Marley & Me The Movie

Last night we went to the very crowded theater to see Marley & Me. I won't go into detail, but I will say it was very good. If you are going to see it, I suggest you read the book first, as there was a lot missing in the movie. I will say that I liked the book more than the movie, but the movie was still very good.

The biggest thing I want to tell you is that it should NOT be rated PG. If you are taking kids to see it, maybe think twice.

Happy Holidays!

Things are about to get crazy for pretty much all of us. I just wanted to wish all of you a VERY, MERRY CHRISTMAS, and a HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

Valerie

The Ritual

Today I learned something new! Apparently there is a Snow Day ritual. I learned about it while visiting a friend.

This is how it goes;

Flush 3 ice cubes down the toilet
Put a penny on the window sill
Wear your pajamas inside out
and sleep with a spoon under your pillow.

I haven't ever heard about this before, but apparently I am the minority. Even Emily's softball coach knew about the "list". Rest assured that frick and frack are snuggled safely into their beds, flatware under their pillows, change on the sill, pajaja's on inside out AND backwards (added for good luck).

I think there will be a nuclear meltdown in the Milobar household if there is actually school tomorrow.

Did you know about this ritual?

Recipe!

Tonight I made Chicken Georgia for dinner. Recipe to follow. It was AWESOME!

Chicken Georgia
4 TBS Butter (I did half w/olive oil)
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 c sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons minced shallots (never had before, but liked!)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese

Melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cook 10 minutes. Add chicken and cook 10 minutes on each side or until tender. Transfer chicken to platter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Top with mushroom mixture. Cover and let set 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

This recipe compliments of Paula Deen. It was awesome. The mushrooms & shallots got a bit crispy/carmelized in the pan which made for an amazing texture. We had this with fresh salad, and Newmans Own Olive Oil/Vinegar salad dressing, which Katrina recommended. VERY good dressing, with ingredients I can pronounce!!

Enjoy!

I LOVE January!

First off, I LOVE Christmas. It is my favorite holiday with Easter running an extremely close second. I love the colors, I love the music, I love the whole attitude that it brings (for most people). Christmas is a time to change gears. It's a time to forget about everyday doldrums and to appreciate life.

My next favorite things came this week. The January edition of my current subscriptions, Better Homes and Gardens, and Martha Stewart Living. I LOVE the covers! I look forward to this so much that I've already read the BHG mag! The people at these magazines are so smart. The covers are bright, clean, and totally inspire you to organize, think fresh, and to start the year off on a good note. They are so inspirational. They have never failed to get me motivated for spring.

While I know we still have a bit of time before we smell the soft thawing earth, Winter is a great time to complete projects that we've put off. That way we can spend all summer long, sitting in our 0asis (our patio), listening to the kids play and the water in the fountain.

This January I plan to paint my craftroom, redo both kids rooms, and to organize this place we call home.

Poll time

Inquiring minds want to know...

How many of you keep a journal? Post on the side please.

After reading Marley & Me, I read the interview in the back of the book. The interviewer asked the author how he was able to keep track of 13 years and then write a book about it. The author being a newspaper columnist, said he always keeps a journal, so it was somewhat easy.

Then I started thinking about my own life, the funny things that go on, and how much easier it may be to blog and journal my life if I started writing it down.

So cast your vote, and tell me your thoughts on the subject.

Joy to the World

Inquiring minds want to know, what the hell is with the crotchety old people these days? Point in case...

Target in Utica - Wednesday

Emily's Piano teacher and I are good friends. We decided to go do some Christmas shopping before Emily's lesson. As we are finishing up our shopping, I was side tracked in the card section by a funny looking card. As Autumn peers over my shoulder, this old man on a rascal says in this deep, LOUD voice, "EXCUSE ME!"
Autumns says, "Oops! I'm sorry" as she was standing in his way.
He replies, "I'LL BET YOU'RE SORRY!!"

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR??

So Autumn starts singing, "Tis the season to be Jolly", and everyone within an earshot of the whole thing, starts laughing. Literally this jackass sucked the wind right out of her sails. She talked about it for the next 15 minutes.

Target, Today, same location.

Dennis and I go shopping. I'm in the check-out. The cashier is obviously ailing from a runny nose, but is very pleasant. As I am trying to "swipe" my card, the crotchety old bag behind me starts asking the cashier in a voice that suggests the cashier is hearing impaired, "DO YOU HAVE GIFT RECEIPTS?" And the cashier didn't really answer her because she was completing my transaction. "EXCUSE ME! DO YOU HAVE GIFT RECEIPTS?!"

NOW she has the cashiers attention, and she cordially answered, "Yes". Well my transaction took a little bit because my card didn't swipe the first time. So as we are trying to wrap this up, the old bag then asks, "DO YOU TAKE DISCOVER CARD?"

What the hell is with people these days? I'm going to start asking them, MYSELF!

Nuts

PECANS IN THE CEMETERY

On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts. "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy. Several dropped and rolled down toward the fence.

Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me." He just knew what it was. He jumped back on his bike and rode off.

Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along. "Come here quick," said the boy, "you won't believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls." The man said, "Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk." When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery.Standing by the fence they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me." The old man whispered, "Boy, you've been tellin' me the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord.

"Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord. At last they heard, "One for you, one for me. That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done."They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike.

Injured Players List

Poor Peepers. Yesterday while ice skating, a friend ran into her at high speed. Emily fell and when her hands went down, her blades came up. She has quite the gash on her right thumb. She'll be out of commission for a bit.

I'm very impressed with the stitch job, I must say!

