Where Did It Go?

My creative mojo.

It seems lately all my creative mojo has gone out the window.

Perhaps it is because I have been so busy lately.

My scrapbook area looks so lonely and wishing for me to come over there and create.

I'm hoping to get over there and do some work tomorrow, as it's on my list of things I need to get done (I'm doing a swap with some friends and it's due tomorrow, so I guess I should get a move on, huh?)

I just feel like I'm in a rut with the creative process.

It probably has something to do with the fact that I do need to get stuff done around here, so the "clutter energy" can go away, leaving me free to create.

I hope I can find it tomorrow under the clutter!

It's only Day Two!

Of Hubby being gone and already I'm having to yell at the children!

Okay, I know it's stressful for them.

The eldest is showing it already. Plus I think she's tired.

The youngest still doesn't really know what's going on, or that Daddy will be gone for a while. Today she wanted to get Daddy's phone number to call him and tell him she loves him. :*) (Too cute though!!) It's hard to explain to her that Daddy's phone doesn't work where he is and we don't have a number where we can call him, so we'll just have to email or write letters or draw pictures for him until he can call.

Whenever that is.

So I get my "stern mom voice" out and tell them to both come over here where I'm sitting.

I make them apologize to each other.

Then give each other hugs.

Then kisses.

Then wiggles. (that gets them to start giggling)

Then tickles.

Okay, they're fine now.

New Shoes

Back in style.

Finally, a pair of slip on Vans my daughter likes that don't make her feet look like boats.

Aren't they cute?!!!

I still find it amazing that slip on Vans are back in style.

That and bermuda shorts.

Yea, she got two pair of those today too.

Spring Break Shopping!

:::::just shaking my head::::::::::::

Okay.

My youngest wanted me to turn off My Little Pony because of the witch that's on there that's trying to steal all the Little Ponies is scaring her.

So instead she watches Harry Potter and is perfectly fine with that.

Go figure

Duh!!!

Yesterday I was having some not to nice pains in my back on my left side. So here I am, thinking, "Oh no, I hope I don't have a kidney infection!" So I'm downing CranGrape juice all day long.

So last night, I'm getting ready for bed and I'm thinking I should look at my back where it hurts just to see if I see anything (yea, like I'm really going to see anything if I have a kidney infection).

So I look.

So I see a bruise.

And so that little light bulb on top of my head turns on.

Oh yea! The day before I was backing up and I hit my back on a corner piece of furniture.

Ahhhhh, that must be why it's hurting.

Well, at least my kidneys are nice and cleaned out now.

I Never Thought I'd See This!

My big German Shepard trying to hump my little cat while licking the back of her neck.

Bizarre.

Of course the rest of the night he's off chasing her and she's finally like, um, get the hell away from me dog. I don't think I like what you're trying to do!

Did I Say That?

Something I never thought I'd hear myself say,

"Cat! Get your head out of the toilet!"

I Think I Need An Exorcism Performed

On my house.

There is a dark cloud over my house right now and I don't know how the hell it got here or how the hell to get rid of it!

Since this year started, I have had to have the refrigerator serviced, because it quit working, had to get a new water heater, along with a gas leak scare (no damage, fixed fine though, although my nervers were shot), had to replace the washer and dryer, and then yesterday was the kicker. Hubby replaced the kitchen sink faucet because it was corroded and making funny noises, and then our TV went out (that was only THREE YEARS OLD, for crying out loud!) and now hubby's truck is making a LOUD noise when the engine is started. So yesterday I bought a new faucet, a new TV and had to rent a car.

Yea.

No fun.

And THEN, today we had blustery winds, so the accordian door that was on the closet that hubby made to protect our new washer and dryer that's outside blew off and we had to replace THAT!.

My house and my nerves have had enough.

Maybe I've got some bad mojo in my house somewhere, or it's not Fung Shui. I don't know. Whatever it is, it needs to be fixed ASAP people!

Catch Up

Yikes! It feels like forever since I've written anything!

It's been fairly busy for me lately though.

Hubby is home, and has been home for a few weeks, but shortly, he will be leaving out to sea for quite a while.

I'm not looking forward to it. I never DO look forward to it. I want him home with me. But I know that he has to do this, as it's his job. But it still never gets any easier. You'd think that since I've done this FIVE times before, that it wouldn't be as hard. But it is. Especially with our girls too. This will be the first time that the youngest will really know what's going on. The last time we did this, she was only 3 months old.

She can be SO painfully shy too. On Friday she fell at preschool and scraped her chin. She absolutely HAS to have a bandaid on it, because she doesn't want people looking at her chin. SHE doesn't even want to look at her chin with the scrape on it. But once the bandaid is on, she's fine. It's probably going to take her some time to get used to Daddy being back when he comes back. We are going to have to make sure and send him lots of letters, emails, pictures, etc, and make it so she can communicate with him to make the transition a little easier.

The eldest? Well, she doesn't like it either and she has her moments too with it. She'll have her emotional outbursts as well, and with her being a preteen and hormones rushing around her? Yea, that' s not something I'm looking forward to.

She had a rough week herself! I had to pick her up from school on Wednesday, as she had gotten sick at school. On Friday, she had two baby teeth pulled and then threw up again that night at 1 a.m., and that was not a pretty sight. I HATE throw up. But then again, I don't know anyone who really LIKES it, do you?

Is there anything HAPPY that happened to me this past week you ask?

Yes, we went to DISNEYLAND on Tuesday!! Woohoo!!! Of course it did rain on us for about an hour there and I can't stand rain, but it was near the end of the day, so it wasn't that bad. Hubby and I joked that we were traumatizing the youngest, as we took her on Pirates of the Carribean first and the Haunted Mansion second. Then a while later we took her on the Matterhorn. Now, before anyone says anything we took her on these rides a year ago and she was fine. She LOVED the Matterhorn back then. Now? Not so much. She literally screamed when we were on the ride and not because she was having fun. (My poor baby!) Pirates? She didn't care for that as much, but she LOVED the Haunted Mansion. Go figure.

Her favorite? It's A Small World, Dumbo and the Carousel, of course.

We rocked out on Space Mountain with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, which was WAY cool! Hubby and I took turns with the eldest on that one since there was no way we were going to take the youngest on that one. That one goes just a little too fast to put the youngest on that one.

Maybe next time.

Squeaky Clean

I now have a squeaky clean remote control for our TV in our bedroom.

Apparently it got caught up in the sheets when I took them off to wash them.

Okay, this is like the THIRD time I've done this! (Not in a row, but the third time in about 8 years or so) You'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you.....

Since the last time I've been pretty anal about making sure the remote is OFF the bed before I pull the sheets off, but I was in SUCH a hurry earlier this week that, apparent, OBVIOUSLY, I forgot to check.

Does it work????

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!! It took a night to completely dry out, but then I have an HE washing machine which uses less water, so maybe that helped? Who knows. All I know is that I don't have to go out and buy ANOTHER universal remote..

Of course this means the next time I throw one int he washing machine that it won't work.

So maybe it is a good idea if I go out and buy one..........................

............just in case.

Love Thursday - Bedtime

Love is cuddling with your youngest at bedtime, giving her butterfly kisses and making her giggle.

What's That Noise...............

You know those people in the stores who are just browsing along whistling? The ones that just bug the hell out of you and you just want to go up to them and yell, "STOP WHISTLING DAMN IT!!!!" but just can't bring yourself to do it, because hey, they are obviously happy and who the hell are you to stop their happiness?

Yea, I think my youngest is going to be one of those people.

For the past week or two, she's ALWAYS whistling!

Of course I know it's just because she just figured out how to whistle and now that she knows how to do it, she likes practicing.

I wonder if those "whistling people" in the stores just find comfort in whistling.......

Right now, at this point in time, I would never tell the youngest to stop whistling. I sit and watch her quietly and smile. She figured out how to do something and she's proud of it.

As she should be.

Life In The Fast Lane (the mom fast lane anyway...)

Life has been so hectic for me the past couple of weeks and there IS an end in sight, but it's WAY down the road.....

I'm creating the yearbook for my eldest's school and it's due at the end of the month. I AM over 1/2 way done, and I see no problem being able to finish it this weekend, as the rest of the pages are activity pages and the pictures just need to be plugged into the page.

The eldest also had a softball game last night and I must say, us parents thoroughly enjoyed ourselves last night. We had the best ump. He was friendly, made jokes with the girls, it was fun. The eldest did get a hit, which is very good (although it was a pop up and she got out) AND she got to play second base in the last inning. Very nice......I also VERY much like her coach. Our team was so far ahead and some of the girls could have easily stolen home base, but he had them hang back. No need to throw it in the other team's face, you know?

