Ethan called around 8:30am… we were still asleep. I love that about Mike’s job, he doesn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn - unfortunately, he works until midnight many nights. Ethan was in usual form, he was leaving a message on the answering machine in a very poor Elvis impression - I thought it was some crazy guy before I woke up and realized it was little “E.”

I’ve been instructed that they will require what my mom semi-jokingly refers to as “Amy’s Travel Service.” On the fly, during trips my mom has been known to call and request that I hop on the computer, visit one of those hotel reservation sites and find a nifty, inexpensive hotel for them to stay at. I once got them into a 5 star hotel just outside of Boston for under $100 a night. Not bad!

Ethan also requested that I visit one of his favorite websites The Shadowlands to find specific places for hauntings in Gettysburg, PA. Hmmm… let’s see, it’s GETTYSBURG, I figure if you spit in any direction you are probably going to hit something haunted. Boy, was I right, there might be a gas station there that’s not haunted, but that’s probably about it.

So the conversation went a bit like this:

“Good mornin’ Baby”

“Ethan you are such an ass”

(laughing… then to my mom - who is driving)

“Nana… hey Nana - she said, You are such an AHHHHH” (he never repeats the bad word).

(more laughing)

“Hey, we are going to need Amy’s Travel Service later, ok, mom?”

(more background voices)

“Nana, shut up! Stop talking for a minute, I can handle this!… Ok mom?”

“Yes, Ethan,” I said.

(my mom in the background again, saying something I can’t understand)

“Just ignore her, she’s crazy”

(I hear my mom shriek and everyone start laughing)

“Yes, I know, Ethan.” This is not an opinion that I haven’t shared with my mom personally anyway.

(this time, loud and clear, “Amy tell your son to stop calling me names!” and Kate in the background, “He IS calling her names too, MOM!!!”)

“I am NOT you are such a liar!”

(more laughing more inaudible voices)

“Oooo! Who’s calling names NOW, Nana? Did I cuss at YOU????… (more background voices) I AM going to get off the phone, but YOU keep talking to me!”

(more laughing)

Then, they went through a bad spot and the phone cut out…

Now, I am waiting for a reservation request…

“Hello, Amy’s Travel Service, we cater to the certifiable, how can I help you?…”

Mike will be working late again tonight. Last night was awful… he didn’t come in until after 11 and as you’ve read before, I am a HUGE chicken after dark, especially when I am by myself. Worse yet, I am at my mom’s house. That means that there are all sorts of noises and things that happen at night that I am just not used to. Then there are the dogs, these dogs will bark at MOTHS, no joke.

Fright #1

Around 8pm a business associate of my mother’s called. I dutifully took a message and told him she was out of town until next week. Half-way through our conversation, the phone dies. Assuming it is just the crappy cordless my mom has (for some reason she can’t get a quality telephone to save her life) I put it back on the charger and went to the kitchen for the other phone. When I picked up the kitchen phone all I heard was static blaring in my ear.

Being the calm, rational person I am, naturally I assume that some freak has cut the phone lines. Panicking I call my husband (on my cell phone) and start babbling on about the phones, static, etc. when the phone rings again… which I might add, scared the you-know-what out of me. Don’t think that for a split second I didn’t get an image of some guy hiding in the garage or bushes outside tapping into the phone line. ;o) I pick up and it is the same guy from before. I tell my husband I’ll call him back and I finish the conversation on the land line.

Fright #2

The baby fell asleep around 9:30 and I went around turning on lights in what I felt were strategic places around the house. I’ve seen enough scary movies to know that if you turn on TOO many lights the only thing people can see is YOU from the outside looking in… know what I mean?

There I was in the office blog surfing when the motion sensor activated light on the front porch comes on. Now, at first I assumed it was a neighborhood cat. Until the dogs started looking UP (about the height of an adult) through the glass in the front door (glass in a front door… now there is an idea with pure aesthetics and NO sense of security behind it) and began to bark their freaking heads off.

