Rory in Retrospect

In about two and a half months I will once again experience the blessed event of bringing life into the world. Before I welcome my daughter I decided to revisit the last two years with my son.

7 month 3D sonogram

November 1, 2005
7 pounds 7 ounces, 21 inches

asleep on mom

my two favorite men

halloween 2005

late night bottle with Grandma Conroy

1st bday

15 months old

Sittin in the sunshine.
20 months old

Checking out his new house last summer.

2 years old

Science Center

J and I took Rory to the Science Center in St. Louis. J is really into science and technology so of course he loves to go. We have actually been several times in the last four years and yesterday was the first time Rory was old enough to do more than admire the scenery as it passed him by.
I think he enjoyed just being able to run from exhibit to exhibit more than anything else. There was one booth that was supposed to show how a telephone call when from one receiver to another. He just liked talking on the phone. As we left he waved at the phone and said "Bye bye". Actually come to think of it I think he said bye bye to everything we passed. We learned a lot together though I doubt all of it was what they intended. Like that it would cost $2.3 million dollars to launch Daddy and Rory into space. Anyone got that laying around?

This is painted on the wall just as you get to the big (scary) bridge that crosses I-64. There are little models of man's different adventures in flight hanging down from the ceiling. I think it is just very pretty so I took a picture.

Rory's favorite place in the whole center was this little table. The blocks were supposed to help model how engineers work. Nothing we built was very practical but it only fell apart one or twice.

Isn't he just too cute? I am not looking forward to him growing into the age girls start to notice him. Or even worse when he notices back. *gasp* If you are wondering what has his attention keep scrolling down...

This thing is huge! Is suspends from the ceiling and uses giant croquet balls as marbles. They swirl and spin flying around the room on a metal track. It is very cool to watch as you can see by the picture.

What is an adventure without giant hissing cockroaches! I like them best when there are two panes of glass between us like they are here.

And here we are back where we started at the engineer building table. It was the best thing in the whole day as far as Rory was concerned. Mommy and Daddy were just happy to sit down by this point.

Psycho Kitty

Don't ask me why all my posts lately have been cat related. Maybe that is just how sadly boring my life is this week. Oh well, it 's a funny story. I got Miss Kitty in 1996 when she was already close to two years old. She had been treated pretty cruelly and as a result was not an approachable cat. Her previous owner just wanted her put down but I begged to take her instead. She spent her first month hiding in the water heater closet. I would take her food and water every day and lay down on the floor with my hand close enough for her to smell me. I knew she was coming out at least to use the litter pan since I never found any messes left behind. She is such a tidy little girl. So finally we see this dark streak run across the living room one day and bound onto the couch in my lap. I was not supposed to touch her, just let her sit on me. She followed me into my bed room that evening and never left again except if absolutely necessary. We have been buddies ever since.


She is quite an old girl now and the vet says she probably does not care about her hairstyle anymore so just refuses to groom it. My guess is she figures she can have nice hair or hairballs. I think I would look wild too. I unfortunately did not notice this until after she had some massive mats on her back. No brush could tame it so I made her an appointment at the groomers for a shave down. This could be debated as cruel but it was my last option. I told the groomers she was not friendly and had the bad habit of gnawing of foreign fingers but they seemed confidant they could handle it.

Four hours later I receive a phone call explaining that my cat must be some sort of demon breed. They had only been able to complete 90 percent of the job before she went nuclear and tried to open the hell mouth under them. They said it had taken about four techs just to get her in the cage. I left to pick her up expecting to be bitten and hissed at for my treachery. Instead she just looked at me and meowed like "oh hello, didn't see you there." She calmly walked into my arms when the cage door opened and began to purr. Now the groomers think I am evil because no way would anyone with a soul be able to coax that cat.


Hey, we have a history. She may persnickety and a tad bipolar but she has character.

Here is Miss Kitty before...

...and After.

