away, and wishes them Happy Christmases too.
Hope everyone's holiday is good, and that all your eggs are nogged.

HAPPY BIIIIIIRTHDAY!
*luvs*
We misses you!