Pardon My Snark - A Contest For The Obnoxious

First of all, go here to Heather's blog and read this post. Then come back here. I'll wait...

Heather and I were talking tonight about how rude and intrusive people can be. We have run into it a lot with Kieren's adoption. Why do strangers think it is perfectly acceptable to rudely bombard you with personal questions? I don't get it! That's not how I was raised!

Anyhow, as Heather and I were talking, my snark started showing. Let's just face it. I'm just not a nice person some days! I especially get snarky when I feel someone has "crossed the line". Once when Kieren was little, we were shopping in Walmart. I was getting so sick of the staring and double-takes! Yes, she's Chinese and I'm not! Yes, she's adopted. Now get over it and go away! I finally hit that point where the snark took over. After one particularly rude woman pointedly look at Kieren and then me and then Kieren again, it happened. I look the woman in the eye and said, "Yeah, they're on sale in aisle three!" and I walked away. The guy in line behind her about busted a gut.

Kieren is already showing signs of my snarkiness. By the time she's a teenager, she'll be snapping off witty remarks like the rest of the family! God help us all!

Anyway, back to the purpose for this post. Heather is getting really tired of the rudeness, as you can tell from her post. I told her she should just make up an elaborate lie to tell for shock-value (No, she would NEVER do this in front of Ian! Don't insult me or Heather with that type of thinking!). My suggestions:

1. My husband died, but that's all the government will allow me to say, per our "agreement"!
2. I found out about the "other woman". Mark was buried in October of last year. God, I love my lawyer!
3. My husband died, but the voices say that it's okay.

Yes, I am obnoxious! Yes, Heather knows I'm like this and actually appreciates it!

So let's move on the the contest. How obnoxious can you be????? Heather and I want you to make up a jaw-dropping-shock-inducing-stop-the-idiot-in-their-tracks "story" to deliver straight-faced to some rude and intrusive moron next time! The more obnoxious, the better! Come on! Bring on the snark!!!!

What will you win, you ask? The right to be known as the King/Queen of Snark! So, leave us your responses in a comment. I will put up a poll with our favorites for all the lurkers to vote on. You have until Saturday, June 26, 2010 at 11:59pm (Ohio time!). Then Heather and I will post our favorites on Sunday evening. We'll open the polls at the time! Bring it on!!!!

Class of 2015 End-of-Year Party

That's right! Cullen will be in the Class of 2015. On June 4th, we started a new tradition for Cullen and his classmates. We held the Class of 2015 First Annual End-of-Year Party at our house. Cullen attends a small private K-12 school in Springfield. There were 27 in the 7th Grade last year (broken into two classes). Twelve members of his class joined us for a cook-out, games, and lots of socializing! It was a total blast!!! Parents were invited to join us, but for some reason dumped their kids and left town for 4 hours. Hmmm... I don't get it! A great time was had by all. We were told by all the kids that they can't wait for next year's party!


Can you believe all 12 were in the treehouse?

Dinner and "the tube" (after the thunderstorms passed)

A very dark dance-party in the treehouse!

The kids enjoyed playing basketball, ladder ball (hill-billy golf), lawn bowls (bocce), corn-hole, and coloring with chalk on the driveway. Cell phones and Ipods were shared and compared. Kieren was entertained and loved by all. (Most of the kids were around when we went to China to get Kieren.) The giant marshmallows and s'mores by the firepit were great! What an awesome group!!! The kids were great and we can't wait to do it again either!

Kieren's Awesome Photo Shoot!

Yes, I know there are a million photos, BUT they are ALL just so GREAT!!!! These were taken today at Target. We love them!!!!

sigh...

Kieren's Ballet Costume 2010

Here is a quick preview of Kieren in her ballet recital costume. Yes, she is wearing make-up. We were trying some new products to get used to them for the recital. The girls are required to wear: red lipstick, red blush, brown eye-shadow, black eyeliner, and black mascara. The song playing on the blog is "L-O-V-E" by Natalie Cole. Kieren's group will be dancing to this song on the big day! (See? I told you I might post again! Now don't get too used to it!!!)

Multiple Posts Today (Don't Faint!)

Yes, I am still alive. Yes, I have posted THREE times today!!! Aren't you all so lucky?! Just kidding. I have posted photos of each kidlets' last day of school. The photos from this post are part of Cullen's last day of school. Hmmm...play nice and I may post again tomorrow!


Kieren carefully checks the ear of corn.

Here's the wind-up.

It's good! The buffalo is happy!

Considering her next pitch...

Cullen's Last Day of School

Cullen's last day as a 7th Grader was Friday, June 4th. As is our tradition, Kieren and I picked up Cullen and his best friend Jacob from school. Our first stop of course was to feed the buffalo and goat! Yes, you read that right.

There is a farm/farm market not too far from Emmanuel Christian that has a buffalo with a goat-companion. You can feed them both dried corn for free. There is a big grain bin just full of corn for feeding them! We have never seen anyone there. It's just a little place out in the country. The kids find this totally cool!

Well, Kieren thinks it's cool to watch. She won't go near the fence! Sometimes she will launch an ear or two into the pen (the kid has an arm!!!)! Next year I will be picking up Cullen, Jacob AND Kieren for this ritual! How cool is that!!!


This is last year's photo. Both boys are now taller than the fence by a full head. We love our tradition!!!!

Kieren's Last Day of School

On Thursday, May 27th, Kieren attended her last Special Ed preschool class at Hustead Elementary. Kieren wanted to wear this very pretty dress for her last day as a preschooler! It was almost 90* that afternoon. Of course most of the schools in our area do not have air conditioning so Kieren was exhausted and sweaty!

This is Mrs. Amy Pitzer, the assistant teacher for Kieren's class. We all think she is wonderful!!! She adored Kieren! Kieren was very attached to her, but not sad to be moving on. Kieren told all of her friends about her new school and is very excited!

This is Jenn Olsen, Kieren's preschool teacher. She is so sweet! She and Mrs. Pitzer helped make such a difference in Kieren's life. We will always be greatful to them and miss them. We didn't get the chance to take a photo of Mrs. Ann Kent, Kieren's Speech Therapist. She is a very special woman! (By this point, Kieren was melting into the very hot sidewalk! Note the take-the-picture-already expression.)