Blah

Today is a blah day. Don't feel too good, been drinking the generic Walgreens version of Airborne, "Wal-borne". Sounds like some sort of redneck disease spread by spending too much time at Wal-Mart.
Just paid registration for the Corolla. That poor car needs to be gently laid to rest by being driven off a cliff. Can't wait until Sean gets a job--then we're getting a better car! Been looking at things on Craigslist--nice cheap tvs, homes for rent within our price-range...made me really wish the lease was up now instead of August!
Well, not much else to report really. House is a mess and I'm hungry and really don't feel like cleaning the kitchen just to dirty it up again.
Matt has officially learned to climb, and that's all he does. He hasn't climbed on anything dangerous yet, but it's coming! Sean and I are letting him figure out how to get down by himself, so he learns both ways. It is working well, he can slide neatly and safely off our bed/couch. He has also been playing with the idea of climbing out of the crib. I have a feeling that if we waited long enough in the morning, he would climb out.
Went to the park yesterday and Matt was playing with a two-year old boy whom he was bigger than! He was running around and climbing like a pro and talking and Matt was just staring, bewildered (which is part of the reason I take him to the park--he needs socialization!). Poor Matt--he is so big, but so little at the same time. I make a point of telling anyone who asks his real age and to accentuate the fact that he's only a very young toddler.
He is so cute though. He loves to imitate the older kids, and he is starting to say "hi" reliably now. We ran around and chased each other and he climbed all over the equipment and went down the slide. Still iffy on the swing though, he will only tolerate it for a few seconds. Maybe I'll drink some more Wal-borne sickness and go again today.
Oh by the way, thanks again for the Netflix suggestions. I am slowly but surely plowing through the movies. Doesn't help that our main tv is now officially broken (it takes 3+ hours to "warm up"), so once we switch the dvd player my viewing should go a lot faster. That poor, geriatric tv. Turned it on at 7:00 last night, and the picture didn't stop violently jumping and being line-y until just after 10. This morning, turned it on just before 8 and finally turned it off at 11:30 when the picture was no better than it was.
Calling Dr. Tvorkian!!!

Yay for tax returns!

Got our tax return and paid off some debt and got some desperately needed grooming tools. I have been using my bosses stuff and that can only lead to me breaking her stuff, which can only lead to no good.
The next door neighbors gave us their wagon that their kids grew out of. It is a two-seater and the seat back fold down to make a flat surface so it can be used as a regular wagon. Also has cupholders--(what's a wagon without cupholders?). Heck, here's an official picture.


Oo..red and spiffy. Matt LOVES it. He loves pushing it around and riding in it. Haven't tried the cupholders yet. They better work or I'll have a few things to say to my neighbor! How dare she give me a wagon without working cupholders! Then I will throw it through her front window.
Anyway, not much else happening here. My brother is getting discharged from the Marine Corps due to some unsatisfactory psychiatric evaluation. Come on people. Really? Days of tests before getting cleared to go and no one bothered to make sure he could mentally handle it? No they just sent him far away from home with false hopes and made him go through hell before they bothered to check. Shame on his recruiter!!!
Sorry, it makes me mad. Almost as mad as dysfunctional cupholders.
Well have a good day everyone! Will post soon with cute pictures of Matt in super cute clothing my Aunt Hillary sent him and the wagon.

Newer and Hopefully Better

Just got my new phone! It is sooo cooool!!! Maybe I will marry it...

Simpson Park (again?!)

So we did go to Simpson Park again today, and we all had lots of fun and I even forgot about my mouth for a while (until I looked at the pictures). I promise to not always post pictures of the same stuff every time we go, but I did get some good ones.

