Brownies No More

Today Marissa's Brownie troop held a "Bridging Up" ceremony. They are now "Jr. Girl Scouts"!!

It was cute. They each read a part in a poem, & sang a couple of songs. Then there was a "jr. girl scout" troop there to help "bridge" them over in becoming "jr. girl scouts".

Now the thing is this, their leaders stepped down & the troop is now leader-less. Unless someone steps in (not me) our troop will have to disband. :(

Most of these girls have been together since Kindergarten. It's sad to think they may not be doing this anymore. But on the other hand I was pretty over the whole Girl Scout thing (yes I know it sounds mean). I know Marissa still wants to do it so we'll have to see what happens.....but don't expect me to change my name to "Troop Leader Sara"!! LOL!!

Memorial Day Parade 2010

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. We took it very mellow & did some stuff around the house.

Today both the girls walked in the town parade with their Girl Scout troops. This was Gianna's 1st time & she was really excited about it! It was super hot outside so by the time Gianna got to us she was sort of melted. You can't really see her face too well since she pulled the hat so far down her face--the stinker!!
Marissa is more seasoned. She enjoys every minute of it & doesn't mind the heat until the end & she's done walking.

I didn't get a lot of good pics of the girls & by the time they were done walking & came back to where we were sitting they were hot & tired & not in the mood for pics.


When we got home Joe set up our little blow-up pool & the girls jumped into the COLD water! (No pics) While they played I planted some flowers around the yard. (No pics)

Very low key.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Mother's Day Tea & the Sock Hop (related right?)

Today Gianna's Girl Scout Daisy troop held a "Mother's Day Tea" party for us. We were escorted inside by our girls (dressed in handmade aprons) & sat at our tables. They had placemats, a menu & decorated mugs waiting for us.

This was my waitress. She asked me what I'd like to drink & delivered my (iced) tea without spilling a drop! Then she asked what I'd like to eat & proceeded to bring me a chocolate covered strawberry along with a cookie.

It was so cute! She had a lot of fun serving me (I liked it too--nice change of pace!! LOL!!) At the end we got to keep the daisies that were decorating the tables. Gianna really loved the "special" time with me & I don't have to tell you how much I LOVED it!!! ;)
About an hour later all the troops in town had a "Sock Hop". A lot of girls went dressed in theme with poodle skirts. I went with more of a "bobby sock" sort of outfit. (she's the one with the pink scarf around her neck) Marissa was going until she found out most of her troop wasn't going.....so she didn't bother getting changed since we were just dropping Gianna off. Then once we got there she changed her mind & wanted to stay (despite not being in "costume"), so I got to stay & chaperone. This gave me a chance to take pics!! Loved it!! :)

There was a DJ playing music the kids all liked (I liked it all too!). She got them to get up & dance. The girls all had fun dancing together, showing off their moves. ;) The DJ really got the girls moving & tired them out! It was a fun & eventful day!!

I Didn't Sign Up For This!!

Today was a lost, wasted day that I will never get back.

One of the moms at Brownies who volunteered to be "Cookie Manager" came over today to enter the cookie sales online. She had made this out to be a very hard thing to do but I kept telling her it shouldn't be that hard. So me & my big mouth offered her my help. What was I thinking????

She shows up at 12:30 with her younger daughter & some lunch she picked up for us. We talk for awhile & afterwards we get in gear & pull out all the orders. We (I) calculate all the cookies & she writes down the totals. We (I) figure out how many extra boxes we need to get & she writes it down. Then it's time to enter it online. We barely start when her cell phone rings & it's her sister with some bad news. Instead of telling her that she couldn't talk, she proceeds to chat for a good 20 mins!! Meanwhile I unload the dishwasher & try to keep busy without getting involved in anything too time consuming. FINALLY she hangs up & repeats the whole conversation in details to ME! WHY she felt the need to share is beyond me. She could have easily gave me a brief-"sorry but I had to take the call it was about my family" type of excuse but no.

By this time I'm annoyed because she invited herself to MY house & then ends up pulling this crap which is downright rude. So now we get back online & proceed to enter the cookie order. Let me just say the program is confusing & the notes they gave her to figure it all out were useless. So I'm annoyed more but it's not our fault so I let it go. We call the "help lady" from Girl Scouts several times & get nowhere near done. The program is doubling up our "extra" cookies we need to order blah blah blah. Now it's time to pick up the kids from school so she offers to go. Which frankly I have to vent & say--"Why shouldn't she have volunteered--did she expect ME to go & she have free reign over MY house?????"

