Happy Halloweeeeen!

Aren't we just lovely??

We had our Halloween the night before the actual date. Leave it to our town. Anyway, my girls go to a private Catholic school and every year they hold a Halloween Carnival. I find it much more convenient than door-to-door trick-or-treating. They sell tickets and then the kids play games with them and win candy.

This year Alyssa was Sharpay from High School Musical. We didn't get the blonde wig, so she's a brunette and unique Sharpay.

Chelsea was, well don't ask me what she was. She saw the costume, I thought it was decently priced, we agreed, end of story. Let's just say she was a funky dressed girly thingamajiggy.

They had to do their poses. Such camera hams~ That's my girls!

More Awards!

I've been Boo-ed. Happy Halloween to you all. Thanks to Sidney for Boo-ing me.

So I received a couple of awards within the last few days, so I had to post those so as not to be snobbish or anything. Mammarazzi at Dandelion Wishes(don't ya just love her 'name' and her blog name?) gave me this award and I think it's so cute. I definitely am a scibbler. Thanks!

I am passing it on to:



Cara 'cuz she's my twin , so she's gotta have one too!

Scargosun because she's cool and I like her blog...check her out, you will too.

Therese because she has 3 very cute busy little boys, and she still finds time for blogging.



Thennnn, Tena gave me this award:



Thanks so much girly!

I have been working on this post for days and days now and I am just getting around to finishing it.

Halloween pics of the girls to come soon :D

What A Relief!

Dear Miss Teena-debit-card-number-stealing-snake-in-the-grass-maybe-not-even-Teena-but-somebody-else Thief,

I GOT MY MONEY BACK............IN YO FACE!!!

You will be caught, sister (or brother) and you will have to PAY!!

Ya see, my bank loves me and they did not even hesitate to PUT MY MONEY RIGHT BACK IN MY ACCOUNT where it belongs!! Paypal WILL find you and have justice served. I will be making sure of that!

Hmmpph!

Sincerely,
Ms. Hard-working-honest-single-mom-who-saves-money-not-to-give-it-away-to-thieves-who-will-kick-yo-a$$-if-you-mess-with-me-or-my-money-again

******************
That is correct my friends! I got my money back, lesson learned. The only thing is I have no way of knowing how or where this person got their hands on my debit card number.

The lady at the bank told me that you can go to a place of business (such as Target) and use your debit card and then someone can hack into their online account and retrieve all of the debit card numbers and use them however they want. Sad, but true.

I have a new debit card on the way!

The Nerve!

I don't know if it's how some people are raised or if it's just in their nature. To do wrong. To steal from others. To go against the law. To hurt people.

Today I went to the ATM, which I have not used in quite awhile. As I retrieved my receipt, I noticed my account balance seemed way off. Not over off, under off. I had a WTF moment.

I got back to work and I immediately pulled up my account online. Lo and behold. A paypal debit from my account for $478 !!! Double WTF moment.

I then went to my paypal account to see what was going on and in my confusion, noticed that there were no recent transactions. I am still WTF-ing at this moment. Surprisingly, I stayed calm. That. is. so. not. me!!

When I got home from work I called the number from the verification email I received after changing my password. The lady says she doesn't see any transaction either. She asks for my debit card number and I give it to her, all the while cringing and praying she wasn't a thief out to get me also!

It seems some woman by the name of TEENA somebody or other, stole my debit card number somehow and opened a paypal account and bought her happy little @$$ something nice as a gift from me.

I have to call my bank and report my debit card stolen.

Look out TEENA whoever you are. You are gonna get it!! You are going down sister!!

How To Make A Mom Proud

My baby participated in a school sponsored cheerleading camp this month. One of things they learned was a dance. She is the one in shorts, long dark straight hair, shaking her groove thang :D

That's my girl!

How Old Will I Live To Be?

I found this post from Mama's Losin It and she has a link up for a Life Expectancy calculator. Of course, I had to see what it said about me:

If you continue maintaining healthy habits, you'll want to plan for a maximum life expectancy of 94 years or more.Your "ideal" weight for maximum longevity is: 151 lbs.
The three biggest positive factors that you have going for you are: 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Age of parents
The three biggest negative factors that you have going for you are: 1. Family health 2. Personality type 3. Exercise

Wow! I would love to live a long life, as long as I can still get around and be self-sufficient. Let's hope!