I called my husband (from the cell again) to ask if he was outside (hoping that maybe he had come home early). No such luck. For a moment I was just frozen, trying to figure out which one of the windows I could casually peak through without being seen and without having to cross in front of the doors. I looked outside and no one was there. Fortunately, the barking didn’t wake the baby up either…

Fright #3

My mother usually comes in and out of the house via her garage and connecting laundry room. Being slightly paranoid, I had locked the garage door and closed the laundry room door as well. Molly, the cocker spaniel, with her keen hearing and love of vocal expression, usually hears my mom coming in before she can even turn the handle on the garage door. So last night, I hear Molly start to make her excited noise, I looked over and there she was at the laundry room door wagging her tail and staring at the door knob. This dog is smart enough to hear a moth fly across the front yard but can’t manage to figure out that my mom won’t be back for another 4 days?!!?!?!?

I crept over and stood at the laundry room door, held my breath, and listened…

nothing.

Not a peep, not a creak, not a sound.

It was about that time that something occurred to me. The SIDE DOOR to the garage was probably unlocked…

I should backtrack and say that yesterday was an OFF day for me. Maggie and I went with Mike to do an appraisal across town, when we came back I had to carry Maggie and a few other things into the house. I brought Maggie inside, got her situated and remembered that I had left a few things in the car. Not wanting Molly to butt the garage door open, I shut it completely behind me. Coming back inside with my arms full, I realized that the door was LOCKED from the inside (security freak that I am, I had apparently pushed the button ##$%%&#). So I had to go out through the side, around to the back to get into the house.

Later, standing outside the laundry room door and holding my breath, I couldn’t recall if I had gone back OUT the garage and relocked the side door again… I tried to comfort myself by remembering that I had locked the garage door that leads into the laundry room, deadbolt and all.

What seemed like 10 minutes later - with no unusual sounds, I took a deep breath and walked away from the laundry room door. That’s another policy of mine… I NEVER, NEVER go check things out… that’s how the chick in the movies ALWAYS gets it.

!!#$%%&$%^% dog!!!

I swear I should be a size 2 by now! I spend the majority of my day chasing after Maggie - and the places she goes… good grief. Her latest thing, which I find absolutely hilarious, is to smack herself on the top of the head and yell, “BOP BOP!!” Then she usually stops and says, “OH!”

It’s too funny!!

Since joining BlogExplosion yesterday I have viewed a lot of blogs. I was so surprised to see how many people had made their blogs the “center” of their online existence. Blogging was something I resisted for quite a while, but then I kind of got the bug and was hooked. It’s fun. It’s easier than webdesign, that’s for sure. LOL

My websites Home-Based-Parents.Com and the new HBP Gift Shoppe, still remain my main focus. Although, for the last several days my focus has been 100% on my blogs because I’m at my mom’s house and don’t have access to my design programs or websites for that matter.

Spent the morning scheduling inspections for Mike, inspections are the part of an appraisal where the appraiser goes out and measures, takes pictures, and sketches.

Maggie has just fallen asleep so I guess it’s time for me to go out and bust my tail on the Total Gym. ;o)

Everytime a kid looks a little hyper someone screeches ADD. For a while it seemed like Ritalin was more common than breath mints. Of course, Mr.Cruise is anti-Ritalin. After seeing his performance on Oprah I can’t imagine that he didn’t have people trying to get him to take it. My husband is about the same age as Tom Cruise and if I had to see my husband leaping around on a sofa and acting like a perfect, incoherent, ass, I’d be humiliated, it wouldn’t matter if he were singing my praises or not.

The man (Cruise, not my husband - LOL) can’t seem to put a decent sentence together and when he does all he can do is repeat it over and over again.

John Travolta is a great example and would make a wonderful role model for Mr.Cruise. I’ve always liked John Travolta, I enjoy his work, he conducts himself with class and professionalism… Tom Cruise should spend more time studying Travolta then the latest Scientology Weekly Report.

I suppose what bothers me is the promotion of Scientology alongside his opinions. I watched his interview with Matt Lauer on the TODAY show and noted that multiple times he said, “I’ve studied the history of psychology.” He seemed to essentially repeat that he knew about this stuff and anyone who didn’t agree with him - didn’t know.

