Semi-Vacation

On Saturday, the boys and I are driving to Colorado to pick up MIL and possibly stepFIL. From their house, we are going to see Hubbs in Iowa. We wont be back home until the next Saturday, maybe even Sunday.

No shit? No shit.

I am excited but kinda not. I really miss Hubbs and want to see him but Iowa is so far away. We are driving the whole way.

Why not fly? Because I don't trust my kids. Especially in such a huge place with so many people around to irritate. Plus I am a chicken and am scared to fly.

I can't wait to actually get there. It will be 8 or 9 days that I can pawn the boys off on their grandparents, whenever I feel like it. I can actually go out to dinner with Hubbs without worrying whether or not I will get too drunk to find my Mommy Hat when the kids need me.

I think one night I will leave the boys with MIL and check out a strip club. **ducks** I have never been to one and am curious. Ssshhhhh, don't tell my mom.

BUT......I am going to miss my computer. I am on a roll with my book, as long as the boys are sleeping or not making an assload of noise.

I am going to miss my dogs. Even as stupid as they are.

I am going to miss work. Yeah, I am going to miss it a lot. Tomorrow I will try to remember to post about why I love my work.

Are you having a bad day?

I know I am.

In an attempt to not flip out, I have been cruising the loldogs.

And smoking. A lot.

I can't wait for bed time.

Good news

for fans of "I am Legend".

Here is the article.

I loved the movie and am really excited to hear about a prequel. I can hardly wait.

No festival for me

I am really bummed out. I am going to have to miss the Standing on the Corner Festival this weekend. You might remember an excited post about it earlier this month.

Bobblehead has a raging ear infection and Monk Man has a sore throat. PLUS both of them have been exposed to Whooping Cough. My brother (who works at the hospital) was exposed earlier this week and he brought it home. They both have been vaccinated for it but, well, you know.

So we are staying home to be on the safe side.

Maybe next year.

I am still planning on running away from work for an hour tomorrow to see my friend's band play. Luckily it is at 2 in the afternoon and the boys are under someone else's care.

Email Funny

My cousin sent me this email. I can totally see Monk Man and Bobblehead pulling this on me in a few years.
***********************************
A 6 year old & a 4 year old are upstairs in their bedroom. 'You know what?' says the 6 year old. 'I think it's about time we started cussing. The 4 year old nods his head in approval. The 6 year old continues, 'When we go downstairs for breakfast, I'm gonna say something with hell & you say something with ass.' The 4 year old agrees with enthusiasm.

When the mother walks into the kitchen & asks the 6 year old what he wants for breakfast, he replies, 'Aw, hell, Mom, guess I'll have some Cheerios.'

WHACK!! He flies out of his chair, tumbles across the kitchen floor, gets up, & runs upstairs crying his eyes out, with his mother in hot pursuit, slapping his rear with every step. His mom locks him in his room & shouts, 'You can stay there until I let you out!'

She then comes back downstairs, looks at the 4 year old & asks with a stern voice, 'And what do YOU want for breakfast, young man?' 'I don't know', he blubbers, 'but you can bet your ass it won't be Cheerios!'

I got a lot done today

1) I just finished up 2 loads of dishes but I have 1 load to wash still.

2) I just put the 3rd load of laundry in the dryer. Everything is washed but nothing is put away.

3) I didn't get the carpets cleaned but I did cook dinner (Baked Mac & Cheese) and made Iced Tea.

Hooray for me!

Oh! And I made Monk Man Windex the sliding glass door.

No Red Bull Friday?

There was no Red Bull Friday this week. I have been fighting a killer sinus infection for a week now.

I went to the doctor Thursday because the sinus infection just wasn't going away on its own. Ohhhh the pain was horrible. The whole left side of my face was swollen, my throat was on fire, my jaw ached and my teeth were throbbing. I was given a prescription for a Z-Pack and sent back to work. At this point, I was popping Advil like they were candy and it was barely taking the edge off the pain. On Friday I had had enough and called the doctor to get a prescription for pain pills.

He gave me Darvocet. They took 5 hours and 4 pills to kick in.

