OTS Season - Ready or Not

While many rugged men out there have their Duck Season, Dear Season, Wabbit Season, Duck Season (oh you know how that ends) we women have our OTS Season.

Ladies, you may not recognize it as anything more than "Open-Toed-Shoe Season".

For those of you still experiencing significant snowfall I must say it sucks to be you apologize if you do not yet find yourselves preparing for this annual event. Here in California, the sun is shining. It's still a bit chilly, but OTS in the air. I see the women going into the salons by the droves, in preparation for opening day of OTS Season.

The ritual for OTS is the lovely pedicure. Women are mindlessly programmed that they should not go out in public, in open toed shoes, without having the toenails painted. Before you knew it, you could not drive by a strip mall of any kind without finding at least one Starbucks manicure/pedicure place.

When Grandy was a Fatty McFat-Fat on the heavier side, she had made it a regular habit to get a pedicure. She told herself it was because she loved to be pampered, and worked really hard, so she deserved it. The real reason was that she was too flipping fat to be able to paint her own dang toes.

Now that Grandy is in a healthier place, and since she is making a commitment to pay better attention to where her money goes, she has decided that she must take matters into her own hands and have a DIY Pedicure.

Granted the DIY Pedicure is lacking a few of the perks that comes with the spa pedicure, like soaking your feet in the warm bubbly water, the massage chairs, and the wonderful foot massage. There are some other benefits to the DIY, like being able to do it while watching TV, no tickling of your feet with the dang stone thing (I have to promise each time I won't kick them in the head) and of course the cost.

