October 18, 2009

Considering a mini.

Sebastian is doing really well in his digital design class at school, he's getting better and better at it every day it seems.
He sends me some of his projects by email while he's in class, and I reply back what I think of them.
The other day, he sent me a picture he was working on as he went, so I got to see each step of how he designs something, it was really pretty cool.

Anyway, he really wants to go to college for digital design and video game design, and he's one of 5 students being given the opportunity to be 'looked at' by a technical design school in Tampa.
At the end of every week, the students and the teacher pick the student's best project from the whole week, and they email it to the design school contact, who then sends back his opinions and critiques of each student's work.
Sebastian has been getting some really good feedback from both his teacher and the teacher at the design school, and each year a couple of scholarships are awarded to 2 students from the digital design class, so when he becomes a senior and graduates, he just might get 1 of those scholarships.
He's really excited about this whole thing, he talks about it every day practically, so I am definitely encouraging him to keep doing his best work when we talk about it and when he sends emails home from class with his projects attached.

One of the things he's also been talking about is having another computer, perhaps a netbook like this Samsung Netbook which is on sale this week for $319.95 with free shipping, but no, I can't get that one, or get one this week, but we have been talking about getting him one to bring back and forth to school.
Even though most netbooks don't have cd-rom drives from which to install the graphics programs that he uses, external disk drives are available to add on separately, and his teacher has a program that can upload the graphics programs by either USB or an SD slot.

I'm really thinking of getting him a netbook for Christmas.
He really wants one, he could really use one so that he can do his projects at school and at home.
Another reason to get him a netbook so that he can work on his projects at home, is so he wouldn't be having to take up too much computer time of the one that the teens share now.
Mark loves to play WoW on it, and he's really great at sharing the computer, he either goes and plays a video games or watches a movie while Sebastian is working on a project, having a netbook would allow the both of them to be on a computer at the same time, and Sebastian would be able to work on his stuff for as long as he wanted without feeling guilty about how much time he spends.
Right now even though the teens both share the pc time really great, Sebastian said he always feels guilty if he spends a lot of time on it when he knows that Mark wants to hop on and play.
So yeah, I'm really seriousy thinking that I'm going to buy him a netbook for Christmas.
Yeah, that would mean that I would need to get Mark something of similar value, or something that he really wants in the same price range, but it should be do-able. (keeps fingers crossed I'm not jinxing myself)
Below the cut is one of the projects that he did last week that he really likes.
I asked him to pick out which one he wanted me to put up, and he chose this one.

Continue Reading �

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October 14, 2009

Trick 'r Treat.

Last night (Tuesday night) the teens and I watched a most awesome Halloween movie!
We watched Trick 'r Treat, and it is seriously awesome!
It stars most notably, Anna Paquin of HBO's True Blood, and her Academy Award winning role in The Piano, when she was just 9 years old.

Trick 'r Treat is 5 stories interwoven into one tale that takes place on Halloween night, all on the same block in one neighborhood, and they have a special little trick or treater.
That special trick or treater is named "Sam", and he is the spirit of Halloween itself.
Sam does not like it one little bit when people do not follow the traditions of Halloween.
Don't blow out your jack o' lantern before midnight, don't mock the dead, always give out candy to children when they say trick or treat, and several other traditions or rituals of the one night of the year when the dead are said to walk to walk the earth.

There is one story that is just so beyond messed up, like whoever thought of it is just totally screwed in the head, it is quite possibly the most evil tale that I have ever heard in my entire life.
I don't want to give anything away, so let me just say that Trick 'r Treat is probably one of the best Halloween movies that I have seen in ages!
The stories are perfectly played out, the blood and gore totally adequate, and some of the tales are just fabulously beyond twisted, I loved it!
I was sitting here in my own house applauding the ends of each of the 5 stories arcs, they were that perfect!
If you love Halloween movies and like a bit of a scare, (it's not super scary at all, it's just right and totally twisted!) you need to Netflix it or get it on demand from your cable provider like now, it's really just a totally super awesome Halloween movie.

I would so totally love a little stuffed toy of Sam, he's freaking awesome!

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September 20, 2009

Technology and internet is a beautiful thing.

I love the internet and computers, I really do.
I think that it's been like the only thing that's kept me sane these last 10+ years.
I'm like trapped in my house, so being able to get on the internet and talk to people and be able to laugh and cry, to just be with people instead of the 4 walls, chat on forums, chat with friends on Twitter, to be able to work and make some money, and also be able to shop for just the right gift for someone for their birthday or Christmas, is really just so awesome.
I used to be able to spend hours shopping in a brick and mortar store for just the right gifts, but since all of the medical crap stopped me, being able to shop and look for that special thing, is just so awesome to me.
I think a lot of people take the internet for granted, we're all so used to having it, computers are practically in every single home, most people don't realize just how truly amazing it is.
You can make travel plans, buy plane tickets, order pizza and all kinds of other food, you can play games, watch videos, listen to music, get an education, find old friends and stay in touch with everyone through email for free which is way cheaper than calling by landline or cell, heck, most people don't even have landline phones anymore.

Anyway, I do like 95% of all of my shopping online, the only stuff that I can't buy online is my groceries, and that's only because it's not available in my area yet.
Starting next month, I will begin my holiday shopping, finding the things that the teens would like for Christmas and doing a lot of comparison shopping to find the stuff on sale to make sure that I get the absolute best prices out of all of the online retailers.
For a long time now though, I've been finding the best prices at Buy.com, they are consistently lower priced on every single item I've needed, even if it's just $5bucks lower, it's still a lot cheaper because almost every single item has free shipping too.
I take shipping prices into the calculation when doing all of the comparison shopping, and they really are lower in the long run.
I've noticed that some e-tailers are selling their products at super low prices, but then they get you on the shipping and handling charges, charging what the product would normally cost + a few bucks extra, so in the long run, you're paying exactly what you would have paid for the product + shipping costs anyway.
That's not much of a sale.

I'm not really sure what they want this year, maybe some more video games for their Xbox360, maybe that Batman: Arkham Asylum, that game loos A-maz-Zing! They also have a ton of other great Xbox360 games for some really great prices, and I know that there's been a price drop on the system and most games too, so I'll probably get them games and then some clothes, or whatever they tell me that they'd like to have.
I gotta start asking them what they want to have.
They aren't little kids anymore, I don't have to be sneaky and ask them to write a letter to Santa. ha ha haha

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September 19, 2009

Ahoy me mateys!

Arrr, today, September 19th, is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!
E'eryone is supposed t' spend the whole day talkin' like a pirate and spendin' the day doin' all kinds o' pirate acti'ities.
Thar be e'ents takin' place all o'er the world today.
I know thar is a Pirates for Parkinsons Walk that happens today, tis' 50 walks, 1,000 people, all o'er the world, t' raise awareness and money t' help find a cure for Parkinsons disease.
Thar be many other e'ents happenin' today too, maybe one near you, so if you have nothin' much t' do today, why not find an International Talk Like a Pirate Day e'ent, and go have some fun and be a part o' an e'ent that could help a lot o' people.
Ahoy mateys, argh! Tis' Talk Like a Pirate Day 2009, argh!

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August 15, 2009

I'm in the middle without any plans, I'm a boy and I'm a man.

18 years ago today, I gave birth to the boy that changed my life.

Before I had him and even while pregnant with him, I was thinking that my life wouldn't change.
I was a little over 3 months pregnant with him on my 21st birthday on March 1st 1991, I couldn't celebrate the big 21 the way most 21 year olds do with a drink, and yet I kept on thinking my life wasn't going to change.
It was a long and hot summer waiting for him come, one of the hottest summers in years in Maine.
I spent most of the end of July and the beginning of August standing in an ice cold shower or laying on the cold kitchen floor with 3 box fans all aimed at my swollen belly.
When he finally decided to come out after several false alarms, it was a long and painful delivery, but the moment he came out and they placed him in my arms, I fell in love and my life was forever changed.
I couldn't believe how one tiny little baby could make my heart swell and ache so much, I loved him with every part of my body, I just wanted to hold him and never let him go.
He was so stinking cute, big brown eyes, lots of soft brown hair, and a playfulness that was totally contagious.

He loved to play in the laundry basket like it was a car or a choo-choo train, cover his head with his blankie and play peek-a-boo with me until I played back, and then he would laugh and smile and I'd laugh and smile back.
If I gave him anything that could be made to be played like a guitar, like a broomstick or a fly swatter, he'd stand in front of the oven door glass so he could see himself playing rock n' roll.
He'd pretend it was a guitar and tell me to play music, and he'd rock out on his pretend guitar and bang his head while Metallica, or Pearl Jam, or whatever, was blasting out of the stereo.
He loved music like I love music, something was always playing on the stereo, and he'd play and sing along.

I remember his 1st day of school, he was so cute in his 1st day of kindergarten clothes with his little name tag on it, and an apple sticker that had his teacher's name on it, in case he got lost in the building, any teacher could help him get back to class.
I remember putting him on the bus and how scared he was.
He sat in a seat near a window looking at me, his big brown eyes just staring at me, I knew he was wondering why mommy wasn't on the bus with him, and when it started to pull away, he realized mommy wasn't going to school too, and he started to cry, and then so did I.
All of the other mommies standing at the bus stop were crying too because I was crying watching my baby boy cry.
Another little boy on the bus sitting with him held his hand and told him it was ok, but he kept looking back out of the window and staring straight into me.
My heart was so broken up, I never wanted to put him on the bus again, I never wanted to ever let him go again.
But the next day came and he was ok getting on the bus, and then so was I.
The past 18 years have just flown by, I am amazed at how fast they have gone and I wonder where they went, what did I miss, did I see it all, do I remember it all, will I forget it all?

He graduated from high school at the end of May, he refused to get a hair cut, he wanted his hair his way, not mommies way, he wanted to be himself, be the person he had become.
He's 18 today, no longer my little baby boy, he's all grown up now and soon I'm going to have to let him go.
He wants to take criminal justice classes in college, and then apply for the police academy so he can become a cop like he's wanted to be since he was 3 or 4 years old.
As far back as I can remember, he's wanted to be a cop, and he's going to do it.
He said he's not going to move out until he gets a job as a police officer, and he promises that he won't move too far away from me, but some one of these days, he's going to be on his own and I'm going to have to let him go.
I never want to let him go but I know that I have to, and my heart aches just thinking about the day he moves out on his own.
It's so hard to look at him some days, looking at the young man that he has become, wishing that I could have him be that small adorable boy for just a little bit longer.
At exactly this time 18 years ago, 2:15 am, I gave birth to the boy that changed my life.
I am a different person because of him, I am a better person because of him.
I admire the person he has become, and I know that the man he will eventually be will be a good and caring man, a strong man, he'll be fine on his own, I know that he will, but still, I never want to let him go.
I know that I'll be ok once I know that he's ok on his own, it will be like that 1st day of kindergarten except that I'll be the one staring out the window watching him go and crying.
Today is the 18th birthday of the young man that changed my life.

Continue Reading �

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July 25, 2009

Don't bring home more than your suitcase.

It's all over the news, people are battling bed bug infestations more than ever, and it's not a lot of fun.
When you go on a trip and stay in a hotel, you may run the risk of bringing bed bugs home with you, and like this family in Chicago, it can take a lot of time and money to get rid of the critters.

I was given the opportunity to try out a new product specifically designed to make sure that you don't bring home more than your suitcase.
The product is called Bug Zip, and it's a bed bug encasement system to help make sure you don't bring home the annoying and hard to get rid of bugs.
When you get to the hotel, you place your entire suitcase inside of the bug zip bag to help keep the bed bugs from attaching and staying on and in your suitcase.
They make several different sizes, including drawer liners, so that you can place your clothes inside the dresser at the hotel, but securely sealed up so the bed bugs cannot get in your clothes and then you end up bringing them home with you.

Even though we're not going on our vacation for another month, I tried out one of the bags anyway.
They are made of a really heavy duty plastic that is kind of slippery, which is good, because the bugs cannot climb up the bag and get inside to attach to your clothes.
I noticed that it also helps keep your clothes nice and fresh, like straight from the dryer fresh, once you place all of your clothes inside and zip it shut.
It also keeps pet hair off your clothes.
My cats love to sleep on fresh and warm from the dryer clothes, so I always end up with a ton of cat hair all over them.
Not anymore.
You can use the bug zip bags at home if you have an infestation too.
You just place all of your clean clothes in the bag so any bugs that may be in your home while it's being treated to get rid of them, don't get on your clothes.

I think it's a really great product for people who travel a lot.
I've heard and read too many horror stories in the news about people staying at hotels and then ending up with a massive infestation at home that can take months and months to get rid of.
That's something that I never ever want to deal with, so yeah, even though I'm not sure where we'll be staying yet, if it's a hotel, I'll be bringing the bug zip bags with me.

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June 1, 2009

Happy 16th birthday Sebastian!

Today my second baby boy turned 16.
Sebastian has grown up so fast, they both have, but he's just as tall as Mark is, maybe an inch shorter, so he's about 6 feet tall.
Yikes!
He got Guitar Hero Metallica for his birthday, he's been playing it non-stop since buying it yesterday, and it is a wicked fun game, I even played it with him for awhile last night.

We just ordered pizza from his fave place for lunch, that should be here soon.
We're just going to take it easy for the day, chill, eat pizza, play video games, have some cake later on.

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May 31, 2009

Once again, my back has kept me from enjoying life.

Right now my sister and the teens are out having dinner at a Japanese steak house to celebrate Mark's graduation and Sebastian's birthday tomorrow, and I'm at home because I'm in far too much pain to go do anything.
Yesterday's graduation sitting in really bad chairs did a number on me, and I can hardly move today.
*sigh*
I really hate this, I hope someday to be better, to not be in so much pain after doing something enjoyable.
All I can do is hope that it gets better for me someday.

Over the next few weeks, I am going to look around and see if I can find some really good discount faucets so I can replace the broken one in the bathroom.
It's really starting to get on my nerves now, and if it's bugging me now, it's going to annoy the crap outta me when I get home from surgery.
I need to find a cheap faucet, replace it, and be done with it all.
Ok, back to the couch I go.
Later dayse.

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May 29, 2009

This could be a very long night.

Thursday night, (it's now very early Friday morning) the teens Aunt Heather (ex-sis-in-law, but she'll always be my little sis) sent Sebastian $50 for his birthday by way of PayPal.
When my friends Dustin and Stacey came by for a visit, Sebastian asked Dustin if he would take him to McDonald's, and Dustin said yes.
Sebastian bought Mark a Quarter Pounder with cheese, some fries, and a vanilla shake.
He bought himself a Big Mac, fries, a chocolate shake, and a chicken snack wrap.
It was about 9pm I'd say.

About 2 hours later, he said he wasn't feeling well and rushed to the bathroom.
A half hour after that, he rushed back to the bathroom.
This repeated about every hour or so until he went to bed.

When he finally said he was tired and went to bed, I thought he may be feeling a bit better.
Wrong!
An hour after he fell asleep, I hear this, "MOM! MOM! HELP!"
I rushed in there and he was ripping off his t-shirt and telling me that he was sweating, dizzy, nauseous, his stomach hurt, and his body felt weird.
If it's food poisoning, the worst thing you can do is give something that will stop the diars.
You want the bad food to get out of the body, and if you stop the diars, the bad stuff will stay in, and you or your little patient, will be sick longer.
So I got him up, gave him a glass of cold water to sip on and to swallow 2 Tylenol, and I got the shower to the right temperature so he could cool his body down.
After his shower, he said he felt a bit better, and went back to bed.
Then he got up, said it was just way too hot in his room, and now he's laying out here on the couch because it's cold out here with the AC.

While he was in the shower, I hear the other one yell, "MOM! It's hot!"
So I go in Mark's room, he's got the fan blasting at him, but he's laying there covered up in his comforter.
I said it's no wonder you're hot, you have a down comforter on.
He said he had to have something over his body, so I went and got him a top sheet, spread it out over him, and took his comforter and folded it up in a chair.
I asked him if the sheet was ok, he said yes, and now he's back to sleep.

I really hope that Sebastian falls asleep and stays asleep, I need to get some sleep too.
I have to get up at 9am and wake Mark so he can take a shower and head out to his graduation rehearsal at 11:30am.
I also hope that whatever it is that has him feeling like crap, passes very quickly.
We have a very busy weekend ahead of us.
Mark's graduation on Saturday, graduation party Saturday night, a combination graduation and birthday lunch at Oriental Buffet on Sunday, and then Sebastian's birthday on Monday.
This is very busy for us, our lives are very calm and boring most of the time.
It would totally suck if he's sick on his birthday, he has terrible luck on the actual day every single year.
It's rained on his birthday every single year since moving here to Florida 12 years ago.
It either rains right at the hour of his party, or it rains all day long.
His birthday is on the day that hurricane season starts, June 1st.
He has always had something interfere with his day, and it would suck if he's sick, so I'm hoping it's a case of bad food, (yes, I'm actually hoping it's food poisoning) because it will work itself out in 24-48 hours, and then he can have fun on his birthday for once.
So far the weather report is looking good for Monday, only a 20% chance of rain.

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May 7, 2009

Happy anniversary George and Amy!

Their anniversary was yesterday, May 6th, but Mark didn't remind me until this afternoon, so we called George and Amy to wish them a happy 4th anniversary.
I can't believe it's been 4 years already, wow, I remember the wedding like it was just yesterday.

For those of you who may be new to my blog, George is Mark's "Big", as in Big Brother.
Mark and George have been together since he was 8 years old, so 9 years now, and it's a perfect match still.
When we signed up to get him a Big, Mark was very specific, he wanted either a cop or a lawyer, but if one of those wasn't available, he wanted someone who had something to do with law, a judge, a bailiff, a courtroom worker, a prison officer, whatever, as long as they did something with the law.
What's really cool about their match is the day after we signed Mark up, George signed up to be a Big.
We didn't know him, so we had nothing to do with him signing up, it just worked out perfectly that he did.
When the Big caseworker who signed up George and ran the background checks on him told him that just the day before, an 8 year old boy had specifically asked for a cop, George said that becoming a Big was something he had been thinking about for a long time, but on the morning that he chose to go down and sign up, he said he had this overwhelming feeling to go do it that day, to not postpone it again, so he went.
George was a detective in Washington DC for 25 years.
He's seen a lot, done a lot, and been a huge and truly positive influence in Mark's life.
Mark and George have been best of friends since the very first day they met right here in our living room.
Mark was so excited to have him in his life, he took him around the house and showed him every room, all his favorite toys, and introduced him to the cats.
George is highly allergic to cats, but he pet them all anyway, and whenever he comes over, I lock all of the cats in my room and I vac the rugs twice before he gets here, and I take all of the furniture covers off the leather couches so there is no cat hair anywhere so that he can breathe a little easier while he's in here.
George has also helped Mark figure out all of the steps he needs to take to become a cop himself, so that's been very helpful to all of us.
I didn't even know where to begin to help Mark figure out what to do to fulfill his dream.

Anyway, it's their anniversary, and they were planning on taking another trip, they like going on cruises, but George had spine fusion almost 5 months ago, and he's still not feeling quite up to doing too much physical activity.
I talked to him a little bit on the phone this afternoon before I handed the phone to Mark, and that's what we talked about.
He said he doesn't know how I do it, he was only fused in 2 vertebrae, and here I am fused the entire lentgh of my spine and having another one next month to try and correct my head placement.
He asked me how I am in the morning because he is so stiff when he first gets out of bed, he said it takes him about an hour before he can really do anything.
I said to him, "Yeah, I know, that first hour is so stiff and painful, I get up, walk all hunched over to the bathroom, go pee, get a drink, and sit down in my chair to take all my meds, and then wait an hour before I can do anything else physical."
He said that's exactly what he does too, and that he's having some trouble going for walks, his left leg starts to tingle like pins and needles, after about 15 minutes or so.
That will eventually go away, I told him, but it could take up to a year for it to completely stop with the numbness and needles feeling.
I've been sliced over twice now, so I still get pins and needles and the numbness a lot, and I'm sure I'll get it even more after the next surgery.
I told him that the older the patient, the longer it takes to heal up, too, that young patients, like under the age of 35, heal up almost completely 100% in about 8 months, whereas us old folks, can take a full year or longer depending on how big the fusion is.

So anyway, instead of taking a cruise, they are just going to do a small romantic weekend somewhere here in Florida, next weekend.
He has an art project he needs to finish for a client, (he's an artist) and Amy has to complete something she's working on too.
I hope that whatever it is that they do, that they have a good time, they deserve it.
They are such wonderful people and I am so glad that George is in Mark's life.
He's really made a difference, and the Big program is a great thing, it really makes a difference in kids lives, so if you've ever wanted to do some sort of volunteering dealing with kids, wanted to help and make a positive difference for a kid, check out the BBS, you could do something really amazing for a kid by just being their friend and mentor.

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April 7, 2009

16 pounds of candy!

On April 4th, I was entrant # 301 and #302, out of 607 entries, to win 16lbs of Tootsie Roll brand candies.
Today, Lisa told me I won.
I won!
This is the pic from her site, but when I get the box, I will take a pic of exactly what all was in the box that we get when it arrives.
Lisa said we should probably have it by the end of the week because she sent them my address as soon as I emailed it to her.

Tootsie sent Lisa her own big box of candy to try out, and she was thrilled to get it, and also to be able to have a contest to offer another lucky blog reader of hers the chance to win their own box.
I only did 2 of the things you can do to win, and I was totally surprised and shocked that my number got drawn when she pulled the winner today!