A cat named Clio

Wanted: Clio "The Wayward"

for disturbing the sleep of her owners

with useless, dumb shenanigans.

There was a time when I would have said that Clio was the smartest cat in our household. She rarely does stupid pet tricks. She must have gotten a wild hair up her rear last night though. I was sleeping pretty soundly when I heard rattling coming from our TV armoir. It has two drawers that J uses for clothes in the bottom. Clio decided to climb into one of the drawers and disappear behind them. I am not sure how she managed this tight squeeze because she is a big girl. The only way to get her out was to remove the drawers. I returned to bed after the problem had been solved only to have her use me as a pillow for the rest of the night.

Clio with her Daddy in 2005. Who picked out that bedding? Ick!


Clio is best known by her fellow felines for being the killer of fun. If she hears or sees any other cat enjoying themselves it is her mission in life to put a stop to it. She steals the toy they were playing with, bumps them out of the lap they were napping in, or just sits on them until they yell uncle.

Picture survey game

1) Answer the questions below
2) Take each answer and type it into Photobucket
3) Take one picture from the first page of results and post.
4) You can't copy the persons answers who posted this before you!

1. The age you will be on your next birthday? 24 on the 23 of the 4th month of 2008.

2. A place you want to visit? Ireland. I have always wanted to go there. It just looks so breaktaking in pictures.

3. Your favorite place: Home. I am the ultimate homebody. I am happiest in my recliner with a good book.

4. Your favorite possession: Wedding rings. They are the solid testament to our commitment to each other. It is sparkly too.

5. Your favorite food: Steak Fajitas! I love them piled high with rice, beans, sour cream, and guacamole. MMM

6. Your favorite animal: Tiger. So beautiful but brutal.

7. Your favorite color: I do not actually have a favorite color per se. If I had to choose I guess it would be purple .

8. The town in which you were born: Andrews AFB is listed as the town I was born in on my birth certificate. This has caused several mix ups in my life since the civilian world at alrge does not really recognize it as a town.

9. The town in which you live: Fairview Heights. It is a nice place to live I think.

10. The name of a past pet: Crackers was the best dog in the world! He was just a big old mutt my parents got at the pound in Puerto Rico but he loved me to pieces. I could do anything from lay on him to "operate" and he would just lay there. Sadly he passed away from cancer when I was in kindergarten.

11. Dream Come True: Mother! I played dolls and house all the time pretending I was the mom of my wide variety of cabbage patch kids. I could not wait to grow up and do it for real.

12. Your nickname/screen name: Lucky Irish Gal. I am a Gal who is Irish and that makes me Lucky.
*No matches were found to your search request You may find more results by using AND, NOT, OR terms in your query.

13. Your middle name: Marie. I think I share it with half my generation.

14. Your last name: Jackson. No relation to Samuel L. Jackson.

15. A bad habit of yours: Sleeping. I could do it all day. I might be part bear since I love to hibernate so much.

16. Your first job: Cashier at Hastings Books and Video. I spent most of my time working in the book department.

17. Your grandmother's name: Claudie. Not sure what those flowers have to do with her name but they are pretty. She would like them. I once told her I would name one of my kids after her when I was around seven and she said "Don't you dare!"

18. Your High School mascot: Buckeye. We may not have been fierce like the wildcats or the razorbacks but if you eat us you will die.

19. Your first star crush: Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was my hero 'cause he always killed the bad guys.

20. The first movie you remember seeing: Willow
Stupid picture ran away

21. What you did on your first date: Waterboy. I had no idea who Adam Sandler was. I have now seen every movie he has ever made ( some against my will) and it is all J's fault.

22. Your profession: SAHM.

23. One word to describe your personality: Nutty

Mental Patient Moments

I had what I like to refer to as mental patient moments today. No I am not saying that anything derogatory about people with any mental conditions. Heck if you dig deep enough we all have one. I live with two obsessive compulsive and I am the anxiety prone depressive. What I mean when I say mental patient moment is when you do something in public that earns you a curious look from bystanders that just screams "Honey, are you all right?"

