Where have you been?

Where have I been, you ask? Well where should I begin? About 3 weeks ago I found out my sister-in-law & her live in boyfriend were not getting along. Oh great, I thought they were getting married. So the wedding is off. My sister-in-law has lived with this guy for about 3 years. I thought they got along pretty well. But they had a big fight about something & he turns into a complete jerk. (I'm only getting her side of the story, but I'm taking her side so we'll go with it.) She has an 11 year old daughter who doesn't belong to him. But the house is his, the car is his, pretty much everything but the kid is HIS! So he tells her she has 90 days to pack her shit & get out! She works at Wal-mart, so she's not exactly making enough money to get a place of her own & support an 11 year old. So what does she do? Where does she go? So last Sunday my hubby comes to me & says Charity has no place to go, what do you think about her moving in here? WHAT? Are you crazy? Where, how, why, when? So we have a spare bedroom that was the kids' playroom. We can move the toys to the bedroom & she & Cassie can share that room. The spare room is on the first floor of our house with a walk-in closet & a bathroom with a shower. So its like their own little motel room. But my computer is in that room? I can't sacrifice my computer! No way! This isn't going to work. Ok so I've been wanting to get a laptop for about 6 months or more now. So why not? This gives me a good excuse, right?! So the fun begins. Monday I get online & order me a new Dell laptop. Tuesday I start cleaning out the playroom. Charity contacts the school to get Cassie enrolled. Wednesday I take the day off work & drag things from upstairs down to the basement. Take things from the playroom up to the kids' rooms. I have never made so many trips up & down steps. I finished up by 11am or so & treated Mackenzie & I to an afternoon of shopping. Cassie goes to 6th grade orientation at her new school. She seems pretty excited about the move. Thursday is moving day!! Charity packed all day. Officially got Cassie registered for school. Around 5:30 or so I arrive at her house with some friends who got a truck & trailer to help move. We start loading up. Get back to my house for the unload. By 10 or maybe later, we are all exhausted. So she throws a mattress on the floor to sleep for the night. Friday she gets things unpacked & settled in. Saturday & Sunday she worked during the day, I watched Cassie for her. Saturday night she watched my kids. So cool, I have a live in nanny!! Its all going smoothly so far. Monday, my hubby picks up my new laptop at the UPS place. I spend 2 1/2 hours on the phone with my personal technical support because I'm just not geeky enough to do it alone...not yet anyway! I get all my files transferred, get my wireless setup & I think I'm good to go. Its the night before the first day of school so Cassie's getting ready for her first day at a new school. She didn't go to sleep until after 11!! Today, she's off to school at 7:10 a.m. Charity has the day off. I go to work like normal. Come home, make dinner, do some laundry, same old routine stuff. Get my laptop out & install the rest of my software & I'm done. Cassie had a good first day at school. She said she made some new friends. She missed the bus coming home so her mom had to run up to the school & pick her up. But all & all it was a good first day of school. I'm learning a lot about all the weird new rules they have in school these days. This could be an entire post so I'll save that info for later. Tomorrow I plan to clean up my PC & hopefully by the weekend get it taken apart & pass it on to my mother. So here I am about a week & half later with 2 new house guests & a new laptop. Its all good!!! I may be changing my mind in a few weeks because I have NO idea how long they may be here. So when I'm complaining down the road, someone please remind of how I was so excited to get my new laptop!!

Why Blog?

I've been taking a lot of slack recently for entering into the blogging world. I did not realize that most people view bloggers as weird, techy, or gay...yes these are terms people have actually said to me. Bloggers are not bad people. How did bloggers get such a bad reputation?

So since I'm fairly new to the blogging world I thought I would click through some blogs to see if I could figure out why bloggers are viewed this way. What I came up with is simply this...there are a lot of different kinds of people blogging. I don't see how anyone could group all bloggers together and say they are all weird. The only thing I found that I have in common with most bloggers is just that I blog too & that's pretty much it.

For the blogs in English that I could read, which wasn't a lot, I found various types of bloggers all over the country. Some people use a blog as a personal diary to tell about their day; some use it to keep in touch with family members with pictures; others use it to document something special going on in their life, like remodeling a house, having a baby, or planning a wedding; and some people post intimate life details on their blog.