So, what does it say about you?

Netflix Junkie

It has been two years now and my love affair with Netflix lives on. I am so loving it.

If you are not familiar with it, Netflix is a very affordable avenue in which you can rent movies and have them delivered straight to your mailbox. You can sign up on their website, the fee is deducted money from your checking account and you have a place where you can add and remove DVD's that you want to watch.

I have watched many shows that I never had the opportunity to view when they originally aired. It's been great and it's so convenient and very affordable.

As of right now I have been watching Jon and Kate plus 8:

I have to say I truly admire these two parents for everything they deal with on a daily basis. The tears, the tantrums, the meals they prepare, the outings they are brave enough to embark on, the list goes on and on. I can barely get through a day sometimes with only 2!

Books and Games

As I read different blogs (and I read lots of them!) I have found that many of you out there love to read books and so do I. When I have time. Which lately is never. *sob sob* !

So I wanted to share what I find to be some really awesome books by an author that has talent beyond any other. Karen Kingsbury writes what her website describes as Life-changing fiction.

Never before has an author written a book that has moved me to tears like the stories Ms. Kingsbury creates. I highly recommend not any one particular book, but every darn one of them. You can find out about all of the here at her website.

I recently played the whole darn game "James Patterson, Women's Murder Club, Death In Scarlett". Online. For free. At work. This game can be found at various different sites for one hour of free download. Once your hour is up, you can move on to another site and download it and pick up where you left off. I played it all the way through to the end. Not all in one day, mind you, but still. It was fun. I was hooked until the very end. So, if you like computer games, this is one you are sure to love.

If you have read any of the above mentioned books or played this fun fun game, give me a holla and tell me your thoughts! :D

My Problem With The Holidays.

It's not really the holiday itself, any of them, that I have the real problem with.

The way they are put before us is what bothers me. Seriously.

Halloween. I have a hard time shelling out tons of money for costumes that my children will wear only once for say maybe a couple hours. At most. Not only do you get a cheaply made costume for the price, but you have to accessorize with additional items. Money money money. It's what it is all about. All that orange doesn't thrill me much either.


Thanksgiving. Where is it? I go to shop for Thanksgiving and there is nothing there. It is over-powered by Christmas stuff. Hardly a Thanksgiving themed item is to be found anywhere. I know, they are there, I have seen them, but the quantity is sparse.

Christmas. Where do I begin? The true meaning of Christmas is lost with me. Not only me, but everyone. It's all about the hustle and bustle. The buying of gifts, the over-spending on the latest cool gadgets, and not to mention the music....Yikes! I won't even go THERE!

I do my best for Christmas for my children's sake. They love it and what kid doesn't?

Did I fail to mention that before we can get the Halloween decorations off the display floor, there is nothing but Christmas 'stuff ' EVERYwhere? I guess because of the fact that it is almost literally thrown down our throats is what irritates me. I don't really mean to be a scrooge, really I don't.

So as always I will grit my teeth, smile, and go along with it all. Oh, and remember to tell my children why this holiday exists to begin with. The true meaning should never be forgotten!

A Giveaway

Rhea at Texas Word Tangle is having an awesome giveaway. Go on over to win and you can see some good cookin' she has goin on over there in Texas!

Clarification & Randomness

In a previous post I mentioned a note that my daughter was passing at school. I know it was very vague, and I wanted to clarify what that was all about.

First of all, she had a class last year in the 5th grade that taught the basics of sex education. Boy and girl body parts, the proper names for them, how they are used to create a baby and different body changes each gender experiences.

I was glad for the class because I had already given her the talk on "that time of the month" and I wanted her to know the rest of the basics, of which I knew they'd do a better job explaining then I could.

Since then we have had various discussions and the main thing I have always told her is that if she had any questions or concerns whatsoever, then she could always talk to me. No matter what, I will never be mad and she won't be in trouble. End of story.

Well last week, in the after school daycare she was passing notes with her friend and it started out innocent enough. After the front of the page was filled with conversation, the backside started to fill up and she mentioned to her friend that they should change the subject. To which her friend replied.

