Happy Halloween

As most anyone who knows me even a little can guess, Halloween is my favorite holiday. The drag queen in me can never resist the chance to pile on the make-up and fake hair... and no, I would never do a gruesome costume, I am all about the glamour.
So to all my friends out there, here's wishing you a, like, totally, rad and awesome, like, halloween. Okay?

Ella speaks...

I am sorry, but I can't get enough of her....


"Mommy, just give in... like last time." while arguing with me.

Two favorite introductions :

"I am Ella Frances Neeley, Princess."

and more recently...

"I am Ella Frances Neeley and I want to be a star."

Jamie Sucks - but is pretty funny!

I prefer to be informed before I start on one of my rants, so I actually read the Stephanie Myers "book" Twilight.
It was the worst piece of crap I have ever read and found it to be almost unreadable. I felt like I was reading 13-year-old fan fiction on the internet... just God Awful stuff!
Of course the fans of the book are completely rabid and whenever I mention my opinion I take my life in my hands for not being on team Jacob or Edward or whatever!
My co-worker and dear friend, Jamie, is one of those sad, misinformed fans of said hack.
I have been out of the office for two days dealing with sick children and returned to this...




Jamie is much more ruthless and bloodthirsty than the wussy vampires she reads about.

The Little Things

Another VERY stressful weekend in the Forever household - but this blog is not about bitching - (Though please let me state for the record that my mother married a total horse's ass!) - but about the little joys.
I drove to Ashtabula ( a small city near Cleveland Ohio) on both Saturday and again on Sunday.
The drive is long and, well, long. But as I drove up on Sunday morning (starting out at 7 am - on a Sunday)I started to notice the little things that make life good.
First, Sunday morning radio is actually pretty great. Since no one is really up at the time, there are a lot of really great speciality programs on... I found one that played old school punk. We are talking the real deal here... rare stuff that only fans would know or remember. For nearly an hour of the ride, I was able to bop along to Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The Clash, and The B-52s (none of that Love Shack or Rock Lobster stuff either!)
I also discovered that Route 11 in Ohio is really beautiful in the fall.
I tried to capture a picture, but none could do the trees justice.


Also, I really love my sunglasses - no designer or high end $$$ - just really awesome!

And I pretend I was heading somewhere much cooler...

More Random Quotes with Ella Frances

"Liam - every thing I say is right." - while having an argument with her younger brother.

Good Times

Everybody's youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.

~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz


I was lucky enought to spend sometime last weekend with old friends.

On Saturday night, I met up with some friends from Point Park College (now Univesity).
We were the early to mid - 90s staff of the college radio station, WPPJ, and a finer collection of loser never exhisited before or after.
After the usual updates on marriage, children and divorce - not nesseccarily in that order - things quickly reverted to the old days. The same old jokes and gags resurfaced, like stealing Tim's video camara and making a tape for his possible pretend wife, Marty.
It was juvinile, immature and politically incorrect and I wouldn't change one second of it.

Drew, Carrie, Kim and your girl knocking back a couple at Redbeards on Mount Washington
And then on Sunday afternoon, I got to visit with my best friend from High School, Tawnya.
Tawnya is one of those rear finds that stopped being a friend about 15 years ago and became family. Everone in my family knows and considers her a part of the family.

T and Ella
What a great weekend :)

Random Quotes with Ella

My Ella is one of those kids who has it all figured out. She has never been one to ask a lot of "whys" she just assumes that she already knows the ways of the world. Last night I got a peek into how her mind works.
While getting a juice pop out of the freezer she exclaimed that it was "as cold as a Pittsburgh."
When I asked her to clarify her statement for me, she responded, "A Pittsburgh Mom, you know where Santa and Penguins live."

Priceless!

Just Keep Swimming!

Things have been pretty rough in the old Neeley household lately.
ATM card was stolen.
Van was wrecked and declared a total loss.
Some demons that have plagued our family have resurfaced.
And - I keep breaking out!!!!

But you know what?

One for Lemmy

I am not an atheist, but as I have stated before, I can take a joke and this is REALLY funny!
Watch the old man with the broom.



Door To Door Atheists Bother Mormons - Watch more Funny Videos

Next time you'll listen damn it!

This is an intentionally funny photo of my son at the pumpkin farm this week.



The plastic bag IS NOT over his head as a friend actually asked me. I honestly would not find a photo of my son suffocating as humorous.

What actually happened is he was trying to hold up a rather large pumpkin - for his size - for a photo opt and just as I pressed the button, he fell over.

The bag was in the background waiting for his gord of choice.

Circle of Life Update

Okay - so we finally fessed up on the untimely death of our little aquatic friend.
(Though I will take that his early demise came at the hands of Liam with me to the grave. I guess that will just have to be a little turtle sized skeleton hanging in the family closet.)
There were a few questions and objections - mostly of the, but I want him back verity - but mercifully no tears.
In the end, she accepted things.... and then asked for a pet hamster!!!!
Fickle little thing.
Just in case you are wondering - we have put a hold on any new pets until Liam is a little older. It was bad enough having turtle blood on our hands. I don't think I could take the responsibility of a mammal homicide.

Bad Parenting with the Neeleys

This summer my four-year-old, Ella, got her first ever, very own pet. She choose a painted turtle hatchling that she promptly named, Gilly.
Gilly was a cherished pet. The above picture was taken on the day that he arrived home.
Ella and I went out that night and purchased a much larger tank so that he would have lots of room to stretch out and searched the local creeks for large rocks in order to make his home as authentic as we could. We stacked the rocks in such a way as to see create "caves" and hiding places for Gilly.
In addition to the turtle pellets, krill and baby shrimp that you by at the pet store. Gilly was given a diet of fresh fruit and veggies and the occasional piece of chicken or hotdog. (Turtles are omnivores)
Thanks to all the love and care, he was thriving - but the grim reaper had his eye on our beloved little amphiebian (reptile?) and came in the form of a two-year-old brother.
Liam, in a purely accidential incident, critically injured Gilly and despite our best efforts, the hubby and I were not able to save him.
How do you explain this to a four-year-old??? Well in the case of the Neeley clan - you don't.
I actually have left the tank up with the water in it and have hoped she will just think he is hiding.
To make matters worse, the hubby and I have taking to lying to cover our tracks.
A week ago, Ella informed me that she wanted to feed Gilly. Instead of taking this oppurtunity to explain the circle of life to my wide-eyed girl. I said I already had and he was napping.
Last night my husband said that Ella was standing by the tank and stated that she wanted to play with him, but he wasn't there.
I asked him how he handled the whole situation and he replied, "I told her that he went for a walk."
Wow - we really suck at this. How long do you think we can keep this up?

It's just not natural - damn it!

Warning - this may just be a post to show how f'ing cute my kid is!

I am really beyond tired of hearing comments about my beautiful son's hair. Liam is blessed with a full head of thick, curly, sandy blond hair with just a slight hint of red.
A true testament to his Irish name and (very) distant Celtic heritage.
I choose to leave it a long on the longer side, both to maximize his curls and because he is a monster at the salon.
Over the last few months, older family members have been uniting in a effort to get my son a more "manly" hair cut. Some have taken to saying he looks like a girl and my step-father and father-in-law have united to a campaign to take him to a barber!
NOW HERE THIS - MY SON'S HAIR WILL ONLY BE CUT BY A WOMAN OR A GAY MAN JUST AS GOD INTENDED IT TO BE!!!!
I have included some recent pics of him, so that you be the judge. He does not look like a girl.





Not to be outdone, Lady Ella is still bringing the cute also (and she learned the art of the pose)