So Lucky

Grrr - I typed a whole post about what a great day it was and it got deleted.

Today was my birthday and it was a wonderful day. It started with me being spoiled by the people at work, and ended with me being spoiled by my family. I got many good presents.

I'm feeling very lucky and loved. What more could a girl ask for?

Laugh Therapy

Ok -

So, every Wednesday at 8am I have a meeting with nib (new italian boss). He is in Italy with two of the other managers on his team, and I'm in California in a room with the managers who report to me. I always end up pissed and cranky and it totally ruins my day. My managers always end up frustrated and pissed and it ruins their day. I decided that today, instead of getting frustrated (and more frustrated and more frustrated) that I would laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

So, I started to giggle a little. Then, I started laughing. We would put him on mute and I just cracked up. By the end of the meeting - I had tears streaming down my face. Everyone else in the room was laughing too. We honestly didn't get anything accomplished (we never do in these meetings) but no one was pissed or frustrated either. The only thing it ruined was my makeup - because the tears took off all my mascara.

And you know what? I had a great day the rest of the day. Nib doesn't listen. He interrupts. He talks forever with no point and doesn't let anyone talk back. He asks for useless things. He tries to control everything (that he shouldn't be controlling.) I'm not going to change him. But, I'm not entirely sure how to deal with him yet. So, in the meantime, I need to simply laugh. I need to get some optimism back. I need to stop taking myself so fucking seriously.

So, I laughed today - and it made all the difference.

Warm and Fuzzy

Today wasn't a bad day. I was able to reschedule the ortho appointment - I stayed on my diet, and even though I forgot to pre-make the coffee last night, hubby remembered and I had hot fresh coffee when I woke up this morning. (I'm a major bitch without my coffee. Well, I'm pretty much always a major bitch, but I'm a Serious Major Bitch without the coffee..)

But, all in all - I'm feeling very warm and fuzzy towards hubby. He is being very sweet. I think it's because my birthday is on Thursday. I know he is up to something - because my BFF has been a little weird too (she's telling me to be nice to hubby - not something that she ever ever ever ever says. She's my BFF after all - we have to be there for each other when we're irrationally pissed at our significant others.)

Anyway, it could be the wine talking. I lurve me some white wine.

Tomorrow is Wednesday and they almost always suck because they start out with a meeting with nib (new italian boss) - but I think tomorrow will be better because we have a new word for him - stolen directly from the Terminator - Sarah Connor Chronicles. It's Bichoremuch. Sounds Italian right? Bitch Whore Much... I absolutely love it... And I can't wait to use it tomorrow... It will make me feel POWERFUL! Or, it will just make me laugh - which is more likely. And as I discovered yesterday - a good belly laugh makes everything better. Either that, or I will be immediately fired - which might be ok too.

High Blood Pressure Day

Holy frack...

Today started with me getting to work - knowing my day was completely booked back to back to back to back with meetings. Monday's truly suck. Anyway, I got to work and the orthodontist called and I totally forgot about Prissy's appointment (which was at 8:15pm). FUCK!!!! I rescheduled it for tomorrow, but it's at 9:30am. I should never schedule anything at 8am on a Monday morning.

Then, meetings, meetings, meetings... Then, lunch, which was a nice break. However, Hubby reminded me that Prissy has a field trip tomorrow - at the same time I scheduled her ortho appointment. As soon as I got back to work I was going to call the ortho, but my phone was ringing... It was the school and Bubba had ripped his pants. A lot... And they needed me to go home and get him another pair of pants. We live an hour away - so I told them, while giggling hysterically, that I couldn't go home, but that I'd run to Target to pick him up a new pair. *sigh* So, I canceled my right after lunch meeting and ran to the store and picked him up two pairs of pants (he's an incredibly skinny kid and it's hard to size him. I bought him a 4/5 and a 6 slim with the super neat adjustable waist.) The horrible part is that I found it incredibly funny. I couldn't stop laughing the entire time I was shopping.

Anyway, I got to the school and he was sitting in the office. The hole - totally ripped in the crotch from front to back. His Pirates of the Carribean underwear were there for all the world to see. It took every ounce of control I had to not crack up in front of him. He was so embarrassed... But, to see his underwear just "out there" was almost too much to bear. Anyway, the 4/5 was too big around the waist, so I made the 6 slim as absolutely as small as possible and they fit. A bit long, but one roll he was fine. He really liked the new pants. Gawd... Anyway, he went back to class and I got in my car and laughed until I had tears...

Went back and went to all my meetings and they were much better. A good belly laugh fixes almost anything. I realized at 5pm that I failed to call the ortho to reschedule the appointment for tomorrow. FUCK!!!! We called and asked them to give us a call. I normally am not as bubble-headed as I was today. I picked up Prissy, we went to dinner and then went to her baton lesson. Then home - where hubby was sort of on a tirade about taxes. He thinks we're gonna get hit with the AMT tax because I sold all my stock options in December. However, I had to sell my options because I'm leaving my company (we were spun off - not a choice of mine) and I will lose them if I don't sell them. The cool part is that I sold them at a relatively good price (the stock tanked shortly after that.) But, we're going to be fucked on taxes this year (everything we made will likely go into paying taxes for next year because we didn't "plan" appropriately this year... DIDN'T KNOW WE WERE GOING TO BE SOLD!!! DIDN'T KNOW I WAS GOING TO BE FORCED TO SELL MY OPTIONS... FUCK YOU IRS!!! TAKE IT ALL!!!!! I'VE ONLY BEEN SAVING THEM FOR 12 FUCKING YEARS YOU BASTARDS!!!!!)

Ok, I'm done, I have my wine now - things have to get better...

Boring Stuff

Okay -

First - GAH!!! I have to go to work tomorrow???!! I don't want to... WAH!!!!

Second - there is no second... But, I was watching Lingo (gameshow) with Bubba and we were having a good old time.

Third - Here are two videos of Prissy's. The first one is her solo (she came in 2nd on this one I believe.) And the second one is of her Dance Twirl - she came in first on this one I think. (I can't remember which one I videoed.) Each one is 1 min 30 seconds.







Fourth: I have actually posted every day so far. Yay! I am still in the running at Blog 365.

Competition is done

Prissy did awesome. She placed first in Dance Twirl and 2nd in her
Solo. It was a very long day - but prissy had a great time. And it was
fun to just have some time for just the two of us last night.

Competition Traveling

Prissy has a baton competition tomorrow and we drove to the Bay Area
this afternoon. Prissy and I had a nice dinner at El Torido and now we
are relaxing watching Jeopardy in the hotel room. Wish her luck!!

Great Day Today

Today was a great day. Yes, yes, it really was! I mean it! While I had some nib inspired pissyness this morning, I was able to get over it because we had a retirement party this afternoon for 4 of my team members. One actually left the company and stopped working and the other three are retiring from our current company (because they have put in their sweat and tears for enough years) and will be rehired at the new company. Anyway, we all got to leave early and drink. And these people are some of my favorite people.

