Boring Blog

Sad But True

2007-07-19T21:52:00.001-04:00

A co-worker was kind enough to point out to me that I am "Carol The Secretary" from the Dilbert Comic Strip. At first I was mildly offended. Carol is described as "She's the "secretary from hell" who hates her job and finds perverse joy in making everyone within a two-mile radius suffer." As the day went on and I thought about it more, I felt more and more like Carol. Poor Carol...

Resolution Update

2007-05-12T17:10:00.000-04:00

About 3 months ago I made one of these New Year’s Resolution things. Remember that? Anyone else make one? Did you stick to it? Well I’ve been thinking about writing this post for quite some time. My resolution wasn’t the typical “lose weight,” “quit smoking,” “save money,” resolution. Mine was more get motivated, start exercising, start living better. Just get up and do something. If I drop a few pounds along the way, great. But even if I didn’t, I still need to be healthier for me and my family. So after January 1st, I started getting up at 5:30 a.m. every morning. I was kind of watching what I was eating, but not really. I did this for about 2 weeks. Then I got sick. What a great excuse to just quit! I lost 6 pounds, more from being sick than anything else. So after I started feeling better, I went back into old habits of sleeping in and not eating well. And of course, I regained that 6 pounds. At this point, it was the end of January. I wasn’t ready to admit defeat but I was so disappointed in myself. At my work we had hired a “Wellness Coordinator!” What the heck is a Wellness Coordinator? How do you coordinate wellness? This chick is young, cute, and weighs about 90 pounds. So of course, what is my first reaction…Yeah right, what the heck is this girl going to be able to tell me about wellness…eat carrots and exercise 3 hours a day. I’m sorry that’s not realistic for me. So I had a serious personal grudge against her and I had never even talked to her. Another week goes by and I’m thinking about the Wellness person, and decide maybe my personal grudge against her is my problem. Maybe I need to give her a chance. Maybe there is something she can do for me. So I send her an email. In my first email to her I told her that I already didn’t like her, but I was willing to give her a shot! So we sat down and talked for about an hour. She was very nice and VERY understanding. She gave me some informational material and probably the routine talk. We sat out some small goals…start exercising 3 to 5 days a week, she will weigh me every week (this is huge for me…I have to divulge my weight to someone other than my doctor!!), and lose 6 pounds in a month. So on February 12th, I met her at the scale for the initial “Weigh In!” The results were NOT good. I’m very aware of my weight, so it wasn’t a shock, but it sure wasn’t easy to see or to share with someone else. But because she saw it too I knew that I had to make it go down. So getting on that scale every week in front of her would just keep getting easier and easier. She also took waist and hip measurements. That was a little bit of a shock!! Didn’t like those results either. The first week is always the hardest, so I just kept telling myself that. After the first week, it’ll get easier. And it did and is has. Its still a struggle every day. I have had a few minor moments with some Easter candy, but for the most part I have been very good. I give myself a small reward every once in awhile when I deserve it. I am very hard on myself though also. The Wellness Coordinator tells me constantly that I’m too hard on myself. She’s very motivating. She always says stuff like you’re doing great…just keep it up. I weigh in with her once a week. I keep a daily food dairy that I turn in to her. She reads it and gives me tips on where I should be cutting or adding. So here we are about 3 months later. And how am I doing? Well I’m down almost 24 pounds and 13.5 inches!!! Every day gets easier. The hardest part for me isn’t losing the weight, its keeping it off. I’ve lost weight many times…15, 20, even 30 pounds, but I always gain it back. My end goal is to lose it and maintain it. For now, I’m just planning little goals, one day at a time. I know I’ll get there!!!

House Pics

2007-04-01T18:11:00.000-04:00

Finally...

House Update

2007-03-27T20:28:00.000-04:00

I’ve been surviving with trying to cook around the mess of dust. Having my kitchen completely destroyed has not been a fun adventure. However, the end results are coming along. Its not completely finished yet, but its getting there. Its actually starting to look like a kitchen again instead of a barn. Most of the dust throughout the rest of the house has been cleaned up, numerous times. About the time I think I have everything clean, I see more stuff with dust on it. I have walls again, which is exciting. Beautiful drywalled walls!! With paint and not wallpaper!! I got new curtains and blinds on Saturday and hung them on Sunday. Yes, I hung them. The princess can do work once in a while when she’s motivated!! Rob started the floor last night. What a disaster!! I really, really, really wanted to pay someone to do this. And now I’m wishing we would have. The first problem is he tried to do this all by himself. My husband is very stubborn. He will ask his brother for help once in a while, but not often. If his brother is busy then he won’t wait for him, he just does it himself. So the brother never called on Sunday, so last night he started the major project alone. Our kitchen is about 15x15. This is a pretty big area to lay linoleum with no help. Get everything lined up perfect and get all the air bubbles out. Its not done, but it doesn’t look too great right now. We saved about $300 doing it ourselves, but I’m not sure if its worth it. As for the countertop and the cabinets, they have been temporarily put on hold. Since the weather is getting nicer, there are a few outside projects Rob wants to tackle. We are putting a deck out back and a new roof on the garage. Hopefully my kitchen will be complete for now by the end of the week. We will probably pick back up on the cabinets and countertop either over next winter or not until next spring. It will depend on if we run out of money with the outside projects! I’ll post pictures soon. I’m just too lazy to get them off my camera right now. And hopefully I’ll have finished product pictures by the weekend!

Will My House Ever Be Clean Again?

2007-03-11T21:29:00.000-04:00

Our house is 100+ years old and had never seen drywall until we moved in. 2 years ago my hubby made a mess of our upstairs and replaced doors, paint, and added drywall to my son's room. He put a new floor in the bathroom and we had carpet installed. He did everything himself except the carpet. It was a MESS! But we survived. This was his first experience with drywall so I was very nervous. But everything turned out great! Last year our major house project was the outside. Our house has aluminum siding and it was looking pretty bad. We couldn't afford to put vinyl siding up so he decided he could paint it. Again I was very nervous especially because our house is very steep and he is afraid of heights. And again it turned out great. I really thought we were done with major projects for a while. He has been bugging me to let him completely re-do the kitchen. My kitchen is the first room you see when you come in the door. I spend more time in this room than any other. It is very out-dated but I was ok with it for now so I've been desperately holding him off. Well Saturday morning he decided that we should just do it. I was very hesitant, but he said we were just going to repaint, reface the cabinets and replace the flooring. I negotiated for a new countertop too. And off to Home Depot we went. Last night he started tearing down layer after layer of wallpaper. The 100 year old horse hair plaster under the wallpaper was in really bad shape. So the next thing I know plaster is flying everywhere. And he said I'm taking everything out and drywalling. My first reaction is panic! But things have always turned out ok in the past. This morning, he headed back to Home Depot and returns with sheets of drywall and his brother. And down came the plaster. WHAT A MESS!! I have never seen so much dust in all my life. The walls were down to the studs and the floor was covered in dust, dirt, and plaster. It looked more like an old barn with a dirt floor than a kitchen. I took the kids and went to my mother's for dinner. When I got home I could have burst into tears. There was just so much dust all through the house. It was everywhere. I guess it was easier to deal with the mess upstairs because I didn't have to see it constantly. The mess in the kitchen is causing my dining room and living room to also be a mess. I couldn't get away from it no matter where I went. But things do seem to be coming along nicely. The drywall is already about 1/2 done. Rob assures me he'll be painting by Saturday and we will survive. Hopefully I will have beautiful after pictures very soon!!!