Its hard to explain to people why I blog. So many have said, why do you do that? And how do I answer this? I don't know, its fun! And they look at me cross-eyed & wrinkled lip (yeah, you know the look!) and say what? its fun? Why is that fun? I can't explain it to people that don't do it. I think if these people spent some time reading blogs, they may want to eventually do it too. For me, I read blogs for about 6 months or so before I started doing it too. And then people will say, how do you have time to do that? Well I have 2 kids so spare time is something that is NOT in my vocabulary. But if you look at most of my post times, you will see I do this mostly when the kiddies are in bed. My kids are not neglected at all from my blogging!!

So anyway, for me I blog for something fun to do just for me because I can. As for the rest of you bloggers, you know we are all different and most of us are not bad people. We have just become another stereotype in society, that's all!

Are you freakin' kidding me?

This is a funny little story that happened to me today. So I pull into Sheetz to get gas, look up at the sign & it reads $2.939. Cool, I thought, gas came down a few more cents. So I begin pumping my gas & again verify that the pump also reads, $2.939. So this is good. I get my 12.913 gallons & it costs me $37.95. I jump in my car & as I'm pulling out I look up at the sign. I had to do a double take, are you freakin' kidding me, $2.899. The stupid gas price dropped 4 cents while I was pumping gas. I pulled out my receipt just to again make sure I wasn't seeing things before & no I paid $2.939. What are the chances? So ok, it would have only saved me...hold on while I open calc...ok I'm back...about 50 cents.

Sober Fool

Ever had a conversation in your head about 1000 times, then when you actually have the conversation it didn't happen as well for real as it did in your head? Yeah, me too. It happened today. I've been having this same conversation for 2 days. So when it comes time to actually have the conversation, what the heck happened? NOTHING happened the way it was suppose to happen. I don't get it. Why does this happen to me? It just seems like over the last few days every time I open my big fat mouth, drunk or sober, things don't come out quite right.

I guess the conversation in my head was called a fantasy. Why is it that real life is never as good as our fantasies? I must say I have some pretty good fantasies sometimes. But I don't recall ever having one come true. Does anyone? Do fantasies ever really happen exactly how you plan? Life would be so much more exciting for me if all my fantasies would work out the way they happen in my head. But then I guess they wouldn't be fantasies. Life is just one big vicious cycle. And some days it just SUCKS! Please share a real life fantasy with me so I can respond with...GAG, YOU SUCK!!

Drunken Fool

Its turns out that the people working in the IT department are not so quiet & boring after all. My pal Mike had a pretty cool party at his house last night. Mike calls this his annual summertime bash. And a bash it was! The food was excellent; hats off to the chef. The party started around 3. Most people started arriving between 4 & 5. My date for the evening was another co-worker Kelly. Now since my good friend Mary moved away & was unable to attend this party, I relied on Kelly to keep me in control at all times. She did a pretty good job.

So here's the low down on the party. It seems I may have had a little too much to drink. And I'm pretty sure I revealed some personal information about myself as well as another person. I know I get loud & obnoxious when I'm drinking so this probably happened too. I'm completely foggy of most events taking place between 5:30 & 9 pm. I started drinking water after that & have a pretty good recollection of the rest of the night. Now, I completely remember the pact that was made at the end of the evening...what happened under the tree, stays under the tree. Now I would like to expand this pact to include events that happened, statements made, and all events that didn't happen, but could have happened anywhere inside or outside Mike's house, stay inside or outside Mike's house! This will be better for everyone, especially me.

If Mike has a 3rd annual summertime bash and he's crazy enough to invite me again, I have made 3 important rules for myself:
1. Don't drink too much
2. Don't drink too much &
3. Don't drink too much

If I stick to these rules everything should work out well for everyone!

Also, I did learn something last night about myself and other people. I learned there are a few people in the world that are genuinely good people & good friends. And as for what I learned about myself, I'm still trying to figure it all out, so we'll just keep it under the tree or at Mike's house! So to the good person & friend in my life, I wish you a sober thank you!

1/2 lb closer to that $20

YIPPEE, I lost 1/2 a pound (or .5 pounds depending if we're talking singular or plural)! Yeah I guess its not much, but it hasn't even been a week yet. I've been walking in the evenings. I know this isn't enough to get that 20 lbs off, but its a slow start. And for those of you that have noticed I'm a bit grouchy & moody lately, yep its ice cream withdrawal! And if you haven't noticed, thanks for being obliviously supportive!

Talking in Circles or Honesty?

