All good things must come to an end.

So next month is the Cherry Blossom Festival in our great town. Now granted I don't get into too many of the festival activities, there are a few things that have become family traditions with my sisters and neices. We spend an entire Saturday together going to the arts and crafts fairs and such but to start the day off we go and watch the hot air balloons take off. It is so beautiful to watch. We get there early in the morning like 6:30 and take blankets to sit on and cover up with and we pick up doughnuts and coffee and hot chocolate for the kids. We all snuggle up and eat our doughnuts and drink our warm beverages and relax and watch the balloons as they blow up and prepare to take off. It is something that brings our family closer together. Well this year they have changed the whole friggin' thing. It is now the Air Show and there is a $5.00 charge per person. Yeah they are going to have airplanes and crap there, but you know what if I wanted to see airplanes I would go to the air museum. We have been going to this event for at least 7 years and it has always been free. So then I talked to one of my sisters and she has to work, so I guess we just won't go this year. It is sad when traditions have to end, but like they say all good things must come to an end.

Brainlint

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing today. I have a few blogs that I read all the time. I feel like I know the writers. you know who you are. Sometimes I don't comment, but most of the time I do. Anyway, someone that I ready all the time is really having a rough time. She is Ellen over at "brainlint". Please go to my Daily Distractions and visit her, you know that I don't know how to link. She is a truly wonderful person who is battling a beast of a disease. She has cancer. This is something that is very near and dear to me as you will recall my dad died of cancer and I have had a scare with it myself. It seems like everytime she gets some good news something worse happens. She is someone who has truly impacted my thoughts and prayers. I have been awakened during the night with her on my mind, fighting this horrible disease.I hope if I ever have to face this beast that I will have the strength and courage that she has. As I read her blog this morning I was moved to tears, more bad news. This has really been weighing on my mind today and I thought I would share it with my readers. If you get a chance go by and leave her an encouraging word. That is all I have for now. Ellen if you read this, HUGS and PRAYERS!

It is official...

There is nothing we can do about it now. Georgia has chosen an official state amphibian. Do you care to guess what it is? If anyone out there is familiar with the amphibian life in Georgia this will come as no surprise to you. Drumroll please......................
The official state amphibian of Georgia is ... the Green Tree Frog!
Congratulations Green Tree Frogs all over the state of Georgia, rejoice, maybe now you will get the respect that you deserve.

Do our lawmakers have nothing better to ponder and make decisions about than a freaking state amphibian. I want to be a lawmaker. I think that Georgia needs an official lipstick color and an official bubble gum flavor and I think that I am just the person to decide those things! Don't you? What about all the pressing issues, like maybe abortion, gay marriage, you know there are tons of them, take your pick. I don't think it was a statewide emergency to pick an amphibian. Jees, people give me a break!

Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy...

I love sunny days, especially in the winter. For the past 2 days it has been sunshine galore and I am so happy. The days are also getting longer which means it isn't dark when I get home from work. I am sitting here at my desk eating a Chick-O-Stick pondering what to write about today. I have so much going on both at work and home that I can't decide on a subject. Maybe I should just post this and be done. Have a great weekend, I am off on Monday so maybe I will have some great and exciting post for Tuesday.

The king is dead and I think I may be next!

Yes people I do believe that Elvis is dead. I know there are some skeptics out there that think that he may still be alive and if he is more power to him. If you are one of those people that believe that he is still alive, more power to you. Anywho, my office assistant is INFATUATED with E. I don't mean that she enjoys listening to his music, I mean she is obsessed. So today she has this tape to listen to of Elvis songs, but I don't think it is Elvis singing. It sounds like a really bad karaoke version of the king. I can hear her playing this crap in my office and it is driving me NUTS! I think if I have to hear it one more time I am going to throw myself out of our second story window and pray for death to take me away from the horrifying singing. The crooning makes me want to take a pen and continuously jab myself in the ear with it.

Blue lights in my rearview mirror...

Yes happy Valentine's Day to me. On my way home from work yesterday I was speeding as usual rushing to get home and get dinner on the table. As I rounded a curve I saw him. Too late now, maybe he didn't notice that I was breaking the law. After all he was going in the opposite direction on a 4 lane divided highway. So I watched in my rearview mirror to see if he was turning around and I did not see him, whew! So I called my Grandma on my cell phone to tell her Happy V-Day! I had to cut our conversation short because I saw the blue lights in my rearview mirror. "Well Granny let me call you right back I am being pulled over," is not a good way to end a conversation with your 79 year old grandma. I let my window down and watched in my side window as he walked up the side of my car, my heart was racing. He greeted me and told me that he clocked me doing 73 near the gas station (the speed limit is 55). I handed him my drivers license and insurance card. He walked back to his car and sat down in the drivers seat. I sat and waited, my mind racing with things that I could say to try and talk myself out of the mess that I was in. He walked back to my car after what seemed like an eternity. He said that he was giving me a WARNING! Can you believe it? I was so happy I grabbed his hand and said, " I just wanna hug you." He told me Happy V-day and to slow it down. I was elated! That was the best Valentine's Day gift ever. So after I pulled off and headed home I pondered how I was going to slow myself down. I love to drive fast, it is just a part of me. My car does have cruise control so I guess from now on I will have to set the cruise control to a nice acceptable speed and drive in the slow lane with the rest of the law abiding citizens.

How would you react?

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I am not having a good valentine's day. Let me tell you what happened last night and you tell me how it would make you feel. Hubby went to the great Wally World last night to get a card for me for today. Of course he waited until the day before so all the good cards were already gone, but that isn't the point. He comes home and he has a bag with a book that he really wanted in it and some candy that he thought would be good. He hands me the bag and said that his child and I could give that to him for Valentine's Day. How would you react? Let me know what you would do and this afternoon I will tell you what I did.

Sickness strikes again!

I am finally back at work today, but I don't know for how long. I have been at home the last 2 days snuggled up on my sofa with my dog watching T.V. and napping. No, I wasn't on vacation, I am trying to recouperate from a nasty upper respiratory infection. I went to the doctor on Wednesday and he prescribed some antibiotics. My head is still very stuffed up, I can barely breathe out of my nose and my ears are clogged up. I am in a fog, but I am here. Just wanted to let you all know where I have been. I hope to be back on Monday feeling better. Have a great weekend.

How was your weekend?

I just got back from lunch. I spent my lunch hour at a local department store at the mall trying on bras. Yes folks I have been suffering in silence and wearing an uncomfortable bra. I don't know if any of you ladies (or men for that matter) out there have experienced this or not, but if you have you know what I mean. By the end of the day I just want to take it off and strangle someone with it, it is so uncomfortable. So as you all know I went to my best friend's on Saturday and we were talking about the problem and she suggested getting a bigger size. Isn't it funny how sometimes people have such easy solutions for your complicated problems? So best friend, I am now the proud owner of 2 , yes 2 new bras and 2 new camisoles. The bras are a bigger size than my old ones and they seem to be comfy. I can't wait to model the camisoles for my hubby, but that is another post for another time.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. My Saturday was wonderful, my Sunday sucked. I guess a half good weekend is better than a completely bad weekend. I got up Saturday and headed south to Best Friend's new house in the country. Okay you may think I am exagerrating about it being in the country, but it is on a dirt road on a farm. It is so nice and peaceful there. It was just beautiful. I was in heaven. I was raised on a farm in the country and it was like going home for me. The new house is great. It is huge. I am jealous, she has such big closets and a gigantic laundry room. Did I mention it sits near a pond and you can't see or hear traffic from their house? Yeah, I am jealous! We had a fantastic day catching up with each other, I was sad to leave. I see many trips to the farm for me!

My Sunday was horrible. I was in a really shitty mood for some reason and everything mu hubby said just rubbed me the wrong way. So we spent most of the day not speaking to each other. We went to his friend's house to watch the Stupid Bowl, oh sorry Super Bowl. It sucked too. I did not give a rat's ass about either of the teams playing and the commercials weren't even that good. Although I did like the Puff Daddy Diet Pepsi one and the Ameriquest one with the cat. We got home way after 11 and I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. I told my hubby that was the biggest waste of my time and I can never get those hours back. I think that offended him, but oh well I am sure he will get over it.

Those are the highlights of my weekend. I hope yours was better than mine.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Could you be mine
would you be mine
Won't you be my neighbor?

R.I.P. Mr. Rogers, I sure do miss that man. Oh well, it is Friday, finally! I thought it would never get here. The sun is shining after 3 days of cold rain and I am happy. I am so excited about this weekend. I am going to the country tomorrow to visit my best friend and see her new house! I miss her like crazy. I can't wait until tomorrow, but I guess I will have to. Then on Sunday we are going to hubby's friend's house to watch the Super Bowl. I really don't care which team wins, I just like the new commercials. Since I am not pregnant I plan on drinking, possibly too much. Oh what fun that will be. What are you doing this weekend? Whatever it is have fun and be safe!

Well it happened again, my monthly friend is here to visit. Which means that once again I am not pregnant. This month I am really okay with it. I am coming to grips with the fact that I might never get pregnant. I have been trying to think of the positive things about not getting pregnant and having a child. I will list a few of them:

No weight gain that is harder to lose.

I can drink alcohol and if I want start smoking without having to worry about the effects that it is having on my unborn child.

I won't have to buy those creepy maternity pants with the stretchy panel in the front.

I will continue to go to sleep when I want, not after my child is tucked in. Oh yeah and no waking up at all hours of the night to feed the little monster.

I can continue to work at my job, which I love, without having to worry about who will care for my child.

I can still lounge around the house in the nude and not have to worry about answering questions about my anatomy. I can also still enjoy a shower or bath alone without the door being opened every five minutes.

My hubby and I can have sex when and where we want in our house without having to worry about locking the door.