The youngest was having a ball with sunflower seeds. Just about everyone at the softball games has "seeds". She wanted them too. Hubby and I have tried to teach her how to open them with her teeth and eat the inside, and a few times she did do it, but for the most part, she just likes putting them in her mouth and spitting them out, like she sees everyone else do. One time she had about 7 or 8 sunflower seeds in her mouth at once and spit them all out at once. It was funny. Ahhhh, the things that amuse us these days.....

On a more somber note, my great uncle passed away this past Saturday. He turned 90 a week ago today. His health was failing him, but his mind never did, even up until the end. But I will write a special post about him later on, as he is one who deserves it, for he was a great man.

I should certainly get off the computer now, as it is time for me to take the youngest to preschool and get my butt off to work.

Can You Hear That????

Silence.

There are no human sounds in my house right now.

It's even quiet on the animal front too.

And it's DAYTIME!

My wonderful hubby came home today from being out to sea for over a week, and took the girls to the park to go bike riding.

He knew I was getting stressed out. He could tell when he called me today and I was at the Commissary From Hell. SO many people at the military base grocery store today! AND I had both kids.

AND I've been running on hyper-speed since Wednesday.

Yea, it hasn't stopped.

Until now.

And even now I'm not fully stopped, I'm uploading pictures to the yearbook website while I'm doing this.

Multi-tasking.

That's my life.

So the 3 of them are at the park, riding bikes, and when they get back, I still get to be by myself, because I get to go out and do errands ALONE! YEA!!!

Well, I DO have to get some stuff for the girls' easter baskets while I'm out, but I HAVE to do that by myself, for obvious reasons.

I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO needed this though!!

I was telling hubby that if I didn't get to "de-stress" soon, I was going to have a burnout MAJORLY and that wouldn't be good.

We are going to Disneyland in a couple of weeks, so I have to find a hotel for that, get the dog a reservation at a kennel, and I want to finish this yearbook by then. I want to go away for a day with my family, knowing that I don't have a deadline. I want to get this yearbook done, so that the principal can proof it over and I can have time to do any changes I need to, without being completely rushed. I want our family to have some GOOD family time together, and what better place to do that than Disneyland!!

Wow......I can actually hear the birds chirping outside. Beautiful, baby, beau-ti-ful.

Olive Riley's Blob

No, that's not a typo.

She refers to her blog as a "blob". I have a feeling it's going to be the new "lingo" for blog soon.

She is 107 years old and lives in Australia. Her friend, Mike types the "blob" for her as she talks.

She has had WELL over 190,000 visits since she started this blob LAST MONTH. Her blob is called The Life of Riley.


I HIGHLY encourage everyone to read her blob and enjoy her stories about what is going on in her life now and what she tells about the past.

I have ALWAYS loved to listen to older family members talk about the past and I love this blob.

I learned of her blob from Sognatrice and her blog, Bleeding Espresso. Sognatrice lives in Italy.
Another HIGHLY recommended blog to read!

Enjoy!

Whatever....

Okay, my hectic Tuesday decided to not rear it's ugly head on Tuesday. Instead it decided to delay it's appearance until today, Wednesday.

Well, partly it's my fault too.

I'm not saying I'm to blame, but I decided to add another ingredient to the mix.

I needed to take pictures at eldest's school of the dance troupe for the yearbook.

Since I would be at the school later, and I couldn't leave Burbank alone at home for over 8 hours (I just don't like doing that. I mean sure, I'm sure the dog could hold his pee for 9 hours if he really had to, but I don't want to do that to him), I came home after picking up the youngest at preschool to let him out to pee and offer him some "token" people time with us.

Then I went back to work with the youngest, bribed her with a slurpee so I could be in a meeting (which incidentally she ended up sitting in it with me), and rushed out of there at 3:30 so I could get to the eldest's school to take pictures.

Once I was done with that, it was off to Wal-Mart for some ::::ahem::::: personal "women" things I needed (yea, and as soon as we went by that aisle, my eldest and her friend decided they need to go look at the fish instead).

Oh, and then since I was getting dog treats for the dog (I SO spoil him with dog treats! I just love buying them! Hubby once saw us giving him his daily treats and he was like, "Damn, how many treats do you GIVE him??" Yea, it's a lot. But to be fair, he IS a big German Shepard) we were right by the toy aisles and of course, if you're by a toy aisle and you have kids, it's like a magnet where they HAVE to go over there.

Now my youngest is totally into Strawberry Shortcake (okay, I admit it, I like smelling the dolls, especially Tea Blossom, she smells like Grape) and we saw one of the dolls she wanted. But I just can't give in and give them every toy they want, so I said, "Maybe the Easter Bunny will bring it to you in your basket". In the meantime, I'm thinking, "Damn, they only have ONE of those dolls, I sure hope it's there when I need to come back and get it to put it in her Easter Basket for the Easter Bunny!" Maybe I can have my friend pick it up for me tomorrow and I'll pay her back.

So after some kicking and screaming our way out of the toy aisle (at this point I don't even CARE if people are looking at us while she's having her fit, it's just too damn exhausting to worry about that), we headed on towards the exit.

The checkout.......

Whoever invented putting all those little gadgets or candy at the checkout aisle is probably a billionaire right now. Because that's all the kids see. The parents? They're looking to see which checkout line is the shortest so they can get the hell out of there, and to hurry things along and avoid another kicking and screaming episode, we say, "Only ONE thing! And hurry up!"

Yea, so by the time the cashier has scanned all your items (some of which mysteriously appear in the cart without YOU putting them there), you've had to pay another $3 or so for those "checkout items" as well.

Whatever.

Here's my money, just take it and let me get the hell out of here.

Saying No

I ran into a mom that I knew from eldest's old school this afternoon.

Can I just say that I do love living in the town I live in? I'm always running into people I know somewhere. I like it. Now the town isn't THAT small, mind you. Or maybe it's just because the eldest has been in different activities, that I've gotten to know more parents, that way.

ANYWAY...........

So we were talking about our hectic lives and I brought up the fact that I'm doing the yearbook for eldest's school. And it is a task. Especially since I wasn't able to even start it until January of this year and the deadline is the beginning of April! Yikes! So I'm trying to scramble and get as many pictures from people as I can, while bringing my camera to school to get as many pictures as I can as well. The good thing about this yearbook? It's all being done online! The bad thing about it being online? Not all the pictures I get from people are digital, which means I have to scan them in and upload them, which can take some time. Plus I've had to learn the system.

Okay, I got off the main subject again........

She was saying to me, "Can you ever just say NO?"

And while it may seem that I'm doing a lot right now, the only thing I am doing at the school is yearbook, which is a very daunting task though. I haven't volunteered to do any other projects at the school. If someone does ask me to do something, if I can, I'll do it. If I can't, I say no.

So yes, I can say no.

I don't let people walk all over me, but I'm not a bitch either.

Well, let me take that back. I can be a bitch when I want to be. But traditionally, I'm not a bitch at my child's school. That wouldn't be conducive.

Play Ball!

Today was Opening Day for softball season here. The eldest almost didn't play this season, but I "encouraged" her to give a go, one more year. And today she thanked me for doing that.

I never forced her into doing it, but I did tell her that she should try it one more year and see how she likes playing in the upper division. The team she got on seems to be a really good group of girls and I really like the coaches for her team. They are helping her and the girls to learn things and grow in their abilities, yet they are also making it fun for them too.

Today they had two scrimmage games, in which they won both of them. The eldest did really well at batting and the coach had her bunting too, which makes me think that she might be the "bunt girl" this season.

I'm not going to lie. My child is definitely not one of the best players on the team. But she's also not the worst either. She's a good middle player. She tries her hardest, comes to all the practices, and that's all I ask of her. To do her best.

Hubby and I LOVE softball season. We love being out there at the fields, watching the games, enjoying the atmosphere out there, conversing with the parents. We have both said that once the youngest gets older and hubby's not going out to sea, that we want to join a co-ed softball team.

It was a long day today though. I had set my alarm for 6 a.m., but I either didn't turn the alarm on, or turned it off and went back to sleep. I can't remember. I just remember waking up, noticing the sun was out, looking at the clock and it saying 6:40 and saying, "OH SHIT!"

Yea, that was my daughter's alarm clock this morning, me saying "OH SHIT!" Nice........

We had to be there by 7:30 a.m. and we didn't end up leaving the fields until almost 1:30 this afternoon. Eldest wanted to watch a couple of the games.

Oh, and did I mention that my life at the fields is always at either the snack bar or the bathrooms? Yea, because the youngest likes to go to both places. All I ask is that she waits until sister has gotten to bat first. Oh, and I have to make sure she's dressed in grungy clothes because she likes to play in the dirt there too.

And new rule at the house too, one MUST take off their shoes before coming in the house after softball because WAY too much dirt gets tracked in the house.