They get back & of course the kids are hungry. I had picked up munchins & they had happily had some. The other little girl started leaving the kitchen with the munchins but Marissa told her that they have to eat in the kitchen (house rules--no food in other rooms). Great. But little by little the other girl kept "forgetting" & tried to leave the kitchen with the WHOLE box. She even snuck in the kitchen where we were on the computer & tried behind my back to do this. I told her firmly that all food has to be eaten in the kitchen & she laughed & ran off. Her mom didn't say a word. What the hell???? Needless to say this continued with our aggrevation with the orders & my aggrevation with her kids.

Another rule when Marissa has friends over is they can not play upstairs which includes their rooms. They have toys all over our den on the main floor & a playroom in the basement that's got loads of toys. So really -- no reason to go upstairs. I heard them all upstairs & after telling them to come down repeatedly I got pissed. Marissa tried being sneaky by cutting through the guest room which leads to my bedroom which leads to the other staircase on the other side of the house --GOT THAT??-- that bothered me BIG TIME. She was being egged on by her friend to do this & that scared me that she falls easily to peer pressure. It's not like I was calling to her from the other room-I was at the foot of the stairs & looking right at them! Of course "Ms. Cookie Manager" was still on the phone with the "help lady" from the girl scouts & ignored the whole thing.

By now it's 4:30 & I STILL had Gianna at pre-school (which is a daycare too. Don't get upset I'm not an un-fit mother!! She can stay as late as 6:30 but I pick her up by 3:30 usually). So I tell the mom I've got to go & pick Gianna up. She's like "oh well if you want to go & I'll keep doing this--sort of thing". Again! Talking like I'd leave her in my house. I told her that from Gianna's school I had to go to Joe's shop (which is no lie--his shop neighbor was ordering me new tires for my truck). FINALLY she gets the hint that she has to leave & wraps it up. Her girls are running willy-nilly all over trying to hide so they don't have to leave which annoyed me more. When we were kids we obeyed our parents the 1st time nevermind the parents of our friends when we were at their houses.

So basically after all this I was pissed off the rest of the night. I felt very taken advantage of. Why do people mistake my being nice for being a push-over?? By the way she also "invited" herself over my house when the cookies come in because I have more room to split up all the boxes of cookie orders. AARRRGGGHHHH!!!!! I told Joe that I'll finish this but from now on my new motto is "Just say NO!!!!"

Just call me - MUSH!

Today I finally got to meet my girlfriend Patrizia's new baby. I can not tell you enough how she just melted me! I'm just a big pile of mush I tell ya! She's beautiful and tiny and sweet and just precious!! She just brought back so many memories of my girls when they were little! It's amazing how fast they grow & how easily you forget how tiny they were! Look!! She's just perfect!!

Sabrina

I was in such a good mood just for the fact that I got to spend some time catching up with Trizia! Holy crap! I just did the math & realized we've been friends since 1987! That's 21 years ago!!! O-M-G!! It seems like we just got out of high school & now we're both mommies! That just blows my mind! Where did 21 years go???? I think my mind just shut down.....

After I un-willingly left little Sabrina I went to pick Marissa up from school. She comes out with the biggest smile & tells me that she lost a tooth (her bottom tooth)!! She has been wanting to acheive this fascinating accomplishment while at school because then everyone treats you like something of a celebrity in class--you know "Can I see your tooth?". She went to the school nurse & was given a little treasure box to bring her tooth home in. Seeing how happy she was made my day an even happier one.

BTW-Today the Girl Scout Cookie orders were due. Wanna know whose daughter was the top seller? Mine! Not that I would brag or anything...just sayin'!! Wanna know something else? Today's snack mom brought in.......brownies!!! I went back to my car & just LAUGHED!!

It's Raining....

It's POURING!! The old man is nowhere in sight! Seriously. It's coming down in bursts. Now I think it's letting up.....

I'm off to visit my girlsfriend Patrizia's baby, little Sabrina. I can't wait!! I'm sure I'll come home later telling Joe I'm ready for #3. I already warned him about that & told him to smack me if that happens!! LOL!!

Yesterday I got my Feb. Kit from Heather over at Scrapbook Bakery. Can I just take a minute to say it is such a FUN looking kit! It's all reds & pinks & so Valentine-ish!! I'm not even putting it away because I can't wait to play with it!