When I got her email telling me that I won, I screamed out "Yeusss!", and Sebastian came running to ask what was up.
When I told him that I won 16lbs of Tootsie Roll brand candies and showed him the pic, he spotted the Fluffy Stuff cotton candy right away, and started screaming himself...LoL
I love regular Tootsie rolls, the Caramel Apple Pops, I also really like the fruit flavored Tootsie Rolls called Frooties, and just like Lisa, I also love and remember the Tootsie Roll banks.
A big Tootsie Roll shaped bank filled with Tootsie Rolls, and when they are gone, you can use the can as a coin and dollar bank.
I loved getting those from my Grandfather as a kid, he would get me one of those every year for my birthday along with a new doll or something that I wanted.
I have such great childhood memories attached to Tootsie Rolls, they just always make me smile, so this is a really cool prize to win.
16lbs of candy is a lot, and Lisa asked me in an email just a few minutes ago, to make sure and let her know exactly how long it actually lasts in the house. hahahaha
I told her, "Mark is not a huge candy eater, but he does like Tootsie rolls and some of the others we saw in your pic, so he will eat some.
I'll probably set some aside, and only put out a small bowl of it to be eaten freely, and fill it back up slowly.
Sebastian will be going to the dentist over the summer, getting his teeth cleaned, getting any cavities filled etc, to start working on getting his braces finally, so I'll have to make him eat the stuff slowly, and to also brush his teeth more frequently.
But I'll hazard a guess that it will last until school starts in August."

How long would 16lbs of candy last in your house?

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April 1, 2009

Useless internet day.

The teens are off to school, Sebastian has his note to get out early because he has his neuro appointment this afternoon, and poor Mark had insomnia again all night, yet had to go to school by law because we are still waiting on his graduation test results.
It is SO stupid that he has to go, sit there, and do absolutely nothing all day long.
It infuriates me.

Today is April 1st, April Fool's day, and the internet is officially useless today.
Youtube is showing all videos upside down, Google's Gmail is doing their usual stupid April Fool's Day jokes, people are linking to the usb pet rock, again, this year, and I'm sure there will be many more absolutely stupid jokes posted all over the internet by major sites, blogs, forums, and whoever just thinks they are oh so clever.
I can't stand it.
I absolutely hate stupid humor, I can't watch Will Ferrel movies because of all the stupid humor jokes and such.
Today on the internet, is going to suck for me and people like me who just hate the dumb jokes.
It is officially useless internet day.

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March 15, 2009

A late birthday surprise!

The plan for today was for my sister and her husband to come on by with the girls, (my super cutie nieces) bring us all some lunch, and then sis and her husband would go out for awhile, out to eat, go see a movie, do some shopping without the kids in tow, and the teens and I would babysit.

Last night, sis called and asked if we'd like some Chinese food for the lunch, we all said yes, of course, and that they'd all be here around 1pm.
Sebastian and I got up a bit early, went to Publix, grabbed some juices, and some snacks that the girls can have, (food allergies) and then we came home and finished the cleaning we started yesterday.
Sis and the girls got here at 1pm, no husband, he's not feeling well at all today, sis said he woke with a migraine and his stomach was bothering him, so she decided that she and the girls would come anyway.
They brought a ton of Chinese food with them, and a present all wrapped up in some really pretty Disney Princesses pink wrapping paper.
The girls had also made me some beautiful paintings, and they came in, handed them to me, wrapped their little arms around my legs, and yelled happy birthday.
It was so stinkin' cute!
They made me open my present before we could eat, Susan and Skye were all excited for me to open it up because they said they helped mommy pick out 1 of them.
Sis gave me some super cute black linen shorts with a nice embroidery on 1 of the pockets, a black peasant style t-shirt, and a black retro-tattoo-ish kinda Betty Boop t-shirt too.
That's the 1 the girls said they helped pick out, and everything in black because it's my favorite un-color.

Then we all sat and ate the food and watched Santa Claus Is Comin to Town again, because the girls are absolutely fascinated by the Burgermiester Miesterburger.
They love that character, Susan said today that he must have had no toys when he was a kid, and that his mommy and daddy were really mean to him, so that's why he hates toys now, hates laughing, playing, "happy".
Interesting idea, maybe she's right, it's never truly explained why the Burgermiester Miesterburger hates toys and kids, but Susan's explanation sounds good.

Then after that, I showed sis and the girls how much the kitties love the video catnip, and they laughed and laughed.
Shahiro was especially funny today, she was back on the side table, watching intently, and then she dove at the tv, paws outstretched, meowing loudly, hit the screen and fell to the floor.
It didn't deter her, she tried again and again, and Nova just kept standing up on her hind legs and pawing at the screen, same as in the pics I posted yesterday.

After that, sis went out to Barnes and Noble by herself for awhile, the girls stayed and played with us.
They ran around the yard, dug through all of the toy boxes, ate some chips and salsa, drank more juice, and just had a great time as always at Aunty Kat's house.
They love coming here so much, that as they were getting in the car to leave tonight, Susan told sis she wanted to live here. hahaha
They are just such awesome little girls, I love it when they come to visit me, it just cheers me up and makes me smile.

---

March 1, 2009

It's my birthday! Jenn's the winner!

There was a total of 515 entries including all of the bonus entries, in my celebrate my birthday contest, and Random.org chose comment number 144, which was Jenn!
Congrats Jenn!

I have already emailed Jenn, she has 48 hours to respond or I'll have to draw another winner.
Katy and Gem Affair will mail out the necklace to Jenn as soon as we get her address.

Thanks to everyone who entered, it was by far the biggest amount of entries in one of my contests ever, a great turnout.

---

February 9, 2009

Celebrate my birthday contest!!

**EDIT**
Too many people are NOT following the rules.
As of right now. 10:20pm EST Monday February 16th, I will not be counting anymore of the entries which do not follow the very simple first rule of this contest.
This is the rule, follow it or your comment entry will NOT be counted.
1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me which piece of jewelry you'd love to have from Gem Affair.com.
Go to GemAffair and pick 1 thing that you'd like to have, come back here and leave a comment telling me what it is.
If this is not done, your comment entry will NOT count.
_____________________

My birthday is coming up on March 1st, and I want to celebrate and share my birthday fun with my readers.
So, I'm having a contest to give 1 lucky reader a present from me and Gem Affair, to help celebrate the big 39.
Yup, I'm going to be 39 this year, I'm seriously thinking this will be the last birthday I acknowledge, at least publicly.
I'm not growing old as gracefully as I had hoped, and just thinking about my body getting worse with old age, makes me cringe.

So anyway, I want to celebrate it up big and I want to share my special day with you by awarding this fine piece of jewelry, yours without out-of-pocket expense.
Katy and Gem affair have so awesomely agreed to be my contest sponsor.
The winner will be selected randomly using random.org, and this is what 1 lucky reader will win.
It's a diamond two-piece oval pendant with an 18-inch chain.

It comes packaged beautifully in a gift box, and will be shipped directly to you from Gem Affair, it will be gift wrapped and include a note.**

I won 1 of the Twitter contests that Gem Affair had, and I absolutely LOVE the diamond journey pendant that I won.
It is sooo beautiful, and it fits me perfectly both in actual fit and style.

So now that you know what the prize of my celebrate my birthday contest is, here's what you need to do to win!
For each 1 of these that you do, you NEED to leave a SEPARATE comment for each.
Each 1 of these equals 1 entry, but the first one is a must do.
The more you do, the more chances of winning you have!

1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me which piece of jewelry you'd love to have from Gem Affair.com.
2. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify.
3. Stumble this post. Please give me your username so I can verify.
4. Follow me on Twitter. Please give me your username so I can verify.
5. Follow Gem Affair on Twitter. Please give me your username so I can verify.

EDITED**
For 5 additional entries for each, do one or both of the following, and leave a separate comment for each 1 that you do, I will add your +5 entries to your entries.

1. Blog about this on your blog linking back to me and 1 link to Gem Affair.com. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
2. Subscribe to this blog using my RSS feed.

The winner will be drawn from all of the entries on Sunday March 1st, my birthday.
So come celebrate with me and you could win this beautiful diamond pendant!
The contest is open to both US and Canadian residents only.
______________________________________

So that I don't run into a snafu with my winner, and don't like being called a liar, thief, and criminal, here's the skinny:

Giveaway is open until midnight, February 28th, 2009.
Winner will be chosen at random and announced on March 1st, 2009.
Winner will be contacted by email and/or Twitter and will have 48 hours to respond.
Please use your real first name and a valid email address when entering.
I am not responsible for incorrect contact information.
You must respond from the email you used to enter in order to be eligible to win!
If I contact you through the email you used to enter, and it bounces back as invalid, I will choose a different winner, so please make sure that your information is correct.

Too many people are NOT following the rules.
As of right now. 10:20pm Monday February 16th, I will not be counting anymore of the entries which do not follow the very simple first rule of this contest.
This is the rule, follow it or your comment entry will NOT be counted.
1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me which piece of jewelry you'd love to have from Gem Affair.com.
Go to GemAffair and pick 1 thing that you'd like to have, come back here and leave a comment telling me what it is.
If this is not done, your comment entry will NOT count.

Continue Reading �

---

January 10, 2009

I'll pay for this mood later on.

I'm in a cleaning mood, part of my get organized in 2009 mood, and so I finally put away all of the Christmas decorations, took the ornaments off the tree, packed them all away, put the tree away, and started in on other projects.

I've got the laundry going, I did most of the dishes, cleaned off the coffee table, and I'm about to dig into my desk.
I really need to go through it and throw away all of the useless crap that is outdated, not needed, broken, the scraps of paper, old memory sticks, old hard drives, and about a gazillion manuals to computers and parts that I don't even have anymore.
I swear, I keep everything for years and years, and then forget that I even have it all.

And in between all of this cleaning and stuff, I've been blogging, reading and replying to forums, checking in on work stuff, reading and posting to Twitter, (follow me dammit ha ha)and trying to get Sebastian and Bobby to get back here to the house before it got dark because this street is so dangerous to walk on during the day and it's worse at night.
By the time I get done with all of this organizing my life in 2009 mood cleaning, I'm going to need like some sort of Seattle injury lawyer to sue myself for totally over doing things today.
The good thing to come out of all of this is that the house is getting clean, things are getting put away, and I'm doing all of the things that I should have done as I went along.
It's like 10 times more work to have to clean all of this stuff months later, in some cases, years later.

---

January 2, 2009

He likes yarn.

Carmine is a yarn cat, he really digs the stuff.
I bet if I were to give him a ball of yarn, he'd be in kitty heaven.
We know he really likes it because he chewed a whole in my blanket, and he has been going after some home made ornaments on my tree.

My mom and a few aunts, had made me some crocheted and knitted ornaments over the years, and Carmine has been attacking them constantly.
So much so that I had to take several of them and move them higher up on the tree.
The tree will be coming down Sunday, but he really, really wanted this little yellow peanut M&M ornament that my Aunt Josephine had made, and a Nutcracker one that my mom had made.
I moved both of them higher up on the tree, and he got sad.
I'm not kidding.
He sat below the tree staring up at it meowing mournfully over them.
So I gave him the nutcracker and he's been in kitty heaven all afternoon.

---

December 31, 2008

Last post of 2008.

So many bloggers out there are doing their end of the year posts, stating resolutions and goals, tallying their yearly blogging income, and all the rest of that stuff.
I don't do resolutions or make lists of my best posts of the year, and I never do blogging income posts.
I'm not going to get into what was good or bad about my blogging year, I'm not going to make a list and link back to my best posts, I'm just going to keep going.

I've been through a lot this year, but who hasn't?
I just don't see the need to dwell or beam on what has already happened, it's in the past, done and over with.
I prefer to just keep going.
I have no idea what all is in store for me and the teens in 2009 aside from another surgery.
I don't know where this blog's direction will go, I don't know anything beyond what I know right now, and right now all I know is that I will keep going.
I'll keep going and doing the day to day, I'll keep trying to be a better version of me, I'll keep trying to be a better mother to my sons, I'll keep trying to be a better friend to all of the people I care about, and I'll keep trying to just be a better human being.

That's all I know right now, and that's good enough for me.
Have a happy New Year, see ya in the morning.
Later days!

---

December 31, 2008

More rock n' roll goodness.

The teens finally decided what they wanted to buy with their BB gift cards they got for Christmas.
They put them together and bought Guitar Hero World Tour for their Xbox360.

It only took them about 2 weeks to decide what to get, and so they decided on that.
It's totally cool with me, I love playing GH too, so we have 2 guitars, 3 controllers, and there's 3 of us, so all of us can play together or just 2 of them or just 1 of them.
Sebastian loves to play the GH games, Mark does too, but Sebastian loves to play music, listen to it, and so he's totally psyched about getting it.

We ordered it online instead of going all of the way to BB, it's much easier to order online than to go into the physical stores and deal with other shoppers and cranky, non-helpful sales clerks.
Ordering online can sometimes be a pain in the butt too.
It took me exactly 17 tries to get BB to accept their own damn gift card.
I wanted to call and try to get help, so I called the # on the back of the card, and wouldn't you know it?
It's a completely automated system, you can't speak to anybody at all to get help with gift cards.
I finally just typed in the # 1 last time and slammed the enter key I was so frustrated, and amazingly it went through.
Same exact #, nothing different about it, the website just finally decided to recognize the gift card #.

Anyway, they will have their game in about a week, peace and happiness has been restored to the Cooper household.

---

December 30, 2008

Things needed and wanted.

Most parents make sure that their kids have an awesome Christmas, they want them to be happy, and most parents don't get a ton of Christmas gifts for themselves for that reason.
Most married parents do buy their spouses presents though.
Single parents on the other hand usually have very little money to start with, so they make sure their kid(s) have a good Christmas, but who buys them presents?

My parents always send me some money, but I usually combine it with the other money that gets sent for the teens, so I can buy them more stuff, and I have some good friends who always send me some really nice presents too.
I got some very nice things from them this year, the perfume off of my wish list, a gift card to Publix, a magazine subscription to a great cooking show chock full of yummy recipes, and a Visa gift card to spend on whatever I want also.
But after getting my reimbursement payment, I decided to get myself some things that I wanted and things that I needed for my computer.
I work from home on this bad boy, so every now and then it needs some things to help me keep it running smoothly, and some fun stuff too.
So I bought myself the following things, the total spent on these items wasn't very much at all, just $263.21, and a couple of them were on sale at really good prices.

An Acer 17" flat screen LCD monitor, $117.99, not a bad price, just like the teens monitor.

A SimpleTech 1 GB memory stick, was on sale for $35.24, down from $195.00.

An AMD ATI Radeon X1300 Pro 256 MB AGP Card, was on sale for $39.99, down from $129.00.

And then The Sims 3 Collector's Edition is my for fun item, not on sale, but not a bad price at $69.99.
The collectors edition comes with a 1gig Sims plumbob USB drive, you know, shaped like the thingy that is always over their heads and houses?
Yeah, this thing,
but it's actually a USB drive key chain, you can never have enough USB drives, and it looks like this,

An exclusive Prima tips and hints guide, a European sports car download for the Sims to drive around in, extra theme music from the game, and a Sims3 neighborhood poster.
All of that stuff is worth (to me) the extra $20 it cost me over the regular version of the game, I can use the USB drive, the tips and hints guide will help me figure out all of the new things they've done to the Sims3 game play, and the poster is just a cool extra.

I needed a new graphics card, my other one crapped the bed big-time, causing me to freak out and uninstall all of my Sims2 games thinking the game had gotten corrupted, but no, it was the graphics card. *slaps forehead*
I lost everything I had done in the game, all of it.
Makes me kinda sad, but now that the new graphics card is installed, I re-installed all of the Sims2 discs so I can play right up until Sims 3 gets here.
That's quite a few discs, we didn't have all of the expansions, but a good deal of them.
We have Sims2, Nightlife, Open for business, Pets, and Seasons, and they are so much fun to play.
When my new monitor gets here, between that and the new graphics card, the games are going to look amazing!

My monitor and memory stick should be here in a few days, they will get installed, and it will be the awesome.
I bought the exact same monitor that my sis bought the teens, so I know that it's a really good one and that it looks amazing, and the memory stick is so that the Sims3 will be able to run with no issues or errors.

I figured that I deserved some new stuff, and my computer is where I am almost all of the time, so I chose to get some upgrades and some fun stuff for me.

---

December 29, 2008

Sterling Pear ornament storage box contest.

Blessed Nest Perch is having a contest to win a Sterling Pear ornament storage box, and you could win one just like the one pictured.
I would really like to have it because I don't even have a box for my ornaments, I have them in a big padded bag, each ornament is wrapped in paper, and then I put the bag in my wicker chest in my closet.
Not a very safe way to store all of my most favorite and cherished ornaments huh?
Surprisingly though, in the 10 years we've lived here, not a single one has gotten broken.

You can enter to win that gorgeous ornament storage box by going to Blessed Nest Perch, and doing one or all of her really easy ways to enter the contest.

---

December 26, 2008

No sleep even if I wanted it.

I finally decided at 6am that I would try and get some sleep before the turkey cooking began, so I went into crawl in bed and laid smack on a wet spot.
Of kitty pee.
Kali is seriously, literally, pissed off about the stray cat in her home and she will NOT tolerate the stray on HER bed.
So, she peed on it.
Thank goodness that I bought that waterproof/allergen proof padded mattress cover earlier in the year, or else that pee would have gone straight down into my mattress and the smell would have never come out.
It was still soaking wet, so I grabbed the sheets, blankets, and the mattress cover, and ran them to the washing machine.
I put in an extra helping of laundry soap and a full cup of febreze in the rinse cycle cup, along with 1 full cup of baking soda mixed in with the wash.
This does work, all of the cat urine smell comes out using this method, I know because Kali did this when we got Shahiro too.

All the new kitties we've ever gotten, Kali marks my bed as hers, if she so much as sees another cat aside from her and Nova get on it and sleep on it, or sleep with me, she pees on it to warn them that it's her bed, I'm hers, lay there again and die.
So once the washer stops, I'll give them another quick shot of febreze, and then throw them in the dryer before putting them back on my bed.
As soon as the washer is done, I'll go take a shower and get rid of the kitty pee smell from my skin.
I can't take a shower while it's running because I'll get blasted with cold water when it goes into the rinse cycle, and hot water while it's in the spin cycle.

Oh well, I gotta start the turkey soon anyway, so sleep?
Psfffht!
Sleep is for the weak.

---

December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas 2008!

Hey all, Merry Christmas!
I hope that all of you have been having a wonderful Christmas day with your families, we have all been struck down with the coughing, sniffling, sneezing, fever crap, so we will try to celebrate Christmas tomorrow.

Both the teens woke up sick this morning, and I woke up around 5am absolutely freezing to death, but sweating my ass off under my blankets.
I got up and took my temperature while I went pee, 103.8.
Yay.
Both the teens have fevers as well, so it's been a Tylenol and Nyquil day around here.
Totally sucks, but whatcha gonna do right?

The turkey will be fine, it wasn't completely thawed anyway, so I'll wake up early tomorrow and start cooking it, and then I'll cook the mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies, and crescent rolls when the turkey is almost done.

But the teens did have a nice xmas anyway, they got some really nice shirts, some new winter hoodies, more socks, boxers, gift cards to Best Buy, cash, and they also got some new video games I bought for them, as well as their WoW games which they got back in October, because they and my sister wanted to be able to play each other now.
Plus they had all kinds of candy and treats in their stockings.

I got some Cadbury eggs in my stocking, and I got some new Marc Jacobs perfume, a gift card to Publix, a cooking magazine subscription, and I think that's it for me, but it's enough.
Christmas has always been about making the kids happy.
It just sucks we all woke up feeling like crap today, but the day wasn't a total loss, and like I said, we'll do the turkey feast tomorrow.

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday with your families.

---

December 24, 2008

Cold Mizer and Heat Mizer song and dance numbers.

One of my most favorite Christmas movies is The Year Without a Santa Claus, another Rankin Bass classic that hardly ever gets aired on tv anymore.
If it's been on this year, I haven't seen it.
It may have been aired on cable, but most of the other classics have been shown on ABC already, but not this one.
I just love this particular story, Santa not feeling up to Christmas, thinks no one believes in him anymore, gets depressed and then sick from it all.
But the Mizer brothers make this whole movie, the whole song and dance numbers are just awesome.
I love how they bicker back and forth, how mother likes one of them best, true brothers.

Those of us who grew up in the 1970's when all of these Rankin Bass classics started, I know you know the whole songs, can probably sing along to them too.
So I wanted to share a little bit of it with you, here's the full clip from the movie, both songs and a little brother battling.

---

December 23, 2008

More xmas 2008 cards came today!

I got just a few more cards today, I love getting them, seeing what kinds of cards people choose to send.
Everyone has sent such lovely cards again this year.

I got one from Lattegirl from all the way up in Canada,
I got one from Lisa and her family, such cute kiddos she has!
And one from my Aunt Kathy, I was named after her and another aunt.
And Christine sent the teens gift cards to Best Buy because she knows how much they love shopping there, and also a card to let me know she got me a subscription to Everyday Food magazine.
That was so wicked nice of her!

I love cooking just as much as she does, although I am positive just reading some of the recipes she posts, that she is a far better cook than I am, but I watch the show on PBS when I can tune the channel in.
Sebastian also watches the cooking shows with me on PBS, he loves to see all the yummy foods they cook up, and we have even made quite a few of the recipes, so having the magazine every month will be a totally awesome and welcome addition to my cookbooks and cooking magazines that I already have.
I get the free quarterly Kraft Food & Family magazine, and we have made tons of recipes out of that one, and they now post the magazine contents online so you don't have to sign up for the magazine if you don't want to.
I like getting the hard copy though so I can just have the recipes handy right in the kitchen while I'm cooking.
But I'm sure that many, many meals will be made from the Everyday Foods magazine too, it looks like they have a ton of very easy to make meals.
Thank you Christine!

---

December 22, 2008

I won 3 pairs of Ficklets!

Back on December 7th, I posted an entry about how I had entered a contest at Lisa Reviews to win some Ficklets for my niece Susan's glasses.
Ficklets are cute little clip-ons for the ear pieces of your glasses that make wearing them fun and stylish.
I entered the contest because my super duper adorable niece Susan wears glasses, and I know she would love to have these for hers.
She's very good about wearing her glasses, but these will make it even more fun to wear them all of the time.

Lisa drew the winners for 3 of the contests she was running, tonight, and one of the extra entries I had put in to win, was drawn.
I won the Ficklets!
Yay!