Good Times with Old Friends

2007-02-15T21:49:00.000-05:00

Tonight I spent about 2 hours with friends visiting from Florida. My good friend Maggie moved far, far away to that beautiful, warm place we call Florida. Its probably been a little over 5 years since she moved...if I remember correctly. She and her husband moved down there when they were having trouble finding good jobs in good old PA! In the past 5 years, she has had 2 kids and I have had 2 kids. It makes me so sad that are kids aren't together more. It makes me even sadder that she and I aren't together more. We used to have some fun, wild times together. I'm sure if she still lived around here, we would be having just as much fun, but probably not so wild. I'm sure we would have very exciting "game nights!!" Because Maggie doesn't get home as often as she would like, we're lucky if we get together once a year. She usually makes quick trips and tries to squeeze visits with everyone into about 3-4 days. So this time she had a GREAT idea. We all met for dinner so she could enjoy the company of old friends and not feel like she was taking time away from family. What a brilliant idea! I think it worked out extremely well. I'm not sure the employees of Ponderosa felt the same way. There were screaming kids running all over the restaurant...yes 2 of them were mine!! We had a nice visit. I got to meet her son for the first time and she got to meet my son for the first time! Our daughters were chasing each other all around and playing like they were buddies forever. Its so hard to stay close when friends move away. You get busy in your own life and forget to find time for those not right in front of you every day. Maggie has been a great friend to me and I don't always put forth the effort I should to return that friendship. Thanks Maggie for your friendship. I had a great time visiting tonight. Miss you so much!!!!

The Lady Friend

2007-01-29T21:10:00.000-05:00

My hubby's grandmother passed away last year in February. She and Pap were married for almost 52 years. What an accomplishment!! I can only hope that I will someday celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary. So anyway, it was a very rough few weeks after Grandma passed. She was the glue that held the family together. Pap is a little more on the quiet side, where Grandma spoke her mind whenever she felt the urge. It seemed as though the family has tried to continue the scheduled visits on the weekends and holidays. Some try to pop in regularly so Pap isn't so lonesome. Now I can't imagine how lonely it must be to have had the same person living with you for 50+ years and now suddenly you're left alone with just your dog. So now here it is almost a year later and a family member's significant other introduces Pap to widow that she works with. This lady is 69 years old, Pap is 76; she lost her husband 6 years ago and has been alone ever since. So when I find out about Pap's lady friend, my first reaction is "Oh my gosh, Karen (my mother-in-law) is going to freak out!!" I'm very supportive of the situation. I think its great that Pap has found someone to go out to dinner with. After all, everyone needs friends. He needs someone to spend his time with and just hang out with. He says its nothing serious and just someone to spend time with. So great!! Pap doesn't try to keep it a secret. He is very open and decides to tell the family about her, which I think is the best decision. So, on Sunday evening Pap and his lady friend stop by for a visit. So now what do I think, I don't know. She is a very nice lady. She was great with my kids. She got down on the floor and played with them. She definitely has a lot of energy. And I think she is going to be really great for Pap. She will keep him young and give him a reason to get out of bed every morning. It was just so weird. I guess maybe because she just wasn't Grandma and nothing really like Grandma. I'm keeping an open mind in the situation, but its just a little awkward. Pap is acting like a young kid again. He was laughing and making little jokes. She would put her hand on his knee and giggle. It was cute to watch them, but yet just a little weird at the same time. Don't know, I don't see wedding bells or anything too serious in the near future, but I think the new Lady Friend will definitely bring for interesting events, discussion, and I'm sure turmoil in the near future!!!

Road Rage

2007-01-03T22:17:00.001-05:00

I am normally a pretty calm driver. Now I do drive too fast 90% of the time, but try to stay calm if someone isn’t driving as fast as I would like. However, today I left work early to head to an appointment. I left a little later than planned so was in a bit of a hurry to get to my appointment. So of course, I catch up to the slowest truck in Bedford County. It was an older man driving. Now usually I don’t complain much about the older people driving slow, better save than sorry, right? But this guy wasn’t going anywhere close the speed limit. He was gawking out the windows when we would pass an open field. Now what did he think he would accomplish by looking out the window? Was he going to pull off the road and try to shoot a deer from his truck? I don’t understand why people do this. But lately I have been seeing this quite often and I don’t get it. So we are cruising along and I’m getting more and more annoyed by this guy. Then I happened to look up in my rear view mirror to see a big, shiny, chrome grill that reads Peterbuilt. Ok so this big, black truck is close enough to me so I can read his grill emblem. So of course this makes me even more annoyed. And the guy in front of me, still taking his time, was either in bad need of a front end alignment, had too much to drink or just sadly couldn’t drive. Finally, he turned off towards Martinsburg and I sped off. This gave me enough time to calm down before I got to my appointment so my blood pressure was normal!

The Holidays

2006-12-29T23:23:00.000-05:00

This time of year is supposed to be merry and jolly. I think for most it’s frustrating and stressful. I am so glad Christmas is over and this year is about to end. Although my Christmas was very stressful, it was also enjoyable. This was probably the best Christmas I ever had and may be the best one I will ever have. My kids are at perfect ages and are so much fun. My daughter is 4 so she was most excited for Santa. My son only being 14 months didn’t understand why he was getting presents, but very much enjoyed the wrapping paper, boxes, and even the presents inside!

Now that its over, my living room looks like Santa’s sleigh crashed into it and I’m stuck with rearranging my house to find room for all these new toys. I truly wish people would save their money or buy my kids savings bonds or something practical rather than spend big bucks on toys that they may play with one time. Then the toy gets lost in the bottom of the toy box or broken, and there’s $20 or $25 out the window. I just don’t get it. Anyway, I guess people enjoy buying the presents and wasting the money. To be honest, I actually threw away a few things my kids got…didn’t even open the package, just went right to the garbage. Maybe that’s wrong, but my house isn’t big enough for everything. I spent Tuesday cleaning out closets and dressers to make room for new clothes. My husband carried FOUR boxes of clothes to the basement. I cleaned out toy boxes and organized the thousands of Barbie pieces and My Little Pony pieces. Did you know they make a Barbie that comes with lipstick for the Barbie? Do you realize how small Barbie lipstick has to be? Who gives this kind of gift to a 4 year old? Do they really think that lipstick is going to last more than an hour and not get lost? What kind of people come up with these ideas for toys? I gathered up 2 garbage bags of junk toys; some went to the trash and others went to the yard sale pile. So now my house is somewhat back to organized and I’m back to work for the slow quiet 3 day week.