I seem to recall a rally in Washington D.C. where Lisa Marie and Kelley Preston were protesting the use of Ritalin. There was no mention of Scientology… just that they were anti-Ritalin. I don’t have a problem with people being against drugging kids - I guess I take issue with Mr.Cruise promoting himself as some sort of “healer” who has helped people get off “drugs” because of his religion.

I also have a problem of the “black and white” stance he takes on the issue. Especially where Brooke Shields is concerned… from a guy who has never given birth himself ;o) and adopted his own two children the possibility of him actually having close, personal, contact with a woman recovering from the hormonal shifts of pregnancy, labor, and postpartum recovery are extremely remote. He needs to walk a mile in those shoes or simply shut up and sit down until he does.

Tom Cruise: Still smiling, still babbling. Psychiatrists Strike Back

Joined BlogExplosion this morning… it’s actually pretty interesting. There is the battle of the blogs thing and I had a pretty good time reading different blogs and voting for the one I liked the best. Maybe I’ll get around to doing a Blog Battle sometime.

I’m still housesitting/dogsitting for my mom. We’re having a good time, but I have to admit that Maggie is driving me nuts! She’s such a busy baby (toddler, but she’s still MY baby!) I guess I just don’t notice as much when we are at home in our own environment. She’s a mini-tornado!

Maggie was down for a nap this morning and the dogs started barking, (they will bark at almost anything) from a sound sleep Maggie jumped up and started running around the house yelling with them.

Even with three kids (and the first two being so much older than the third) there are things we notice and worry about. Little kids are funny, they do strange things, but Maggie just about takes the cake. Her latest thing is imitating the dogs. If they shake their heads she’ll shake hers (and falls down usually), she has tried to eat directly off her high chair tray or face first into a bowl, just like the dogs, and the other evening Mike and I caught her trying to drink out of the dog bowl. I’m sure it’s just a phase… but good grief!

We have to be on top of her all the time. I just don’t remember Ethan or Kate being like that at all. Maggie is just a very different being. She’s so cute, funny, and very mischevious… but she really wears us out. One of her favorite activities (when she’s not getting into drawers and cupboards) is to run around the house with her hands over her head yelling, “Wheeeeeeeeeee!” it’s hilarious because Maggie pronounces it, “Bwheeeeeeeeee” I have no idea where she got the “B” sound from. I love the way Mike sees things, when Maggie is doing this he usually says how it just amazes him that someone can be SO happy to just be alive. He’s even been known to throw his hands in the air and run around with her… he says it’s a lot of fun. LOL

Molly, the cocker spaniel, is used to Maggie now. Before it seemed like she was only tolerating her and only then if Maggie had a bowl of cheerios handy. Don’t get me wrong, she is still just tolerating her now, but Maggie doesn’t have to have some kind of food with her. Now it seems like Molly finds her slightly amusing. Occasionally, Molly will wag her tail when Maggie starts jabbering at her. She even holds still, sometimes, for Maggie to give her kisses.

Just read Stephen King’s column in Entertainment Weekly (06/17/05 - with Tom Cruise on the cover) titled, “Extras Bite.” I have always been a huge Stephen King fan and I love his column. I was happily surprised to find that he felt the same way about DVD Extras that I do.

I can’t stand them! There are very few that I have found to be worth my time. I don’t care to see the alternate ending or deleted scenes. The gag reels are usually dull… although I did think the gag reel on the “INcredibles” was pretty funny… as was the extra “Jack-Jack Attack” Stephen King mentioned that in his column as well…

I will say that occasionally, the commmentary is pretty neat benefit. I don’t care for the director’s or the producer’s commentary. I thought it was great when White Christmas was released on DVD and Rosemary Clooney (I believe only she and Mary Wicks were the only surviving cast memebers at the time) did the commentary. I thought this was such a wonderful way to capture a piece of movie history. To hear her talk about her memories of making this classic while watching it was amazing. That type of extra… I can really appreciate. I wish this could have been done a long time ago - how great would it have been to have Cary Grant, Kate Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart discussing filming “The Philadelphia Story?”