Lisa emailed me to ask which 3 I wanted and for my mailing address so they can be shipped to me.
Susan loves bugs, flowers, and anything blue, so I chose the following 3 sets for Susan
Aqua cutsie worms,
Blue and yellow smiley face daisies,
and Blue sparkle stars.
I know that she will absolutely love to wear them on her glasses.
I can't wait to get them and give them to her!

---

December 20, 2008

Beyond the age of building.

I am so glad that my kids are beyond the ages of toys that need to be built for Christmas presents.
You know, like bicycles, swing sets, rocking horses, doll houses etc etc.
I remember the year I had to put together 2 bicycles, I was up all night swearing and telling myself never again.
Screw A never quite fit the hole it was supposed to go into, I always managed to somehow get the pedals on backwards, stuff like that.
Christmas is easy now, video games, computer stuff, cash and clothes.
Done deal baby!

I got my nieces a few small things too, I can't wait to give it to them, but we will be celebrating Christmas with them after they get back from visiting Mom and Dad up in Maine over Christmas day.
I won a bunch of DVDs to give to them too from The Life of a Home Mom.
There's some Christmas classic cartoons, and then all the new ones.
Included in the list are; Gumby, Fat Albert, Casper, George of the Jungle (all the new ones) and Frosty, Rudolph, Santa Claus, etc.
Maybe they will be here by the time sis comes back, they aren't coming back until the 28th or 29th I think, so it would be cool if they were here by then, if not, that's ok too, the girls will still love to get them whenever I give them to them.

And they are coming over tomorrow!
I can't wait to spend time with them, I very rarely get to anymore because sis works a lot and they live so far from us, so getting to spend a whole afternoon with my girls is going to be awesome!

Our Charlie Brown tree lit up at night.

---

December 20, 2008

Finally decorated the house.

Up until now, I really didn't feel like doing the house up for Christmas, but I've been feeling better so today we put up the Charlie Brown tree, the lights, ornaments, and all of the decorations in the living room.
If we just had some fig trees or pear trees, whatever kinda trees they are you have at xmas, it'd be complete.

We don't put an angel or star on our tree, that would be extremely hypocritical considering we're atheists, so every year we put our own special topper on it, Zero, Jack Skellington's ghost dog.

I placed my 2 Woodstock ornaments on the tree....

I put my 3 Winnie the Pooh light covers on....

And all of our favorite and safely stored away character ornaments.

It's all done and looking might festive in here, so when the girls come to see me tomorrow, they can see all of the lights and things at 'auntie kat's house too'.

---

December 19, 2008

No Christmas cards this year.

Money is so super tight for me this year, as well as many, many other people, with the economy being what it is, and my time away from being able to work due to surgery.
Even if I got a huge chunk o' money dropped in my account tonight, I'd have to be like Sonic the Hedgehog and get all turbo-charged up to run around mail them all priority to everyone.

I feel bad that I can't send out cards this year, I always want to, I always plan to, but all my plans and wants went out the window in September and October when I had to take so much time off from blogging and working to get cut up and then recover.

But I have gotten some really awesome cards from friends and family, and friends from around the blogging world, and I love each and every one, so I want to give a shout of thanks out to all of you who sent me a card this year.
You've all been added to my list for next year, and addresses saved, so I can get a head start and (hopefully) send cards next year,

Mr. Fab,
Solonor (my blog daddy),
Robyn,
Tina,
Christine,
Jen,
Kirsi,
and
Karen,
Great Gram,
Letty,
George and Amy,
and my attorney Brad, who wrote, "Try to stay out of trouble this year."

---

December 19, 2008

They are not weird.

Friends and family members know the teens love to play video games, so when holidays or birthdays roll around, they always ask which ones they should get the teens.
They usually start naming some titles like Madden NFL 09, or Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, or some Tiger Wood's or some other Cobra golf, or some baseball games, and I always have to say, no, but thank you, not those kinds of games.

They're more of the Left 4 Dead type, and the Prince of Persia type.
They like action and fighting games, Guitar Hero World Tour, stuff like that.
They are not into sports games at all.
I know most boys love sports, but mine don't, and when I tell people to not get them any sports games because the teens don't like them, they give me the puzzled look, like my kids are weirdos and it's my fault.
But it isn't really my fault, I do like and watch some sports like hockey, and I do watch the super bowl every year, but they just like what they like.

---

December 19, 2008

18 days?!

The teens are officially on school vacation for the Christmas and New Year holidays, and will be home for 18 consecutive days in a row.
18 days of sleeping in late.
18 days of bickering with each other.
18 days of eating everything that isn't nailed down.

It's ok though, now none of us have to get up early, so that totaly works for my insomnia issues.
If I'm wide awake until 2-3am, I won't have to worry about getting up with them at 5:45am every day, and then being awake all day and night again, I can just let my body sleep if that's what it's going to do.
__________________

Sebastian and I ventured out today to go to Walgreen's to pick up my meds and then to Publix to get some food and stuff.
We've opted to have a different kind of Christmas dinner this year because I still can't cook a whole turkey and stuff with my neck like this, so we'll be eating some super easy foods and just having a really casual holiday meal
I bought 2 big bags of chicken wings, and we'll be doing a combo of hot and some honey bbq, some french fries, and other really easy type foods.
Hey, the teens got their turkey for thanksgiving even though it was just thighs and wings, so we're going for ultra casual and fun.
The teens are totally happy with this choice, it was their idea, so I'm totally ok with it.

While at the store, I got slammed into by this crotchety old man who yelled at me to watch where I was going.
What?!
He slammed into me, yet he's yelling at me?
Um, no.
But I can't help being all sarcastic, so I turned to him and said, "I am SO so SORRY that I was standing here picking out some apples when YOUR cart slammed into my backside. Please sir, forgive me for standing here."

He looked at me, looked at the neck brace around my neck, his wife grabbed his arm and pulled him back a little with this look on her face like I might haul off and deck him, and believe me, I was thisclose to doing just that when he had the nerve to yell at me, but I didn't.
Sebastian tried to pull me back, he could clearly see that I was super pissed, and then the guy apologized to me, said he was sorry, he "didn't realize".

"Didn't realize"?
You mean he didn't realize that I was in the neck brace, or he didn't realize that he hit me?
I think it's that he didn't realize that I was in a neck brace and that's the only reason he apologized.
If I hadn't been wearing it, I think he would have just kept yelling that it was my fault, because I'm young and he's old and entitled.
I'm so sick of that kind of crap.
The seniors in this damn town are the biggest, the most miserable, entitlement assholes I've ever known in my life.

---

December 17, 2008

Free Shipping Day Thursday December 18th 2008!

Tomorrow, Thursday December 18th, is Free Shipping Day for a whole bunch of online retailers.
You can find the list of retailers participating at that link, and most of them guarantee not only that you will get free shipping, but that you will get your orders in time for Christmas.

*Minimum order requirements may apply. Location restrictions may apply. Please visit the participating websites for complete requirements and restrictions.*

Some of the participating retailers are:
American Eagle Outfitters
Apple Store
Apple Store Canada
Bloomingdales
Brookstone
CaseLogic
Coldwater Creek
Dell
Disney Store
EB Games
GameStop
Kohls
Kmart
Macys
Nordstrom
Office Depot
Office Max
Overstock.com
Sephora
Target
Toys R' Us
Zappos.com

And many, many more!

So if you're a last minute shopper and want to save money, (shipping costs can raise your total by up to $100 or more depending on what you purchase) take advantage of Free Shipping Day and all of the awesome retailers who are taking part in it!

Also!
Today is the LAST day for super saver shipping at Amazon.com
* Wednesday, December 17th is the last day for Super Saver Free Shipping on orders over $25.
* Thursday, December 18th is the last day for Standard Shipping.
* Sunday, December 21st is the last full day for 2-Day Free Shipping Delivery with Amazon Prime.
* Tuesday, December 23rd is the last day for one-day shipping. Cut off is 3pm PST.

---

December 15, 2008

She's gonna hate me by the end of the year.

I survived my trip to the post office this morning.
*phew*
When I got there, the line wasn't too bad, only snaked around once, but I swear they had the freaking heat turned on in there!
Everyone was sweating, even the postal workers, people looked pissed off, but at least the lines were moving rather quickly and they had every customer service lane open.

I got the money order my parents sent for the boys xmas presents cashed, and then had to sign like a gazillion pieces of paper to get the certified letter(s) from the school board.
The letters had nothing at all to do with the lunch room, but instead the principal, yes, the very same principal we've been having trouble with, sent me 2 certified letters letting me know that the boys had missed an entire week of school in November, and were not excused.

The principal is not going to want to hear me today.

Just as I posted when they were sick that week, the secretary didn't sound surprised, a lot of kids were out that whole week.
When they did go back, I sent a note anyway, even wrote in the note that I wasn't able to get them to the doctor until January, he had no openings for just colds so students could have notes.
They didn't excuse them for that entire week because the note was from me, not a doctor, so the principal sent me 2 certified letters to let me know the boys missed all of that time.

I hate this woman.

---

December 6, 2008

Rudolph for the car grill?

My niece Susan saw a Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer decoration on a car grill and she wants one on her mommies car, so today while we were at Walgreen's today, my sis and I looked to see if they had and sold them there.
They usually carry all kinds of Christmas hokey novelties like that, so we assumed they sold them there.
We searched up and down every aisle, found all kinds of car decorations, stickers, license plate holders, things like Ferrari parts stickers you could cover your cars name with, garland for the car grill, lights for the car grill, but no Rudolph nose and antlers for the car grill.

We found a sales clerk and asked him if they sold them there, he gave us a quizzical look, so my sister had to explain what it was.
It's a whole reindeer head, antlers, eyes, the big red nose, it's Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.
He said that no they didn't sell them, and if they did carry them, he'd probably hide them out back instead of put them on the shelves.
Why?
They might be totally silly and over the top?
They sell giant snow globes for the front yard, they sell all kinds of really hokey Christmas decorations for every inch of your house and yard, bu a Rudolph for the car grill is too embarrassing to sell?
Yuh, o-k.

---

December 5, 2008

Oy vey! Such a long day!

I have had such an incredibly long day that started out well enough at the doc's office, and then escalated into madness by the time I hit Walgreen's.

Their computers were down again, which caused me and about 7 other people to have to just sit there and hang out waiting for the store manager to figure out what to do.
It amazes me how flustered they get when the computers go down, like what did pharmacies do to fill prescriptions before computers?

And I certainly don't envy the people who work there at all.
I remember all of the years and all of the jobs in retail that I worked over the years, and I recall how crazy this time of year is, but it seems to me that people, customers, have gotten far more pushy, far more rude, and feel more entitled to things and to do things than the years I worked those jobs.
I know I haven't worked in retail or restaurants for over 8 years now, but I really don't remember people being that rude.

Like when I got told the computers were down, please have a seat and we'll figure out what to do to get your script filled and bill the insurance when the system comes back up.
I said ok and sat down, but other people decided to be completely belligerent about it.
An older man started yelling at the top of his lungs, at how no, he was not going to take a seat, he wanted his medicine right now, and no, he was not going to pay cash, he has insurance, they needed to give him his damn meds for what his usual co-pay is, and bill his insurance tomorrow or whenever the hell the computers came back up.
The pharmacist, the clerk, and the manager, were completely flustered, at a loss for words, and said they would try to call his insurance and set it up so they could do it the way he wanted without using the computers, and because they said that, 3 more people which had been sitting quietly on the chairs with me, decided they wanted the pharmacist to do that for them too.
Talk about a major hassle.
Have you ever had to call your prescription insurance just to find out if your med is covered, or for another reason?
You're on hold for like forever, and just because they are the pharmacist, doesn't mean they have like a direct phone number to speak to someone immediately, they dial the same number that we do on the back of our insurance cards.
I thought for sure one of the clerks was going to cry.

But the pharmacist, the clerk, and the manager, all called for those customers and somehow got it all approved to do it that way, and I still just sat there waiting.
I was in no rush, the teens were at school, and hey, I was getting a free show to watch, (all the crazy screaming people) so I just chilled and waited to see how they would help me.
Then after about 15 more minutes of them trying to figure out what to do for me, we all heard this beep, blip, chugga chugga noise, and what do ya know?
The computers rebooted and were back on line, so they let out this collective huge sigh of relief, a kind of nervous chuckle, and they filled my script.
They thanked me for being so super patient, and I laughed and said no worries, I'll have something to blog later.
They gave me a curious look, but rang me up and I started to the front of the store.

I wanted to buy a soda, I needed to wash down the blood pressure med my heart doctor gave me today, and so I grabbed one from the cooler and attempted to make my way to a register.
I had to step over merchandise that had been knocked on the floor by another customer.
An angry one.
I saw a store clerk trying to clean it all up, she looked like she might cry at any moment, and so I asked her if she was ok.
She started to sniffle, tears were forming, and for a moment I thought to myself, 'crap, total mistake Kat, you're gonna end up hugging some strange store clerk', and she started to tell me about the crazy, pissed off customer who threw almost every single item off of a shelf because they were completely sold out of a sale item they had listed in the flier.
It apparently, was a really good deal, max purchase 5 per customer, so every customer bought their 5, the clerks refilled the shelves over and over until they ran out, and that's when the angry lady came in.
She asked for it, they explained they were out, and she lost her marbles right there in the health and beauty aisle of Walgreen's, threw a tantrum, demanded the item, they almost had to call the cops, and then she ran her arm along a shelf and threw everything to the floor.
The same clerk who had been yelled at by the woman, now had to clean up everything from the floor, and she said that tons of customers have been behaving this way for weeks now.
I apologized for the bad day she was having, said I wish I could help you clean it all up, but as you can see, neck brace, bad back, surgery, I promise I won't make any messes at all, and I'll be on my way.
She smiled a little, thanked me for at least wanting to help her clean it, and then she opened her register at the photo center so I could check out without having to wait in the longer line.
I thanked her, wished her a good afternoon, and headed home.

I don't understand people, customers, who do that kind of stuff.
Throwing a fit, throwing things to the floor, does not somehow magically make the long sold out item appear, it just makes them look like spoiled brat children.

---

December 4, 2008

WoW and a big blue blanket.

Ok, I am trying to calm myself down, so I'll talk about other stuff.
I got a really late payment in tonight, so I'll be able to go to my doc appointment on Friday and pay for that, the prescription, get some more groceries, and take care of any other expenses that come up.
*phew*
I was seriously stressing over paying for the doc on Friday because the payment wasn't here yet, and then the crap with the school happened, so not a whole lot got done here today that I originally planned to do. (Sorry Brett! I will try to do it tomorrow)
But the money issue is settled, (yay!) and I'll deal with the school tomorrow.

I've already gotten the teens most of what they wanted for Christmas, the video games they asked for to play on the xbox, and the Wow games, now I just have to get what they need.
I'll be combining the money that my Mom and Dad mailed out yesterday, along with what Aunty Heather and whatever other relatives decide to send, along with the next 2-3 child support payments, to get the boys the rest of their stuff.
This month's disability payment comes in on the same day as a big doctor's appointment on the 10th, so I'm sure I'll be paying out the wazoo come next Wednesday.
But I know I'll be ok financially for the holidays, especially if I get some more work between now and xmas, and even if I get money late, like right before xmas, I'll brave the crowds to go get what they need and want.
Both the teens need some more shorts, a new pair of pants each, some more socks, boxers and shirts, and new winter hoodies or jackets, whichever they prefer.
Sebastian prefers hoodies, and Mark wants a big thick flannel jacket like mine that I got from an ex-boyfriend years ago.
The ex-bf was 6 foot 4, about 225lbs, and a wrestler, so this flannel jacket is enormous, but it is oh so freaking warm and comfy, I love it, and Mark claims it every winter.
He's been wearing mine for the last couple of years, it's ok, it's not like I go many places, so I don't ever really wear my jacket anyway.
As for extra wants, Mark wants some WoW gold (in-game money to use) and Sebastian wants a new comforter for his bed.
A big blue one he said.
It has to be full or queen size, either baby or medium blue, and super soft he said, so I'll do my best to get him a big blue comforter, and I think my sis already agreed to get Mark the WoW gold.
Then the Christmas shopping will be done, and maybe next weekend we'll put up the tree and decorations.
I might have to get some new lights for the tree, not sure yet, I'll find out when I get the tree and stuff out of my closet and start the decorating.
Hopefully Shahiro the kitten-sized 3 year old kitteh, will be nice and leave all the decorations alone this year.
Last year, she thought my really old plush Santa that my Dad had when he was a kid, was her personal play toy.
She'd grab it in her teeth and drag it all over the house.
It was funny because the Santa is bigger than she is, and she'd go crazy trying to grab it with her teeth and drag it around the house to play with because of how big it is, so she'd bite it, drag it, drop it, and have to start all over again.
No matter where I put it, even on a shelf, she'd do whatever she had to do to get it, and when she finally got it where she wanted it, she'd curl up and sleep with it.
I have no idea why she likes it so much, but it's very old so I need her to stop playing with it, I don't want it to get ruined by the stupid kitteh.

Ok, I have emails and other stuff to take care of, I will update on what happens with the school after I talk to the principal tomorrow.
Later days!

---

November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving 2008!

I hope each and every one of you have a happy thanksgiving with relatives and loved ones, enjoy all of the food and family today.

---

November 26, 2008

Shopping wasn't too bad today.

I wasn't able to get the teens the turkey legs, they were all out, so I had to get them some huge thighs and wings instead.
I got the mashed potatoes, gravy, I have a veggie here already, and the chocolate cream pie for dessert, and that's that.
The line at Honeybaked Ham wasn't bad either, my ister was in and out in a flash.

I just so wish I felt better.
I have a sinus and head cold, so I'm all gunky and stuffed up, in addition to the regular pain that I'm always in.
I just feel like the holidays are a complete screw up because of my health this year.
I'm really trying so hard not to be down about it all, but it seems to be beyond my control at this point.

The food will be good, it will be a nice quiet day, just us.
If you don't see me blog again tomorrow or whatever, I hope you all have a happy thanksgiving.

---

November 25, 2008

We're gonna brave the grocery store tomorrow.

My sister is coming over tomorrow around noon to pick me up, head first to Honeybaked ham to pick up the hams for turkey day, and then on to Publix to brave the crowds to get the rest of the stuff to go with it.

I am hoping that Publix has some single packaged turkey legs, that's what the teens want to eat, (along with the ham) pick up some of their mashed potatoes and gravy, some veggies and rolls.
Seeing as it's just the teens and I, we will not be making or having a ton of food, just enough for us, and something for dessert like a chocolate cream pie or something like that.

My sister and nieces will be coming over on Thanksgiving morning for a little bit, but they will be going home for their own dinner with her husband later on.
The teens and I will watch the parade while the food cooks, and then while we eat, we'll watch some movie that we've all agreed on, then I'll nap while they play video games, and it will basically be like any other day around here except for the excessive food.

The only thing the teens like about Thanksgiving is the food.
Actualy, I think that's what everybody likes about the day.

---

November 23, 2008

Mostly finished.

The teens and I did some of the cleaning today, we got the dishes done, the laundry, and a trip to the store for some small things we forgot.
They are well enough to go back to school tomorrow and Tuesday, the only days of school this week, and then they are off for Thanksgiving.

We've just been sitting here tonight watching the AMAs and laughing at everything.
We have a pretty twisted sense of humor, so it's always fun watching awards shows like this.

---

November 12, 2008

Can't sleep? Do some holiday shopping!

It's another sleepless night here, so I figure why waste all this good insomnia energy, and I deide to go do some of the Christmas shopping for the kids.
I got the girls the dvd I talked about, a couple of cute little dolls, and then I started looking for stuff for the teens.

They are easy, and not so easy, to buy for.
They love to play video games, but only certain ones, they like electronics, but only want certain things, they need new clothes again, but they need to pick them out.
The same with shoes, the same with sweatshirts for winter, and so on.
They are picky, but it's because they are older now, they know what they like, and not little kids anymore who wore whatever I helped them put on in the morning.
I kinda miss those days.
It was easier.

---

November 5, 2008

Schoolhouse rocks!

I was sitting here yesterday watching some Schoolhouse rocks videos with Sebastian and it hit me, what a perfect Christmas gift for my nieces!
I remember watching Saturday morning cartoons in the 70's and during commercials, we not only saw all the toys we would later beg our parents for, but we were educated in 3 minute segments by Schoolhouse Rocks on a number of subjects like grammar, spelling, science and history, and many other subjects too.
Both of my nieces love music, and the songs in Schoolhouse Rock are short enough with easy lyrics and memorable tunes that they would sing along to.
Susan is in kindergarten and she knows all of the songs her teacher teaches her, she sings them all of the time my sister says, and it is really too cute.
About a month ago when they came to see me, she sang some song she learned in school, and oh how I wish I had videotaped it.
And Skye, Skye sings in the car all of the time!
They both love this kind of stuff so I was thinking about getting them the Schoolhouse Rock! (Special 30th Anniversary Edition) for Christmas.
It has all 46 of the Schoolhouse Rocks songs and cartoons.

Those of you who grew up during the 70's and early 80's, I know you know all of these, you can probably still sing along to them too.
All of the following links are to the videos on youtube, sing along, I bet you remember them all too!
We learned how bills become laws because of "I'm just a bill", we learned the preamble to our Constitution, we learned about conjunctions, nouns, interjections and adverbs, and so so many more things.

I think this dvd and a few little baby dolls or something else, will be my gift to the girls this Christmas.
It will be fun music they like to sing, and educational at the same time.
I know that I learned about taxation without representation from the "No more kings" one, and it is still one of my favorites.
I just watched Sufferin' Till Suffrage and wow, that was really educational.
Essra Mohawk is who did the singing on that one and many of the other Schoolhouse Rocks songs, she went on to work with many legendary artists like Frank Zappa, Jerry Garcia, and also wrote songs for artists like Cyndi Lauper and Tina Turner.
Pretty amazing lady who taught us about history and science, and has many, many accomplishments under her belt.