So...without further adoo...Here is Grandy's before pic:




~~~Forgive me ladies, for I have sinned. It has been more than 60 days since my last pedicure. ~~~


And now the DIY job:




Alright...so I'll get the polish cleaned OFF the TOES later. It still saved me $25!

What are you doing to prepare for the sunshine and the good weather? To prepare for it now, will help get you out of the winter doldrums!!!

Sunday Stalker Spotlight - TPGoddess

Welcome to this week's edition of Sunday Stalker Spotlight!!!

This week's focus is on a great little lady, who I swear that when I do get off my happy a$$ to go visit my sister in southern California (I promise honey...I WILL GET THERE) I am going to look her and Jenn the Juggler up.


This woman didn't used to like writing, and you won't find her doing "appointment" blogging (sorry NaBloPoMo), but You would never know it actually. She is frank, sarcastic, and all about her boys' sports. She is a tomboy after my own heart.


I found her back when I first started blogging, because her comment name struck me. Who is this TPGoddess? And how do I meet her? Readers...please allow me to introduce you to Christina from Trees and Flowers and Birds.




**Your Blog(s): - http://treesflowersbirds.wordpress.com/ . Just the one – really! Though I do sometimes post a diary at http://www.mothertalkers.com/ - like once every two years! But today they did put it on the front page today. I’m just Christina there. It’s about Middle School homework blues. Yes, an expansion on my recent post at my own site.

**How long have you been blogging?: - My own site has been up for 3 years though not as its current incarnation. I moved from blogger to wordpress in ’07. I’ve been on sites like Mother Talkers for 5 years.


**Why do you blog?: - Totally personal. I’ve always had this hang up that I ‘hated’ writing. I am an accountant after all! But as my friends here and there started their own sites I saw the fun of documenting yourself. Now, I never did keep a written journal or diary – that whole hating of writing thing – but I could deal with it being online and with no pressure to post every single day. Plus, by having it public, I was forced to find a way to express myself well. And I love adding pictures or cartoons to put some zing into the topic.

**What does your blog say about you?: - How about, what DOESN’T it say about me? Ok, it says that I am willing to put it ALL out there. The inane and the deep thoughts on absolutely any topic. I’m not the most private person on the planet. You might also detect some snarky and sarcastic tones.

**What is your favorite part about blogging?: - That it has changed how I view every day life because I am looking at things with the eye of a story teller. I feel more aware and more consistently in the moments. And comments! Man, once you get those first few you are like an addict! I enjoy the follow up conversations a lot.


**Any blog-types out there that turn you off of reading?: - Oh, this will sound so so so politically incorrect, but…the totally INTO it BlogHer attending, ads all over the page bloggers. It’s all a little too much like a popularity clique. Which tells you a lot about how I was in high school and how I am now IRL – skirting away from the popular crowds and having a blast hanging with the much smaller fringe groups who are more independent minded and unique.


**Does your blog personality match your offline personality?: - Oh yeah. Though I definitely cuss a lot more IRL. I try to edit that out on the blog since my mom does read.


**Does your family know you blog?: - Yes. They all have the link though my parents are the only ones who check in daily. The boyfriend used to until he was convinced that I don’t write anything he doesn’t already know and the kids kinda only care if I write something about them! Oh, and why – because as I said in #4 – nothing to hide and willing to share.

**What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re NOT blogging?: - Talk to my boyfriend or my kids (when I am not wanting to kick them across the planet that is!) Putter in my garden, nap with my kitties, watch sports (preferably with youngest son) and read.

...And my uber favorite question...


**Tell us more about YOU: -


Let’s see. The basics – single mom most of my life to two boys. One is 23 and the other is 12. Two marriage and two divorces. Now utterly content to call the love of my life my boyfriend and nothing more. We’ve been together 9 years and it feels like just one, I swear. Added two cats to the family two years and now the family seems complete.

As an only child, I thrive on rare days like today when I am home alone in a quiet house and able to just dither around on the computer or read or watch tv or play in the garden with no “have to do’s” on my plate. Rare moments since I work full time and serve on two community boards and have my younger son always on two sports teams at a time.

A recently added passion to my life is politics. I started really paying attention about 10 years and in the process I switched parties and really started to enjoy watching the game unfold. Also LOVE to mock the media. Easy and, I think, necessary since they have in many ways failed the public interest by becoming much too tied to corporate profits.

I’m an utter geek for cool technology on the web and social media sites to keep me connected to the people I’ve met in my life. Facebook and Twitter keep me connected daily with people who would otherwise have been lost. I LOVE that connectivity.

And yet, oddly, I could not be bothered to pick up the phone or write letters back in the day! Horrible and ironic isn’t it? I constantly fight the urge to be a hermit in my home and the urge to connect. Keeping that balance is key for my own sanity.