My daugher, Kate, loved the commentary on the “Princess Diaries” with Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews discussing filiming the movie. That was pretty cute.

Still those are just a couple of diamonds in a growing pile of coal.

My children are off on their annual adventure on the east coast with my mother. As any mother would be I am on the edge of my seat awaiting the phone call that will announce their safe landing.

The kids were off early this morning. My mom arrived about 8am with Molly, the cocker spaniel, in tow. She dropped off the dog and swept up the kids and away they went. The original plan was for Maggie (my 18 mo. old) and I to arrive at my mom’s to babysit Molly (aka “enjoy the pool) a little later today. My husband, Maggie and I will be staying at mom’s house off and on while they are on vacation. However, since the unfortunate demise of J.J. Brown (the other cocker spaniel, yes, my mom named her dogs Molly Brown and J.J. Brown, and yes, that would be after the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown and her husband J.J.) last year, my mom has been very worried about Molly and rarely leaves her alone. So, at 8am this morning I had Molly and her red and white toile bed plopped in my living room while my kids went off to have fun with their Nana.

Why Molly needed her special bed when she ws only going to be staying for a couple of hours is beyond my comprehension.

Between Zander and Molly frolicking through the house and barking at every concievable sound, it took me until almost noon to get our things together and load everyone into the car. Which was actually quite an adventure in itself…

My husband has trained our dog, Zander (short for Alexander Hamilton) very well, he doesn’t leave our front yard without permission and practically never runs into the street. He’s a pretty easy dog to manage as far as transporting him goes. Once I loaded my bag and the various items necessary for our survival away from home (which is quite a bit because I consider maintaining my sanity to be a necessary part of my survival) into the suburban, I had to put Molly on a leash. Molly is no where near as well-trained as Zander and will take off in an instant. Molly dragged me to the car with Maggie in my arms and all that was necessary to manage Zander was a simple command to “get in the back” which he did very obediently. Molly is fluffier and weighs more than Zander and had to be lifted into the Suburban. At one point I ran around the car looking for Maggie until I realized I had already strapped her into her carseat.

I’m sure there were neighbors laughing somewhere… I must have looked like an ass.

Upon getting into the car I realized I was almost out of gas. It takes quite a while to fill up the Suburban and apparently everyone else in town was getting gas at the same time, so Molly and Zander proceeded to bark at all the other patrons in the gas station, thankfully, Maggie slept through all of this.

I was on the road headed to my mom’s house when she called. My mom and the kids were relaxing at the California Pizza Kitchen in the LAX airport. Meanwhile I was trapped in the car with a cocker spaniel and a chaweiner who were doing their own artistic interpretation of “Cujo.”

I was almost to my mom’s when Mike called to tell me that our appointment with the person handling our refi has been moved from her house (which isn’t far from my mom’s) to her company office near his office. It was 12:30 when I made it to her office. Mike didn’t arrive until 1pm and by that time Maggie had woken up and I was trying to keep her busy by singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” over and over again - it’s her favorite.

It was after 2pm when we were done and on the way back to my mom’s when Maggie launched into her vocal theatrics making the most high-pitched sounds she possibly could. She wasn’t upset, wasn’t fussy, she was just… practicing or something.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon keeping Maggie out of the dog’s food, and letting the dogs in and out of the house. As luck would have it, both the pest control guy and the gardeners (who my mother swears do not do a very thorough job) spent at least an hour and half roaming around the house driving the dogs UP the walls! I now know why my mom mentioned that there was a bottle of pain medication on a shelf in the pantry.

Sure hope the kids are having a good time (a.k.a giving my mom absolute hell).

My email is back up!

Thanks for your patience!

If you happen to have emailed me over the past 3 days or so… my ISP’s email server is DOWN.
Which means that I can’t receive email and worse yet, emails sent TO me are being returned as “Undeliverable.”

Sorry for the inconvenience!