What was your favorite Schoolhouse Rock song?
It's really hard for me to choose, I love No more kings and the adverb song.
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly get your adverbs here,
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, got some adverbs here.
Come on down to Lolly's, get the adverbs here!
You're going to need
If you write or read,
Or even think about it.

---

November 2, 2008

Long tiring weekend.

It's been a wicked long and tiring weekend here.
It started when I went grocery shopping on Friday afternoon, and it just kept going.
I over did things and was just far too busy dealing with kids so now I'm totally tuckered out.
Kids n the house, kids outta the house, phone calls, just a number of huge annoyances.
Blah.

Anyway, I've been thinking about Christmas coming and what to buy for the girls.
They all really liked the personalized books I got for Skye last year, maybe I'll get each of them their own books this year seeing as they all loved being a part of the story.
That's probably what I'll do for them.

I've got a lot to do today and I just have no energy to do it.
I will probably make the teens do the dishes and the laundry, or at least help me with it all.

---

October 30, 2008

Haunted house and cooking fun!

My ex-neighbors showed up again today and wanted to take Sebastian with them tonight to go to a haunted house down near the arena.
The arena is used for all kinds of things year round, but mostly for farm and animal shows, so at Halloween when they fix up the whole grounds for haunted houses and all the various food vendors and games to play, (think state fairs and carnivals) they have to move most of the cattle supplies around or remove them completely to make room.
They actually use the cattle barrier fences to help make the maze-like patterns in the haunted houses.

So anyway, Sebastian is gone to that, he'll be eating with them, and he'll be home around 10pm or so.
Mark didn't want to go, he said he was too tired.
He gets like this every "winter", the cooler air just makes him wickedly tired and drained until he gets used to the weather and the difference in time and daylight hours.
It is dark out when they leave for school, and dark around 7pm every night, so it always feels more night-time-ish than it really is, and it affects him for a couple of weeks.

Dinner tonight is deli-meat sandwiches for Mark and I, and hopefully I can go do some grocery shopping tomorrow to get more food and the food supplies I need to make on my new George Foreman grill to do a product review of.
I tested it out today to make a ham and cheese sandwich for my lunch, and it works awesome!
I love the little grill marks on it, and it tasted so good.

The grill was wicked easy to clean up too.
A little bit of the cheese melted out and onto the grill plates.
Once the grill was cool, I just used the little scraper/spatula things that are included, and the cheese just slid off.
Then I just wiped the plates down with a wet paper towel, and bammo! It looked as good as new, like I didn't even cook on it at all.
I freaking love this new grill and am so excited to show you how awesome it works.
I absolutely love kitchen cooking gadgets, love love love, I would buy every single cooking gadget out there if I could afford them all and had a much larger kitchen, and I have confessed this for eBillme's new shopping confessions contest.
Did you enter it yet?

---

October 23, 2008

They are into different thngs now.

There was a time when the boys would have been thrilled getting an rc helicopter to play with for Christmas, but they've grown up and are into different things now like video games for the xbox360 and their computer.

They added a bunch of stuff to the wishlist a few weeks ago, 6 video games and 1 action figure that goes to a video game, because they want the dog tags that come with it.
And then there's all the stuff they have added over the last year or so.
I let them add stuff to the wishlist whenever they want because teens are so hard to buy for, they are constantly changing their minds, so letting them add and delete things at their will just works best for me when it comes time to buy for Christmas or birthdays.

I just go through the list when it's a birthday or holiday, and pick out a few items that they have added and buy them.
I noticed the other day that one of them had gone through the list and deleted a bunch of stuff, and added some more stuff.
At least I know what they want.

---

October 16, 2008

No school tomorrow? What?!

Yeah, there's no school tomorrow because of a "professional day".
Basically, the teachers take a day to prepare the lessons and other things because they say they don't have enough time during the regular school week to do it.
Whatever.

All the teens were really good, they've all gone home now, but they were all well behaved while they were here.
At one point they started talking about Halloween and trick or treating, parties, and what Halloween costumes they were all going to be wearing.
I told them all they were too old to go trick or treating, it's for much younger kids, not teenagers, and they laughed, said they knew, but it's always fun to try.

They weren't too loud which is good, because I was busy trying to fill out some papers for my medical stuff.
I have this huge packet of papers to fill out and get mailed by the 23rd, so I was atrying to finish them all up when it hit me that there was no school tomorrow.
It's going to be a very long weekend around here.
The teens are already at each others throats just 5 minutes after all the friends left.
Great.
Just great.

---

October 13, 2008

MySQL5 and World of Warcraft.

First, the site stuff.
My hosting company, which is totally awesome by the way, ICDSoft.com, sent out an email saying that MySQL4 is no longer being supported and we need to change to MySQL5.
I know NOTHING about how to do any of that stuff, even if they do provide a little help tool.

We urge you to migrate your MySQL4 databases to MySQL5 as soon as possible, using the automated tool we have provided in the Control Panel (MySQL section)

MT users!!!
Do I need to change anything in my MT templates to say MySQL5?
I can use the tool, I think, but if there's a template in my MT templates I need to change, please someone tell me, I'm scared to use that tool until I know.

Now for the World of Warcraft stuff.
I have to go in and clean out the boys pc, scandisk, defrag, all that stuff, to get it ready for the installs of the WoW games.
The teens and my sister, my own sister, conspired together to get me to agree to letting them have WoW.
And no, not wait for the game discs to get here, but to download the free 10 day trial today.
So I need to get my butt in there and start the cleaning.
The boys gave up 2 other game subscriptions so that I could afford to pay for the WoW subscription.
They will be as addicted to it as my sister is.
But some pretty serious rules have been laid down for them to have it, there will be no getting around that stuff either.

---

October 3, 2008

It's October right?

It's not even Halloween yet, but I'm already seeing some on line stores starting to advertise for the 2008 Black Friday sales, which start around November 28th.

I know that the teens would love to have Gears of War 2 Limited Edition for Christmas.
It gets released on November 7th, and I'm going to try and pre-order it for them so that they will have it in plenty of time for Christmas.
They love the first one so much they went through 4 discs already.
It's not that they are hard on the discs, I really believe it's a manufacturing issue because after doing some forum surfing, I've found other game players who've also gone through multiple game discs.
Hint hint Epic Games, your products are shoddy.

The teens haven't asked for anything else.
Yet.
But I'm a mom, so I'm going to get them things like new clothes and shoes, boxers, socks, etc.
I'm a meanie mom though.
I get some good medium sized boxes, and I put the boxers and socks in them, and then add some heavy stuff like candy or some smallish action figures in the boxes to make them weighted, feel like they have something big in them, and then wrap up like all the other presents.
Then I watch their faces as they tear through the wrapping papers to find underwear...LOL

I have no idea what I want, I'll probably get myself a few DVDs of movies that I love watching, maybe a bottle of my fave perfume, maybe some new sneakers or something.
I always have to get myself at least 1 present or the boys get upset.
I never used to get myself anything and unwrap it because I'm the mom, the holiday is about making the kids happy, but the teens always ask why there's nothing under the tree for me, and then they try to give me some of the gift cards that they got.
So now I always buy at least 1 thing for me, wrap it, put a bow on it, and I put a gift tag that says it's from them.
It makes them happy and that makes me happy.

So are you already looking for Black Friday deals?
Have you already written your Christmas shopping lists?
Have you started shopping already?

---

September 1, 2008

Hopefully this keeps up.

I don't think I ever updated you all on the outcome of the child support hearing, so I'll do that now.

The hearing was very brief, I appeared by phone with the state attorney, his attorney showed, and the judge.
He did not appear.
All of my financial documents and interrogatories had been sent in and seen by all the parties, I don't know if all of his ever made it in, but the judge decided in my favor.
There would be no lowering of the support payments from $21.00 per week, in fact, it was raised to $77.00 per week, for a total of $308.00 per month.

For the first two weeks after the hearing, (it was on July 31st, a Thursday) the state agency that handles the child support payments, did not enter in the new court order, so we only got what he felt like sending in.
They were supposed to start taking the new amount that Friday, August 1st, but they didn't enter it in, so on 8/4/08, he sent in $37.20, and on 8/8/08, he sent in $36.84.
Then once it was entered in, he started sending in the right amount, and has actually made higher payments.
These are the last 5 support payments that he's made;

It would be really awesome, so super awesome, if these amounts would continue.
I would then be able to add them to my budgeting software, and work them in to my monthly budget so I could start planning bill payments and the teens needs much better.
Start working on Sebastian's orthodontic needs, get him going on his braces, he really needs them, help Mark start saving for his car and insurance, and be able to make sure that every time they have a financial need for school be it poster boards for projects or money for field trips, that they have it.

I am greatful that he's been sending these amounts in, it helps tremendously.
All I've ever wanted was a fair and rightful amount for teenage boys who grow out of shoes every 3 months, need all new clothes every 4-6 months, (Mark is getting so tall!) and all of their other needs which just happen.
I won't start adding these amounts to the regular monthly budget for a few months, I need to make sure they keep up, so they'll be added to my budget that fluctuates.
I actually have two budgets.
One that is my monthly income that stays the exact same amount every month, and one that changes based on the amount of work I do, and takes care of all the unexpected things that pop up.

---

August 20, 2008

Learn something new every single day.

Joana and I were on a forum we both frequent this afternoon, when the subject of Quinceanera came up.
Being from up north, I had absolutely no idea what that was, so I asked.
Joana posted a bunch of information about what exactly it is.

Basically, when a young girl from a Spanish or Mexican family/culture, is coming of age, the family sends out these beautiful Quinceanera invitations to family and friends to come celebrate the girl turning 15, the age at which she goes from being a girl to a young woman.
They are huge elaborate parties, and a special Catholic mass for her, and the whole thing is usually paid for by her godparents.
The girl wears a very formal dress almost as elaborate as a wedding gown with a veil, and she will have attendants, other girls who are also dressed in formal white gowns, and who will lead in for her at both the ceremony and the dance afterwards.
Most of the guests are family, some friends will be invited, but it's mostly a ceremony and function to announce the new young woman to society.

According to the information Joana posted, it's a pretty big deal.
I always enjoy learning new things about people and their cultures, their ceremonies and stuff, so thanks Joana for teaching me something new today.
I would have probably never learned about this otherwise as my sons and I would never have a reason to be invited to something like this.

---

August 15, 2008

He's 17 today.

My first born, my baby boy, is 17 today.
When my Mom and Dad called this morning to sing happy birthday like they always do, they were surprised to hear the very man like voice that answered.
He has a big deep voice, he's over 6feet tall, he's awesome, kind, caring, compassionate, and all around great young man.
I am so proud to be his mother, and wish him a very happy birthday today.

Tonight, we'll be going out to our traditional Chinese buffet to celebrate his birthday, and Susan's 5th birthday too.
It's something we've been doing every year, it's our fave place to go, and I'm sure we'll all have the same good time we always do.
Then we need to go clothes shopping.
Either tonight or tomorrow, because school starts Monday, and it's the last thing we need to get.

---

August 11, 2008

There is a hell. It's name is Chuck E. Cheese.

Yesterday we went to Chuck E. Cheese for a few hours for my niece Susan's birthday party.
I ran around with them taking pictures of them having fun playing games, winning tickets, getting prizes, eating pizza, and just having an awesome time.

I spent a lot of time hanging with my buddy niece Skye, she is so stinking adorable!
She is still fascinated with my body jewelry, my tongue ring to be specific.
When she was a baby/toddler, I used to stick my tongue out and she used to try and grab it.
She is still intrigued with it.
I kept dong it to her yesterday, sticking my tongue out, and she'd just stare at it, ask what it was, and then she'd try to touch it, and then giggle.

But Chuck E. Cheese is hell.
That place is absolute chaos.
This is what it says about their kid check program. Emphasis mine.

When you first arrive at Chuck E. Cheese's you will pass through our Kid Check area where parents or guardians will have their hand stamped with a number that matches their child's. This is our special way we try to assist you in helping that everyone who comes together leaves together. (This program is not a substitute for adult supervision.)

Yeah, so they have a way to make sure that your kid doesn't walk out the front door with someone who is not their parent or adult in charge, but there were 5 fire exits that I saw with no alarm bars on them, kids were playing right near those doors, the staff was not paying attention, and neither were the parents.

And the part I bolded up there about adult supervision is my biggest issue with Chuck E. Cheese.
There were kids everywhere, running all over, pushing other kids, one small child was going around and stealing the little cups full of tokens from other kids, climbing on tables and chairs, just absolute crappy behavior.
And the parents?
The parents were all just sitting at tables talking with the other parents and adults, paying no attention at all to what their heathen brat children were doing.

Chuck E. Cheese's motto is "where a kid can be a kid."
It does not say where a kid can be a complete jerk and steal from other kids, push them, run around and climb on tables, scream at decibels that would cause a dog's ears to bleed, and the signs do say that parents need to supervise.
But so many parents just let their kids do whatever while they sit there and gab to each other.
I find that it's an absolutely horrible place, I'm glad my sons are grown up and I will never have to take them there for a birthday party, ever.
It was dirty, dirty tables, dirty floors, and the behavior of the kids and the lack of parenting, just aggravated me to no end.
But I made the best of my time with my nieces who I don't get to see very often, I have a ton of pictures of them playing games and having a really good time.
I might post a few of my favorites later on, I did have fun with my girls, but man, that place is just absolutely horrible, it is my version of hell on earth.

---

July 31, 2008

49 years ago today....

George and Lois took vows to love, honor, and cherish one another, till death parts them.
They have had their share of ups and downs, lived through some hard times and some amazing times too.
They had their own son and still had more love to share.
They took in child after child who needed a home, needed to be loved.
And love each and every one of them they did.
They adopted two daughters, they would have adopted them all, their love was big enough to love every child who passed through their doors.

All of their children are grown up and have children of their own now, some natural born, some adopted love born.
But Ninny and Pop Pop love each of those grandchildren as much as their own.
Each child is their family, even friends of their grown-up kids are welcome through those doors.
They are Mom and Dad to everyone who comes to their home.
They remember every birthday, every crowning achievement, they never miss a chance to send a note filled with love, hope, and encouragement.

Things aren't always so easy now, it's tough times for everyone, but you'll never hear them complain.
Ninny always says that you make due with what you have, and then stretch it out some more.
Pop Pop gives great big bear hugs, a wink and a smile, and tells you it will all be ok.
They are stubborn and set in their ways, if you refuse to take their money for shoveling the cold Maine snow, Mom will make you a couple loaves of homemade bread and your favorite muffins to take home.
They send their love for you in so many ways.

Forty-nine years ago today, George and Lois began a life filled with love.
They still love each other as much today as they did all those years ago.
They have a life filled with memories and love, and they continue to share it with everyone.
If only all of us could be so lucky to find that special person to share all of that love with.
They belong to one another and they respect one another.
They love, they honor, and they cherish, every single moment, of every single day.

Happy 49th anniversary Mom and Dad.
I'm sorry we couldn't be there this year, but next year, next year is the big half of a century, and one way or another, we'll be there to celebrate it with you.
You are loved and missed and respected, far more than I ever told you.
Whenever I think I can't keep going, there you are, showing me that I can, encouraging me to keep doing and keep living, and keep loving.
It's that love that keeps me going.
I couldn't keep doing it without your love for me, and seeing the love you have for each other, continues to give me hope, year after year after year.

---

June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day 2008

I want to wish my dad a happy father's day today.
I don't get to see him nearly enough living so far away from my parents, but I think of him often.
I'll hear a brass horn, and be reminded of my dad playing and his love of music.
I get my love of music from him.
There was always music playing in our house, and my dad, while certain types of music were his favorite, he had an appreciation for all types, and would even tolerate my loud heavy metal blaring from my bedroom.
I hope my dad is doing well today, is happy, and knows how very much he is loved and missed.

A funny thing happened at Publix yesterday, when we went to get our subs for lunch.
They had a table right inside the door, where an employee was helping kids decorate a cookie cake for their dads.
She asked Sebastian if he'd like to make a cake for father's day, and he turned to me and said; "Mom, would you like one? I have the money to buy it?"
The employee looked confused, so I told her I was a single mom.
She said "Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought..."
"It's ok" I told her, "everyone always thinks that every kid has both a mom and dad at home, single moms do both jobs, but we only get 1 holiday."
She looked kind of embarrassed, but I didn't mean to embarrass her, I just wanted to explain why he asked me if I wanted it.

It's also funny to me, just how many little things they had set up around the store for father's day.
Tables with things to color for dad, a display of cards and gifts for dad, and in the meat department, a big sign that said, "Grill a big steak for your dad!"
And at every one of those "stations", an employee offering to help Sebastian find the perfect gift for his dad.
At each one, Sebastian would turn to me, chuckle, and say, "After how many years shopping here, have they ever seen me come in here with anyone but you? Have they ever seen me with a dad?"
We both got a laugh out of it, but it is kind of interesting after 10 years of shopping at that store 2-3 times per week, that they've never noticed we don't come in as a traditional family package.
They know us, they know our names, they always ask how we're doing, and if I go alone, they know enough to ask me where my boys are, so they do know who we are.

So anyway, happy father's day to all the dads, all the single dads, and all the single moms who are both mom and dad.
You all deserve the cookie cakes, the cards and gifts, and yes, even the big steaks done on the grill.

---

June 1, 2008

Rabbit rabbit birthday

My little baby boy is 15 today.
He is no longer small enough to fit on my lap, he's almost 6 feet tall.
He's smart, and handsome, funny, and a great human being.
He's caring, loving, and helpful.
And he's grown up right before me, in the blink of my eyes.
He's awesome, and amazing, and I'm so proud to be his mother.

---

May 12, 2008

Digital graphics tablet. Shhhh.

Sebastian's birthday is coming up in just a few weeks, and I think I know the perfect gift for him.
It will require some major extra work on my part, but thanks to Buy.com's weekly deals, I just might be able to get him this PenPower Digital Graphics Tablet.

One of Sebastian's future dream jobs is to be a game designer.
Video games, pc games, digital design and graphics design.
He is already taking these classes in school, he's used a tablet in his class as well as all kinds of other graphics programs, and we have a few of them at home on the teen's pc now.
Adding the tablet would be perfect.
It would allow him to keep designing and drawing over the summer.

The tablet costs $160, has free shipping, and a $30 rebate is offered, making the bottom price I would pay, just $129.95.
That's a really good deal.
It has a 5 star rating in value, performance, ease of use, and overall satisfaction.
It will work with Windows XP, has a usb port, and comes with everything he would need to continue making graphics all summer and all next school year as well for home projects in his classes.
This is something he's been asking for for quite awhile now, so it might be the right time to pick this up for him while it's at such a good price, and his birthday is June 1st.
It would get here right in time to give it to him.

---

May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's day '08!

Happy mother's day to my mom, and all the moms out there!

We moms have probably the hardest job that ever existed.
We are responsible for turning tiny little people at birth, into good, knowledgeable, and responsible people by the time they leave our homes when they've grown up.
According to a recent study, based on every thing a stay-at-home mother does, her salary would be about $117,000 per year.

The eighth annual survey calculated a mom's market value by studying pay levels for 10 job titles with duties that a typical mom performs, ranging from housekeeper and day-care center teacher to van driver, psychologist and chief executive officer.

While none of us moms actually get paid that amount (or anything even close to it) for all we do, it's probably the most rewarding job to have.
We get to constantly see our work progress right before our eyes.
The kids are growing and changing every single day, learning, becoming their own people.

In just the last few months, I've watched my sons grow in many different ways.
Not only have they physically sprung up like great oak trees and tower above me, but they are maturing, becoming smarter, becoming young men that I am so proud of.
Not saying there haven't been some seriously bumpy times along the way, but they are becoming some really cool and interesting people.

So to all the moms who stay at home, all the ones who work outside the home and raise their families, and especially to all the single moms who do the work of two parents all the time, have an awesome mother's day.
You all deserve sweet cards, flowers, breakfast in bed, and tons of hugs and kisses today.
But even if you don't get the material gifts, know that you are loved and thought of every day.
To your kids, you are the center of the universe, the one constant they have in their ever changing worlds as they grow.
Don't do any cleaning today, leave the laundry till later, and if there's no one to cook for you or take you out to dinner, order some take out, or cook you and the kiddo your favorite meal.
It's your day, enjoy it, have some fun, take some time to relax.

Happy mother's day all you awesome rockin' mamas!

---

April 16, 2008

Mother's day is coming up soon.

My mother always had a mother's ring as I recall growing up.
I loved that ring, all those colors like a little rainbow circling her finger.
It didn't have our names, just our birthstones, but I would love to have a ring like the one above someday.
Just two stones, August and June, peridot and pearl, with the teens names on it.
In either white gold or silver, titanium is good too, but no gold, I don't look good in gold jewelry at all.

With mother's day approaching, I get all wishy washy and start looking at stuff like this because I love being a mom, I love my sons, and I always wanted a ring like my mothers.
They actually have one similar to the one my mom had, but I think I really like this one the best out of all of them.
It's sleek, it's simple, it's stackable, a very simple yet elegant design.
But then again, I like this one too.
I love trillion cut stones, and I could do all three of our birthstones, mine in the middle, the boys on either side of me.
So it would be peridot, aquamarine, and pearl or alexandrite, which is the modern birthstone for June, but the traditional stone is pearl. But I can see how a pearl may look awkward with the other two gemstones, so the modern stone would be ok.
That site has so many different mothers day rings and styles, you will have to check it out if you're planning on getting your mother or spouse a ring for mother's day. *hint hint*

---

April 2, 2008

Oooh, I am a bad mommy!

I was cleaning out my purse this morning, and in one of the front pockets I found a few gift cards that belonged to the teens.
They always ask me to hold their cards until we go to those particular stores.
One was for Best Buy, and had mostly been spent except for about $11.00, and the other was for Old Navy for $25.
Not been spent at all.
Oooops!
It was Sebastian's, he got it for xmas from his big, and I kept telling him we'd go, but I hate that store so I never go there and totally forgot about the gift card.

So when I found it, I was like hey bud, look what I found, wanna shop online?
He was like 'geez mom, it's April, you just found it?'
But he picked out a couple t-shirts, I paid the difference and shipping seeing as it's totally my fault, and now he has 2 t-shirts on the way.