I work in a very very male dominated industry (computer engineering) - it is not always easy. I have the most awesome group of people. (I don't work for the most awesome people (nib) but the most awesome people work for me and is entirely the reason I get up for work every day.) Anyway, two of the retirees are women, and these two women in particular have taken me under their wing to "groom" me. They decided long ago that I would become the next WOMAN MANAGER. And you know what - I am. These two women have paved the way for me (and the other women in the industry.) They have participated in women's conferences (in our particular industry) and pushed back on the asshole sexist men to make them see.. These are women that I look up to, and I had the greatest honor to manage. But, they are also partly responsibile for me getting this position (just giving me the courage to pursue it and for paving they way to even allow the possibility of a woman manager.)

Anyway, the party was AWESOME... It was great to leave work early... It was great to see everyone that I haven't seen in awhile. It was great to have my company paying for my wine consumption... :)

Tomorrow, we travel to a baton competition... My daughter and I will drive several hours and stay in a hotel room tomorrow night. It's very exciting for both of us. First, it's wonderful for us to spend some alone time together (I have to make sure to balance it out with my son.) And competitions are always fun and exciting... Anyway, I like the whole deal... We get there and go out to dinner (just the two of us) and then come back and cuddle and watch TV... Then I'm ALWAYS so proud of her in competition... She's just so amazing..

So, today was a good day... I'm feeling positive, energized, and ready to go back tomorrow... Tomorrow morning may be a different story, but right now - I'm just feeling all around good... :D

No WhiningToday

I know, you can't believe it right? I'm not going to whine about my job or my kids. Shocker of all shockers. I am going to do a book review, which I haven't done in awhile.

My recent reads include:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - I think this may just be my new favorite book. (my previous favorite book was Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty.) This book is about an elderly man in a hospital and his remembering back to his time as a young man who cared for animals on a traveling circus. This was just an awesome book - I got so wrapped up in the characters.


The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - This was also an enjoyable book where a young woman goes to write the biography of a writer and she uncovers all of her secrets.

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella - This is probably the fluffiest of all the books I read in this list. It was a funny beach read. Not terribly deep, but good for a vacation read. It is a humorous account about a financial magazine writer who is deep in debt and her attempt to climb out of it. This is the first in a sequel.


A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - this book horrified me. I loved it, and it opened my eyes to the brutal treatment of Afghanistan women. It made me want to DO something. Not many books touch me like this one did. But, it is definitely not a light and happy read.

World Without End by Ken Follett - This was somewhat of a follow on book to Pillars of the Earth and this one takes place 300 years later. This was long, but I listened to it while quilting when I was on vacation. This takes place in the 1300s in England where a builder, a nun and a monk are the center of the storyline. One of the primary themes through the book was the Black Plague, this was interesting to read about - I did quite a bit of research after this book to learn more. I can't imagine if a third of our population was just wiped out by some random virus. *shutter* Can you imagine the devastation it would have on the economy? This really happened - it's just flabbergasting to me (flabbergasting is my word of the day.)

Second Glance by Jodi Picoult - I haven't quite finished this one yet, but I'm very much enjoying it. I think that Jodi Picoult is probably one of my favorite authors. She always has a great story to tell and every book has some really tough topics to deal with. This one in particular isn't quite like her other ones, this one is a classic ghost story. There are many characters in the beginning and they are all brought together very eloquently at the end. This one is a hard one for me to put down.


Radical Leap by Steve Farber - my one and only non-fiction book in the list. This is a leadership book that was given to me by a former employee. You know, if someone that USED to work for me gives me a book and tells me I really ought to read it - I do. *laugh* I have read a LOT of leadership and management books - this one was certainly different than any of the others. It was more of a story and was an extremely easy read. Weird for a leadership book (sort of felt like a Parable - read a story, learn a lesson.) But, it had some good stuff in it. Actually, it is the first book that really jives with how I feel leaders and managers SHOULD be.

Big City Eyes by Delia Ephron - Pretty fluffy. Sort of a mystery / thriller book, sort of a romance book. I don't think it could really figure out what it was. I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend this one.

That's all - if you choose any of the above to read - pick Water for Elephants. I listened to this one and the narration was absolutely phenomenal. I can't recommend it enough. But, all the above books are all in very different genres - and all had their good qualities.

That's all for tonight.

I'm Not Playing

moar funny pictures

This is how I feel about work. I don't want to play ANYMORE!!!! WAHHH!!!!!!

I copied nib (new italian boss) on every.single.email today. I'm meeting with him first thing in the morning and I'm sure he'll give me pointers on my communication skills. Although, I have to say, one of my employees and I made an agreement to keep responding to each other's mails (all copying him of course). We IMed and actually knew the answer, but we must have sent at least 15 mails - that will be fun for nib when he comes in. MUHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

I'm giving him a presentation on team building tomorrow - he told me that Italians are skeptical about "management" like stuff. You know - that doesn't surprise me at all. He needs to get a clue that a large portion of his organization is in America and from a very leadership-development forward company. Additionally, much of the American portion of his organization are Gen Y-ers. Which are a whole different ballgame to management. The challenges are much different with this group of 22-30 year olds. Amazing talent - oozing with talent that makes you fear they are going to walk out at any second if you don't give them uber cool projects to work on. This is also not the group that you tell to copy you on every message.

Anyway, it should be interesting. If I post tomorrow morning - it'll because I'm furious (which is typical after a meeting with nib first thing in the morning.)

Completely Undone

Uh oh... I drank to much tonight. I'm loving my Artesa Chardonnay... I'm going to hate life tomorrow when I have to get up early, wake my kids up and get ready for the day. I love me some Artesa Chardonnay. I have to say, it's probably the best white I've ever tasted, and I love me some white wine.

I have a cold today, and I STILL drank too much. DAMNIT! I'm gonna feel like absolute hell tomorrow. Oh well...

It was an exceptionally sucky day. Any day starting out with nib is a bad day.

Good day sir...

Culture Clash

Holy shit - I have hit a major culture clash with nib (new italian boss). Very long story short - my company is getting rid of our department and we are combining with a department of an Italian company to form a new company. Purely defined - it's a merger.

Anyway, in nib's culture (corporate and country), things are very hierarchical, tops down direction. In my culture (mostly corporate) things are not hierarchical and decisions can be made at all levels. I've been a manager for almost 9 years now. Starting with a small group, going all the way up to successfully managing 50 employees. In my last few positions, I have enjoyed being the decision maker. I tell my bosses what I'm doing, what I need and how things will go. They listen, give me what I need and get out of my way. This is NOT how nib operates.

He is not my manager yet. He will be at some time in the future. I still have a local boss who keeps up to date on our work - he pretty much gives me free reign and understands that is how I operate best. Nib has gotten upset with me in the past for not getting his approval before making a presentation to my current boss and peers. I haven't had to get approval on my presentations for almost 10 years. Especially presentations I'm giving to my own team. Today, he told me that I needed to copy him on all email that I send.

Ok, really that is too much... There is such a thing as being informed and then there is such thing as being a fucking stalker. I know he doesn't know me and I need to build my credibility with him - but copying him on the ~300 mails I send a day is out of the question. The closest I have ever come to this level of micro-management is when I was a new-hire right out of school with a very very green boss. He wanted to know where we spent all of our time. We had to account for our time in 5 minute increments. But, I was brand new, he was a brand new manager and it is more understandable than this (although - honestly, he was a terrible manager. I've always thought he was the worst boss I could ever have, but I'm thinking I may just be getting the Worst.Manager.Ever.) I actually feel a little more violated by nib wanting to read every mail I send.