Okay, I'm complaining, I know, but seriously, we do love softball season.

And next year? The youngest will get to start playing t-ball. I can't wait to see that! :D

Mean Mommy

I'm telling you, it sucks when I have to be the mean mom.

The disciplinarian.

The one where your child won't talk to you because she's mad at you.

Because you had to punish her.

Because she was being mean to her sister.

She certainly did not like it at all when I told her she couldn't go to her friend's house and play after school.

But I think I'm doing something right because after I talked with her about it after school and left her alone for a little while, she went up to her sister and apologized and has been nice ever since.

So I think she "gets" it when I talk to her.

Either that or she's just playing me and blowing smoke up my ass.

I'm really hoping it's the first one though.

Love Thursday - Sisters

Love is getting to spend an afternoon with your youngest sister, sharing how you each have Mom's hand gestures, having people notice you have the same profile, and just enjoying each other's company.

Guilty Pleasure

Do you ever have those movies that you just love, even though people might think you're dorky for liking it?

Yesterday I watched The Idolmaker. I LOVE this movie!! It stars Ray Sharkey, and this was Peter Gallagher's very first movie too, and that is really his voice singing! The other guy, Paul Land did not do his own singing in the movie. Peter Gallagher looked HOT too, when he was singing!! I have it saved on my DVR so I can watch it anytime I want. Yummy.......

Sometimes it's so nice just sitting in front of the TV getting lost in a favorite movie. You know the words and all the scenes too.

Memories Monday - Hollywood

This past Saturday afternoon, hubby, children and I were driving to Burbank to see our family. Now, I've driven this drive too many times to count. And I have NEVER taken the wrong freeway.

Until Saturday.

I was in a zone driving, traffic, like there always is and all of the sudden, I'm looking around and it certainly doesn't look very familiar to me at all. I'm like, "Where am I?"

I found myself on the 101, instead of staying on the 5.

Sure, I could have turned around and gotten back on the 5, but since I grew up in Los Angeles, I knew that the 101 would take me to an exit to get to Burbank.

Plus my eldest got the chance to see the infamous "HOLLYWOOD" sign. Something that I, myself, had not seen in years. She was so excited to see it! It's funny how growing up around things like that, you just take it for granted and it's not that exciting.

We drove past the exit signs for Melrose and Sunset.

I've actually only been to Melrose once in my life. It was fun though, perusing down the street looking at all the shops.

Now, Sunset?

Yea, been there.

The Whisky-A-Go-Go, The Roxy, Gazarri's.

What a time in my life! Going down to Hollywood was fun, that's for sure!

When I think back of all the good times I had at that time in my life with my friends, I smile.

I do wish, at times, that my girls get to experience that type of experience too, but then the "mom" in me takes over and says, "NO WAY!" I mean, I want them to experience life, but I do know that it's not always fun. There are things out there that I wish they would never have to see. I just hope that I can raise them well enough so that if they do come across things, they will know how to handle it.

Hollywood. Whether you lived it in the 60's the 80's, 90's or even today, everyone has their own story to tell and remember.

Love Thursday - Silly

Love is letting your sister dress you up silly and take pictures of you.

A Hug, A Kiss and Four Little Words

I Love you Momma.

That's what my youngest said to me as I was drying her off from her bath. Never mind the fact that I was trying to hurry her through the bath, as I had another stressful day. (My Tuesdays just suck lately!)

She gave me a hug and a kiss and said, "I Love You Momma"

How did she know I needed that?

All my stress just melted away after that.

Racing around all day going to work, picking up kids, getting new tires on, grocery shopping, yada, yada, yada just made me wind up into a huge stress ball.

I always LOVE, LOVE, LOVE hearing my children say "I Love You" without any premise behind it. Without me saying it first. Without the eldest wanting something. Unconditional.

That's the best.

It's times like this when I do just sit back and relax. Enjoy my girls. Snuggle with them to watch a show or read a book, or even spend a 1/2 hour blowdrying the eldest's hair for her so she can have "straight" hair.

I've got too much shit going on right now that sometimes I forget to "stop and smell the roses".

I've got to work on making my lists again to help me get back in control of it all. It helped before, I've got to start doing it again.

Memories Monday - Fitting In

Yesterday I had a talk with my eldest. In the next year and a half, she will enter the world of "officially becoming a teenager". So for right now, it's the pre-teen years, which are pretty hard in themselves.

She hates her hair.

She hates her freckles.

She wants to have straight hair like her friends.

She feels like she doesn't have as much as her friends.

Sometimes she feels like she doesn't fit in.

I can totally remember going through most of that too. And I remember friends wanting their hair totally straight too.

I remember not feeling like I fit in sometimes.

Just about all of my friends were only children.

They didn't have to share a bedroom (and I remind my eldest how lucky she is not to have to share a room). Since they were the only child, the money for clothes didn't have to be split 3 ways. They had two parents. They were the lucky ones.

Yes, I do remember feeling sorry for myself at times, and feeling left out because I couldn't get this or that, or feeling like I was the "poor relation" friend. I felt that my friends were WAY prettier than I ever was, WAY more confident in themselves.

I was insecure.

I may have not shown it, but I felt it on the inside.

I remember one night when ALL of my friends had dates and I didn't. I sat next to my stereo listening to Duran Duran while they were all out on dates. I felt so alone then.

And I told my eldest all about this, and how I felt.

I want her to know that it's not just something she has to go through alone. And she's not alone in it. I would have to say that probably every teenage girl goes through this at some point in their life.

I told her that even though I didn't have as much as my friends, I was still their friend. They didn't think that I wasn't worth "hanging out with" because I didn't have all the Guess? Clothing or other designer brands. They liked me for me. (okay, at least I HOPE SO! ).

I reminded her that her aunt does NOT have perfectly straight hair like it looks. She has to work HARD at making it straight. That if she didn't blow it dry and use a straightening iron (and she actually used to have my mom iron her hair with an iron at one point), she would have very curly hair. It would look like she had a perm.

I keep reminding my eldest that things don't always come easy. Sometimes you have to work hard at it.

And that it's not always about what you look like on the outside, because it's what's on the inside that makes the outside shine through and make you appealing to others.

Even now, being an adult, a mom, married, etc., I STILL get the feeling of not fitting in sometimes. I don't have a big house, I can't just go and spend money when I feel like it, there are still "clicks" with other women too. Although I do notice that it's not nearly as much as in high school.

I tell her that just because someone doesn't talk to you, doesn't mean they're stuck up or don't like you. Maybe they don't know you and maybe they are shy themselves. When someone is shy, they can come across as being "stuck up".

But then I do have to remind myself of what I DO have and appreciate what I do have. And remind my children to do the same.

I have to remind myself to enjoy life. Don't sweat the small stuff. Be grateful for what I do have. And I am extremely grateful for all of it. My husband, my children, my friends, my house and everything else.

I have to be an example to my children to show them to do the same.

Love Thursday - Friends Forever

I first met her in the backyard of a neighbor's house.

We were 10 years old and we hit it off immediately.

We lived 9 houses apart, growing up.

She shared her Barbie Dream House with me when I didn't get one.

She went camping with me in the summer with my family, and silly us, we read The Amityville Horror together up there.

We were always spending the night at each other's houses, although I liked spending the night at her house, as she had her own room.

I called her from my Aunt's wedding reception when we were 14 to let her know that John Stamos was there with the band, and I got to meet him.

We both LOVED the movie Times Square and Roller Boogie, two opposite ends of the spectrum, in my opinion.

We went to see Def Leppard together the night before the first day of high school.

We both had other friends that we hung out with, but still stayed friends.

We beat just about all the boys playing pool at her house (well, she was better than I, but then the pool table WAS at her house) when she had parties.

We were roommates for about a year.

She was my maid of honor at my wedding and I flew to a different state to go to her wedding.

We've shared secrets.

She was there for me when my mom died and my panic attacks last year.

I'll always be there for her, whenever she needs me.

Friends for almost 29 years, and even though we don't see each other that often, we still keep in touch, thanks to emails, blogs, and the phone.

One of my best friends, forever and ever.

Sometimes You Just Have To Laugh

What a day this has been!

Talk about being stressed to the max!

At work I'm trying to get everything done, stop for a 1/2 hour, grab the youngest from preschool, bring her back to work with me, try and get more stuff done, but entertain the youngest at the same time, then race to get the eldest from school, then race home to give hubby a couple of checks and an important paper he needs, balance the checkbook, make dinner, get the eldest to softball practice, come home, grade papers for her teacher, make lunches for tomorrow, give the youngest a bath, go back to the field to grab the eldest and come home.

Oh, and did I mention that our dryer decided to take a dump right when hubby was drying his uniform? Oh, and THEN, about an hour later, the washing machine decides that IT doesn't want to work either!

