Just in case anyone is wondering what 175 EUROS looks like.

Here ya go



Yeah, woo-FRACKING-hoo, more drugs for me. Maybe this time I will take a picture of the belt of bruises I get from having to inject myself with an anticoagulant twice a day.

Probably not, that's not an image for public consumption.

When discussing my blood thinning treatment Herr Doktor tells me:
"If you have bleeding, you MUST come in."

Well, I'm no medical expert, but DUH!

Piko Want Big Boom!

So.

The lovely Mrs. S stood in line for me, not once, but possibly THREE TIMES!!
You can read how much she loves lines here, and here. So you get the picture of what a big deal this is.

Anyway, when she went to this tech-convention last month she got signed t-shirts for Piko de Gallo and myself. Big deal? You bet. Because of who was there!!


Naturally we had to officially "break it in".

Piko de Gallo's "Cola Cascade"

Of course we did not deploy our Mentos very well, so our cascade was not that great. The second one we did was as tall as Piko deGallo, but of course I missed that picture.

And then to add pressure to my life (as if). Look at what else she sent!

A rainbow pyramid of HFC!! I feel the pressure to make something nice. Nice and yummy!

I'm feeling the bloggy love people, feeling it!

Henna Party!

Last night we had a Henna/Movie/Pizza night at our neighbor's house.

Awhile ago my neighbor came back from a trip to Florida. She and one of her daughters had visited an amusement park there where they were doing henna tattoos. They didn't have time to stop for one, but brought a kit home. I was over at their house one day and noticed the kit. I love doing henna!!! The librarian can attest to this. When we were roommates after college the whole Madonna/henna thing hit the mainstream, with her Ray of Light album. I spent some time decorating myself and my roommates. It was some fun.

Anyway, that first henna kit she bought from the amusement park was for crap, and didn't take. So, she went to AC Moore and bought this kit. This kit is awesome! The henna powder is very fine and has no clumps or debris. They provide a great applicator bottle, with an awesome fine tip that makes wonderful lines. There's lots of eucalyptus oil, and the mordant liquid they provide is pre mixed and does not stink at all.

And though the amount seems very small, it was enough to do all of these designs.

Plus, my own left arm, and my feet.
I don't have any "after" pictures yet. but just based on Piko, and my results, it came out very well.
Is it bringing back memories Ms. Librarian?

I forgot to add the funniest moment of the night. A couple of us were in the kitchen applying henna, and the rest of the children (3, 1 of mine, 2 of hers) were in the living room "playing". Suddenly there is crying and yelling. It went something like this.
Kid 1: Waaaaaaa!!!! She broke my wand!!!
Kid 2: I did not!!!
Mom: What happened?
Kid 1: She broke my wand! WAAAAAAAA!!!
Mom: Kid 2, did you break her wand?
Kid 2: Well, yeah....
Mom: Why would you do that?!? I think you should apologize.
Kid 2: Yeah, but...
Kid 1: She broke it!!! She didn't even say sorry!
Mom: Tell her you're sorry!
Kid 2: Yeah, but she was hitting me with the wand, and that's why it broke!!
Mom:................You kids are going to make me crazy!!
Me: (in the kitchen, to myself) Too late.

The Little Things

This is Sarge's idea of "doing the laundry."

"Woman!" he says, "I do the laundry ALL THE TIME."
Whatever Sarge. More like you START the laundry all the time. Then the unfolded basket of clean laundry sits in the living room for a week staring at me while I'm on the computer. And the other half of the stuff stays in the dryer, half dried I might add. So now I have to re-wash that load. Thanks a lot!
Please stop "doing the laundry". Much obliged.

Science Fair awards. Still not reimbursed! Saw the school principal last night (she's no "Pal" of mine I tell you). "Great job on those ribbons Miss. DeGallo!" she tells me. Yes, she calls me Miss. Reallastname, yet expects to be referred to as Dr. Principal. And no word or mention on reimbursement for the cash I fronted.
They did look nice though. Damn, I hate this school.

Piko deGallo's School Sucks! With Tutorial!

Also known as, how I'm stupid enough to spend $90.00 of my own money so that the kids in the FIRST EVER science fair (which Piko deG is not even participating in!) can have nice awards. Hello!!! How do you even plan a competition without some kind of budget for awards?!?! So dummy me, goes ahead and buys what the teacher in charge says she "WANTS" to give out, thinking that's what she has money for. Surprise, surprise, she has not been approved anything for awards. Oh, did I forget to mention that the Science Fair is on Thursday??!?!! AAAAAAAAAGGGHGHGHGHGG!!!! Sarge is going to kill me.

I am The Awesome though, I was able to get a donation for 3 First Place trophies for the winners from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes, on their individual projects. If you're ever in the area and need trophies, may I direct you to the nicest trophy shop ever!!