I am going to go out on a limb and guess that I am allergic to them because I spent all day yesterday (Saturday) with my freaking head in the toilet. I was fine as long as I was laying on the floor, not moving. But when there are 2 dogs, a 3 1/2 year old and an 11 month old demanding my attention, laying still on the floor is just a fantasy.

After the first hour of puking I did call my sister to see if she would come get Monk Man for a few hours so I could lay down when Bobblehead was napping.

When I got up, I took half of a pain pill with a huge glass of milk because maybe taking them on an empty stomach wasn't the greatest idea. Well, the milk didn't do any good because as soon as I swallowed the pill I had to run to the toilet again for another hour.

I am back taking Advil. The pain is noticeably less than it was 2 days ago so maybe I will be able to function today.

This week only: Red Bull Friday is on Sunday

Here is the to-do list:
1) Dishes.
I may have not been able to eat but the kids still had to. I have about 4 days worth of dishes sitting in the sink and on the counter. Gross. I hate to have to admit that one.
2) Laundry.
I need to wash about a weeks worth and put away about 3 weeks worth of clothes.
3) Spot Clean the Carpet.
Momma is Sick?=Eat wherever you want.

I am not feeling too ambitious today and I don't want to over do it so I only have 3 things today. As usual, I will update tonight or tomorrow at work on what actually got done.

Off to turn on the cartoons to keep the boys occupied for a while so I can clean! Now where did my MP3 player go?

Brain Fart

Ok, I mentioned in yesterday's post that it was my Bank of America account that had gone to collections.

It wasn't. Whoops!

It was actually my Chrysler Visa.

LoL I have a sinus infection and it is
kicking.
my.
ass.

I am blaming my mistake on the drug induced haze I have been in for 3 days now.

I just paid off another account

It doesn't feel as good as the other payoffs have felt.

The Backstory:
Bank of America issued me a card with a $10,000 credit line. Me, being the dumb ass that I can be sometimes, I spent it all. Twice. Things were fine until I got married. The post office wouldn't forward the credit card statements to me, they sent them back to the credit card companies. Before I realized it, I was so far behind in monthly payments there was no catching up.

So the BOA account got turned over to collections. For too many years they have been taking a monthly payment out of my checking account. Yes, I gave them my banking information. I didn't know any better. They were threatening lawsuits and court ordered payments and I freaked out. Not one of my better judgement calls.

Fast Forward to Today:
The collection agency called me at lunch right before I was leaving to come back to work. The girl that was managing my account offered me a settlement of $1480 which was 40% of what I still owed.

I jumped at the chance to get this account gone. I didn't take any time to talk myself out of it. I didn't even take the time to check the checking account balance. I just said "Yes, that's what I want to do. Can you take the money out of my account today?"

After the phone call was over I transfered the money from savings into the checking account. Then I texted Hubbs and told him. I was a little worried that he would be pissed for not discussing it with him first or something but he was okay with it.

Now, an hour later I am feeling buyers remorse. Seriously, I want to throw up. But we happened to have the money sitting in savings for this type of thing, paying off credit cards. It will be an extra $130 a month that I can throw at another account or put in savings. That should make me feel better, but it really doesn't.

With the current state of the economy and all these banks failing and needing to be bailed out, I would really feel better with the money in savings instead of someone else's pocket. I know the money will be replaced soon enough and we still have a good amount in the savings account (should anything happen) to get by on if we had to.

Gah! If I would have known 6 years ago, what I know now.............I guess you (I) just have to live an learn.

I hope someone out there learns something from my mistakes. If just 1 person is helped by something I have blogged about, it all would be worth it. KWIM?

What a Strange Disease

Morgellons

Link to Newsweek article

It starts with painful, stinging lesions appearing on the skin. Out of these lesions, colored fibers start coming out of the lesions. Hair loss and short term memory problems are also affects of Morgellons.

I mean no disrespect to anyone who has this, but how freaking bizarre is this?

Is this something any of you have heard about? This sure is the first I have heard regarding this.

Anyone want to take bets on how long it is before my (hypochondriac, I am not a doctor but I play one in my head) mother decides she or someone else in the family has this?

Red Bull Friday Update

I actually managed to get most of my Red Bull Friday crap done. Granted it DID take all weekend, 3 Red Bulls and a nap.