By that time, hubby and I are just laughing about it. I mean, come on, what else can you do? When you are stressed to the max, and shit starts happening, and then more shit happens, you just get to a point where you have to laugh about it, or else check yourself into the funny farm.

We JUST bought a new water heater too, because our old one was on it's last legs. You know that's happening when you have to keep turning down the cold water in the shower to have a nice warm/hot shower. Well apparently the dryer AND the washer decided they didn't want to work either!

So it's to the laundrymat this weekend for me!

When hubby comes back from out to sea in a week or so, we'll be shopping for a new washer and dryer. But here's the kicker. They're outside.

Our washer and dryer hookups are outside on the back patio.

We had PLANNED on getting a new washer and dryer once we enclosed the back patio into a "three-season type" porch back there. Once it was more protected by the elements.

Yea, not so much.

We are going to look at getting a shed of some sorts or enclosure to put around the washer and dryer to protect it so that the new ones will be protected and last longer, since we can't wait until the porch is enclosed.

Like I said, sometimes you just have to laugh......

Memories Monday - Superbowl Sunday

Ahhhhh.....Superbowl Sunday......

Did I watch the game yesterday? Nope!

Do I ever watch the Superbowl? Rarely...

Do I like football? Actually, yes I do.

I liked going to the high school football games in high school. To even watch the game too!

I LOVE the TV show Friday Night Lights! I especially love Kyle Chandler!! I have loved him since he was in the TV show Homefront, back in 1991.

Okay, back to the Superbowl Sunday.

Back before we had children, I did remember watching the Superbowl on occasion. We would watch it with friends.

And even before we were married, I would go to the "Superbowl Parties" that would be going on, mostly just to hang out with friends.

There was one Superbowl Party, in particular, that will always stand out for me. It was 15 years ago, 1992.

I went to someone's house (I can't even remember whose house it was) and met up with friends over there. I had a nice time, but I was thinking about hubby (who wasn't there and wasn't hubby at the time, just someone who I truly thought I was going to marry and be with for the rest of my life, but wasn't too sure he thought that at the time, as we were just on again, off again, here and there, etc..... you get the picture ....).

See, in the town I grew up, it was a Gossip Mill. Everyone talked about everyone. Things were said. Rumors were started, you get the gist.

So I was talking to one of our mutual friends, Tracy, and I was telling her how I was unsure if I wanted to keep my interest in future hubby. That I wanted to, but I wasn't sure if I should, etc....

She told me something that I'll never forget. She told me to screw listening to everyone else. She told me to go with MY gut feeling. To believe in my feelings. If this was something that I wanted and I think would happen, then to go for it. It was MY life and I should do what I wanted. What I believed in. And Tracy was more of a friend to hubby than she was to me, so I was thinking that if she was saying this to me, about how I felt about a friend of hers, then she probably knew what she was talking about. Maybe she saw something there that I had thought I had seen too.

So I persevered. I decided to continue feeling what I was feeling. And just when I thought I was about to give up again? The man told me he loved me. And then proposed a week after he told me he loved me.

It was just a matter of time.

I guess she was right, huh?

Thank goodness for that!!!

Half-Birthdays

Here in our household, we celebrate 1/2 birthdays. Actually only the kids do, as us adults don't feel the need to have to celebrate every six months how much older we are getting.

It all started way back when my eldest was maybe 4 or 5 years old. She always wanted to know when she was turning the next "1/2" year every year. She was anal about that. And so, since we've been doing it with her, it's natural to do it with our youngest.

We don't do a big "To-Do" about it, we just get a small Carvel ice-cream cake, that's just enough for everyone to have a piece. No presents, just an ice cream cake.

There's one sitting in the freezer right now, waiting to be eaten tomorrow. It's my youngest's 4 1/2 birthday tomorrow. She can't wait!

I also think part of this "celebrating 1/2 birthdays" comes from my mom.

Not that she, or we, celebrated our 1/2 birthdays growing up.

But growing up, since my mom couldn't afford to get us a lot, she would do little things on Valentine's Day, etc.

And so that's what we're doing with our girls. Little things, like 1/2 birthdays.

Plus it's a good excuse to have ice cream.

Love Thursday - A Man and His Dog

Nothing says Love like a Man and His Dog

Rain, Rain....

....Go Away.....

I've never been one to care for rain. Oh, when it's been extremely hot for a long period of time, I don't mind the rain to cool things off. And I don't even mind the occasional rain here and there. A day's worth of rain? Sure, that's fine.

Two days? That's when it starts to get on my nerves some.

Three days? Forget about it!

And let me rephrase that, I don't care for rain when I have to go OUT in it. If I don't have to go anywhere? Doesn't bother me much at all.

I've NEVER liked driving in the rain. I remember the first time I did it and my mom was in the car. I slammed on the brakes (obviously not a good thing to do in the rain) and locked them and was swerving here and there. So my first experience driving in the rain? Certainly not a good one!

I don't like that your feet get wet, or the bottoms of your pants, or sometimes your sleeves too (I always carry an umbrella in the car, although I need to get a newer, better, larger one).

That's why I could never live in Washington. I know it's beautiful up there, but it just rains too much! We probably could have easily moved up there via the Navy, but I couldn't do it. Those people who get depressed living up there? That would be me. I need the sun. I'm not a sun worshipper by any means, but it does brighten up my mood. I have friends who live in Washington and they love it up there. I'm not knocking Washington by ANY means. It's just not for me.

We lived in Tennessee for about 8 months and talk about rain there too! Geez!!

I guess I just don't like living in places where it rains a lot. But that's just me, and to each his own.

I like where I live just fine now, thank you.

Memories Monday - The Bathroom

This morning I was getting ready for the day, and both my girls were in the bathroom with me, as they almost always like to do in the morning. Now, granted, we do have two bathrooms and I probably should just go and use mine, but I don't use the shower back there (too damn small, plus it doesn't work correctly right now anyway), and when I get out of the shower, I just want to get ready there.

Anyway, the girls were in there with me and I certainly don't have the biggest bathroom around. It's quite small actually. It reminds me a bit of the bathroom I had growing up.

I lived in a 1 bedroom duplex with my 2 sisters and mom and we had 1 bathroom. 4 girls and one bathroom? Yea, I don't see how we did it either!

But it always seemed like we were ALL trying to be in there at the same time! I know my mom got in and out of there as quickly as she could, she probably didn't want to spend too much time in a dinky bathroom with her 3 children. I swear my bathroom is smaller than the one we had growing up though.

Back to the bathroom growing up. I remember my mom put two "art pieces" that I did in the bathroom, hanging over the toilet. They were clay shapes of a cat and a fish, I believe.

The best part about this bathroom though? It had two mirrored medicine cabinets. But they were on opposite walls. So doing your hair was easy in my bathroom growing up! It was SO easy to see the back of your hair with the two mirrors! Way cool!

Even with my "two mirrors" in the bathroom, I was always so jealous of my other friends! They all pretty much had their own bathroom, and one of my friends even had a 1/2 bath attached to her bedroom! So she REALLY had her own bathroom!

When I moved out on my own, I was so excited to get my own bathroom!

So now, why, with having two bathrooms in our house, am I back to using the one that the kids use????

Who knows. Maybe it's because we haven't redecorated our bathroom yet and I like the ambience of the front bathroom? (Lord knows I've argued enough about the color with hubby! I LOVE the color, he thinks he's in an episode of Miami Vice) Could be. Maybe once we redo the back bathroom (ours), I'll want to spend more time in it.

Here's the "Miami Vice" bathroom. (Which I don't think it looks like, I like the way my friend called it, "Zen-like")

Maybe I just enjoy the company in the morning though.

A Mother's Intuition

Mother's Intuition....

You've all heard about it..

It is SUCH a powerful thing.

It is an AMAZING thing!

Some people often wonder how it works and there is just no way to describe it. It's just something a mother knows. And it's something that a "mother-to-be" would know too. I was pregnant before I had my eldest and I had a miscarriage. It was never known what the sex of the baby was, but I knew it was a boy. I just KNEW. I've known other people who have had the heartbreak of a miscarriage and they knew the sex of their baby too. Some have had it confirmed, some haven't. But they still just KNEW!

When I was pregnant with my youngest, I knew before I knew. I had an ultrasound scheduled and two days before, I went into a resale shop and bought the cutest little dress. I knew. The ultrasound confirmed what I knew.

My girls.

I know when something is bothering them. I know when there's something that just isn't right. And with my oldest, I push her to tell me. Sometimes I let it go, sometimes I don't. But she inevitably tells me about it.

I know.

My mom knew.

When I was a little girl, my mom told me that after they had gotten divorced, she told my dad to NEVER forget my birthday or Christmas. Just don't do it. Because I would never get over it if he did. I mean, how could she POSSIBLY know that about me at such a young age?