Let's Get Sirius

Attention Sirius/XM radio fans... did you notice anything today? A while back they talked about merging. Then it became official, but still nothing happened.

Today while out tooling about town, I found that the Kenny Chesney Channel is now Elvis, and FRED, my favorite alternative channel is now First Wave. There are many other changes, but I was flying through the dial so fast in excitement, that I couldn't keep track of the newbies.

I LOVE the new changes, but can't find the Chesney Channel to save my life. There seems to be a bit more talking by the DJ, but it's still quite GROOVY! Wooohoooooo!!

I promise to try and blog more. I had a pretty crappy month and everything I would have posted would have been very dark. So I just tried to "get by".

My First Time

I remember it like it was yesterday. I almost remember what I was wearing when it happened. It was 1992. I was in college. I was so scared because it was my first time, yet I was assured that everything would be fine. When I went into the room, my heart was beating a hundred mph. What I was about to do was a VERY grown up thing to do. It was the end of my childhood as I knew it. There would be no turning back. After I did the deed, I reeled over it all day long in the comfort of my friend Cherie's house. I couldn't believe that I actually did it. I voted. What were you thinking I did? Get your mind out of the gutter and go vote!

Broken.

I'm broken. Absolutely broken. Something happened to me the other day and I am completely stumped as to how this happened. I did something so out of character that I feel really lost. It was so unlike me, and so strange that I still can't believe it happened.

We spent 2 hours at Borders Friday night and I DIDN'T BUY ANY BOOKS!!!!

This is so strange for me because I LOVE to read. But here is the kicker. They had a GREAT history section. LOTS of local history about different cities, including Detroit. They must have had over 200 books just on this. Cute little paperback books. They were $19.99... and weren't even 1/2" thick. I just couldn't bring myself to buy it.

Then there were the romance novels. I LOVE romance novels. But I just couldn't bring myself to spend the $6 on something I would read in 2.2 seconds.

And then there were cookbooks. If you know me at all, you know I don't have to answer this one. Let's just say that my mom called me out on my love of recipes cookbooks. She cut this out of the paper, because that old bag is me, and the little girl is Emily... minus the glasses!

Another Conversation with Greg

The Scene... Paulees Restaurant.

The setting, an evening dinner with Emily & Greg. We sat in our cozy booth, talking about how our favorite waitress who has recently graduated from college, is moving to Wisconsin. She is took a job with a casino as a the promotions director. After a short conversation with her, she walks away.

Greg: "When I grow up, I'm moving to a COUNTRY!"
V: "You ARE in a country"
Greg: "I'm moving to Britain, because they speak ENGLISH there!"

On the Next Dancing with the Stars!!!

Product Review

The Swiffer duster

I'm not one for too many chemicals around the house. So as you can guess, I definitely have this product in my home. The concept of this product is great. It magnetically attracts the dust, picking it up. Unfortunately I am giving this product a thumbs down. This past week as I was dusting, I noticed more dust flying around, than was being picked up. I have a black wood TV stand, and a large black bookcase. As you can imagine, it shows EVERYTHING... but I love it. Seconds after dusting the tv stand, I immediately noticed the airborne dust landing on it again.

Hence, I had to get out the vacuum and use the dusting attachment for 100% success.

Meap Madness

Ahhh yes, it's that time of year again. Time for the Meap tests. Time for all of the studying to be put to good use. Time for Emily to show off her big brain. This morning she was up before I was. She was in and out of the shower before her Daddy and she had the biggest positive attitude I've seen in a long time. She chose a healthy breakfast, and had her snacks packed in her backpack. She chose comfortable clothes, and mentally prepared herself for the big day.

On the way to school, she chanted over and over "I hope I do good, I hope I do good", while I said over and over in my head, "I know she'll do great, I know she'll do great". As we pulled up to the school, she turned, gave me a kiss, told me she loves me, and popped out of the car. She turned towards the building, ready to take on the world, and the Meaps. Althought I tell her often, the child will never know how much I adore her. How I watch her while she sleeps, praying that she will always make good choices, and will continue to excel in her own life. How I pray that she will always be healthy, and how I thank god for the opportunity to be her mother. I am the luckiest person in the world.

This says it all!!!

My reaction if he becomes President!

Relief!

I'm sure I've mentioned before that sometimes when Greg speaks, I sweat. You NEVER know what is going to come out of that kids mouth. Trust me when I tell you that he is not the least bit shy.

Today I took the kids to Johnnie's Barber Shop. It's such a cool little "out of the way" place, where interesting conversations are held. I would LOVE to sit in there for a day and just listen to the barrage of stories that come and go.

While Emily's "edge trimming" took a mere 5 minutes, Greg's took much longer. Johnnie must be a perfectionist, and from the look of Greg's new doo, it shows. It was worth the wait... and so was the conversation.

Greg made small talk to Johnnie, and Johnnie told Greg jokes. My favorite? Why did the boy throw a stick of butter out of the car window? He wanted to see a butterfly, lol. OMG, I'm LMAO.

Anyhow, as we were leaving, and Greg finished his stories about Muskie, Sturgeon, and France, he turns to Johnnie and says, "You were very nice. I hope to see you next time I come in here."

All I heard was a gasp and saw a HUGE smile on Johnnie's face. My thoughts? THANK GOD... my child is polite!

Tink, Tink, Tink... Is this thing on?

Wow, where have I been? All of those blog links on the bottom right, are blogs that I look at EVERY DAY. From the looks of it, everyone else has been as busy as I have. Plus I must admit... lately I haven't been online much. I have been so busy trying to get some things done, that a couple days have gone by, where I didn't even turn on the computer.