And now here it is less than 3 days left in 2006. It sure doesn’t feel like December in PA! I have no plans for New Year’s. I haven’t gone to a typical New Year’s Eve party since I’ve had kids. I don’t really know what people do on New Year’s anymore. I’ll probably spend the evening at home. Maybe watch a movie with my hubby. Watch the ball drop & head off to bed.

I guess 2006 was an OK year for me. I don’t have much to complain about, but since I’m a complainer by nature I have to think of something. My son got RSV in January, since that has had numerous episodes with asthma and ear infections; had tubes in his ears in November; and got RSV again a few weeks ago. The sickness can go better in 2007. My daughter has aged about 10 years in the last year. In the beginning of the year she was a cute 3 year old toddler. Now in just a few short months, she has become a 4 year old kid. She’s gone from a baby, to a toddler, to a little girl! I guess that’s a good thing, but its just sad that the time goes so fast. Its hard to remember when she was a baby. I hope 2007 goes a little slower. My husband and I had a very rocky year. Things were bad, got worse, and then got even more worse. Since about the beginning of November things have made a 360 degree turn and so far have been good. I hope 2007 brings me marital bliss!! As for my job…well I try not to mention too much about work here so I don’t get fired…Let’s just say work was good, then not so good, then really bad, then good again, then not so good again, then really, really, really bad, then scary ok, then good, then a little better, and now frustratingly comfortable. In 2007, I don’t know what to wish for. Sometimes my job has “be careful what you wish for” written all over it. So I just hope I continue to have a job in 2007!

As for New Year resolutions, I’ve never actually made one. Most people say things like I’m going to save more money, or I’m going to lose 20 pounds, or I’m going to start this project or that. For me I try not to set myself up for failure, but it would be beneficial for me to do any of these things. Who doesn’t need to save more money? And those who have seen me lately sure know I need to lose more than 20 pounds. Remember a few months ago, I wrote a post titled “20 pounds for 20 bucks”? Well what the heck happened to that? I think I misinterpreted that bet to be gain 20 pounds and win 20 bucks. I wrote that post on August 4th. Since then I have gain 14.5 pounds…YES, I said 14! That was no typo. So with that I guess I’m officially making my first New Year resolution. Since I don’t like to fail, I’m not going to set a specific weight loss number. My resolution is just to start exercising again, to get in better shape, so I can have the energy to play with my kids and see them grow up!! Good luck with your resolutions!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Where's the...DIAPERS?!?!

2006-11-25T19:15:00.000-05:00

I have a love-hate relationship with Wal-Mart. After today's experience I'm leaning more towards the hate side...

Yesterday, I arrived home from work to find NO diapers in my son's room. I'm not quite sure how this happened. I'm usually really on top of these kinds of things. I never run out of important items, especially diapers. So I run to the diaper bag and luckily there are 3 diapers in there. Ok, this is enough to get me through the evening. We head off to my mother's for left-over Thanksgiving dinner. I tell the hubby that we have to go to Wal-Mart to get more diapers. He didn't really want to and neither did I, but I wasn't paying Giant Eagle prices for diapers. So after some discussion, we decide it would be better to get up really early today and do a little Christmas shopping while we're there. So I agree because after my hard day of working, I was exhausted!!! (Hidden humor for those of you that saw me at work yesterday!!)

So this morning, I roll out of bed at 5am. The hubby & I hit Wal-Mart with the few other crazy morning shoppers by 6ish. Nice thing about having my sister-in-law living with us, we can just let the kids in bed & go do our thing at all hours of the night! So we scope out the toys and all the left-over Black Friday sales. Pick up a few things, nothing good enough to mention. I head back to the infant's section, spot my size 5 Pampers (yes, I said size 5! I have a big boy!!!), grab the first box on the shelf and throw them in the cart. We finish our shopping and head to the checkout. The cashier is still chipper because we were probably her 3rd customer of the day, so she actually had a smile on her face. She goes to scan my diapers, and they come up invalid or something. Diaper boxes for some reason have about 15 barcodes on them. She tries every one and none are correct. So a Customer Service Manager comes over and says, "Do you know how much they were?" I reply with, "$18, something, maybe $18.87?" She says, "Ok, they are $18.87!" And the cashier rings them up. So we head home. Get home around 8:30 and the kiddies are just rolling out of bed. After a nice big breakfast, I take the little guy upstairs for a bath and a clean diaper. I tear open the box of diapers and what do I find? Diapers should be your answer. But no, I find 4 pair of jeans! WTF? Jeans? Why are their jeans in my diaper box? Ok, so now what? I have 4 pair of brand new Levi's, not my size either, with the price tags still on them...and NO DIAPERS!!! So, am I a dishonest person? Wal-Mart will return anything with or without a receipt. The price tag on these suckers are over $22...that's an easy $88 in my pocket. This is a multi-billion dollar company. $88 isn't going to make or break them. Ok, yes the thought crossed my mind. But instead I called Wal-Mart and said what the heck am I supposed to do with 4 pair of jeans, when I need diapers? They ever so nicely apologized and asked me to bring them back. Ok fine, I'll bring them back but I'm pissed that I have to make another trip to the store from hell this time at 11:30 with all the other crazy Christmas shoppers to exchange 4 pair of jeans that I didn't purchase for one box of diapers that I thought I was purchasing. They didn't even offer me anything extra. I guess if I would have made a big scene and threw a royal fit, I might have gotten something out of the deal, but instead I politely returned their jeans and re-purchased a box of diapers!!

So how do you think the jeans got in there? Did an employee put them back to purchase them later and they accidentally got up on the shelf? Did an employee steal the diapers and replace them with jeans? Did someone have intentions of stealing the jeans and put them in the diaper box? Was it a test to see if the person that bought them would return the jeans for money or just want their diapers? What could have happened to the diapers??

Fun Times at Home Depot

2006-11-13T19:53:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, the hubby, the kiddies and I went to Home Depot. The main reason for the visit was to see Tony Stewart's race car. My husband is a huge NASCAR fan, especially Tony Stewart. When he found out Tony's car was going to be on display, there were no plans that would interfere with this. So Saturday afternoon, off to Home Depot we go. We spent some time outside in the cold taking pictures of the car. My husband has brainwashed my daughter into thinking Tony is the greatest thing ever. So of course, she is very excited to see his car also. Since Home Depot is new to the area, we thought it would be fun to venture through the store. As we enter, we notice they have shopping carts that resemble Tony's car. Well of course we had to get one of those. So the kids are having a blast "driving" their Tony cart.

