The Latta Family

I'll clear it up for you- even though we do weird things in our house, we are not, nor have we ever been addicted to drugs or alcohol, therefore this "detox" post will not be about one or all of us going to a detox program.  However, I am going to do a detox from another addicting, yet much more socially acceptable product: sugar. This is not like my usual posts. Usually I am writing some amusing (or, so I intend) anecdote about someone in my family.  I feel a bit narcissistic posting this post.  It's all about me (well, really the entire blog is, but the purpose is usually to entertain someone).  Today's post is me making a confession and putting out in public a goal I have, in order to hopefully keep myself honest. Here's how it all started (you know I have to give background stories).  January and February have been rough months for me.  A) I hate it.  It's cold.  There's nothing to look forward to.  I hate being cold. Therefore I do not...

I don't know if you have ever noticed this about Doug, but he ALWAYS has his cell phone with him.  He often has it out and is either texting, or playing some stupid game on it.  Because of that fact, it aggravates me to NO end that he NEVER answers me when I call him.  I mean- seriously- dude I know you have your phone!  You always do.  Until I call and that is the one time all day- he mysteriously has the volume turned off, or not on his person.  (yeah right!) The other thing that aggravates me about that whole thing is- it's not like I call him 4-5 times a day.  I might call him 3 or 4 times a WEEK.  So if I am calling it's because it's important, like "My plans changed and I can pick up the kids."  Typically we have things like who's picking up the kids worked out before we leave in the morning, or if we're gonna go wild and crazy and eat dinner out. Crazy enough- that situation occurred yesterday, my plans changed and I could pick up,...

Nah, we're not going to England, nor have we been there recently. If you haven't hung out with a teenaged male lately, then you should know Manchester is a challenge.  For example, if Guy A were to tell Guy B, "If you don't shut it- I'm gonna punch you in the face!" Guy C would say, "Manchester!"  Which means, Guy A has 24 hours to fulfill his threat, or Guy B will punch Guy A in a private, painful spot.  Why do I know this?  Duh, I live with Doug.  Doug spends 8 hours of his life with teenage males.  Doug teaches me these things.  Manchester was a popular threat among his crew last year. It sort of caught on among Doug and I. (our version does not require punching one another).  Usually we'll say something outrageous related to parenting our children.  Like, I'll look at him and say, "If I catch Andrew peeing without picking up the seat again, I'm going to refuse to let him pee inside ever again!!!" and Doug will say, "M...

I am so ridiculously excited.  I admit I can get a little over enthused and geeky about how excited I get about the littlest weirdest things.  Doug can attest: I've gotten overly jazzed about the smell of fresh basil, the taste of fresh pineapple, and how much I love zinnias. Anyway- we're heading to a new era at the Latta house.  This spring . . . . Alexa is starting rec league soccer!!!!!!!!!!!!  Huh?  Really?  Yes.   Really.  Here are all the reasons: 1. My dad and I will hopefully coach together.  We coached together when Andrew was 3.5.  It was one of the best "Father-Daughter" activities I've ever done with my dad. Sure we did stuff when I was younger, but the difference between then and now is that I am old enough to appreciate that we are enjoying each other. He would drive 3 hours round trip to come to practice and then again to the games at least 2 times a week. People thought it was nutty.  I loved it.  I hope I d...

I am not one for New Year's Resolutions.  I know myself, and I know a new year isn't going to be the magic motivator to change something.  However, the New Year is coinciding with a couple things, that I do appear to be like 75% of the rest of the population and am going to try eating better.  There are a few reasons why, some are better than others. One is related to some digestive issues I've been struggling with.  I won't go into the details, as they are rather embarrassing.  On January 1, I went cold turkey and stopped eating sugar (except for the naturally occurring kind found in fruit) and dairy.  I expected some type of withdraw trauma from the lack of sugar, but I didn't suffer from any headaches, shakes, or foaming at the mouth.  I don't even miss it that much.  I do miss the cheese.  I could think of a thousand things I would LOVE to eat that has cheese in it: soup, pizza, or just a huge honking wedge of it. The first day I didn't...

We have been traveling up and down I-85 the past few days and while on the road, we have some seen some interesting folks.   Like this one: I mean, really dude?  The real question here is: does canoeing really make him horney or is that a reference to a movie?  And, according to my computer, "horney" is misspelled.  Is that on purpose, or is he driving around with this bumper sticker misspelled to be ironic, or because he doesn't have a clue?  I think the sexy lady in the left corner is super cool too.  I bet this guy picks up all kinds . . . of ladies cruisin' in this truck. The other truck we saw, was even more interesting and yet too frightening to actually take a picture.  As the truck passed us, I happened to notice the stickers.   I commented to Doug, "Yikes! What's up with that car?!"  He said, "Yeah, the license plate on the front was pretty weird too, it said, "Cannibal."  WHAT??????  Doug sped up to pass him, s...

I've started this blog before and abandoned it because I didn't have enough evidence and I didn't know how to write this without people thinking I am being politically incorrect, a jerk, or insensitive.  But the more I think about it, the more clear it's becoming to me.  Here's my disclaimer: I am not being a jerk to anyone. I don't mean anything I say to hurt feelings. Lately I am starting to think I am either: turning into an old fart or a Special Needs person.  I am developing some very rigid personality characteristics.  They say the longer you teach in the Special Needs area, the more you develop their characteristics.  So maybe I'm not an old fart. Evidence #1: For awhile at the beginning of the school year, I ate lunch in the cafeteria where I could keep an eye on my students.  I have since stopped, they're high school students, they deserve independence. Although, they don't really have it because there are several administrators in there...