We can go to the grocery store at midnight if we want to and stay out really late and not have to worry about Jr's bedtime.

I don't have to buy diapers and formula.

I don't have to suffer throught Jr throwing a temper tantrum at Wal-Mart and being arrested for beating his rear end.

Those are just a few of the things that you get to enjoy when you don't have children. I know I have made light of those things here, I know there are lots of rewarding things about having children that I may never experience. Maybe hubby and I are never going to have children and if we don't I will be okay with that. As long as we have each other I really could not ask for anything else. Well a million dollars would be nice, but you know what I mean.

Happy Groudhog's Day

I hope the little critters are having a good day. I don't have a groundhog so I don't know what they enjoy doing. I think we should have family pet's day. On this day we would all be allowed to bring our best 4-legged friend to work with us and take them to the mall and all that jazz. Oh well, I am wandering off the subject at hand. I have a few questions.

What makes a groundhog an accurate weather predictor? Yeah, yeah I know the weatherman isn't too accurate, but come on people at least he can talk..

How do we know if said groundhog really sees his shadow, if he doesn't look down at his shadow then does it count?

Do you really want to go stand out in the cold early in the morning to watch a groundhog being woken from his peaceful hibernation to look for his shadow? Frankly, if I were the groundhog I would bite the jack*ss that woke me from my peaceful hibernation to be seen with bedhead by all of the world. Where do people get off? Don't the groundhogs have a right to privacy? Would you want to be snatched out of bed in the middle of your sleep to have your face plastered all over the T.V.? I think not. I think we should boycott groundhog's day from now on. Someone needs to stand up for their rights, is anybody else with me?

Ice storms

I do not care for snow. I have no desire to live anywhere that requires you shovel off the driveway before you can leave your house. That is one of the many reasons that I live in the middle of Georgia. We do not experience much of the frozen stuff, but believe me when we do people act like fools. So on Friday the weatherman was calling for a wintery mix of ice and snow. So of course everyone in the area has to run to the store to buy batteries, milk, bread, you know all the things that you can't live without if you had to be stuck at home. We spent the night with hubby's family Friday night (they live about 30 minutes from us). I got up in time Saturday to make a pot of coffee before the power went off. The trees were frozen and limbs were falling everywhere, especially on the power lines. I called our house and the answering machine picked up, you know what that meant? Yep, we had power. So we loaded our cars and defrosted the inch thick ice off of the windows and headed south to our house. Well when we got there our power was off too. We still had some hot water, which meant that the power had not been out for long. So I ran and took a HOT shower. It felt wonderful. Did I mention that we had our child this weekend? Yeah we had her and I tell you it is no fun being without power and being an adult, just imagine being an 8 year old in the dark. Oh the things we take for granted. No power means no heat. So we were all bundled up in our warm clothes and layers of socks waiting for the power to come back on. We were lucky because we do have a fireplace with gaslogs and we have a kerosene heater from our days of living in the country. After we filled the kerosene heater and turned it on, the house was warm again. About 3 hours of that and the power came back on, so I took advantage of it. I cleaned the house and washed dishes and clothes and cooked supper. We were just sitting down to eat supper about 8:30p.m. when the power went off again. This time it was dark outside and much colder than it had been earlier. So here we were, lots of candles burning, bored! We talked for a little bit and we played Monopoly Jr. It was nearly midnight when I suggested going to bed. I for one was extremely sleeply, I did not sleep well at the in-laws the night before and I got up early. We went to bed finally, but it was not a restful sleep. I was paranoid about sleeping with the gas logs on, you know carbon monoxide poisoning and all really freaks me out. It also got very chilly once we turned off the kerosene heater, so I was awake more than I slept. I kept opening my eyes to see if the power was on and of course it wasn't. So after not sleeping most of the night and awakening to still no power I was not a very happy person. On top of all that I was having major mood swings, don't you feel bad for my hubby? He was having to deal with moody me and a panicked child. I got out of the bed Sunday morning around 7:30 and decided I would leave the others sleeping while I read the paper. Well something was missing, my morning coffee. I am not real happy until I have some coffee. Finally the power came back on about 10:00 in the morning. The first thing I did was make some coffee. The rest of the day was a little better, but not much. I finally took a nap about 7 p.m. So needless to say I am trying very hard to keep my eyes open today.

Realizations

I came to a realization Wednesday night. Hubby and I had taken the child home and we were talking about what all I had to do on my day off and I realized something. Ususally when I take a day off I spend some time, even if it is just for coffee or tea, with my best friend. Well this is the first day that I have taken off since she moved so I was very sad. So sad in fact that I cried. I tried not to cry, but I miss her and she is too far to just go and have coffee or tea with. I have missed her since she left, but I don't think it had really hit me until then. I may be going to the country next weekend even if just for a few hours with my best friend.

Domestic Goddess

I am a domestic goddess. I am keeping up the tradition of doing it all since Martha is still away. I took yesterday off work because I had so much to do before tonight's birthday party. I got up early partly because I had lots to do but mostly because hubby got up to get ready for work and turned the bedroom light on to look for something to wear. Then he turned on the iron and the bathroom light and left them on while he was in the kitchen. So while it would have been nice to get to at least sleep in on my day off, it just didn't happen. I am sure that the people at the power company appreciate our (his) wasting of power on a daily basis.

Once I got up and had a cup of coffee, I was raring to go. I baked mini muffins for my hubby to take to work and made his coffee and got him out the door to work. The I blasted the stereo and got to work on the matter at hand, a fish shaped cake. No not a mold, but a 3-D one that you cut out of a round cake and decorate with candy. Yeah so how creative is that? So I cleaned the kitchen and mixed up the cake and popped it in the oven to cook. While it was in the oven I washed some laundry and watched A Baby Story on TLC. I love that show. It was a really sweet episode. After removing the cake from the oven, I decided to bathe my inside dog. She smells like corn chips when she is dirty. Isn't that just strange, maybe we should have named her Frito. Anywho after I bathed her, I took a shower and got dressed for the day.

Then it was time for me to prepare lunch for my hubby, who was coming home to eat with me. I love eating lunch with him. When I first started this job almost 5 years ago and he worked near me we had lunch almost everyday together. While lunch was cooking, I swept the kitchen floor and mopped and painted my nails. I had lunch with hubby and he went back to work.

Then it was time for part 2 of my day, errands. I had to do one errand for work, but I decided that while I was out I would go and meet a few of the clients that I talk to on the phone all the time but have never met face to face. Yes I was working on my off day, but only because it was something that I wanted to do. So I met 2 of the ladies that I talk to on the phone all the time and visited with them for a few minutes then I was on the next errand. Finally all the errands were done and it was time to shop. I had one more gift to buy at the mall. So I decided to look at the clothes for me while I was there. You know everyone is having such great clearance sales right now trying to get rid of the winter stuff. So I picked myself up 2 new pairs of pants and a new sweater. I almost bought a new purse, but I talked myself out of it.

Well with all that done it was time to go back home and assemble the cake and decorate it. Hubby got home as I was chopping up the cake trying to decide how it should be put together so it would stand up. He basically took over as I pouted and whined because it wasn't as easy as it looked in the picture. Well duh! Most things aren't as easy as they look. An hour later the fish was decorated and it was time to transport said fish cake to the in-laws, where we are having the party. You didn't think we were having this thing at our house did you? After we got all the gifts and decorations and cake and jell-o "aquariums" loaded into the car we were on our way. We get to his mom's house and they oohed and ahhed over the fish cake and aquariums, oh yeah and the blue kool-aid. Then we went with them to shop for other gifts for the party and to eat supper. Well we arrived back at his mom's at nearly 11p.m. and still had to decorate. We got home close to 1a.m. this morning and then we had a little sex to end the day. That was how I spent my day off, truly being a domestic goddess. I was ready to come back to work today so I could rest and relax.

Tea Parties, Tickets, and Tributes

That is what my weekend consited of. My child's birthday was Sunday so her mom's birthday party was Saturday and it was a tea party. It was at this tea party place in a little town about 30 minutes from where we live. My hubby's mom and sister came to our house and rode with us to the party. It was the cutest little place. It was in a little cottage that had been renovated and decorated in all frilly and girly stuff. Of course it had lots of teapots and teacups and stuff. There were also frilly dresses, hats, gloves, high-heeled shoes, jewelry, etc. for the kids to dress-up in before the party began. It was really one of the most creative party places that I have ever been to. We are thinking of going back there to have hubby's Grandmother's 85th birthday party. How fun. The kids got all dolled up and had a tea party, complete with finger sandwiches and tea. We all had a great time.

On the way home from the tea party hubby was driving. He was clocked by a Georgia State Patrolman going about 70 miles an hour. Well he was going 72 to be exact. So he got a big fat ticket. All I can say is thank goodness that I wasn't driving. He is always fussing at me about how fast I drive, who is the speed demon now?

Then on Sunday I learn about the death of Johnny Carson. What a funny man. He will be sadly missed. Oh yeah and the Falcons and Steelers both lost on Sunday. What a sad day.

Singing in the shower

I had such a good day yesterday. I had lunch with my best friend at a mexican restaurant. What could be better than that? I got to hear all about their trials and tribulations of getting moved and until their house is ready staying with the in-laws. I don't envy her a bit right now. Then last night was the tryout part of American Idol. Personally I don't care for the show, but the auditions really crack me up. How can you get up there knowing you might possibly be broadcast to millions of viewers and make a complete fool of yourself? Those people have to have some idea that they cannot sing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy singing very much, but I know that I don't sound good, so I limit my singing to the shower and in the car. Some of those people were just freakin hilarious. The last woman that they showed was PSYCO! She was truly crazy. If I were Simon I would be watching my back for that crazy woman. Tonight is one hour more of the auditions, I can't wait!