We start seeing all these little kids with Home Depot aprons. As we follow the smiling kids, we find the Kids Workshop. I guess this is something that Home Depot does periodically for the kiddies. They gave each of my kids a Home Depot apron with their name on it and a wooden Tony Stewart racecar kit. They had pieces of plywood set up on 5 gallon buckets & more 5 gallon buckets as seats. They supplied glue, nails, hammers, safety glasses, and all the essentials to build their very own Tony Stewart Home Depot NASCAR. I was very impressed with Home Depot setting all this up for the kiddies. Who knew Home Depot could be so much fun?

Another Night of Fun

2006-10-29T20:26:00.000-05:00

I've been told my blog is boring (hence the name) and also depressing. I'm sorry my life is so boring and depressing for my readers. I guess this is what happens when you become an old married mother! I'm going to try to write something other than depressing. I can't make any promises on the boring...

Last night was another fun time with the work group. We started off at Marzoni's for our farewell celebration for Mike. Our ex-coworker Mary who moved east was able to come up for the weekend to get a taste of the fun we have. She stayed at my house so I figured I could be her designated driver and let her let loose for the evening. After a few drinks (or pitchers of mixed drinks!) at Marzoni's the atmosphere & our waitress "NAJ" was slowing down so we decided to move our party to Zach's. Mike decided he would stay at Marzoni's with his friends, Bake needed to get Kelly home before she passed out, Tyler, Kara & whoever that other guy is that keeps showing up at our fun events must have gone home also. So this left me, Mary, Mike, and Jamie to go to Zach's. We get to Zach's at probably 11:30, maybe midnight, order our drinks and just start chit chatting. It was very entertaining at Zach's. Gumby was playing the guitar! Although I didn't see his trusty sidekick Pokey. There was some girl that looked like she had tattoos all over, but she really didn't. There was another girl who really did have a bunch of tattoos. And then there was the girl that was either dancing in chair or playing the air drums or possibly having a seizure. The main topic of our conversation was religion followed by marital tips from Mary and then back to religion. I was pretty much just watching paint ball on TV, becoming depressed with Mary's marital bliss, and trying to figure out what religion I believe and if I should live for today or live to go to heaven. Yeah, it got pretty deep a few times. I learned a lot and disagreed with some, but for the most party we all have a lot of the same views, beliefs, and questions. So by this time its almost 2am, well since we were "falling back", it was really only 1am. So Mary says we better get going. And we sit there for another 35 minutes at which point the waitress comes by and says, sorry guys but we have to lock the doors at 2:30 so ... Sure has been a long time since I closed a bar!! I won't bore & depress you with the details from when I arrived home. Let's just say its a good idea the party didn't move to my house!!

Another great time with the work group. Thanks for being a bad influence and keeping me young!

Good Luck Mike! Try to update your blog once in a while so I know if you're still alive.

Movie Review

2006-10-22T20:05:00.000-04:00

Have you seen the movie the break-up? Great movie!! If you haven't seen it, you should. Personally, I think every couple should see this movie TOGETHER! This movie pretty much sums up the majority of the couples I know. I think I deserve to have a cut in the profits from this movie because I'm pretty sure someone put a hidden camera in my house & made a movie about my life.

My sister-in-law (who, yes is still living with us) and I watched this movie on Friday night. My hubby was in the other room and heard bits and pieces of the movie. After it was over Charity and I mutually agreed that "Gary" played by Vince Vaughn is the typical man in every relationship. Now this is not a man bashing, always the man's fault type of movie. "Brooke" played by Jennifer Aniston was your typical controlling, nagging woman. I could see a lot of myself in Brooke. Yes, I can admit my faults. I do nag and I definitely have control issues! I could also see a lot of my husband in Gary. Since watching this movie, I have asked my hubby to watch it with me numerous times. Every time he says, "I saw enough the other night. I don't want to see it!" Now why would he not want to see this? I think this movie could make most couples look at their relationship and say, "Hey, I do that or I don't do that! Maybe I should work on that!"

I don't buy many movies, but this is one that will probably make it to my collection!

The What Ifs in Life

2006-10-14T20:41:00.000-04:00

All through junior & senior high school I had a friend that I could rely on for everything and anything. We had our ups and downs throughout the years. One minute we were best buds and the next minute we were screaming vulgarities at each other. It was the typical love-hate relationship. When we were sophomores we decided that maybe we should take our friendship to the next level. Neither of us was driving yet, but we had another friend that was. So we went on a few double dates. This lasted a few months and all was good. Then one day I find out through another friend that he is also seeing someone else. Ok, so I’m 16 years old, my long time friend and short time boyfriend has just done the ultimate, terrible, typical 16 year old guy thing to do. And of course, I think my life is over and I’m completely devastated. So our short lived relationship comes to an end, but so does our friendship. The next few months were just terrible for me. I really just wanted to undo the last few months and go back to just being friends again. And even though he was the one that did wrong in the relationship, he was also the one that wouldn’t speak to me. So the school year ended and we were not on speaking terms. Then the famous summer of 1994!!! This was probably the best summer of my teenage life. I was driving, I had a car, and not a care in the world. I would stay up all night & sleep all day. What a great life I had at 16!! Then one day while driving through the big town of Claysburg, who do I see parked at the Mobile station? Oh yes, it is my long lost friend. So I pull up beside him & he starts talking to me like I’m his best friend again & all is well. It didn’t work out with him and the other girl, so again he’s available. So dumby me falls back into his smooth-talking trap and we’re dating again. This time single dating because we are driving!!! So this didn’t even make it until the end of summer, but we mutually agreed that we were better off friends. Our junior year started and everything was like old times. I started dating someone else and he was dating someone new every other week. We had every class together so of course my new boyfriend was very jealous of our friendship. But summer eventually came and I didn’t see him much. Then finally we are seniors!!! Our senior year started off a little rocky with a conflict between him and the guy I had been dating for about a year now. It ended peacefully with me and my friend explaining that we really were just friends. Anyway, everything was great for us all through our senior year. We were such good friends and told each other everything. Then graduation came around and we lost touch. Other friends had told me that he was drinking a lot and getting into a lot of trouble. He was a star athlete and a pretty good student. But he never went to college and I really didn’t know what he was doing with his life. It was about 3 years later I had recently broken up with my long term boyfriend/fiancée & I was in a local bar with some friends. Out of the corner of eye I see this guy walking towards me. And of course, it was him. So the rumors are true, you are doing nothing with your life but hanging out in bars?! He looked terrible. He had put on about 50 pounds & he looked like he had been drunk for about 3 weeks straight. I couldn’t believe this was my friend, the star football player! What had happened to him? Why did he do this to himself? So we talked for a few minutes and I pretty much blew him off. He was not the same person I knew in high school. And he was the type of guy that girls do NOT want to pick up in a bar. So now its been 10 years since we graduated and about 7 years since I’ve seen him. I think about him regularly. I have even had some dreams about him. For a while I was dreaming about him a lot. It was really starting to bother me because I had no idea what was going on in his life. I’ve had family members and friends run into him. I would tell them to tell him that I’ve been wondering about him. And ask them how he’s doing? I was really hoping he would show up at our 10 year reunion, but he didn’t. So where is he & what’s he doing now? Well last I heard, he had a daughter about 2 years ago. Just this past summer he married his daughter’s mother. He’s doing construction work for some small company. He smokes pot regularly and has been arrested numerous times for DUI. He had been living in Claysburg, but I was informed today that because of his numerous DUI arrests his address for the next few months will be Blair County Prison. So now I look at my life and all the great, wonderful things that have happened to me since I’ve lost contact with this friend. I went to college; I got a job; I met my future husband; I got another job; I got my own place; I got married; I had a baby; I bought a house; I had another baby & here I am. Its funny how different people’s lives turn out. You look at someone at the age of 18 and think what kind of success they have in store for themselves. Then because of a few bad decisions or a few wrong turns, everything can change. Maybe I’m just lucky by nature or maybe I have the right Man leading my life. Sure maybe my life is boring to some, but I know that I am very lucky and grateful for the simple things in life. Sometimes you look at your life and life’s achievements and you wonder what if I would have done this differently? But for me I know that everything I have done and haven’t done has been for the good of the whole picture of my life. Sure, I may not have all the riches of the world or all the happiness anyone could ever ask for, but the struggles in life and hard times make us who we are today. I thank my friend for being my friend all throughout school. That friend helped me many times. I hope that someday my prayers for him can return the favor.

