When It Rains It Pours

I hate to come back today with a bitter post after my complaining yesterday, but........

My dad called today. His mother, my grandmother, who is 86 years old, is not doing well. She has had some problems in the last month or so. She has been hospitalized several times and has an inoperable (because of her age) bone spur in her throat. Today they sent her home because there was nothing else they could do for her. I just pray that she doesn't suffer.

This is a picture of her and my grandfather (who passed away almost 12 years ago) taken many many years ago after one of their fishing trips.

On another sad note, Mr. Sweetie left today to go to Kentucky for the ice storm. As I mentioned before, he works with the utility companies for a tree cutting company, as a manager. He basically rides around all day in his truck supervising the actual tree trimming. Anyhow, he thought it could be a possibility that he'd have to go. Today he got the news. Not sure how long he will have to be gone. I will miss him.

I am sad.

Pity Party

They say when you have troubles of your own, there is always someone 'out there' who has it worse than you. I have totally been trying to keep that in mind these past couple of days.

My heater went out. The temps here have been in the 30's overnight. Not good.
I live in an older house. I've been in it for over 13 years now. It does not have central air and heat. We survive with window units. The one in my living room heats and cools. So needless to say, during the winter, my girls sleep on the couch. Thankfully my house is small. (that's only a good thing because of the heat issue)

My bedroom is located right off of the living room, so it gets plenty of heat. Around 2 am I awoke to total quiet. I can usually hear the low hum of the unit running, but it was not on. The small breaker on the plug- in had been tripped and turned off the unit. No heat whatsoever. I pushed the button back in and turned it back on. It worked. Went back to bed. Did not sleep for fear that my house would burn to the ground!

Got up at 5:45 am, went to wash my hair and when I came out of the bathroom, total quiet again. Heater was off. Woke the girls early so they could dress before my house was subjected to sub-zero temps.

I called my brother in law who just got his electrician's license. He was able to fix it and hopefully everything will be fine. (keeping fingers crossed and praying)

There are other little burdens in my life that I try to wish away or worries that I just can't get past. I know that such is life. We get over one obstacle to face another. There are people who are living on the streets. Some have no jobs and can't even afford a place of their own. My house is paid for, thankfully. Not many people can say that.

I am thankful every day for my health. For my kids and the family I have left. A man who loves me unconditionally and is always there to make me laugh. A job that I love and friends that are there for me, no matter what.

I just have to keep telling myself. One day at a time......

sigh! I feel a little better now.

Was Her Face Red?

In honor of Catholic Schools Week, my girls school had a parent/grandparent mass and classroom visitation. My dad met me there and we sat together for the mass. When it was over, we made our way to Chelsea's 6th grade class. Not many other parents or grandparents were in her class.

When we walked in, my almost 12 year old daughter sat there with this little smirky, smiley face. Similar to this:

I was like, "What is wrong?" Needless to say, we did not hang around long. I think my child was embarrassed that her mom and her grandfather were there in her class room. So it begins. The wonderful pre-teen years.

At least my 3rd grader was thrilled to see us both and welcomed us with big smiles and hugs. I better hang on to that as long as it will last.

I Am A Shop-a-holic

I love to shop.

I could shop all day long and never buy a thing, but that's the sport of it, right?

Not to most men.

My ex-husband would always say "I don't know why you are going in there (the store) because you aren't going to buy anything."

Well, I came up with an answer for him.

You go hunting/fishing all day and sometimes you come home empty-handed.

It's the same thing, dear!

Mr. Sweetie and I shopped for a better part of the day on Saturday.

I could not find anything.

Then came his remarks.

"You look and look, but you don't find anything."

Listen up man, if I don't see something I like/want, then what is the point in buying it.

After 5 minutes in Old Navy, he came back with two shirts and a pair of jeans in his hand.

I said, "Aren't you going to try that on?"

He said, "No, I know my size, it will fit."

And it did.

I would have so many clothes that did not look right/fit hanging in my closet, I could open my own clothing store.

So how about you, do you like to shop? Do you come home from an all day shop-fest empty handed? Does your significant other complain about your shopping habits?

Me In A Movie...My Dream..

So this weekend we went to the movies, and we went to see this:

That is correct. My Bloody Valentine. In freakin' 3-D! It was awesome! I loved every minute of it too.