Here's Matt drinking some pomegranate Jamba Juice.
Interesting story, matter of fact. When he was all done with it, Sean put Matt's smoothie in the side pocket of the diaper bag. While I was carrying it, it broke and spilled all over my pants (see picture below)

and more importantly, my phone. It worked for a while then completely went crazy and conked out. When I got home I managed (after cleaning it with rubbing alcohol) to get the contacts list off of it, but just barely. Luckily, I have phone insurance, and even luckier, they were out of stock for my "old" phone, the Katana II and so they are sending me a Katana Deluxe (the new super-awesome version). Yay! Unfortunately that means going without a phone for a couple days, but oh well.
Other than all that we had a good time. We hiked for a while,

Mai ran around off-leash having a total blast,

And when we were all done, Matt fell asleep cutely in the backseat.

So it was a balancing day. Woke up with incredible pain and a cheek that looked like part of a fatsuit, had fun at Simpson Park, broke my phone, found out I was getting a better one, and after that everything was normal.
Oh also, I am regretting to report that I think Matthew is starting to climb. Watch out!!!!
Well, goodnight everyone!

Good-Bye, Wisdom

Now I am officially un-wise. They took all my wisdom teeth out yesterday, and knocked me out cold with laughing gas and something called sodium chloride. They said everything went well, and I sure hope it did! My right side is totally fine, but my left side is all swollen up and yucky. The left side of my tongue is also numb--hopefully that goes away!

Here I am in all my sexy glory.

America's Next Top Model, watch out! This is my patented "Sulky Yet Sexy" look.

My bleeding stopped quickly yesterday and I think I'll heal well. Have lots of nice pain medication to help me through :-)

We may go back to Simpson Park today, depending on how I feel. I am still a little out of it, but since I am fine physically, it should be okay.
Anyway, not much else going on now. On a mini-vacation until Wednesday, so that's not too bad :-)
I'll post later if anything changes. Have a good un-swollen day everyone!

Simpson Park And Newfoundlands

Sorry it's been a while since for a new post (insert same excuse here). While I have not been posting though, Matt and I have been having lots of fun! And taking lots of pictures. First off, I got three more fillings done this saturday, and am eagerly waiting to get my teeth pulled next saturday (haha). Saturdays haven't been very nice recently. On saturday, before my sister-in-law Trish came over to watch Matt, I took him outside, and it was a beautiful day.

Here's him looking to the nice clear sky (not to rub it in your face or anything, New Englanders)

He got tired and sat down.

Spring is really here! Here's some beautiful blossoms. Plum, I think.
So, after my fillings and lunch, Trish showed me a beautiful part of Hemet (I know, impossible right?) It's called Simpson Park! It's up in some foothills on the outskirts of the city and has lots of covered picnic areas and hiking trails, plus a beautiful view.

Here is part of the beautiful view. The other part is houses and roads and a beautiful valley completely taken over by industry. As amazing as that is, this is better :-)

Here's Trish and Matt. See him copping a feel? Bad Matt :-P

Here he is thoughtfully sorting our water bottles.

More pretty view.

Wow, this is pretty high up. Hey mom, you know I love you, right?

Mai having an awesome time off-leash exploring.
Anyway, after that, we were all happy and tired and went home and relaxed the rest of the day. On sunday, I had to bring Matt to a baby-sitter for the first time and he did really well. (The "babysitter" is the mom of someone named Heather who worked with us for a while, she had her little boy, Jonny around the same time Jody and I had our kids). Here's a picture I got while at work of Heather's son Jonny feeding Matt.

Cute!

Yesterday was a very hectic day. Above is a dog called a Newfoundland (named Jewel), who I washed and brushed forever yesterday. She is such a good girl!

So if you were wondering if I really do what I say I do, here's picture proof! And ignore all other evidence!

After a long busy day at work we went to a local eatery called Juan's to relax. Here's Sean and Matt being extra cute!

Anyway, that was my weekend! Next weekend will have lots of pictures too, but they'll probably be of me looking like a chipmunk doped up on pain meds and Matt whacking me with toys as I lay on the couch. Oh well. Have a good day everyone! Time to head to work!

Full and Content

My Netflix queue is! Thank you so much! All the movies look great. Keep the suggestions coming please! May go to the beach tomorrow, and if so, there'll be lots of pictures!

Netflix Queue

My queue on Netflix is running low, and I was wondering if I could have some suggestions for some good movies to order. I'm not a big movie buff, and I'm lost in a sea of titles! Help!