Baby's First Birthday

2006-10-07T22:34:00.000-04:00

Aaahhh!! The things we do to our children to amuse ourselves...

Maybe My Last Party

2006-09-25T19:36:00.000-04:00

Saturday night was the official Jamesapalooza! I believe this was the 4th annual, but my first. I must say partying with the work crew is much more fun than one would think. Looking in from the outside this group looks pretty quiet & sorry guys, but boring. Boy if the outsiders just knew of the secrets that are told, the fun that is had, and the alcohol that is drank!!! I always have a good time when going out with the work crew. Because we always make a pact to keep things that happen at the party, at the party I will not give any details. Unfortunately there was a video camera & lots of pictures being taken. This could be detrimental to others if this would get out!!

**WARNING – Personal information about to be revealed**
**DISCLAIMER – I’m not writing this to get advice or because I’m in some deep dark place in my life. I’m writing to vent for me. No need to comment on my post or to me personally afterwards. If you feel led to say something, please do so in a nice, non-judgmental way.**

I arrived home from Jamie’s party at a little after 1am. I walked into a dark, quiet house. I headed straight to the bathroom to get ready to hit the sack. I then walk in my bedroom & my husband was sitting on the bed in the dark. I jumped cause he scared the crap out of me & he says very sarcastically “Did you have a good time?” Ok so at this point I realize he’s not happy with me so how do I answer this question. Ok, let’s try answering with a question, “What’s wrong with you?” “What’s wrong with me? What do you think is wrong with me?” Ok so I can see this is just going to be a bunch of questions answering questions screaming match. And he continues to yell at me, “Where have you been for the last 8 hours?” “At Jamie’s!” “What were you doing for 8 hours?” “Having fun!” I really didn’t know how to answer these questions. He was obviously VERY pissed off that I was coming home so late & there was nothing I could say to make this better or make him not be so upset. So I tell him that. “I can’t fix this, I don’t know what you want me to do.” He says that I need to take responsibility for my actions. Ok so what the hell does that mean? What actions? What did I do that I need to take responsibility for? I’m not about to actually say these things out loud, but I really don’t see that I did anything wrong.

Let’s jump back a few days before the party. I tell my hubby that there is another work party. He rolls his eyes at me & says nothing. So I ask him if he wants to go. He’s irritated just because I brought it up. He says, “You go, I’ll watch the kids!” So at this point, I just dropped it. A few days later I mention it again. Again, I ask him to go with me. He said that all we talk about is work & that he won’t know what’s going on & won’t have any fun & again tells me to go without him. He does have a point about talking about work. We do do this a lot. But this particular party had conversations about everything from work & past parties to religion. So Saturday rolls around & he knew that I wanted to go to this party & he told me numerous times to go without him. So at 4:30 I left alone!

Ok back to 1 am… He accused me of everything you can possibly imagine & then tried to say he was worried about what might have happened to me. “Ok so if you were so worried why didn’t you call me? I had my cell phone in my pocket all night!!” “I shouldn’t have to call you!” Ok, so again I can see I’m getting nowhere here & this just needs to stop. I really felt like he just wanted to fight with me. I didn’t know what to say or what to do. I just wanted to go to sleep. So a few other things were screamed back & forth & this ended with him going downstairs to sleep on the couch.

Sunday morning comes way too early. I get up & he’s nowhere in sight. His truck is in the driveway so I know he didn’t leave me. I figure he’s outside working on the house…STILL!! Sunday morning was so long & quiet. I had to talk to him first when his mom called for him. I had to take the phone to him outside. He walked in the house & said I have to go let mom in, she locked herself out. And he’s gone. This was around 11:30. He didn’t come home until after 2. I had no idea where was. I tried to call but he didn’t answer his cell. I knew he was still mad so I just left it go. So he finally arrived home & he asked me to help him hang some shutters upstairs. I almost fell out a second floor window!! He said if he’d been thinking quickly enough he would have pushed me!! Isn’t that just wonderful?!?! Such a loving relationship I’m in. Ok, the house is done except for painting the foundation!! He didn’t eat dinner with us, and he still didn’t really talk to me. Evening comes around & I put the kiddies to bed. He goes to bed to watch football. I started to write this post but just couldn’t do it. I tried to talk to him & make up but he just wasn’t interested. Then he says, “You know you are just a selfish, spoiled brat!” He’s told me before that I’m spoiled. And yes I am. Is there anything wrong with that? I never thought so. I like things to go my way, doesn’t everyone? Does that make me a bad person or a bad wife? Then he brought up the class reunion thing! Oh gosh, here we go again! Then he just said, “I don’t want to fight about it. Just go to sleep.” And we did.