It has always been my dream to star in a horror movie. Yep, since I was a kid, I have been intrigued, yet scared to death, but still yearning to be the one.

The one that lives in the end but has to go through all of the drama.

Alone in the house. Suddenly the noise is there and the fear creeps in.

I go to investigate (because you know they always have to go investigate, although in real life, my scaredy cat ass would be running or calling for help to begin with).

So as I stupidly, as my actress self would do, go to see what or who made the noise, I see him.

The killer!

I scream, I run, I look behind me and fall endless amount of times as he gains on me.

I finally run some more but he catches me and I fight my way free.

After a good fight, I stab him, beat him, shoot him and he's down for the count.

As I approach him to make sure that he's really dead (this is the part where the real life me screams at the movie "He's not dead, he's never dead!")

He grabs my leg and I fall, screaming.

I then get away and run for my life as he almost has me when the hero cop comes along and finally shoots him dead and I can finally relax.

Until years later and the sequel is released, where I star again, this time the mother of the victim.

Why didn't they call me to be cast in this one? I would have been perfect for the part.
Ahhh, only in my dreams.

We also saw Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

Very good! I give it two thumbs up.

Comedy, romance, action. It was awesome and I highly recommend it.

It's funny 'cause the lead girl, ya know the 'one' that the lead guy tries to get? Well, her name is 'Amy' and his name is 'Paul' and well, I dated a Paul right out of high school.

I am determined to get my butt in a movie somehow!

Cooking 101

Do you stress over what's for dinner?

I do. Every. Single. Day.

If there is something quick and simple somewhere in the house, then some nights we don't have a cooked meal. Much to my children's dismay, that is.

I like to cook (sometimes) and other times not so much. However, I don't like to be on a time limit. For example, when the girls and I get home at 5:00, they want to eat RIGHT NOW!! So, if I start cooking then, when it's done, those tummies are most times full and then they don't eat a good meal.

As for me, well I can eat just about any time of day. Or night. But that is a different post in itself.

Lately I use my slow cooker. A lot! I throw something in it, along with some seasoning and it's good to go. Like right now, there is a good ol' meatball stew brewing up a storm in there. When I get home, I just cook some rice, corn, noodles and presto, dinner is cooked.

Some days though I really really don't know WHAT to cook. It's like something in life that I should not be stressing over.

What do you cook most frequently? Do you like to cook? What do you eat when you DON"T cook?

Here Is The Deal

I have been busy. Beyond the norm for me.

I had a few posts brewing in my mind for this week. Mostly about what I touched on in my previous post. Things about getting older. And closer to 40. Ugh!

Anyway, apparently those are not happening. Life just got in the way.

Work has been a madhouse. My home....exactly the same. Seriously.

This week so far, I wrote and typed a 1000 word report for science.

Cooked several meals since Monday.

Helped with tons of homework, other than said science report.

Not to mention all of the hoopla going on at work.

So this is my post.

Chelsea starts math tutoring tonight. Let's hope that goes well. Especially since I am paying for it.

On a lighter note, I saw this written on the back of a suburban in front of us in the school car line this morning:
"My mom is a loser"

Cute! I would have to beat the crap out of my child. When I finally came around to noticing something like that. I don't exactly walk around the back of my vehicle to see what is displayed on the dirty back window.

One of the teachers noticed it as the vehicle drove off. Her mouth just hung open in shock. Again, I would hurt the child. Seriously.

MY Day

Monday, January 19, 2009.

It is not MLK Day.

It is not the day before the Presidential Inauguration.

This is my day.

The day that I begin a journey.

The end of an era.

The beginning of a new one.

The day I begin the end.

The last year before I am 40.

Today is the day that I turn 39.

The last year of being in my 30's.

The last year to be thirtysomething.

Today is my birthday.

Happy Birthday to me!

Q & A Part 3

Here we go again.......

Aim asked me:
What's your funniest memory of being in labor?!
Heck, I don't think anything was funny about being in labor. HAHA! When Chelsea was in the processing of breaking through the walls of my uterus, the top of her ears would come out, and then when my contraction would end, she would slide back in and her ears would go back in. The doctor told me what was going on so I said, "When they come out, grab them and pull them." hahaha, he passed on that and used some forceps instead. He said he didn't want to be the cause of any child having stretched out ears later in life.


