You Say To-MAY-to, I Say To-MAH-to...

I say we have them coming out our ears!!!

LAST YEAR, I planted three tomato plants, and we had WAY TOO MANY tomatoes, so, as a solution, this year I only planted one.
WELL, I do believe our ONE plant has OUTPRODUCED the three that I had last year!!!

Every time I went out to pick.....

...I got this many!

And this has been going on for a couple of months now.

In fact, last month, when Kyle was trying to think of a way (translated: badgering asking me what to do) to answer a girl to the Harvest Dance.... after throwing around many different ideas, I said, "Can't ya do it somehow with tomatoes???"  (Since there's NO shortage of those around here!) 

So, he did:

(do you 'get it?')

So, now that it's October, there are STILL dozens (maybe hundreds?) of green and half green/half red tomatoes on the plant!  It's going to start getting too chilly at night to be good for the plant, so I tried something new that I heard about.  

Someone told me that I could dig out the plant, with roots still attached....

LOOK how monstrous that plant became!!!
It started out like this:

Instead of saying, "Growing like a weed," I'm gonna start saying, "She's growing like a tomato plant!"

 (A regular scene these days on my kitchen window sill - these are all the ones that fell off during the digging it up and transporting stages)

....anyway, after you pull it out, you're suppose to hang it upside-down in your garage, and the tomatoes will continue to ripen, and you can keep using your tomato supply instead of losing them all to the cold weather.  (At least that's what I heard)

So, I did it:

After each of the kids came in from school that day and ALL inquired, in half-panicked voices, a version of the same, "WHAT THE HECK IS OUT IN THE GARAGE????" question, I decided I better warn my husband before he got home, seems as it was hanging in his parking space.

So, I texted him, "You MIGHT be surprised when you come into the garage tonight.... just giving ya a heads up. ;)"

To which he replied back,  "A new Suburban?  HaHa."

Oh, man....now THAT would've been a first-rate surprise!!!

But, so sorry, Babe - you're going to be sadly disappointed when you open the garage door.......and discover it is ONLY an upside-down tomato plant!  ;)   

My Brain was Delivered Yesterday

I have ALWAYS used a calendar.

I have to write everything down on a calendar, or it doesn't happen!  Like, the event doesn't even exist if it's not on my calendar!

When I am away from home (and my calendar), and people ask if they can schedule something with me, I direct my eyes upward and try to picture my calendar on the wall to see if anything is written on it.  I'll say, I THINK that's OK, but I can't ever give them a firm commitment until I have a chance to come home and actually look at it.

I've never understood how some people can just keep things in their heads....and remember!

I go over our calendar for the week with everyone during "Family Business" time.  And then I also [try to] look at it every night for the next day - even though I have to look at it again the next morning to remind myself what is happening that day.  AND, it's also a good idea if I look at it again during the day because sometimes (often) by afternoon, I will have forgotten, just since the morning, the things I had going on that day!
BTW, remember when I asked if anyone had found my mind, yet?  Have you?

I usually get a calendar for Christmas, but this year I didn't.  {gasp!}  So, I ordered one myself.  It's "the calendar" that I have used, and my mom has used, for like 30 years.  The only problem was.....FedEx was ALSO affected by the SAME Winter Vortex that jetBlue was, and their deliveries were WAY SLOW & BEHIND.  It took two weeks to be delivered to me - and that was 2 1/2 weeks too long for me!

I didn't know WHAT was going on!  For 15 days!

I felt out of control.  In chaos.  I had no grip on life.  A loss of reality.  I couldn't get organized!

In fact, Ryan would text me a couple of times asking if we had anything on a certain day because his boss wanted him to work, or friends were planning something.....

I would text back, Idk, I don't have a calendar!

To which he responded by text back, This is really messing up my life!

I finally resorted to printing the generic calendar template off the Excel program on our computer and sticking the piece of paper on the wall.

But, YESTERDAY, all that nonsense ended with a much awaited delivery! 
Here it is!  What a beauty.  I practically cried to get a real calendar up on my wall.