Add to that my dark frame of mind. I will be fine though. Just sick of media hype.

I have some exciting news to share! Emily has been invited to join the EXCEL team at her school. It is a team of talented and gifted students. Something that I would have NEVER qualified to be a part of. She scored very high on her MEAP tests last year. I went to the parental meeting tonight, and was so excited to see a bunch of people that I know. Looks like her class must still be the bumper crop, that her preschool teacher loved so much.

As I was driving home from the school, I suddenly realized how many opportunities our children have, that we were never given. As far as I remember, I do not recall having any type of after school activities, other than sports. I do not remember the teachers pushing their students to be the best. I... am a product of that environment. I... am so glad that my kids won't be.

Shocker!!!

A Halloween favorite, Original Skittles, has 47 grams of sugar in one serving, some of it in the form of corn syrup. Would you ever have your child sit and eat 12 packets of sugar? That’s the amount they are getting from eating one bag of Skittles. This info came right from the maker of this candy at www.marshealthyliving.com. Their idea of healthy living must be different than ours?!?!

I found this in a newsletter I get from Nourish Your Kids

I'm Not Funny

I miss myself. Sometimes I find things so funny, that I just can't stop laughing. I'm not laughing lately, and I'm sorry, but here comes a dark post. I would like to say that I am witty, but I don't feel it right now. I would like to say that my glass is always half full, and the sun is always shining, but lately it isn't. I would like to say that the air feels so light, but it doesn't.

Yesterday while we were at Meijer, I had a very short conversation with a woman in the produce section. BTW, Meijer had cheese on sale... 3 for $6... thank you very much Kroger, you can stick your $4.49 cheese sideways up your hoohaa's.

Prior to this conversation with this lady, I definitely took notice of the faces people were wearing that day. Doom and gloom. I honestly don't think I saw even one person smile. Den and I noticed a sharp increase in many prices.

The conversation with the woman was brief. She commented on how 4 peppers in a cellophane bag for $4.99 will NEVER sell at that price. I agreed. She went on to say how she is a nervous wreck, as she had just left her bank, and was expecting a call from her banker. I mentioned to her that we too, were feeling the pinch. I only had in my basket, what I absolutely needed. The days of frivolous shopping are definitely on hiatus.

This whole thing is wearing on me. Personally, I think we are doing fine, and we will be ok... but as I look around, and especially on the news. OMG the news... It literally sucks the life out of me to watch it. Everything is so bad all the time.

It is absolutely shocking to see how bad things have gotten in 8 years under the village idiot. I am scared to death that the walking corpse (McCain) will get in, because he and the idiot seem to share a brain. On the flipside, I'm not so sure that Obama is any better. I am so scared for this country... so scared. Then there is that nitwit that is running with the corpse. Did you see the clip of her with Katie Couric? Katie asked her about which publications she reads as far as news papers goes, and nitwit goes on and says, "Oh I read all of them", and basically dodged the question. Can she even answer a question at all? BTW, GMA went to Alaska today to see if you really CAN see Russia from "her house". Unless she lives on Little Diomede, there is no way she can see Russia from her house.

Regardless, I hope I find my sense of humor soon. As of now it is just sitting at bay, and I hope that the fire isn't diminished completely before it surfaces again.

Remedy & Research

And so it starts.... cold and flu season that is. In about 2 weeks, I've had both. Last week, Emily came down with the stomach flu or "Gastritis". At first, I really thought maybe 4th grade was already stressing her out. Much to my relief, it wasn't so. I'm quite certain it came from that petri dish they call a school. Regardless, she missed a day of school.

Then the next day, Den came home from work around 11pm. He was sick. At 4am, I woke up sick. It was the week from hell... and my tummy still isn't back to normal.

So here is what I found...
About a year ago a woman gave me a "tip". I remember her words exactly, "When you get the stomach flu, start drinking straight tomato juice right away. Not V8, it HAS TO BE straight tomato juice." As I was laying in bed with my tummy rolling and rolling, this womans voice popped right into my head. Immediately I got up, went to the pantry and popped open a jar of tomato juice that my mom had canned the season before.

You may be cringing at the thought, but in all honesty, it wasn't bad at all. I too was thinking, why on earth would you want to drink THAT? So I did some quick research and I found this.
Let me tell you... 1/2 way through the first jar, my stomach had stopped turning. Unfortunately I didn't follow the instructions as directed, and had a horrendous relapse. So the next day, I tried it again and I followed the directions to the letter... and it worked! I am happy to say I am almost 100%!

While my new found remedy has worked quite well, I have a new mission. I AM SICK OF BEING SICK!!!!! I have had enough, and it's not even October yet!!! I have started thinking about probiotics. I don't know a lot about them, but I have heard that they can work quite well to keep you healthy. I would like to find something that my whole family can take. I am sure I have a lot of research ahead of me, but then today something occurred to me. Who better to ask, then you, my health conscious blogger friends!

Inquiring minds want to know.... do you know anything about probiotics? What are your thoughts on them? At this point, I am willing to do about anything to just stay well this winter, so please make your recommendations.

Honesty

Johnny is a friend of the family. His parents are my sisters godparents. Johnny is a detective in a nearby city. Shortly before he was hired on to the department, he and I hung around together frequently. He always told me... "If you get pulled over, TELL THE TRUTH. The cop will know if you are lying".

And so I did.

