Rocket Man

Instead of translating, tell me what this song means...

And I think it's gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I'm a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it's cold as hell
And there's no one there to raise them if you did
And all this science I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man

Alouette

Here's another one for you to decipher:

Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette je te plumerai
Je te plumerai la tête
Je te plumerai la tête
Et la tête,
Et la tête
Alouette, Alouette
O-o-o-o-oh
Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette je te plumerai

Oh, Jambali

I was listening to my Loinel Richie CD - yes I listen to Lionel Richie - and I heard All Night Long. Does anyone know what
"Tom bo li de say de moi ya
Yeah, Jumbo Jumbo
Way to parti' o we goin'
Oh, Jambali
Tom bo li de say de moi ya
Yeah, JUMBO JUMBO!"
means?

Success!!!

I just wanted to say how excited I am with/for Chesney.

Success number 1: We've been potty training since Chesney was 20 months old. Basically, if we put her in the bathroom and told her to potty, she would... but she didn't start asking on her own until she turned 3. She has now been in panties for 3 straight weeks with only 3 accidents. Of course she still stays in a pull-up at night and for dance classes (which is where one of the accidents occurred). I am proud of her for wanting to do it on her own. Sometimes she just walks into the bathroom, sets up her stool and training seat, potties, wipes, then calls us to flush which she doesn't seem strong enough to do yet. She's well on her way!

Success number 2: Tuesday night, the last night we had Chesney, I made her a deal/bribe. Usually, she wakes up in her bed around 3am. She comes in our room and sleeps with us until we get up. I really don't like this routine (you can read about it in an earlier blog "Baby Items"). Anyway, I told her that if she wakes up that she needs to stay in her bed until we go and get her. She could read, play with a doll, whatever... but she needed to stay there. If she stayed, we'd take her to Chuck E Cheese on Friday. Wednesday morning I awoke at 7am. I turned over and realized that Chesney wasn't in our bed. I got up and peeked in her room. She was on top of the covers with her feet on her pillow, asleep. Halleluiah! That means she woke up, uncovered, turned around, and soothed herself back to sleep. It's amazing that this little step could bring me such joy. This is the first time I am great with taking her to Chuck E Cheese... but we'll have to bribe with nickels and dimes from now on. It could get expensive!

More spirit, More money

This past Christmas season I discussed holiday decorations with some friends. We came to the conclusion that more people are putting out Christmas decorations every year. I, for one, enjoy it. I like the reindeer flying through the yards, the blowup cartoon characters decked out for Christmas, the North Poles, the penguins, the candy canes, and of course, the lights. My sister-in-law pointed out that she's noticed the boom in decorating ever since the Christmas yard blowups became popular. That was one or two years ago and I agree that every year since then has been more festive. Now, it is still next to nothing compared the lights and decor we used to see when I was little, but I hope it's coming to that. It would be annoying to have to wait in line to turn into your own driveway, but regardless, I think I would enjoy living in a neighborhood like that. But is it just Christmastime?

Mardi Gras is in full swing. Cory and I went to his grandparents' house on Sunday to watch the Scott parade. It hasn't been around that long, (only a few years), but it is HUGE! I think we were outside for 1 hour and 20 minutes to watch the entire thing. Since we didn't have Chesney, we weren't going to catch beads, so I just sat in a chair to watch. Well, people threw beads to me anyway, some landing on my lap, some at my feet. After the first 20 minutes of the parade, we decided to pick them up to possibly throw in a parade another year. We ended up with a grocery bag that almost overflowed. I couldn't believe how much people bought to throw out there... this is Scott! Not Lafayette, and definitely not New Orleans or Mobile! I think that that goes to show that it is not just Christmas that people are spending for, but more and more for each holiday.

I know that some very frugal people read this blog (you know who you are), so I don't want to hear that people should be saving their money for retirement or whatever. No cynical comments, okay?

Goals

I know I'm a little late, but I wanted to make known my goals (not resolutions - I hate that word) for this year. Some of them are going to be a little harder for me than others.

Keep up my blog
Get to 138 pounds
Take a Yoga class
Plant a small garden with blooming flowers
Read 30 books

Simple. Short. I should be able to accomplish all of this.

Up until this entry, I was writing a blog entry at least every 3 days. I want to continue that pace. This should be a relatively easy one as long as I don't get lazy.

Getting to 138 pounds may not be an option. A couple of months before that total projected weight loss, we may be trying to get pregnant. As long as I'm trying to lose, before that time, I'll be happy. I really could break this goal down into several smaller goals (walking 3 times a week, aerobics once a week, not eating certain foods), but I won't. I don't want to disappoint myself if one or two of the mini-goals don't happen. The overall picture is what counts - weight loss.

Taking a Yoga class should be one of the simple ones, but it's not. Lee, Uncle Tee's friend, motivated me to want to try it out. But I am not one to try something by myself. So I bought a book called "10 Minute Yoga" for 50% off. I'll work on that until someone volunteers to go with me!