It's hard for me to get him to understand that I'm a senior member and manager of this organization. While I'm young, I worked my way to this position - and it fucking pisses me off that he needs to know every single thing I write. Shit, I should copy him on EVERYTHING - even my emails to my friends where I am bitching about him. I should completely overwhelm him with email. He has no clue the amount of email traffic I normally generate. Oh, maybe I'm liking this idea.

I have been so proud of my organization. I work with the most awesome, smart, funny, most diverse individuals in the world. I have helped to develop quite a few of them right out of school. I'm now developing some of my first line managers so they can develop their individuals. But, I was so fucking frustrated with this new REGIME that I was looking for other jobs today. It makes me sad - I'm not the type of person to give up (crap, I stayed with my last horrible manager for 4 years). But, I'm not sure I can take not being able to develop my team in the way I think is appropriate and to make decisions on what is best for my organization. I'm feeling useless. *BUAWAHWAHWAHWAH!!*

Wow, I must be PMSing. This was a crazy ass rant post.

Crankiness Rules My World

In starting to write this post - Bubba asks if he can watch TV and cuddle. Of course! I'll be back in a second - I've got some fucking Zack and Cody to watch in order to get my cuddlees. I think I'll fill my wine glass first.


Ok - kid show over. Bubba is headed to bed. Today, I have been oh so incredibly cranky. I don't want to go to work tomorrow. My hubby and kids are staying home and enjoying the holiday - but, my company does not value diversity of any kind so we do not get the day off. I'm pretty bummed.

A dear collegue of mine gave me a leadership book to read this weekend and it's pretty good. It talks a lot about the importance of having passion for what you do. I used to. My organization is responsible for making things you use every single day. Your cell phone? I will bet you that I had a part in making it. Cool? Absolutely. I remember learning about semiconductors - and how amazingly small they are. And turning these weird CAD drawings into silicon. It rocked my world. But when work is covered in all the crap it has been covered in lately - it is really hard for me to be excited about going in. I'm a crap mucker. And I'm stinky and smelly and would just really like to take a bath of the whole mess.

That's all - I'm going to go wallow a little more in my crankiness.

Rant #1553

Ok, so I don't usually complain on this blog. Well, maybe I complain all the time. Actually, I think that is all this blog is - a place for me to whine and bitch. But, I have a very specific bone to pick. This one isn't about people talking on their cell phones in the grocery store which still irritates me, but I have another one that is even more irritating.

When going into an establishment with two doors - a person should enter and exit ON THE FUCKING RIGHT HAND SIDE!!!! Can I tell you how many times I'm going into the kids school (on the right hand side) and someone is coming out in that same door. STAY TO THE RIGHT!!!! DON'T YOU KNOW THE RULES OF DOORS!!! It.is.not.that.difficult. You can do it, I know you cn. Not doing it - it messes with the flow... Go with the flow man - STAY TO THE RIGHT!

That is my rant...

Good day sir...

Loooooong week

Holy crap this has been the longest week in history. Bubba has been more of a handful than usual. Prissy has her birthday "party" tomorrow. Everyone in the family has had some sort of normal winter illness.

• Hubby: Sniffling, Sneezing
• Prissy: Coughing
• Me: Aching, Stuffy Head
• Bubba: Fever

And we didn't get any rest! MEDICINE!!!!

Nib (New Italian Boss) has been unusally quiet this week. It makes me nervous. What is he doing? What is he deciding without me knowing? Is he trying to make me paranoid? Probably not - hopefully he is busy just keeping his own business running (but I'm not holding my breath.)

Feeling Uncreative

I'm spent... tired... done...

Ready for today to be over. My creative juices just aren't flowing.
I have no update. Today the kids were both in school. Bubba is feeling better. But, Prissy has a cough, which is soothed by cough medicine. (Huzzah for Tylenol Cold!!) No fever, which is good.

Work was work.

So - I leave you with this:

Busted!

Bubba stayed at home again today. He was still running a high fever last night and I was certain it was going to come back today, but it didn't. He'll be good to go to school tomorrow.

Here was a recent exchange we had just a few minutes ago.

Bubba: Can I have a piece of candy? I finished all of my dinner.

Me: Sure.

Bubba: Skittles?

Me: That’s fine.

Bubba gets candy…

Bubba: I have to, ahhhh, go upstairs for something….

I turn around and Bubba has his jacket on with bulging pockets. Hmmmm. Interesting.

Me: You need to take off your jacket before you go upstairs.

Bubba: Ummm... I can’t.

Me: You can’t? Here, I can unzip it for you.

Bubba: NO! I mean. I’m really cold…

Me: Are you sure that your pockets aren’t filled with candy that you are trying to sneak upstairs?

Bubba: !!!!!

Me: Is there candy in your pockets?

Bubba: mumble…

Me: What?

Bubba: yes….

Me: Take it out of your pockets and put the skittles back.

Bubba puts away candy and is ANGRY…

Bubba: YOU’RE MEAN!

Me: Yes, I am mean when you don’t follow the rules and try to sneak around.

Bubba: IT’S NOT FAIR!!!

Me: Actually, it was very fair to give you candy. You chose to get more than you knew you were supposed to have.

Bubba: YOU’RE MEAN!!!! I’M NEVER TALKING TO YOU AGAIN!!!!

Hmmmm…. This one is going to be hell when he’s a teenager. He's actually doing pretty good at not talking to me. I don't think he's talked to me for 15 minutes. Ahhh.... Heaven. He started to about 5 minutes ago, and then stopped himself.

Oh!! He just now came up to me and said this

Bubba: Mama. I'm sorry I tried to sneak candy to my room.

Me: I forgive you. But, I want to trust you and you can't build trust by sneaking candy to your room. Don't do that again! Mommy or daddy will always catch you.

Bubba nods and sniffs a little and goes off to take his shower.

Question for all of you bloggers out there. Did he manipulate me or did he really mean it? Remember - he is only 6. Or, just tell me, I can take it - I'm screwed aren't I?

Sick Kid - Disney TV Gluttony

Today, I woke my son up at 6:30 and I was rubbing his back trying to convince him to wake up. I rub his back because if he is woken too suddenly from his hibernation he attacks like a wild animal. His back was really really hot. But, I figured that he was just warm from sleeping. He got up and said that he slept really bad last night and had terrible dreams. I decided to take his temperature and he had a fever of 101.6 poor little guy. So, we stayed at home today. Usually, if I have a sick kid it is at the most inopportune time. I have some major project due. I have a massive presentation to God that I really shouldn't fuck up. But, today, some random sunshine fairy smiled down on me and it was actually the perfect day for him to be sick. I had very few meetings to call into and nothing major needing LOTS of personal attention today. I love that I still got to get some work done.

Let's see, today we watched:

• Suite Life of Zack and Cody - DAMN BRATS!!!!
• Underdog - cute move about a dog with super powers
• The Incredibles - one of my all time favorites. Even dressed as the incredibles one Halloween.
• Shark Boy and Lava Girl - we didn't have the 3D glasses to watch this DVD with. Weird to watch a 3D movie without glasses.
• High School Musical 2 - I think I've just about had enough of High School Musical. All I can think about is if the kids will turn into alcoholics or drug addicts. I'm trying to figure out which one will be the next Lindsay Lohan.
• Spongebob Squarepants the Movie - I usually hate Spongebob, but I enjoyed this movie.
• Ice Age - My kids watched this in the car for our long commute home before they were big enough to wear headphones, so I've heard the movie 200-300 times and can probably repeat it verbatum. It's very interesting to actually watch it with the lines that I know.

