365 Day Photo Challenge ~Day 2~

Yep. You guessed it. I almost forgot.

Anyway, with 27 minutes (in my time zone) to spare, here is a picture of my sleepy, old dog, Goldie. Who is obviously NOT amused that I’m taking her picture.

This one isn’t such a great photo, it’s just from my iPhone, but hey, it works, right?

I wanted to get out and take some pictures today, but yesterday I took a 3.32 mile walk and fuck if I don’t hurt today.

Then around noon my oldest son’s school called. He didn’t want to do anything at school, so I was to go pick him up.

Yep. You heard that right.

My 13 year old didn’t want to do anything at school. So they made me bring him home.

The principal just walked away from me when I told her that if he didn’t feel like going to school tomorrow, I was just going to leave him home. It seems like it’s the thing to do.

I mean, if she can send him home because he doesn’t want to be there, can’t I keep him home if he doesn’t want to go?

Oh yeah, I guess not. Something about the law here says I’ll get fined or sent to jail if one of my children exceeds 10 days of unexcused absences. And they take it seriously here.

I guess only the school gets to take the easy way out.

Fuckers.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

This is a picture of the top part of Bishop's Castle located in San Isabel, CO. This entire castle was built by ONE man. Jim Bishop has been working on this castle for 37 years, by hand. He has never had any help from anyone. You can google "Bishop's Castle" and get quite a bit of information now. When we "discovered" this tourist spot 3 years ago, there was hardly any information on the internet about it. This is another "must see" spot if you plan on taking a trip to Colorado.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

This picture was taken at the Cliff Dwellings in Manitou Springs, CO at the base of Pike's Peak. It's just east of Colorado Springs. It's a great little tourist trap, but one of our favorite places to go.

During the summer you can see some really awesome dances by Native Americans. I am not sure what this dance is called, but it's obviously something about a flying eagle. At the end, they even had the kids come up to do a friendship dance. My daughter Madison, 3 years old at the time, was the only one to go up there. It was so cute!

If you ever take a vacation in Colorado, you will have to be sure to visit the Cliff Dwellings. They are amazing.

Christmas of Dreams Blog Party Day 6

Round 6 Christmas question from MomDot. It's quite interesting to read everyone's answers. Click over there and see what's going on.

What is your favorite holiday memory from your childhood.



Ladies & Gents, I honestly do not remember a lot from my childhood. This is a tough one. I guess one of the funnest things my step-dad did at Christmas is he would letter or number our gifts so we wouldn't be able to shake them and see what we had received early!! The anticipation was great. One year he made a mistake on his list and got the presents mixed up just a little towards the end. It was a hoot!

Sponsors: Day Five Blog Party Question is Brought to you by Flying Colors Baby, Uncommonly Cute and Lollipop Book Club.

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Almost Wordless Wednesday

This is a great picture of one of the aquariums at the Aquarium Pyramid at Moody Gardens, Galveston, Texas. It was awesome!!

Christmas of Dreams Blog Party Day 2

You have got to check out the Blog Party over at Momdot. It looks like it's going to be a ton of fun, with some great prizes given out.

The Jimenez Family Traditions
(Or Lack Thereof)

Honestly, we don't have many. We live in Colorado. My family lives in Wisconsin. Mike's family lives in Virginia. It's just us out here, so it's not as easy to make family traditions when you're not near the fam.

The first few years after I came back to Colorado we traveled back to where I grew up for Christmas, once again not making it easy to make our own traditions!! The last couple of years we've stayed home. Although it's a bit lonely, it's much easier not to have to travel 1200 miles just to deal with family. Ugh.

The one thing we do for Christmas is let the kids open one present before they go to bed. After they're in bed and asleep then my husband and I open ALL of our presents that we gave each other. Yes, all of them. Why? We can't help it!! We love to give gifts to each other. Unfortunately, we are not able to give them very often, so Christmas Eve we make each other open the gift that we gave. We're funny.

I pretend like I send out cards every year, but the truth is....I've done it like 3 times in the last 10 years. I'm a total procrastinator. And when I don't procrastinate, I just forget. Damn ADHD.

For Thanksgiving the five of us usually stay home. I start cooking a day or two ahead of time. I cook enough food for 20 people, I swear. Ummm, if not more. I can't help it!! My family was HUGE growing up, and I learned to cook BIG!!

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Christmas of Dreams Blog Party Day 1

Since I obviously cannot think of a single thing to blog about, I decided to join in on the blog party over at Momdot. They will be asking a new question every day. It's going from Nov 12 to Nov 27. Jump in on the fun over at Momdot!! (and yes, of course, I'm starting a day late).

Introduce You & Your Family & Share Holiday Photos

Sponsored by: La Belle Toile and This and That by Randi

My name is Melissa. Yep, that's me.



I have a wonderful husband, Mike.



And three little monsters named Dylan, Michael, and Madison.



We also have 3 dogs, Gruff (black one), Goldie (dark yellow), & Bogey (light yellow). Then there's Luke, our Iguana. Next we have Guinea(pretend like you have a french accent), who is our (wait for it) Guinea pig. I have 3 hermit crabs, all of whom are named Mr. Krabs. We also have 2 parakeets (named birdie) and a cockatiel who we call Girly. Last we have a fish. I think we call him fish. I will spare you all of the pictures, and just put one in of our dogs.



