Fly on the Wall-October!

Hey there!  Welcome to the October Fly on the Wall Group Challenge. This month, 13 awesome bloggers and I are describing what it would be like if you were to take a peek inside our homes....

Have a "look" around mine, and then go visit the other blogger's pages. There's always something fun, sentimental, or better yet, embarrassing going on. It's like your house, only we're admitting to the craziness. You have our permission. Get in there!

Cast:
Me
The man
A., the eldest (daughter, 19)
C., The middle (son, 15)
J., The youngest (son, 8)
Our dogs: Lila and Henry

If you were a fly on the wall at my house this month, you would have witnessed all kinds of GOOD and BAD news...

Crosswords:

I'm obsessed with crossword puzzles. Every night I try to do a few; just to see if my brain still works. One night, I checked the next puzzle (in order) and it was completed with letters that didn't make any sense. I looked at it for a minute before figuring out that J. must have filled out a page by himself.
The good news-
*I'm not quite as crazy as I thought.
*I can confirm that crosswords should always be done in capital letters.
The bad news-
*My son may be dyslexic or a coding magician.
*My son doesn't know who wrote "The Raven".

Birthday Boy:

 Portal- "The cake is a lie."

  

It was J's birthday last weekend. He turned nine and said it was his best birthday ever.
The good news:
*I scored major points making a portal cake. I had no idea what that was, but apparently, I follow decorating directions well enough.
The bad news:
*C. and A. were AWOL for the day.
The good news:
*They both called to wish J. a Happy Birthday.
The bad news:
* I got yelled at by the middle child because I never made him a portal cake.

Legos:

Yep, my son scored for his birthday in the Lego department. (Because he didn't have very many ten million to start with...)
The good news:
*We surprised J. and his friends by visiting the new Lego store in town.
*J's friends surprised him with the Lego Sets he's been begging for.
The bad news:

 *Mom is an OCD freak who has to make sure all the pieces are accounted for before building sets. (She's a real drag.)

*Mom found out that being OCD is FABULOUS fun and sorting Legos by color and shape rocks. This unintentional finding gave the boy one less Lego set to build.

New loft beds for the boys:

Two boys sharing one room can be very trying when one is a teenager and the other is not. We decided to build the boys lofts so they could take advantage of having more space.

The good news:
*The lofts look amazing and we're all still alive to tell the story of building them.
*It's so nice to have things a bit more organized.
The bad news:
*IKEA's directions were a bit difficult for this spacial genius and I almost was built into the desk that accompanies the loft.
*It's not any fun listening to my children joke for the rest of the day about how I should be on the shows , "I Shouldn't Be Alive!" or "127 hours."
Quote from Jo, "Life Alert! I've got my head stuck in a table and I can't get out!"
Quote from C. "Has this ever happened to you? Of course it hasn't. Who drops a desk top on their face?"
The better news:
* How awesome would my obituary be?
*All of the teasing may or may not have resulted in a few loose screws. Allen wrenches aren't perfect, you know.

Are you ready for some football?

We're not sure what exactly inclined us to invite our best friends over for a great game of Lion's football; especially when aforementioned friends are green bay fans. (Yeah, I can't capitalize it.) But we did.
The good news:
*They ARE our best friends, so there was a lot of food, kids and cheering to be had.
The bad news:
*The cheering wasn't from us. We were missing our key player, Mega-tron. Our Lions didn't roar.
*I love my friends a bit less than I love my Detroit Lions...
*Final Score: Detroit 9, green bay 22.
We'll see them back right here on Thanksgiving day!

Finally, A few of my favorite quotes from "Homeschool":

J: "Mom, I'm supposed to imagine myself in a story, but this one is a scary story. Is it okay if I put C. in it instead?"

J: "This says there is an amazing singer in Seattle. We should go."
Me: "Why do you want to go see a singer in Seattle?"
J: "Not for me mom, for you. There must be something really special about that sewing machine..." (Singer, get it?)