One summer night, I was on my way home from Crittenton, where I worked in the ER. I came barreling over a hill, in the dark and immediately saw him. I just passed a sheriffs car. As soon as I saw him, I looked down and realized I was doing 15 over. I looked up and saw his break lights in the mirror. I pulled over. He wasn't even turned around yet, and I was already on the side of the road.

He walks up to the car and asks (as if I'm stupid), "Do you know why I pulled you over?"
I reply, "Yes, I was speeding".
He says, "Do you know how fast you were going?"
I reply, "When I saw your brake lights, I looked down and I was doing 15 over".
He says with a smile, "Exactly"
He then proceeds to ask me where I worked, and why I was in a hurry. I explained to him that I was an ER tech and I worked at Crittenton. He asks what an ER tech does, so I told him, "Start IV's, draw blood, foleys, whatever."

And then he asks... "Are you going to be nice to me if I ever come into the ER"
I replied, "Not if you give me a ticket!".
He steps back, looks into my window and says, "What if I give you a ticket?"
And I told him... and I was honest...
"I'm going to stick you with the biggest IV needle I can find, when I start your IV".
He handed me back my license/registration, and says, "Have a nice night!".

The Crease

When I was about 12, which was last week, I remember watching the Oil of Olay commercials and thinking... That's for old ladies.

And now I have the crease. Yep. The parentesis in the dead center of my forehead. The one that comes screaming off my face when I look at someone like they are crazy. And now that I am registering patients at work, I find I am using that look more frequently.

Regardless... I'm the old lady. I'm the old bag that is suddenly quite interested in Oil of Olay commercials. The one that was greatly disappointed when I found the Garnier Nutrisse "bags under the eyes" roller ball cream, out of stock. Now that I am keenly aware of my "you're nuts" look, and know that it is cutting that crease deeper into my face, I'm trying to avoid doing it.

Directly related to this new set of wrinkles, is my job. Working the front desk brings a whole new perspective. I think it's the fear of our "gear" in the back that keeps patients strangeness at bay. But the front desk... the gals that work up there, see it all. One gal who shall be called "J" is constantly getting her face ripped off by patients. So much so that it has become a well known joke. The gals up there have become quite witty (as you've seen in my Laura post), and deal with these people well. I just hope that amongst all these wrinkles, I get that wittiness too. Unfortunately my "chop busting" as Den calls it, will actually get me fired. So I just keep my mouth shut, smile on, and crease firmly planted in my forehead.

I am NOT a dog person.

I like other peoples dogs. Just not dogs in this house. I'm the "cat lady" from what Dennis tells me. I like my boys. They are sweet, loving, and sooooo easy to care for.

And then came along Izzy.

Saturday we spent an amazing afternoon with a group of friends we don't see very often. It was warm, it was sunny, and it was summer. We shared wine, martini's, and dinner with this wonderful group of people. Dennis, Joe, Scott, and Mike all went to high school together. The three stood up in our wedding, and Dennis stood up in 2 of theirs (Mike isn't married... yet). While us gals haven't known each other long, we share a great bond.

Izzy is Joe & Mary's dog. And boy is she sweet. Izzy met us on the driveway. While Greg locked eyes with her and stopped dead in his tracks, sweet, curly little Izzy just sat there with her little pink collar on, wagging her tail like crazy. How in the world would he think this adorable little girl would want to eat him alive?

After a short stint on the couch flipping out, Greg finally realized that she is one special little dog. She had us in stitches all night long. The bottom of their screen door was taken out by their former "big dog". While they wanted to fix it, they realized that it still keeps the bugs out, and Izzy can run in and out when need be.

Izzy is a Cavadoodle? Not a Labradoodle, but something with a Cavalier, and a poodle and a something else. She's a mutt. And boy did she do a number on me! She is the cutest little thing that I swear I could TOTALLY be a dog person. She actually has catlike qualities. She LOVES to be held, and loves to be cuddled. She loves to lay on her back, and loves the back of the couch like a cat.

Thanks a lot Izzy. You ruined me.

Nautical Nephew is Up and Running!

Well not literally. Just a quick note to tell you that my nephew is back to blogging. You can find the link to him down on the right. Send him your regards, as he is protecting your freedom.

Grande Finale

The picnic was a HUGE success. It was actually a lot of fun running it. Next year I think the torch is being handed to me, and luckily I already have a small army of volunteers waiting. I never thought I would become this involved in the school, but it is amazing how it has transformed my life. I think about the friends I see every day now, and realize that I would not even know them if it weren't for my children. Some of them I've known since Emily was about 2 years old.

Being a parent is such an amazing gift. I look at Emily & Greg and realize how lucky I am to be given this opportunity. I am having the time of my life, and can't imagine what I would be doing otherwise. My life feels so much richer, so much more complete. Our favorite saying around here comes from Jerry McGuire, but we've tweaked it a bit. "You had me at Waaaaaaahhhhhh!"

As for now though, I'm ready to get back to our regulary scheduled program. Life.

Now that I've calmed down...

Have you been to the grocery store lately? Inquiring minds want to know... What the hell happened? I used to LOVE grocery shopping, that is until I started working. I'm not sure what happened there either, but truth be told, I HATE grocery shopping.

Today I ventured on over to Kroger. First couple aisles weren't so bad. And then it happened. Right there in the cracker aisle. I knelt down to look at the Teddy Graham crackers. $2.29 for a 10 ounce box. Right next to it, were the 100 calorie packs. Same product 4.6 oz $2.69. That's 4.6 ounces TOTAL for the ENTIRE PACKAGE my friends. Not PER PACK... that's the whole flipping box. I literally almost fell over. You've got to be kidding.