I think I get the bad mom award for the day.

---

April 1, 2008

She's 10 today.

My pretty Kali baby is 10 years old today.
Born on April Fools day, and been the best pet anyone could ever ask for.
I gave her a can of special cat food today, I sang to her, and she meowed back to me in her squeaky little 'mew' of a voice.
I love this cat, I don't know what I would do without her.
She's just the awesomest.

---

April 1, 2008

Ribbit ribbit April 1.

I'm up an attempting to get moving so I can get to the docs this morning.
I slept terrible, probably because of the off and on napping I did all day long, but I just laid there, rolling back and forth staring at the clock.

The teens are doing ok so far on spring break.
I say just ok, because there have been a few minutes there that I just wanted to wring their necks for being obnoxious turd nuggets.
Spring break.
It's only Tuesday.
If you're the praying kind, you may want to say a prayer for their safety, or better yet, pray that they learn to knock it off.

And it's April Fools day.
Oh great.
A day full of stupid internet pranks, WoW on the console, Virgle, Custom Time, etc etc etc.
I don't do April Fools.
It's a non-holiday to me.
You don't get the day off, it doesn't have it's own candy or presents, so it's not really a holiday.
It's a made up day for people to act stupid and try and pull one over on the people they love.
Here's an idea, don't do it on April 1st, pick a random day out of the year and do your prank then.
And when they say what the hell man?!
You can yell April Fools!
Now that would be funny.
But today, we're all expecting it.
On like June 11th, I may laugh and say oh you got me, but today, I'm watching you.
I'm expecting it and if the teens do anything really stupid, they may die.

---

March 27, 2008

Sebastian is already telling me what he wants.

For his birthday.
In June.
He wants more video games, he wants a pc based game that all I have to do is pay for it, and then he can download it, he wants new shoes, some more surfer shorts, some more Billabong t-shirts, and all kinds of other stuff.
So I'm going through sites for Amazon coupons, and will be starting to add these things to my wishlist so that I don't forget what it is he wants between now and June.

He's getting to be that age where he's far more picky about what he wears.
His shirts have to be a brand name, with a logo or logo design on them.
Mark, he doesn't care.
He is totally happy with a 4 pack of Hanes, plain black, one pocket t-shirts, plain khaki shorts.

Why do they have to be so different when it comes to this stuff?
I miss the days of being able to just buy clothes with nothing on them, mix and match type stuff, easy stuff.
But that's what he likes, and it will be his birthday, so I'll start saving, looking for deals, and buy things slowly when I can get a deal or they are on sale.

---

March 24, 2008

Today isn't half bad.

I spent most of the weekend dealing with pain issues due to the weather, but today the sun is shining, and my body feels good.
The teens went off to school, I sat and chatted with a neighbor out on their lanai for awhile in the cool breeze, took a walk up to the store to get my much needed money out of the ATM so I can pay a bill that I only pay in cash, and came back.
I'm just sitting here chilling for a few before I go help another neighbor with her computer.
She's such a sweet lady, but she has absolutely no idea how to make things work right.

One of the things I really like about Amscot, is that even though they say that money transfers will take 3-4 business days, it's usually a whole lot faster than that.
I transferred the money out of my paypal account on Friday morning, around 11am-ish, and wasn't expecting to be able to access it until at least Tuesday or Wednesday, but I woke up this morning to see it there.
I do need to call them or go in to talk with them about my card though.
It expires in a few months, so I need to find out if I'll just be sent a new one, or if I'll need to apply for one again.
I just have no idea how that works with them.

After the boys get home, I need to go to the grocery store and pick up some stuff we need, and then I can relax for the rest of the day.
But today has been a good day so far.
I'm not in any intolerable pain like I was this weekend, I feel good, and things are just going good for me.
I do have a lot of things I have to do, the house is a tad on the messy side, but I'm just not going to worry about it right this minute.
I'm having a good day, and cleaning would totally ruin that for me. Hahaha

I sent my Netflix movies back and need to go set up my queue for my next two movies, but their site is under maintenance right now.
Bugger.
I hate it when I forget to check my queue, and then I end up with a movie I didn't want right now.
I know they are all in my queue because I put them there, but there are certain ones I want first.
I'm totally anal like that.

Anyway, I guess I blathered on for long enough, I hope you are all having a good Monday too, or if it sucks, I hope it turns around for you.
Later days!

Oh! Before I forget, I lost another 2 pounds!
I absolutely love love LOVE, my NordicTrack elliptical!
On painful days like this weekend, I didn't get on it at all, but on most days even when I have a little pain, I hop on and do as much time as I can.
After I got back from my walk, I was feeling really pumped, so I hopped on and did 20 minutes.
Then just for giggles, I stepped on my scale.
I'm really trying hard not to obsess over the numbers, but it's an awesome feeling seeing them go down.
I'm now down to 182.5.
Not bad, not bad at all.

---

March 18, 2008

I got my Easter box! I got my Easter box!

Every year, my Mom sends me a box full of stuff for Easter, and inside are the worlds most yummiest things.
It actually came yesterday, but I was too sick to indulge in it's contents.

Oooooh, see that box inside the bigger box?
Do you know what's inside?!

That would be my Mom's famous home made peanut butter eggs.

Then she filled the rest with yummy candy, and some Slim Jim beef jerkies for the teens.

Thanks Mom!
As soon as the teens saw the box of peanut butter eggs, they screamed out "Yeusss!"
These eggs are legendary I tell ya, even Shell has partaken of their yummy goodness.
Of course, I didn't get any of the blueberry muffins, my favorite, but I'll just have to fly home again at some point to get some.
This time though, I'll be getting some better tsa locks for my suitcases.
I'm tired of the scum baggage checkers stealing my stuff.
I know the last time I went up, that I packed 3 things of blueberry muffins in my suitcase, and when I got home, one was definitely missing, and my stuff had been rummaged through.
I hate that.
It's like you have to write a detailed list of everything that is in your suitcase, copy it, and leave one list in the suitcase, and keep one with you.
On the note at the bottom, write something like "I will be checking this bag before leaving the airport, if any of the items on this list is missing, I'll know and report it".

---

March 8, 2008

No mom guilt allowed!

For my birthday last Saturday, Christine sent me a gift certificate to Amazon with the strict instructions to buy something for me.
No mom guilt, no buying anything for the boys or the house, but for me.
So I did.
I bought a ring with my birthstone, aquamarine, and sterling silver, from Avon's amazon store.

It arrived today, and I absolutely love it.
Thanks Christine for making me do something for me, it's nice to have such a pretty thing just for myself.

---

March 5, 2008

The school is retarded.

Ok, so Easter is March 23, most schools are taking spring break then.
Not ours, oh no.
We have a professional day on March 21st, so no school.
Then they go to school for a week, then they have from March 31st through April 6th, for spring break.

That's a very late spring break.
It should be over the Easter holiday, not in April like that.
Our last day of school for the year is May 30th.
I will never understand why they plan the school calendar this way.

---

March 1, 2008

It was a very nice dinner out.

I got back a little while ago, from dinner out at the Oriental Buffet, with my sister, my boys, and my nieces.
I love that place.
I could survive on eating nothing but Chinese food for the rest of my life.
Ribs, General Tso, those fried buttered green beans, and their little Tiramisu squares.
So yummy!

Here's the girls posing in front of the antique bird cage at the restaurant.
Susan is on the left, Skye is on the right.

Susan who is 4, wished me a happy 8th birthday.
I said 8?!
She said "Yes aunty Kat, happy 8th birthday!"
Hey, I'll gladly knock off 30 years. ha ha
Man, wouldn't it be fun to be a kid again?

They gave me a big balloon, a really pretty card, and a Penelope Pussycat, t-shirt.
I absolutely loved the Pepe Le Pew cartoons, and how love struck he was for her until she would return his affections.
Then he would freak out and attempt to run away from her, and just when he thought he was safely hidden, she would pop up and say "mew".

Penelope Pussycat is Pepe Le Pew's object of affection, and also caused him to show his true fear of commitment.
She didn't have a name for many of the episodes she was in, until 1954 when her master called her Penelope. She was mis-named as both Fifi and Fabrette, but her mother's name was Fifi.
It wasn't until the 1995 "Carrotblanca", where advertisements for the short credited her as "starring Penelope Pussycat in her first speaking role".

And now I'm home alone, with my sister taking the teens to her house for the night.
The house will be quiet, no beeping video games, no bickering over whose turn it is, and just time alone to actually watch a movie all the way through with no interruptions, and sit around in my undies if I want to.
I am going to watch The Lookout.

Synopsis:
Chris "Slapshot" Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), whose once bright future has been dimmed by a severe head injury, is a night janitor at a bank. Lonely and frustrated, Chris falls prey to a con man's seductive promise of romance and a better life, and agrees to help rob the bank where he works.

The preview looked good, and it's gotten some really great reviews on Amazon and from Netflix users, with an average rating of 4.5 stars. (out of 5)

I'm going to answer some more of the emails that have piled up, I do want to respond to everyone who has sent me supportive comments and emails over the last few days.
I really appreciate everyone who has offered to help out should I need to fly back for the child support hearing.
I don't think it will come to that, I hope not, but if it does, it means so much to me that so many people would help me get there, and fight for the fair amount of child support that is long over due.
I thought about taking that entry and placing it in draft mode so that if he or his friends, or his latest bimbo girlfriend of the month, Googled across it, they wouldn't know what's going on, but then I said no.
The motion to modify has been filed, he has already been served, he knows that a hearing is inevitable, he just doesn't know that they know he lied.
But he shouldn't have lied in the first place, and I have done nothing wrong, I have no reason to hide what's going on.
It's not me who would be prosecuting him for failure to pay his taxes for a few years, it would be the state of Maine Attorney General, and possibly the IRS.
I simply wanted a fair and reasonable amount of child support, based on the actual wages of a business owner, not imputed minimum wage, because he doesn't make minimum wage.
And that's all I have to say about that for now, because today has been a good day, and I don't wanna spoil it with any of that headache.

I'll let you know how the movie is.
Hopefully.
I am so bad about writing movie reviews.
I watch so many, and I really do plan to review them all, and then I get caught up in other stuff and forget.
If I don't get a review of this one up by tomorrow afternoon Kim, send me an email and tell me to get my ass in gear.
Later days.

---

March 1, 2008

I need to get my butt in motion!

I've been very lazy today, I haven't even taken a shower yet!
I need to get in there and take a shower, get dressed, and all that, so I can be ready when sis gets here.

We've been playing video games and then watched 30 days of Night.
I'll watch it again by myself tonight, I was busy multi-tasking while it was on, so I missed some stuff that was happening.
But what I did see, I liked very much.
I like the idea of ancient vampires who just feed and are brutal killers.
It's not the romanticized version of vampires normally seen in movies.
I have another movie to watch tonight too, it's called the Lookout.
Hopefully it's good.
Ok, I need to get moving here. Ack!
I'm always so late getting ready for stuff.

---

February 29, 2008

I am not a leap year baby.

Sorry for the confusion, my birthday is not today, it's tomorrow, March 1st.
I will be 38 years old.
*gasp*
I'm in great company though, some famous people who share my birthday on March 1st are;
7th Heaven actor Adam LaVorgna (1981), "Saved By The Bell" star Mark-Paul Gosselaar (1974), Nickelback guitarist Ryan Peake (1973), hoops star Chris Webber (1973), Spanish actor Javier Bardem (1969), WWE wrestler Booker T (1965), "Eyes" star Tim Daly (1956), prolific actor/director Ron Howard (1954), the real "Daisy Duke," Catherine Bach (1954), Reggae singer Burning Spear (1948), comedian Alan Thicke (1947), actress Lana Wood (1946), "The A-Team" actor Dirk Benedict (1945), The Who singer Roger Daltrey (1944), Cuban guitarist Leo Brouwer (1939), actor Jed Allan (1937), "The Lady in Red" actor Robert Conrad (1935), Calypso singer Harry Belafonte (1927), screen actor David Niven (1910; d. 1983), bandleader Glenn Miller (1904; d. 1944), and early Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli (1445; d. 1510).

I think though, that 38 will be my last birthday.
I don't want to get any older, so I think I'm just going to stay 38 forever. *wink*

Tomorrow night, my sister and I, the teens, and my nieces, will go do our usual birthday diner at the Oriental Buffet, and maybe something else, then the teens will go to my sister's house for the night, so I can go do something if I want, or just have a night alone.
I think I'll just stay home alone and curl up with some cake or ice cream, and a movie.
I have 30 Days of Night coming from Netflix, so I'll just curl up with my kitties and a scary movie, and enjoy a peaceful night by myself.
Thanks for all the early birthday wishes though!

---

February 20, 2008

That's my kind of watch.

So yeah, I'm still up because the AC whirring is making me kind of nutty, I'm like too tense to sleep, afraid it might blow up or something.
I know, totally unrealistic fear, but hey, that's me.

So I'm surfing the net and I come across the perfect watch for me.
I don't wear a watch everyday, I don't think the watches I own currently, fits well with my oh so casual style of dress.
But I came across this site for Technomarine watch styles, and found this one.
I love it!
I like the design of the numbers, the nautical look, the blue and the black together.
It's perfect.

I should try to get to bed soon though.
I'm a bit shaky, need to rest.
Mark will be attempting to make it to school tomorrow.
We'll have to see how he's doing in the AM I guess.

---

December 31, 2007

Just under an hour now.

It will soon be 2008 and people will begin working on their resolutions and things they hope to do.
I don't make resolutions because it's too easy to quit and say I'll do it next year.
I just take things 1 day at a time these days.
I am just going to get up every day and keep going.

The boys and I have been hanging out and eating pizza, watching tv and stuff, and we'll watch the ball drop at midnight and then I'll probably go to bed.
But after the ball drops, ABC, after the rockin new year's eve, they are going to have some kind of special thing on about Cloverfield.
I am so very curious about this movie. I just have to know what this monster is.
I'll be going to see it as soon as I can after it comes out, I'm trying so hard not to read too many spoilers on it.
There are so many sites out there talking about it too, but one little special after the ball drops won't be a huge spoiler right?

Alrighty, off to click through new years shows again.
Have a happy one, don't drink and drive.
Call a cab or if you live throughout Florida and in Metro Atlanta, Savannah, and Metro Nashville,
you can call 1-800-AAA-HELP, and they will give you a ride home and tow your car absolutely free.

---

December 26, 2007

I wanna rock! Well, sorta.

Today was a fun day.
I had my niece Skye over all day long, we played, ate snacks, read a story book, and just had a really good time.
Then sis came over to pick us all up to do some shopping and get some dinner.

We went to Best Buy so the boys could spend their gift cards, and Mark picked out Halo 3, and Sebastian picked out Rock Band.
Yup, we've got GH3 and Rock Band now.
Rock Band is fun, we can all play it.
We can sing, play guitar, bass, and drums.
It's actually pretty fun.
I don't think we'll be making any videos of this till we all get much much better.
It's kinda tough. The singer stuff is hard. If you don't hold those notes as long as it wants, it says you failed.
Ouch man. LOL

Mark is gone to my sisters for the night, he'll be back in the morning and Susan will be spending the day with us.
Sebastian and I are hanging out playing Rock Band and eating the Chinese take-out we picked up for dinner.
We went and bought new shoes for everyone before getting the Chinese.
All 4 of the kids all got new sneakers, and are very happy. Susan and Skye picked out some Dora shoes, the boys got some new Champions.

Oh, a wicked funny about playing Rock Band.
Shahiro the kitten, absolutely hates it when anyone sings, hates it.
We sometimes will just sing to annoy her, and she tries to rip your face off.
So, Sebastian and I were playing, I was sitting down singing, and Shahiro climbed up on top of me, hissed right in my face, then stretched out all her claws as a warning to shut up.
I failed at the game because the cat made me scared...LOL

---

December 25, 2007

Merry xmas 2007!

The boys have had a good Christmas, they got the games they wanted, clothes, money to spend, gift cards, and the computer.
They are quite happy right now playing Call of Duty 4.
We watched our favorite holiday movie, A Christmas Story, while we ate our turkey and mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and rolls.
In all of our stockings is enough candy to rot our teeth till easter rolls around again..LOL
It's been a really nice day so far, here's hoping all of you have had a wonderful Christmas as well.

---

December 24, 2007

It's late on Christmas eve

and everyone is away.

Sebastian has gone to bed, Mark is playing video games, he's rocking out, and I'm finished reading blogs, and about to go reply to emails.
It's really been a boring day and night here.
We did watch a really cool bloody movie, I'll have to write up my review after emails are taken care of.
I made dinner, cleaned the kitchen, did laundry.
Such a thrilling list of things done on Christmas eve eh?
I just have had absolutely nothing exciting to do today.
Oh yeah, I tweaked the boys new pc.
Because it's brand new, it is set up to load like everything on startup, so I cleaned up teh start up files, tweaked the services.msc of all those stupid things that don't really need to be set to automatically run, and when I rebooted, it was fast as lightening.
They are pleased.

My sister brought some gifts over for the boys after work when she dropped off Sebastian, I gave her the presents I had for the girls.
I had gotten the girls some new toys from the Learning Resources, I know they will love them.
Sis gave them each $50 to Best Buy, and some presents from Mark and Carrie, her employers. They gave the boys a ton of new clothes.
They own some surf shop clothing stores, and asked for the boys sizes.
They gave each of them 2 huge boxes of stuff. I can't wait to see what they got.
My sis gave me a necklace like the one of hers that I had been admiring and wanted to borrow it to copy it, to see if I could recreate it and make one. The matching earrings too.
Sweet!
Now I have one and I can copy the pattern to make them whenever I get the go ahead to make jewelry again.

Well I guess that's all for now.
Time to get busy on other stuff and try to entertain myself for the rest of the night.
Later days.

---

December 24, 2007

Twas the day before Christmas.

It's a quiet Christmas eve here at the Cooper household.
Sebastian went to work with my sister today so he can play with his friend Matthew, while she takes care of his brother Greg.
Mark is playing on the computer, Runescape again.
I'm done wrapping gifts, I have all the food ready to start cooking tomorrow.
It's a lazy quiet day.
I gave my sister her birthday card this morning, and will give her the presents for the girls when she drops off Sebastian later this afternoon.

It really is a different kind of Christmas now that the boys are older.
I feel kind of sad about it.
No little kids getting all excited, no begging to watch the Christmas movies, no begging to take a peek at the presents under the tree.
It's just so weird.
It's just not the same, and because they have changed and are no longer excited, I'm not either.
I had no Christmas spirit this year at all.
The only decorations I put up were the tree and my antique Santa pieces.
I usually go all out, hang garland, place the Christmas story books on the coffee table, all the shaped candles, the little Christmas village, the Santa wreath on the door.
But not this year.
I left them all in their boxes and just said forget it.
The boys really don't pay any attention to it anymore, so why should I do it?
I know I should have just done it anyway, but it feels so unappreciated anymore.
The boys usually always help and beg to put the stuff out.
This year they didn't.
Why do they have to grow up?
Why do they not love it as much as they did?
Maybe I'll just drag the rest of the decorations out and do it anyway.
I need to feel more in the spirit.

---

December 23, 2007

Christmas blahdy blahs.

The only thing I hate about this time of year is that no one is around.
Hardly anyone has blogged for the last few days, no one is posting to any forums, which leaves me totally bored.

I could go tweak the boys computer, but Mark is on it.
Sebastian is playing video games on the xbox, and I'm bored.
I've started converting cds over to mp3s, just to have something to do.
I've got about 15 or so cds to convert over, I guess that will keep me occupied for awhile.

What are you doing?
Getting excited for Christmas?
The kids driving you nuts yet?

I remember when the boys were little, oh how they would go crazy by today.
They knew in just 2 more sleeps, it would be Christmas and they'd be getting lots of new toys and games to play with.
Now that they are older, honestly, Christmas isn't a big deal anymore.
It makes me kind of sad.
The more grown up they get, the less the holidays excite them.
It just isn't the same anymore.

---

December 22, 2007

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say.

I'm finishing getting ready to go out, but won't be leaving until after I do the drawing for the Walmart sucks gift card give-a-way, so no worries, I won't keep any of you who have entered waiting.

But while we're all waiting for 2:17pm to roll around, I thought I'd give you a couple more songs for the present wrapping I'm sure all you moms and dads will be finishing up this weekend.

Remember to right click and save as please.
Davey Jones - Mele Kalikimaka and
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - Holiday Road

I finished wrapping the presents for my nieces and oh my bad, I lost track of the dates.
TODAY is December 22nd, not tomorrow.
TODAY is my sisters birthday.
Yikes!
They say when you get older, your memory is the first thing to go, so I confused the dates.
I have a birthday present for my sister and I'll give it to her on Monday when I see her.
Mark just got home from being out with George, and he got some money for Christmas, so when I go to EB games, he says he wants to go too.
Oy!
More video games!
Ah, I guess it's ok, it keeps them busy and off the streets, but if his grades start slipping again, off goes the xbox. He knows that now. After that last time the teacher called and said he wasn't doing his work, he knew I was serious when he came home and all the battery packs to the controllers were gone, and I had unplugged the cords and hid them.
He finished all his work the following week...LOL
Over vacation, he can get ahead, but I won't push him too hard. He'll be ahead and that's good enough.
Ok, I've rambled on enough I suppose. Time for a shower.
Later days.

---

December 21, 2007

Santa knocked on my door today.

Ok, so it wasn't Santa Claus, it was a way hot UPS guy with a package for me, and inside was a Sansa Clip 1 GB MP3 Player!
Yup!
It's the mp3 player I blogged about buying for myself instead of trying to save for an ipod.

A friend told me to be on the lookout for UPS, they had sent me something for xmas, so I knew something was coming but didn't know what it was.
I was totally surprised it was this!
You have to see this thing, it's so cute!
And in my fave color too. *wink*

It really is only slightly larger than a quarter, but it holds a full gig of mp3s, records voice memos or audio books, and has an FM tuner.
Very cool.
It charges through the same USB cord that you use to drag and drop, or copy files from my music folder to the player.
It only took about 30 minutes to fully charge, and I've been messing with it ever since.
I loaded about 400 mp3s on it, and there's still room for more.
I totally love it!
So thank you 'C' for the awesome gift. I think she somehow knew that even though I said I was going to buy it for myself, that my mom guilt would totally win out. *LOL*

---

December 20, 2007

More holiday music goodness.