J: "They actually put eggs in their paintings back then? (fresco) That's gross. Scrambled eggs are nasty even a little bit cold. Those places probably stink!"

J: "I may change my idea about who I want to be when I grow up. I just can't make up my mind..."
Me: "You know what? That's okay. I think about doing something new every day"
J: "You're lucky, Mom. You're a grown up and can be ANYTHING you want, any day."

Epiphany. Thanks, J.

Thanks once again for stopping by, and to the Fly's AMAZING creator, Karen @ Baking In a Tornado, aka "The Blogging Original", for hosting this challenge! Would you like to join in the next FLY challenge? Click on the FLY button on my side bar. Karen will more than take care of you.

Take a look at what the other bloggers have going on inside their homes. Go on! Leave them a comment. You know you want to...

Baking in a Tornado                                     

Just a Little Nutty                                

Follow Me Home                          

Stacy Sews and Schools                

The Sadder but Wiser Girl                              

Menopausal Mother                                 

Moore Organized Mayhem                

The Insomniac's Dream                            

Spatulas on Parade                      

The Rowdy Baker                                  

Trashy Blog                                       

Dates 2 Diapers                            

Sorry Kid, Your Mom Doesn't Play Well With Others                       

Get out and enjoy the beautiful colors if you can. Soon, it will be too cold to move :(

Happy Weekend, friends,

-Michele         

Secret Subject Swap- October!

It's October, people. We've already had snow. I'm just not ready! The good news?  It's time for the SSS!

If you're a regular reader, you know that the Secret Subject Swap is a collaboration between various bloggers. We receive secret topics from a blogger in an e-mail and put our own spin on the subjects. The 12 blogs participating this time are listed at the end of this post. Go have a look and leave a comment. It will make my our day! :)

Your “Secret Subject” is: 

Grab a globe and an imaginary arrow. Stick it in at the place you were born – now describe the life you would have if you grew up on the other side of your world.

It was submitted by: http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/   

I was born many decades ago, on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Some call it the NinetyEast Ridge. I call it "The middle of nowhere, Earth." For those of you thrill-seekers, the coordinates are 3 Degrees South, 90 degrees E. Go ahead, knock yourself out and visit.

I can't complain about the island. It was very beautiful and I really had everything I needed. Food was plentiful, a well of purified water was created, the weather was usually calm, and I was surrounded by those that I had come to love.

One day, a group of teenagers and I decided to try and find where we might live on the other side of the world. We did this by using a volleyball that had washed ashore a few years before. It didn't take long for my grandmother to wash the sharpie-marker face off of the ball. (who draws faces on a ball?) A gentle man who lived down the path from us drew out what he believed to be the world on the rubber sphere.

We measured and showed the man the area that was opposite of us. It was an odd piece of land, surrounded mostly by water, in the shape of a mitten.

"Ah, yes" nodded the man. "This is Michigan. I've heard other men speak of it. Did you know that all of the water surrounding the land is fresh water?"

The name sounded familiar. After speaking with my grandmother about it, I remembered that I had family there. Can you imagine? Halfway across the world? I wanted to go. I wanted to meet these people as soon as possible.

How would I get there? I thought I might have it figured out.
First of all, I'd have to cut things off with my current boyfriend, Richard. It really wasn't all that serious anyway. In the back of my mind, I had this weird inkling he was seeing another girl. Her name was Emmaline. I don't care. They look like they could be relatives! Ack. They could sneak off to the lagoon as often as they liked.

Next, I'd have to start flirting with the older guys. I figured ONE of them could help me off the island. Jack was tall and smart; he just couldn't stay focused on one thing at a time. Sawyer was beautiful, but I think that's all he had to offer. There was a much older guy, named John Locke, but all he had on his mind was revenge. Getting to know him might be useful at another time, but this was not it. No. I had only one choice. I can't remember his first name, but I called him "The Professor". Man, this guy knows his stuff. Building radios out of coconuts, inventing anti viruses. He's a chemist, an architect, a botanist...he has it all. Plus, May-December relationships are all the rage on the island...