So, I'm feeling very intellectual now. Did you know that Troy and Gabriella broke up for a short time? Yes, it is true... But, don't worry - they got back together. I know you were worried.

Bubba has complained on and off all day about his tummy hurting. I keep waiting for this to turn into the stomach flu. And actually had some puke-a-phobia panic about it. I think I started in with my first glass of wine at 4pm. But, one of my good friends (and fellow mom) said that other kids in the school with the same symptoms are being diagnosed with strep. Strep? So, if Bubba is still running a fever tomorrow we'll go to the doctor and ask for a strep test.

But, maybe it was just a totally random fever. He rested all day on the couch - he hasn't been running a fever for at least 8 hours now. So, maybe it was just something bizzare. It's been known to happen.

One of the sweeter things of today is that the demon kitty who is starting to turn sweet slept on my lap almost all day. At one point, I was "cuddling" Bubba and the kitty was laying half on my lap and half on his lap. Very cuddly and warm. Really!

I went to Taekwondo tonight and it felt good to get at least some exercise. I've also been on the couch all day. Although, I've been sitting with my laptop on a TV tray next to me. While watching crappy kid TV. Because I worked so hard to get ready for the tournament, I'm totally ready for the next testing. Yeehaw!

Sorry boys

Sorry boys but

Monday blues

I think that might be my title every Monday. We were so busy all
weekend that it was doubly hard to go back today.

I'm being a nerdy dork soccer mom because I'm sitting here at my
daughters baton practice and blogging on my iPhone. Poor girl - no
other mommy blogs at baton practice. Especially on her PHONE!!!!!!

However, I figure I'll be too tired tonight to blog with any sense
(which might be funnier).

Maybe I Just Shouldn't Try to Cook

Ok, so, I'm maybe not the world's best cook. But, I normally put a meal on the table every night that we are home. Which I feel like is impressive given that I work full time. But, probably not - because I'm far far from the perfect parent as witness by this post. Anyway, I have my staples, but they are getting old especially since we are trying to eat healthier.

So I'm trying out a new cookbook. It's called Weeknight Survival Cookbook - How to Make Healthy meals in 10 Minutes. The basic premise is that you spend a little more time on Sunday and have "leftovers" to make other delicious meals the rest of the week. I normally make a longer meal on Sunday anyway and then do a spaghetti or a pre-marinated chicken and the like the rest of the week.

Anyway, I started it tonight and we were having marinated chicken (I actually made the marinade - I know, awesome right?) , rice (making 2 batches to use for later in the week - this wasn't the instant shit either!) and roasted veggies (making 2 batches to use for later in the week.) Unfortunately - when ever I try to roast, broil and even sometimes bake - I set off the smoke alarms. And I certainly did that tonight. Doubly unfortunate - they wouldn't turn off. We listened to them all during dinner. Every fan and exhaust like bathroom fan in the house was going. We were opening and closing the doors to get the "smoke" out. To no avail. So, after dinner (and about 15 mins of the alarms going off) - hubby (who is really really sick today with a fever and chest cold) decided to take care of the smoke alarm...

The kids (and Oreo) were watching with horror? excitement? utter awe at the weirdness of the night?



And hubby perched precariously on the area of the steps ripped that mo-fo down. It stopped - but reminded me of the episode of Friends where Phoebe is kept awake all night by the smoke alarm that won't die.



After this, I sat down and finished my dinner - which was quite delicious by the way. And the roasted veggies were Perfectly Done. So fuck you smoke alarm - you just wish you had delicious roasted veggies!

I'ts a long story, but I have a crippling fear of fire (seems like all my crippling fears have long stories) - so after the smoke was cleared out of the house - I made hubby put the smoke alarms back. Even if he does feel terrible.

I'm looking forward to the meal that uses the rest of the veggies on Tuesday. But, I'm not thinking I will do this again any time soon. Subway is always a good healthy option!

Yes, I Actually Competed

OMG! So, I showed up at 7:30am this morning at the Taekwondo competition and started selling merchandise (tshirts, key chains, headbands, and athletic supporters (which were a surprisingly big seller.)) My son competed early and won 1st place in forms and weapons - however, all kids his age win first in each one. I think he won first place in awesome kicks or something. He did a great job.

Anyway, we went home for a short time and ate lunch and I changed into my uniform. I went back to the competition and worked at the merchandise stand for another hour and a half. Hubby and the kids came and then they called the Adults to the staging area. I was SO nervous I was sick to my stomach. I've been wondering what I was thinking when I signed up for this tournament for days. I'm almost 35 years old and not in the best shape of my life. What was I thinking?

Anyway, they break us up into groups - men and women and then into ages: 30-39 year olds and there are a lot of us. And 40-49 year olds. Those are my companions in the school.... There are 4 of them... but there are a lot of us in our age range. They lead us to a ring and we wait for the group in front of us to finish up. Then, we start stretching out and I'm nervous... Really really really nervous... Prissy (she just got a cheapo kids camera last night for her birthday) is taking A LOT of pictures of the whole thing. I see hubby being led to a ring pretty near mine.

I look around and there are 13 other women. Most of them black belt decideds (meaning they will get their black belt in the next month or two.) I'm the lowest belt in the group. They start their forms and they are REALLY REALLY good. My kids start bickering and I can hear them and make "the face" at them to stop. They aren't stopping. They call my name and I go up to do my form. I realize that it takes a BOATLOAD amount of courage to go up and do this. I'm doing ok... but when I get to the part of my form that is facing the back I see that my kids are fighting like CRAZY! And then I choke. Totally and completely choke. Just couldn't remember the next move. I was thinking, OHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT and it still didn't come to me, so I finished the form and got SUCK scores. I ended up as being the lowest scored there. HUMILIATING... TOTAL SUCKAGE!!! Swearing that I would never ever ever ever do this crap again! As you can see - the judges were not terribly impressed:

Then, the weapons... This is what I thought that I actually might have a chance at. My weapon is a nunchuk. I really enjoy weapons. Until they all started. They were doing DOUBLE nunchucks and doing them WELL! Oh fuck... That's it. I'm screwed.... There were also women doing staffs (long sticks) and doing them beautifully. I got up and did my weapons form, and did it extremely well. I was very proud. My scores seemed decent.

Then the sparring. The first group went and they were REALLY good. Then, the second group went and the woman got knocked down HARD and broke her arm. The EMTs had to come over and take her off the mat. Then, the next woman got hit in the face and broke a tooth - she kept on sparring though... I was fucking terrified. I was going up against a black belt recommended with a big embroidery on her back declaring her national champion... AHHH!!!! I went out there:

And she scored the first point. I scored the next two points. I was so excited. Then, she started whomping on me and one the next 4 points (you play to 5). Only one other woman got hurt and she broke her finger. Shit - this sport is BRUTAL! But, I guess we are FIGHTING. It ends up that the woman I was sparring won second place (which made me happy that I at least scored some points on her.) The broken arm woman came back (with ice) she said she was going to the hospital later. And I guess that 5 of the women I was competing against are national competitors and that this was one of the biggest tournaments that they have been to and that a normal grouping was 7 so this one was really big.