Tonya sent these in:
When you were a little girl what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a nurse or a teacher. Obviously, neither of those dreams came true, although I did do some substitute teaching at one time.

Did you play with barbies or hot wheels?
Neither. We played with baby dolls. Mostly we played outside. Back in the day we had imaginations. Remember those? My kids don't know much about what that is.

Where do you see yourself in 10yrs?
My girls will be 22 and 19. Wow!!! I hope that I am re-married by then and still working and enjoying the heck out of my life!
If you could go back in time, what period would you like to experience?
I think I would like to go back to the 50's when my parents were growing up, just to see how things were when they were kids.

Georgette wanted to know:
Whose had the biggest influence on your life, good or bad?
I guess that would be my mom. She was not only my mother, but my friend too. She influenced a lot of things that I did in my life and taught me to never give up. I hope to always be as strong as she was.

constipation or the runs?
This cracked me up and since I am not sure if she wanted to know if I was either of these, or if I preferred one to the other. I have to say at this point in my life, I am usually pretty regular, so I guess if I had to choose one, I'd rather have the runs, then everything would at least be leaving instead of sitting there. Good enuf?


If you could live anywhere in the continental US, other than good ol louisiana, where would that be?
That is a good question. The weather here sucks most of the time, but I am very glad not to be that arctic freeze up north right now. So I guess I would say maybe Florida or Hawaii.

Stesha wanted to know....
How did you come up with the name for your blog?
Honestly, I didn't put much effort into it. I decided to start a blog one night on a whim, and I had to pick something, and that was the first thing that came to mind. I always need a place to escape to because I am the type of person that needs 'alone' time, so more or less this is a place that I can go to and have a little bit of 'me' time. Not many people that know me in real life even know I have a blog.

C.BowiePhotography asked me What is your Wii Fit age?
I have no clue what that even is. I don't own a Wii and I am far from being 'fit' so it would probably tell me 60 or so. Seriously, I can barely sit in this here chair and get up without a backache.

Tara wanted to know Red Vines or Twizzlers. Or (ugh) black licorice?
None of the above. Uggh, I hate licorice or any twizzler type rubbery candy.

Kimberly wanted to know When you think about your grown up life, does it look--and live--like you envisioned it would when you were a little girl?
Not even close. I never knew it would be so hard. Really though, I love my life and I know I am totally blessed, but some bridges that I've had to cross were not ever things I would have dreamed would happen to me.

Jen asked me If you could switch places with anyone for the day, who would it be and why?
This is a hard one. Oprah. Then I could have one big show with all of my celebrity faves and give money to everyone I knew who needed help, and save the world. HA!

Lastly, but not least....AmberP came back and asked : I bet you weren't expecting this many questions right?!?!?! lol
No, I was not and I truly would love to thank you all for giving me enough to keep me busy with posts for this week. I was in sort of a slump. You guys rock!! Thanks!

Q & A Part 2

Now for my second set of questions........

Mammarazzi asked some fun ones.

what is your fave thing to do JUST for YOU?!
Listen to music or play on my computer. Go shopping

describe your typical evening.
Get home from work, prepare our meal, help with homework, do baths, wash clothes and dishes, and hopefully get to watch some tv before 9pm.

What side of the market do you start on when you do your food shopping? is it the same every time?
I usually start on the right side and work my way across to the left. I do all of the health and beauty aids side first and then off the the groceries. I only start on a different end if I know I don't need anything on that side. I guess I am OCD about my shopping, thanks for letting me out of the closet on that one, girl.

do you ever buy things online? Ebay? Craigs list?
Occasionally and yes I have purchased from Ebay but never from Craigs list.

what is the one "getting pretty product" you cannot live without?
That is by far without a doubt my Chi flat iron. Gotta have it. Every. Day.

when was the last time you made yourself a PBJ? chunky or smooth? what type of jam?
Today as a matter of fact. Smooth. Jif. Grape jam.

beverage of choice?
Water. Bottled. I sip on one all day.