Then the dairy section. This is where I started talking to myself, under my breath, but loud enough for people to hear. Kraft cheese. I wanted to get the little bricks. Not the super huge one... the little one. $4.49 PER brick. AND I needed 2. That my friends is almost $10 for 2 little bricks of cheese. WTH! What happened to the days of 2/$4?

I was so bent by the time I left that store. I spent $175, without buying anything extravagant... I didn't even buy any meat! Oh and I didn't buy the cheese or the Teddy Grahams either.

What the hell happened?

Quote of the Day

Quote for the day:
'Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.'
So - if you give her crap,
you will receive more shit than any one human being can handle.

Breathing 101

I am a bad blogger. But I have an excuse. I have been so freaking busy that I literally don't know if I've even taken a breath since mid August. I miss blogging too. Everyday, a gazillion thoughts race through my head that I think "Oh! I'm going to blog that". And by the time I get to it. Whoosh, the thought is gone, or the thought is still there, and the humor has been sucked right out of it. The good thing is that I have been entertained by everyone elses blog.

Yesterday, Pioneer Woman's mom posted on PW's blog about breathing. Breathing - that thing I learned way back when I was in yoga... learning how to breathe and LET GO. I followed through on her mom's instructions and felt like I could totally doze off. Suddenly I was so relaxed that it hit me. I haven't chilled out in WEEKS! Even while being sick (which I think I am almost better, btw).

Finally today... I am off work. I am off work until next Tuesday. Finally. I can take a breath. Although I am still running this picnic that takes place on Friday. Today I flew out of bed, made the lunches, got them dressed, threw on my clothes, took them to school, flew back to the house, changed clothes again (because I wasn't ready the first time), then went BACK to the school AGAIN, ready for action. I met my counterpart in the Teachers lounge. I was completely prepared to spend the ENTIRE DAY moving all of the activities, and such to the school.

No can do. She is afraid it will be taken out of the room we are using for supplies. I explained to her that the MORE we do TODAY... the LESS we have to do on FRIDAY. She didn't budge. So I sat there, helping her map out the lay of the land and where the food, activities and all will go. And I sat there, thinking that I took the ENTIRE DAY OFF to sit and do this for a half hour. I wasn't happy, and I had a grudge. But unlike myself, I kept my mouth shut. She does have a point after all. Things could be stolen. I just had the whole day to do this tiny little thing.

We did what we had to do and we parted ways for the day. Then it hit me.

I have ALL OF THIS TIME... and don't have to do ANYTHING for the school! I can actually do what I want to do. The kids are at school, and this house is so quiet, all I can hear are the little insects outside, and the cars on the main road. No TV, no talking, nothing. What an amazing day.

So today, I have done things I needed to do. Learn how to "breathe". Laundry - while breathing. And work on my TS business, which hasn't been touched in WEEKS.

It is a glorious day, and I'm so glad that I have nothing to do.

Holy Crap it's Friday?!

Wow. Let me tell you... it has been one fast week! First off, I stuck my foot in my mouth when I gleefully said, "I would LOVE to help you throw the back to school picnic" to my friend Linda. Forget that it's just she and I doing it for the 700 students + family members that go to our children's school.

Oh and while I'm helping you throw this picnic, why don't I train for a new position at work too.

Let's just say that yesterday was it. I hit the wall, and came down with something. Either I'm burning the candle at both ends, or I should have taken Patti's advice at work, and used MY OWN pen. Patti is nuts. Pattie has an OCD like I have never seen. We work with people. Sick people. Injured people. People with "issues". Patti uses her own pen. In fact Patti takes her pen home with her so that NO ONE ELSE will use her pen. It's all funny until someone gets sick.

I swear, not 2.2 seconds after sitting down at the front desk, I got Sepsis. I bet I touched a pen, then rubbed my eye or... a microbe flew over the counter into my sinuses. Or who knows. But whatever it is... I got it.

So I've been taking this Herbal Resistance Liquid. Let me tell you... it's brown/green in color, and tastes the way it looks. The taste is so bad, I have to plug my nose.. and rinse my mouth out before breathing again... but it works. It works so good that this is my second bottle. In fact the last time I bought it, I got the convenient economy size. Aside from being a bit congested, and coughing, I feel pretty good.

Note to self... don't interrupt a post to go eat dinner... I forgot what my point was... or maybe it's hypoxia.

Boo!

Beaudreaux is on a kick about Halloween. We apparently do not have anything scary enough for him... so we've been told. He has been telling me scary stories all day today and trying to scare me.

Remember "The Woman With The Golden Arm" or "Bloody Mary". Yep. That's pretty much all I can remember. Just the titles.

Does anyone have any good Halloween stories to tell for me to freak out little fumanchu? Cause after the day I've had... he's got it coming to him! BOO!

Will YOU Be My Friend?

I did it. Jro planted a seed a while back about Facebook. After doing a bit of "research", I decided to take the plunge. So far... I have 1 friend.

Chris.
I met Chris one night at a club that my friend and I hung out at. Ok, it wasn't a "club" but more of an arcade, because we were underage. But the arcade was attached to the "club". He turned out to be one hell of a great friend. We had a riot together, tooling around town in his little silver Fiero.