I've always really liked writing things on my calendar, too.
For instance, when I get a new sports schedule for one of my children, it gives me such satisfaction to write it all on the calendar.
I think I've come to the conclusion that the reason is, not because I like to be busy, in fact, I've shared before that I LOVE when the calendar square has NOTHING written on it for a day!  So, the real reason is this: It takes a load off of me! It's such a relief that I no longer have to store it in my memory - it is written down.  I feel all organized when I can depend on my calendar to tell me what to do, instead of my [lack of] brain to tell me!  That's why I call my calendar "My Brain."

So, guess what I spent most of today doing to my brand new [blank] calendar?!?

Aaaaaahh!  I feel so much better!

I can sleep at night, now!  ;)

You're So Smart vs. Your So Dumb

Despite Kyle's tendency to lose things; his jersey, his wallet, MY nail clippers, his iPod, etc., he did FINALLY get a [flip] cell phone.

DID YOU KNOW HE WAS THE LAST TEENAGER ON EARTH WITHOUT A CELL PHONE?!?

CAN YOU BELIEVE HE GOT STUCK WITH SUCH HEARTLESS, DORKY, BAD PARENTS?!?

{at least that was the hogwash he's been trying to feed us for the last few years}

Anyway, one of the rules that comes with the privilege of having a cell phone is that I can read their texts at ANY TIME.  No questions asked.  We, their parents, pay for these things.  We are merely loaning them to our sons with the understanding that they will act responsibly......and censor themselves when it comes to texting.  (Even though it is easier to text things that you would not normally say out loud, in person, or in front of your/your friends' parents!)

So, on THE FIRST DAY that Kyle had his phone, I asked if he'd been able to figure out how it worked yet.

Yep.  He informed me he already had 68 texts!

68 TEXTS?!?

OK.  Hand over the phone.

I started to scroll through the "conversation" he'd had with the girl he is quite fond of [who shall remain nameless.]

It started out like this:

Him:  Guess who?

Her:  Who?

Him:  Guess.

Her:  Just tell me.

Him:  Giving up so easy?

Her:  K at least give me a clue.  Boy or girl?

Him:  Which do you hope it is?

(Really!?  Are these guys 14 yrs. old, or something?  Why, YES, they are, as a matter of fact!  I'm cracking up, so of course, I had to read on!)

{14 more texts like that with vague clues and unsuccessful pleadings}

Then it continued:

Her:  Is it Colby?

Him:  Nope.

Her:  Tony?

Him:  No.

Her:  Russell?

Him:  Wrong again.

Her:  Just tell me!

Him:  How bad do you want to know?

(This is RIVETING dialogue, I tell ya!)  ;)   

{14 more texts of back & forth, her exasperation and his smugness growing}

Then it continued:

Her:  Do we have any classes together?

Him:  Good question!

Her:  Well......what's the answer?

Him:  I can't believe you haven't guessed it yet.

Her:  Aaaugh!  Just tell me who you are?

Him:  Maybe you don't want to know.

Her:  I DO!

Him:  We talked today.

Her:  When?  About what?

Him:  Yada, Yada, Yada.

Her:  Blah, Blah, Blah 

(This Jr. High "flirting" has CAPTIVATED the audience [me] - how about you?)  ;)

AT LAST, the girl guesses that it is Kyle.

In conclusion:

Her:  Ohhhhh.  Duh.  You must think I'm so dumb!

Him:  Nope.

Her:  Well I am.  It took me FOREVER!

Him:  No worries.  :)

Her:  Your just being nice.

OK.  That was a romance killer.  Now I think you're dumb!

Because....it's YOU'RE not YOUR.  

It's a CONTRACTION of the words YOU and ARE.  

It involves the elision of a vowel (in this case, the "A") which is replaced by an apostrophe in writing.  

When in doubt, just do the "test," people.  Can you substitute "you are" in your sentence with it still making sense?  If yes, use, "you're" not "your".  

THANK YOU.

And......You're Welcome for the nerdy grammar lesson.

This little ecard describes me: 

And just so we can further get my nerdiness out in the open - and you can consider yourself WARNED -  here's another caption that screams, "THIS IS ME!"