Why do people talk in circles? Why can't everyone just be straight-forward & honest about everything? If you had the choice of getting or giving all information by talking in circles or being completely honest, which would you choose? Now of course, first instinct most would say honesty. But would you honestly want honesty all the time? I wouldn't! There's an old saying, "The true hurts!" And this is so true. I would prefer talking in circles and figuring things out for myself. This keeps life more fun and interesting. If everyone was completely honest all the time we would all be Jim Carrey's in Liar Liar. Just think about how many times you have spoken before you have thought? And maybe hurt someone's feelings or opened up a huge dispute about something? Ever say something you wished you could take back? Just think if you always did this or always had this done to you? This type of uncontrollable behavior would result in total chaos.

Now lets think about this a little deeper...yes these are the productive things I think about at work...if it were something simple, like someone had a crush on you, then talking in circles could keep this relationship fun and flirtatious. However, reading this incorrectly could result in disappointment and embarrassment. Now on the flip side, being completely honest is scary because you're putting yourself and your feelings on the line. This could also result in disappointment and embarrassment. But then again, this could become a happy, long-term relationship. That's a sticky one...I personally would stick with talking in circles just to keep it fun and flirty. Eventually the truth will come out.

Now if the situation were a little more serious, like a life altering secret. Would you want to know the truth? If you had hints or suspicions in life that one of your parents had a secret life, another family somewhere, would you want to know and would you be honest with your parent and ask or would you talk in circles and just keep your suspicions to yourself? You can decide on this one. Too scary for me to pick, but I'm not sure I'd want to know.

Give me another scenario where honesty would be best. I like to try and see both sides of every situation but to me its clearly talking in circles that keeps life more interesting and mysterious. Knowing the facts isn't always the best way. Honesty isn't always the best policy. Sometimes there are good reasons to talk in circles.

20 lbs for 20 bucks

Hubby comes home yesterday and announces that he got on the scale at work. I won't embarrass him by posting the actual number. I've been noticing that he's been putting on a little weight over the last few years. Well turns out he's gained about 60-65 pounds in 7 years. WOW! That's a lot of weight. And to top it all off he's a smoker. The man is a walking heart attack. He's probably going to get diabetes before he's 40 unless he dies from a heart attack before he's 30. So he's complaining about this extra weight. I've been telling him for 2 years to join a gym, go for a walk, just get some exercise. He's a junk food junky! Pizza at all hours of the night. He's a really bad sleeper. If he wakes up at 2 a.m., he'll make himself a snack. Now what you & I call a snack is different from his snack. My idea of a snack might be an apple or yogurt, but his idea of a snack is a whole frozen pizza or a sandwich or a plate of left-over spaghetti...at 2 a.m. So now you see where the 60 lbs may have come from?

Now to me, I have been on a weight roller coast for about 10 years. Sometimes I'm heavy, sometimes I'm just average, and sometimes I can get to looking pretty darn good. Right now, I would consider myself in the average category with a high risk of getting heavy. Since I had a baby (almost 10 months ago, yeah I can't use this excuse too much longer!), I've been fighting about 10 lbs. Now 10 lbs may not sound like a lot but I could probably stand to lose that 10 lbs plus 20 more. That would be the ultimate goal. So anyway, the risk of gaining more is high because ever since I got pregnant I have not had the motivation to exercise. I pretty much stopped everything when I got pregnant, which made me feel terrible throughout my pregnancy. And now, I just can't get back into it. Before I got pregnant I was so determined & so motivated. I got up every morning & worked out. I hardly ever missed a day. So in March I started going to a local gym. I was doing pretty well, getting there about 3 days a week. Then summer came & I haven't been there since the beginning of June. There is just too much going on in the summer. Plus the nightly bowls of ice cream are not helping!! YUMMY! I know that getting up early works best for my schedule. I know that I feel better & look better when I'm exercising. I know what works for me & what I need to do, so why can't I get back into it?

So last night during dinner, Rob is complaining about his weight, so I come up with a plan. Now normally I'm not a betting person. I usually don't make bets unless I'm pretty darn sure I'm going to win. I have only ever lost one bet in my entire life & it was just recently & it cost me $5! But figuring that this bet would benefit me no matter if I win or lose, I bet hubby $20 that I could lose 20 pounds before him. Now men normally lose weight fast than woman. And his male ego kicked in & he said "oh yeah I could drop 20 lbs no problem!" Ok, so put your money where your mouth is buddy. So he agreed. We weigh in tomorrow morning & the race is on...