I can't remember how we lost contact, but we did. Fast forward to 1993. I was at Dennis's house one day. His sister starts talking about her friend Jen and standing up in Jen's wedding. After months of picking dresses, having met Jen, and slowly becoming part of the family (we weren't married yet), the invitation arrived. You guessed it. Jen was marrying my old friend Chris! I just about fell over! What a small world. Denise (Dennis's sister) had known Chris for ages. She and I could have actually crossed paths many times, but never "knew" each other. Of course, I went to the wedding... as my soon to be Mother-in-law's date ;o)

And now Chris is my "one friend" on facebook. Will you be my friend?

She's Me

Laura.

You've heard me talk about her before somewhere back in the Flintstone Era of this blog. Laura and I work together at the Prompt Care -she works the front desk, I'm in the back driving needles into booties. She started there about a year after I did. We actually know each other from our son's stint in "Come Play with Me", when they were 3. We scrapbook together quite often too.

Laura took care of some company business for me while I was on vacation. Today when she called to give me some updates, she told me a story about a patient on Labor Day.

A man limps into the office and says, "I dropped something heavy on my toe, I think I broke it." Laura replies, "We have Xray equipment here, so we can see you, I just need to register you first." She hands him a clipboard.

Shortly after filling out the paper work, the man says in front of a waiting room FULL of people
"Can you take me back now?"

She replies, "You mean before all of these people, that have been waiting for over an hour?"
"well yeah" he returns, "It will only take a couple minutes, I'll be in and out".

Laura looks over the top of her glasses, straight at the man and says, "We can bring you back right away... after you get permission from every single person sitting in here, that it is ok for you to go before them."

The man turns around to find almost 30 pair of eyes, boring into his head and replies, "That's ok, I'll wait."

"I thought so." Laura said.

Yep. She's just like me.

Joke from Emily

Q: What do you get when you cross a porcupine with a tortoise?
A: A slow poke!

I Love You Man...

OMG, my blogger friends kill me. I just got done reading Jro's post about the skunk and can honestly say that I can not read that post again. I may rupture something if I do. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe.

And Mel. Princess and her Pees, I mean THE peas, lol. I am SO ready for summer to be over. Since July, our summer has been literally full speed ahead. I have been all over the country, and have packed, unpacked, and repacked my suitcase again. It was one of the best summers we've ever had.

But I am so worn out. Stick a fork in me, I'm done. I am ready for early nights (for the kiddies). I am ready for the season premiers. I am ready for my huge oversized easy chair, and my stack of magazines that I've been neglecting all summer. I am ready to burn my favorite fall candle, day in and day out. I am ready for cool breezes to subtly cruise across my face, while I am wrapped up in a snuggly warm bed. I am ready to attempt to cook, bake amazing desserts, and to spend Saturdays lounging in front of the TV.

The homework... yeah, boiling chicken bones and bleaching them out to make a dinosaur is pretty hefty price to pay, but I'll take it. It gives me time to try and be a good mom again. A sense of renewal. Healthy lunches, clean faces, nicely combed hair, and well rested children... I'm ready for summer to end.

Change of Command

If you haven't noticed, we are still in South Carolina. We have family kitty/house sitting at our home this week.

I am an emotional wreck as my brother has "officially" retired from the Navy. Chief Petty Officer Michael A. Wampler has been relieved of his watch. And we cried the whole way through it.

It is amazing how some things can really put your life into perspective. I was in 10th grade when my mom called the school. I had a new nephew. Christopher Marc had just been born. It was this summer that I proudly witnessed that same baby boy, graduate from Naval Boot Camp. It was this same child, this little boy who is now a man, a Sailor of the United States Navy, that relieved his father from his watch. As he stood at the podium in uniform, with his father facing him, he looked at his dad, and said, "I relieve you of your watch" and the tears flowed from our faces.

This summer has really been an emotional roller coaster for me. And again the funny thing is that it isn't about me at all. My brother joined the navy in 1984. I was 12. He left our home to embark on an uncertain journey. He threw caution to the wind and set sails... for San Diego, California. My parents always thought he would never make it. And he did come home... right after boot camp, with a duffel bag full of uniforms. He was on leave to get married, and would be going to Mayport, Florida.

At one point, he and his family moved up to Michigan. They lived on Selfridge Air National Guard base... right out my parents back door. I then witnessed the birth of 2 more nephews. I was there, the night Craig was born, and then came Michael Jr, who was 5 months old when they returned do Florida - never to live in Michigan again.

During that time, my we visited my brother a few times, and have always stayed close. Due to his hard work and determination, my brother rapidly advanced in his career, yet to me - he was still the same guy that watched Bugs Bunny with us on Saturday mornings, and LOVED fruit loops. He was still the same guy that tried to feed us raw chicken one night when he was watching my sister and I. Yes, he tried to kill us, but we knew he did it out of love, ;o)
He started out on a wood bottom naval ship, advancing to the largest of aircraft carriers. He went in knowing no one, and ended knowing thousands.

Today is my brother's day. I am 1,000 miles from home to be with him, and just witnessed one of the most poignant moments in not only his life, but ours as well. I stole glimpses of my parents through the ceremony, in between my own sets of tears. I watched as my brother, was honored and relieved of his duties.

The course of his life has been changed, and we look forward to what the future holds for him. I am so glad to be here.

The Eagle has Landed

Earlier this summer, Emily tried out for a travel softball team. A Federation softball team if you will. After the first tryout, we received a call that they wanted her to come try out again. Emily was very nervous the first time around. So on Sunday morning, she and Dennis went to the softball field and she tried out again. This time she did much better. Dennis said she was hitting the ball like crazy off the fast pitch machine.

Yesterday, we got the call. Emily has been offered a position on the Macomb Eagles Fastpitch Softball team!!! She was so excited, I thought she would rupture something.