Tejo wanted me to list a few things that meant the world to me.
God
My kids
My family
memories of my mom
our health

Mama Wheaton wanted to know how I chose the names of my children.
This could be a whole blog post in itself, but I will be short and to the point.
My oldest was chosen a long time ago before I even was married. One day in the supermarket where I was working a lady came in with a baby girl and I just happened to ask what her name was. She said Chelsea Paige....and it stuck with me, from then on I vowed to name my daughter that, and I did.
Alyssa was just chosen from a baby book and we went back and forth with it for a while. My ex didn't like any of the names that I came up with (MEN!) and when I came up with Alyssa Morgan, Chelsea started calling her that, so we kept it!

Lizzy inquired:

When you get home at the end of the day, do you change your clothes or keep on what you have on?
I keep on what I am wearing (usually jeans) until I bathe.

What's the best job you've ever had?
The one I have NOW! I just found out last week that this summer I will be going to Florida (all expenses paid AND can bring whomever I want) for some classes. Woohoo! I am stoked about that. Plus, I have lots of freedom and I do what I want, when I feel like it. It's great.

When using a bathroom with multiple stalls, do you have a preference for which stall you use?
Usually the big one! The handicapped one if I can. I need room people, and no I am not big, I just like to have space to pee.

What's your favorite sound?
My girls' laughter and music

What's your favorite color combination?
I really like an array of them, but I like tans and browns together and anything with black.

Do you have designer or standard checks?
I have standard. I don't write many checks, I use my debit card whenever possible.

What's under your bed?
A box of memorabilia from Alyssa's Pre-K year, a fire extinguisher, and an umbrella. Wierd, I know, and yes, I just got down on my hands and knees to look. Oh and lots of dust bunnies.

Have you ever run with a scissors?
Not today, but I am sure once in my lifetime I have.

It looks like I will have yet a third post because this one is getting long and American Idol is about to start, so I have got to scoot. Again, thank you guys all so much for the tremendous response of questions. This has been awesome and fun. I will post the rest of my Q&A later. Simon awaits!

Q&A part one

OK, so here it is! Part one of my Q&A. I love this, it was so much fun getting the questions in.

This is the first part, so if you don't see your question yet, it is soon to come.

Caroline had the first question and it was:
What is your favorite TV show of all time?

I would have to say Grey’s Anatomy. I absolutely love it and I even bought the first two seasons and plan to get the others one day.

Miss Anne asked:
What is your most prized possession?

Obviously that would be my girls and if we go with an inanimate object, probably all of my pictures. The ones of my girls from birth until now and the few I have of myself and my family when I was growing up.

What makes you truly happy?

Hearing my daughters tell me that they love me and seeing them get along and play together.

What's your favorite memory of 2008?

Choosing only one is so hard, but I guess that would be each holiday that I celebrated with my daughters and my family.

AmberP wanted to know:
Was there ever a point in the past two years that you have thought that you would never get married again?

I am STILL at that point. Hahaha! I do honestly miss being married. Not the person that I was married to, but the actual security in life that I felt when I was. I am not sure if I do want to get married again, and I go back and forth with that. Yes, I have issues…haha!

If you had one piece of relationship advice to hand on to your children what would it be?

My daughters are young, but I already do tell them ALL the time. Go to school, make something of yourself, be your own person, have your own life, and THEN worry about having a serious relationship. I wish I could go back in time and take my own advice.

Do you believe in TRUE love?

Yes, I do. As for forever, til death do us part, I am not so skivvy on that anymore. I would love to be, but I am not at that point yet.

How are your children adapting to all the change in their lives?
My girls were 9 and 6 when my ex husband and I separated and now they are almost 12 and 9. At first, they cried every. Single. Night. And it broke my heart. Just the other day Alyssa said she wouldn’t want anything to change and would like everything to stay just as it is. They love and adore Mr. Sweetie. They do miss their dad all week long though.

What is your favorite meal to cook for your family?

Gumbo! I love it, my kids love it and it is so easy. Especially a seafood gumbo. Yumm!

What kind of camera do you shoot with?

I have a Canon Powershot S3 IS and I love it. I so wish I had more time to take pictures and try to learn more on my Photoshop.

Therese wanted to know:
What is Rick like??? (I had to ask that one!!!)

I laughed when I read this and I hope that one day, Therese, you get to find out for yourself. She is referring to my all-time favorite RockStar who I have had the great privilege of meeting on several occasions. He is the sweetest, most down to earth person you could ever meet. He is really shy (in person, not on stage) and very kind. Oh, and he gives the most awesome hugs and little rubs on the back. Aaahhh!