This is actually my tutorial for making Rosette Ribbon Awards.
I forgt to mention what you get for $90.00. I was able to make 7 -1st, 7 -2nd, and 6-3rd place rosettes. And I bought about 24 "honorable mention" type flat award ribbons.

Materials:
Double sided satin ribbon. I used 1 1/2" wide ribbon in 1 yard lengths.
Marking pen
Ruler
Fabric or craft glue. I used this stuff:



Make your own pinback button. I purchased mine from AC Moore for $1.00/ea, because I needed them right away. You can order them from Oriental Traders for a better price. Create an appropriate image for your award using your graphics program and insert into the pinback.
Flat Award ribbons. Again, I paid about $1.00 a piece for my flat ribbons at the dollar store, but if you plan ahead you can order them for a better price.
Heavy thread in a coordinating color to the ribbon you are using.
Sewing needle
Hot glue gun.


Step 1.
Lay out your ribbon, and with your ruler and pen, mark out 1" increments. Remember I used 1 1/2" ribbon, if you use a wider or thinner ribbon, you may have to adjust the width of this mark.

Step 2.
Place a small dot of glue on the bottom tip of the WRONG SIDE/unmarked side of the ribbon, and fold the edge backwards to meet up with the first 1" mark.
Step 3.
Turn the ribbon over to the right side, and place a small dot of glue on the first 1"mark. Fold the second mark over to meet the first mark, and hold in place while the glue dries.

Repeat this process along the length of the ribbon.

When you get to the end, the second mark from the end will be left.

Fold the end edge backwards to the wrong side of the ribbon, and glue into place where the last 1" mark is.


Your 1 yard of ribbon should be smaller, and naturally starting to spiral a little.

Step 4.
Starting at the beginning of your now ruffled ribbon, fold the first ruffle in half, and sew it in place. This might be a little hard because the glue makes the ribbon a little tough.

Step 5.

I've placed the pin here to demonstrate where you should be folding your next ruffle. This is about half way between the two ruffles.

See here, I've folded it at the pin, and have created a more ruffly section. Sew these areas into place.
Repeat the folding and sewing along the length of the ribbon. When you get to the end, match up the edges so that they form a nice circle, and you've hidden the edges. Sew into place.

Ta-DAH! Your finished rosette.
Step 6.

Ribbon assembly. Using your hot glue gun, glue the flat ribbon to the wrong side of the rosette. Make sure that you check from the front to make sure that the wording on your flat ribbon is properly displayed, and not covered up by the rosette.

Step 7.
Draw a bead of hot glue along the inner edge of the front of the rosette.

Step 8.

Place your decorated pinback into the open circle so that the pin part of the button is showing through the center hole of the rosette. Press into the hot glue so that it stays in place.

TA-DAH!!! Your finished rosette ribbon award!!
2nd place was decorated with extra thin ribbon son either side of the flat award ribbon. I used wired ribbon for this one, and it didn't really make much of a difference in folding and sewing the ruffles.
1st place was added to with 1 1/2" satin ribbon and thin gold ribbon.
I pinked the edges of all the ribbons so that they would match the flat award ribbon's edge.

So...

So yesterday Piko came home crying. I though it was because we were making her come home so we could run errands. I'm all "Suck it up girl, you can play with them when we get back!" Not so much. Apparently her "friends" were calling her the "Queen of Losers!" And threatening to "tell on her" for what, I have no idea.

WHAT?!?!WHAT!!!???!!!

Now, I am the first to recognize that my kid can be somewhat of a namby pamby, and needs to grow some. But she's really not used to being called names. These girls that she plays with are sisters, and they can be pretty mean to eachother. Who knows, maybe the fact that they are now extending the name calling to Piko means that she's part of their family now.

I try not to get involved in this kind of crap when it goes down with my kid. But this time I'm a little torn between telling her to deal with it herself, and going over to talk to the mother. This mom's oldest child is being bullied in school, and she's under the impression that her daughter is not sticking up for herself, and is totally blameless in this bully situation. But based on what Piko is telling me, either she is not totally blameless, and/or it is affecting the way that she is interacting with other children.

Who the hell knows. I wasn't there to witness the interaction, so I don't know what exactly went on. The middle daughter is the one who walked Piko home, and was telling me a little bit about what happened, but I'm sure that she didn't really want to rat out her sisters.

Anyway, I'm really just venting, because it's anoying.

I ended up telling Piko that she was not going to be playing with them for the rest of the weekend. And that if they ever start calling her names again she is to stop playing with them immediately and come home. I don't care how much fun she was having, do not stay over there and take it. What else can I do? On a normal day she gets along very well with these girls, and they are the only kids on the block her age to play with.

Should I talk with the Mom? GAH!

P.S. We ended up staying inside, so we worked on Piko's science project.

VOLCANO!!!!