It's still looking a lot like Christmas.

Yes you heard me correctly, CHRISTMAS. Okay I have to admit this year I have been slow taking down the decorations from the fabulous holiday season that we just celebrated. We just took the tree out of the living room Sunday night. It has been barren from decoration for a week now, but it took me that long to decide to take the lights off. I am so glad that it it out of my living room. We have so much space now without that huge dead thing lingering in front of the window. I still have some wintery decorations up in the dining room and in one of the bathrooms, but for the most part Christmas is gone at my house. Although there is a house around the corner from mine that still has up every single Christmas light that they could find and they still turn them on every night. When is enough enough? C'mon people, take your damn lights down or at least turn them off. Better yet, take them down and pack them away for next Christmas, it will be here before you know it.

On a lighter note, I got some tires put on my car Saturday. I woke up early Saturday morning, took my shower and woke my hubby and told him that I was going to get tires. The hell with buying groceries, we need to lose some weight anyway. I went and got 2 used tires that are better than the ones that they replaced and way better than the one with the nail in it. So I am driving my car again. I love my car. It was like spending time with an old friend when I got behind the wheel. My car just knows me and she loves me with all my imperfections. She doesn't mind when I hit curbs or have to slam on the brakes really hard. She is very forgiving and she loves to drive really fast. Anywho I am so glad to have that little crisis over with for now.

Happy Friday

I am in a much better mood today. Amazing what some sex and a good nights sleep will do for you. Hey I don't want to hear any of that, I am having lots of sex trying to conceive this baby. Hubby has been laughing at me because everytime we have sex I prop my rear end up on pillows so the sperm will know which way to swim. I had a doctors appointment this morning with my General Practice doctor, just a routine check-up for my meds refill. I love my doctorm he is so nice. I told him about trying to start a family and he was very reassuring. He said the same thing my OB/GYN said, try for a year, if nothing then we start testing for the problem. Anyway so I have a few months left before we get to that point. On my way to the doctor my assistant called me to let me know that we were having Steak Out for lunch. One word, Yummy! It is my co-workers 50th birthday so my boss decided that we should have lunch as well as pineapple upside down cake. Could my day get any better? Glad you asked, because yes it can. My assistant left after lunch, her dad is in the hospital. My boss left shortly before my assistant and then his wife left. So what does that mean? Yes you guessed it I get the afternoon off to write in my blog and catch up on some reading. Not really off, I have to stay in the office and pretend to work so my co-workers don't get jealous, but it will be a nice quiet stress-free afternoon. I am loving it. Oh yeah and we are going to hubby's grandparents for supper so I don't have to cook. Happy Friday to me. I am doing a little happy Friday dance in my chair. I hope everyone else is having a happy Friday as well.

Going home

I go there now and it is so cold and stale, nothing like the warm comfy house that I grew up in. I see the backyard where I spent so many days playing with my sister and my friends. The trampoline that I jumped on for hours at a time is gone, the grass has grown over the bare spot that for so long was beneath it. The swingset that propelled me to the sky is gone. The yard that looked so big when I was a child now seems small. The shed where I parked my bike is now falling down, the roof has caved in. I look around at the house and the yard and I can close my eyes and remember exactly what it looked like in my childhood. I can remember getting off the bus running into the yard, so glad to be at home after a long day of learning. I can remember being scared during thunderstorms and sleeping on the floor beside my parents bed. It was so comforting as a child just being near them. I realized the day that I moved that you can never really go home again. you can go back to the neighborhood, the house even, but it is not home anymore. Home is where your loved ones are. Home is where you take off your shoes and relax after work. Home is where you want to run when you are sick or scared. To me home is where my husband, child, and dog are. I wish I was there right now.

And my day just keeps getting better

I got a call before lunch from my best friend, who if you have been reading me you know is moving to a farm in the middle of nowhere. She was calling to give me her new address and phone number and to tell me that she will no longer be staying in the old house, which is only about 10 minutes from my house. The new house is like over an hour away down a dirt road. I am excited for her and her family, but I am sad for me and for her. I was crying before I got off the phone, this is so permanent. The U-haul will be here Saturday to move the rest of their belongings and they will offiicially be moved. I am very sad, I just want to cry. Best friend I will miss you very much! Is it acceptable in the office environment to throw yourself down in the floor and bawl like a baby? I guess not, that will just have to wait until I get home.

What was I doing then?

Several other people have done this and I have meant to do it and then I get distracted by other things to post about, so here goes my look back in time...

20 years ago, I was....
1. 8 years old.
2. My dad was in and out of the hospital with cancer
3. spending every weekend with my Granny.
4. in the third grade.
5. the spoiled rotten baby of the family.

15 years ago, I was...
1. 13 years old.
2. babysitting every week day after school.
3. talking on the phone all the time to my friends.
4. driving my sister's car all over the neighborhood.
5. making straight A's in school.

10 years ago, I was...
1. 18 years old.
2. working in a factory on second shift.
3. living with my high school sweetheart.
4. charging everything I bought on credit cards.
5. wearing a size 7 in jeans.

5 years ago, I was...
1. 23 years old.
2. divorcing my first husband.
3. letting my hair grow out.
4. working part-time at Blockbuster.
5. going to college full-time.

Last year, I was...
1. still unpacking boxes after our move.
2. newly married.
3. wearing a size 14 jeans.
4. loving my job.
5. adjusting to being a step-mom.

Yesterday, I was...
1. tired.
2. eating Almond Crescent cookies for lunch.
3. shopping for party supplies for my child's birthday on my lunch break.
4. aggravated with some things at work.
5. talking to my mom twice on the phone.

Today, I am...
1. tired.
2. still aggravated at work.
3. sad that our shredder is broken.
4. wearing my favorite black pants.
5. looking for party supplies for my chilld's birthday party.

Tomorrow, I will be...
1. happy, finally Friday.
2. going to my family doctor for the last time at 8:45am. He is moving.
3. wearing jeans to work.
4. having pineapple upside down cake for a co-worker's birthday.
4. eating supper at hubby's grandparents. (I just love those old people.)

Yes I would like some cheese with my whine!

This year is not starting out very well for me. Circumstances are making it very hard for me to be my happy smiling self. Let's see what is going on in my life that could be making me a little unhappy and a lot stressed. My co-workers husband had to spend nearly a week in the hospital which meant that she had to miss work those days, as well as worry about her hubby. He has been released but not with a very good prognosis for a full recovery. My best friend is packing to move to the country. My hubby and I have been trying to come up with a solution to solve my tire delima. I thought I had it figured out then the person that I thought would help me won't so now I still do not have new tires and do not know how I am going to get them. If you hear of a tire store being robbed, just know that I had no other alternative. I get to work this morning only to find out that a co-worker of mine is in the hospital, they think she might have had a stroke. This co-worker of mine gets on my nerves, but deep down I do like her and I do not want her to be sick. Oh yeah and the whole baby thing. I have been on the verge of a meldown all day. I just hope that I can keep myself together lomng enough to get home to my loving husband.

Tire store drama

I normally dress nice for work but when I get off work I want to be comfy. Last night after work I was going to my best friend's house to help her pack for the upcoming move. After I got home from work I put on some pajama pants and a t-shirt and my tennis shoes to go help her pack. On my way out the door I noticed my tire was a little flat so I got hubby to come and look at it and it has a nail or something in it. He calls one of the local tire stores and they were still open, so off I go to get my tire fixed and then go to best friend's house. I get there and tell them my problem with my tire and I sit in the little waiting area watching the news and waiting for my tire to be fixed. So a few minutes later the young guy came rolling my tire into the waiting area. He proceeds to tell me that I need new tires at least 2. So I give him my most pitiful look and tell him that I just can't afford new tires right now, to please just fix the hole in my flat tire. So he rolls my tire back out to the shop and comes back a few minutes later. He proceeds to tell me that his manager has told him that they cannot fix my tire because it is unsafe for me to drive with that tire on my car. Okay mind you I do need new tires, but not today. The tire is not slick, it is not showing threads, just a little worn on one side. Oh yeah my car does needs a front end alignment so it causes the tires to wear unevenly. Well duh, I knew that. Anyway it pissed me off. I could feel my blood pressure rising. I looked at the little guy and said, "What?" He told me that they could be held liable if I were to get in an accident if they fixed that tire. Well I think they are more liable if they don't fix it and I get in an accident. Is it more dangerous to ride around with a bad tire that is flat or full of air? HHHMMMMM, I wonder. I called my hubby to tell him that they would not fix my tire and he was aggravated. The little guy offered to put my spare on for me, I looked at him in the best pissed look that I have and told him to put my tire back on my car, I don't want that stupid spare on my car. My hubby was still on the phone as I told him this and was trying to tell me to let them put the spare on. Well I was having no part of it, I told my husband that I did not want them to do anything else to my car. I looked at the guy again and made sure that he understood that I wanted the tire with the nail in it back on my car. They promptly put the tire back on my car and gave me the keys and I got in my car and left. I went the few blocks back to my house and got hubby's car and went to best friend's house.