So Friday I expected to:
Find the Wii Game
Clean the carpet with soap
Work on the book
Sewing
Cutting and Glueing
Sleep in
Mop the kitchen

In reality, I:
Found the Wii Game--It was in a Spongebob case.
Cleaned the carpet, with soap--Yep, cleaned the 2 recliners while I was at it.
Worked on the book--I didn't write much but I did get a new chapter started
Cutting--I cut but didn't get around to glueing or sewing.
Slept in--Yes! I slept in for an extra hour and a half on Sunday
I even mopped the kitchen.

I know I spelled glueing wrong. Spell check didnt help in the least. Someone please tell me how to spell glueing correctly?

Random Political Stuff

~~Do you know who you are voting for?~~

I know who I am voting for. I have known for months. But I'm not telling, and I would prefer it if you didn't tell me either. Not being rude, I just don't NEED to know. It wouldn't change the way I thought of you even if I did know.

~~Guess how I picked my party.~~

By animal. See, I was in 3rd grade when we were told to choose our political party. At that age I didn't understand what the different parties represented. I still really don't understand it all. I liked elephants more than I liked donkeys. So thats how I ended up a Republican.

My grandma Vi almost has a heart attack every time someone reminds her about me as a Republican. The rest of my family are hard core Democrats. She tries to shame me into changing parties. I think it is funny so I stay what I am.

An Invitation

Our little town had a song written about us. It is our "claim to fame" and we are very proud of it. We actually have a "Standin on the Corner" corner.

L. O. L.

I will go take some pictures to prove the obsession if I can get someone to watch my kiddos for long enough to make my way down town.

A little back ground:

A long time ago (well a long time for me at least) the Eagles made a cd with a song called "Take It Easy" on it. Well that is the song that is about our little town.

It is a common misconception that the Eagles actually wrote the song, but Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey really wrote it. The Eagles just sang it. I found some info on Wikipedia about it.

Every year for the past 10 years, our town has thrown a "Standin On The Corner" festival. Its more like a really really big block party. Here is the official web page. If you click on the link you will see a banner of pictures at the top of the page. Look at the 2nd picture. I can't count how many times people have asked if that is me.

For the record, no, it isn't me. The original picture was painted before I was born. But thanks, it's flattering, that girl is a babe.

Well, it is that time of year again.

The "festival" starts in 2 weeks, on Friday the 26th and lasts until early Sunday morning.

There are vendors, food, live music (local bands, famous bands and semi-famous bands), a beer garden, dancing and TONS of people. People travel from all over to come party with us. Whole city blocks are shut down so we can party in the streets.

So I am inviting you to come party with me. If not this year, come next year. Bring your kids. It will be a blast.

Interesting Article

about the way that the Rockband and the Guitar Hero games have affected the music industry.

Check it out HERE

I am sure I have mentioned it before but music has a very important place in my life. The only time there isn't music playing is when we are sleeping or have certain family members over. **cough**the deaf ones**cough** Otherwise the computer is blasting something, or a cd player is on, or I have my mp3 player stuck in my ears. There is music on at home, in the car, at work, sometimes in my head.

I LOVE the Rockband and Guitar Hero games. I suck at it them but I have sooooo much fun. They are one of the few games that Hubbs will actually play with me.

The music is very familiar and with the exception of a few of the genres, it is music that I either listen to now or have listened to in the past.

Plus the games suck.me.in. I start playing and before I realize it, too much time has passed.

It keeps the boys entertained too. The bright colors and the sounds really capture their attentions. Some of the songs (like The Hand That Feeds and Hit Me With Your Best Shot, ones the kids have heard thousands of times) Monk Man can (try to) sing along to. And both boys dance around the living room until they pass out, whether they know the songs or not.

That is my idea of multi-tasking, oh hell yeah.

Awwww, who am I kidding

All that stuff I just posted down there.....Yeah, it probably wont get done.

Well, maybe some of it. Until the kids go to bed.

Then I am going to just sit around and play the Guitar Hero games all night.

I just realized

it is RED BULL FRIDAY again.

Hooray.

So whats in store for tonight?

Well, I need to tear apart the living room so I can find a Wii game we rented last Friday. The only answer I get out of Monk Man as to where it is is "What Wii game? I wanna play the Wii!"