But she knew.

And she was right.

He did take off for a few years and I never got those Christmas or birthday presents from him anymore. And I didn't forget. It was something that hurt me so deeply inside. That was something that SHE knew that was important to me. That my dad would think of me on my birthday and Christmas. Two days out of the year. Two days that she KNEW were important to me.

How could she have known when I was at such a young age?

Mother's Intuition.

It's a powerful thing.

A Feeling in the Air

Do you ever get those feelings where you feel that something is going to happen or something is about to start?

I've had that feeling today. I don't know if something is about to happen, or I am just coming out of a fog or what. Or maybe I feel like Spring is going to come soon? I don't know......

I do know that softball season is going to start soon for my eldest. We got the call last night from her coach, so at least we know who her coach is. He was my #3 pick, so that's good. Then I got a call from the Team Mom today too. Things are rolling along.

Work seems to have evened out a bit, which is REALLY good too.

Hubby is still going out to sea for short periods of time, and that is sometimes harder than him being gone for a long time. It's a juggling act, I tell you.

It's around this time that I like to start gardening, but our backyard is in dire need of a good grading. Plus we need to have our whole backyard dug up and have chicken wire laid down under the dirt and grass because the gophers are driving us absolutely BATTY!!!! It doesn't matter what we try, they keep coming back. At least if we lay chicken wire underneath, they can't come up (at least we HOPE not!)

It's Friday, the start of the weekend, the start of my piles of laundry that need to be done, the two days that I get to sleep in (at least until the 7:00 a.m. indoor soccer game comes that my eldest plays in next month, I think), the start, or should I say the continuation, of more organizing things in the house that I don't get a chance to do during the week.

Oh, and did I mention my goal to be more organized and prepared this year? I've already got my niece's birthday present and her birthday isn't until the end of February. I've got the little Valentine's gifts for my girls already. I want to have things done ahead of time, pace things out during the year so I don't get rushed. A few years ago, I had started getting Christmas presents in August! I just love getting things done ahead of time, and I'm hoping this year I can do that again.

Memories Monday - Hell On Wheels

I was exercising this morning and listening to my MP3 player when Cher's "Hell On Wheels" came on. Boy does that song evoke memories! It's the first song on the soundtrack and on the movie, "Roller Boogie". My best friend and I could not wait to see that movie! We loved it! We bought the soundtrack album (I still have it too), and we spent just about every free waking moment roller skating around our neighborhood.

Now, when you roller skate, you always want a good smooth surface. Yes, roller rinks are nice, but kind of hard to always go to when you are in 5th and 6th grade! There was this one driveway on our block though. It had just been repaved. We ALWAYS used it! I think we did ask once if it was alright if we used their driveway, at least that was nice of us! We worked on our turns, spins, tricks, you name it, we did it. Or at least we tried to do those things.

Back in my early 20's I would grab my skates, hop in my car and drive down to Venice and go skating on the boardwalk, usually by myself. It was SO nice and relaxing for me to do that!

To this day I still love to rollerskate. I even have my own pair of skates! At least once a year for the past two years I've been able to go rollerskating, as my eldest's school has the kids, who have good citizenship, go there for a field trip/reward trip. So at least I've been getting some use out of them!

But I still love to watch Roller Boogie too! :)

Love Thursday - Enjoying Nature

Being able to capture the true joy in her face as she's running through the falling leaves.....

Ice Chests Anyone?

I have this thing about coolers or ice chests, whichever name you like to call them.

I love them. I love having different sizes of them. Because hey, lets face it, sometimes you don't always need a huge one. Or you need one on wheels. Or you want one that has a separate door to open so you don't have to open up the whole thing. Or you want one that has a place to set your drinks on.

We have 3 big ones, one of them that has wheels to pull (although hubby says we already have one that has wheels in the garage but I couldn't find that one when I went looking yesterday and I'm not about to tear apart his garage looking for it)

Then I have 3 smaller ones that are all soft sided. One almost looks like a suitcase because of the way it rolls. It comes in VERY handy when having to bring snacks to softball or soccer games, or bringing my macaroni salad to family get togethers. The next one is more square and is meant to be taken to the beach (at least that's what I use it for, you can carry it) It works nicely for sandwiches and drinks. Then I have one to take on trips with us in the car. It has a separate compartment for cooled things and non-cooled things.

Down to the next size down in coolers. I have two hard sided ones and two soft sided ones. Hubby usually takes one of the hard sided ones when he goes fishing or flying his RC planes. The other one is basically only big enough for a small lunch. The soft sided ones I use for my lunches.

Now, why am I bringing up the subject of coolers you ask?

Well, my refrigerator took a dump yesterday and decided to quit working.

Thank goodness I'm an ice chest whore. I was able to fit the food that I really needed to keep for daily use in the coolers provided (well 2 of the largest coolers were unusable, but we'll talk about why another time.....) I have the big one outside (where it has been SOOO cold that things are staying very cold in there) and 3 of the smaller ones inside to keep milk, orange juice, butter, other juice, cheese, condiments, etc in there.

The Sears man came by today and fixed my refrigerator (turns out it needed a new relay to the compressor. They invented this thing so that if it overheats, the relay will burn out and not affect the compressor at all, saving hundreds of dollars. Good invention I tell you!) So now it's getting all nice and chilly in there again and tomorrow I can put the food I was able to save back in there. Unfortunately I did have to throw out a lot of food, especially the freezer part. :(

Hey, at least I got to clean out my refrigerator and make it all nice and pretty again and I got some good use of my coolers in the cold winter (hey, it's cold here right now.....)

That's me, the Ice Chest Whore

Memories Monday - Grease

A little early.......

My eldest and her friend are in my living room right now watching the movie, Grease.

28 years ago, when I was in 5th grade (oh my goodness, has it really been THAT long ago??!), my mom took me and my best friend to the Drive-In to see Grease. Oh my, what an EVENT that was!!! We were so funny, when the song "Grease Lightning" came on we were dancing in the car together with the movie. We were both crammed up in the front seat with my mom watching the movie.

We even formed our own "Grease Girls" club in school with some of our friends, that included t-shirts in which we wrote "Grease Girls" on it. We were so silly!

Sometime in junior high we went to a carnival somewhere and they had THE fun house that was in the movie and so of course we HAD to go through it and sing, "You're The One That I Want", and do the dance too.

I have always loved that movie too!!!! A year before my mom died, she even gave me a Grease Barbie with Sandy when she was all dressed up in black spandex and leather.

I know the movie by heart, people!

It's amazing to me that 28 years later, my eldest is now watching it with her best friend. :)

THIS

This morning I was looking at pictures my sister posted on her myspace account from her New Years Eve party. It got me thinking.....

And missing....

As I was looking through all the pictures, it totally made me feel so old! (Okay, well to be fair on me, she IS TEN YEARS YOUNGER than me). They're all partying in the backyard, in the house, having a blast, and just being carefree.

Damn.....I remember those days........

Before hubby and I got married, hell, even before we met, we partied. And sometimes partied HARD. (Well, me, not THAT hard, anyway). I was out just about every weekend. Hanging out with friends. Going to parties. In high school we went to dance clubs every weekend. After high school I went to clubs in Hollywood like The Whisky-A-G0-Go, The Roxy, Gazzarri's, Troubador, etc to listen to bands. Got drunk. Still went to parties too.

Hell, that's how I met hubby, at a party!

I had fun. A lot of fun.

But then I go into see my youngest in bed watching TV (hey people, it's Saturday morning and it's cold outside) and she hugs me and says, "Cuddle mommy, cuddle".

THIS is what I wanted.

THIS is fun.

THIS is what it's all about for me.

I got to live the carefree life and now I have the life I always wanted. I've got it all.

Thank you hubby for being at that party.

The Things We Moms Will Say....

"Mom, what happens when you leave tangles in your hair all day?"

(Note: A few minutes before this, she didn't want me brushing her hair after her bath)

"You'll get a rat's nest in your hair and then rats will want to come live in your hair"

(She giggles, because apparently she finds this amusing)

"You don't want rats to come live in your hair, do you?"

(Still giggling) "No Mommy. I don't like rats. Rats are yucky."

"I agree honey, rats are yucky. That's why I have to brush your hair everyday."

Love Thursday - My Grandpa

My Grandpa and Me (when I was 3)

My grandpa was the best. Granted he could be gruff at times, but he always loved to play with the kids!

Case in point:

Here I am, around 3 or 4 years old, and he's letting me put curlers in his hair!

When I got married 14 1/2 years ago, I asked him to walk me down the aisle (Dad MIA, a story for another time), but he was having trouble walking. But he was there at my wedding! And I got the last picture I ever had with just me and him:

(My Grandpa and Me - when I was 24)

Memories Monday - Cleaning and Organizing

Since I've been in the "cleaning and organizing" mode lately, it's brought back memories of when I was little with my mom.

