a list

-I think I experienced one of those Mondays I've always heard people mention. Unbelievable. It was one of those "put the milk in the cupboard and the cereal in the fridge" mornings. When I got back from taking my daughter to school, I came home to find the door wide open and HF asleep upstairs in our bedroom. I didn't shut the door when I left with the kids. My purse, our laptop, our flat screen, you know, all the important things in life, were left up for grabs for the riff raff that frequent our neighborhood. Thankfully nothing happened as far as I can tell, but to be honest I was more worried about stray cats and mice entering our home than a burglar attacking HF in his sleep. I was gone for 30 minutes.

-I have left the keys in the front door numerous times. The worst is when it is overnight and HF comes home to his sleeping wife and children and keys in the front door. He is never happy about that. This describes a typical night in our neighborhood: One night one of my neighbors was over hanging out and as I went to open the front door to see her out, a group of guys ran past our front door yelling, "!@$# You!" to who knows who. We were scared to death and she didn't venture home across the street for at least another hour.

-After washing my face, I used mouthwash on my face instead of my regular toner, which also happens to be blue. Let's just say my face was extra clean and rejuvinated.

-Our 2 year old went upstairs to our bedroom and picked up one of HF's two wallets and tried to shove it in the back of his diaper, just like daddy does (not in his diaper, but his pants. . . ) and became very frustrated that he couldn't get it to stick. It was one of those hilarious moments that maybe only the parents think are funny. Business idea: Diapers with back pockets?

-I've mentioned HF using more "coarse" language since entering the academy and becoming an officer. His latest? "Dumb Cuss". Let me use that in a sentence. After HF told me a work story, I asked, "Why did he do that?" HF said, "Because he's a dumb cuss that's why." I stopped him there and said, "Dumb Cuss? I've never heard anyone in my life say that before. Where did you pick that term up from? One of your work buddies?" Please tell me in the comments if any of you have used or regularly use that expression, or if you know where the expression comes from.

-CJ UPDATE!!! Sometimes you gotta praise Facebook and the things you can find out. CJ is currently claiming to be a reserve detective for HF's department (whatever that is. Don't think one can actually be a reserve detective). Wait. There's more. She is applying to the FBI to become a special agent. And that is a fact. I will keep you updated on anything else I find out.

-Once I mentioned to Happy Medic that if girls that chase Cops are called Badge Bunnies, then what do firemen call their "followers". He responded, "Kids". I still laugh about this.

-Another new pw blogger! Cathi at My Pinktastic Life.

-Our 2 year old has taken up headbanging as a hobby. He bangs his head in his crib at night, and now there is a dent on the wall above our bed where he banged his head. It actually put a dent in the wall! Either our wall is poorly built, or he has a really hard head. The most recent head banging damage is on a tile underneath one of our windows. It cracked the tile in half. The doctor said head banging is "mostly normal". Great. Take a look for yourself at the damage (I couldn't get a good picture of the dent in our bedroom, but this is the windowsill tile): He did this with his head!

-HF is currently "bulking up" for SWAT tryouts. He is taking special vitamins and supplements and eating lots of chicken, tuna, and veggies. He is also changing up his workouts for maximum results. I'm excited to see his transformation! Tryouts are in a month or so.

-We are getting the house ready for Mama Mia's visit (My Italian mother-in-law). She will be here for Christmas and New Years. We have lots planned for her entertainment. This is the first year in our entire marriage that HF has had Christmas Eve through New Year's Day off! He's one lucky cuss. No. We are all lucky cusses.

personal post: another recap!

Good: I'm caught up on laundry! I tackled that massive mountain of laundry that was taking residence on our bed.
Bad:  I washed and dried a pair of HF's special tactical pants the "wrong" way and "ruined" them. Oops!

Good:  Friends visiting from AZ.
Bad:  Our kids fought with their kids.

Good:  Was able to run many errands this week and learn about couponing finally. Hopefully couponing will save us some dough.
Bad:  left the keys in the door each time I went out (even overnight twice!). I feel lucky to be alive.