Boys, penis's, and sex.

Then Chelsea came back with the reply : Boys are hot, penis's are hotter and sex is hottest.

And that was it.

When she was caught with it (the school did not punish or fuss at her or her friend) she cried. She cried when I got there to get her, when I read the note, and the whole time we discussed it at home. Not because she was afraid. Not because she thought she'd be in trouble. Not because she thought I would holler at her ( I did not) The reason she cried was because she knew what she had done was wrong and she was truly sorry.

So basically she learned her lesson (this time) and hopefully she will be ok.

Hopefully at least until she turns 12. Lord help me!

*************************************************

On a lighter note: We are headed toward the holidays. Full steam ahead. They will be here before you know it. One thing you must know about me:

I hate holidays! Absolutely. Freakin. Hate. The. Holidays.

Just call me Scrooge.

Give Me Your Opinion

This week, I'd like you to "Give Me Your Opinion" on drinking.

Beer.

Mixed Drinks.

Wine.

You name it.

Do you drink? When?

What is your beverage of choice?

Tell me.

I only drink on occasion. Now. In my younger years (pre-kids) I drank more often. Mostly beer back then. Coronas usually. With lime :)

Now, not so much. However, if I get the itch for a drink, it's usually a margarita for me.

Say It Ain't So

My oldest child.



Almost 12 years old.



So innocent.



Passing notes.



After school.



A note between friends.



Innocent at first.



Then those words.



Boys.



Penis.



Sex.



Oh! My! God!



Chelsea had a semester of sex education last year. In the 5th grade. I was ok with it. Now I am not so sure I am.



We talked.



She cried.



I wanted to.



What now?



My baby is not a baby anymore.

Tag Time

The Nice One tagged me for a meme, so of course, I am playing along.

So let's see....hmmm, 7 random and/or weird facts about ME!

1. I have high blood pressure. Yes, I do, but I take medication for it and my sister and I inherited it from my Dad's side. They all have it. Wonderful.

2. I am scared to death of cockroaches. I mean horrified by them! I have some awesome stuff that I spray inside my home that keeps them away. Thank God for it!

3. I am fixed. As in tubes tied, no more baby factory, over and done with.

4. I wear contacts. I wore glasses for years, but one of my pet peeves was when it was freezing outside and I walked into a warm room and my glasses fogged up, I became irate. Not to mention the rain drops. Grrr.

5. I have to eat all of my food equally. Now how do I explain this one? Let's say I have rice and beans and bread on my plate. I eat a little of each as I go, alternating in between bites until I am left with equal proportions of each food item. WEIRD! I know it.

6. Money has to all face the same way. I worked in a supermarket and a bank. My money in my purse has to all face the same way, in order of biggest to smallest, in my wallet. I will have it no other way :)

7. I only drink bottled water. And it has to be cold! I will not drink it out of the faucet.

SO those are some random/weird things about me. Now, you know the rules say I have to tag some fellow blog peeps, but in my usual laziness, I am not linking up. Plus, I am at work, so I really don't have time for all that linky love. If you feel froggy and wanna do it, consider yourself TAGGED!

Yippee! I'm A Winner!

What a happy day!

I can NOT believe, I won something from yesterdays SITS Blogathon!





The prize I wanted the most from all they had to offer, at that!

Photoshop Elements 7!

I want to send a shoutout to the two awesome ladies who created "The Secret Is In The Sauce". Heather @ Mindless Junque and Tiffany @ The R Family Diaries . You guys ROCK! (and not just because I won, but because you really do)!

So I want to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart.

For so long now I have wanted to get some sort of Photoshop program for my computer, but something kept telling me to wait. Now I know why!

Get ready my peeps, I will be a photoshopping fool now :D

BLOGATHON BABEEE!

If you are already a member of :




then you know what I am talking about.

It's a BLOGATHON!!

If you have not visited THE SECRET IS IN THE SAUCE blog, then you just don't know what you are missing. You better march your little patootie over there right now and see what all the fuss is about. Seriously.