Now I've posted this for all the world to read, so I have made myself accountable not only to my husband who gets to actually see the number of pounds I weigh (YIKES!) but also to all of you. (I will not be sharing my actual weight with you!!) I expect you to do your part & ask me regularly if I got my lazy butt out of bed on time to work out. If I win the 20 bucks, we'll go have a drink to celebrate!!!

Well I must go eat my last bowl of YUMMY, YUMMY ice cream before tomorrow's weigh in! Stay tuned for weight loss updates....

Quarantined

I'm on my way to work this morning & I stop at daycare to drop off the kiddies like I do every morning & there were about 10 garbage bags of stuff outside. I thought this to be a little odd. My daycare is usually well kept outside & I've never known anyone to drop off their Salvation Army stuff there. So I proceed to the door & what's posted? A notice reading, "A case of head lice has been reported. Every child will be checked!" So think oh great. Which dirty kid brought this to daycare? So I go in & the daycare owner/director is sitting there with her little comb & alcohol checking kids. Luckily the little guy is still pretty much bald as could be so he has little worries. She starts checking my daughter & she checked her for about 10 minutes. I'm thinking ok come on I'm going to be late for work...AGAIN! She proceeds to tell me that the child with the lice is one of Mackenzie's good buddies. But checking is done...so far, so good! She was checked numerous times throughout the day & I arrived to pick her up & they said she's in good shape, we didn't see any bugs all day. So I'm thinking we're good to go. I go home & wash my sheets, her sheets, Logan's sheets, all the blankets laying around. I did 4 loads of laundry. I checked her head again. And I kept thinking how do I know what I'm looking for. I've never had head lice, I've never seen it before. What if I'm missing something? So I use this handy, dandy internet tool & find all kinds of controversial things about lice & what treatments to use. Some of it was kind of scary. So bath time rolls around. I bath the kiddies & I start combing Mackenzie's hair. I'm combing it very closely & checking every strand of hair & I'm starting to see these little white things. So ok are these the so-called nits I've been reading about or are these just flakes from her scalp? They are so teeny, tiny, how am I suppose to know? Then all of the sudden I saw this "huge" (ok it wasn't huge, but it was bigger than I thought it was going to be & bigger than the little microscopic nits) BUG! An actual bug. It was white & I saw its legs & everything. It was the creepiest thing I've ever seen. So of course I say, "Oh S**t!!!" And Mackenzie says, "what, what's wrong mommy? do I have a bug in my hair?" And with my ever so calmly mommy voice, say "yes honey, yes you do." And instantly she starts freaking out. "Get a tissue, get it mommy, get it! I don't want bugs in my hair!!" ***For future reference, never tell your kids they have bugs in their hair!*** Great, so now what? I call her doctor to find out his recommendation since the internet just confused & scared me. He tells me what to do. Then I remember that my 3 nieces & nephew were here on Saturday. I call my sister-in-law to break the bad news to her. Thinking that I'm just telling her as a precaution because surely Mackenzie didn't have this over the weekend. My sister-in-law calls back 15 minutes later...Cassie has it too! So then I call my brother-in-law. Both his kids have had it before so he was cool about it & said they were both ok so far. Then I had to call my brother about my other niece & I think she's ok for now too. Mackenzie spent the night at mom's over the weekend so now my mom is freaking out that it could be in her bed. I could get this! Mackenzie can't go to daycare until its completely cleared up. I can't go to work if she can't go to daycare. This is just absolutely terrible. I feel bad for the daycare owner. She had so much stuff she took home to wash & now she's going to have to do it all again tomorrow. She might be better off to close daycare for 2 weeks until its completely gone. I feel like all the kids, especially the girls with lots of hair are going to get this. Its just going to be one vicious cycle!! And its so embarrassing, so what do I do? Publish it for all the world to read! I always thought of the kids with lice as being dirty or living in a dirty house. Well my house may not be spotless, but I do clean it. And my kids get baths EVERY day! How do you prevent things like this? And will it keep coming back? I'm just so frustrated about it. And there's no one to really be mad at. I like my kids being in daycare. I think its a good experience for them & Mackenzie has learn so much there. But then you have this kind of stuff. I guess you take the good with the bad & hope the good out-weighs the bad in the long run. It just sucks right now...