Good:  We bought a dresser for the kids' room.
Bad:  We scratched and banged up our walls getting it up the stairs.

Good:  Stayed up the night before St. Patrick's Day making a bunch of these. I didn't have to buy anything. Already had all the supplies on hand. Well, except for the "gold" aka rolos.
Bad:  I ate like an entire bag of rolos while making them. . .

Good:  Ordered Daisy's birthday cupcakes from a "famous" cupcake bakery. These cupcakes are divine!
Bad:  My son threw a fit while we were in there, smeared his grubby hands and face all over the display cases and screamed at the customers and the workers, begging for food. People looked at me in disgust. It was one of the most embarrassing moments in parenting for me up to this point.

Good:  We have been sticking to a menu plan and a food budget and eating healthier.
Bad:  The dishes have been piling up and piling up because I'm the only one that does them! See for yourself. Don't you judge me. This is the part where you say you've been there too. Anyone?

Good:  Had a coupon for the Princess and the Frog for $10 off.
Bad:  Went on release day and apparently Disney is sold out of the blue ray and dvd combo pack that the coupon is good for.

Good:  We have been car shopping for a new van and found the perfect one that fit our budget and our taste.
Bad:  HF test drove it and drove it to our house and when he left to take it back, it wouldn't start. Lemon?

Good:  Went to Costco today to get a few things. Was able to feed my kids lunch in its entirety just from all the samples. (their black bean burgers with cayenne are delicious!)
Bad:  Forgot half of everything it seems: diapers (baby is wearing the last one as we speak!), agave, beans, etc. and they don't sell my favorite face wash anymore. AND a strange old man shuffled toward me with his cart with his fingers in a pinching motion at me. Just when he got close enough to "pinch" me, or whatever he planned on doing, his caretaker, daughter, whoever it was steered him away. I was going over in my mind how I would "kill" him. Remember HF's advice? "Be nice. Be polite. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet." Luckily I didn't need to take such action. Why do I attract the weirdos???

Good:  Our almost 17 month old is hilarious. He has such a great hearty laugh and is happy all the time and has a shoe fetish. He loves wearing our shoes. And he is so curious about everything. Busy and happy and healthy.
Bad: He "misplaces" one of each pair of shoes, climbs up to reach the sharp knives and will take one and run off with it with his arms swinging (scary) while I chase behind him to grab it before he pokes his eye out. Looks like I will have to move the knives. Again.

Good:  HF works hard to take care of us and to excel in his career. He has a good reputation, respect from everyone he comes in contact with, and has made a lot of good connections with the right people.
Bad:  He is gone a lot and sometimes I am tired of being without my "partner in crime". I did marry him you know, so I could spend the rest of my life with him.

Good:  A while ago, we rid our home of the mouse problem. Holes are covered up, everything is clean, traps have been placed in strategic locations just in case.
Bad:  I was so traumatized by the mouse problem that we had that every night without fail, before I go to bed, I sit in the middle of my bed listening to all the creepy house sounds that might mean the return of a mouse, or even a possible break-in. My heart races and I imagine the worst. Please tell me someone else does this. My imagination really runs wild when I sleep alone at night. Still not used to it. The mouse that we caught (humanely I might add), I made HF drive miles and miles away to let him loose in a wide open field. It's the same mouse I fear that will find its way back to our house. I really need to get a grip.

Good:  HF has another shift change coming up and gets Fridays and Saturdays off!
Bad:  His shift change is 10 pm to 6 am. (this is better than 7 pm to 3 am, but still not the most desirable shift. For me.)

M.I.A.