So now what? I’m just a selfish, spoiled brat? What am I supposed to do with this? Just drop it or fight about it or try to change? Do I want to change? I look at my relationship & I think is this the way I want to spend the rest of my life? Am I really happy? I have so much to be thankful for. I have 2 great kids & I wouldn’t give them up for anything. So why doesn’t all this make me feel happy & complete? Then I think I made these decisions, I have to live with them. And its really ALL my fault. I was the one that wanted all these things. I wanted everything I have. Be careful what you wish for? I was the one that wanted to get married. Rob didn’t want to. I kind of gave him an all or nothing ultimatum, so we got married. Then I wanted to have a baby. He didn’t want to, so we had a baby. Then I wanted to have another baby. He didn’t want to, so we had another baby. Ok, so maybe I am pretty spoiled. I remember making the statement when I was about 21 that I was too selfish to have kids. At least when I was 21, I knew that. So at 24, I suddenly became unselfish enough to have a baby? I feel bad that I want to get away from my husband & my kids sometimes & have a good time. Does that make me selfish or a bad mother or wife? Rob said that even though I asked him to go to the party with me, I really didn’t want him to. And this is probably ½ true. I don’t want him to go if he’s just going to be miserable all night & not have any fun. But I do want him to go just so he can see what happens at these parties. For the most part, they are innocent. He may not have been completely happy with some of the things that I did at the party, but I probably would have done them even if he was there. He knows how I am. Heck, that’s probably why he asked me out to begin with!! But my feelings are if he didn’t want me to go, why did he tell me to? Why talk in circles & say things you don’t really mean? Just be honest.

I did get some interesting marital advice from 2 single guys at the party. One of them said that everything in our relationship right now is a test. And this is probably true. But if we know this, then why do we keep doing things to fail the others tests? I knew that Rob didn’t really want me to go to this party. But I went anyway more for spite than for myself. Our 5th anniversary was on Friday. He didn’t even get me a card. He knows how I am about important dates & cards. He just says, “You know I don’t do cards. Cards are such a waste of money!” My husband is very cold & not affectionate at all. If I had the option to change ONE, only one thing about him it would definitely be this. I’m a typical girl, I like it when I get attention & fussed over!! Why is it when you’re first dating the guy does all kinds of nice things, then when the relationship gets comfortable all the romance is gone? I’m not sure my relationship ever had romance, but we did have fun & Rob did do nice things for me. He used to say to me that I acted a lot older than I am. He said I didn’t want to go out & have fun. So now that I am going out & having fun, its wrong. Wrong because its not with him or just wrong? I do want to go out & have fun with him, but he just isn’t interested. I’m trying to be open-minded & see both sides of this, but its very difficult. I guess if I want to save my marriage & make it another 5 years, I need to stop going to the after work events. If given the choice to choose my family or friends, I would definitely pick my family. But why do I have to choose? I feel like I’m too young to be old.

Cut The Grass??

2006-09-17T21:09:00.000-04:00

My hubby has been working on our house. So the other night as he's hanging from a ladder, he says to me, why don't you cut the grass? Are you crazy? Me? Cut the grass? Let me give you a really short description of myself...I don't like outside! I don't do outside things. I prefer to just be inside & do inside things! This sounds really funny to those who like doing outside activities, but its my mom's fault. She's not an outside person either, so I was sheltered as a child!! Always blame the parents.

The first time I cut grass was probably 5 years ago. Cutting the grass was my brother's job when we were kids & then eventually my step-dad took it over. My mom didn't do it, so neither did I. So one day my husband said I had to do it. So I fired up the lawn mower & start pushing. About 2 rows into it he says "your lines aren't straight!" So that was it for me. I walked away & vowed to never touch another lawn mower.

Well the other night I broke my vow. He's been working hard on our house & he asked me to help him out & cut the grass. At first I was thinking no way, that's your job. You have the outside & I have the inside. Ok so sometimes he helps out inside so maybe I should help outside. Ok, I'll do it. How do I do it? My yard is fairly small & somewhat level. So its shouldn't be too hard to do. So he gets out the mower & off I go. He walked by every once in a while to make sure I wasn't dying. It took me about 45 minutes & I did the whole thing!! I wanted to quit so bad about 1/2 way into it. But I kept going. I figured it was a pretty good workout & I felt great afterwards. I'll probably NEVER do it again, at least not if I can help it. And I'm sure it would not have lived up to Jim Barley standards, but it was cut & I felt like I accomplished something!!!

Learning To Be Mom

2006-09-12T21:57:00.000-04:00

Tonight I went to open house at the Spring Cove Middle School with my hubby's niece. Her mom was working tonight & she wanted to go. My hubby didn't feel like going so that left me. I didn't mind, although I did feel a little out of place. I had been in the middle school before but not for a long time. I didn't know my way around so I was counting on her. Well turned out she didn't know her way around too well either!! We made many trips up & down the same hall, but eventually got to where we needed to be.

Then when I met her homeroom, language, and social studies teacher, she assumed I was her mother. I had my daughter with us & she asked her about her big sister. Of course Mackenzie looked at her & said "She's my cousin!" So then the teacher referred to me as Mackenzie's aunt, and again Mackenzie corrected her saying, "That's my mommy!!" Poor teacher!! I guess she should be used to odd family situations in this day & age, but you always assume the norm. So after we got the relationship situation corrected, the teacher begins to tell me that Cassie has missed 2 homework assignments. Well 2 doesn't sound too bad but they've only had 11 days of school. She also told me about a test she has on Friday that she should be preparing for & that she didn't do too well on the last test. Ok so what do I do with this information? I'm not her mother. I've been asking her each night if she did her homework & she says yes, so that's it. I assumed she knew what she was doing & she had it done. Well obviously I was wrong. So now what? I guess I step up to the plate & help the kid out.

So after the open house, we come home & start organizing. She has an organizer thing. So we went through that & she also has a 6th grade planner that she's going to use throughout the school year. The planner has a calendar in it with each subject on it & she's suppose to be writing down her homework assignments. She's been writing down the assignments but still not remembering to do them. So I told her to also write down if she has a test to study for. Now I guess I'm going to have to look at this planner each night & make sure she did everything that's listed on it. This took about 30 minutes this evening to go over everything. And then we discovered she did forget a writing assignment for social studies. So she was suppose to be in bed by 9pm but she needed to do this assignment. So it was about 9:30 til she got there. Hopefully she won't be too miserable & grouchy tomorrow!

I don't know how to be a mom to an 11 year old. Somedays I'm not sure I know how to be a mom at all, but usually out of somewhere instincts kick in & things seem to go ok. But I don't think I have my mom of an 11 year old instincts yet. I guess I'm going to have to learn this one. Well at least I should be prepared for when my kids are 11!! I don't want Cassie to do badly in school, but I don't want to hold her hand all the way either. She's only 11, but she needs to be independent. And then, there's the whole fact that I'm NOT her mother. Her mother is here, but she usually works at night so I guess that lets me to be the substitute mom. Then I have to also remember that I have 2 children of my own that also need my time. So now I'm a full time working wife, mother of a 4 year old, 11 month old, and sub-mom of an 11 year old...I'm still not getting a minivan!!!