I am a guy in a girls body in a lot of ways. For instance, yesterday after my son’s Little League team had finished their game, I chose to go back to the field an hour later to watch the next game with our coaches. Why? Because that is fun for me and because the next team playing is the one we play next and a rival and I wanted to see them lose! And I could have gone to sit in the stands with a couple of mom friends who I know quite well, but no, I sat in the outfield with the guys because I love hearing them talk about the strategies of the game. A couple of years ago after a football game I went out to dinner with the coaches and listened to their post game analysis! Both times without my son who was with his dad at the time. I know I am weird and I know people probably think that, but I cannot help it and long ago accepted my oddities. I am what I am as Popeye would say!

While I am very even keeled and often called pragmatic by my friends, I can get pretty intensely irritated pretty quickly! Especially at what I often call “The Stoopid”. I also tend to have no brain filter and will rather quickly, verbally react to The Stoopid. Not always wise, but, there it is. Also have no patience for Woe is Me types. Pick yourself up, deal with the situation, let yourself feel the pain and then walk through it and out the other end please. Learn the lesson and then keep on keeping on. Wallowing makes my head hurt. Blaming makes me nauseous. Drama makes my skin crawl. Oh, and I can be kinda strongly opinionated.

Mostly though, I love being around different types of people because variety is the spice of life and I do love to learn. Watching my boys minds and opinions develop is pure joy. Tapping into the overall wisdom of people on the internet helps me get over humps, and I pay it forward by sharing my own stuff and fluff and how I get through it.

All this from a woman who never used to like to write.

Thank you, Christine, for opening up for all of us, and letting us see a different side of you. Thank you for being a Stalker of Grandy-Land. The place just wouldn't be the same without ya.

Psychic Friend I'm NOT

Do any of you remember Dionne Warwick's Psychic Friends Network?

Did you know that apparantly Vivica Fox is the new in-house psycho psychic? Don't believe me?

HAHA!!! Shoot! Grandy is digressing already!!! For the record, I do like you, Vivica. You're beautiful. JUST SAY NO!!

Anyway...boy did I start this with a tangent...Grandy's son apparently believes that Grandy works for this same psychic friend's network.

Here's the scene:

(Two weeks ago)

Him: Mom, can I get some new shoes?
Me: Why? Do yours not fit?
Him: No, their fine. They're just starting to break down.
Me: (nerding out on a budget with taxes coming) Honey, I'll see about working that in on the next pay period, if you can wait until the end of the month, okay?
Him: Okay.
Me: Your feet are alright in them?
Him: Yeah.

...Fast Flipping Forward to this past Sunday...
Him: Mom, can we get me some new shoes yet?
Me: (looking at his feet) We're NOT at the end of the month yet, honey. We just had your birthday. Are your feet alright?
Him: Yeah, they're just breaking down.
Me: Hang in there, buddy. Just a little over a week (trying to fix the instant gratification that runs rampant in the Grandy household).

...enter Hubby...blah blah - let's go look at some - blah...

Go to mall. Walk into exactly 8 shoe stores trying to find HIS shoes, that he MUST have, that are under $70 (not getting anywhere).


Me: Well let's at least try some on and see where we're at. Maybe we can get "this" brand, rather than "overly-priced" brand?
Him: (pouting) I suppose.
Me: Let's get a size and fit at least.

Sales-lady: What size?
Me: Well let's see, his size is currently 8.5...let's try a 9 or 9.5.
Sales-lady: Okey- Dokey!

He tries on the 9 - no good

Tries on the 9.5 - no good

WHAT?!?

Sales-lady: Mom...it would appear his shoes are still too small.
Me: (flashing mother of the year signs and images of CPS at her front door in her head) Um... let's try a 10?
Sales-lady: Okey-Dokey! (Twit)

Yes folks...Grandy is again up for mother of the year points. Apparently I have been making my son get around in shoes that were 3 sizes too small.

The better part? Got his report card on Friday.

How did he get a "B" in P.E.?

The shoes in his locker are 7.5.

HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?? I thought it was because they were looking like this...






Good thing he's cute because he's NOT earning extra credit in his communication skills any time soon.

Grrrrrr...

Because I Couldn't Resist

My sister-in-law sent this to me in my email.

I don't normally post political stuff on here but couldn't resist sharing this one with you all.

Happy Monday everybody!!

Sunday Stalker Spotlight - Picking Out A Thermos

If you've ever felt a glorious rush from having too much caffeine all at once, then you are going to appreciate this week's spotlight. Deanna is woman with Spunk (that capital S is on purpose) who blogs about being a "special needs" kids' mom (Angelman Syndrome) to things that make her want to puke, and EVERYTHING in between.

Her whole family reads her blog, which we all know can be a good and a bad thing. She's considered starting a networking blog group called "Parents of Teenage Boys Who Know Everything and Belong to Parents Who Know Nothing." Having just joined the club myself, I'm sure I could learn a lot.

Readers, it's my pleasure to introduce you to Deanna: Wife, Mother of 6 (you read that right), Sister, Daughter, Blogger, and fellow caffein A-D-D-I-C-T.

**Your Blog(s). – You can find me at Picking Out a Thermos -
http://nochurchsignsallowed.blogspot.com/ - yep, the title and the blog address aren't related in the slightest way. That should be a warning about the content...