So today in walmart I was waiting for J to get a basket before we began our shopping. I was kind of staring off into space passively reading a cardboard cut out about the new movie that will be debuted on Tuesday. In my periphery I saw a tall man in a black jacket roll a basket just past me. Since I just knew it was J i grabbed the front of the basket as prepared to continue on. I looked up and realized this was not my husband. Poor guy was just staring at me waiting to see what my next move was. I blushed nicely and mumbled my apology.

To make this even more tragic for me i turned around to find my good friend Sloan pushing her cart towards me. I rarely run into people I know in walmart but today of course I would. Sloan laughed at my moment and I had to also since it was funny even if it was slightly mortifying. J appeared and Sloan informed him I was trying to pick up random men. I explained the story and J too joined our chuckle at my expense.

Now I share it with the world so we can all laugh at me.

Why I will never be on "How Clean is your House?"

When I got out of bed this morning after setting Rory up with cartoons I began to work on the house. I got laundry going, took out the trash, put away all the items that found a way out of their proper place, & feed the pets. I still need to sweep up and mop but I decided to take a break first. This whole break consisted of me feeling like a slob because my butt hit chair before my broom met floor.

Is there some gene that becomes active after you marry and have kids that causes guilt if you don't make the house sparkle in one swipe? Granted my house has never sparkled. There is no such thing as sparkle when you have six cats, two dogs, and toddler. It has had a dull glow from time to time though. I am very proud of that. :0)

Sassy tries to remind me that Duh! I am 26 weeks pregnant and cannot do it all without risking harm. I know and I do not try to, I just wish that nagging feeling of things left undone would understand it. Maybe I should just kidnap Martha Stewart and be done with it. Then again I would probably die from that much organization. I kind of thrive on mild chaos. It makes me feel okay about not being perfect. Oh well. I wouldn't have any trouble taking on Paula Deen as a cook though. Gift idea people!

He's baaack.

J is back from FL finally. It is so nice to have him home but it is also an adjustment. For four months we both got into solo routines and now we have to unlearn them. It can be quite funny at times. J is used to having only one small room to deal with and daily maid service. Well he ain't got that now. Here he has a pregnant wife who is a week away from her 3rd trimester and a tornado strength toddler. Although I will admit having him home has made me feel more motivated. All the depression of being apart really made just want to sit and vegetate. Now I am rip roaring and ready to go. Too bad I cannot go for more than fifteen minutes at a time and bending over is impossible without crashing.

Another story from our home - Lily has made great progress! She is really doing well with her food aggression since she has no food to be mad over. She only gets it put down for 30 minutes at a time 2x's a day. Her training as been progressing well. She is becoming more comfortable with Rory. He really does scare her because she does not know what he is going to do. It is a slow process but it is worth it to make us all more comfortable. She still is a major chocoholic and will rip open the empty bag of milano cookies just to sniff the inside. Poor baby just wants the good stuff. We got her some doggy chocolate which is made from that carob gunk. They sell it to humans also at health food stores. I think I will pass on that one.

Fat and friends

I usually make a trip over to Sassy's house once a week so our boys can play. That is not true. I go to Sassy's house so I can chit chat on her couch. We just say it is for the boys so we can feel better about our constant need each other's company. Our husbands worry about our bizarre attachment.

So when I am at Sassy's I watch the Rachel Ray show with her because that is her routine. I don't sit still long enough to watch it regularly. Yesterday Rachel had a woman on who was upset because she had lost all her friends after having gastric bypass surgery. I knew they show was going to spin it as she became a snob and was mean to her 'fat' friends. I was right. They showed the woman a tape of her mother talking about the horrible things her daughter had said that pushed people away. Personally I was a bit offended.

I am overweight for my height. No I am not huge or grotesque but I have work to do after I have my daughter. I am determined to get into a healthy range for myself and for my family. However there is no getting around the fact that I do fit into the category of fat. I have gained next to nothing with my pregnancy so my weight is not to be blamed on it.