With Hubbs home last week, a lot of beer got spilled (how many times do I have to say, "Don't put your beer on the floor when the kids are up"?) so I need to clean the carpets. Again. Maybe I will use soap this time since there seems to be more spots showing up since the last time I cleaned it.

And then of course, there is always the book that needs to be worked on. And Christmas presents to be sewn (blankets) or cut and glued (scrapbook crap and note cards).

Maybe I will make the boys stay up with me tonight so I can sleep in tomorrow...... Fat chance but it is worth a shot.

Gross! I just looked over my shoulder and the kitchen looks like it needs to be mopped too. I wonder what I can bribe Monk Man with get him to mop the kitchen.

One Word

This post is being brought to you by Fix it Mommy and Dr. Pepper Addict



Alright, so here is the deal. I am supposed to answer the following questions with one word answers...yeah right!

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Where is your significant other? Iowa
3. Your hair color? Blond
4. Your mother? Nuts
5. Your father? Awesome
6. Your favorite thing? Music
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your dream/goal? Debtless
9. The room you’re in? Office
10. Your hobby? Music
11. Your fear? Failure
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
13. Where were you last night? Bed
14. What you’re not? Shy
15. One of your wish-list items? Jeans
16. Where you grew up? Arizona
17. The last thing you did? Email
18. What are you wearing? Jeans
19. Your TV? Flat
20. Your pet? Protective
21. Your computer? On
22. Your mood? Happy
23. Missing someone? Yep
24. Your car? Sucks
25. Something you’re not wearing? Socks
26. Favorite store? Ebay
27. Your summer? Stressful
28. Love someone? Yep
29. Your favorite color? Purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? Constantly
31. Last time you cried? Friday



Now for passing on the award!
The rules of this award are:
1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated

Now...for the nominations...drum roll please...



1) Alabaster Mom

2) Mom On The Rise

3) Cheaper Than Therapy

4) Woman In Pink

5) RockSTARRMom

It seems

even Trent Reznor himself gets the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). I wonder if he found the "any" key.



Picture isn't mine, Amy Randazzo gets the photo credit.

I guess the BSOD is there on purpose. It is part of the show.

It made me giggle though.

Do you remember

what you were doing when the Twin Towers fell down?

(A thread on the Bargain Hunters board prompted this post.)

I had just woken up and walked into the living room. My mom was sitting there, in front of the TV with her mouth open.

I remember thinking, What The Hell? and feeling like I wanted to throw up.

We were glued to the TV for the rest of the day. And the days after that.

I was supposed to have classes at the college that day but they cancelled them. Not that I would have gone anyway, the TV had me sucked in for days.

So tell me, what were YOU doing?

Today is the type of day

that I wish I had not banned myself from using the F-bomb on the blog.

What the hell was I thinking? Semi-Family Friendly? Pppfffttttt

**sigh** A bunch of F-bombs would make me feel so much better.

I think when I get off work in a few minutes I will blast some Nine Inch Nails and sing along to THOSE F-words.

Ya know, get it all out of my system before I have to turn into "The Mommy" again.

Well, I am at home

But the dude is still on the loose.

Monk Man's daycare lady's husband works for the city and had some new information.

The police found the handcuffs in my neighborhood but not the dude.

I am willing to bet money that he is long gone to Mexico by now. At least I hope so.

You had better believe our house will be locked up tight and I will be anally overprotective for the next few days. Because I wouldn't be me if I didn't over-react about something once a week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a side note, the dogs got into my pantry while I was at work.

They managed to eat a good part of my stockpiled Nilla Wafers. 3 damn boxes.

I can't decide if they are the smartest or the dumbest dogs on the planet.

I really hope they don't get sick. But if they do, I hope it is outside and not on the carpet.

Shitheads.

Dude is still on the loose

Its 1:30 and the dude in handcuffs is still running around town.

When I went home for lunch the police were looking around the lower income housing, 4 blocks away from my house. So I figured, hey, they have found him. Awesome.

I was totally wrong.

As I was pulling off of my street, an hour later, they had moved up 3 blocks. My block is next.

I stopped in at the gas station to get a Dr. Pepper and asked the cashier if she knew what the hell was going on.