Short attention spans

(try to read this very fast, it is the way I think)

Hello my name is... Awe look at that puppy. I suffer from a short attention span. Can you believe it? I have known it for quite sometime. I find it difficult to concentrate on one thing for very long and the least little thing can break my concentration. Oh I love that song. Back to what I was saying, my mind is constantly running in circles. I can be in the middle of doing the deed with my hubby and I will remember something that I needed to tell him and I have to stop myself from telling him this nonimportant fact then because he may think that I am not interested in what we are doing. It is not that I am not interested in what I am doing it is just that there are many things going on in my mind. That is the reason that I feel that I never get much accomplished at work is because I am constantly interrupted. brb phone call... Anywho, my phone rings constantly and I must talk with enthusiasm to the clients that call me. Most of them I really do like. So when I get home in the afternoons I completely avoid the phone, that means not catching up with friends and family and not gossiping all night long. I HATE TO TALK on the phone, partly because I get bored easily and I tend to zone out on the phone and do other things and then when the person that I am talking to finally lets me go, I have no idea what we talked about. Are you with me? Am I losing anyone? My desk sits facing a window and often times I find myself staring out the window at the passing cars and people walking their dogs. It is not because I ... sorry interrupted again. This time my co-worker wanted to know if I watched Who's Your Daddy?, Well no as a matter of fact I did not, sorry. What was I writing about oh yeah here I am. It is not because I don't like my job, it is because I am just distracted. I also move constantly, whether it be shaking my foot or bouncing in my chair. I thought at one time that I wanted to be a computer programmer, boy was I wrong. Well I did go back to school for a little while and took a few classes. I was in a computer class one time and I was just bouncing around in my chair and moving all around and I looked around me and I was like the only person moving in the entire room. I immediately told myself to be still and just sit there. I hate being still and just sitting there. I just thought I would share my attention span or lack thereof with you.

Pierced ears and other things

I have pierces ears. My mom got them pierced when I was like 3 or something. It was all the rage when I was little, all the girls had their ears pierced. People are still getting their little girls ears pierces, but now they are waiting until the child is old enough to decide that they want to get it done. Anywho all that said I got home from work yesterday and my child comes running up to me to show me her new pierced ears. You could have knocked me over with a feather. This child who is afraid to ride the elevator to the 12th floor of a hotel has gotten her ears pierced with a real piercing gun. I acted excited about it, but I was fuming under the surface. Apparently she was at the mall with her mom and decided that she wanted to get them pierced and she let her, with no thought of even calling my hubby and asking him if he thought it was okay. If we had gotten her ears pierced her mom would have shit a cow, but it was okay because she had it done. He was not even considered in the decision. That just really pisses me off. Ex-wife has done quite a few things lately that have really gotten under my skin. I don't get involved though. I am a good wife and step-mom. I just tell my hubby what I think and I drop it. What are divorced men that want to be a part of their child's life supposed to do? He has never seen a report card on her. Last year we never got a school calender. This year I have decided to be more active in her school so we have been notified of things like fund raisers and school functions, but it still sucks being us where that is concerned. Just because she does not live with us does not mean that we would not like to know when she is out of school, when she has doctors appointments, etc. Divorced men who try to be good fathers are just pushed aside and cast out. I know men who live with their children and do not spend as much quality time with thier child as my hubby does. He tries to call every night and tell her good night, (and when I say tries I mean that most of the time either the phone is not answered or they are on the internet), he goes to everything that he is told about at school, he truly does whatever he can to be a part of her life. I am just pissed and maybe I should not be, but it hurts my feelings for him.

Que sera, sera

That is my New Year's resolution. Whatever will be, will be. If I lose weight, so be it. If I exercise regularly, so be it. Whatever happens I will deal with it and make the best of it. I had a great New Year's eve. We went out to eat Mexican food with my Mother in law and sister in law and all went back to our house for the countdown to the New Year. I was so tired I could barely hold my eyes open, but I did. I stayed up until 1 or so and then I went to bed.

I still had not started my period on Friday or Saturday, so we were getting exciting thinking the New Year would bring us a baby. We decided that we would take a pregnancy test Sunday morning when we woke up. I woke up Sunday morning about 8:30 and let the dog out and woke my hubby up and asked if he was ready to do the test. He said yes, with a huge grin. I went into the bathroom and peed on the stick, put the top back on and left it laying on the counter. We waited and waited and waited. It seemed like an eternity. We decided that it was time to go and look. So we ran into the bathroom and I let him flip the test back over and guess what? Yep you guessed it negative. I was crushed. I was 6 days late and still not pregnant. What is the matter with my body? So all day on Sunday my hubby kept asking me if I had started yet? The answer was no everytime. I think he was just hoping that the test was wrong. I slept most of the day partly because I was tired and partly because I was depressed about still not conceiving. So my monthly visitor came to see me this morning with a vengence, bringing with her horrible cramps and a backache.

I am trying to keep my chin up about this whole thing, but I am not getting any younger and neither is my husband. I think we will try one more month on our own and if still no success this month we will seek some medical testing to be sure that we aren't trying in vain. So thank you to everyone who kept their fingers crossed for us this month. Keep them crossed and maybe next month I will have good news.

Happy New Year

I have no big plans for New Years eve. We will have our child so we will probably play Barbies or something until time to sing Auld Lang Syne. That is fine with me, New Years parties are usually overrated and I am much happier with my family at home than a group of strangers partying.

It was so hard coming back to work yesterday after being at home for 5 days. I could so be a stay at home mom, but I need a child to make that work. Oh well if you have been with me for a while you know that we are working on that and I must report that I am 4 days late starting my period, so I may get a baby for the new year. Keep your fingers crossed and I will keep you posted.

I had a real mommy experience last night. You all know that I have a 7 year old step-child that we have a good bit of the time. Anyway she was at our house last night and we were in her room playing. Well she smashed her finger in the chair that she was sitting in. My hubby was in the kitchen cooking (like all good hubby's should be). I grabbed her and she started crying of course because her finger was like purple. So I sat in the bean bag and held her and rocked her back and forth and comforted her until her dad could get back there. Before he got there though I had already made her laugh and she was laughing with huge crocodile tears running down her cheeks. It made me feel good to be able to comfort her, usually she wants her dad when things happen. I love that child.

Well I will be off again until Monday, so I will post again then. Have a safe and wonderful New Year!

Paranoia

Is that how you spell it? I am paranoid that something bad is going to happen to me today. I will tell you why, I know you are just dying to find out. On my way to work this morning I came to the stop sign at the end of my street and there was a lady standing there on the corner. I had to let my window down to see if the coast was clear for me to pull out because the windows were fogged. Anyway when I let the window down she approached my car and asked if I could help her because she had ran out of gas. Well I did indeed see the car that appeared to be stranded and she was not by herself. She was like 2 blocks from the gas station. Anywho I looked at my watch and told her that I had to get to work or I would be late. She said Thank you anyway and I drove off on my merry little way. Well then I started feeling bad. I should have turned around and went to my house and gotten my gas can and taken her to the store and gotten her some gas for her car. What if that were me, I would want someone to help me. I just can't help but being skeptical about people. Lots of bad things happen to unsuspecting people these days and you just can't be too careful. I always try to help others when I can, but when I am traveling on the road alone I feel like I am a target for evil instead of a doer of good. Lately there have been a rash of bad things happening in the town that I live in and I am paranoid that I could be an easy target. A lady's purse got snatched in her own yard yesterday! How ridiculous is that? All I could think about was that she probably had a gun and she would make me drive to the ATM and make me take out my money and then shoot me and take my car and leave me for dead. So because I did not help someone who asked me this morning I feel something bad may happen to me. Is that just crazy or what?

Christmas is over!

Yah! Christmas is over. I am back at work today after a much needed break. I have been trying to catch up on everyone's blog and read your stories of Christmas today. My Christmas was wonderful. I don't know that I ever really got into the spirit, but the gifts were wonderful. I know that is not what Christmas is all about, but it sure does help.

I was off on Christmas Eve and I woke up early to prepare the goodies that I had to take to my sister's house that afternoon. Five hours later I was in the shower getting ready for the Christmas eve party at my sister's. When we finally arrived my hubby disappeared to the den to watch football with the other men and I took my place in the kitchen helping my sister finish up her cooking and get all the food arranged. We always have a smorgasboard of finger foods on Christmas eve. Sausage balls, cookies, divinity, butterscotch haystacks, cheese balls and crackers, you get the picture. After I ate 2 plates of food (hey, I was really hungry), we settled in to the den to open gifts. My family is not a rich bunch of people by any means, so there were not many gifts and most of them were for my neices, which was fine with me. I did get a new pair of earrings, a necklace, and a pin from my sister. That was the extent of my gifts there. My mom did not buy Christmas gifts this year because she had foot surgery a month ago and has been off work without pay and my other 2 sisters are just sorry as hell and did not get anyone anything. I really should not have gotten them anything, but I did. Not anything too good, just a shirt, but still it was something for them to open. My sorry sisters made out better than me and my oldest sister. Next year it will be framed pictures of me all around! I better start posing!

Christmas at my house was fun. We got to pick up our child at 5 from her mom's and then we went home to see what Santa had left for her. He left her so much stuff and what he did not leave for her we got her. She got tons of Barbie stuff. Have you seen the Grandparent Barbie's? We have grey hair and wrinkles, they are adorable. She got a huge stuffed dog, twin baby dolls, play food, lots of other stuff. When she finally looked at everything that Santa brought her, we all went in to the other room to open our gifts from each other. I got a new poncho, jewelry, a boy baby in a carrier (more on that later), some sweaters, a sweat shirt that has Grumpy Bear from the Care Bears on it and it says "Dear Santa, I've been Grumpy!". I also got a charm bracelet and some charms. My favorite gift was from my child and it is a charm that has 2 hearts and one heart says mother and the other one says daughter. I just started crying! It was so sweet. I think of her as my daughter, but I have never and will never try to replace her mother. My husband said she picked it out all by herself and she looked at him and asked if she could get it because I am like her mom and sometimes she thinks of me like her mom. Is that not just the sweetest thing that a step-child can say to you?