Class of 1996

2006-09-08T21:23:00.000-04:00

This year marked the 10 year anniversary since I graduated from high school. Gosh, where did the last 10 years go? I’m from a very small town, graduating with a class of 69 kids. So for us to have a successful reunion is not an easy task. My class was very segregated. Everyone had their own little cliques, and we haven’t stayed close over the years.

We had a 5 year reunion with about 30 people including guests. It was a last minute thrown together event, but it turned out ok. I was involved in the planning of the 5 year reunion, but wasn’t sure I wanted to do it again. Well it was about April & I got an email from a classmate asking me if we were going to plan a reunion for this year. Being the eager, want my nose involved in everything person I am, I said sure let’s do it.

So the organizing began…I contacted a few people that I knew were still in the area who I thought would have good input. We gathered up a group of 10 of us & started the planning. Things were going very smoothly. The planning went well, the money situation worked itself out, and I kept thinking “Wow, this is going to be great!” So everything is set for August 26th, at the Arena in Bedford, $20 per person. We mailed the invitations the first of July. By mid July, we had receiving 2 replies, both were unable to attend. So I’m thinking, “Come on class of ’96, what the heck is wrong with you?” Why wouldn’t you want to attend your reunion? Was my class that bad? Are people still holding grudges from High School? I didn’t understand. So I thought for sure we were going to have to cancel. At the last minute a few replies started to roll in & we were able to come up with 32 people attending, 20 classmates, 12 guests. Ok this is enough to have the reunion. So it’s a go!

So I take my hubby with me to my reunion. He did not go to the same high school as I did, but he agreed to go along & try to have a good time. We had to arrive early since I was pretty much running the show. People started arriving & it was pretty awkward & weird at first. Everyone just kind of stood around, almost like they were afraid to talk to each other. So I addressed the class with my committee at my side, thanking everyone for making the effort to be there. I would have liked to have told them about the snobby people who didn’t even have the nerve to send back their RSVP. Come on people, that’s just down right rude! Anyway, we start dinner, and people start drinking. After dinner the DJ started playing dance music. At first I thought the DJ was just a waste of money, but after a few people got a few drinks in them, people started dancing.

Everyone seemed to be having a great time, myself included, except my poor lonely hubby sitting in the corner with his arms crossed looking like he was ready to shoot the next redneck that came stumbling by with a beer in each hand. For those of you who know me, know that I’m a very sociable person. Now being sociable can be a great quality in a person, but for me sometimes it’s a weakness. I get caught up in social gatherings & sometimes lose site of everything except me & having fun. So I didn’t tend to notice hubby sitting in the corner because I was just dancing, drinking, and having a good old time with friends I hadn’t seen in years.

Now you can look at both sides of this story. First my side, I hadn’t seen these people in years. This is a once every 5 year event so why not let loose & enjoy the evening. I see hubby everyday. He doesn’t like to dance & he’s not very social, so why not enjoy myself. Its not my fault he can’t make the most of a bad situation and just have fun in spite of me. Then there’s his side, he didn’t know anyone there. I should have tried to include him. The evening didn’t end until midnight. I think he had worked that morning so he was tired. I should have taken the hint that he was ready to go when he went to the car without me around 11 pm & I finally went to look for him when the DJ stopping playing! OOPS! “Has anyone seen my husband? I may need a ride if he left without me!!”

Well he didn’t leave without me. He was sleeping in the car. But this made for a quiet ride home and a miserable next 2 days! So was I inconsiderate? Probably. Should I have spent more time with him? Maybe. Did he get over it? Yep. Will he remind me of it every chance he gets for the next 5 years? For sure. Did I have fun anyway? ABSOLUTELY!! Am I going to my next reunion alone? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!!!

Talk Too Much?

2006-09-05T20:20:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I really just talk too much. Why do I put myself in awkward situations? I should be able to look ahead at where a conversation could go & say to myself, “No Lindsay, this is not the time or the place to bring this up!” But no, what do I do, just open up my big mouth & then put myself in a situation where I need to defend myself or try to make excuses. Do you ever wish you had an “undo” button for life? Well I did today at lunch. I made a comment quietly to grettab about my posting from the weekend. I tried to do it quietly because I just didn’t want to discuss the whole blogging topic with more people that don’t do it or don’t understand it. So then someone else asks “Oh were you blogging again?” Well yes, as a matter of fact I was. So what’s the big deal? And of course then its just rude for me to try to have a conversation with grettab & not include the entire group. I just wanted to ask her one little question that would have given me a simple answer. But no someone else had to overhear so this opened up the whole Lindsay’s weird cause she blogs thing. So then I had to explain my entire post to the entire group. I tried to just generalize it, but they weren’t following so then I had to give them practically a word for word run down of what it said…uuugghhh, if you want to know what I write about, just go find my blog & read it. Don’t make me talk about it all the time. Then of course this brings on more questions. “What’s a blog?” “Why do you do that?” “How do I find your blog?” “I read some blogs one time. They said weird things. I couldn’t read half of them & the ones I could read, I didn’t want to read.” SO DON’T READ THEM!!!! And don’t talk about them. Don’t make me feel like I’m a bad person or dirty because I do it. There’s nothing wrong with it. I mostly do it to make myself feel better. So I can feel like I’m saying things to someone without actually saying them. I’m venting & if you don’t want to listen, don’t read. Just let me do my thing & you do your thing & we’ll get along just fine. This whole thing would have never happened & I wouldn’t have gotten so irritated had I just kept my question to grettab to myself or for another time. I do stuff like this all the time. My mouth speaks before my brain thinks!! Oh well, it made for interesting & irritating lunch conversation. And if nothing else, it gave me something to post about…

Why blog, Continued...

2006-09-03T20:35:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my previous Why Blog posting that I have been taking a lot of slack from people about becoming a blogger. Well the harassment continues. There are these 3 girls that work in a department just down the hall from me. One of them doesn't read blogs or really know much about them. One thinks blogging is pretty cool & has recently signed up to blogger so she can comment at times, but not create anything of her own. This is cool with me. She doesn't have a computer at home so I understand that she can't spend the time posting at work. The 3rd girl just reads blogs occasionally but doesn't comment. This 3rd girl has asked me questions from time to time about blogging. She has expressed that she really doesn't like being mentioned in blogs, even if its anonymous. I like to casually make a comment every once in a while about someone just so they know its them, but no one else may know who I'm talking about. And I think its funny if someone does the same to me. But for some reason she doesn't like it. So this is why I'm writing so much about her. I won't mention her name, but she knows who she is. The other 2 wanted to make my blog, so I thought they were cool enough to be blog worthy...this one is for you girls!!!

Where have you been?

2006-08-29T21:59:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-08-17T19:17:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-08-17T16:06:00.001-04:00

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

2006-08-14T20:09:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-13T20:40:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-10T22:50:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-08-10T22:28:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-04T22:31:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-02T22:52:00.000-04:00

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...