Hooray Emily!!! We are so proud and excited for her!!!

In Flo We Trust

So I haven't told you the news! I was able to switch over to Verizon before our trip! I got a sweet phone too. The Verizon Envy2. And.... because we had an impending trip, I got the plan w/ unlimited texting, internet, AND GPS Navigation! Only because of our trip.

So we were on the way to South Carolina and had the GPS set to our destination. We have never used a GPS before, so trusting it was something new. At one point we were told to turn on this one specific street, but at the last second it didn't seem right so we choose another direction. Instantly we knew we were screwed. And "Flo" knew it. "Please wait, you are not on a road" came through loud and clear. We were on this road that was creepy beyond belief! NO SHOULDER, and trees lining the street, right at the edge... and we had to turn around. Nice.

South Carolina has had so much rain from the hurricane, that turning around was quite a trip as I said, there were NO shoulders. Regardless, Dennis who constantly reminds me that he drives $350,000 vehicles for a living, had it all under control. We turned around, and got back on track. And "Flo" knew it.

"Continue 6.4 miles on S.C.21" she says and sure enough... she got us right to our hotel. Thank you Flo. We promise not to second guess you again.

Greg isn't Special

You know those cute little mugs they have for kids.. the ones with the rubber thing around the cup with the child's name on it? I have been wanting to get my kids one forever! That way they will both have their "special" coffee cup. They ALWAYS have Emily, but NEVER Greg or Gregory.

The other day when we saw them, Greg said "They don't think I'm special?"
How in the world, do you reply to that??? It was like being punched in the gut. I have no idea how to explain how they have Gavin and other very interesting names, but no Greg or Gregory.

So your homework... BOL (Be on the lookout) for a cute little cup, the one with the rubber thing around it, with Greg's name on it. Pick it up and I will pay you for the cup and for shipping. Be sure to post a comment on here so that other people will know to stop looking.

The Count Down

Ok, so there are 2 posts for today. This one I have been wanting to post for a while. It is about revenge, and how it backfires.

We have phone service that has "direct connect". We've had it for so long that I can't even remember when we got it. Our contract was to end in January. I was counting down the days. My experience with this network is that you can be standing next to the freaking cell tower and Bloop! It drops the call. I could not wait for this contract to end.

So last summer, the kids and I went to the State Fair with my mom, my sister & her kids, and my brother & my nephew. While we were there, Dennis calls. It was so loud where I was at, that I could barely hear him. But I did get this much...

"So & So called. They said they would knock X amount of dollars off our bill, and do something else for us, if we renew our contract".

I replied, "What?! I can barely hear you. We'll discuss this when I get out of here".
And then I heard it...
"Well I already took it."
At that precise moment, you could have knocked me over with a feather.
I literally had to force the words out, "You did WHAT?"
"I took it"

I, appropriately named Queen Busta Chops... was speechless.... and PISSED!

Literally I couldn't believe he did that. I could not WAIT for this contract to be over with. It was all I talked about for months and months. In fact, we even called to find out how much it would be to get out early, which was more than an arm and leg.

So days go by. There was no use arguing about it, because what good would that do? It was already a done deal. I was stuck to suffer for yet another year... or two.

September rolls around.

I'm parked on the couch, talking to my cousin on the phone. She starts going on about how much she LOVES her DVR. And tells me all the cool shows she records. My wheels start to turn... I have asked for TiVO or a DVR for the longest time, and he ALWAYS shoots it down. So you guessed it! I got off the phone and called Comcast. Set up the appointment for the following week. But while I was on eternal hold, the girl across the street runs over. Something was wrong with her cell phone and it was the only one she had, so she needed to use my phone. So I gave her my cell to use.

Forward to the next night.

We're sitting at dinner and I casually mention, "Yeah, Angie came over and needed to use the phone but I was on with Comcast and couldn't get off, so she used my cell."

He asks, "Why were you calling Comcast?"
CRAP I thought. Now I have to tell him because I accidently let it out!

And then it came out...
"Well... I figured since you went ahead and renewed our cell phone contract w/o talking to me first and apparently we're doing our 'own thing', I went ahead and ordered MY dvr. It is getting delivered on Tuesday!"

He sat there, laughing... and laughing... and had that "YOU BIAATCH" look on his face. And I sat there laughing and laughing with my "Got ya back biaatch" look on MY face!

He literally couldn't say a word.

DVR is installed. While Joe Public is going over all the features and buttons on my new DVR, he points out that we now have HIGH DEFINITION CABLE! Yep! I flipped on the ball game and I'll be damned... you can see every blade of grass individually. Finger prints on the batters helmets are crystal clear.

My whole "I'll get him back" theory blew up in my face. He LOVES the cable. He LOVES the TV and he LOVES the DVR.... CRAP!

My contract with "direct connect" ends on the 31 of this month. To my dear husband I say this... renew my contract....

And I'm SHUTTING OFF THE CABLE biaaaatttchhhhhh! ;o)

Short Term Membry Loss

Greg's funny word of the week: Membry - which he apparently lost after his sister allegedly struck him in the head with a rock (yet there are no "marks").

Emily's funny word of the week: Almanac or as she says it "A-LAMB-AN-ACK"

My Bucket Runneth Over

I'm back! And let me tell you... there are no words to express how amazing my trip was. I arrived in Minneapolis on Thursday. We grabbed a quick bite at Panera, and headed for our conference.