I feel like I've been living in the Outer Banks the last few days, and I am so sorry that I forgot to post some Christmas music.
I was reminded to do so earlier tonight, so here's some tunes to make up for the days I missed.

Please remember to right click and save as. Stealing bandwidth isn't nice.

Queen - Thank god it's Christmas

Twisted Sister - Silver Bells

Weird Al - The Night Santa Went Crazy

---

December 20, 2007

The Christmas meme.

First, as I suspected, the Walmart green snowman gift card did not arrive today as they said it would.
Par for the course. *eyeroll*

Bucky at the Wvb, tagged me for this one.

1. Wrapping or gift bags?
I wrap everything.

2. Real or artificial tree?
Fake. And Charlie Brown lovable.

3. When do you put up the tree?
During the first week of December and not a day sooner.

4. When do you take the tree down?
New years eve.

5. Do you like egg nog?
Hell no.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
A real life looking baby doll. I was like 8 or something.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Hahahahahaha! No.

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
The year my brother thought it was hilarious to give me a giant box full of condiments.
Yes, he actually gave me a box full of mustard, ketchup, mayo, salt, pepper, bbq sauce, chocolate syrup etc etc etc.
Shittiest gift ever. Hands down.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Cards.

10. Favorite Christmas Movie?
A Christmas Story, and the Year without a Santa Claus. The Miser brothers rule.

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
i shop all year long when I find good deals.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
A little bit of everything.

13. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Colored, non-flashing.

14. Favorite Christmas song(s)?
I really like them all. No favorite.

15. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Stay home.

16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Yes. Dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donder and blitzen. And old rudolph too.

17. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Neither. I have Zero from TNBC.

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?
Morning.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
That stores start selling us Christmas at Halloween.

20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color?
Nope.

21. What do you leave for Santa?
Santa is a fairy tale just like the easter bunny, tooth fairy, leprechauns, JC and so on and on. So, nothing.

22. Least favorite holiday song?
I don't think I hate any of them.

23. Favorite ornament?
I have several faves handed down from my gram, stuff my kids made etc.

24. Family tradition?
We have our own thing.

25. Ever been to Midnight Mass or late-night Christmas Eve services?
When I was a kid and had to go. I haven't been to a church for Christmas services in about 25 years.

Annd I'm not tagging anyone, do it if you like and let me know in the comments that you did.

---

December 20, 2007

Join us on the dark side.

I finally went and did the grocery shopping I needed to do, got my turkey and taters, gravy, veggies, and for dessert, I picked up a small tray of petite fours from the Publix bakery.
I got a roasting pan and more household supplies that we needed, more regular groceries as well because, school vacation is starting and they will eat me out of house and home.

Before that though, I went into Walgreen's to pick up my script, and picked up all the stocking stuffers for the boys and me too. Lots of candy, chocolates and stuff like that.
I picked up wrapping paper, tape, gift tags, and then I saw this lone box tucked way on the back of the shelf.
I reached back there and this is what I pulled out.

The whole 8 piece M&M's Mpire dark side ornament set.
Score!
Every year I buy at least 1 new ornament for our tree, and when I saw that, I bought it.
For only $5.00 too!
Double score!
They sell for around $30.00 on ebay, but the sticker said $5.00, so $5.00 is what I paid...LOL
I paid for all that stuff and then headed to Publix.
Bought a super easy dinner as well as everything else above, and came home, ate dinner, and now I'm playing catch up with blogs and emails.
I'm so stoked about those ornaments!
Later days.

---

December 19, 2007

No more stress, just sleep and clean.

I am so glad that things worked out today the way they did instead of how the day started.
I was so frustrated this morning, and I had been awake all night, so of course that made things more stressful.
I appreciate all the comments about how 'stuff' isn't important, that the teens love me, know I tried etc etc, and I'm not even going to bother explaining anything because I just don't think people will get 'it'.

So anyway, now that it's here, I can go ahead and take the Dell Memory sticks and add them in there so that the pc can do what it needs to do for the teens, and then I can start on the other things around the house that I have been planning on doing.

After the holidays, this house is getting a top to bottom, every nook and cranny, cleaning.
It's that time of year again, and the teens will be out of school for winter beak till the 8th I think, so all of this stuff should get done.
There are bags and boxes of items that have literally, not been opened or touched in years.
If they haven't been touched, they aren't needed items.
It's time to shrink the amount of stuff I have down to just what I actually use and need.
A full cleaning is in order.

I have so many things to do on my own pc tonight and tomorrow, I need to get cracking on it or it will never get done.
Then, I'm going to go to bed and actually sleep.
I'm wiped out.
Later days.

---

December 19, 2007

I don't believe it!

So the order got canceled this morning, right?
They said they canceled the order and to make up for my troubles, they were sending me a $20 gift card.
Right?
Well about 30 minutes ago, the UPS guy walks up to my door and hands us this.

Um.
It was overnighted, next day aired to my house.
But at 4am, they said they did not have the item.
At 8am, they canceled the order and said they did not have any but were expecting more on Monday.
Um.
On my order history page, it is canceled.
I have no freaking clue what the hell Walmart.com is doing.
Is it really canceled?
Is my money being refunded still?
Do I call them again and say what the hell are you people doing?
Or do I just let them wallow in their own mistakes?
I'll wait the 24-28 hours for my CC transaction to update, and if it's been refunded to me, I'll call them.
Or maybe I should wait 3-5 business days to notify them. *evil grin*

But it's here, the teens are happy, I'm happy.
Yup, I got them a new computer because theirs was broken, and Pete did send me a tower, but i was unable to get a windows xp installation to work on it, and so I'll strip it for parts. There's some good working parts in it.

Annnnnd, I won one of the ellipticals!!
W00t!
So even though today started out like total crap, it has ended totally freaking awesome!
Yay!
Whoo hoo!
Later days!

---

December 19, 2007

Walmart must die.

My really horrible experience with Walmart.com begins here, then here, and as of yesterday, here.
But here's the cliff notes.

On Wednesday December 12th, at 10:30am, I purchased a very expensive item from Walmart.com.
$359.00
The site said the item was in stock, I could pay $36 for 1 day shipping, and my item would arrive on Friday December 14th.
Total paid = $421.10

Fast forward to Friday morning, they sent an email saying they had just processed my order, obviously I wouldn't be getting it that day.
I call customer service, ask what's up.
A supervisor by the name of Carol deducts the $36 because I'm not getting it on the day promised, she tells me I'll get it Monday the 17th.

Monday the 17th arrives, no package, I call customer service again, they tell me they haven't shipped it yet, they will expedite my order, please wait 48 business hours.
Carol condescendingly assures me I will have this in time for Christmas.

Yesterday the 18th. I receive a call from them telling me they have to "investigate" my order, there is no logical reason why it has not been shipped to me.
I ask, is this item in stock?
They assure me it is but can give no estimate of it's arrival.
They tell me someone will call me in 3-5 business days with an update.

I call Walmart corporate, make a complaint, they tell me in a few business days, someone will call me back to discuss the nature of my complaint.
They take my name, phone number, address, and order number.
They promise me I will get a call from someone at corporate.

I call customer service again, ask if I can cancel my order.
They tell me no because it's in process, it will definitely be shipping to me soon.

At 4am this morning, I received this email.
Dear Kat Cooper,

Unfortunately, we have not been able to ship the item(s) shown below yet
and as a consequence, it may not arrive by the original estimated delivery
date.

Well considering my arrival date was December 14th, obviously it's not been delivered.

We apologize for any inconvenience and are working with our suppliers to fill
your order as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we are currently unable to
provide a revised delivery date.

We will continue to make every effort to ship this order; however, if you wish
to cancel this order, please call Customer Service at 1-800-966-6546 and we
will attempt to cancel it before it ships.
If you don't request that we cancel this order and we cannot fulfill it within
10 days, we will presume that you consent to us canceling the order and we will
cancel it at that time. You will be notified of the cancellation.

What do they mean they are working with the suppliers to get this filled?
They told me it was in stock, the website says this item is in stock, and they are still offering customers 1 day shipping.
The last day a customer can order to get it on December 24th is Thursday the 20th at 11:30pm.
But they are telling me in this email, they are working with the supplier to get it filled?
Does that sound to any of you like this item is in stock?

Yesterday, they would not let me cancel the order, they told me it was processing.
My money has been tied to this purchase for an entire week, and now they tell me I can cancel it?
With only a few days left to try and get this somewhere else?
Their website says it's in stock!
They are still selling this item on the website, yet they don't actually have any!

My credit card has had a hold on this money for a whole week, I have no idea how long it's going to take Walmart to actually cancel this and release my funds, and then how long after that, that my credit card will release the funds back to me.
I may possibly get to spend my money by New Years!
This was a Christmas present for the boys that I was going to give them early because they need it now.
Not in 10 business days if Walmart finally gets the supplier to ship more product.
And of course, they cover their butts and say they may not get any more within 10 days, and will just assume I want to cancel at that point.

I can't even call them to cancel this until 6am central time, it's only 5am here now, I have 1 week to try and get this someplace else, and no local stores have it.
I've called, I've checked online, the only other place that has this is an online store based on the west coast, Pacific coast.
I can't call them to verify they really have this until 5am Pacific time.
And that's if Walmart immediately cancels my order, and if my credit card immediately releases the hold.
It will cost me an additional $65 to get it sent by Fedex, next business day priority from this on line store.
If they even really have it.

You have absolutely no idea how livid I am.
Walmart has wasted an entire week of my time, my money, $421.10 of my money, has been held captive for a week, I have made calls to them every single day, spent over 4 and a half hours total, just sitting on hold during the last week, waiting for a rep to pick up.
Every call I made, they assured me the item was in stock.
Their own website says it's in stock.
And at 4am on December 19th, 5 days after I was originally supposed to receive this, they send me an email telling me they are sorry but I won't be getting it because they need to work with the supplier to get more of this item.
At 4am on December 19th, 7 days after I paid for it, they tell me that I can now cancel this order after being told for the last 2 days, that I could not cancel it because it was processing and would be shipping soon.

I am so furious right now.
You have no idea what kind of rage state I am in.
I've been sitting here typing this for about an hour.
I have been making sure I've gotten every detail of this straight by going over my notes I took during each and every phone call.

I may not be able to get the boys their Christmas present that I tried so hard to get.
I saved as much money as I could, I put my own Christmas present money and my earnings, and the money from Aunt Heather, together to do this, and now I may not be able to do it at all.
I am so upset right now.
I tried so hard to do this.
I was finally able to get them this really great gift for Christmas, and Walmart screwed me the hell over for an entire week!

Do you think Walmart is going to care how much of my time they have wasted?
Do you think they will care that my money has been held hostage by them for a whole week?
I don't think they will care at all.
I don't think they ever did care.
They held onto my money as long as they could because that's all they cared about.
They lied to me repeatedly, told me I would definitely have it by Christmas, it was shipping soon, wouldn't let me cancel it, assured me repeatedly this item was in stock and I would definitely be getting it.

Walmart will NEVER get another penny of my money ever again.
I will NEVER shop at any of their brick and mortar stores again.
I will NEVER shop at Walmart.com ever again.

---

December 19, 2007

Merry Christmas to me.

One of the sucky things about being a single parent is you like hardly ever get gifts at Christmas, unless you buy them yourself.
My parents always send me some money, my sis usually gets me something, and a friend sometimes surprises me with a gift, but single parents usually get the stale end of the candy cane most of the time.

So we buy our own gifts, and when the boys were little, I used to sign the tag from them so they felt like they gave me a gift.
It made them very happy to watch me open a gift from them, like they somehow were responsible for getting it for me.
It made them smile and be happy, so it's one of those fond memories I have of the holidays with them. They thought it was magic that mommy got a gift from them when they had no money and didn't pick it out.
They were always excited to see what they got me. *laugh*
They would find the present under the tree and race it over to me and say "Mommy hurry open it, it's from us!"
Adorable.

As I said, my parents sent me a little bit of money for myself for xmas, but I spent it on the teens.
I combined everyone's money and mine together to get the boys the gift that Walmart.com is holding hostage. They will eventually get that whenever the hell my order gets found and shipped, and 2 more video games.

But last night I sold an ad here on my site for a nice small bit of change, and decided to treat myself to some pretty-up things because I'm a total make-up whore.
I love make-up, and Avon is starting to sell mineral make-up for way way less than those big mineral make-up companies.
A friend of mine who uses Avon, told me that their mineral make-up is actually better than Bare Escentuals, and for far less money.
I went to my Avon reps website* and logged in, clicked shop by brochure, chose the me-spree catalog, and bought myself the following.

They were having a $5 each buy 2 get 1 free sale on their line of Mark haircare, and their curly hair products are awesome, so I snatched up the following; Salon straight anti-frizz, Curl Goddess defining gel, and Curl Goddess curling mist.
A foundation brush for $5.99, and oh yeah, from the Outlet catalog, I bought a Footworks foot file for .79 cents.
Then I picked up an all over color stick for $2.99 in rosy shimmer, it's for eyeshadow, eyeliner and lips, all at once. Perfectly coordinated looks in one item. Cool.
Then I got two big color eye pencils in eggplant and classic mocha for just $3.99 each, and for $7.99, I got their Personal Match smooth mineral makeup, and for just $3.99, a Personal Match concealer stick.
Shipping was only $3 with the offer code of SHIP3.
My total was $42.73. Not bad at all.
It will ship tomorrow, and I'll have it by Saturday.

*Yes my Avon rep is a man, he is the grandfather of Kelle, one of my friends.
He and his wife sell Avon to make ends meet.
Ordering on line is easy, and they ship it anywhere right from the Avon warehouse by ground shipping.
No personal Avon rep has to deliver it to you. It's all done through the mail now.
I love that!
I always felt kinda weird having some lady come over and show me stuff while I flipped through a catalog, or wrote down my order. I prefer to shop anytime on line in my comfy clothes ya know?

---

December 17, 2007

Feels like Christmas now.

That's our current temps, it's not bad at all.
I actually love it when it gets like this, my body doesn't, but I do.
It will be about 39 degrees when the boys head off for school in the morning, so I need to make sure they are wearing their hoodies when they leave.
They walk to school, and even though it's not far at all, about a 10 minute walk, Sebastian said it was cold this morning, so I know tomorrow will be cold too.

Some locals on the message board were whining about how cold it is.
They have no idea what cold really is if they've lived here their whole lives.
Last February when we went to Maine, it was 10 degrees with a wind child ranging between -10 and -20 below zero the entire week we were there.
Now that's cold.

Sebastian and I went for a walk this evening around our hood to look at lights, and I saw this cool tree a few streets over.

Not many people here decorate outside for the holidays, it does look weird decorating your super green lawn and palm trees with Christmas decorations, but at least a few of our neighbors went all out.

---

December 15, 2007

I'm living in a fog.

I haven't felt myself all week, and it just dawned on me why, while I was grocery shopping this afternoon.
The muscle relaxer I'm taking causes drowsiness, dizziness, and blurred vision.
I've been sleeping almost non-stop all week, lethargic, lazy, haven't wanted to do a damn thing.
And I kept changing my contact lenses because I thought they were dirty.
Nope, just the meds.
I'm gonna stop taking them and tell the doc on Tuesday that I can't take these.
I have to be able to function, and with these, I simply don't want to do a damned thing.
I hope the effects wear off soon. I hate feeling like this.

I babysat the girls this morning for a few hours, and then went shopping so I could feed the teenage garbage disposals, and picked up Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for us.
We love the HP movies and books.
Mark had gone out with George and saw Beowulf, so Sebastian and I watched HP while they were gone.

And I didn't forget to post an xmas tune today, so here ya go.
Punk Rock Christmas- Sex Pistols
Please right click and save as.

---

December 14, 2007

Should auld acquaintance be forgot.

I didn't forget about a holiday song for the day, I was just busy doing other stuff.
But here's a rare one for you.

Auld Lang Syne- Jimi Hendrix

Please right click and save as.

---

December 13, 2007

OJ Simpson, not a Jew.

One of the songs the boys absolutely love listening to at Christmas is the Hanukkah song by Adam Sandler.
They laugh and laugh no matter how many times they've heard it before, so I'm passing on the giggles to you.
I'm sure you've heard it many times before, but anyway, here it is.
Hanukkah Song
Please right click and save as.

You don't need Deck the Halls or Jingle Bell Rock
Cause you can spin a dreidl with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock--both Jewish!

---

December 13, 2007

We're gonna make it through.

I've taken to watching Degrassi the next generation every morning at 9:30 on one of the local stations.
I know it's for teens, but I used to watch Degrassi Junior High, and then Degrassi High during the late 80's.

On Degrassi Junior High, the character Spike was pregnant and then gave birth to Emma.
Emma is now one of the main characters on Degrassi TNG.
I was just watching one of the episodes, and Spike was in it, getting married to Archie, or Snake as fans of DJH knew him.
It was a good flashback, I got to see other characters from when I watched like Joey, Caitlin and Liz.
Every Sunday morning, another local station plays back to back episodes of DTNG.
The boys and I have started watching those too.
I used to love Degrassi when I was growing up, so it's kinda cool to see some of the old characters from when I used to watch.

I have another xmas song for you. It's full of bad words, but totally funny.
Ho Ho F'n Ho- Monty Python
Please right click and save as.

---

December 12, 2007

It's a gothic little tree.

We have this tiny little tree we absolutely love. It's covered in purple lights, all the boys decorations they made through the years, fun stuff.
So here's our little tree all decorated.

Here's our tree topper, Zero from the Nightmare Before Christmas.

Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin, Mario, Yukon Cornelius, and the black power ranger.

And here's another song for you.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas by Tori Amos gone baby gone
Remember, don't be a dick, always right click *and save as*

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December 12, 2007

I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus.

Twisted Sister put out a Christmas cd awhile back, and I love it so I thought I'd share.
I saw mommy kissing claus gone baby gone
Don't be a dick, always right click *and save as*

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December 11, 2007

Digital, drugs and trees.

This day just dragged didn't it?
I'm so glad it's almost over.

Anyway, this morning, Mark's teacher called me to let me know he finished his work.
As soon as he completed it, he called her over to his desk and asked her to check it.
She did, and then he says "Can you please call my mom? She grounded me because you called on Thursday and said I didn't do it. Please Mrs. W.?"
So she called me and told me, and I told her to tell him he was un-grounded.
I heard this woo-hoo in the background. *LOL*

Yesterday after I left the new pain docs, I went straight to Walgreen's to get the new scripts filled, he added a muscle relaxer and some Ultram ER and the regular Lortabs I have been taking. The muscle relaxers give me wicked cottonmouth by the way.
The pharmacist couldn't fill the Ultram because it interacts with the muscle relaxer in some people, and causes seizures, so she said she was going to call my doc and see if he knew that and still wants me to take it.
I just checked the Walgreen's site to see it's progress, and it says it was filled yesterday and picked up.
I'm all no, I didn't pick that up, the pharm wouldn't fill it.
So I called Walgreen's and they said the computers have been malfunctioning all day and saying that every script that has been dropped off has been filled and already picked up by the customers.
The pharm clerk sounded absolutely frazzled as she said this.
I can only imagine how it's been all day having to deal with the computers saying every order was complete and picked up, while the customers stand there probably screaming, that they didn't pick it up.
She said as soon as they fill it, if they fill it, they will call me but I can expect an email saying it's ready and it won't really be ready.

On to the digital.
On February 17th, 2009, all broadcast tv will go digital.
You can find out more about it at DTV answers, and also learn about the digital converter box that you will need if you don't have cable or satellite tv already.
That's the group I fall into, no cable, no satellite tv, just an antenna on top of the tv.
Between Jan. 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, all U.S. households will be eligible to request up to two coupons, worth $40 each, to be used toward the purchase of up to two, digital-to-analog converter boxes. For more information about the converter box coupon program, call 1-888-DTV-2009 or visit ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon.
So come January, I'll be signing up for that coupon. I can't afford to buy a digital tv, so I'll be needing the converter box, and if I can get a coupon for it, all the better.
The boxes cost about $60, so getting $40 off will definitely help.

Tree time!
I have my tree out and placed where I want it, the lights are on, but no ornaments yet. I just can't seem to get in the mood to decorate at all. The tree is the only thing I have out.
Pretty darn pathetic right?
I'm going to try and get it done tomorrow.
At least finish the tree.

I was going to do some xmas shopping on line today and didn't, instead we watched Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End.
It was pretty good, what I saw of it anyway. I fell asleep a few times, jolted awake, fell asleep again.
I'll have to watch it tomorrow or something and hopefully stay awake during it this time.

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December 11, 2007

Christmas music to get you in the holiday mood.

Every year, I usually post some songs for people to download, getting a late start on it this year, but I thought I'd start off with the rare version of Ave Maria by Soundgarden.
It's so beautiful, and I know some people have never heard it.
Don't be a dick, always right click. *and save as.

Ave Maria Gone baby gone.

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December 11, 2007

Santa's runway is melting.

The climate changes are causing the runway which Santa uses to take off and deliver toys from, is melting.
He's not sure if he'll be able to make it this year.
Check it out at Green Santa.

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December 8, 2007

Fa la la la la, lalala la!

I just finished writing out, addressing, and stamping my Christmas card list.
You still have time to get a card from me, they will all be mailed out on Monday, so if you want a card, just shoot me an email clicking the handy button at the top of my sidebar, and include your name, address, and zip code, (really important) and a link to your blog so I know who you are.

As per the terms of my privacy policy, your name and address or email, will never be shared or sold, only used for the sole purpose of me sending you a card during the holidays.

---

November 28, 2007

Bottle of Red, Bottle of White.*

A few days ago I received two premium bottles of wine from Gold Medal Wine's wine of the month club, to try and give my review of.