*I swear I could not get this picture bigger!*

**What does your blog say about you?: - I'm sarcastic, mostly, with periods of "thoughtful introspection" that most likely effectively prove why I should stick with the sarcasm. It also says I talk. a. lot.

**What is your favorite part about blogging?: - I get to talk to an adult. (Too bad it's just me.) Well actually, I know that sometimes I manage to make people laugh - which I love to do. If I could get paid to talk and make people laugh till they cry, I would be ecstatic. And I kinda really do like it when people comment, even if it's just a "Hi, I was here" thing. I don't say that in an egotistical manner - I just REALLY REALLY like knowing someone stopped by my corner of the world and found amusement. Or whatever they found. (Hopefully if it was money they left it for me.)

**What DON’T you like about blogging?: - 1. I'm no English teacher, but lots of grammatical errors drive me nuts. The occasional misspelled word doesn't bother me, but things like "Yesterday I done something..." Ugh! 2. Victim-mentality is something I can't stand. 3. And people who take themselves so darn serious all the time! Lighten up, people! You might as well laugh at yourself 'cuz the rest of us are!

**Does your blog personality match your offline personality?: - HA! Pretty much!! Judging by the fact that when my kids read what I write, they raise their eyebrows in the same fashion as when they actually hear me say something that they raise their eyebrows at...I'd say so. I tend to not write about heavy stuff, even though I have plenty of experience with heavy subjects, because there's not much point in dwelling on the sadness of something. Deal with it, get angry about it, ask God WHY ME???? if you need to, learn from it, and move on...help someone else with similar things when you can, but don't wallow in self-pity. And besides, if you need drama and twisted lies, watch the news. Come see me for fun.

**What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re NOT blogging?: - I could spend 24 hours a day with my husband - I like him that much. I pretty much like my kids, too - but I rather appreciate an occasional break from the childishness of children. In my mind, I'm a great scrapbooker, a wonderful seamstress, and an awesome chef. Mostly I just look at pictures. And lose the extra buttons. And get fat from baking Betty Crocker brownies too often.

*How CUTE are they?*

**How often do you blog?: - Whenever the mood strikes. Or when I see stupid in action. It probably averages a couple times a week. That is, the blogging part averages twice a week - I can find stupid in action pretty much anytime.

...AND ALWAYS MY FAVORITE PART OF THE INTERVIEW...

**Tell us more about YOU!!
I turn 40 this year. I have less gray hair than any of my sisters at this age, so I'm OK with 40. Because that is important, you know.

I grew up never knowing from one day to the next if my parents were going to be together. They finally divorced when I was 13. The teenage years - I believe a girl MOST needs her father then, for so many reasons. I wasn't allowed to see my dad for over 4 years. Not a good plan. Nope.

I've been married to Tom for almost 18 years. I've got 6 kids. 2 are foster children we're hoping to adopt soon. I home-school all of them except for my son with Angelman Syndrome. I recently realized that the fine print of the application for a SAHM says "Please be advised that the salary for this position has been redirected to the grocery budget, piano lessons, travel expenses and braces. See Administrator with any questions."

I live in an area of Ohio that has an unemployment rate double the national average. At more than 15%, we are all feeling the effects of bad politics in action. My husband's employer is laying off 15% of the workforce this Friday. No one knows who.

I am a very imperfect person who tries her best to follow God. I've learned that loving people shows them so much more about God than my judging them ever will.

I like public speaking. I would absolutely LOVE to be a motivational speaker - so move over, Anthony Robbins, I'm comin' to your town! No, really - not for the sales crowd. I've been through too much sales training - HATED sales! But if I could help influence people to feel encouraged despite their adversity, I would SO love it!

I can't stand husband-bashing. I can't stand "Boys will be boys" mentality as an excuse for bad behavior. I can't stand men calling their wives derogatory names. I expect girls to behave like girls, not boys or bimbos.

I drink way more coffee than I really need. But I don't smoke, I rarely drink, and I only cuss when I'm PMS-y and way overstressed and chocolate deficient and dealing with sick kids in cold weather on dreary days and long overdue for a roll in the hay with my husband. Which generally fixes everything. So since all that stuff happens simultaneously about twice a year, (Except the fixes-everything part - THAT would be bad news!!) which means I only cuss twice a year, I'm keeping the coffee habit. It hides my lying habit.

I'm in counseling for my run-on sentence issues.

I blog on a computer that is (still) operating on Windows 98. I'm sincerely hoping that Ohio doesn't start issuing IOU's for tax refunds so that I can purchase a new(er) system. I routinely get booted, despite high-speed connections.

I appreciate Grandy inviting me to leap onto her blog for a day. She knows I can ramble on for days, and she still asked me over for tea and crumpets! Come see me at my place - the coffee's fresh!

Thank YOU, Deanna, for sharing so openly with everyone here in Grandy-Land. It has truly been a pleasure.

I pray that you get your 2009 Wish...