It ends up that I won 3rd place in weapons. I'm really really happy with that. This was my first competition and I was competing in a huge group with national competitors. So, I feel pretty dang good about my 3rd place. I even beat a couple of those that were doing double nunchucks. (I have super neat move that I'm very proud of.) Broken arm lady said that this was totally addictive - I don't quite know about that. I don't think I'm addicted - it was just too overwhelming and intimidating.. But, I tried something new that I have never done before. I got out there and sparred some really amazing people. I did my forms and I did great on weapons. I'm extremely proud of my medal - but don't think I'll be doing this again any time soon.

It does make me feel like I can take on my new italian boss (nib) though. He's a jackass and I feel like I could totally kick his ass - especially with a nunchuck!

Hubby did a great job - he won 2nd in weapons (but only had a few competitors) and then came in 3rd on sparring. He was running a pretty good fever last night so he wasn't in top shape today. But, neither of us really loved it today. I think maybe we'll just continue to support Bubba in his Taekwondo competitions and maybe not pursue it for us. :) But, only time will tell.

I have truly earned my glass(es) of wine tonight!

Not so great Mommy Day

Ok - so, yesterday when I went to pick my kids up, my son came out sobbing. He had said this kid had been hitting him and spitting in his face and wouldn't stop so he told the afterschool teacher and he told me she said to stop being a tattletale. I was furious and was planning on talking to the principal this afternoon. I believe that a teacher needs to stop a child when they are hitting another child. This story didn't surprise me because this kid is sort of a brat and always has been - but this is escalated from even his normal brattiness.

I got a call from the "real" teacher this afternoon. Apparently, that entire story was completely made up. This is what really happened. The bratty kid had taken away a piece of crafting foam from Bubba. Bubba grabbed it back, the kid grabbed it again. Bubba went and told the afterschool teacher and the afterschool teacher and told bratty kid to give it back and told Bubba that he wouldn't do it anymore (completely appropriate response from the teacher.) But, bratty kid grabbed it again and wouldn't give it back. Bubba - really pissed off about now kicked this kids chair and the chair fell over backwards and Bratty hit his head on the ground. They took him to the office and put ice on it. Unfortunately, when he got home that night, he started vomiting and ended up in the ER. Bratty kid had a concussion. Oh shit....

So.many.emotions... First - Bubba flat out lied to me - telling me this huge story about bratty hitting him and spitting in his face. Also, he almost got a teacher in serious trouble. Second - HE.SENT.A.KID.TO.THE.HOSPITAL!!!! I know that wasn't his intention. But, he should never ever have kicked the chair. Oh, I'm really embarrased. I'm really upset and I don't know what to do about this situation at all. He has been so so so good - not even fighting with his sister. We had a long talk this evening - and he just started crying and said he felt really bad about hurting Bratty. I think he still needs some sort of punishment - but, I just don't know what...

Anyway - not the best Mommy Day...

I'm eatin' CAKE tonight!!!

Benefits of having a child with a birthday - Going out to dinner and Birthday Cake! HOW-DEE!

By the way - if you ever want to send horrifically rude ecards check out someecards. I dare you not to pick one to send to someone. :)

I can't believe she's going to be NINE!!

Tomorrow is my daughter's birthday. She is going to be NINE!!! I will have a NINE year old. That just seems so old. These past nine years have gone by so incredibly fast. Shoot, seems like just yesterday I got a positive pregnancy test and had a heart attack. My mom begged me to move the wedding up. But we kept it as planned and I have a little bump in my wedding pictures. I remember so clearly taking a walk at lunch time to talk to hubby (well, he was just my living-together-in-sin boyfriend at the time) about what we should do. Our wedding was already planned - the baby - well not so much... She started off coming 6 weeks early because my water broke and they didn't know if she was going to be ok. There were a thousand doctors in the room when she was born and as soon as she started crying they all disappeared. Unfortunately, she was an extremely sick infant, she then became demon toddler - oh the stories I could tell about her hour long fits so severe they would end in vomiting and her pissed-offed-ness where she would take off her diaper and pee in little polka dots all over the floor. However, about age 3 or 4 she turned into such a sweet and wonderful little girl - I don't know why, but it was an extremely welcome change and is now turning into such a brilliant, talented and caring big girl. She is so smart (I'm not just saying that 'cause I'm the mom - she's really been moved up two grades. The girl will be smarter than me by the time she's 10.) She is amazing good at baton twirling. I honestly can't tell you how amazed that this child came from my body. So, if any of you readers out there have restless toddlers - it changes. It really does.

Tomorrow, the actual birthday day, we are going out to Chevy's for dinner. I've already made Rice Krispy treats for her to take to school. I've also already made her requested cake for the family cake eating extravaganza (each piece is a FREAKING 9 points - almost half of my daily allotment) - it's a chocolate cake with blue wintergreen frosting. Weird cake - but tastes wonderful. I have to special order the wintergreen flavoring from candy distributors. I blame my mother-in-law who created this cake for hubby, who then passed his lust for it on to the children. It's a dark day when I have no wintergreen flavoring.

Oh gawd - work is still the suck, the job that I adored has become so incredibly painful. Nib (New italian boss) told me today that he is the boss and I had to do what he said. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what the fuck he is doing. He doesn't even understand the basics of expense vs capital (which is a big deal when YOU ARE MAKING THE FUCKING BUDGET!!!) I should SO be managing him - just because he has more time in the job he got the position in the company merger. He isn't a better manager, but he has more time in the industry. But, I actually have more people reporting to me than ever has. The whole thing blows, I was ok with it at first when he was still listening to me, but now he is just making dumbass decisions. My dilemma now is do I let him hang himself and take the department down? Or do I try to save the overall group by my own sweat and tears and ire - even if it makes him look good? Oh, the decisions. I'm taking my first step and trying to fix this chaotic situation tomorrow. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Nothing more needs to be said

I have the best team in the entire world.

Back to Work Blues

I forgot how tired I am when I'm working and doing all the kid stuff. I'm not even sure I have enough energy to drink two glasses of wine tonight. I was doing so great exercising every day - and since I've gone back to work, I'm just SO TIRED that I can't seem to make myself exercise right now. It doesn't help that I think exercising is the suck. So, I'm giving myself this week to re-adjust to real life. This happens to be a busier than normal week anyway, so whatever.

Work today was totally whack. I had to basically do a 2-3 week project in a matter of hours. The good thing is that I realize I've become really good at getting stuff done. I also realized that I'm incredibly full of bull-shit and can make anything work. I go over the project with the VPs tomorrow, so we'll see how that turns out. I actually rather enjoyed it - I turned on the tunes on my iPhone, cancelled all my meetings and just focused on something. Which is totally unusual. I usually have to delegate my work to everyone because I'm too busy with meetings where people give us more work for me to delegate out. But, that is actually my job - as I'm the boss. Or, I guess I'm now the deputy boss.

Speaking of exercising - I'm down 10.2 pounds!!!! Yay me!!! It's not coming off super fast, but I'm good with that. I'm definately not perfect every day, but I'm doing really good and if I'm sabataged with a cookie at lunch (stupid fucking sandwich place gave us a delicious free cookie -the bastards) I don't give up on my day and still eat a healthy dinner.

