Musical Interpretation

Have you ever heard a song and wondered, "What does this mean?"  Some songs are like poetry.  You hear the song and it leaves you boggled.  Like all those old poems in Humanity class you had to read, recite, and give your interpretation to the weird and twisted great work. 

I have no doubt that if you are a country music fan, you've heard Hello World by Lady Antebellum.  It's a beautiful song.  You're probably thinking, "I know what that's about.  It's about a man who finally 'checks' back into the world that he has been missing out on."  Yes, this is true, but do you know WHY he's checked out?  This I will tell you, but first some of the lyrics from the chorus....

Well, hello world, how've you been?

Good to see you, my old friend

Sometimes I feel, cold as steel

Broken like I'm never gonna heal

I see a light, little hole in the little girl

Well, hello world

Are you ready for the reason?  He's been checked out because he's been doing laundry.  What?  You don't see the connection to laundry?  I'll break it down for you...

Well, hello world, how've you been?

Good to see you, my old friend

- He's been in his laundry room so long he has forgotten that the world continues on without you.  He's just stepped outside and recognizes this life altering fact.

Sometimes I feel cold as steel

Broken like I'm never gonna heal

-Pressing himself against the washing machine on the cold cycle loading clothes he's become frigid.  Once the cycle has started, he closes the top loader and moves to the dryer to fold the load that has just finished. It's been on the high heat cycle.  He's crying over the amount of time he's missing with his kids.  He then feels a burning sensation on his thighs.  He wonders if the burn will heal.

I see a light, little hole in a little girl

Well, hello world 

-He's clearly washing a load of his little girl's clothes.  They have a small hole in the knee of some light colored pants.

I could go on and on with the rest of the song, but I'm sure you're convinced of my genius interpretation.  I am for hire if you need further assistance, but until then I'll leave you with a picture of my final loads of laundry.  The last 3 that need to be folded.  The last 3 loads of 10. Well, hello world!

Menu {yawn} Monday

I am tired.  So tired.  The Puerto Ricans wore me out.  They made me tired and fatter.  They also made me laugh so hard I'm pretty sure a little pee came out.  All in a week's time.  So this week I'll be hitting the gym and crying over my menu.  The menu means back to reality.  Back to laundry (which we'll discuss later this week).  Back to picking up my house.  Back to dinner on the table by 5:30.  {Sigh}  Life is so hard.  Not really.  It was just really cush in Chicago.  Really Cush.

Monday-Eggplant Parmesan (scroll down below the Chicken Parmigiana pic), Olive Garden Style Salad, Roasted Garlic Dipping Sauce and Bread
Tuesday-Fried Chicken Drumsticks, Loaded Baked Potatoes, and Side Salad (this meal isn't helping the size of my booty)
Wednesday-Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta and THE Bread
Thursday-Ginger's Stuffed Burritos with Red Beans and Rice
Friday-Baked Chicken, Green Bean Casserole, Cheesy Biscuits
Saturday-Murder Mystery Dinner in Guthrie, OK
Sunday-Dinner at my Mama's (Mom, if you're reading this, we're coming over Sunday. Love you...bunches)

Menu Monday

Here's what's on my menu...

Monday-Chicago Style Pizza
Tuesday-Puerto Rican Food
Wednesday-Puerto Rican Food
Thursday-TURKEY Thanksgiving #1
Friday-Leftover Turkey
Saturday-TURKEY...Thanksgiving #2

Really, that's what we're having.  Fortunately I will not be dishin' up any of these meals.  I mean who wants the white chic cooking up the Puerto Rican food?  Not me.  I'll leave that to the experts.  And the Chicago Style Pizza...yumm-o!  Hopefully I can throw down at least one whole piece.  Let's be real, I'll probably throw down the entire pizza.  Just be ready for some weight loss tips and menus filled with lettuce next week.  I will be large and in charge after consuming so many calories.

Just a little side note, Torres Tidbits will be on a vacation this week.  No more posts until next week.  Don't cry.  Oh, they're tears of joy?  Well in that case, I unfriend you.  Oh, this isn't facebook?  Ummm....I'm stumped.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Textification

Texting has ruined our universe.  Ruined it.  The written word will never be the same.  Take writing projects for example.  In fourth grade I had multiple students sit down for the first draft conference and most of their paper was written in texting form.  Say what?!?  Yes, texting form.  Heck, I remember the days when the kids asked if they were supposed to write in cursive.  Now it's, "Do I have to write out the word, or can I use the number?"  What has this world come to??? 

Since we all know I was such a phenomenal teacher.  And when I say phenomenal, I mean rock star.  And when I say rock star, I mean rock star royalty.  Kind of like Madonna.  Frankly, I was so good I should have had just one name.  Torres.  None of that Mrs. Torres stuff.  Sorry.  I just had to reminisce how wonderful I was.  It makes me feel better about wiping my kids' bums all day long.

Back to being phenomenal...

Since I was, you know, phenomenal, I decided to do a lesson on decoding my texting.  I wrote a paragraph on the white board in texting form, and then they had to rewrite the paragraph in the correct form.  One of the more genius ideas I've had.  Here's an example of the assignment...