Growing up, we lived in a 1 bedroom duplex. My mom was a single mom and so that was basically all she could afford, but thank goodness it had a front yard and the people she rented it from owned the property and lived in the back attached house. That's partly why it only had one bedroom, they took one of the bedrooms from the front out, closed up the doorway and made one to their side. They had 3 kids, 2 boys and a girl, so they needed the extra bedroom.

Anyway. So we only had one bedroom. At the time we moved in it was just me and my one younger sister. (My baby sister didn't come until about 3 years later) My mom had me and my sister take the bedroom and she slept in the living room on a twin bed on one side of the living room. Later on in years she would get a sofa sleeper so she could have a bed, yet hide it during the day.

Since we did live in such a fairly small place, storage was very limited. It was amazing the things that my mom came up with to store things though. And she would get "bored" with how things looked so probably at least once a year, the living room would get rearranged, or our bedroom would.

Saturdays were usually her cleaning days since she worked all week long. With her Budweiser in hand, she went from room to room on Saturdays. She would have her music playing and just be in this "groove" of cleaning and organizing. I always found that day to be fascinating. I don't know why. Because my mom was in the house all day? I don't know. Thank goodness though the job my mom had, had good hours. She worked in a bank and back then when I was growing up, they did have true banking hours.

Some of the things she did, I still do to this day, maybe because of habit. Our games were stored in the linen closet in the hallway and yes, mine are there too. Cereal was always stored up on top of the refrigerator, and yes, mine is there too. Hubby can't stand the cereal being on top of there, but when it's something I've done my whole life, to me, it's normal to have it there. Maybe one day when we can expand the shelves in our pantry, I can put them there.

Organizing

As much as I love Christmas, I love it when it's over and I can put all the Christmas decorations away. My living room feels so much bigger when all the decorations and tree are gone.

I also get the purge mode. Partly because of all the new stuff the girls have gotten, my one storage closet no longer has presents in it and it's just that time of the year to do it, you know?

Yesterday I organized the stuff underneath both bathroom sinks and the kitchen sink, and finished organizing two of the shelves in the hall storage closet.

Today I went through the "corner clutter cabinet", and two drawers in the kitchen that needed purging and organizing badly.

I love to organize when I have the time.

I have a small house, so I do need to do it often, because if I don't, things just get out of control here. Plus we are coming to a point in the year when things are going to start to get hectic around here. My eldest will be doing indoor soccer once a week, dance once a week and softball probably at least 3 times a week. So if I don't get it done now, I don't know WHEN I'll be able to get it done.

I also had time to do the Dance, Dance Revolution with my girls on the Playstation2. Talk about a workout there!

Oh yea, and I also found all my old emails that I thought I lost forever when hubby upgraded the computer! Woohoo for me!

Although I never made any "official" New Year's resolutions, I do want to get back into my mode of getting things done ahead of time. For example, my niece's birthday is the end of February, but I've already gotten her birthday present. Woohoo on me! I've also gotten the girls' valentines to give out on Valentine's Day too. I just need to get them a little something that I always get them on Valentine's Day too. I got them stuffed animals last year, but I'm getting sick of them all over the house, so I need to come up with something different.

Plus hubby will be going out to sea soon for a long time and I need to get done what I can get done now.

I'm also vowing to work on scrapbooking big time too. I want to get at least one layout done a week too.

Will all of this happen?

Only time will tell! :)

Behind The Liquor Store, Cash Only

Today I took my cat in to get her spayed. I looked all around for places and I found this one place that came recommended from my neighbor, who researched places when she took her cats. When I told my boss about this vet, he knew exactly who I was talking about too, as he's been there before too!

The Veterinary Hospital is actually in a building behind a liquor store (the two places are in one big building, just separated by walls, so two different places of business). And it's Cash Only. I shit you not.

At first I was a bit leery because, hey, it's BEHIND a liquore store and it's CASH ONLY! Hmm.....

But my boss and my friend definitely recommended him. And put it this way, my boss MAKES cat food for the stray cat that resides behind our office at work. Any my friend adores her cats immensely! So I don't think they'd take their cats to some half ass place. Plus, I trust them both.

So I give it a go.

No fancy stuff in there. Just simple friendly service.

Yes, he is a licensed veterinarian.

He's been in business for years too, so it's not like it's a fly by the night business or anything, and obviously if he was doing something wrong, someone would have reported him by now and he'd be out of business.

I dropped my cat off in the morning, and picked her up in the afternoon.

Straight, simple and to the point.

I got a shot record from him too, and hey, they even have a computer!

But think about it. Low overhead, cash only so you don't have to worry about bounced checks or stolen credit cards. At least this way he won't lose any money due to dishonest people.

Overall I was pleased by the results.

My cat is now asleep on my bed, resting.

She's had a hard day. She's used to running around my house torturing us.

So if you need a good vet, don't be so quick to discount the one behind the liquor store that takes cash only.

Of Course

Because I made a doctor's appointment for my ear, now it's feeling better.

Huh? What? Say That Again?

Ever since yesterday morning my left ear has been bothering me. I feel like I'm all plugged up in that ear. Yesterday it also hurt like a son of a bitch.

Went to Target and got some Earache Drops.

At least the pain went away.

I'm still all plugged up on that side though.

Called the doctor's office to get an appointment to get it looked at.

Their first available appointment?

Friday morning at 8:00 a.m.

Nice.

Maybe my eardrum will rupture in the meantime and I can get seen sooner?

Memories Monday - Happy New Year!

Wow, I can't believe 2007 is already here!

What did I do last night? Tried to make it to midnight here at home. Did I? Yes! I kept saying I was going to go to bed, but then it was a quarter to midnight by then and I said, "Now I have to stay up until midnight" So I rang in the new year with my hubby and we kissed. Much like we did (although probably not as passionate because I was tired and wasn't drunk either ) 14 years ago.

I was talking to my sister yesterday, as she was having a New Year's Eve Party of her own last night, telling her how I used to LOVE, LOVE New Year's! There was ALWAYS a party to go to, and I always had fun!

Growing up we had always gone to my grandparents house for New Years. They always used to play Tripoly that night. It was neat watching the grownups play, and sometimes I would get to play too. Part of the reason we always went there was the fact that my Grandpa's birthday was January 1st. Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

I remember when I was in junior high or so, and would always watch MTV on New Years. That was actually so much fun to watch that!

I don't think I started going out to a party for New Years until maybe I was a junior in high school. I do know that once I did start going out for New Years it was something I always did, and never wanted to miss it! I always had a good time that night!

I remember that one New Years when I kissed hubby. He was home from his duty station, and had brought a few friends. I was at one party and he and his friends came over (obviously this was before we were married). He was supposed to go back over to one of his other friend's house, but I persuaded him to stay, at least to kiss me at midnight. What a night that was! I think we all did so much party hopping that night because so many friends were having parties! (Yes, I know, bad me.........)

That incoming year ended up being the year that hubby and I got married! We didn't get to spend the next New Years together though, as he got deployed and was out to sea then. He did call me though at the party I was at then. Our friend's family has always had New Year's Eve parties since forever and I so I went there that year, just didn't have someone to kiss passionately. The next year though we went together and had been going to our friend's house up until just a few years ago. My mom would watch our oldest and we would take a cab there so we didn't have to worry about driving. I even had my other sister drive us once there too and we just took a cab home. At least we got responsible by then! :) It just got to be too much to drive all the way there and we wanted to spend the New Year with our children too, so we stopped going.

I can't wait to get off this computer at watch the Rose Parade too! I LOVE the Rose Parade! Growing up in L.A., it is ALWAYS one EVERY station! Once we left L.A. and I couldn't find it on all the stations, I was bummed! I don't even think it was on a station when we lived in Tennesse! At least now that we're in California, I can still see it. :)

Happy New Year to everyone!!!!

Love Thursday - My Sister

Love is seeing the joy on my sister's face when she gets her own "Mrs. Claus". (It made me cry when I watched her open it). I adore my sister so much!!! She is someone that everyone loves. :)

******if you read the post a few posts down, it'll tell you the whole story about "Mrs. Claus"*********

Happy Love Thursday everyone!

Post Christmas Stuff

Christmas is over.

Santa has left the building.

It's time to bring the totes out to start putting stuff away and get my house back to pre-Christmas decorations.

The after Christmas sales have begun.

The rude people dashing to get those good deals are back again. (do they HAVE to leave their cart in the middle of the aisle so no one can get through?)

2006 is coming to a close. (thank goodness, it's been a roller coaster year, I tell you)

I got my daughter's cold. ::::::::::::::sniff, sniff::::::::::::::::

My eldest just informed me she has a paper cut on her finger.