Recap of the week:

1.  Baby Beau has RSV. Doc says he is contagious for another 2 weeks.

2.  Everyone else has been sick too

3.  I woke up one morning this week and vomited on and off for a few hours. (this is what, the 4th time in      just a couple of months? My body is seriously screwed up! No, it's not what you're thinking)

4.  Contemplated that I could've gotten sick from the previous day's raw vegan get together I attended.

5.  Decided I wasn't meant to be raw vegan.

6.  One of my big brothers is getting married in April. I like my soon to be sister-in-law.

7.  I went to a Bridal shower tonight

8.  HF and I were invited to go to Cancun next year at a timeshare. We think we are going to do it.

9.  I made some carrot soup tonight. Everyone gagged on it. Even me, but I pretended like it was awesome.

10. I also made some quinoa cookies and everyone gagged on those as well except for the baby. He likes them.

11. This week a creepy guy that's been hanging out at various elementary schools in the city (the police have been monitoring his activities somewhat) attempted 3 abductions. A 4 year old girl, a 6 year old girl, and an 11 year old girl. Two of the girls got away from him without any trouble. The 6 year old, not too far from where we live, he was watching her play in her yard and her babysitter looked out and saw him picking her up and she went out and confronted him and went nuts on him yelling and such. He followed them back inside her house! Anyway, he's been arrested. This stuff freaks me out. It's everywhere, but I feel like we've had too much in our city alone with guys like this. Our daughter is in R.A.D. kids right now. I also see many kids her age walking to and from school by themselves and they take this underground pass that is dark and creepy with gang grafitti. Anyone could be down there waiting for kids. I will probably walk my daughter to school until she goes to college.

12. HF has worked on all of his days off and had additional training, R.A.D. classes, and special events. It gets to me sometimes.

13. One of my good friends took Daisy to Disney on Ice for her birthday

14. Another one of my brothers came to visit and watched the kids at night while they were sleeping so I could go out. (I had to suppress crazy laughter of sheer joy at getting out)

15. When I was coming out of the grocery store a few days ago late at night, I saw a couple walk up to our car and put something on the windshield. I though they must've hit it and they were leaving me their insurance information. It was a note that said, "Only three more days until Friday! Yeah! Have a great night." They also put a kit kat in it. I love kit kats. They didn't know me. I didn't know them. That kind gesture touched me and lifted my tired spirits.

16. We moved our two oldest children upstairs from the basement. Now our baby is happy and he sleeps better at night having them near. I do too.

17. I am busy making birthday party plans for our soon to be 7 year old. It's going to be a ballerina party. I hit the dollar store and this is what I have so far. It's going to be awesome. Faux silver platters, colorful tutus, ring pops for the favor bags, and flower garlands for hanging up in the kitchen above the food table. The dollar store is awesome sometimes!

18. This is what my bed looks like right now (photo overexposed to keep the mystery surrounding our life). And I want to shove it onto the floor and crawl into bed, but I have been doing that for weeks. And it just keeps getting bigger. I keep hoping that it will bother HF and he'll put everything away, but I don't think he even notices it.

19. Oh, if you want to buy The Princess and the Frog when it comes out next week, print off this coupon and get it $10 off. If you go to Walmart on the release day, new releases are usually $13 or $14 so with $10 0ff you will spend $5 or less! Not bad, eh? We did this for Snow White when it came out. It works!

20. The OCD in me had to have 20 things, not 19.

miscellaneous

• KD over at Life While Handcuffed to a Lawman asks what to do for an LEO wife whose husband was killed in the line of duty to show she's thinking about her. I'd like to know myself. If anyone has any ideas and/or experience with this, please comment over at her blog.

• More police/fire antics from the 3 year old. We were getting ready for bed and choosing pajamas. Me: Luke, do you want to wear these policeman pajamas? Luke: no, I want to wear fire truck pajamas. We think this is hilarious because he only shows preference to firemen when HF is home. He plays policeman when he's gone.

• Speaking of firemen/paramedics, The Happy Medic has a good list of dos and don'ts for when entertaining strippers and doing cocaine. I can't believe some of the calls you all respond to.
  

• warm fuzzy posts: Just the Bus Driver over at Slam Dunks, and Constable Confused posted a link to a wonderful story about a mother bird.

• I've told everyone I know that I'm doing Body for Life again. Now I have to do it so that I can look like this:Not really, but I have zero tricep strength and can hardly manage a pushup. What happened?!

• Other than being tuckered out by intense exercise, rowdy kids, and sleepless nights, I've caught the reading and movie bug (it comes in waves). Much of my time lately is being spent reading police books and watching police movies. We are having a blast immersing ourselves in cop-related stuff. Book and movie reviews to come.
  