Although, one of the guys that works for me also sabataged me by bringing in fudge and waving it in front of my face and not leaving when I told him to get THE FUCK out of my office. I called him many many nasty names and he just laughed and told me I had to eat at least one. He also kept telling me how good it was. And then I ate one and holy crap it WAS good. BUT, I stuck with my salad for dinner (I almost decided to throw in the towel and have a big mac, but I didn't. It's the small things that make me feel like I haven't totally screwed myself.) But, I have to say that most days I stick to the not-a-diet-but-a-live-it (ugh!). Oh my gawd - I used to go to Weight Watchers meetings (that is the program I'm following now, but with the online tools instead of the meetings) and the head teacher lady actually said that, "It's not a DIE-it, it's LIVE-it." I don't think I will ever forget that for as long as I live. (it actually was about 11 years ago.)

I'm exhausted and I'm done blogging for tonight.

Cranky Pants

I am cranky cranky cranky...

Work today sucked... Well, I guess it was just normal work - but still. It started at 8am with a big ass fight with my soon to be Italian boss. Ugh... The fight lingered in my thoughts all day. I had meetings all freaking day long and a big project I needed to do for Ib (Italian boss) that he just "assigned" to me this morning. I got it done, and I wrote up a long ass email trying to describe why I thought he was wrong (which he is and he will never admit to.) I'm going to my other old bosses to help me try to make this horrible horrible situation better.

I told you that I was supposed to work late and then have a work dinner. I decided to attend my hair appointment instead. (I've had the appointment for almost 3 months - you can't just cancel and get back in... The woman is booked forever in advance.) And she colored my hair this awesome shade of brown with a hint of reddish... It's really warm and pretty.

Anyway, I planned dinner and laid it all out for hubby to make for the kids while I was getting my hair done and asked him to save some for me. (It was veggie burgers and vegetables.) He saved me some vegetables, but ate my burger. Ugh... I was seriously hungry and looking forward to dinner. Fucker.. So, I decided to have some edamame, veggies and an extra glass of wine. I'm still hungry...

At least hubby said my hair looked nice, with the caveat that it doesn't always look nice, but it looks nice tonight. Great... Makes me feel wonderful...

I'm really depressed tonight... Hubby wants to get a nice new bigger house - I'd rather quit my job and stay here and be a stay at home mom... I seriously don't think I can handle Ib for the next several years.

I was telling Bubba (my 6 year old) that he needed to find what he loved to do and that could be his career when he grew up. I told him never to settle for something he didn't love just because he was making good money. He said that he wanted to be a jeweler and that he was a good artist. I think he'd be a great jeweler.

Back to Normal

Well - I went back to work today. I'm not entirely happy about it. Actually, I had a stomach-ache all day yesterday thinking about going to work.. Then, I drank too much last night. I woke up at 4am wide awake and couldn't go back to sleep - just dreading going back to work. And, of course, my day was a typical Monday with my soon to be Italian boss calling me just as soon as I got in. The bonus thing is that he waited until I got to work instead of calling me on my cell phone while I was getting ready for work at 6 in the morning (3pm his time.) I had a wonderful vacation doing absolutely nothing. Makes me look forward to retirement. I think I have about 30 years to go. *LAUGH* My mom just retired and she's really enjoying it. I think I could completely enjoy retirement. Can I tell you that I'm so FREAKING JEALOUS that she is retired. I would give just about anything to not have to work where I'm working right now. Is that even an option? Can I totally re-do my life? I'm not sure what I would do with it. Unfortunately - I make pretty decent money and there isn't anything that could compare to it straight off the bat. I need to figure out what I want to do however.

Anyway, work was work. We are full swing back into life. Prissy had baton tonight, Bubba and Hubby had Taekwondo. Tomorrow night, I have Taekwondo, Bubba has Taekwondo, I'm scheduled to have a haircut, I need to make dinner for the family and I have a staff meeting (from 5 to 8 for christ's sake. What in the fuck was my manager thinking?) all at the same time. It takes me months to get a haircut appointment, so I'm thinking that may be my priority (since the staff meeting was just scheduled yesterday.) Additionally, we have our taekwondo tournament on Saturday and I REALLY need a class. As for work, I sort of shun these late-night-for-no-reason meetings. These men need to get used to having a working woman and mom on their staff that has THINGS to do. Children to tend to! My boss told me once that he was allowed to work late - and that is why his wife stayed at home. OUCH! Who cares if his children have a father - right? Ugh! I'm so glad I have an enlightened husband. Anyway - I'm still up in the air about what I'm going to do for the rest of my life- I'm not in this staff for long, so maybe it doesn't matter.

Prissy said all she had to do was type something up for homework. When we got home (at 8pm) she started working on it and it was a 4 page report she needed to type (which would take her 1-2 hours.) Hubby typed it in for her and then she said she needed to have something called a Computer Aided Design for a floorplan of the Santa Barbara mission. Ummmm.... Hubby asked her how long she has know about it and she said a few weeks. We looked at the assignment and it has been almost 3 months. Well, she can't spring this on us the night before it's due. But, she got the report written up and we just simply copied out the floorplan and put it in the report. I know this is a normal part of childhood (I completely remember a Kansas report that I put off and put off when I was in 4th grade that my mom totally helped me to finish. Must be the age and mindset.) Anyway, I think it's fine. She'll get some points off - but the CAD drawing was meant so they can then build a model of a misson at school. This sucker is like a year long project. And her written report is extremely good. What 4th grader needs a CAD drawing of a mission anyway? Where is a 4th grader supposed to find architectural CAD software? Or the knowledge on how to actually use it? Shit... Dumbass teachers... But, I only say that because she didn't do it. I would be singing her praises had she actually done it like it was assigned. Whatever. She's as lazy as I am.

Testing out mobile blogger

Ok. Prissy "forgot" that her mission report is due tomorrow. She had
the thing written but not typed up. So she got dibs on the computer
tonight and I'm taking the opportunity to try out the mobile blogger
capability. I wanted to attach a picture as well to see how that
worked. iPhone still rocks.

Mobile blogging

Sent from my iPhone

Uh Oh!!!

Oh Uh!!!

I finished my bottle of Artesa Chardonay... OMG! It's so freaking good... And I even have to work tomorrow, which I think had something to do with me wanting to finish the entire bottle... I'm feeling it... I don't want to go to work tomorrow... But, I will... Ugh... I will likely be hung over. Nice for my first day back from vacation...

Care-a-Te Monkey

Karate MONKEY!!!!

While I'm not a black belt, nor am I really all that close to it. One more year I think. I'm going to compete in a Taekwondo competition next Saturday. And yes, that is less than a week away. I'm not sure what possessed me to sign up. Peer pressure? Instructor pressure? Probably. I was thinking I was just going to do my form and a freestyle weapon's form. But, I just found out today that I have to spar. Damnit! I super suck at sparring. I'm just not good at it. And I'm thinking I'm going to look like the world's biggest idiot. I think it's the individual events that I will hopefully not make a fool of myself. But, I'm still not sure why I even signed up. On the positive note - hubby also signed up. So, we can look silly together. Although, likely, he will be super awesome (he is really good at his forms and sparring), I will fall down in the middle of my form, and he will win his division and then gloat 'til death do us part. Or, we will find out that we are SUPER CHAMPIONS and we will rule the taekwondo world... HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!!! Yeah, right! Can I tell you that I am DREADING the competition. Not looking forward to it at all. I'm nervous as hell and I'll be nervous until I finish this crazy competition. Good thing I have things like work (ugh) and Prissy's birthday to distract me until this weekend. GAH!