Sill There..

Well thanks for all your support! Anyway, I went to the dentist, and they took a billion x-rays, and told me I would have to wait until the 15th to get them pulled. They are pulling all 4 at once and I'll be under IV sedation. I can't wait-my teeth hurt so badly! Apparently I have a lot of cavities, ten to be exact. They filled three on Wednesday, and will fill the rest this coming Saturday. I also got fitted with a night guard for my teeth grinding problem. Other than that though, I have pretty healthy teeth and good gums (yay!). Sean on the other hand has bad gum disease and they had to inject antibiotic capsules into his gums in order to kill it. He has to have a root canal and several cavities filled. . Money money money! But it's worth it!
Anyway, I finally felt like it was time to stop being lazy and to post some pics!

First of all, a while back after my mom left, I made yummy apple crisp! I think I'll make it again soon!

Here's Sean about to wash Matthew. Gentle cycle please!

And here's Matt looking really happy because he's destroyed Sean's CD collection!

Here's a pillow Matt's Grammy Jean made him. Cool, huh?

And here's the star of the day looking adorable as always.

Matt is sick...can you tell? (By the way, it's spaghetti-O's, not puke)

When Matt is tired, he likes to lay on the cat until I notice and put him to bed.

Anyway! Hope you all liked the pictures! Not much else to report in the way of news. Poor..rotton teeth..adorable son...yep. Think I've got it all covered! I'll be posting again soon!

Wisdom Teeth? More like...UN-Wisdom teeth!!!!!

What is wise about wisdom teeth? Not much! Unless their goal is to make me miserable. Then they are pretty wise. Pretty skilled too.
For the last couple days, my lower right wisdom tooth has been really, really hurting. The pain is so bad, I'M starting to use orajel and Tylenol. I now have a renewed appreciation for Matthew's situation.
I am going to the dentist tomorrow, then probably going to go see an oral surgeon to get at least that one removed, and probably the other bottom one too. I am going to try to convince them to remove the top two, but they may not since they are not even out yet and aren't an "emergency" like the one that's hurting. But it would be so nice if they would take them all out at once.
So needless to say, I'm eating a lot of yummy stuff because I am probably going to be on a soft food diet for a few days. Pizza, anyone?
Besides that not much is going on. I am taking two sick days, then I have my normal days off on Friday and Saturday, so I get a mini extremely painful vacation. Yay?
Going to go finish watching American Idol now. Yay?

Wish me luck, I'm nervous!!!!

Finally, the Taxman is satisfied!

I finally called H&R Block Taxcut customer service, and I got a helpful person who got me to the point where I could print and mail my returns myself. I printed them (and get this--they weren't even corrupted!), reviewed them (big refund amount at bottom...check!), signed them, attached my paltry wage and earnings statements, and mailed them. Yay! Now I will just sit back and wait for that nice, fat refund. Sean is still sick, but he went to the doctor yesterday and got some antibiotics and cough syrup. First opportunity I've had to test out my PetFart insurance, and it's pretty good! $15 for an office visit, prescription insurance, and even a fancy credit card to put the charges onto, which is linked to a consumer spending account. Yay! We need to go to the dentist next, so hopefully that will be awesome too. Free preventative care, and (I think) a fixed, low co-pay for things like fillings and stuff. We'll go to the one my friend Jana likes. I want to take Matt in too, just to see when those stupid stubborn molars will come out (and maybe to help them along too). Of course I can't afford that until Matt's state insurance gets approved. Then that kid is going to have all the dentist/doctor appointments he can stand.
ANYWAY.
Not much else is going on. I am going to try to relax today (which will be hard since sickly Sean hasn't been doing many chores). Got some exciting news from my brother, but I'm not telling unless he says it's okay.
Well, hope everyone has a good, tax-free day!