Time to start purging my house and donate to the Salvation Army to get that extra write off in before the year ends.

Time to get back on my "watching what I eat" and doing some serious workouts on a regular basis again.

I need to go looking for a new elliptical machine. (See above sentence)

:::::::::sniff::::::::sniff:::::::::::

I need to go lay down and get this damn cold out of my system.

My cat isn't in heat anymore.

I need to find a vet fast before she goes back in heat soon.

It was rather amusing to watch her though at times.

Did you know that there are people out there who actually use a q-tip to "help" with their cat in heat? (Ewwwwww, gross!!!!!)

Have to call an appraiser to come out here and appraise our house to get that fucking PMI taken off.

:::::::sniff::::::::::::

My head is hurting now because of this cold.

Tomorrow IS another day...........

Memories Monday - Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!!

Today's Memories Monday, is of course, memories of past Christmases.

We had a very nice Christmas morning this morning. My girls are enjoying their presents right now. Santa gave the eldest a stereo and the youngest an American Girl doll.

Pretty much every year, they have gotten what they've asked for from Santa. They know (well, the youngest doesn't realize it yet, but she's still impressionable) that not to ask for something TOO extravagant, so it's easier for them to get what they want from Santa. I didn't always get what I wanted, but that was because sometimes, it just wasn't possible.

I ALWAYS loved Christmas Eve growing up. All the aunts, uncles and cousins would come over on Christmas Eve and would have chili that my grandma or mom made. I never liked chili, so I would always have tortillas. Going to bed that night on Christmas Eve was so full of anticipation. I was SO excited for Christmas to come, to see what Santa brought. The kids always had to go sleep out in the den, away from the living room where Santa would bring the presents. I would fall asleep by the light of the Christmas trees, straining my ears to see if Santa was here yet.

I remember one year I got my red cassette player, which I loved (I think I was in 3rd or 4th grade), and I remember my aunt getting her yellow 8-track player.

When I was in 5th grade, I got a Barbie motorhome. I LOVED that thing!!! Sometime later that next year, I came across a picture of my aunt's boyfriend putting together that motorhome. That's when I knew. I really had had NO idea or any indication before that, about Santa. I truly believed. I actually was crushed! :(

That next year, in 6th grade, all I wanted was a Barbie dreamhouse. I didn't want anything else. I even told my mom I didn't want anything else, even from anybody else. Just the Barbie dreamhouse. When I woke up that next morning, I was truly hoping I would have it there. But alas, it wasn't there. I was crushed. I knew it was expensive, but I thought maybe, just maybe I could get it. To be honest, I don't even remember what I did get from Santa that year. I just remember that my best friend, Stacie, did get the Barbie Dreamhouse. I do remember feeling sad that she got it and I didn't. But, my friend was a very nice and generous friend (and she still is, by the way) and when I would go over there to play, she let me play with 1/2 of the house (the house actually divided up into 3 separate sections). (How nice is that, I tell you!!!) So at least I did get to enjoy it through my friend. I knew my mom felt bad she couldn't get it, but it just something my mom couldn't afford.

Sometimes Christmases were lean over the years. My mom raised 3 girls all by herself with no help from our fathers (another story later, I'll just say now that she had really bad luck with men), and so it was up to her to make our Christmases as nice as she could. She would sometimes be up until 2 in the morning, making clothes for us, taking our measurements while we slept.

One year she knew I wanted the designer brand names jeans that everybody was wearing at the time (I think that was 7th or 8th grade). So she asked everyone, to get me a pair of them. I was so excited that Christmas morning!

Another year, on Christmas morning (I think I was in either high school or out of it by then, I can't remember) I woke up and found a photo album from Santa. I thought, "Oh, that's nice" and didn't even look inside, until I saw my sister look inside hers. Her album was full of pictures of her from the time she was a baby until the present! So I eagerly looked inside mine and found the same! That was one of the most special Christmases I had ever had. It was a present that had a lot of meaning to it. My mom knew I loved pictures. She knew I would cherish this present. And it was a present that barely cost anything. It was something that she and my grandma enjoyed doing. They loved putting together those albums for me and my sister.

Those special presents like that are the best!!!

Mrs. Claus

Last year when we went through my mom's decorations, both my sister and I vied for the Mrs. Claus. Here she is (please forgive her, she's old and has some stains):



I don't even remember the year my mom made her. I think it was sometime in Junior High, maybe.


Every Christmas she would come out.


I often wonder why my mom didn't make Santa Claus too. Maybe it was because Mrs. Claus is often overlooked in the Christmas decorations category? Maybe it's because we were a house of females and Mrs. Claus was appropriate.


Anyway, I got Mrs. Claus. She's been out every Christmas, just as she had been when she was with my mom.


Shortly after I received her though, I wanted my sister to have her too. I often thought of maybe every other year, we trade off having her. But then I thought of something else......

Could I find the pattern? Could I find the material? Could I make my sister a Mrs. Claus of her very own?

Turns out they still make the pattern (Go figure!). And while I wasn't able to get all the material my mom used on Mrs. Claus, I was able to find the material that was on the picture of the pattern, which included the same material on the apron that my mom used (eBay ROCKS!). Besides, having it be changed a little bit would make it her own.

This past weekend my sisters came down to my house so we could celebrate Christmas together. When my sister opened up her Mrs. Claus, I cried (yes, I know, silly me, but I could tell she was so surprised with it and it was a special present. (Earlier in the day she was looking at the original Mrs. Claus and saying how she loved looking at it when she was little and touching it.)

Now she has her own:

Two Years Ago Today....

.....my mom passed away.

The past few months have been pretty hard on me, and I've been thinking about my mom a lot. I've been missing her a lot. A friend of mine recently wrote about her loss on her blog, and she said it was therapeutic to her. Maybe writing about this will be therapeutic to me.

Two years ago and an evening ago, I got a phone call. It was my sister, who was visiting my mom from out of state. I knew it was her, because she usually always calls me when she's visiting my mom. " I knew it was you", I jokingly said. That's when all the jokes stopped. She called to tell me that they had taken mom away in an ambulance.

About a half hour later I got a call from my other sister who had gone in the ambulance with my mom. "There's bleeding in the brain", she said. When she said those words, I knew. I knew there was no hope. My mom had had a massive bleeding stroke.

I frantically packed my clothes and my girls' clothes. My husband was frantically running around after me too. See, he had to go to work on Monday, and when you're in the military, you don't miss work, especially when it's a day as important as that day was. What was he going to do? He knew he needed and wanted to go up with me, but how? We finally decided to take two cars.

My aunt called. She didn't want me driving up there by myself in that state of mind. I told her not to worry. Husband was going to follow me from behind and I KNEW that my grandma, up in heaven, would be watching over me to make sure I got there to see my mom before she passed on to say goodbye.

When I got up there, I met my youngest sister in the hospital, and husband took the kids to my mom's house. I saw my mom hooked up to machines. She was not responsive. She didn't open her eyes. She didn't talk. She just lied there. They moved her up to ICU shortly after I got there. The doctors kept coming in to talk to us. They would run additional tests in the morning to confirm what we already knew. There was too much bleeding in the brain and it had shifted her brain. They said her eyes were fixed and dialated. If we took her off the machines, did she want her organs donated? I had no idea. I was in a fog, yet very real state.

My youngest sister and I stayed there. We were NOT leaving our mom. My other sister couldn't handle it. She kept coming and going.

At some point in the night, while my sister and I dozed for a few minutes, I could actually feel my mom's soul leave the room. When I woke up and looked at her, I knew for sure. Her soul was gone. She was up in heaven. All that was left was her body, still hooked up to machines.

In the morning, the doctors were going to start running more tests but we said no. We knew. We knew she was gone. We made the decision to turn off the machines. It wasn't a hard decision though. Mom had always told us that she never wanted to be hooked up to machines. She didn't want to suffer. She always joked that she wanted us to take her out back and shoot her. (It may sound shocking but not the way she said it).

So we made the calls to everyone. We got my sister back down to the hospital to say goodbye. She left again before they shut off the machines. No one knew if she wanted to have her organs donated and while it is a WONDERFUL thing to do, we were selfish at the time. We wanted it to be over with. We didn't want to think of our mom still being hooked up to machines to have her organs harvested, for another 14 hours. We wanted to be there when her body stopped.

My husband came by on his way back down to our house so he could go to work the next day and get time off to come back up. They were getting ready to turn the machines off. My sister's boyfriend had come down too. Both of them stayed in the room with us the whole time.

Both my sister and I watched my mom, each of us were on one side of her. We agonizingly memorized every inch of her. We touched her face. We hugged her. We kissed her. We looked at her feet and hands and looked at our own to see what we inherited from her.