After all the gift opening at our house it was time to head to the in-laws for dinner and more gifts. My hubby's family is not rich either, but they are shop-a-holics. My mother-in-law had already told me that she had bought more stuff for me than she did for anyone else and she finally had to write at the bottom of my list of things that she had bought me, "This has got to stop!" I was very excited about Christmas there. This would be the first Christmas with them when they really knew me and I truly felt like a part of the family. I wish I had a picture of what the living room looked like before we started opening gifts. There were gifts everywhere! So many gifts that it looked like the shop-a-holics Christmas party. My hubby's mom's family were mostly all there and with them came more gifts. It was awesome. My mother-in-law has decorating in her blood so all of her gifts had beig beautiful ribbon and hand tied bows on them. Finally we started handing out gifts. It took 4 people to give out all the gifts. I was one of the four. My presents were all piling up on the floor and I could hardly wait to open them. Everyone else was ooing and ahhing over their gifts. I am always happy when people like the gifts that we get them. I usually put a lot of thought into gift giving. We were done handing out gifts, so I sat down in front of my mountian of gifts and my child came over and helped me open them. I got new black boots, a jacket, shirts, pajamas, jewelry, a cookie jar, a scarf, Burt's Bees lip balm, a wallet, socks, dishes, a hand painted vase. I can't remember what else, but I assure you I liked it. I also got a huge stocking full of stuff like nail polish, a watch, etc. I love my hubby's family, not just because they give good gifts but because they are a great family. We stayed at their house until it started sleeting. Yes, sleeting in middle Georgia on Christmas. I could not believe my eyes. It is the closest thing that we have had to snow on Christmas ever!

Merry Christmas...

I have some great news. I still have 24 hours of vacation time left (can you believe it). Last year I was begging to use my sick time to go on my honeymoon! If we don't use our time, my boss has to pay us for it. He came in this morning and asked me what was I going to do with my 24 hours of vacation time. I reminded him that I have Monday off and suggested to him that I could take Tuesday too if he wanted me too. It is not like my work is going to go anywhere if I am not here. Funny enough he agreed and so now I have a five day weekend!!! Mini-vacation. My hubby has to work Monday and Tuesday so I will have some me time to clean the house and pack up the Christmas decorations. I am so excited. SO anyway all that said it means I will not be here to post anything on my blog until next Wednesday. Nearly a week and no blogging, I think I will have withdrawals. I so enjoy reading everyone else's posts, it keeps me entertained. So don't forget me while I am gone and I may try to sneak in a post ot two during that time. I will catch up on everyones blog as soon as I get back if not before then.


I sincerely hope that everyone has a very merry Christmas and gets everything they want or at least likes what they get!

Be safe and please don't drink and drive. I need all my blogger friends safely here in blogger world to keep me entertained.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!

Being honored

My best friend is preparing to move soon and I am extremely sad. The news of the move came last week and has done its share of bringing me down for the holidays. We have known for a long time that it was a possibility that she and her family would eventually move to the middle of nowhere to be near his family, but we just never really expected the day to come so soon. It is only abour an hour or so from me, but it seems like an eternity. He was offered a job last week near the town where his family lives and he decided to take the job. In the past week or so they have put their house on the market, sold their house, and packed up most of their belongings for the move. She has been so busy, we have barely seen each other. She did call me yesterday and update me on the progress of finding a new house and we made plans to get together Thursday and exchange gifts. She also mentioned to me that she had sent me an invitation to guest post on her blog. How honored I was when I received the invitation. So I posted today on her blog, check it out if you want to, I still don't know how to link in a post so I will just tell you to click on Well Fed Pheonix in Daily Distractions and you will be there.

Quick Update
Score on the battle with the crud that has attacked me: Crud-6 Me-0
Yes it is truly whipping my ass. I feel like crap. My ears are stopped up and my nose is stuffy. My skin is so dry from the medicines it is beginning to look like the desert. I have put on so much moisturizer and chap-stick in the last few days I should own stock in the company. I am finding it difficult to apply make-up to my parched face because it is also peeling from the constant wipe of the tissue after I sneeze. The Christmas pictures should be just beautiful this year with me playing the part of Rudolph. Something truly amazing happened yesterday when I blew my nose... stuff came out of my tear duct in my eye. Has that ever happened to anyone else? My husband told me it had happened to him when he was sick, but I don't think it is normal. Oh well not much that happens to me is normal now is it?

Christmas Spirit

I just can't get into the Christmas spirit this year. Normally I am all in the spirit and so excited about Christmas, but this year I am not. I really don't know why. In the years past I have counted down the days with excitement and joy, but this year I am counting them down with anxiety and dread. I am angry at myself for not being in the holiday mood because I know as soon as it is over I will feel like I missed it. In essence I am missing it. What is it that puts us in the holiday spirit? I normally sing Christmas songs from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas night, but this year the holiday songs are getting on my nerves and I can't bear to listen to the holiday music channel. I have done all my shopping and wrapped all the gifts. I have walked through Bethlehem at the local church and heard the story of the true meaning of Christmas. I have shopped for the foods that I will prepare for Christmas eve and Christmas day. I have made some wonderful confections that I give to people like my hairdresser, mailman, etc. What is missing? Why can I just not find that Christmas spirit?

I don't feel well

I want my mommy! I have the crud. My valiant efforts to evade this horrible sickness have failed. I have succumbed to the illness. I just want to close my eyes and sleep, but I have way too much work to do. My nose is stuffed up, my head hurts, my throat hurts, my eyes hurt. My head feels like a bowling ball and my shoulders are having problems balancing its weight. I slept a good part of yesterday and took lots of medications, only to still feel like poop today. To top it all off it is the coldest weather ever here. It was 18 degrees last night. I enjoy cold weather as much as the next person, but that is freakin ridiculous. Must go....find medication...

We interrupt this broadcast to bring you ...

breaking news. My betta fish is dying. The orange one. He is about 2 years old and that is old for a betta. He has been geriatric for a while now. I have been crushing his little pieces of food so he could eat them. I came in this morning and he is just lying at the botttom of the bowl still moving just a tad, but it could just be nerves.

Orange Fish
Orange fish, 2, of Macon, Georgia passed away Thursday in his bowl after a brief illness.
He is survived by his adopted mother, Samantha, and brother Toto (the blue betta). He is
preceded in death by his brothers, Red fish and Blue fish. He will be greatly missed around the
office. He brought his family such pleasure by swimming in his bowl all day and jumping out of the
water when he saw his food container.
Services for Mr. Orange Fish will be at 10:00 this morning in the front restroom at the office. His
mother will say a short eulogy and we will close the service with a rendition of Amazing Grace, then
we will lower the handle and flush him out to gloryland. In lieu of flowers the family ask that
donations be made in Orange Fish's name to Trout Unlimed, his favorite charity.

Prepare for the invader

A war is raging inside my body. I am being attacked by cold germs. Some people in the office have had the crud for the past few weeks, but I have managed to avoid them and the illness. Well I think it has caught up with me. I have increased the vitamin C and multivitamin to help out my immune system. I don't think it is helping against the mighty invader. I am beginning to feel rundown and tired. Oh yes the snot is also beginning. I pray that I do not get really sick, not this close to the holidays, I have too much to do to be sick.

Coffee Crisis

I drink coffe every morning at work. The office provides a coffee pot, cofee, sugar, and creamer. I enjoy my coffee with flavored creamer, which I purchase myself and keep in the refrigerator. I don't mind sharing my creamer with those looking for a more flavorful cup of coffee, but I do ask that you not use the last bit of it and if you do use it up, replace it. So this morning I pour my coffee and head over to the fridge to pour in the yummy creamer and it is gone. Not just empty, the whole bottle is gone. So here I am cup of coffee and my creamer is gone. Thank goodness I have some of the powdered kind hidden away. I will bring more creamer tomorrow, but I will put it in a different container and write my name on the outside of the container so everyone will know that it is mine. That just really pisses me off.

Standing on my own...

I don't know what my problem is lately, but I am having problems balancing myself, especially on stairs. So I am headed into the office this morning going up the 2 flights of stairs that I climb at lease once on a daily basis, and I get to the top step and lose my balance. You know what that means. I fell. Thank goodness one of my co-workers happened to be standing there and she reached down and grabbed my arm before I rolled down the stairs. Welcome to my world! I was just thinking on the way up the stairs that I really needed to be careful so I wouldn't fall and then damned if I still didn't fall. I have never been a graceful person, but I am far from a clutz, until just recently.

Odds and Ends

I think Mother Nature must have gotten my email about the hot weather in December because now it is freezing. I love it. It is such a nice change from the hot and humid weather we have to endure here in the summer and fall. I have not had to turn on my personal heater at work yet. I hope I don't have to, but I am sure that I will if the cold weather stays here.

I had a great weekend. My hubby hung our Christmas lights. We have icicle lights on the front of the house, net lights in the hedges and some other lights in our small tree. It looks wonderful. I have never had Christmas lights on the house before so I just think it is beautiful. After we got all the lights up Saturday we walked to the end of the driveway and I cried because it was so pretty.

My bestest friend is moving to the middle of nowhere. It is like an hour or so away. I am trying to be positive, but I am selfish and I do not want her to move. I have been sad since I read her blog on Friday and found out that her husband got the job in the middle of nowhere. She will no longer be a local phone call away or a short 10 minute drive from me. It will be a sad holiday having to pack up your family and move. I just feel sick about it.

We visited a church in our town on Sunday. We have not been actively going to church since we moved over a year ago. So we decided that we would start visiting churches until we found one that we liked. I hate visiting churches, you feel like an outsider. The one that we went to Sunday was like being at Bible Camp. My hubby thought that the pastor looked like Dr. Evil. We kept waiting for him to say, "We mustn't gnaw on our kitties." After the service was over, we ran to our car and got out of there as fast as we could. I don't think that was the church for us. Next week we will visit another church. I will keep you posted on our progress.