Anti-Baby 2000

I got my IUD in today--yay! It was relatively painless (really), and fast. No pregnancy scares now! Anyway, not much else to report. Sean is really sick. He has a bad cold, though he's getting better. Just hoping he doesn't pass it on to Matthew or I! Work has slowed down this week and I can resume searching for a college to attend. Had put it off for a while because it was crazy busy at work and I was so tired I was going to bed early and not even going online (as I am sure you can tell by the lack of posts).
Speaking of college and money...TAX CUT FREE FILE WHATEVER IT IS SUCKS!!!!!!! They are sooooo lame!
They tell me I can e-file.
So I e-file.
Then it's rejected because there's an error with one of the entries in a w-2. Okay.
Gives you a choice to fix error or print and mail yourself.
Click on "fix error'
Takes you to bank direct deposit info.
Enter info.
Tells you to retain a copy for your records but does not give you access to the tax file.
Signs you out..."have a nice day"
Go back.
Click on "print and mail"
Takes you to bank info.
Signs you out.
Then I get smart and before clicking on any "errors", go to a .pdf file listed in small letters on my personalized homepage.
Tells me to print out the taxes and the instructions on what to mail will print also.
I think I am really clever.
I print them.
And they come out super distorted with a big "DO NOT FILE" warning on them.
Thanks assholes.
Sooo...I paid money (because even though they clearly stated the amount of money I had to make under to qualify for free file, and the amount I made is far below, they still made me pay!)...for a failed e-file and a useless .pdf file!
Great!
Now I have to spend forever on my day off on the phone with them. Excellent.
I'm not bitter or anything, of course.
Anyway, Matt's up! Gotta go!

I haven't been online for soo long! And therefore, I haven't been posting. There once was a time when I liked going on the computer, before I started getting angry messages about how poor I am in my e-mail. -sigh-
Anyway, I paid my bills--yay! Going to do the taxes soon with a service called "Free File" for po' folks. I had gone with Hit & Run Block for a couple years and I can't afford to pay the fees anymore. The first time it was 80 bucks, which wasn't too bad (but bad enough), and the second time it was 300!!!! Yes, thanks lady, you see we only make 25,000 a year for a 3-person family, but PLEASE go ahead and take as much as you like! (Sorry, not to sound bitter or anything).
On to other news. My mom came out and stayed for the weekend. It was nice to me, but not to Matthew, who acted like a territorial chained up dog when an unfamiliar person comes striding across the lawn just out of reach. Hopefully he'll be better next time.
I made yummy apple crisp with her, than used another recipe and made it again when she left. She gave me this awesome contraption that cores, slices and peels the apples. Yum!
Anyway...
I guess I can break the news.....
MATT SAID HIS FIRST WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!
He's been saying dad and mom, but those are a given. Those are automatic first words. But, on Tuesday morning, when I was at work, Matt woke up and Sean walked in and said "Good morning Matt. How are you?" and Matt pulled out his pacifier and said, "hello". Like it was nothing! Yay!!!
I know in a year or so I'll be wishing he'd be quiet already but now it is very exciting.
Also, in more good news, work is picking up and I am making a lot of money this week! So next week I am going to get an awesome check. Unfortunately that'll just make me break even, but if I keep up this rate things will be looking up!
Anyway, still have lots of things to do before the Matt wakes up. Have a good day everyone!

(Sorry, I can't find the camera or there'd be accompanying pictures. Next time, I promise!)

F-171, Unplugged! (live)

This is going to be a pretty quick post because I am tired! Today I helped move Joey's stuff from one house to another, closer one. Upstairs, too. Just finished watching Lost, and it was so cool!
Anyway, haven't been online in a few days and haven't watched cable in a few days either.
Right in the middle of House, the tv flickers and goes black! We were very confused, checked the cables, and nothing happened. The internet was off also, so we assumed it was just another meticulously timed outage and went to bed. When we woke up, however, everything was still not working! We called Time To Rip You Off Cable and they pretended to care for a while while they figured out why magically we were the only apartment without cable and eventually decided to send someone out, the next day!
Anyway, turns out our cable was unplugged in the utility shed. Sucks! I wonder why that happened!
So I have some theories:
1. Kids got in there at 9:30 at night and pulled them for no good reason
2. A ghost did it, for some no good ghost reason
3. A butterfly flapped its wing in China
4. A herd of tiny elephants was running from a tiny mouse and one of them tripped over and disconnected the cable but then a considerate close elephant friend picked him up and they ran away.
5. Someone unplugged their fan in a different dimension that is layered on top of ours, specifically on top of the cable cord.