Which brings me to mention how crazy I've been this year so far with a Scrapping Shopping Spree (say that 3x fast!!). For Christmas Joe gave me some pre-paid credit cards with some obscene amounts of money on them & I let loose! Things I have been drooling over are now in my possession. My only problem now is where to store all this stuff! So instead of being scrappy in 2008 I've been re-organizing my supplies (which I seem to do every Jan). I'm just itching to scrap!! Yesterday I started going through some pics to get ideas on what I what to start with & can not wait for some free time!

Speaking of free time I don't see any in my near future.
Today besides my baby visit, I have to go vote & just for the record it will NOT be for Hilary!!

Then I have to tally up all of Marissa's Girl Scout cookie orders because it's due today when I drop her off for her meeting. And no I'm not the snack mom today! LOL!

Then tomorrow myself & the cookie manager will be here in my messy house to enter in all the orders together. Apparently I somehow volunteered to help out. I have got to learn to keep my big mouth SHUT!

Then the rest of the week I seriously have to clean my house because we will possibly be celebrating Joe's birthday this weekend since it falls on the 12th & that's a Tues. Somehow we still haven't decided on which day.

So that's my week of craziness. Hopefully I can pace myself & get it all done & not wait until the last minute. I usually do put things off till the last minute & then get pissed off at myself. Sorry I'm grumbling but that's what I do best.

Oh & in case you're wondering...it stopped raining & there's the slighest hint of -dare I say-sun peeking through the clouds. That's all from the weather desk--carry on.

100th Post!!! And Some Venting...

WARNING: This is a long post.....
I want to start this post on a happy note.....this is my 100th post!! YEAH!!! Didn't think I'd get there as fast as I did. Especially with all the blogs I check constantly during the day. Which might be the reason why I don't get stuff done around here!! I also didn't think I'd ever have any readers either. My sisters & a few close friends know I have a blog but most of them would only say I have too much time on my hands. Joe knows I have a blog but hasn't asked to read it which I'm happy for. I share everything else with him but would feel weird if he read what I wrote here for some strange reason (although I tell him literally everything). So I just want to say THANKS for listening (that's assuming there's anyone out there reading my blog)...especially tonight because.....I need to vent.

Today Marissa had a Brownie Meeting which was like any other. It was my turn to be "Snack Mom"--no big deal. I asked Marissa what she wanted to bring & she said the sugar cookies from Pillsbury (or something like that) that has little hearts shaped in the dough. I can't call it slice & bake because you literally open the pkg & place the pre cut cookies on a sheet & bake. Voila! Cookies!! So I made those as well as brownies because I can & I did (I confess--it was a box mix--I'm not Super Woman!!).

I pick Marissa up from the meeting later on & asked her if she had fun & she said she did. Then she tells me she's hungry. I said to her you just had brownies & cookies for snack there!! She said "Oh yeah" like it had been hours ago instead of a mere few minutes. So I asked her if the kids liked the treats. She said yes & that most of the girls wanted seconds of the brownies & the troop leaders (we'll call them "1" & "2") had to cut some brownies in half so everyone would have enough. She then told me that "2" said when it's her turn to bring in snack she'd bring healthy snacks, like carrots & cucumbers & celery & broccoli with dip.

Now let me describe for you the person I'm dealing with....she's the sporty type, has 3 kids but you couldn't tell (yeah--my jealously is showing!!) I have never said much to her other than basic pleasantries. Our girls were in some activities together last year & our paths crossed but other than that I never had much to say to her really. Nor does she to me. That's all I really know about her.

The other troop leader "1" happens to live on my street & we've been to a few neighborhood parties together & talked a bit but are we friendly to the point of calling each other for no reason not really. She's a "local" & was raised here. She's a sporty type too & has 2 kids. So "1" is the one I usually deal with when it comes to "Brownie" stuff. She's just more approachable. I talked to her briefly when I picked Marissa up & she didn't say a word about the snack. In fact there were no leftovers that I saw except the extra water bottles that I sent in. See there was a healthy part to snack--water!!

My aggravation is strictly based on what I heard from my 6 year old. I'd like to be wrong & I'm sure I'm taking this way too personal. I don't know if I'm looking too deep into this but it just doesn't sit right with me. Especially since we're selling Girls Scout Cookies right now & that would make her a hypocrite!!! Now---who wants to buy some "Broccoli Bites with Icing"?? Anyone??

Edited heavily after initial vent.