I have a panic attack everytime that I think about how close Christmas is. Maybe I need to double the dose of my crazy pills until we are over the mad rush to Christmas. We are doing great on the shopping though, just about $100.00 more and we should be done. I really don't know what to get my hubby. I want to buy him everything that he wants, but that is impossible. He is so sweet and wonderful.

Last but not least... I am in extreme pain and I have a high tolerance for pain. I do not pop a pill everytime that I have an ache or pain, but this is some awful pain. I think I have sciatica. I really don't know what is causing it and I do not want to go to the doctor. I have had the pain for about a week now. The only thing that makes it feel better is to have my hubby stand on my back. It relieves the pressure on the nerve and makes the pain go away so every night I have to lay in the floor and let him stand on me for a few minutes to get some relief. I have also been loading up on the meds to try and relieve some of the pain. I read some stuff about it on WebM.D. yesterday and did not find a real answer to any of my questions. It says the best thing to do is alternate lying down with short walks. Well I have a desk job, it is pretty damn near impossible for me to lay down at work and for the short walk, I do trek to the restroom every few hours, but I really don't think it helps. If you have any suggestions let me know.

10 Things About Me...

That you may or may not want to know. Everyone else is doing it so I thought that I would borrow their idea and do one too. Here it goes:

1. I prefer a manual can opener to an electric one. I can never get the electric one to work right, so I just don't bother. As a matter of fact I don't even own an electric can opener.

2. I like fruitcake. Enough said.

3. I don't mind scrubbing the toilets.

4. I have never used illegal drugs, not even once.

5. I have taken someones Thanksgiving day newspaper out of their box because there weren't any left at the stores. You know I gotta have the sales ads for the day after. I only did it after midnight, so apparently they did not need it anyway. Yes, I felt bad about it afterwards.

6. I enjoy shopping for myself more than I do shopping for others.

7. I clean and bake when I am angry.

8. I can't tolerate hair in the bathroom. Yes that means in the shower, on the floor, on the sink. It drives me nuts and I immediately have to clean it up. Did I mention that my husband sheds like a cat?

9. I love my dog Dixie more than I do most people. She just has such a personality. I just love her.

10. All my clothes hang the same way in my closet and they are hanging in order. I have all my pants together, all my shirts together, etc. They are also in color order, all the blue shirts together, all the whites together, you get the point. Have I ever mentioned I am a bit Obsessive/Compulsive?

Anyway now you know these things about me.

Ready...Set...Go...

Okay I will share something about myself with you that only my husband knows. On my commute to work and back home in the afternoons I have to drive for 15 miles or so on this very long, boring highway. It is a divided highway with 4 to 6 lanes depending on where you are at. Anyway, when I get to this roadway I pretend that I am in a race. The light turns green and I am off, weaving my way through traffic and passing all the slow cars. I can even hear the announcer in my head. I know it sounds crazy, that's why I don't tell many people. I have always wanted to be a race car driver. I started watching Nascar about 8 years ago and I love it. No I am not a crazy red neck racing woman or anything like that. I just enjoy watching. I have been to one Nascar race in Atlanta a few years ago and it was awesome. I wish I could have gotten rid of some of the stupid drunk redneck people there, but it was still fun. It is loud and exciting to watch the cars whirl around the track and to see the occasional wreck. Jeff Gordon is my favorite driver. Say what you want about him, I like him. My mom and step-dad are big Nascar fans and I started watching the races on Sundays at their house after dinner and I needed someone to root for, so I picked Jeff Gordon. I picked him partly because they can't stand him. I drive fast and when my husband and child are in the car with me they call me Jeff Gordon. I look forward to my drive home everyday so I can win the big race, even if it is only in my head.

Scary Santa

Just a quick post. Have you ever listened to the words to Santa Claus is Coming to Town? Next time you hear it really listen to the words. He sees you when your sleeping, he knows when your awake... Is this Santa guy a stalker or what? He better watch out he will get arrested for stalking. He knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake... Or what? Is he also a murderer? Will we be killed or injured if we are not good? Thank goodness most children do not analyze words to songs or we could be raising a generation of paranoid people afraid that Santa will get them.

Move over Martha

While Martha is in prison, I feel that we must carry on. I have become very creative lately, more so than usual. After we got our tree home Saturday night my hubby had to cut a few branches off of the bottom. We had all this greenery left over, so I decided to use it to make some swags or whatever you want to call them. I made 2 of them and they look so pretty, I put a big bow in the middle of them and hung them on the wall.

I also purchased a used entertainment center last week. It has been sitting in the middle of the living room floor since Sunday because we could not decide what we wanted to do with it. I knew it needed paint, but what color? My end tables are off white with a reddish color top, so we could not decide if we wanted to paint the entertainment center a solid color or paint it to match the end tables. We decided last night that I am going to paint it to match the end tables. So that will be my project for the rest of the week and the weekend. I hope to have it finished and in place by Sunday night. I think I can get it done.

Now to change the subject a little bit. What is the deal with the weather here? The forecast is calling for mid to upper 70s all week. How can I get in the holiday spirit when it is too hot to drink warm beverages and have a fire in the fire place? Does anyone have mother nature's e-mail address and I will send her a little note and let her know that we would like some cooler weather. Now don't get me wrong, I don't want freezing weather, just cooler. Maybe highs in the 50s with lows in the upper 30s. That would be Christmas weather.

TIs the season to be WHAT?

Yes I think the song goes Tis the season to be jolly, but I am just not feeling it this year. My weekend was not very good to say the least. I will give you a quick rundown of the good, bad, and the stressful.

I volunteer with my former church to sponsor a weekend lunch team, which once a quarter prepares and serves a meal to the homeless and hungry in our town. This is something that I truly do enjoy doing. I love to cook, although I must admit that cooking for 100 people is quite different than cooking for a family of 3. People from the church are supposed to volunteer to come and help with the preparations and serving. Lots of work goes into preparing a meal for so many people. I really like our meals to be special because this may be the only meal that these people are eating that day. So on the weekends that our team prepares the meal, I meet my co-sponsor at the church kitchen on Friday night to plan the menu and do some prep work, like thawing meats, etc.

Once the menu was planned I had to rush home and change clothes and get my family ready because we had tickets to the Theatre to see our towns production of ANNIE. Dressing my family is stressful. My child has long hair and I have no clue what to do with it. I have short hair for a reason. I hate to fix hair. Finally they were all dressed and in the car. Oops she says I need my jacket, it is cold out here. Okay she should have been getting all this stuff together before we get in the car, but she is 7, what can I say? After my husband and I both go into the house running from room to room looking for her stupid jacket, we have no luck, the jacket is nowhere to be found. I return to the car with the bad news and assure her that we will not let her freeze to death the few minutes that we will be out of the car. We finally get there in one piece and the show was fantastic. I love musicals. If I had a better voice and was more coordinated I would love to do theatre, but since I am not talented in those respects I just enjoy watching. That was the best part of my weekend and it was all down hill from there.

I woke up very early on Saturday morning to get to the church to prepare the meal for Saturday, we serve the meal at 12, so we get started around 10 with the cooking. Before I could go to the church I needed to run by the store and grab a few things that we needed for the meal. Well turns out the town that I live in is having their parade at 10 that morning, so I have to fight my way through the streets and find a new route to the store because the route I would normally go is the parade route and all the streets are blocked off. I hate parades! I finally make it to the store and the church all the while cursing and complaining. I just was not in the best mood. So I get to the church and get more bad news, the youth group isn't coming to help. WONDERFUL, just wonderful. So we have 5 people, including myself to prepare a meal for 100 people, serve it, clean up, you get the idea. There is a lot to do when you have plenty of help, it is a nightmare when you don't have enough help. But we all got in the kitchen and pulled the meal together, and it was delicious and the homeless people were happy. I baked a homemade peach cobbler and it was the star of the meal. Those people just raved about it, which made me feel good. I like to make people happy, especially with my cooking.

After I left the church I had to run home and clean up the back deck and yard of my house because the landlord was coming over to change our locks. The patio was at least an inch thick in leaves and pinestraw. My child did help me clean it up. We had to pretend that we were orphans from ANNIE and sing Hard Knock Life while we raked and swept the leaves and pinestraw into a pile.

Then we had to pick out our Christmas Tree. I normally enjoy this, but for whatever reason our child was being a bratty little miss know it all and in my family I am the only one allowed to be that. So after walking around looking at all the Christmas trees there, we finally found one and convinced her that it was the best tree there. I thought I would just scream if I had to hear about the 9 1/2 foot tree at her mom's one more time, which my husband has seen and he said it is tall but it is skinny. I just wanted to scream!!!!!! We get the tree all netted up and ready to go home and of course the trunk of my car is full of clothes to donate to charity. So when I go to pick up the big black trash bag full of clothes the bag busts and all the clothes start spilling out all over the ground. Can you feel my stress level beginning to rise???My husband and child just thought it was hilarious. I on the other hand, was not amused the least little bit. I really felt a tantrum coming on. I was trying to breathe deep breaths and count, but that doesn't always work. So I calmly went around to the front of the car and got in and closed my door. My hubby picked up the clothes and put them back in to the car so we could get the freakin tree home. Believe it or not it made it there in one piece, except for all its little needles that remain in the trunk of my car. After we rearranged the living room we got the tree into it's stand and it is just beautiful. We wrapped a few gifts and I was anxiously counting down the hours until we got to take her home, so I could whine about my foot hurting and have all my husbands attention. About 15 minutes before we have to leave to take her home I hear him dialing the telephone. So I kindly ask him who is he calling. He informs me that she wants to spend the night again and he is calling her mom. Not that I mind if she spends every night with us, but give me a break, at least run it my me. So there go my chances at any pampering. I went to bed shortly after that. My foot was hurting, my back aching and my feelings crushed, I cried myself to sleep.