We waited for her heart to stop. For her body to stop. When it finally did, we hugged her and said goodbye. We hugged each other and cried. We both knew that we would be there for each other.

As sad and devastating as that moment was, I would NOT trade it for anything. I was there when my mom took her last breath. I was there until the end. It was a moment in time that I will always cherish, and I know my sister will too. My mom was there when we came in the world and we were there when she left.

Memories Monday - Hair Cuts and Colors

I was wondering what to write about today when a friend of mine was talking about her hair cut. And that got me thinking back to high school and beyond and the various styles and hair color my friends and myself have gone through.

The first time I tried to change my hair in any way was with the infamous Sun-In. You know, I'm not even sure if it really works that well. When you put it on and go lay out in the sun, I think it does help it to highlight it some, but certainly not as well as hair color, you know?

Then I did the highlighting kit with the cap and crochet hook. You know the one, where you impale your scalp when you put the crochet hook through the holes (that you have to make with the hook), and grab just the right amount of hair through. If you pull too little, you have to grab more, and if you grab too much, you have to finagle the hook under the cap, try to find the right hole and only pull some of it back.

I never truly colored my whole hair until I was 20 or so. Then it was a reddish brown. I've never gone truly CRAZY and gone pure black, or blonde or pink or red. I never had the guts to do that. I've always stayed in the browns area (whether it's light, medium or dark), and occassionally have done the blonde highlights.

Now, I've had friend who have gone the blonde mode in high school. Some turned out okay, some it took a few times to get it right, because the guy friend who said he knew how to do it, forgot to get the "Blue out" when he tried to dye my friend's hair blonde. Oh my what a night THAT was! I'm sure it included some Bacardi 151 though too.

Hair lengths........

Now this is one area, where I've had my hair all different lengths at some point in my life. Even growing up when I was little, my hair was always a little different length in school pictures. In 1st and 2nd grade it was a little longer each year, then in 3rd grade I went to shoulder length, and 4th even shorter. Then I started to let it grow out again through 5th, 6th, & 7th grade. Then I started going in reverse again. In 8th it was a little shorter, in 9th, I had some dorky ass perm, and then in 10th grade I went short. Above my shoulders short. 11th grade, about the same, maybe a little longer and then in my senior year I went super short. Then, during that year, I started letting it grow out and then I let it grow. It got pretty long. Then again in my early 20's I went to the shoulders, let it grow again, etc.

I think you get the picture.

One thing that has always stayed consistent though, is that ever since 3rd grade, I've always had bangs. I tried at one point to grow them out and it looked okay for a little while, but I'm just the type of person who needs bangs.

Okay, the point of the story here is that I got a nice bonus from being at my work for 10 years and my boss said that I had to use the money on MYSELF. To go away for a weekend, or just buy something for me. Do something for me. (Since I almost always use it for my family for things we would want to get) So I was thinking of using some of it to actually go to a hair salon (and not Supercuts), get a nice haircut and get my hair colored professionally, and not from the box at home. Wow, what a concept for me........ That's just something I don't do, because we always need the money for something else.

Of course I still want to go away for a weekend by myself though...... :)

Celebrating Christmas With My Sisters

On Saturday, both my sisters came down to my house so we could celebrate Christmas together, even if it is a week early.

It was SOOOOO nice to have the 3 of us together again, just us. I don't even know the last time, if ever, that the 3 of us and our family were together, just us. We've been together before recently, but there's always been my aunt and cousins too, which I absolutely love too, don't get me wrong. But it got me thinking, when was the last time the 3 of us were together, just us, celebrating something? Even when my mom was alive, my mom was there too.

To me, this last Saturday was such a special day for me. My girls and my one sister's girls played together in my girls' room, and both my sisters, myself and my one sister's husband all sat around the dining room table talking. (This was after we all opened presents, of course). It got me thinking back to when I was little and we had family get togethers. All the kids were off playing and the adults would be sitting around the table taking and enjoying themselves. I always wanted to sit with the adults when I was little. I was always fascinated by them and what they would talk about. And now I'm one of them!

Before my mom passed away, (up until my sister moved out of state), we were always together at Christmas. It was a tradition that we had always done since I was a wee one and we would go over to my grandma's house. And I know, that when we were all together, sitting around that table, my mom was looking down on us and smiling that we still get together, even though she's gone.

Next year, my sister has already said she wants us up at their place. I told them fine, but we'll have to do it like we did this year, about a week before Christmas, that way we can celebrate Christmas Day at home.

Hubby, kids and myself celebrated Christmas at home for the VERY first time ever, last year, and we loved it. It was just us, no rushing around to get to other people's house and we decided that we want to continue it that way. I do like starting the tradition of us sisters getting together a week or so before Christmas to celebrate it together though.

Memories Monday - Jingle Bells

I went to my Christmas party for my work on Saturday and had a really good time. Definitely something I needed. I did get embarrassed though when my boss was doing my "tribute" to being there 10 years. (Damn, where did he find some of those pictures????)

Now, since last year my boss has been giving "gag" gifts to the employees, and this year, I got a mood ring. TOTALLY fitting, since my moods have been up and down the past few months (thank goodness I'm on medication, otherwise they'd be even MORE wacko! )

Also, we raffle off the centerpieces on the table too at the party. There was this one that looked like a gingerbread candy store, too cute! I kept waiting for my number to be called, hoping that no one had wanted it yet, and thenk goodness when my number was called, it was still available!! When I got it, I didn't realize it was a music box as well! Even cuter! I love music boxes and I know both my girls love it too.

It wasn't until yesterday that I realized the tune (I mean I knew what the tune was, it's Jingle Bells) was VERY familiar. You know how when you play music boxes, at first they'll play REALLY fast and then slowly dwindle down to really slow? Well, this one is no exception. When it was playing really fast, that's when it dawned on me, that it was the same tune as a music box decoration my grandma had. My grandma's was a large gold bell, and when you pulled on the string, it played Jingle Bells. There was one point through the years when it didn't work, but somehow, someone got it working again. I don't know which one of my sisters have it now. One of them got it when we divided the decorations up, I think (either that or my aunt has it).

I always remembered playing that at Christmastime and dancing funny little dances when it would play really fast. It was always fun for us to pull the string to hear the music. Growing up it would always be hanging in the den over my grandpa's poker table. Later on in years when my mom had it, she would hang it on the wall between the dining room and the living room.

And now, thanks to my boss, I now have that music box sound of Jingle Bells again, along with it playing really fast and then really slow at the end.

Another memory to keep going strong.

Hissy Fit and Organic Free Range Chicken Broth

I had SUCH a stressful day at work today. I got so stressed that I actually had a hissy fit, complete with stomping my feet up and down. Everybody there stopped what they were doing when I did that. Well, at least it's better than having a major panic attack and having to go to the hospital, but I did feel like a 4 year old after I did it. Geez.....grow up!

Work itself is so extremely stressful for me right now. I'm doing a full-time position in less than 20 hours a week. Talk about major overload! I sure hope it calms down sometime soon. Plus with husband gone right now, I'm doing everything solo. At least it's the weekend.

This evening I read one of my favorite blogs Dooce and I laughed away a lot of stress I had. She had talked about Organic Free Range Chicken Broth and apparently some people took offense to what she said and so she posted some of their responses and had her response to them. I found it so funny. What a nice release for me.

My Tuesdays Are Mondays...

I purposely don't work on Mondays. I hate working on Mondays. Mondays suck to work.

That's why when I start my week at work, it starts on Tuesdays. But you know what? My Tuesdays are my Mondays so I'm a bitch at work. I freely admit it. But I'm even more of a bitch on Tuesdays when I am only able to work a few hours, instead of a few more. Because that means I have to get as much shit done at work as I can before I have to leave. And that makes me even more bitchy because I'm stressed out.

And to top it all off, I have my youngest at work with me on Tuesdays, which adds to my stress level, because I have to make sure she's not getting into trouble at work, while I'm running around trying to get all the shit done. Now, when I can stay for more than a few hours, I am less stressed out, but still stressed out, just the same.

I have one more Tuesday though, where my youngest will be at work with me. Starting in January, I will have her go to preschool on Tuesdays as well. I need it for my sanity. Plus, she really enjoys preschool now and would be happy to be there another day. Also, she will start Kindergarten in September and will have to get used to going every day. Sooooo.....in April, I will have her go every day to preschool then, to get her used to going.

My youngest LOVES routine. She wants to know what the plan is for the day. When things go awry, she takes some time getting adjusted to it. So it'll be a good thing for her.

She'll still come to work with me in the afternoons though for a couple of hours on Tuesday and Wednesdays. But it is just for a short while. I think I just need to get new toys in my office, because she's not interested in any of them anymore................