Tired? Me too

I blame President Bush.
What you say??
OK, so my neighbor and I were talking yesterday about how tired we have been this week. She beat me out by telling me that she went to bed at 8:30 on Wednesday, after Trick or Treating with her kids. Well, I give her leave to be more tired than I am since she has 3X as many children as I do. I fell asleep in the middle of Mythbusters on Wednesday, so I never did get to see Jamie jump on that pile of gunpowder. (I did suggest to Piko yesterday that we should be the Mythbusters for Hallowen next year, but was promptly shot down. I can't imagine any 6 year old girl who wouldn't want to wear a walrus mustache, a black beret, and a crisp white shirt as their costume. She wants to be some kind of princess again, go figure.)
Anyway, I mentioned that maybe it had to do with the fact that our bodies are used to being one hour behind by this time of the year. You know, since President Bush changed the day that we are going to get that extra hour of sleep.
Do you suppose that our internal body clocks are so well set that this could even be possible?

And on another note, yay for more mediocrity!! We're going to the first quarter awards ceremony at Piko's school today. One parent has told me that the Principal of the school does not believe in only rewarding some kids, and that everyone will most likely be getting some kind of an award. Way to encourage a sense of entitlement and lack of motivation in our children. From the Principal no less. I guess we have to wait and see what happens.

Dinos! Again.

So I bit the bullet and bought my Dinosaur tickets.

Holy freaking $100.00!!!

Ticketmaster really sticks it to you with those "convenience" fees. Kind of luckily Sarge has to work that weekend, so we only have to shell out for 2 tickets.

When I was a kid, I remember my mom taking me and my brother to see shows all the time. Ice Capades, Kapaza(Japanese children's theatre), Circus, musicals, the ballet, all kinds of things. I really have to remember to thank her for spending so much time and money on my cultural enrichment.

Piko seems pretty excited about the show. We watched the videos that are posted on the site. There's one about the "Making Of" the dinosaurs, so it was good for her to see that they are just extremely large and lifelike puppets. Or parade floats as she likes to call them. What age do kids begin to separate fantasy from reality? real vs. not real. We watch the Nigel Marvin "Walking With..." shows on Animal Planet and Discovery all the time, and that stuff looks real, and Nigel(an adult), and the other actors interact with them like they are real. I know that she knows that cartoons are not real, but what about CG stuff that really does looks like it actually exists?

Anyway, we'll see what it's all about soon enough. Well, not soon, the show is not until September 22!!

de Gallo Dilemma

Holy Poo! The Dinosaurs are coming!!!

I am seriously torn about getting tickets to see this.

On one hand Piko loves dinosaurs, she got the Nigel Marvin "Prehistoric Park" and "Chased By Dinosaurs" DVD's for her birthday, and loves them.

On the other hand, how will she react to "real" dinosaurs?! I will be bummed and well, a bit cheesed off if she freaks out and we have to leave. The tickets are not that cheap.

I have no doubt she'll go totally bananas and shiny at the idea. But once we're there with the dark, and the loud, and the lights...
What to do....what to do...

Just wondering...

What the heck should I do with these tomatoes? I cut them up for M. Sarges BBQ, but they were barely touched. I had some today and they seemed fine, but what the heck should I make with them. Let me note that neither M. Sarge or Piko are particularly fond of straight tomatoes.


And, YAY SCIENCE! Piko de G and I celebrated the 4th with a new stomp air rocket.



What a crappy photographer I am.

Oh yeah!

I did have some news to write about. And I totally forgot!

We had HAIL!!


It was quite nutty. I have some video of it pummeling our van. We were a bit worried, but there was no damage. We would have felt like right fools if we finally had a garage, and our car was dented by hail.

Six years we have been living in this area, and this is the first time we have ever seen it. Weird.

The Week in de Gallo News

Piko's "Party Favors".
I am her supplier. And Piko de Gallo is addicted!!



I can't remember when we discovered this wonderful item. But throw a handful in the bath, and Piko de G is fully occupied, Sarge and I can have an uninterrupted adult conversation, lasting upwards of a half hour.
At $1.00 for 12 pills I think that it's totally worth it.



I imagine that the end result is somewhat educational, because she sorts them by color, counts them, and is learning the difference between a squid and an octopus.

We have also unfortunately acquired a new pet.
Meet "Nekko de Gallo"



Quite possibly the nicest cat I have ever met. She literally followed us home. We were somewhat worried that Nekko and Dog would not get along. Dog de Gallo has a very high chase drive. Color us surprised to discover that the dog is afraid of the cat! Naturally this is endlessly entertaining to Sarge and I, so we torture her whenever we can.

The weather has also made a turn for the better, which means that the sticks have come out, and Mommy gets some quite time.



And in crafting news:
Freezer paper stencils, are the AWESOME!!

Applying the paint.



Painted stencils.




Finished stencils.




And happily, albeit strangely, nothing has pissed me off this week. Possibly I'm mellowing with age, or I'm entering a period of personal Zen. I'm reserving judgement, because I sitll have to go grocery shopping this weekend.