Sunday was no better and I will spare you most of the details. We had 4 people Sunday to fix lunch for 100. We got it done, but I was so tired when we left I did not think I would make it home. We did get the lights on the tree, finally at almost midnight last night (which by the way is way past my bedtime on a work night). Why do trees need lights? If I did not like a real tree so much, I would buy a prelit tree and be done with it. Tonight we get to put on the ornaments and we will be done with it. Maybe I can actually enjoy it once we get it decorated.

I am just so stressed out that I can't be jolly this season, but I am working on it. As Annie so wonderfully sings, the sun will come out tomorrow...

Bummed out

I was so excited yesterday. My period was 3 days late. We just knew we were pregnant. We went to the drug store after I got off work and bought a pregnancy test. Went home and peed on the stick, it was negative. We bought the 2 pack so we could do it again this morning. Well there was no need to retest, I started my period at some point last night. I am feeling bummed and sad. We were very excited about the idea of having a baby. My husband was so sweet this morning, he said that when the time is right it will happen. I can't help but doubt myself. What if I am not meant to have children? What if I never have a baby? When I was younger I hated children and always hoped that I would never get pregnant. People say to be careful what you wish for.

It has only been about 6 months that we have been trying, so we have 6 more months to go before the doctor will do any fertility testing. He said that 50% of couples that are trying to conceive do so in the first 6 months, and the other 40% within a year and then there is the 10% that need some sort of fertility treatment. I am thinking of getting an ovulation test kit next month, maybe I am not ovulating. My husband thinks that it is him. He is a type 1 diabetic and he has been for 24 years, so his sperm count may be low or nonexistent. It is fun trying to get pregnant, I like practicing, but it is so heartbreaking every month when you start your period. We have only told a few of our friends that we are trying, we don't want our families to know until we actually conceive, if we ever do. It cuts down on the questions and the looks of disappointment every time we see them. Hopefully we will have good news soon enough, until then we will have fun trying.

Thanksgiving weekend

I'm back finally. It was wonderful having a four day weekend. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know I did. It was wonderful. The Friday shopping was great. I got to spend half the day shopping with my oldest sister and her kids. We had an awesome time. Although I really did not buy much stuff. I did get a new Santa christmas watch and a fabulous pair of brown boots, which I really needed. You can never have too many pairs of shoes.

I did take a trip over the holiday weekend. We had Thanksgiving at my moms on Sunday. Most of my immediate family was there. We arrived a few minutes late as usual and my family had already started eating. So my hubby and I went in and loaded our plates with ham, turkey, dressing, etc. On my way out the door to the screened in porch where we always eat. My foot slipped out from under me and I flew down the steps. I landed on my knees and then on down on my hands. My plate and cup landed straight up and I managed to only spill a little bit of my drink. Am I graceful or what? After everyone was sure that I was okay and I stopped crying we all laughed so hard. It was really funny! I wish I had a video of it, I could probably win money. When I got home and took my shoe off and tried to stand barefoot my foot was hurting so bad that I started crying. Of course if I am crying I must be in pain, so hubby is ready to rush me to the ER. I convinced him and myself that it was not broken I just needed to get off of it and prop it up. Well that helped some, but it still hurts, less today. I still can't wear any of my cute shoes and I am dying to wear my new boots, but my foot won't let me.

Other Thanksgiving happenings. I think my sister is on meth. She is bone thin, yet she says that she eats. She is borrowing 5 and 10 dollars from everyone, except me. I think she knows that would be a mistake. She is not acting like her old self. I see an intervention and rehab for Christmas.

My mom had foot surgery yesterday and I went to the hospital with her. It was supposed to be outpatient, but they kept her. I think it is a good thing that they did. She had a bunion removed and a screw put in to straighten her toe. The physical therapist had her get out of bed for the first time since her surgery. She was in major pain. She cried. It breaks my heart to think of my mom in pain. She is such a strong woman. She will get to go home today. I am worried about her, but I think as long as she has pain medicine she will be fine.

Giving Thanks

I just had to post again today because I am off the rest of the week so I will not be posting again until Monday. I did not want my last post before Thanksgiving to be about all my missing jewelry. I wanted it to be something upbeat and positive. So here goes.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. The celebration in my family is much like Christmas minus the presents. We have lots to eat and we normally put a smile on and tolerate each other long enough to get through the meal. The women usually wind up sitting together talking and laughing while the men sit on the sofa and watch football and sleep. My family has moved our celebration to Sunday to accomodate everyone's schedule. That works better for me anyway because we spend Thanksgiving day with hubby's family at his great Aunt's house about an hour away. Then my family lives an hour away in the other direction so it would just be too much to be traveling and eating all day, so this way I get to enjoy both families and not have to feel rushed. I plan on meeting up with my oldest sister early on Friday morning to shop. It is a tradition, we must shop the day after Thanksgiving. There is just something about getting up before the sunrise and fighting huge crowds of people to get the best deal on the things that you are buying. In our past shopping trips I have bought more for me than anyone else. This year I will just be going for the fun of it. Who knows maybe I can get some new jewelry.

I do have a lot of reasons to give thanks:
Good health
My husband and family
Great job
Wonderful friends
A sunny disposition
My animals
My fellow bloggers

I know these were kind of general things but if I started listed individual things I would be here all day and I do need to try to get a little bit of work done while I am here. Have a Happy and Safe holiday weekend and I look forward to reading you all on Monday.

I was robbed...

I got home from work last night and discovered that my jewelry box had been emptied. Yes someone came into my home and stole my most precious trinkets, my acccessories. Nothing else was out of place, nothing broken, nothing else missing. We don't know where they came in or how. It had to be someone with a key because there no window was broken no door pried open.

We are renting our house and our landlords are out of town for the holiday. I don't know who all has keys or when the locks were last changed. I just feel sick. I cried and cried and I stopped long enough to call the police, my best friend, and my mom. Then I cried some more. I cried until my body ached and I felt like I would throw up. My jewelry is precious to me, but it isn't worth much on the streets. Most of it will probably wind up in the trash when they find out that it is fake.

All of my jewelry is gone. My class ring. My ex-husbands class ring. The last ring that my dad gave my mom before he died. My charm bracelets and all my precious charms. My turquoise earrings that my sister-in-law gave me for my birthday. My silver bead necklace, bracelet, and earrings. My lady bug bracelet. My turtle ring with movable legs and head. My turtle anklet. My tweety bird watch. My angel earrings. So much other stuff that I can't even remember. Everything except the $10.00 Wal-Mart watch that I was wearing, my favorite silver earrings that I was wearing, and my wedding rings.

I just feel so violated. The cops came and took a report. They said that someone would call me in the next 24 hours and follow up with me. In the meantime I may want to check the pawn shops for my jewelry and if I find any of it to let them know. I was expecting the CSI squad to come rolling into my driveway, jumping out of their cars, putting up the yellow crime scene tape. There were no sirens. They did not even fingerprint or question the neighbors. They did not secure the scene. They did not take any pictures of the crimescene or look for trace evidence. There was no helicopter scouring the neighborhood looking for the perpetrator. Just 2 roly poly policeman asking a few questions. Of course they wanted to know the monetary value of the jewelry. Well I don't know most of it was irreplaceable. How do you put a price on sentimental stuff?

Silver turtle ring with moveable parts....................................$20.00
Class ring......................................................................................$150.00
Angel earrings..............................................................................$75.00
The last ring that your dad gave your mom............................Priceless

Today was our Thanksgiving dinner at work. I ate waaaayyyyyyy too much. The food was delicious! I love food, especially comforting food like we have at the holidays. My boss provided the main staples of the meal and we provided a few desserts and such. I decided I would make homemade cranberry relish.

Has anyone ever had any homemade cranberry relish? It is wonderful and so much better than the canned jelly stuff that usually gets served with turkey and dressing. I went to the grocery store over the weekend and much to my dismay they did not have any cranberries. I could not believe it. I almost went into shock. I guess they are not a hot commodity like you would think. You don't just eat cranberries like you do strawberries and cherries, so most places do not stock them.

I called on Monday and found a grocery store near work that had them. He sounded kind of shocked when I asked him if he had a lot of cranberries, apparently there is not a run on cranberries even this close to Thanksgiving! I ran over on my lunchbreak and picked up 2 bags. I figured I better stock up since they are so hard to find. Who knows maybe I would like them and start cooking more things that included cranberries.

I got ready to make my cranberry-tangerine relish last night, I was so excited. I love trying new recipes. I had never really seen a cranberry, not a real one anyway. I didn't know if they had seeds or pits, the recipe was sort of vague on the topic. So I decided that I would try one and be sure that they were good with no pits or seeds. Okay first of all cranberries are extremely bitter, no one ever bothered to tell me that. So here I am at like 10:00 last night standing in my kitchen trying to drink something to get the bitter cranberry taste out of my mouth. It was awful. No wonder there isn't a run on them at the grocery store. They certainly look better than they taste. So I proceeded to make my recipe and it turned out great. Everyone that ate some said it was delicious and I thought it was too. Amazing what a lot of sugar and boiling can do to change the taste of something. Then when you added the tangerine it was just wonderful.

Just goes to show that sometimes you can take bitter awful things and turn them into something wonderful.

When life hands you lemons make lemonade or put them in your iced tea.

When life hands you cranberries, make cranberry relish.

Happy Anniversary

One year ago today I married my husband. It was such a nice, small quaint ceremony. We got married on the Tennessee River on a dinner cruise. The fall nip was definately in the air, but I was warm and glowing.