They were delivered very quickly by Fedex, and were packaged securely in shaped styrofoam, and snuggled tightly inside their shipping box.
When I got them out, I noticed how well they were each presented, wrapped in tissue paper and tied nicely with a bow matching the contents inside.
One red, one white.

They came with a beautiful gift card addressed to me, lots of informational materials, order forms, and a wine tasting score sheet postcard to mail back on each wine, with instructions on how to judge the wines.
They also came with a newsletter with all the information about the winery, Hambrecht Family Wines of California.
The newsletter also contains a few recipes that would go well with both these wine selections, and all the details of each wine, as well as information on last months wines and directions on how to see the full list of available wines.

I no longer have any nice wine glasses, I need to pick up some more for myself and for when I have guests. I had them on the shelves above my sink, and one of the cats had gone tearing through the house one day and knocked them all down.
So for this tasting, I used one of our latest collector cups from the Simpson's movie promo a few months back.
It would have been nice to use a real glass, but all mine were broken and Christine wanted to see my cups, and I'm only too happy to oblige a friend.

On to the tasting!
Let's start with the Bradford Mountain Grist Vineyard 2004 Zinfandel.
It was aged in oak for 12 months, and only 1,800 cases were produced.
This Zinfandel won several gold medals, and is very intensely flavored.
It had a brilliant appearance, a slightly musty aroma, full bodied, a mild texture, and a bit of a rough aftertaste.
At first I wasn't sure if I liked it, so I took another sip and swirled it around taking it all in.
I do like it, I think it would go with ribs, lamb, or a nice filet mignon, and/or heavy tomato pastas very well.
I then took a few minutes break making sure to completely rinse my mouth out with water, even lightly brushing my tongue, so I could taste the Chardonnay next.

The Belvedere Russian River Valley 2005 Chardonnay was aged in oak for 10 months, and 5,000 cases were produced.
It's a light yellow color, a pleasant aroma of pears and apples, and a hint of pineapple.
It has a light body, full fruity flavors, a mild texture, and a fine aftertaste.
I think it would go nicely with a garlic chicken dish and/or pasta.
Of the two, I liked the Chardonnay the best.

If I drank more often, I would definitely join this wine of the month club.
I was very impressed with both wines as well as how they were presented and shipped.
I noticed on one of the sheets enclosed, that gift packaging is available, and the boxes were gorgeously designed. The price for gift packaging was very reasonable and I could see ordering a few bottles as a gift for friends who enjoy fine wines.
I do need to go buy some new wine glasses now so that I can enjoy both these bottles over the next few weeks.

Continue Reading �

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November 28, 2007

I love my anchor hocking bowls.

There, I said it, I admit it.
I was doing the dishes earlier and was washing out one of my Anchor Hocking mixing bowls, and realized how much I love those bowls.
Nothing sticks to them, they come clean so freaking easy.
I think I want every dish and every pan, and all the bake ware I own, to be that Anchor Hocking glass stuff.

I use those 2 quart mixing bowls for everything I make practically.
When I need the boys to get down under the cupboard and get my bowl, I just say get the glass oven ware, and they know exactly which bowl I'm talking about.
I've dropped them on the hard terrazzo floor, and they didn't break, not even chip.
They've been in the sink and had silverware or a pan thrown in on top of them and not broken.
They freaking rule!

I have used them for everything from mixing cakes and making dips, to serving hot soups or to make jello.
I've even made an ice cream crunch frozen dessert and popped those bowls in the freezer, and they don't crack or chip from the temp changes.
I want all of my dishes to be made of that stuff.
It would be awesome.

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November 27, 2007

Deckin' the halls and all that jazz.

Have you already decorated your house for Christmas?
I know some people who did it like 3 weeks ago, and others who did it the day after Thanksgiving.
I never decorate before December actually gets here, the holidays are so rushed already, I don't want to rush them more.

I'll dig everything out in a few days, and then start putting it all up, so when did you do yours?
Have you already sent out your Christmas cards?
I have my card list ready, and if you want to exchange with me, just send me an email with your name and addy, and blog url so I know who you are, and I'll add you to it.
I do love the holiday, but just don't like to rush it.
I like to take time to enjoy the tree and the lights, all the specials on tv and stuff.
I am getting excited though.
Fa la la lala, la la la la.
Ha!

---

November 27, 2007

Halo 3 Legendary edition today only!

Ack!
Today only, you can buy the Halo 3 Legendary Edition for just $60!
I know the boys like this game, but would they actually want it for Christmas?
It doesn't really come with anything all that great it has the helmet collector thingy, but the game is just the same game.
This is a true Halo fan edition, you have to be like an addict to buy this one.
I don't know!
Argh!
I'm gonna hold of from impulse buying and ask them when they get home. The sale is all day long, so I'll just ask them if they really want the game or not.

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November 27, 2007

I want a pony.

Not for me sillies!
For my nieces!
Have you all see the FurReal Friends Butterscotch Pony?

That thing is just too cute!
It moves, it blinks it's eyes, moves his head, and responds when talked to and touched.
I know that Susan would absolutely love something like that, she just loves animals and horses mostly.
If I could get her that, I'd also get her some cute little horse riding apparel to go with it. It would be so damn cute don't you think?
I hope that by next year, I'm able to get them something like that, they would absolutely love it.

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November 22, 2007

Recipe schmecipe!

I never use a recipe when I cook a turkey, I just wing it (ha!) and add whatever I fee like adding.
This years bird was spectacular, and the boys said I need to do it like that again for Christmas.
Ooops!
No recipe!
Honestly, I didn't really measure anything, but here's what I did.

One 20 pound turkey*
1 plastic lemon juice lemon
approximately 1 cup of margarine
approximately 1 cup Merlot
1 cap full of Mrs. Dash original

Remove neck, giblets, throw away (gag)
Rinse out the turkey
Grab by ass and neck, and place breast side up in the roasting pan
Squeeze contents of entire lemon into cavity
Take cap full of Mrs. Dash and throw inside the cavity
Melt the margarine in the microwave
Pour in the Merlot and stir.
Pour butter and wine mixture over and inside the turkey
Lightly cover with foil and cook at 400 degrees for 3.5 hours (cooking time will vary on size of bird) basting every 20 minutes.

That's it.
I never ever, stuff the inside of the bird. It causes cooking times to increase, and the blood of the turkey ends up in the stuffing. (yuck)
It came out so damn moist and flavorful, OMG yummy!
It has a sweet and tangy, but salty flavor, mixed with all the flavors of the Mrs. Dash. It was seriously fabulous.
I forgot to take a pic of it, but it had a gorgeous golden brown color, the skin was crusty on the legs, wings, and tip of the breast meat.
The skin also had a wonderful sweet flavor from the wine, margarine and spices.
It was terrific!

Continue Reading �

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November 22, 2007

The average person consumes over 2,000 calories on Thanksgiving.

That's just on one meal too.
Scary to think about how much the average American will eat today during their feast.
I imagine people are already planning on how they will work off all those extra calories.
Walking, ellipticals, weight lifting, sit ups, and however people find it most effective to work it all off.

I plan on taking a walk myself after I come out of the turkey induced coma.
We have about another hour before the turkey will be done cooking, and then we'll be sitting down to eat with a movie and then probably naps.
I hope everyone is having a great day so far with food, family and friends.

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November 22, 2007

Be thankful for every moment.

To all my blogging friends, readers, family and real life friends!
There's so much to be thankful for this year, I won't make a list, but will say how much I am grateful for this year.
It had it's ups and downs, but all in all, it's been a good year.
I have so so much to be thankful for, and I hope you do too.
I'm not about politicizing the day, celebrate it or remember how you choose, just make the best of the day, do not take it for granted.
I think that's one of this years lessons for me.
I learned not to take a single moment for granted.
Through everything I had been through, I somehow was able to be grateful for what I did have, and that I was here with my sons.
I had moments of total despair and panic, was given a scare, and it's really too bad that a scare was what it took for me to start living in the moment, but it did.
I would ask each of you to not be like that, to start living and loving in the moment.
There is so much we all have right now, we may not have it all, things may be really tight or even bad, but take a look around at what you do have and just live in that moment, laugh, love, and appreciate it all, even the bad stuff.
Sometimes it's the bad stuff that gives you the most clarity, the most to be thankful for.

As is traditional in our house, we will be watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and once again I'll tell my kids that it was 50 years ago today, that ninny and pop pop, (my mom and dad) had gone to New York to each perform with their churches band, and met.
They were both members of the Salvation Army, Mom from Pennsylvania, Dad from Maine, and right there in front of the Macy's front doors, they bumped into each other and found true love.
That day they each met their other half, the one who would complete their lives and who they would build a new one with.
They met that day, married that coming July 31st, and have been together ever since.
50 years together has seen a lot of changes, a child of their own, adopted daughters, foster children, health issues, money issues, but there they are today, still together with their love just as strong as it was 50 years ago.
I am thankful to them for taking in all those kids.
They took in a sick little baby the doctors had no hope for, but with love, care and nurturing, I'm still here 37 years later.
They still share that same love, care, and nurturing with all who pass through the doors of their home, and it amazes me every single day, just how strong their marriage still is.
50 years is a long time, and it's an honor to celebrate their love and life, and retell their story.

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November 21, 2007

Geocaching for fun and adventure!

My sis and my boys have some geocaches around where we live, a few state parks, and every couple of years she takes out her GPS and they go find their own caches again.
They started doing it when the boys were really little, like when we first moved here.
Their original cache was a spiderman action figure, a ring, some cool pencils, and a half dollar.
Other people came along, found it, took something out, and replaced it with something they brought.

The boys have been talking about going back out and finding their very first cache again.
To see if it's still there, and if people kept it up.
I know one year because of a hurricane, the water had risen up so much, that the tree they hid it in, got submerged under water and the cache moved a few feet from the mark.
After though, someone was able to dig it out of the mud and put it back.
Now the boys are curious to see if it's still there like 6 years later.
I hope they can go again soon and find out.
If they go, I have a few little trinkets I want to put in it.
It's kinda cool to see the stuff people have put in and taken out.
I know my sis has the site with all the coordinates and stuff for it, I'll have to ask her about it and get the link.

The last time I looked at it, there were people from England who had found the cache, and reported back on the site how much fun it was to find.
They took pictures and posted them to her cache page.
It was really cool to see, because they took pics of the alligators and spiders they saw in Myakka Park, and they took a pic of one of those giant banana spiders, and what they had written was hysterical!
They were like what the hell is that thing!? *LOL*
I will try to get the link and show you, it was wicked cool.

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November 20, 2007

Red or white?

Are you having any wine or other spirits with your holiday dinner?
Will you be having a red or white with your turkey, or if you're having ham, which one?
Or maybe even both?
I picked up a nice Merlot the other day, I'm actually having a small taste of it now, it's very yummy.

I remember when I thought wine coolers were totally awesome, that's all I would drink.
Sometimes they can still be fun and handy when going to a picnic or the beach, someplace like that.
They make so many different kinds now, I just stand there staring.

But anyway, I'm having turkey and grabbed a bottle of Alice White Merlot to have with my turkey.
I just couldn't wait and cracked into now.

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November 20, 2007

I'm on my way, on my way, home sweet home.

Ok, well not me, but my sis and the girls will be heading up north to visit the folks for Christmas, and I still have not given sis her Samsonite suitcase yet.
I keep forgetting, she keeps forgetting, we are two absent minded, busy moms.

I would absolutely love to go back up north to visit at Christmas, but it's just too cold, and I'm fund-less, so maybe next year, who knows.
I guess I need to wait and see if surgery is going to be happening, how much money I can put together, but it would be super nice to take the kids to mom and dad's for Christmas again sometime.

I get all childhood nostalgic during the holidays, wanting to be back in the house, sitting around with family and watching all the holiday shows.
It was so magical when we were kids wasn't it?
All those specials on tv getting kids excited for the holidays.
Tonight on ABC at 8pm, is the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special, and then another one, a new one I think, comes on right after it.
I love the Peanuts Thanksgiving special.
This is one of my fave parts of the special.

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November 20, 2007

The life and adventures.

I went and picked up my CT scan films for Doc M, my surgeon, so he can see if that iliac screw is really busted and determine if I need to have surgery.
Radiology said that they faxed the results of the Imdium scan to him already, so now I just have to wait and see what they found.
I hate waiting.

This morning on a message board before I left, Patrick posted a link to his blog where he posted about one of his fave holiday specials was The Year Without a Santa Claus by Rankin Bass.
He posted the clip of the miser brothers.
That is one of my fave parts of that special too.
I love the miser brothers!

After watching that, I noticed that there were any other Rankin Bass holiday specials clips up on Youtube, and one of them was The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.
This special was written by L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and it was very different than any of the other Rankin Bass specials because it was dark, kinda creepy, and made no mention of God.
It had the great god Ak, and his fairies, and the immortal elders who over see earth. And there is a battle to the death!
I recall it only showing once on tv, and people became outraged over the message it was sending, the lack of traditional holiday themes, no religion, a very twisted tale.
Does anyone else remember seeing this as a kid?
I know it aired that one year and then it was never shown again.
You can check it out below.

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November 18, 2007

I'll be shopping on line thanks.

I hate crowds of people, and this coming Friday stars the dreaded holiday shopping season.
When I worked retail, it was like an adrenaline rush to be that busy for 8-12 hours.
Now, you would have to kill me and drag my corpse in there and slap my dead hand holding a credit card on the counter.
I'll do it all from home from the peace and quiet of my my own home.

I am having trouble though.
I don't know what to get the boys.
Yes, they want video games and stuff like that, but i want to give them each something really nice too.
I have looked at nice shoes, raymond weil watches, a new computer which they do need, and all kinds of other stuff.
I think I'm just going to get them a new computer.
They need one.
Theirs is just no longer working great at all.
I need to find a cheap place though, something under $300.
Yeah, like I'll be able to find something in that price range.

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November 15, 2007

Turkey, taters, and what?

It's just the boys and I for Thanksgiving, we've come to enjoy just having the 3 of us alone together, and we have our own silly traditions of video game battles and horror movies about killer turkeys and tomatoes.

This year I asked them if they wanted the big huge meal we do every year, or would they prefer something else.
They both agreed that all we really eat is the turkey, the mashed potatoes, the kick ass turkey gravy from Publix, plain green beans, Hawaiian rolls, and some ice cream pie.
I usually buy the big meal kit Publix has, which includes the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, this nasty cornbread stuffing we end up tossing out after a week because I hate to waste but no one eats it, green bean casserole which all 3 of us detest with a burning passion, and scalloped potatoes.
That's a ton of food for 3 people, and more than half of it gets wasted.
Mark is the only one who eats cranberry sauce, but he doesn't like the Publix stuff, he likes the crap in the can, shaped like the can.

So I'm just going to buy a huge turkey because we can eat turkey till it starts to smell funny in the fridge, the Publix mashed potatoes and their turkey gravy, some fresh green beans, a big package of Hawaiian rolls, and an ice cream pie.
And of course, Mark's can shaped cranberry sauce.
I know that doesn't sound like much of a Thanksgiving, but it's more than enough for the 3 of us and the life we live.

We'll have more time to fight each other in video game battles, and watch stupid movies.
We'll watch Shaun of the Dead, A Christmas Story, and whatever else we feel like watching.
We also have a best out of 3 battle planned for Guitar Hero III.
It will be based on total over all score, not how many notes or percentage of notes hit.
It's the only fair way cuz I suck at hitting every note, but I'm pretty good at getting a high score for doing other things.
The teens thought this was hysterically funny the other day.
I played a song almost all the way through, I totally screwed up at the end which ended my song, but I won an achievement badge for completing 90% of the song but failing it.
It awarded me like 250 points for screwing up. Ha!
See, there's $20 on the line to the winner, it will be paid by me, so yeah, if I can score some more song failures, I'll totally win the battle. *LOL*

On Friday morning, my sis will be coming down in the morning with the girls, and we're all going to go out to breakfast and then go do something totally crazy.
We're going to go to the mall and wander around on black Friday.
I must have been out of it when I agreed to that, i hate large crowds, but eh, it'll be an interesting people watching day.
I'll bring my camera and see what kinds of shots I can get.

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November 3, 2007

Want to exchange Christmas cards with me?

It's that time of year to start getting the Christmas card lists organized, and last year I missed out on it, but I totally want to send cards out this year.
I love getting cards, we love to open them and look at all the beautiful and unique cards people send out, and we hang them on the wall around where our tree stands.

This super cute design is from Polygraphics.com, I absolutely love this design because it's what our Christmas looks like. *LOL* Lots of sun, palm trees, and the beach.
I may just order that one, or see what else they have, but I really like it.

Anyway, want to exchange cards?
If so, just send me an email with the subject line Christmas card exchange, and then inside, your address.
I promise your address will not be sold or used for anything other than me sending you a card for Christmas, and I'll reply to your email with my address.
Please be sure to include a link to your blog so I know who you are.

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November 2, 2007

Millionaire Memorabilia

The holidays are fast approaching on us now, and with them comes the question everyone always has.
What do you get the person who has everything?
Well if they are a sports, music or movie lover, getting them a piece of high quality memorabilia might just be the perfect gift.

They have so many items in all those categories, I spent over an hour going through all the movies and music pieces they have, (not much into sports) and found myself drooling over some of them.
I love the piece above which is the Shawshank Redemption, one of my favorite movies.
This piece is signed by both Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, and has been authenticated.
It's a little more than I can afford, but man, I love it.

They have Nascar, hockey, football and boxing, and many other sports.
They have game room decor, Giclee celebrity prints. They have cigar displays, historical prints, political memorabilia, you name it, they have it.
They even have a single water color drawing of the Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.
I would love that!

One of the most impressive pieces they have is in the political category.
They have a framed display of the presidents, with 43 authentic signatures of the 43 presidents.
It has a hefty price tag on it, but worth every single penny, and would be treasured by a person who collects political memorabilia, forever.
That would be an heirloom piece to hand down generation to generation.
Just looking at it on the page is impressive.
It's a great site for collectors who love truly unique, beautifully framed and signed pieces.

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October 31, 2007

First Halloween not going out.

This is the first year that the boys have not gone out for Halloween.
They have gone either trick or treating every year, or to a small party get together type thing with me and other families.

It feels kind of weird not doing something.
Not dressing up, no candy, no games, just the 3 of us sitting here playing video games and then watching a movie soon before they have to go to bed.

I can't wait to watch Fido, I have heard it's quite funny, it has decent reviews too.
We've been playing GH3 all afternoon and evening, and I suck at it.
I'm going to try the hand controller because that guitar is seriously messing me up.
It's not computing for me. It's not like playing a real guitar for me, so I'm having trouble letting go of what I know how to do, to learn how to do this.
I'll just use the regular controller if I can't get the hang of this in a few days.
$20 is on the line here.

So the porch light is off, the volume down low, a late dinner of my famous spaghetti is cooking, and then we'll snuggle down for a fun bloody movie to eat by.
You can't watch a bloody movie without some sort of red sauced food. You have to eat while watching gross stuff.
It's like, the law.

---

October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween 2007!

Happy Halloween everyone!
This is one of my most favorite days of the year, I love all the costumes and candy, and scary movies.

For tonight's viewing pleasure, we have Hostel - Part II and Fido, which I'm totally looking forward to.
Synopsis:

Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when FIDO eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family. A boy-and-his-dog movie for grown ups, "FIDO" will rip your heart out.

I've seen the trailer, and it looks bloody and funny, kind of like Shaun of the Dead. so it should be good. I love that twisted humor.

I hope everyone has a super fun holiday today, and stays safe. The link to the predator search has been fixed. Ooops! Sorry about that, I was multi-tasking and copied pasted the wrong link.
Ack! haha

---

October 30, 2007

Candy, costumes, and creeps.

Tomorrow is Halloween and if you're a parent and haven't already done so, now is the time to check your local or National Sex Offender Registry for the sexual predators and molesters in your neighborhood.

My sons are far too old for trick or treating anymore, but I still run the search every few months just to see who has moved into my neighborhood.
I just ran the search and it came back with the following results.

Radius 1.0 Mile
Offenders/Predators found 11

That's a 1 mile radius around my house. I can tell you that it's approximately 5 blocks in all directions.
11 of them.
The majority of them are on released supervision, which means they must check in and are being monitored by law enforcement.

You should check with your local law enforcement about the rules regarding the homes these people live in, and Halloween.
Here, no registered sexual offender is allowed to decorate, hand out candy, or even dress up and walk the neighborhood.
They are restricted to their homes, and may also not have porch lights on, which is traditionally an indicator that kids can knock or ring the bell to trick or treat.

Just to see, I ran another check and this time set the parameter to a 5 miles radius.
Radius 5.0 Miles
Offenders/Predators found 149
Wow.
That's far too many pervs near me.

Parents, if you haven't checked your neighborhood yet, please do it tonight or tomorrow before you take your children out.
Trick or treating can be so much fun, but you need to stay safe and stay away from the homes of resgistered sex offenders.
Check your neighborhood, make note of the addresses where they live, and don't go to those homes.

---

October 20, 2007

Get away, get away from it all.

Sebastian and I took a walk tonight, I just really needed to get out of the house, de-stress myself. The more I sat here, the more I kept thinking about all the things that haven't happened yet, may not happen.