Well, going to go to seanpurvis.net now.
goodnight!

Bleach Fumes

Bleach fumes are not good! But now my bathroom smells clean. It did smell like a giant kitty porta-potty. So now it is shiny and clean--yay! So not much going on, just going about daily life.
Grrr stupid picture transfer thing! It asked me if I wanted to save the same file twice, and I said of course not, and it deleted the super funny video of us throwing Mai's ball into the "lake" and watching her get totally soaked running from one end to the other looking for it.
Well, here are some pictures to keep everyone updated (and to prove that we really do exist!)

Here we are, at the park!

Here's Matt in the morning shortly after waking up.

Okay Mai, this side's mine and that side's yours!

Matt can slide by himself now! Woo hoo!

Okay...and turn that one clockwise three times, tap this one twice, and turn this one counter-clockwise...THERE! Countdown to magnetic pole reversal started!

Matt and Ebony ponder the mysterious Lake of Doom, and wonder if it lives up to its name.

Damn I am so mad about that video! It was hilarious! Oh well...just use your imaginations!

We Always Snow Where To Go To Have Some Fun

So after my doctor's appointment today (I didn't get the iud, they need to wait until I am on my period...feel sorry for that doctor!), we decided that it was too dull in Hemet and we needed to escape! Of course there is no real escape in Hemet, but we tried. It's sort of like going to a different floor in the Hotel California. Anyway, so we went up to the very nearby mountains to...Idyllwild!

Matthew got sick on the way up (like mother like son I guess) and puked everywhere. So we stopped here for some fresh air (and a new outfit).

After we calmed him down, it was on the road again to the Idyllwild Country Park!

Here's him doing his latest fad face.

I want you! To take me to the park!

And at last, we arrive!

Matt was pretty bewildered by the snow. It was a lot of crying, then "wow, this is pretty cool", than fake crying, then putting snow in his mouth, then loving it, then playing with it, and having a good time.

Ooo...what's this???

It's his snow stick. He wasn't too confident about touching it, so he got a stick and poked it for a while.
Here, see for yourself! Here's us having fun in the snow!


Matt being very clingy to daddy, as usual!

So on the map/hiking guide they gave us, it showed a nice trail curving around the park, leading around an amphitheater, than making its way back to the beginning. So, we begin in earnest, loving the snow and walking in it (it wasn't too deep). So after about, oh, 50 yards, we come across this "amphitheater":

According to the pamphlet, this amphitheater is used for routine annual sacrifices during some Festival Of The Snow Gods. Not really quite sure what that means, but they have this really cool deliberately placed baby-sized stump in the middle. And now we know how it snows in Southern California. Like that, all the pieces fall into place and we realize the only thing we can do is sacrifice Matthew so the other children can continue to enjoy the snow.

He put up a bit of a fight, as I am sure they all do. If only they knew it was for the greater good.

Well, the gods never took him, guess they'd had enough sacrifices for the time being. Sorry Matt, you're going to have to help people in some other way! Guess there really is no easy way out!

Since I could, I threw snowballs at my car. It just sat there looking very sad.

And this is what Sean did in the meantime.

Matt fed himself some kix in the backseat as we began to drive back.

But he was so tired, he could barely stay awake for five minutes until he passed out.

Here is a beautiful shot of the snow-flecked trees and the mountains looming in the mist. It was much more beautiful in person, I assure you.

And here's me! On a rock! For no reason!

Down there, somewhere, is Hemet! I know, you wouldn't think so, with how nice it looks from here.

And to treat ourselves, we ate here (because I can get a grilled cheese with tomato, yum!).

So, there's our super-awesome day for everyone to enjoy! Hope it's half as fun for you as it was for us. :-) Goodnight!