Since I began blogging and found SITS, the blogging experience, for me, has never been the same. I have found some great bloggy friends and some of my friends have actually found ME. And I have never been featured. But that could all change one day. We shall see.

I am going to share with you a few of the peeps I found there, who I continue to read daily. For me, it's not just a 'read' or a hobby. The blog experience is just that. An experience. I get to see inside the lives of many different people and hear about their happiness, their sadness, or whatever it is they may be having issues with at the moment. There is nothing else like it, and I am hooked.

So without further ado, I introduce to you a few of my SITStas :

TONYA @ A Day In My Life: She seems so sweet. Her kids are all so cute and I love reading about what they do and she takes wonderful photos to document it all. Plus, her husband is in the military, so she's pretty much doing it all on her own.

MOLLY @ I Need A Martini....Now!: Molly is very funny and I love her British accent. She has the most adorable little boy and her stories are just hilarious.

LIZZY @ The Journey To The Hot Tub: I love Lizzy! She is hilarious, she's running for President and her daughters are some real cuties.

Sidney @ SidzKidz and Other Musings: I don't know how she does it. She's got 6 kids and still manages to have time for blogging!

Lula! @ Lulaville: She got me hooked on Twilight.....yep, it's all her fault :) I love her blog and she really makes me laugh. I love how she says "Y'all" a lot, because that is how I talk too !

Now I know that I have tons of SITStas out there that I did not mention here, but I was only required to mention five. And we all know I am lazy like that. So, go visit these ladies and give them some comment luvin'.

Angola Prison Museum

The next stop on our little excursion last weekend was the Louisiana State Penitentiary Angola Prison Museum. I had a few doubts about what this would be like, but once we got there, I found this place to be quite interesting.

This is a photo of an exact replica of the inside of an actual prison cell. Very small and uncomfortable looking, I definitely would not want to lay my head here every night.
A chair I would not ever want to sit it in.
I thought this was so cool. In an odd sort of way. A comb that was carved into a key that was really used to escape prison. Wow.
These were all weapons that were confiscated from inmates throughout the years. Interesting.
Several movies were filmed at Angola. The Monsters Ball with P. Diddy. This was an outfit that he actually wore in the film.

The one and only Billy Bob Thornton wore this officers uniform in the same movie. Pretty cool, huh?

The beloved George Clooney filmed a movie here also, and these were some of the clothes he wore while doing so.
An autographed chair by none other than :

There were lots and lots of pictures hanging and displays throughout the whole museum that were very interesting. The prison has lots of history behind it and many different inmate stories.

Some of the other things on display, that I did not get photos of included a braided set of sheets that were used in an actual escape. Several items that were smuggled into the prison in order for the inmates to attempt to escape (like files inside of large books and bibles) A display of how several men tried to escape by hiding in a gas tank. And wall photos of what an actual hallway of prison cells looks like...in 3 D.

I am not usually fascinated by such things, but the museum was very interesting.

Give Me Your Opinion

For this Saturday's edition of "Give Me Your Opinion", I want to know about fast food!

Do you like pizza or burgers? Or both?

Do you allow your children to have either on a regular basis, or not at all?

I love them both! We have pizza usually once a month and burgers more often. I guess it's safe to say I eat burgers at least once a week. Not always do I serve them to my kids, I sometimes have them for lunch when they are in school.

Cost is also an issue for me. Spending $$ on a burger is much easier than the cost of a couple of pizzas.

The Myrtles

This past weekend, Mr Sweetie and I visited The Myrtles Plantation . This plantation home is known as "One of America's Most Haunted Homes". Now, I do like to watch things on t.v. or at the movies about scary things. However, seeing them up-close and personal gave me an uneasy feeling. We enjoyed the tour though, and I wanted to share it with you all.

This is what you see when you first arrive for the tour. (The front of the house, which is a bed and breakfast) I will never ever never sleep there, I can promise you that!

These are some statues located in front of the front steps of the house. I find them very pretty.

This is the back of the house and where you enter for the tour of the inside. To the left of this picture is where the gift shop is located and directly behind where I am taking the photo, is a restaurant.

This cute little gazebo is behind the house, across a bridge that goes across a small pond.