This is where the story gets even freakier.

She told me that the dude murdered someone about 3 months ago. The police found him at a family member's house this morning after being called on a domestic violence issue.

So, ok, hold on. Let me get this straight. There is a murderer running loose in my neighborhood? The cops have been looking for this guy for 3 months and lose him the day they finally catch him?

Does anyone else see something WRONG with this picture???

I am sooo staying at my parent's house if this dude isn't caught before I get off work tonight.

With my luck the cops will catch the dude in my back yard after my dogs have torn him up. And he will sue me.

Gah. I have GOT to get my mind off of this. I am off to read YOUR blogs.

Mondays are Craptastic

**This is just a vent. Take it with a grain of salt please. Normally, I respect and even like our local cops. They really are good guys, most of the time.

First thing this morning the police were at the shop. Apparently one of them had opened his patrol car's door and the person that he had arrested took off. The cop asked me, "Have you seen a black man in handcuffs anywhere around here?"

"Uhhh, no? I think I would have called you guys if I had seen something like that."

Yeah, there is a dude running around town. In handcuffs. God only knows what he did to be arrested in the first place.

Scary shit.

They have been looking for him since around 7:45 and here it is after 10:00 and the police are still looking for him.

They even have the Sheriff department helicopter flying around looking for him too.

The helicopter alone is giving me some major anxiety. Not to mention the police cars speeding up and down the streets and the officers stopping in to ask if we had seen anything yet.

I wish they would hurry up and find this dude.

The update I was supposted to make yesterday

Monk Man's surgery went fine. It was over before I even knew it. The surgical staff was awesome. FIL went up with me so I wouldn't fall apart.

He had some nasty bloody drainage Friday afternoon when he woke up from his nap and a little more Saturday morning but nothing today.


His attitude has been a little better. The melt downs have been shorter, less frequent and not as intense.

Thanks to everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers. It is much appreciated.

Hi!

I am still here! Hubbs got home from Iowa on Saturday morning and between him and work, I haven't had much computer time.

Ummmm, whats happened the past week......

We went to the woods on Sunday for the Elk's Club Chili Cookoff. I think next year we will try the whole camping with kids thing. Maybe. It rained for about half the day but Monk Man loved it until I made him take a nap in the car because he was getting cranky as hell. Bobblehead couldn't have cared less about being out there.

We took my family out for dinner at the Outback on Monday. All of em. How many is all? Well, there was me, the 2 kids, Hubbs, my brother, 2 sisters, Ollie, my Kookie Cousin and her 2 kids, my Grandma I, and Spanky and Nonnie. I grabbed the bill before Spanky (my dad) noticed it on the table. Ouch, it was almost $300. But we had it in the checking account so we didn't charge it plus my parents have treated us to so many dinners, it is only fair that we pick up the tab once a year. At least that's how I am justifying it.

After dinner we headed over to Best Buy to look around and to wear the kids out so they would fall asleep for the hour long drive home. That was an expensive look around. We ended up getting a Playstation 3 and a few games for Hubbs, a Sponge Bob game for the Wii that Monk Man wanted and the newest season on DVD of House for me.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Hubbs got the trampoline (that was sitting on the front porch for a week waiting for my neighbor) set up for us. Hooray! Monk Man and I bounced for the better part of an hour yesterday evening, until the mosquito's started eating me alive.

Today, I am just working. How freaking exciting.

I took a mental health day for tomorrow so I can spend it hanging out with Hubbs and the kids and preparing myself for Friday. Hopefully one of us will come up with something interesting (and cheap) to do. Otherwise we will be camped out in the living room in front of the TV all day. But that's okay too.

Friday is a big, scary, super stress day for me. Monk Man gets his ear tubes at 9:00 a.m. I know it really isn't a big deal and I am going to freak out about nothing but worrying is what I do best. (I think I have said that before?)

Plus, Hubbs is going back to Iowa again. That sucks too. I mean the money he is making is awesome and we are finally getting back on track with this debt elimination thing.

But

I really miss him and I hate that he has to leave again. He is having to miss out on so much.

So, keep me in your thoughts on Friday. I need all the good vibes I can get so I don't completely fall apart. Saturday I will update on how the surgery went and whether I maintained or not.