1 day i was walking down the hall @ skool i slipped on a banana peel & fell down i was layin on the floor trying 2 get up when my bff walked by she helped me up & then walked awy  i was lik what she didnt evn say nething 2 me she just walked off mayb shes mad mayb shes not but idk what 2 thnk mayb ill just b mad 2 lol

The kids were so frustrated trying to figure out what I was trying to say.  Figuring out the correct punctuation alone would have been enough, but decoding the 'words' was over the edge. To make matters worse I told them it was for a grade (because I was that nice).  Then we graded it in class.  Most received an "F".  Then I told them I'd cut them a deal.  If they stopped writing their writing projects and assignments in texting form, then I'd graciously throw this assignment in the trash.  They accepted.  I won.  Again, I was a phenomenal teacher!  Conniving, but phenomenal.

Ga-ro-dee

You very well may throw up in your mouth after reading this.  Just know there is a caution attached to this post.  So CAUTION...Grody picture ahead...GA-RO-DEE!

The picture is completely out of focus, but you get the point.  This is what was swept up after lunch at my house.  In fact, this picture reflects any given day after any give meal.  You could feed a small country with the daily leftovers on the floor.  For this reason alone, I will never have an area rug under my table.  Ever.  Never ever.  Well, not until I've taught these children how to eat like children and not like wolves.  So basically, I will purchase a fancy area rug to go along with that white couch when the kids go off to college.  Then again, their father will still live at home.  Scratch the white couch...and fancy area rug.  It's a hopeless cause.

A Few Minutes

We are getting ready to embark on a loooonnnnngggg car ride together as a family.  We've done it once before when Little Miss was 7 months old.  It went well, but it's such a loooooonnnnnngggg time in the car.  I mean loooonnnnnngggg.  I'm trying to keep my mind off how long the car ride will be so I decided to plan our spending while we're in Chicago.  We've saved for a few months so we're able to take the kids to The Field Museum and Children's Museum at Navy Pier, but you all know I love to save $$$.

With a few minutes time, I checked free admission days to both museums.  Too bad they aren't for the days we'll be there, but I did find a coupon for the Children's Museum and a discount for teachers at the Field Museum.  Technically, I'm still under contract with the former school system I worked for so I still have a current teacher badge. 

Then I planned where we were going to eat while in Chi-Town.  Since Chicago is a HUGE city, they have a plethora of restaurants that put out printable coupons.  A quick search at Retail Me Not helped me print out quite a few choices for the Lakeshore Drive area. 

We also have some 'regular' stops we make on the drive.  All of them artery clogging establishments.  I'll pay for it later, but we can't break tradition.  Going directly to the websites of our 'regular' places led me to even more coupons.  I now have my envelope of cash and an envelope of coupons to take on the road with us.  I'm hoping to come back with some leftover cash to stash in savings.  We'll see!!!

If you're making a trip over the Holidays, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg doing the fun stuff or eating out.  A few minutes preparing for your trip can allow you to save quite a bit.

Where Did We Go Wrong???

We want our kids to appreciate what they have been given.  I think everyone does.  So when you continually hear your four year old say, "I wanna get that sometime," you start to wonder where you went wrong.  It's not wrong for him to ask for things he wants.  We want him to ask, but we don't want him to ask about everything in sight, and then pout when he doesn't get what he wants.  So I decided we should focus on buying something for a child who is not as privileged as Little Man. 

With Christmas around the corner Samaritan's Purse has already started Operation Christmas Child.  I thought this would be perfect for Little Man to get involved in giving to others.  At first, I thought it was a lost cause.  Shopping at the store, he started wandering down the boy aisle searching for the toys he wanted.   Frustrating.  He whined that he didn't want to buy toys for a little girl his age.  Frustrating.  How in the world did I raise and ungrateful child???  I kept on.  Asking Little Man what he wanted to purchase for our Christmas Child.  Eventually, he decided on art supplies.  A sharp left onto art supply aisle.  Yes!  He's starting to get it.  That's when Little Miss started up.  She noticed the little Cinderella figurine in the cart.  "Rella, Rella.  I want Rella."  I couldn't catch a break!  Frustrating. 

Standing in line to pay for the items, both the kids had settled down and I look over to Little Man who is touching the items on the belt.  He looks at me and says, "I think she's really gonna like this Mommy.  I think she's gonna like it 'cause I like it."  I almost cried.  He got it.  Then I glanced over at Little Miss.  She was picking her nose.  She didn't get it.  One out of two's not bad.  I'll take what I can get.

Later on in the evening, we wrapped the box and packed it full.  Both Little Miss and Little Man were making a gigantic mess out of the wrapping paper and tape helpers.  The wrapping job could have gone a lot faster had I done it after they'd gone to bed, but I wanted them to be apart of the whole process.  I want them to know that giving is one of the best feelings they will experience in their life.  So tomorrow we will head off to a drop off location and send our package on its way to a precious child somewhere in this world. 

{Showing off their purchase}

 

{The final package}

If you are interested in participating in Operation Christmas Child, it's not too late.  This week is the week to drop off your box at the designated locations. If you don't have time to get the goodies, you can always donate $7 or more to help pay for the shipping costs of all these boxes.