Baby's First Word

2006-07-31T21:39:00.000-04:00

A few months ago a friend of mine casually mentioned that her son who is 3 months younger than my son was saying, "mama". So this gets me thinking, should my little guy be saying words. Cause so far, all he does is babble gobbly gook. So I start practicing with him. About 1000 times a day I say mama, mama, mama! If anyone would hear me, they would think I was nuts. But of course when it comes to a mother talking to her baby, we are all nuts. And those of you that don't have kids & don't like kids, would not understand this one bit. So don't laugh or make fun, just keep reading. Anyway, I've been saying mama so much that even my daughter started practicing with the little guy. So this is going on for about a month or more, and one day I'm practicing my little heart out to him. He looks me straight in the face & what does he say..."da-da!" What the heck? Where did that come from? Da-da? What about mama? And of course, the hubby just thinks this is wonderful. And now the little guy is saying, "Hi da-da!" 2 words & putting them together, but still no mama. Can a 10 month old know that he has this much power over his mother?

My Blog, My Opinion

2006-07-27T17:55:00.000-04:00

It seems as though I may have offended "singlebychoice". When I first read her blog I questioned whether or not she was even real or if these events really took place. From her defensiveness, I'm guessing she is real & these things have really happened. With that being said, it is really none of my business or concern how others live their lives. I don't know "singlebychoice" and probably never will. If she wants to continue to live her live "promiscuously" then so be it. I may not agree with her lifestyle but its not mine to agree with. I may continue to read her posts from time to time just to get a jaw-dropping shock or a good laugh!! So to "singlebychoice", I won't apologize for my opinions because they are just that MY opinions, but I will wish you good luck and safe sex!!!

The Rescue of Blankie

2006-07-25T19:00:00.000-04:00

Being a mother is without a doubt the hardest job I've ever had, but with the greatest rewards. I've never been challenged in my career like I've been challenged by a 3 year old. I have many times been the boo-boo fixer and actually been called "the best cooker eber" but today I performed my first miracle...

Yesterday when my daughter arrived home from daycare she was carrying her blankie in a plastic store bag. She had had an accident during nap time so blankie needed to get a bath. I didn't have much other laundry to wash so I scrambled around looking for things to throw in the washer with blankie. My hubby lives out of his truck most of the time so he brings me 4 pair of pants. He brought the pants to me knowing they were going directly to the washing machine, but silly me neglected to check the pockets. This is totally my fault, I know to ALWAYS check pockets. So now the clothes are done washing, without looking at the clothes, they make their way to the dryer. Now by this time its bedtime so the poor thing has to go to bed without blankie. We have a replacement blankie that can be used in an emergency, but she's just not as good as the original. Morning rolls around & I run to the dryer to get blankie ready for daycare to discover she is covered in GUM!!! All kinds of gobbly gook on her!! So I break the news to my not a morning person daughter who bursts into tears. Feeling terrible for not checking hubby's pockets & knowing exactly how she's feeling since I too had...ok still have a blankie of my own, we got off to daycare with replacement blankie. Walking into daycare still in tears, I promise her that miracle working mommy will fix blankie as soon as we get home. As these words are coming out of my mouth, I'm thinking "how the heck am I going to do this?"

We arrive home & the first thing I do is head to the laundry room to meet my challenge. I place ice cubes on the blobs of gum on blankie & start dinner. Checking back every few minutes to see how she's coming along, I then start my magic. After about 30 minutes of picking, scrubbing, and that little hint of motherly love, blankie is starting to look like her old self. Another run through the washing machine & she's good as new. I yell from the laundry room, "blankie is fixed, she's all better!!!" Which of course is responsed to with a "thank you Mommy!" and a smile bigger than any Christmas bonus!!!!

Trashy Girls

2006-07-23T17:12:00.000-04:00

My pal Jimmy thinks I should be the Talk Soup of bloggers. While this task would be quite fun & entertaining for my readers, this would also take lots of my time to search through to find blogs worthy of my comments. So I'll start with a few comments about the 2 recent blogs I've read.

The first, singlebychoicedamnit.blogspot.com is a girl that had just broken up with her boyfriend, a side bar with a count down "since I've been laid", and a hot pink background, which is what caught my eye & led me to start reading. The "since I've been laid" information should have been a huge red flag for me to just stop before I start, but being the nosy person I am I started to read as "singlebychoice" describes the intimate things she would like to do with, to, and for "hottie co-worker". I was all alone as I was reading her poetry, however I believe I was blushing. And thinking do you kiss your mother with that potty mouth? So call me a old or maybe a prude, but I've never spoke about anything the way she was writing about this guy & since the guy was not available...herself!! I'll leave you with that for now & move on to psuslut...

So psuslut comments on Aaron's Daily Rant which I linked to from my pal Mike. There were 22 comments on Aaron's post titled "Modern Rock Chart." First off, why would you call yourself psuslut. Come on? That's just asking for trouble. So anyway psuslut discovers that she & Aaron like the same band. Cool! So she wants to hook up at the show. Have you never read anything psuslut, you don't hook up with guys on the internet. You don't know Aaron. You don't talk to strangers, especially on the internet, especially when your name is psuslut. So anyway, Aaron & psuslut continue to comment back & forth & then Aaron's buddy Seahawk 4000 tries to sneak in on this action. And this goes on & on & on, finally psuslut signs off by saying if I see you at the concert I will let you see my t*ts...what did she just say? Yeah, I had to read that twice to make sure I read it right.

Ok so here's my 2 cents for "singlebychoice", "psuslut" and the single guys of the world, where is your self esteem "ladies"? Do you really talk to guys like this? Does your mother know you talk to guys like this? And guys, do you like it when girls talk like this? If I were a 25 year old guy & some girl talked to me this way, sure my hormones would take over as a first instinct & I would think yes, this girl is great. But then reality would kick in & is this the kind of girl you want to take home to meet mom? And so then you fall in love, get married & you have kids & one day your kids say "so how did you & mommy meet?" What do you say to that? She showed me her t*ts at a concert, we "hooked up" afterwards & its been wonderful ever since... NO guys, you look at this girl & think she is trash. There are better girls out there! So guys don't hook up with trashy girls & trashy girls, get some counseling.

First Post

2006-07-20T21:39:00.000-04:00

Ok so I'm finally going to join the world of bloggers. It will probably be days & days between each post. And I'm sure to bore all of you readers with complaints about my hubby and mostly just brag about my 2 beautiful children...did I mention how beautiful they are? They really are beautiful!! So here's the quick run down on boring Lindsay...I'm 28, a full time working mother of 2 beautiful children. I've been married for almost 5 years, yeah who thought it would last this long!?!!?!?! My daughter will be 4 next month & my son is a little over 9 months. I've been reading blogs for a few months feeling somewhat like a stocker & reading sometimes very intimate deals of others lives. So I thought "what the heck? just do it" So here I am blogging away...