Let me try to find a couple of Christmas pictures from last year......Well, I can't seem to find them. I will post them when I figure out where hb is hidding them.

Why I Am A "Mean Person" ~A Daily Rant~

It was a beautiful day here, so we decided to take the kids to the City Park. Lots of people were out and about. Lots of Adults, kids, families, just tons of people. Along with that came many, many dogs. Not a problem. Mostly.

The kids were playing on the playground, which is fairly big. Still, it was covered with lots of kids. There were a couple of families that brought their dogs over, but all of them were on leases and kept right next to adults.

One woman had a small child who looked like she had just learned to walk. I don't think the baby could have been older than a year, but probably around 10 months or so. This woman also decided to bring her dog. She soon realized that she couldn't play with her child while she was holding the dogs leash.

So she tied the dog up to one side of the playground. And then left the dog to go play with her baby. Really?

My daughter is 4. We have 3 dogs at home, so she loves dogs. She came over to try to pet the dog. My husband and I were standing right near the dog, on the edge of the playground. As she was going for the dog, I told her she could pet the dog without permission (a rule, that we don't touch other people's dogs without permission).

The lady then says, "yes, don't touch my dog. She won't bite, but she might bite if I'm not holding her leash." What?

My daughter made 3 or 4 attempts, one after the other to get to this dog. On the final one she got a little big closer, but still not within reach of the dog. This woman GRABBED my daugher's arm and told her not to go by her dog.

Okay. Now I'm pissed. I say to this woman, "Do not touch my daughter. You shouldn't leave your dog tied up away from you, especially if you think it might bite someone if you're not next to it."

The woman continues to try to argue with me, but I just keep repeating that she shouldn't tie the dog up and walk away from it, much less bring it to a park full of kids, if she thinks it might bite someone. What the hell was she thinking? Sounds like she was asking for a lawsuit if you ask me.

She stayed next to her dog after that. She was flirting with some man who had a couple little girls of his own. Her daughter wandered away from her, and came right in front of us. When she realized her daughter was next to us, she ran over, scooped her daughter up and said, " oh, don't play here, these people are mean." Ummm. Okay lady.

Please note in the picture how she is sitting right next to her dog after I tell her she shouldn't have left it alone - even though she insisted that "it wouldn't bite. But it might bite if I'm not next to her." After she was done over there, she went to the swings, and thankfully took her dog.

My Rant For The Day ~ Dang Dog!

So, I just yelled at my youngest Labrador, Bogey. It went something like this:

"Bogey! NO, Bad Dog! Eating toilet paper is disgusting. You're so gross!"

The poor thing then dropped the toilet paper and hung his head in shame.

He has this addiction to toilet paper. Any kind of toilet paper. Toilet paper from the trash can, toilet paper the kids have dropped on their bathroom floor, whether it be used or not, rolled up toilet paper. He'll even eat it with the wrapper still on it!! I think I need to get him into a 12 step program because his habit can be very expensive.

He's just lucky I've never run out of it when I needed it most!

Do your animals have any weird or quirky obsessions? I'd love to hear about them.

Adobo "A Filipino Favorite" Recipe

ADOBO
“A Filipino Favorite”

Ingredients

• 1 pound of pork, chicken (any cut, or boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or beef.
• 5 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 Tbsp. Peppercorns
• Salt to taste (I have found that I do not need to add extra salt)
• 1/3 C Vinegar
• 1/3 C Soy Sauce
• 5 Tbsp. Oil (You may use peanut, olive, vegetable, etc. – I usually use peanut)

Insructions

Mix everything together in a pot and bring it to a boil. Once it boils turn heat to Medium-Low. Let it cook for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. I usually let it go for about an hour to make sure the meat is very tender, and the flavor has soaked in well. Serve with Jasmine Rice.
I also increase all ingredients by double or triple (not the meat) because it tastes wonderful over the rice.

My City Spends Less Than $1000 Per Child, Per School Year!

My kids are all in school this year. Luckily, they are all in the same school, too. I attended the first meeting of TAPS (Teacher and Parent Support) today. They help raise money for different things for the school, the teachers, and the students.

What I learned today is that the city I live in spends less that $1,000 per child, a year, for education. We are the lowest in the state. Our neighboring city to the north spends $4,000 a student per year. I was completely shocked. I know my state ranks around being the 48th or 49th state in education funding, for the country. But wow - less that a thousand dollars.

Right now they are trying to pass a bond issue and a mil levy override to support our city schools. This would raise the average tax payer's property taxes by about $12.08 a month. It seems like a lot, but is it really?

The bond is to put air conditioning in the remaining schools that do not currently have air conditioning. I find it unacceptable that our schools do not have air conditioning. We live in a semi-arid area, and it gets HOT during the beginning of the school year and then again towards the end. If we have 90 to 100 degree days, I would say our school really needs air conditioning.

The mil levy override covers a bunch of issues. It is to help restore visual and performing arts, equalize teacher pay, help pay for utility increases for air conditioning, and some other stuff to help out the schools.

There are many, many poor people in my city. The face is, that unless we provide more funding for better education, our children will not be able to grow up and bring themselves out of poverty. I know $12 a month is definitely worth making sure my children can grow to their potential.