Is this thing on?

What are you still doing here? I told you I moved! Go there now and update your reader!

On the Move

Hubs and I have been called gypsies. We have moved about 10 times in 11 years. I hate the idea of packing and getting there, but I love the newness and getting to now the new surroundings. I like change most of the time. I have had the itch to move again lately and I have been thinking about it for a while. I just wasn't looking forward to packing and unpacking and every time I move something gets lost and I just didn't have time to clean up a mess. I actually started packing up a few months ago and changed my mind. I unpacked and stayed put. Moving takes time, effort, and some emotion; none of which I have to spare so I kept putting it off. Everyone told me I would be happier once I did it. You never know how right people are until after the fact. With that said, I finally did it. I have moved on, and after much anxiety, could not be happier. So update your readers folks and look for me here:

http://ourcrookedtree.com

I love unannounced drop bys and will always have a drink ready for you upon arrival. Let me know what you think of my new place!

Y...Y...Y

Since I am the proud mother of two of the cutest and craziest boys ever and the wife to the most handsome and patient man on earth, I often find myself pondering genetics and hormones. No matter how much society wants to wussify boys these days, there is a clear difference between boys and girls and I believe they should be raised differently. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great that Little Man loves High School Musical and Annie, and that The Babe only talks about football, soccer, and baseball. Although they have different likes and dislikes, even at their early ages, they are both all boy all the time.

The personalities of the boys are complete opposites. Little Man, as first born, is much like his mama. Neurotic, animated, cautious, and a just a little goofy. The Babe being the second born is just like hubs. Not only is The Babe almost an identical replica of hubs in physique, he is just as laid back as Brad. If I told Little Man there was no more milk he would throw himself on the floor and wiggle around until I somehow made milk come out of the faucet. If I told The Babe we were out of milk he would shrug his shoulders and say "ok" and walk off to play. Learned behaviors or genetics? A little of both I am sure. Although they have conflicting personalities they have one thing in common; beyond their parents. These two boys will find any reason to touch, knock down, run, collide, jump, climb, wrestle or drag something or someone.

What is it about little boys that makes them so physical? I was at work the other day facilitating a field trip in the museum and I watched the kids closely. What I noticed was that the girls stood calmly and talked with their friends while waiting to board the bus while the boys were screaming, wrestling, kicking, punching, and being obnoxious. I had to tell one pair to get off of each other a number of times.

I had mixed feelings as I experienced this. I was happy to see it was not just my children. I was concerned to realize that it doesn't seem to stop after preschool. I struggled to find some sort of logical explanation for boy behavior. The only thing I came up with was there was a reason they named themale chromosome "Y".

Almost Wordless Wednesday

This is Jeena. Jeena is a HUGE Star Wars fan. Thanks to my friend Jim over at The Busy Dad Blog, I am now Jeena's favorite person. Seems I won a contest over at Jim's blog that made Jeena the proud owner of the ENTIRE Star Wars bobble head collection. May the force be with you Jeena.

On Being Prepared

Hubs is an outdoors man. If it requires tackle, ammunition, a boat, a gun, sun screen, or bug spray, the man is all about it. Living in Florida his favorite past time was of shore fishing. Although I enjoyed this sport as well, I enjoyed what I like to call "Cadillac fishing". This entails someone else bating my hook and telling me when to reel it in. The reeling is the best part.

Now that we are back in Missouri, hubs can get his outdoor on all year long and enjoy a variety of sports. For those that are not up on the latest hunting seasons, I will tell you we are currently in deer season. Deer season lasts a couple of weeks, at which time I loos my husband each morning from about 3-8 am. This is his opportunity to "get green" and go to the solitude of the woods. With his trusty bow and arrow, and whatever else he needs, hubs heads to some land about an hour away from the house. So far this year he has come home with no deer. He has, however passed many on the way home and be welcomed home by them on our front yard. He even has his rack on the back of the truck "in case" he gets one. Looks like odds are better he will hit one on the way home than shoot one with an arrow!

Should She Stay or Should She Go Now

A while back hubs and I decided it was time to add to our family. The boys love their Nana's cat and since we lost our cat a couple of years ago to cancer we thought it was time. We brought Poco home in August and the boys were thrilled to say the least. Little Man calls her baby and cuddles with her while watching movies and The Babe loves to chase her. Poco is the most laid back kitty I have ever seen and she puts up with just about anything the boys can "throw" at her.

In our effort to be good kitty parents, we took Poco to the vet a couple of weeks ago to get her fixed. I know there is a more scientific term for this, but I use the word fixed. After all, something must be wrong with her right? While she was in for the overnight, we thought declawing the front paws wood be beneficial as well. Beneficial for hubs favorite leather recliner that is.

Poco stayed at the vet for observation and came home the next day. We were instructed that we had to switch her conventional litter to this crappy plastic covered stuff that looks like the ends of shoe laces. This of course, was to prevent littler from entering her freshly severed fingers. She communicated her disgust with the new litter by peeing in Little Man's bathroom. Then in our bathroom. Then on the carpet in our master bedroom.

I got over the bathroom incidents; it is tile and it cleaned easily. I am not over the carpet. For those of you that have never smelled cat pee. Be glad. It reeks. The peculiar thing about this fact is that hubs has a nose that seems to be immune to the smell of cat pee. He told me I was crazy and must have skipped my meds. Then I found the spot. Maybe mommy not so crazy (read this in a high pitched foreign tone for effect)?

We swapped her litter back to the old stuff when instructed it was ok. That seemed to do the trick with the peeing in non designated locales. I thought she was just litter picky. However, today she pooped on the tile floor in the living room! She is so lucky she did not do it on the suede couch!

What would I do if The Babe pooped on the floor while we are potty training? Send him to the pound? I realize the cat is not my child but what example am I setting for the boys if I send her outside or elsewhere? Will they somehow think I won't love them if they have accidents?

Maybe hubs was right. I must have missed my meds.

A 1/3 Life Crisis?

That is the only way I can explain it. I don't know what it is, but lately I have been struggling with my age and what age I look to others. I am considering a new tattoo, plastic surgery and asked my father in law to teach me how to drive his motorcycle. I already have a convertible so that mid life milestone has been reached. I am reconsidering my career choices, and although I am currently finishing my MBA, I am considering continuing school after that. Since selling our business last fall I have been trying to figure out what to do next. I like routine and since my routine has been altered, I have been thrown off kilter a little. I am anxious to get things back to "normal", if I only knew what that was. Has anyone else gone through this and have advice?