It worked! A few quotes from Edison and some silly questions regarding the periodic table..Poof! He was mine. In a few days, I had him wrapped around my smallest phalange.
The professor made a few calls from his "apple" (Yes, a phone made from an apple.) and I was on my way. Transportation would be coming for me the next day.

After my heartfelt goodbyes to my community, I kissed my grandma and promised I would one day return. I hugged the professor and whispered softly in his ear, "Photosynthesis". For a moment, I didn't think he'd let me go...

Soon, a visible para scope rose from the water and a ton of people jumped out of a tiny yellow submarine. They were answering the call from the professor and said that one more person would be just fine. I later came to find that they ALL lived in the yellow submarine. They sang it over and over; not unlike the 99 bottles of beer on the wall tune. Still, a cute man held my hand as I boarded the vessel and asked me my name.
"Michele" I answered.
"Welcome aboard, Michele. Hmm. Michelle, my belle... Sounds catchy." I liked that.

I watched the islanders wave goodbye as we slowly descended into the deep. Through a porthole, I could see that annoying Ariel trying to catch the attention of the crew. She was always doing that. She was already a princess of the sea. Who would want more than that? Well, Ariel, that's who. She was always talking about walking and running and staying all day in the sun..Blah blah blah. Sorry girl. This ship has sailed...

It was about a week later when we finally reached the east coast of North America. I was almost there. The group hugged me, stuffed some money in my pocket and descended back into the sea. Packed up with a small map and backpack, I was on my own.

I learned a few lessons on my way to Michigan. Not everyone is helpful. There are places to eat food that is pre-made. I asked a mother if another building I was standing in was "heaven." She said no, but it was close.It was called "Target." Oh, and there is a major difference between an Amtrak train and a "love train". Wow.

There weren't any streets paved with gold. After a few trains, a plane and a Magic school bus, I was in the land of Lions, Tigers and Red Wings. I was "home".

I'm not sure if I tripped on the steps of my relative's home or if I just collapsed of exhaustion. But when I woke up, I found myself in what seemed to be a familiar place. I recognized the petal pink walls. I remembered the heavy quilt that covered my shivering body. Then I saw her. It was my grandmother! She came to feel my forehead and described the awful fever she'd been trying to get me to break for days.

I was confused. I told her about the trains and the submarine, about my friends on the island and that she was there.. She hushed me and shook her head. It was all a dream. Halfway around the world is where I already was. It's where I had always been.
"I don't understand. It was all so real..."

Grandma smiled. "You just get some rest, now." She turned toward my nightstand and moved my DVDs of LOST and turned off the iPod that was softly playing the Beatles.
Still foggy, I watched as grandma also picked up a bottle of Nyquil. And a bottle of Dayquil...and some Sudafed, Advil, Alka Seltzer...and Triaminic.

Holy Hannah. No wonder I was dazed and confused. My beautiful grandma was trying to break my fever... like a drug lord. I love that lady.

Hail Michigan!

If you are interested in joining us for the next Subject Swap, you can visit its creator, the wonderful Karen @ Baking in a Tornado. She just celebrated ONE YEAR of the SECRET SUBJECT SWAP! You can also read all about the swaps by clicking on the SSS icon on the side of my blog.

Don't forget to check out this month's talented participants!
Baking in a Tornado                            

The Sadder but Wiser Girl                                   

Evil Joy Speaks                       

100lb Countdown                      

Follow Me Home                    

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy                           

Menopausal Mother                              

Stacy Sews And Schools            

Discovering Me               

It's Yummilicious                                      

Dates to Diapers                                  

Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom                       

Happy Beautiful Friday, friends.
-Michele