This woman on Rachel Ray was in the 300 pound range at her heaviest. She felt gastric bypass was her best choice so she made that decision. She now weighs 140 pounds went from a size 26 to size 4. How wonderful for her to be healthy and happy. And where are her friends who should he supporting her and rejoicing in her victories? Oh they are mad because she said she needed to buy new clothes to replace her fat clothes. Was she supposed to call them her big boned clothes? Even calling them her over wight or obese clothes would sting someone who was the current weight and size of the clothes she planned to discard. This is a no win situation.

Her mother was offended when she asked to try on an outfit and was told it would not fit her. "Well we always used to share clothes." the mother says. Sassy is a few sizes under me. If I tried on a pair of her jeans they would not go over my hips. That is just a fact. Style math says that 24 does not go into 4. I felt really bad for the poor woman. I think she was treated unfairly by her friends rather than the other way around.

Sassy has been dieting and working hard to lose her baby weight since last April. She looks fantastic and I am so happy for her. To me it is encouraging. I know that if I can stick it out like Sassy that I can have similar results. I love it when Sassy can call me and tell me has gone down another size or that her jeans are getting loose. She deserves to be happy with her image. I am never offended when she mentions her fat clothes or that she is finally out of a specific size. Maybe I am just a better friend, shouldn't we all feel like that about our bestie?

Time is on my side

I often wonder if I have too much time on my hands. Of course this is not because I don't actually have things to do. I just choose to ignore some of them. Except the boy. It is impossible to ignore a two year old. They jump up and down in place chanting "Mama, mama!". I keep waiting for Rory to morph into a Pomeranian. If the dishes and laundry were as persistent as my son is they might get done quicker in a day. Anyways, my question about how I use my "spare" time was answered for me today. I find that reading a book, watching a movie, chatting with a friend are my top three time takers. Not constructive but at least I am not this bored...

If I ever find myself making photographic art with bent nails it will be time to call it a day. I can see it now

J: "Honey what did you do today?"

Me: "I created a still life soap opera with three nails and a hammer."

Itchy puppy

Lily decided to play with something in the yard that did not agree with her. She must be allergic because she has started to swell up like Violet Beauregard from Willy Wonka. We gave her the benadryl as instructed. Poor dog has tried to itch her face on anything and everything. I was even used a minute ago. Miss Nosy may have learned a lesson tonight, but I doubt it.
She is actually being evaluated tomorrow by a dog trainer. She should look just lovely for that. Lily has a problem with manners so we are going to see what we can do about pounding some into her. I am sure it makes me an evil pet owner that I laugh at her while she is in obvious discomfort. She just looks so...comical. I am sure I have seen her laugh at me a time or two so I say turn about is fair play.

UPDATE: The puffy princess has returned to her normal svelte appearance. We think it was a spider that she tangled with.

Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem - The Promised Rant

Spoilers ahead!!!

I would like to start off by saying that I did like this movie. That does not however stop me from being a tad critical.

A lot of people have expressed a problem with the fact that a young boy is one of the first character to get tackled by a face hugger. I will agree that it was disturbing to watch but it makes sense if you think about it. Like one blogger wrote "In the event of an alien invasion crisis there will not be a sign that says Women-Children-Elderly: Exit here"

Besides why waste time hunting a large adult when a slower child is easy pickings. Survival of the fittest. IF you just cannot get over the good dying young, well avoid animal planet.

Now for the part I DID have huge issue with. This is where the writers said, "Let's think up something truly gruesome and uncomfortable for the audience. Who cares if it flaunts the ENTIRE Alien franchise."

Pregnant women are orally raped by the Predator/Alien cross breed. The little embryos hatch, eat the existing child, and pop out of the poor woman's stomach four at a time. Argue all you like but that has got to be purely for the shock value. It makes no sense to me.

See, I can do a short and sweet rant.