Plant a small garden with blooming flowers... so I am about as far away from a greenthumb as you can get. I never wanted to mess with all that anyway. But somehow, this week, after buying myself a potted plant of tulips, I thought that I should try something new. Believe me, this one will be a challenge.

Read 30 books. Ah! My peice of cake. I think that I may read this many in a year already, but I am going to keep track of them this time. I have finished four so far.

Please let me know what your short term (and long term) goals are. I am very interested.

The Tooth Fairy

Last night while celebrating Grandma's birthday, Dylan lost his first tooth. (He is Uncle Bobby's girlfriend's son.) Actually, Tracie pulled it out for him; that is something that I will not be able to do. I guess our kids will go to Aunt Tracie's house or PaPa's house to have that taken care of.

It made me think about all the teeth I've lost. I lost my first one on the first day of second grade. I can't really say I lost it- that sucker did NOT want to come out. A full tooth had grown in behind it, but it didn't want to budge (something about roots that didn't dissolve). My dad worked on it with a washcloth for what seemed like 2 hours to me. He might recall better. Finally, after a lot of pain and blood, he told me I could work on it for a minute. Grateful, I grabbed the washcloth and tried to gingerly move it back and forth... but it was gone. Dad did it!

That was by far the worst experience I had (including the dentist pulling out about 8 of them). I had some other interesting things happen to other teeth though. One night, Mom squeezed me in a tight hug and a top tooth that hadn't been loose popped out. I lost one eating a pear. I lost one eating Spaghetti-O's. The weirdest one was when Kim went to hug me one night and accidently (somehow) got her finger caught in my mouth and when she pulled it out, she took a tooth with it.

Share your interesting teeth stories.

Favorite Restaurant/Type of Food

Have you ever noticed that different age groups of people around here tend to eat at the same restaurants?
For instance, kids 2 to 12 love Chuck E. Cheese and McDonald's. If you ask anyone in that age range to name their favorite restaurant, those two places will probably pop up. Although as kids, we loved Ryan's.
On the other hand, those who are 60+ tend to eat at Don's Seafood. 95% of the time, that is where they choose to go. I wonder what my restaurant of choice will be when I am 60+ since I don't eat seafood. Maybe Don's. Maybe it comes with age...

I was wondering about the masses in the middle... my devoted readers and commenters. My favorite type of food is Mexican. I am happy eating at Coyote Blues, El Portrillo, or Taco Bell. What's your favorite restaurant or favorite type of food?

Hot, Hot, Hot!

I'm not a big coffee drinker. I didn't drink my first real cup of cup until about a year ago at work. But today, I am very fatigued and when I see Ashlee with her cup, it makes me want to go and get my own. After adding Splenda and French Vanilla cream, I go back to my desk.

Sitting here, staring at the steam, I wonder: How do you like your coffee or hot chocolate? Piping hot and tongue scalding, warm, after it's been sitting around for an hour, or some variation? Also what do you like to put in it?

Baby Items

It's still 7 months away, but I can't wait for Kristy and Wayne's baby to be born! I'm in the mood to look at and shop for baby things... little shoes, little clothes, good smelling soap... not that I'm ready for my own right now. Don't misunderstand me. Maybe by the end of the year. But the tiny items are so cute!

Chesney is fast approaching Preschool age - the days of toddler-hood are drifting away. She is on the fence about being a "baby" and being a "big girl." As it happens for all of us, with new phases come new responsibilities. She is asking to go to the potty more often now. On the weekends and days Cory is home, she dresses in panties. We're not ready for the full transition, but we're working on it. She is also realizing that thumb-sucking is for babies. I wasn't opposed to it too much at first (especially when she was falling asleep), but she sucked them so much that they started to crack and one almost bled. Now we put THUM medicine on them before she goes to bed and it helps to remind her that they are "sick" and need to heal.

A couple of nights ago she asked to watch Pocahontas around her bedtime, while we wanted to watch a movie not suitable for her. We agreed that as a special treat she could watch her movie in our bedroom and sleep there. While Cory got up to put the movie on for her, she crawled in my lap to say good night. She gave me a hug and said, "I'm a big girl." I smiled, "Yes, you are. You potty in the toilet. You wear panties. And you stopped sucking your thumb. Do you know what else big girls do?" "What?" "They go to sleep in their own beds. Sometime soon, you need to start doing that too." She sat there for a while and said, "But I don't have a TV in my room." "Well, that means you'll have to sleep without one." After pondering this, she looked at me and stated, "No. I think I'll have to ask Santa for one... with a remote control."

Wow.

As it happens now, Cory rocks her to sleep then places her in her bed once she's sleeping. Around 2:30 am, she wakes up and comes to our bed. I have given up on trying to put her back down as she only wants her daddy. So, she sleeps in between us. I am tired of the situation, but Cory loves it, so it is a constant debate in our house. Now, I hate to break one bad habit by starting another, but we may just have to talk about that TV idea. I don't want a bunch of parenting critizism, but what would you do in a similar situation? Try to answer the question as if your spouse wanted the child in bed with you and you didn't... or the other way around.