Tales of the Bus: FAQ Edition

Are you a first time bus rider?  A long-time bus rider, who is maybe confused by some of the rules and etiquette of the bus?  Well congratulations, you've come to the right place! I'm here to clear up any confusion there might be out there about what is considered acceptable behavior on the bus.

I bring a bag with me to work every day, plus my lunch.  Can I put these items on the seat beside me so that I have more room?
No.  Did you pay for that seat for your bags?  If not, the answer is no.  Put them on your lap just like everyone else.   

A visibly pregnant lady/lady with a kid/elderly person gets on the bus, do I have to give up my seat?
YES.  Every time.  You should jump out of your seat so fast you risk injury.

But, but...I have a great seat!  And I've had a long day at the office.  I'm tired.
I don't care.  GET UP NOW.

What if, instead of getting up, I just pretend to be engrossed in my book and avoid eye contact?
I can't even believe we're still having this conversation-next question, please! 

How should I proceed when getting on/off the bus with my fare or bus pass?
You should have everything ready, in hand, every single day.  It's not rocket science; every single day, you pay to ride the bus.  Have it ready to go, there is nothing worse than being stuck behind someone who is fumbling in their pockets to come up with the fare, or dig up their ID. 

I like to listen to music during my bus ride, is it ok to bring my iPod on with me?
Of course!  Enjoy your music!

Great!  I have the best taste in music, is it ok to turn my iPod up so loudly that everyone within a 10 foot radius can enjoy my playlist at 7am?
This is not ok.  While we're on this subject, it's also never ok to sing along with your music, regardless of the decibel level.

If I get on the bus and it's already crowded, should I hover right near the front so that everyone else who gets on after me has to squeeze by me in order to move to the back of the bus? 
This is a situation where you should use this crazy thing called "common sense" and move to the back of the bus, just like everyone else.  


Ok, fine...I moved to the back of the bus.  I also carry a backpack that I keep stuffed with what appears to be an entire set of encyclopedias so it really stands off far from my back, should I keep it on my back, then spin around a bunch every time someone has to get off of the bus, inevitably hitting someone in the head?
Again, embrace the trend of common sense.  Put the backpack on the floor in front of you, or hold it.  No one wants to get a concussion on the bus from your backpack.


My boyfriend and I are going through a rough patch, is it ok to call him while I'm on the bus and have a heated argument about whether or not it's acceptable for him to come home at 3am from the clubs, smelling like another woman's perfume?
Yes, everyone wants to hear your saga.  They also love it when you use words I've never even heard of to describe the woman from the club.  It's super educational to be a passenger during those times, so thanks for that.

Yes, he does cry.

Liam is pretty laid back most of the time, but if there's something that he wants but doesn't get...watch out!  I figured I'd post some proof that tears do flow in our house.  This particular cry-fest was brought on by the fact that I wouldn't let him attempt to climb a gate.  I'm such a mean mommy like that.

This is not fair! I bet you other kids get to climb their gates at home!

Start your engines!

I love it when the boys find a new game to play together....the latest one has been truck races.  Beep, beep!

What we've been up to

It doesn't seem possible that it's nearly the end of July already, yet here we are.  The weather has continued to be scorching for the most part, so we get outside when we can, and if we can swim, that's even better!  Last weekend, we went to GG and Pappy's for the day to go to a friend's bridal shower, and later that day, we went swimming with their family.  Here is Liam with his future wife, Liliana....won't these pictures look cute on their wedding slideshow? :)

Poolside snacks!

Jake had a great time in the big pool (and eventually, Liam and Liliana ditched the baby pool and went to the big pool, too).

The next day, Jake and Brian went to Home Depot to pick up a few things, and came home with this hibiscus tree for me....it will be perfect for the upcoming luau!!

This past weekend, we headed back down to GG and Pappy's, this time to celebrate Liliana's first birthday!  Unfortunately, my camera battery died, but I do have these shots of us in the paddle boats...Jake was excited to get in, but scared once we were actually out in the water.  He was pretty much clinging to my arm most of the time.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the month of July!

Tales of the Bus: I just can't help myself.

I'm standing near the exit of the door, waiting to get off the bus downtown, but we end up getting stuck at a red light.  So I'm standing there, and I feel something on my back. I ignore it.  I feel it again, and move a little bit, assuming I'm just brushing up against someone's bag strap or something (the bus is packed, so turning around to look wouldn't have been easy)  But then I feel it a third time, and turn around because by now, I'm having visions of a rat or something creeping up my back and I really just want to rule out that possibility.

Fortunately, I do not find myself staring into the eyes of a rat, but rather, the eyes of a woman who says to me, "Sorry, I just can't help myself".  I must have just looked at her with bewilderment/confusion/terror because she quickly said, "Oh, you had some hairs on your back, I can't seem to stop myself when I see that on people, I always pull them off for them!"  She said it in a way that almost seemed like she expected me to say thank you, and being in a state of confusion, I think I might have thanked her before running off the bus. 

Guest Bedroom: Lighten Up!!