Here I am standing in the gazebo. Hoping and praying that when the photo came out there would be be no ghostly figure anywhere in my vicinity!
Tours start every hour on the hour and you are only able to take photos in the front entryway. I took this one of the mirror. This mirror has been known to have some sort of 'cloudy' figure in it when photographed, but alas, I had none in mine. Whew!
This piano is never played by anyone, but the tour guide says that overnight guests have heard it playing during the night. When. Nobody. Is. There!!



This chandelier was purchased in France and now graces the entryway of the home. It is said that young children can 'see' a young blonde girl playing in it (yikes) and that when they clean it, they find blonde hairs in it. I don't believe THAT! This clock supposedly goes off at around 3a.m. and it has no inner workings. The tour guide says that when they prove that fact to guests, they can't get out of the room fast enough.

There were four other rooms that we were able to view, but no photos were allowed. The tour guide kept looking at me and smiling or laughing because of the freaked out faces I was making. I tell you, I did not want to experience anything out of the ordinary.




This photo is of the back porch. I would personally love to have one like this at my home, complete with the nice rocking chairs.


This cute little house is set back aways on the property and I am not sure if it was a place for the slaves to live in back in the day or what. I thought it was pretty neat :)As we made our way around, back to the front of the house, I got a photo from the other side.

I really enjoyed the tour. The story behind the house and the history and people who lived there was very interesting. However, like I said before, I would never, ever, never sleep in this house!

Tune in tomorrow for where we went next......

My Creative Little Women

Last week my girls asked me to buy them some mini-pumpkins when we went grocery shopping. After adding some stickers, glitter, markers and paint to the mix, this is what they came up with. All on their own:

Nail-Do

Who would have ever thought I'd take a picture of my feet and actually like it? Or that it would come out, for that matter?

I looked down and this is what I saw and my camera was in hand, so why not?

And yes, I wear flip-flops with jeans. And when it's cool outside. I love flip flops!

Just For Clarification

I never intended to persuade anyone NOT to see the movie I reviewed in my previous post. Or so I thought. Let me clarify, without giving anything away.

I am a real sap for love stories. I love movies of this genre and I could watch them all day. Movies that make me laugh, make me cry and make me get that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

This one did not do that.

I thought I could relate to it somewhat because of what the main woman character was personally going through in her life, but I didn't.

I thought that this would be a movie that would 'move' me and make me all happy and just want to take a deep breath and go 'aaaahhhh'. I want a life like that. It didn't.

Not to mention the fact that I was already in a foul mood when I wrote my 'review' of sorts, I think that also contributed to my rush to complain on it. Oh and the ending sucked too and I hate when writers do that to me, but I guess that is why they are making the mega bucks and I am not.

So, if you wanted to see the movie, and you didn't. Go ahead. I never pay attention to what the critics or anyone says, I always have to see for myself. Maybe you should too!

WARNING: Rated "S" For Sucks!

I thought this movie was going to be awesome!

I was very sadly mistaken.

Nicholas Sparks wrote "The Notebook"...one of my all-time favorite books and movies.

He didn't do such a great job with this one.

I love the two main characters. They are awesome, but ..... That. Is. It.

The End.

Give Me Your Opinion

It's time for another Saturday edition of "Give Me Your Opinion".......

This weeks subject is .......

NAILS!!

Do you get yours done?

Have you ever?

What do you have done with them?

Toes??

I like to have mine 'painted' on. The french tips, that is. I have had the 'fake' ones applied, years back, but they are too much trouble.

This week I had my fingernails and my toenails painted with the french tips. It's much less costly than having the set put on and I love them. They look so CUTE!!

One Of Those Weeks

This week has been "one of those weeks".

Work.
School.
Kids.
Bills.
Errands.
Housework.

Obviously, blog is not on that list. Thus, this lame post, just to get one in so that nobody forgets me.

Tune in tomorrow for "Give Me Your Opinion" Saturday!

Have a great weekend!

Awesome Contest!

I. WANT. THIS!

The girls over at The Secret Is In The Sauce are having great giveaway and you need to head over there and enter.

Of course, I really really really want to win this one, because I have always wanted what they are giving away. No, I am not telling you what it is, you have to go over there and see for yourself.

Now get going!