While we were out walking, it started raining but we kept going anyway.
Sebastian and I can walk and walk, and just spend that whole time talking about everything and anything.
We talked about video games, he's so excited for GH3, and taking a vacation.
I said I wanted to get far away from everything and everyone, I'm so tired and stressed out, go someplace deep in the woods of another state, like get a Pigeon Forge cabin rental in the Smoky Mountains.
It's in Tennessee, and I hear it's beautiful. I have a friend from the local Tampa message boards who just moved up there, said the houses are so affordable and it's just gorgeous.
She invited me up there if I could ever get up the money to go. Take a bus or plane and stay with her and her hubby, and believe me, I would.
I desperately need a vacation, a get away from everything.
I'm sitting here now just thinking about going away from it all, and getting stressed again. hahaha

Sebastian did talk to me about the possibility of the surgery, and like I said earlier, I still have guilt from 2 years ago, and man, he made me feel bad about this possible one and it hasn't happened yet.
He's scared.
That first surgery scared the crap outta him. The day after the first surgery when I was in ICU with the tape over my eyes and a breathing tube down my throat, he thought I was dead.
He was just 12, he's a mommas boy, my baby, he was traumatized by that image, he said he can't handle that again.
I know he can't, it was so hard for him to see his "super mom" unable to even get in and out of my bed on my own, he's frightened about this even though it will be a way smaller surgery.
He started crying tonight, he asked if there is anyway that I don't have to do it.
I honestly don't know.
If they say I have to, and I refuse, that is my right, but how will refusing affect me later on in life?
It's all too much for him, and me, to be honest, and I keep trying so hard to put it out of my mind, but it's difficult to do.
I think the people who have had this surgery, Brandi and Chris, they know what that surgery was like, and the thought of having to do it again, or a revision surgery, is like the last thing any of us want to do, and every visit to see the surgeon for follow up visits, all you hope for is for the doc to say it's a solid fusion, looks great, come back in 6 months, come back in a year, don't come back.
I don't want to think about this, and I'm sure the few posts I've made since yesterday that you have all read, you can tell I don't want to do it or think about it, but it's stuck in my mind.
Stuck and making me worry, and I won't stop thinking about it until doc tells me one way or another if we're doing this.

I don't want to drive you all away either with my worry filled posts about this, I need to stop talking about it. You all are important to me and the last thing I want to do is drive you guys away cuz I sound like I've gone nuts with worry and talking about it.
I really think once I have a yes or no on it, I'll be fine, make my plans, be able to cope with it, but it's in the air and that is where my mind is.

---

October 19, 2007

On our way out to the docs today,

we swung through my sisters neighborhood to get something she forgot at home, and we were able to see all the Halloween decorations and landscape lighting a lot of her neighbors had up.
One house was so cool, it's entire front yard was a graveyard with home made head stones, a rickety old fence, the whole creepy lighting going on, giant bugs, skeletons and more. There were so many things in just that one front yard, it looked like it's going to be a fun house to go trick or treating at for my nieces.

I did get to spend time with Susan today. She's such a cutie pie!
This is her eating a slice of pizza we stopped and got for a late lunch before we came home.
The slice is bigger than her head!

She ate that whole thing too! I couldn't believe it. She had her slice down to the crusts before I even had half of mine down.
She said she's going to be a witch for Halloween, and Skye is going to be a skeleton, and they will bring me "lots of candies cuz you're too old for trick or treat Aunty Kat!"
I swear, she's just the most adorable kiddo ever.
She's super smart too, she noticed the Budweiser hydroplane speed boat in traffic before any of us did, but she thought it was a rocket. We weren't really sure what it was till we got right up on it.
It was kinda cool. I had never seen it up close like that before.

She made me a happy aunty today when we had to cross the street to go get pizza. She said, "Mommy let go! I want to hold Aunty Kat's hand!" and her and I walked across the street together, her skipping along to keep up, and singing some little song.
She was also so well behaved during the traffic crap. My own boys would have been pitching a major fit at that age because the car wasn't moving anymore, but she just looked out the windows at the cop cars, the helicopters, and all the various cars and trucks, and read books with Sebastian.
I can't wait to either see her for Halloween all dressed up or at least get pictures of her and Skye. That age is so fun and being outside at night dressed up in costumes, going door to door, is just a magical fun experience for them.

---

October 10, 2007

I deserve cool mom points for this.

I promised Sebastian when I got paid and paid all the bills this month, if I had enough left over, I would pre-order this, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle, and I just did.
I so deserve cool mom points.
But you know I'm gonna be playing this too.
I freaking love the songs, it can go online for online band battles, just check out some of the song titles they said will be in it;
Paint it black- the Rolling Stones
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
Sabotage - Beastie Boys
My name is Jonas - Weezer
Rock you like a hurricane - Scorpions
Welcome to the jungle - Guns N' Roses
Even Flow - Pearl Jam
Cult of personality- In Living Color, and so many more!

It ships on October 28th, and I'm wondering if I should torture Sebastian, and keep it hidden till Christmas, tell him I wasn't able to afford it this month, I'm so sorry buddy. *snicker*
The question really is though, can I wait till Christmas?!

---

August 25, 2007

Are atheists allowed to have Christmas?

I received a comment earlier that I have not published, because I know it was done to antagonize me.
I know this because it is clearly negative in tone.

Interesting how you extol "Christmas"
I had to read it twice to believe you had the nerve.
I still have hope for you. The smarter they are, the harder
they...whatever.

So I said to that;

What the fuck are you talking about? How I extol Christmas?
Atheists can't celebrate giving presents? Is that what you're hinting at?

All this because I posted about getting canvases done as Christmas presents for my family.
Yes my reply was 'in your face', but again, I knew this comment from this person was said in a negative tone.
Our email discussions for 2 weeks now, have been combative. What started out as pleasantry, has eroded into intentional jabs at me at every chance.
Religion, more specifically me being atheist, seems to be an issue this person cannot let go of, among other subjects.
My reply was followed by an email from them which basically started off by insulting me, and then asking me these questions, which I've broken down from the email, because some of it was just personal attacks and not worth discussing;

Let me ask you this, Ms. Atheist - what do you care about Christmas at all?
Are you just trying to find an association in time to make yourself feel good about yourself to give presents? You are the most self-contradictory person I've ever met.
Psst....why not extol March 11, or February 15, or May 2nd, or November 13th. What difference does it make to you? Nothing! So any response from you that accuses me - let it.
I never said you couldn't ride on the sleigh horse for giving presents.
For the rest of us, it is "Christmas." That means something.
If you want to celebrate, go ahead. Atheasts can give presents. Of course you're doing it for a purpose you don't believe. And if that offends you, the truth, well - there it is.
Think about why you are mad, as though you are not "deserving" to give presents for Christmas. Well - facts maam. You are not. The best I can say for you is that you condone it and arrange a mental yearly deep breath for the fake it all is - and yes, you can give presents too.

I shall do my best to answer all of this crap below.
I'm actually quite upset by this, have been for hours now.
This person seems to enjoy picking at how I celebrate the holidays, basically calling me a hypocrite.

Continue Reading �

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August 24, 2007

It's only 4 months away!

Christmas!!
Need christmas gift ideas?
I am planning on getting at least two more canvases from Canvas on Demand.

I want to get one of the boys for Great Grammy, and one of the girls for sis.
I'd also like to get one for myself of the boys, or just redo the one of the boys and my nieces, for me to have.
I loved the way it turned out so much. It was so gorgeous, and I know my mom and dad love it, so Great Grammy would love it too.
I just need to save up more money, and then do like one a month for the next four months.

---

July 4, 2007

July 4th.

AND NOW, FRIENDS AND COUNTRYMEN, if the wise and learned philosophers of the elder world, the first observers of nutation and aberration, the discoverers of maddening ether and invisible planets, the inventors of Congreve rockets and Shrapnel shells, should find their hearts disposed to enquire what has America done for the benefit of mankind?

Let our answer be this: America, with the same voice which spoke herself into existence as a nation, proclaimed to mankind the inextinguishable rights of human nature, and the only lawful foundations of government. America, in the assembly of nations, since her admission among them, has invariably, though often fruitlessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity.

She has uniformly spoken among them, though often to heedless and often to disdainful ears, the language of equal liberty, of equal justice, and of equal rights.

She has, in the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single exception, respected the independence of other nations while asserting and maintaining her own.

She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart.

She has seen that probably for centuries to come, all the contests of that Aceldama the European world, will be contests of inveterate power, and emerging right.

Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be.

But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.

She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.

She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.

She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.

She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.

The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force....

She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit....

America's glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind. She has a spear and a shield: but the motto upon her shield is, Freedom, Independence, Peace. This has been her Declaration: this has been, as far as her necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind would permit, her practice.

John Quincy Adams
July 4, 1821

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May 28, 2007

Memorial Day, remember them all. Their numbers are rising.

Americans have opened nearly 1,000 new graves to bury U.S. troops killed in
Iraq since Memorial Day a year ago.

In the period from Memorial Day 2006 through Saturday, 980 soldiers and Marines died in Iraq, compared to 807 deaths in the previous year. And with the Baghdad security operation now 3 1/2 months old, even President Bush has predicted a difficult summer for U.S. forces.

"It could be a bloody - it could be a very difficult August," he said last week.

By the end of Saturday at least 100 American troops had died in the first 26 days of May, an average of 3.85 deaths a day. At that pace, 119 troops will have died by the end of the month, the most since 137 soldiers were killed in November 2004, when U.S. troops were fighting insurgents in Fallujah.

As of Saturday, May 26, 2007, at least 3,451 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,817 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military.

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May 15, 2007

It's beermorial day!

Click for bigger.

This is the sight that greeted me when I entered Publix today.
By a show of hands, how many of you find this tacky and offensive?
It's a soldier on top of a pile of Budweiser.
I saw it and my jaw dropped.
This is totally the norm with Publix though.
On the fourth of July, they make an American Flag out cases of Bud.
But this?
This just says to me, "Drink up! They are fighting and dying for your right to get shitfaced today!"

This kind of tacky advertising kills me.
I know it's the work of Budweiser doing these displays, but Publix prides itself on being a family friendly store, they have a rack of religious books in the deli, they have very strict rules for their employees appearances, employees are written up if they get caught using any bad language.
So to see these kinds of displays, pisses me off.
Memorial Day commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country.
It is not a day to use their image in a beer display.
I know many people take the long Memorial Day weekend, and spend it partying, barbecuing, and drinking, but it is not a day to use the image of our soldiers to promote getting shitfaced in my opinion.

As I was leaving, I told the manager at the service desk how tacky and offensive I find the newest Bud display.
She said Budweiser is responsible for the displays.
I said, "I know that, but this is your store, don't you have any say in what goes on the displays at all?
Our men and women in the service, should not be used to help sell more brewskies. It's not right."
She said she would pass it on to her regional manager and upper bosses.
I bet she won't. I bet anything that display will stand until after Memorial day.

---

May 13, 2007

Mothers Day 2007

I opened my card this morning, the one I was told not to open until today, and both boys had signed it, but Mark wrote me a message.

Dear Mom,
You've always loved me and helped me, and I know for these past two years I've been harder for you.
I hope you know I'm really sorry and how much I love you for always trying to help me even when I say I hate you.
I love you mom,
Mark

*sniffle*
Seriously, is that not the most honest, heartfelt thing for a kid to say?
When he wakes up, I'm going to cover him in slobbery kisses and big mushy hugs.

Happy mothers day to all moms every where.

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April 8, 2007

What is it about holidays and bloating?

Why is it, no matter what foods you make on a holiday, you end up bloated and tired as hell?
Mark and I are practically falling off our selected seating, clutching our bloated abdomens.
I barely even ate anything!
Sebastian is on the other couch, playing video games and going, "Wow, I'm bloated man."
Yeah, join the club buddy.
I think I need a nap now.
But no, no rest for me today. The laundry still isn't finished.
Blah.

---

April 8, 2007

Happy chocolate bunny day!

Ham is cooking, bunnies are being eaten, laundry is spinning.
Typical day here.
I think I need a nap though.
Ha! I'm way tired.
I think I'm gonna lay down and watch a movie or something until the ham is done cooking and stuff.
Happy easter and chocolate bunny day to all!

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April 4, 2007

It's on Sunday?!

While at PT today and waiting to be called back, the secretary asked me if the easter bunny would be delivering baskets to my boys on Sunday.
I said no, they don't believe in fairy tales.
Wait, it's this Sunday?
To which she replied yes, had I forgotten?

Yes, I did. Easter is not a holiday we 'honor', we do celebrate candy, but not the day.
Part of that whole being atheist thing.
So yes, I had forgotten that Sunday was easter.
She then asked me what religion I was because I don't celebrate easter.
When I replied with 'none', you would have thought the holy ghost came in and was standing behind me.
"What? You mean you don't believe in god?"
No, we don't.
"Wow", she said, "I don't think I've ever met anyone who doesn't believe in god."
I replied, "There are a lot of us out there, and more and more people every day, are professing not believing in a god."
She sat there with this stunned look on her face for a few minutes, and then decided to discuss the weather.
I agreed, it was very warm and humid out today, and then I was called back.

It's interesting to watch people's reactions when they discover that not every one believes in a god.
Some are outraged and condemn you to hell immediately. Some ask questions about what it's like to not believe, some ask about evolution, but many are like the secretary, stunned.
Especially when it's around a major religious holiday like easter or christmas.

The PT guy Bill, had over heard part of our conversation, so when we went back and I started the upper body bike, he asked what we do on easter if we don't go to church and stuff.
I said, "We sleep in, wake up, play video games, eat, play, watch movies, eat candy, goof off, watch the shows on tv at night, go to bed."
"You really don't do anything at all for easter?"
"We eat those Cadbury cream eggs. Those rock."
"Wow."

Uh huh, wow.
I mean really, what am I supposed to say? We really don't do anything to celebrate easter. Some years I have cooked up a ham and mashed potatoes or something, simply because it's a holiday, but usually not. There have even been a few times I've ordered pizza or chinese food.
I have celebrated a mythological rabbit when the boys were younger, because all their school friends were talking about the easter bunny coming and bringing candy. But I always told them the "bunny" didn't exist, and that parents bought baskets, put fake grass in them, and filled it with candy, and even hid eggs for their kids to find what the "bunny" left behind.
They've always been cool with it, knowing that it wasn't real, as long as they got candy, every thing was all good.

I'm debating getting a nice ham and potatoes for Sunday, not for the holiday, but because a honey glazed ham sounds really tasty right now.

---

April 2, 2007

I'd love to go back.

Let's see, when was that? I think it was back in 1996, I was dating this guy for quite a long time, almost 2 years. He had family in upstate New York, and we'd often take trips there to visit them, with the boys in tow.
We spent a Thanksgiving with his grandparents in Plattsburg one year. They owned a huge farm, and an even bigger farmhouse.
The boys loved it because they had horses and could go riding. Ok, Mark could go riding with my boyfriend, Sebastian was still just too small.
But anyway, the following spring, he surprised me with a weekend trip to stay in a really lovely New York Bed and Breakfast in Albany.
He arranged a sitter for the weekend with his dad and step-mom, and just the two of us went from late Thursday night, to Sunday night.
It was so nice that time of year. Not too cold, not hot.
I'd love to go back up there again sometime.

---

April 1, 2007

Rabbit rabbit.

Man, this is going to be a really long day on line.
Every body has some sort of April's fools joke posted.
It is going to be a long day of deciphering real posts from jokes.
I like jokes, just not April Fool's jokes.
And I'm tired.

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February 17, 2007

M-I-C, see ya real soon!

When Shell and her son Micheal came down two years ago to visit and go to Disney, I should have remembered to tell her how to get discount Disney World Tickets.
I can't remember what she ended up paying, but I know she could have gotten a better deal through DWtickets.com.
Not only do they have discount tickets for Disney, but for other theme parks like Universal Studios, Sea World, Pleasure Island, Cypress Gardens and Busch Gardens, Kennedy Space center and many more.
They have one of the biggest welcome centers in the area, have been around for many years, have a huge client base, and earned a very respectable reputation in the industry.
They have tickets to pretty much every major attraction in the whole state, so when Shell decides to come down again, I can't recall which park she said she wanted to go to, but now I will tell her to check out DWtickets first, so she gets a good deal.

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February 14, 2007

The boys have now left for school.

I'm gonna grab some breakfast and then lay on the couch I suppose and try to rest.
Hopefully I'll fall asleep.
I just need a few hours, 2 would be nice.
Problem is I'm still wide awake.
I've been this way all frigging night long.
Wired.
If I can't fall asleep, I'll get up and do all the dishes and house cleaning and stuff like that.
If that doesn't make me tired, I'll go to the store and get my shopping done.
I'd really prefer though to get some sleep before shopping.
I tend to get a little punchy with no sleep, and all it would take is one crotchety sweet old person to ram me with their shopping cart, and I'd probably go off on them.
_______________

The boys both got up this morning with no begging for 5 more minutes, and right before they left, they each took turns giving me hugs and wishing me a happy v-day.
Then Sebastian asked why we don't celebrate it. Ya know, like with decorations and all that stuff.
I said it's a day for people in love, fancy expensive dinners, flowers, all those diamond commercials we've been subjected to for the last 4 months are finally getting their big day.
He asked what we were doing for our v-day dinner.
I said what we always do silly boy, pizza, hot wings, and a horror movie.
We always celebrate the odd holidays, and even Thanksgiving, with a horror movie. We even did horror movies for Christmas this year.
In a way, I feel like I may be messing with their heads to watch horror movies on holidays, but I always make sure they relate to the actual holiday. Like at Christmas, we watched Silent Night Deadly Night.
It fit.
I know movie gallery has a copy of My Bloody Valentine I can go rent when I go shopping.
I know it's not messing with their heads though, because they are two of the most well adjusted teenagers ever.
They don't go out and hang out with their friends all night or all weekend. They prefer to stay home and play video games. Even when they do go to friends houses, all they do is play video games over there.
They're not violent or aggressive, well maybe to each other, but that's normal brother stuff. They aren't doing drugs, or getting in trouble at school.
Maybe I'm a weird mom for our twisted little traditions, but we always enjoy our holidays and they're turning out to be really great young men. They talk to me about everything and anything. Open, honest, they aren't afraid to tell me stuff.
I guess I'm doing ok with them.
Gah, enough second guessing how I'm doing as a parent, I know I'm doing a good job.

Alright, I'm gonna go eat and hopefully sleep.
I'll catch up with y'all when I wake up. *crosses fingers*
Later days.

---

February 13, 2007

Awww, thanks sis!

My sis showed up after work today and dropped us off some goodies for valentine's day. She brought us a little feast which contained some mojo chicken and southern potato salad, some bananas and grapes, and these big red shiny hearts.
The hearts held these.

She even brought the kitties some canned savories so they could feast too.

Yummy.
I have chocolate now. yay!

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February 6, 2007

I have some pictures for you.

We took as many pics as we could when the cameras would cooperate. It was so cold out at times, the cameras froze up and wouldn't work.
Craziness.

Sebastian took this pic from the plane window as we were getting ready to land in New Hampshire.

He swears it's a mall but I know it's the high school. He loved looking out the window the whole time we were in the air even when all you could see were clouds. Silly kid.

When Shell picked us up, we drove to her son Michael's school to pick him up early, and while she was inside getting him, Sebastian bolted from the truck to play in the snow.
He thought it would be like the movies where you could just grab a huge ball of snow with your bare hands and make a snowball.
He quickly found out that real snow, not movie snow, is very, very cold.
Then he fell down. hee hee.

Continue Reading �

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February 4, 2007

Today is our last day and I'm resting.

We have been running around all week and now I'm pooped and sore.
I did not go snow tubing with everyone. I stayed in the truck, I behaved myself even though it looked fun as hell.

The boys had so much fun but it was freezing out there. Probably about 8 degrees or so.
But doesn't this look like fun?

That's Heather and my nephew Sullivan who is 5, and "had never been here before aunty Kat". Such a cutie pie and so smart too.
All the kids were so excited and had such a good time.
But I'm spent now, very tired and sore, can't wait to get home to my bed, my warm, sunny Florida.
I have heard about the tornados that ripped through, very sad.
Ok, I'm off to go rest and get things ready for our trip back home tomorrow.
Later days.

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February 1, 2007

Sebastian.jpg

On the beach in old orchard beach maine. there is a snow storm coming on friday. they say about 3 to 6 inches so its not going to be bad. they were saying it was going to be much worse than that originally. we are up visiting with great grammy for the day. we will be seeing little sullivan who we havnt seen since he was two weeks old. the boys are having a great time. later days.

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January 30, 2007

They (the boys) want to move here.

The answer is no.
It's too damn cold.
My dad and I took them downtown to get some Lisa's Pizza.

We picked up a whole pie and some of their fries, and brought it home to share with mom and dad.
While we waited for it to be cooked, the boys each got a slice to eat. They loved it. "Best pizza ever mom!"

My dad had driven us around the town a bit to see all the sites and stuff, it's changed so much. Sucky.
Anyway, I'm on dial up here at their house so it's kinda difficult to do much.
I'll check back in again when I can.
Later days.

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January 28, 2007

Vacation had to get away.

We're all packed, ready to go.
We'll be leaving here around 1pm-ish today to drive the 4 hours to the airport.
We're staying at a hotel tonight near the airport because our flight leaves at 8:50am but we have to be at the airport at 6:30.
Having to drive from Sarasota to Orlando at like 2am would suck the bag.

I won't be on line again until probably Monday night. I'll posts that we made it ok. Maybe use my flicker during the trip.
I will have net and email access so you'll still be able to get in touch with me if you need to.

The temps up there for this week don't look too bad. 20's during the day, low teens at night.
What am I saying? That's fucking freezing!!!

Alrighty peeps, I'll miss y'all. I have a camera so I can post pics of snow and other weird stuff I come across.
Later days.

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January 27, 2007

I'm feeling rather fiesty today.

I have stress people, stress!
I really do understand that it's a really short visit and I wish it was longer so that everyone could have equal time, but it's just not possible.
I apologize that it's so short, one of these days we'll come up for 2 weeks, and everyone can have equal time with the boys.
It's very hard when you have 2 families who want to see them. You have no idea.
But complaining about it, makes Kat an unhappy girl. It makes me stress the fuck out.
I'm doing the best I can with the amount of time we have.
So please, chill out and be happy we are coming at all.
The cold weather is going to kill me, traveling is going to be hard. I know I'm going to be in pain because it hits 40 degrees here, and I'm doubling medication and using heating pads.
It's not gonna be easy for me to go everywhere, sleep in strange beds etc.
Chillax my families, we will spend as much time with everyone as we can. The boys are super excited and can't wait to see you. Please don't complain about the amount of time you get to see them. They just want to see you and hug you. They miss you, so don't make us feel bad ok? Thanks.

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