Sidney asked:

how long have you live in La?

My whole life!!

How did you meet "your man"...or have you already talked about that?(sorry if you have and I missed it!)

I met Mr. Sweetie on Myspace. Yes, you read that right. On the internet. We were ‘friends’ on myspace for about a month and then one day I asked him a question, we began talking on messenger shortly thereafter, he asked me on a date, and the rest is history!

How do you like working in municipal govt?

I work for the City court in the town where I reside as the traffic clerk. What that means is when the police officers for the city turn in the citations that they issue, I input them into the system, I keep track of all their court dates, payments, and all of that. I absolutely love my job. It is very laid back, the ladies I work with are wonderful and I really really like it!

Stay tuned for the next set to come shortly! And thanks to all who asked questions.

Ask Me, Please.

I want your questions.

Whatever it may be that you would like to know about me.

The sky is the limit, so don't be shy.

I will compile them over the next couple days and make one post of Q & A next week.

I have 35 followers and then some, so I hope to get a good 20-25 questions to go with.

Oh and you can ask more than one, let's make this fun!

Wordful Wednesday and Hodge Podge

If you'd like to participate in Wordful Wednesday, then click here:

This picture was taken several months ago. Mr. Sweetie is the manager for a tree cutting service and we had to stop by and do something or other with one of his trucks and he took my girls for a ride in the bucket.

I stayed on the ground, nice and safe.

Did I mention I am a chicken and afraid of heights? That could be the reason I took the picture and I am not in it!

I got an award from AndreaLeigh @ My Chihuahua Bites :

A big hug of thanks to you!

I pass it along to:

Lizzy

Caroline

Therese

This one came from Trish @ Just A Little Something Something From Me

Thanks so much!!

I pass it along to:

Cara

Go visit my lovely friend Cara and show her some love.

Happy Humpday!

A Tip From Me To YOU!

To Whom It May Concern:

When the need to call any person located in any particular business in your town/city/state arises, please kindly refrain from telling said person who answers the phone, your whole life story.

I promise you that the person on the other end of the phone has more/better things to do than sit there and be your personal therapist/psychologist. Seriously.

When you finally finish your phone conversation, the person to whom you just spilled all of your guts to, will likely be banging their head/fists on their desk and fighting the urge to pull out strands of hair from their head. I assure you.

Nobody other than your mother wants to know all of the tragedies that life has bestowed upon you in the last year of your life. People who are working have problems of their own and do not get paid to listen to your heartache. Here is a quarter, call someone who cares.

Sincerely,

The non-thereapist/psychologist employee who does not get paid to listen to all of your woeful blathering and answer you with "yes ma'm, ok, mmmhhhmmm" for 20 minutes.

Woeful Weather

Well, we made it to January. The holidays are over, a new year has begun and it's summer.

Yes, you read that correctly. It is January and my air conditioner is on. Feels like summer here and I kid you not.

So for those of you who are shoveling through the snow and freezing your tootsies, don't hate as I sit and fan myself. Seriously.

Not only does it suck to have summer days in the dead of winter, it plays killer on everything from my neck up. Stuffy nose, sinus headache, sore throat, cough. Not because I am freezing, because it's muggy and I am sweating. In January.

My body needs 4 seasons and it's not getting them. I need a new place to live. I hear North Dakota is nice and frozen this time of year.....

Toilet Paper Issues?

Toilet paper. It's a girl thing. Really.

My daughter's have complained to me a few times in the last couple of weeks after visiting their dad, that he has been getting on them about how much toilet paper they use.

Personally, I buy one of these, just about every week:

Men are not so inclined to use toilet paper as much as us women. It's a given.

I told him, get over it, they are girls, they will use lots of it, deal with it.

We need lots of it.

Let's face it, we don't wanna get our hands dirty, for cryin' out loud!

So how much do you use?

Happy New Year!

I want to take this time to wish everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

No resolutions for me. However, I do plan to change a few things, for the better, of course.

I plan to continue my blog, which is something that I am very glad I have begun, because now it is a part of my life that I don't want to be without. I've met some really great people over the last few months, and it is such a joy to know that I can 'escape' to my blog and my google reader and live vicariously through others.

Thanks for making 2008 a great year and here is hoping 2009 is just as wonderful.