• LAPD Wife is conducting a survey about the care and feeding of police officers. On the top left hand side of her blog is the survey in two parts. Here's the first post she did about this. She also did a second post update and mentioned that the survey isn't just for cops to take. Wives, girlfriends, fire, military, dispatch, paramedics, etc.
  

• Ashley tagged me to list 6 Unimportant Things That Make Me Happy:

1. office supplies
   
2. Bert's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm with Viatmin E & Peppermint
   
3. See's Candies
   
4. karaoke
   
5. bad acting
   
6. 80s music. All genres-from Debbie Gibson to Whitesnake

If you like tags or reading tags, Stephanie, another police wife, did one called the ABC's of Me. I laughed at her list of pet peeves. She doesn't like when people crack their knuckles, sniff or snort their noses, and she can't stand teeth. I also found out that we are the same height. I love getting to know the other police wives I've found through blogging.

When Hot Fuzz and I disagree. . .

It usually has something to do with this:

boxer puppy

bassett hound puppy

HF wants a boxer and I want a basset hound. It probably has something to do with the fact that a boxer (Lady) was his childhood dog, and a basset hound (Flash-yes, just like the basset on Dukes of Hazard) was my mine. After researching online, they are both good dogs to have around children. The boxer is more distrusting of strangers which is good. Basset hounds shed a lot and I won't tolerate that inside my house, but they are so much cuter than boxers in my opinion. I think I will do a pros and cons list.

It also seems that more and more pets are being given away or abandoned because of the economy. People can't afford to take care of their animals anymore. But after feeding our 3 year old, Luke, I figure what's another mouth to feed? This kid eats us out of house and home everyday. But yes, being able to care for another family member is something to consider.

Another thing I need to remember is that I was raised country and our pets just roamed our property. They didn't come in the house, we didn't really bathe them that often, they got a lot of their food from "hunting" in the orchards. It was very low maintenance. Given my personality now, and the fact that we live in the city, and the fact that we iz poor, would I be able to have them cleaned and groomed regularly, and I don't want animal hair in the house. I think we'll think about this some more.

But knowing me, I will go for the boxer to please HF, and he'll go for the basset to please me.

desensitization training?

"don't shoot!"

Hot Fuzz is "like this" (imagine me crossing my fingers) with the sniper team leader for the metro SWAT team. Occasionally, members of this team travel outside the state to go shoot prairie dogs for the purpose of desensitization. They invited him to come along the next time they go. When he told me about this, I unexpectedly felt sick to my stomach.

I'm by no means an animal right's activist, but I do believe in not killing animals unless you need to (i.e. food, protection, etc.). Does the sniper team really need to practice this technique as a training mechanism? If you are training to shoot the bad guy, and you've practiced the scenarios over and over again, wouldn't you be able to do that when you are in a real situation? I wouldn't think that you need to kill prairie dogs to see. Hot Fuzz said that he didn't think it was necessary, but supposedly if you can become desensitized to killing small animals, then you'll be able to shoot a person. If it's an effective way to help law enforcement, then that's fine. Shoot prairie dogs I guess. But I just want to know if it really is all that necessary. It seems so wasteful.

When I was a teenager, there was a knock at our door one day. I opened it and it was an officer saying that they had reports of a lot of dead birds in the area and wanted to know if we knew anything about that. I replied that I hadn't seen any birds or heard of it and that was that. When I shut the door, I heard my brother (who is now a cop in California) and his friend whooping and hollering in the backyard. I go out there and they are shooting birds with their bb guns. I wanted to vomit seeing all the poor birds scattered around the yard. So they were the neighborhood terrorists going around shooting birds and I'm pretty sure that our neighbors mentioned that it was probably "the boys that live over there" when calling to complain. They were always up to stuff like that.

Maybe I'm just overly sensitive, but I wonder what others think about this. Necessary training technique? Unnecessary? What are other options to becoming desensitized? Do you need to be desensitized? Aren't training scenarios enough?