The bed that's in our guest room used to be the bed in the master bedroom; when we moved we upgraded to a king-sized bed (one of the best investments ever, by the way) so our old bed (queen) and bedding moved into the guest room.  The bedding was a set that I had picked up from Target for $20, to temporarily replace the bedding that I was madly in love with, but had sadly met its demise during a very unfortunate incident involving the washing machine.  Like I said, it was supposed to be a temporary replacement, but then we decided to sell our house and upgrade to a king sized bed, so the bedding stuck around longer than anticipated.

For $20, the bedding had served its purpose, but it was dark and I'm kind of over the blue/brown color scheme at this point.  So I was on the hunt for new bedding, something bright and cheery since the walls in that room are white and we don't have any desire to paint them at this point.  I was able to score this set on overstock, and I'm quite pleased with the difference in the room.

Don't mind the pile of stuff on the floor, that's my stockpile for the BEACH!!!!!!  The countdown is on....

Flower Power

I'm going to toot my own horn here for a minute, because I'm quite proud of myself....I took full responsibility for our potted flowers this year.  This might not seem like an achievement, but it's the first time I've done that. We have a general unspoken rule in our house that states Brian takes care of the outside in the summer, I handle the inside.  This year, we changed that up...not because the former system wasn't working, but because I'm kind of a control freak and wanted to do the flowers myself for the first time.  So I bought them all, and planted them myself (*insert back patting here*)  I did step up and helped spread mulch one day, too, but that motivation lasted about an hour before I thought I was going to die.  But I still get points for trying!

Anyway, back to the flowers.  I'm pleased with how a lot of them turned out, and some I'll do differently next year.  My #1 goal was to buy only flowers that required very little maintenance aside from watering (read: NO DEADHEADING)  I wanted to plant them, water them, and admire them...that's it. 

Pots on the patio out back:

From L-R: Calibrachoa, Geranium, Vinca

Gerbera daisy that Jake picked out for me :)

Gerbera daisy with a tiny bloom, butterfly that Jake painted, and more geraniums

Impatiens and Coleus that both went crazy in their pots!!

Impatiens and begonias 

more begonias

The flower beds behind the retaining wall off of the patio needed a little bit of attention and love this year. The previous owners had a lot of nice perennials in there already, so we really haven't had to plant much at all; however, a lot of those plants were completely taking over the area.  Brian spent a lot of time clearing it out and relocating some of the flowers this year.  It looks much better now!

I didn't take any actual before shots this year, but here are some from last year at the luau...you can see how overgrown it was at that time, so it was even worse more recently:

After!

We have some mums in that bed that came back from last year:

And some other unexpected surprises of flowers that popped back up from last year:

not sure what these are called, they came back up along our driveway, and beside our patio

snapdragons that came back up in the front of the house

 I planted some other flowers along the driveway, but sadly, none of them did very well and I'm not sure why.  It's a sad little area right now.

More mums, I'm still hoping maybe these will bloom again in the fall, and sad begonias.

Sad vincas.

Onto happier looking flowers, I have 2 big pots on the front porch with double begonias...one of the pots did better than the other, but they're both still pretty:

See these weird plants that are growing in front of the bushes in front of our house?  I'm not sure what they are, but for some strange reason, they're unevenly spaced (which makes me twitchy) and frankly, they're just not that nice looking.  Sure, they get white flowers in the spring...but those last for all of 2 weeks, then we're left with this heap of green and brown the rest of the year. 

Brian isn't a fan of ripping out plants that are perfectly healthy, but I'm really hoping maybe we can figure something out next year.  I wouldn't be opposed to transplanting them to another area that isn't....oh, directly in front of our house.  I'd love to get something with some color in there instead! 

So there you have it, my friends, the complete outdoor tour of my hard work.  Not too shabby for my first time!

Watch out, world....

Someone has discovered he can take a few steps......... :-)

Heat Wave

It was so hot on the 4th of July, there was little to do except for eat, swim, and enjoy the slip and slide.

Here is a video of Jake, showing off his sweet pool jumping moves:

Liam was cracking us up, he was fearless!  He'd get to the bottom, sit up and immediately start signing "more" then grab his raft and wait for someone to haul him back up so that he could take another turn.  Here is a video of both kids going down:

GG and Pappy joined us for some holiday fun (and Gracie spent most of the day panting, long for the comfort of the couch and air conditioning)

 
Eventually, between the heat and the peer pressure from Jake and Brian (Jake actually said, "Mommy...if you get in the pool, our whoooooooole family will be here!"), I caved and put on my swim suit.  Eventually, they pressured me into going down the slip and slide....let me tell you, I was not prepared for the fun!  Seriously, I was like a kid up there, waiting my turn!

fortunately, there is no video of me making a fool out of myself in our own backyard :)

Happy 4th of July!

Lamb Roast 2012

We always look forward to the Martini Family Lamb Roast...good food, drinks, and friends!  As usual, the boys entertained each other all day long, through various activities:

Liam also took a dip in the pool:

And went a little bonkers when he saw Aunt Missa enjoying a cupcake without him (how dare she!)  Being the great aunt she is, she shared with him.  Food is definitely the way to this kid's heart.

I will own you, cupcake.

Liam also spent some time with his assigned BFF, Parker! 

I'm not sure what's with the pout face that Liam is sporting....

GG hangs out with Parker

The besties & the littlest besties

Getting a ride from Pappy

A great time, as always!!