How Did it Know??

Ok, so one of my guilty private secrets is that I like to go to blogthings and take their stupid little quizzes. I took a quiz called "What Type of Drinking Woman Are You?" It asked questions about where I like to drink, with who, etc. It didn't ask me about what type of alcohol I like to consume. So, when this popped up I was totally flabbergasted!!! How did it know? Those that know me know that I'm a white wine drinker... I LIKE my white wine. Well, in all honesty, I LOVE my white wine. I'm drinking a lovely glass of it right now (well, I am home and it's after 5. Did you think that I wasn't drinking my white wine?) In case you were wondering, I'm drinking a glass of Artesa Chardonnay - which was introduced to me by our good friends over New Year's Eve. All I can say is YUM!

You Are a White Wine Woman

Breezy and casual, you know how to have fun when you're drinking. And even though you can kick back with a few drinks, you never let things get out of hand. Alcohol is not a social lubricant for you... it just enhances your already sparkling personality. You prefer to date a man who is optimistic, friendly, and funny.

What Kind of Drinking Woman Are You?

Case in point - Prissy took this wonderful picture of me just this evening:

Rain Storm Damage Pictures

Well - we're starting to return to normal. Today, we had Taekwondo, then I ran errands. Target, Dry Cleaners, etc. I got the rest of Prissy's birthday gifts at Target. I can't believe she is turning NINE on Friday. NINE!!! I have a nine year old. I have been able to keep a human being alive for nine years. That's a long time! She's even got the peanut allergy which makes it more challenging to keep her alive! And she's still breathing. I know I shouldn't - but I feel a little proud - not because she is perfect, but because she is still breathing. It was sort of depressing. Actually, it was horribly depressing. I had such a relaxing and wonderful time off - I'm not sure if I can go back to work on Monday... I'm really starting to get a sore throat. Maybe it'll knock me flat. I've decided I'm pretty glad of the delay of our spinning off. This means I'm not getting my new italian boss for a few months. This is a good thing. And maybe I can make some changes or decisions that can avoid the major storm that is coming with this merger.

Tomorrow we have a meeting at the Taekwondo studio about the competition next weekend. I've decided I'm totally nervous about the competition. I DO NOT want to compete. I'll be competing in FRONT OF PEOPLE!!! OMG!!! WTF was I thinking when I said that I'd sign up to compete. To help out - sure. I'm totally on board with that. But, to compete... Holy shit... My instructors are trying to convince me to spar - they are smoking crack! I will NOT spar - I honestly suck at sparring. But, I will do a weapons form - because I really like the weapons. I'm a Nunchuk queen.. And then Bubba starts indoor soccer tomorrow as well. Then, it's the grocery store and all of that. Besides that - it should be a pretty calm Sunday. The weather here is pretty sucky. Rainy, gross... Here are a few pictures of the damage we got during the storm on Friday. (apparently everyone's fence fell down.)

This one was taken from my son's window. Notice the lamp post on the left hand - upper side of the picture. The light got knocked askew.



These pictures are of our side fence from an upstairs window during the storm and today:







And here is one from the back yard:



And here is a bonus picture, just because. Oreo is getting really big. She enjoys us carrying her around like a princess. She points at where she wants us to take her and then she touches whatever it was with her paw and either smells it or licks it. Notice she is pointing in this picture? She wants Prissy to carry her over to where she is pointing. Maybe Diva is a better word than princess. While she is still a very wild kitten. She's starting to mellow and likes to climb up in our laps when she's tired.



As I'm sitting here typing this, I hear the rain starting to come down again. Ugh. I'm not a rain person. Some people love the rain and the gray days. NOT ME! GIVE ME SUNSHINE!!! AND LOTS OF IT!!!! I MOVED TO CALIFORNIA FOR SUNSHINE!!! NOT THIS GRAY!!!!

Later gaters!

Raining like Hell

Oh my gawd. It rained today. And rained and rained. There was wind - crazy crazy wind. I can't even begin to describe this in a blog. Our fence fell over on the side of our house and a panel in the back. The street light (on top of the lamp post) in the front of our house got blown askew. Today was trash day and several trash cans blew over and there was trash all over the street. It looked like a bomb went off.

However, it meant that I was locked in the house all day. And I quilted like crazy. Didn't get as far as I would have liked, but I still did a lot. I finished World Without End - what a great book! The rest of the day was spent watching the news and the crazy news people that were standing out in the rain and snow. Why do they do that?

Today is the last day of my vacation and I'm sad that I have to go back to work on Monday. But, I plan to enjoy my weekend.

Vacation Day was a Bust

Well, today was sort of a bust. Today was the day that my kids went back to school and I am still on vacation. I was going to LOVE it! But, it turned out that today was somewhat of a bust.
I was going to sleep in, but when the kids and hubby got up, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Shoot. Damn it! I worry that one of them won't get up on time. Or Hubby will forget a lunch. Or in the case of today - they forgot a backpack (with the lunch in it.) The house cleaners were supposed to come at 9:45ish, here was my day:

• 7:30am: Self flagellation to get dressed and try to motivate myself to get on the treadmill.
• 8:00am: Finally, finally convince myself to exercise (doing the podfitness - pretty cool! Holy shit this thing takes me right to the limit of my fitness. I can barely barely finish. But, the positive part is that I CAN finish. It's just hard to get started because I know it will try to kill me.)
• 8:45am: Shower cause I worked out hard enough to SWEAT!
• 9:00am: Hurry and clean up the laundry room (where cat litter and cat food are.)
• 9:10am: Finish putting away all the Christmas decorations and pick up random crap. The house is cleaner than it has been for a long time.
• 9:50am: Where are the cleaners? Put bags of old clothes and give away stuff in Sparky (my badass mini-van).
• 10:15am: Cleaners are late. They were supposed to be here. Watch TV for a few minutes thinking they will be hear any minute.
• 10:40am: Ok, they will certainly show up at any moment, I leave the house and go run some errands.
• 10:45am: Go to Goodwill and drop off stuff in back of car - there are a TON of people there and all fighting over the same parking space, these freaks were running over curbs, honking at each other, and flipping each other off. I park further away and carry stuff in. The nice guy that works there helped me carry in my give-aways.
• 10:50am: I go to write up my receipt and a guy PUSHES me out of the way to fill his receipt out first. Unfortunately, he's never done it before and it takes him FOREVER!!! I swear to gawd that this guy was such a jerk. He is one of the flipper-offer horn honkers. I wanted to shove something up his flipper-offer while he was standing there writing for TEN FREAKING MINUTES!!!!
• 11:00am: I finally fill out my receipt.
• 11:15am: Go to the mall - go to Nordstroms - big sale there. Of course, I'm not a shopper and I freak out as soon as I walk in. I didn't go into full panic mode like I sometimes do, and I touched some clothes. And then go the hell out of there.
• 11:25am: Walk around the mall, go to Eddie Bauer where I'm more comfortable and get a really cute sweater (Yay me! I shopped by myself and found something!) Ran into a woman who just retired from my group yesterday. She left and there was no one there to wish her goodbye. It made me sad. But, she is just glowing with happiness! And it was weird to see someone from work in my neck of the woods. And she is excited for her upcoming retirement party. :) Whenever I see her I still feel a big twang of guilt - I was the one that decided it was time for her to retire. She's not at all unhappy about it. But, I still have LOTS of guilt because she is a really wonderful person.
• 11:45am: Go to the Coach store. I SO want another Coach purse. Mine is starting to fall apart (after almost 2 years of daily carrying.) But, the mall just freaks me out and I didn't buy anything.
• 11:55am: I stupidly wore high-heeled boots and my feet are hurting. I go to Bath and Body Works and get some nice smelling anti-bacterial hand stuff. I have to use that a lot for Prissy - we clean her hands and other's hands to make sure everything is peanut free. It's nice when the smell is fragrant rather than the standard alcohol smell.
• 12:10pm: Go back to Nordstroms to see if I still freak out. Yes, yes I do and I get the hell out of there quick.
• 12:30pm: Go to subway to get a sandwich. Listen to this stupid person behind me talk about how high his cholesterol is and then order a footlong BMT with extra mayo. Duh! He was just chattering along about how subway doesn't have soups when there was this huge sign about their soup. He was just annoying. It took WAY too long in Subway - they were super busy. my patience was at a minimum because I was in a mall yo. I freaking hate the mall and it takes everything I have just to walk in them.
• 12:50pm: Go home, DAMN IT! The house cleaners hadn't come yet!!! Eat my sandwich while watching TV.
• 1:10pm: Go upstairs and work on my quilt. Which is really all I wanted to do today anyway. Get somewhere on my freaking quilt before I go back to work and I'm too tired to work on it anymore. It'll take a year for me to finish this one too I'm sure.
• 1:20pm: House cleaners show up. Of course. Decide to be a jerk and stay and work on my quilt for a little while.
• 1:45pm: Feel bad and leave. Go to Bed Bath and Beyond to see if I can find a new bedspread for Prissy for her birthday. I'm wearing my most favorite suede jacket and matching suede boots. It starts POURING as I walk into the store. Find most adorable bedspread and some super cute valences. Prissy will LOVE them.
• 2:45pm: Leave to go pick up Prissy and Bubba - Prissy has an Orthodontist appointment.
• 3:30pm: Get to school. Worry that we won't make to to ortho on time. IT'S POURING!!! MY BEAUTIFUL JACKET IS SOAKED!!!
• 4:00pm: Get to ortho just in time. Takes all of 5 mins to tighten her braces. Still have 3 or 4 more visits before the braces come off (we were thinking she'd have them off by Christmas. Looks more like Easter now.) She's so disappointed - they were only supposed to be on 6 months and it's pushing 8 months now.
• 5:00pm: Stop at the grocery store, Pick up coffee creamer (we ran out yesterday) and cat food. I also got a bottle of wine. Just buying a bottle of wine lifts my spirits and I start to forget about the damn mall.
• 5:30pm: Do evening stuff - dinner, baths, reading, blah blah blah.
• 9:00pm: Blogging.
  

So, I didn't get to work on my quilt like I wanted. I was out of the house way more than I had anticipated. But, I did get Prissy's big birthday present. She told me yesterday that she wants a skateboard. The child can't even roller skate very well. And she wants a skateboard??!! Yikes. She's not getting one. But, she'll probably get some new clothes that fit her. Because we gave all of her other clothes away to goodwill. Although, they didn't fit her. But, at least she had something to cover her body. The poor child is going to grow up with cool gadgets but no clothes on her back. Not from poorness, but because her mother HATED clothes shopping. Poor girl.

So, hopefully tomorrow will be a little more vacation-ey! It's my last vacation day... :(

Vacation Almost Done

Ugh... The HORROR!!! My vacation is coming to an end. The kids go back to school tomorrow. I actually get two days to myself while the kids are in school. But, Prissy has an ortho appointment tomorrow (keep your fingers crossed that the braces can come off!!!) And she has an eye doctor appointment on Friday afternoon. We changed the kids insurance to my husbands in preparation for my company's spin-off that didn't happen. It has totally thrown the eye doctor for a loop. They just called all in a panic because they didn't think she was insured (which she isn't on my insurance.) To be honest, the changing of the insurance totally freaks me out. I'm comfortable with the insurance I know - and I'm still not so sure how this insurance is going to work - it's Lumenos - I've heard great things. But, it's new, so I hate it. So, my days aren't totally free, but still - I still have several hours all to myself.

While the kids have gotten along really well this vacation - they are back to attacking each other like crazy today. Think of a San Francisco tiger being taunted and then attacking to the death - you pretty much have my monsters (only as of today) there in a nutshell. They are taking turns being the tiger. We went bowling this afternoon which was a lot of fun and I even broke 100 (well, I got 100) in one game. We also found a geocache that was right across the street from the bowling alley.

For whatever reason - my smellers (my sense of smell) have been extremely acute the past 3 or 4 days and it seems like everything has an odor. I'm not enjoying it. At least my family also smelled the manure smell by the construction site too.

And, on a happy happy joy joy note - we got our new garage doors installed today. Can you hear the angels singing? (Hallelujah!!!) Hubby can open his garage door from his car now. He is so excited. These things are really really quite and the doors go up and down very quickly. The guy that came and installed them was super professional.

I also went and got an appraisal on my ugly-ass very interesting ring - I'm going to sell this puppy one way or another. If you think it is beautiful - please don't take my opinion of it harshly. But, feel free to make an offer. :)

Today, we took down the rest of our Christmas decorations - both inside and out. It's supposed to start raining tomorrow. The festiveness just seems to be going away while the days start getting a little bit longer. (I'd opt for a longer day any time. Bring on the sun!) However, I will miss coming home to our house with all the lights blazing.

Anyway, that's our day - not exciting. Not very entertaining. Just the facts, ma'am.

Happy New Year and All That

Hope you all are having a very happy and wonderful New Year. I'm getting ready to start making dinner and thought that I'd wish you all a happy one. And if it's not happy - well, too bad I guess.

I'm getting back on the diet after being off of it for a week and a half. Not so much looking forward to no Big Macs (our hiatus made me realize how much I miss French Fries... Ummmm.... Greasy french fries... OMG!!! I need to lose 15-20 pounds and I LOVE MY FREAKING FRENCH FRIES!!!!! THE HORROR!!!!! Also - I found this website called podfitness.com and it creates virtual training sessions with your own music in itunes. I'm really digging it so far. For our treadmill, it tells me what incline and what speed on the treadmill for a full workout. It's free for 8 weeks if you go through the discovery health website. Day one seems to be pretty slick. I'll let you know what I continue to think of it. It was a hard workout today, but do-able. And, by the way - I HATE to work out. Hate it hate it hate it. Which is why I'm 20 pounds overweight right now. :)

We had a good time with our friends last night. We always do when we are with them. As a bonus, I found a new wine that I really like - it's Artesa. I need to see if I can find it now. I was the only white wine drinker there and I drank an entire bottle of it. However, it was over most of a day, so that is my excuse for drinking a whole bottle. But, I wasn't at all drunk - which is good. And maybe not so good considering I drank an entire bottle of wine.

Happy first day of 2008!