We boarded the boat with my husband's child, his mom and sister and my best friend and her husband. We were whisked away to a bar area where my husband was pinned with his boutioneer and I was given my bouquet of flowers. We were all set to be married. The butterflies in my stomach were unreal. Was this all a dream? Was I really marrying this man that I had been in love with for four years? This was crazy, it could not be happening. As we climbed the stairs to the top of the boat I knew I was not dreaming. I knew I wasn't dreaming because the shoes I had on were killing my feet. That is the price we pay for beauty.

We arrived at the top and the minister greeted us there and made sure that he had our names right and he started the cermony with prayer. That is really all I remember, not long after that I started crying and I could not stop. Someone opened up the flood gates and I could not close them. I cried because I was happy I was marrying this wonderful man that I had already shared 4 years of my life with. I cried because I was marrying this family and this child. I cried because my family was not there. I cried for everything good and everything bad in my life. But mostly because I was happy. I was finally getting married again! My husband even got teary eyed. Of course my best friend was crying. Through all the ups and downs of our relationship she had been my shoulder to cry on and my reality check. I finally stopped crying and we kssed to seal our vows. Then it was picture time, after lots and I do mean lots of pictures we headed back down to the dining room. It was beautifully decorated in reds and greens for the upcoming Christmas season. After dinner we headed back upstairs and danced a little bit and let my step child do what she does best, entertain us. She danced and danced. She looked like an angel with her headband of flowers and ribbons and her satin and tulle dress. It was truly a wonderful night, hard to believe that it has been a year. Happy Anniversary to me.

Daddy

The man that you run to when you scrape your knee riding your bike.

The man that scares your boyfriends before you are allowed to go on dates with them.

The man that walks you down the aisle and gives you away in marriage.

Those are just some of the things that a daddy is supposed to do. Notice that list did not include getting cancer and dying before you really even got to know him. No I don't think that is one of the things that a daddy should do, but mine did.

I really don't remember when he got sick. I do remember trips to the hospital in our Easter dresses. The phone calls to tell us gooodnight. That horrible colostomy bag that he had to wear. The funny yellow color of his skin. The final visit at the hospital that Saturday afternoon. The phone call that Sunday morning telling us that he was gone.

I was only 8 at the time and an 8 year old can only comprehend so much. An 8 year old should not have to deal with the death of a parent. The cancer took its toll on all of my family. My mom had married this man when she was 16 and had 4 children with him and now she was facing the rest of her life alone, without this man that she had vowed to love until death do them part. It's funny how when you take those vows, most of us don't take them literally. Here she was facing the death of her husband and raising her kids without a father. My oldest sister had already moved out before daddy got so sick. It was too much for her to handle, watching him die. My 15 year old sister, 11 year old sister and myself were left there, to watch him wither away. A silent killer taking him little by little from our lives. A silent killer taking the strongest member of my family and leaving a huge hole in our family.

Sometimes I think it was easier for me than for my sisters because I could not comprehend a lot of what was going on. I do have some memories of him though. When I try to remember, the images just flash through my mind like a slide show. The memories are fading with the passing of time, I now have new memories to replace the ones of him.

I remember the funeral and how surreal it was. There were so many people there. His own dad did not come though, he could not deal with the death of his only son.

I grieve now because I could not grieve then. I did not know how to grieve then, I was only a child. I have a recurrent dream that I wake up in my old house and walk into the living room and he is there sitting on the sofa, crocheting (something my sister taught him how to do after he got sick and could not work), fire in the fire place. He looks at me and smiles. Then I wake up. I have had this dream for as long as I can remember. It is so real that the first few times that I had it I actually got up and went into the living room only to find the sofa empty, no fire in the fire place, no one smiling at me. I missed so much by not having a father. He was not there to give me away at my weddings, he was not there for my high school graduation, he will not be there for the birth of my children. For those things I grieve.

Christmas Wish List

I think I will post a Christmas list so you all can see what I won't be getting this Christmas, not that I don't want these things, but with our financial situation the way it is the probability of me getting these items is like 1 in a million. Anyway here goes:

CD player for my car (mine broke and it is boring having no other option but the radio)

Digital camera/camcorder (ooh fun, home movies)

Clothes (you can never have too many of them)

New tall black boots (what girl doesn't need a pair?)

Dressy watch

Diamond Earrings (I have been asking for these for 2 years)

Bath and Body Works bath stuff

Sexy lingerie (I cleaned out mine the other day and got rid of all the too small stuff)

That is all that I can think of right now, there are some CDs that I would like to have, but I cannot think of who they are at the moment. I may add to this as I think of things that I really want. I know that I will not get that much from my family but my husbands family goes all out. I know that his mom and sister have already been shopping for me because they called hubby one day to ask something about a gift that they were buying for me.

I have so much fun buying for others too. I have gotten a lot of my shopping done already. I think I will sit down tonight and make a list of the things that I have already bought. Gift giving...so much fun. Gift getting...priceless.

One Holiday at a time please....

I am sitting at my desk this morning watching the rain pour from the sky when what do I hear coming from my radio? Yes, you guessed it, CHRISTMAS MUSIC! For the love of GOD can we please get through Thanksgiving before we are bombarded with Christmas. It is stressful enough to think about how close it is but to be reminded in every other song is yet another story. Can we please enjoy the Thanksgiving season for just a little bit before we are rushed on to Christmas? People have plenty to be thankful for maybe they just need to slow down and enjoy one holiday at a time. Don't get me wrong I love Christmas, but I start the Christmas season after Thanksgiving.

Little Things

I am such a lucky woman. I think I have the best husband in the world. He is such a wonderful father and husband. Of course he does get on my nerves sometimes and I am sure that I do things that get on his nerves, but for the most part we have a good relationship. He is my best friend and confidant.

His boss let him off work early today and he called me to see if I could rearrange my lunch so he could take me to lunch. Of course my gracious office assistant changed her lunch time so I could go to lunch with my husband. Eating did not take that long so after we got finished we went to the park close to my office. We did not get out of the car because it is cold and rainy here today. We sat in the car at the deserted park and kissed and fondled each other like teenagers. Then he reaches in the back seat and gives me a card that he had gotten me. It was a really cute card that he wrote such nice things in. Then he holds out his hand and he had gotten me the most beautiful color nail polish. How sweet was that? I just melted. He always does the little things. Sometimes it is the little things that really add up.

Themesongs

If your life were a television show, what would be your themesong? Mine would definately be "Unwell", by Matchbox 20. The words to this somg describe me to a T. It is rather frightening. Let me share some of the words with you.

I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now, you can't tell
But wait around and then you'll see
a different side of me.

That's me. I can change on a dime. One minute I can be happy and laughing and then something just clicks inside me and I am a different person. I have been that way as long as I can remember and I guess I will always be that way. My husband says that I am like Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. It is great to be me!

Halloween, Psychiatrists, and Birthdays

Well I know you are all wondering if I am pregnant. Aren't you on the edge of your seat??? The answer is NO, a big fat NO! My monthly visitor came Sunday afternoon. It took a lot of the fun out of being at home for Halloween trick or treating. I mean who wants to hand out candy to cute little children when your heart is broken because you may never have one? Hubby was so sweet, we haven't been trying that long, if nothing happens soon we will go get tested, blah, blah, blah! A few tears later I was fine, no really I am fine! Diappointed, but okay with it. Everything happens for a reason, at least that is what I would like to believe.

SO I made a deal with myself last week that if I was not pregnant, then I was going to lose about 10 pounds. My fall and winter clothes are snug and some of my favorite things don't fit, so I need to shed a few pounds. Sunday night as we watched T.V. I got into the floor and stretched out my muscles and did a few exercises. I drug out my dumb-bells and lifted them in various ways until my arms felt like they would fall from my body. I woke up early Monday morning and went walking, dumb-bells in hand. Hubby said that he would go with me, but I felt like it was something that I needed to do alone. I needed to breathe that cool morning air and clear my head. I drank so much water yesterday and today I could pass for a fountain and if I keep it up I will have to move my desk closer to the bathroom. Hopefully I can stick to it and lose at least 10 pounds and be the size I was a year ago when I got married. I did not go for a walk this morning because I had to go vote (see my previous post), but I will walk again in the morning. If I could just make exercise a habit, maybe it would get easier.

I just got off the phone with a friend that I have not talked to in a few months. She has 2 kids and it is very hard for her to talk on the phone with them screaming in the background, so we don't talk as much as we should. Anyway she has left her husband and taken the children to stay with her parents. I am still in shock. She is married to her high school sweetheart and they are such a sweet couple. Evidently they have some issues that they need to work out. So she said that they are in marriage counseling and that her hubby is going to a Psychiatrist. I just think that is wonderful, so many men would never go to a marriage counselor, much less a Psychiatrist, but he is. I hope they work things out. Divorce can be such an ugly thing and it is so hard on the kids not having both parents all the time. I see it almost everyday in my (step)child.

We had a birthday party for my dog (child), Dixie yesterday. We did not invite any other dogs or anything, just a small family celebration. My hubby, child and I all sat around Dixie in the kitchen floor and sang Happy Birthday to her and then she ate her cake that I baked for her. It was a mini bundt cake with a little bit of frosting drizzled on the top. I got her a new toy and some snausages treats, she loves getting new stuff. She does act a lot like me. She is such a good dog. I just think she is an angel. Is it strange to have a birthday party for your dog? If it is don't tell Dixie she may just get offended, she likes a party as much as the next pooch.

Election Day

It is finally here! Election day. I was up and out of my house by 7 this morning so I could stand in line to cast my vote. Have you voted yet? Most of my co-workers went before work and the ones who didn't are going after work. It is always so exciting to go vote. Eveytime you vote you make history, especially women. You know we (meaning women) have not always had the right to vote, it is something that our fore mothers had to fight for and of course we won. So I believe that all women should vote and take an active roll in our government. Enough of letting men make all the decisions! Get out there women cast your vote, it does make a difference.