The only way I can describe some of the events that unfolded is for you to imagine almost 2,000 people on "Oprah's Favorite Things". But instead, Jill was Oprah. Along with receiving incredible information that could easily change your life, we also received so many free products and business tools, that many people had luggage that was over weight at the airport. Luckily I dodged this bullet (my suitcase weighed 5 pounds over). I'm chalking it up to saying hello to the NWA man with a smile on my face.

In our 4 days, we also had keynote speaker Alison Levine come and give us an uplifting and hilarious motivational chat. She was hysterical, and let me tell you... after she finished speaking all I could say was, "MESSAGE RECEIVED". Yep. I got it loud and clear. Be sure to check out the link by clicking her name.

When I do home taste testing parties, I tell "my story". My Why did I join TS? And I have to laugh because as I am approaching my 1 year anniversary, my "why" has changed so many times. At first, it was because along with my family, and many friends, I am a Tastefully Simple groupie. I love that the Rhubarb Strawberry jam is natural and has much less sugar than standard products. I love that so many products are all natural. I love that the seasoned salt has NO sugar or MSG added to it. Every time I called to place my reorder, I always had other peoples orders too. So "D" (my friend and the godmother of my son) said, "What are you doing? I feel like I am robbing you because you could be making money on this!" And that my friends, planted the seed.

She was right. I was handing over huge orders to her for myself and many other people. So with that, I decided to give it a whirl. I always did like doing the home parties. It is my "girls night out". Plus I can be myself, laugh, and get laughed at while making some moolah.

Through out the year, my story has changed. Some will say they joined for the friendships. If you asked me, I already had enough friends. But now, I have this very strong bond with women I would have NEVER met had I not joined. We had so much fun together at conference, that I am sure people thought we were all hammered, and we weren't! At least not all the time :o)

I experienced a light bulb moment while there. 8 is the magic number. 8 parties per month will easily earn the incentives, and yet for TS it isn't all about the numbers. After a year in this business I can honestly tell you that it is more about 'What can we do for you' and it has ALWAYS been that way. They offer incentive after incentive and every single one of them is easily attainable. And the 8 parties? Yeah, it seems like a lot, but it isn't. 3 hours per party, 2 parties per week. Yep. That's about 6 hours per week to earn an all inclusive trip to the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun Mexico - which is where I will be when that rolls around.

Jill was a middle aged housewife just like me. She has a son, and just decided to do gift baskets to make some extra money. She used products in the baskets that were homemade by local folks. At fairs and events, she would open up jars of products and let people taste them, so that they could really experience what they were buying. It took off like wild fire.

As for me, my "why" has definitely changed. Now it is because I LOVE this company. I love it. There are no schemes, no pyramids, no "surprises". It is what it is and it works. And 22,000 consultants can't be wrong. It is because even though this idea of Jill's has turned into a multimillion dollar company, she still hangs around with all of us gals, like a normal chic. She isn't unapproachable. As many times as I've seen her and heard her speak, it has NEVER been about her. She wants all of us to live our "BEST LIFE". To do what is right for us, and to live each moment to the fullest.

I am so glad to be here, and so thankful that I took the opportunity that was offered to me. What I do with this now, is all up to me.

Bye Bye Birdie

Hey y'all, I'm outta here tomorrow for the convention. If I have a chance to post, I will. Otherwise, I look forward to my return and a whole bunch of updated blogs to read! lol. Except Janet... she's excused. lol

Ciao!

Thanks! I needed that!

Did you see??? My ticker at the top says 2 days till Tastefully Simple Nationals! And let me tell you... I was in a full panic up until today. You see... I wear scrubs. It's like wearing pajamas to work. I wear the same uniform, day in and day out, except the color changes from day to day. So all of my suits have always been "funeral" suits, and winter ones at that. For some odd reason, we were going to a lot of funerals during the winter.

So I needed a change. But how do you get that change when you have to cart frick and frack around with you? So after a casual chat with my mom, she offered to take them off my hands for the day. With that, I met her at 10:30 for the hand off. My parent's don't exactly live around the corner. They live on the edge of the country so to speak. And with gas prices the way they are... you get the picture.

At 10:30, I started my excursion. I went to this awesome area over at 23 Mile Road and Gratiot in Chesterfield Township. It proved to be my one stop shopping zone. First hit of the day... Dress Barn. I swear to you it was the scene right out of Pretty Woman. I had the manager of the store, and an associate helping me and I was there for an hour. With their help, I found EVERYTHING I needed, and it didn't break the bank! I went in there and told them what my plans were and that things had to be interchangeable. It was the best shopping experience I have had in YEARS. I plan to give them a huge kudos by writing to the company.

Next it was off to JcPenny, and then Famous Footwear. By 3:30, I had all of my shopping complete, with the exception of non-drowsy dramamine which Target did NOT have.

So to my mom I say, "Thanks! I needed that." It was such a relaxing, yet productive day. And now... I must go pack.

Self Esteem Issues??? See Greg.

The following is a conversation between Greg and I in the car this evening...

G: "Mom, did you know I can put my face in the water for 5 seconds!"
M: "No way, I don't believe you"
G: "You should challenge me"
M: "That's ok, just wait. On September 7th (G's birthday), you have to jump into the pool, WITHOUT holding on to anything".
G: "Can I plug my nose?"
M: "Absolutely. Sometimes I even have to plug my nose".
Greg laughs.
G: "Wow Mom! You're an adult!"
Mom laughs.
G: "Look at you... You drive a car! You have oversized clothes. You have BIG glasses and a HUGE forhead".

Yep. Sucked the life right out of me. Thanks Greg.

Seasons Change

Poor Janet. I'm sure you read her Brett Favre post. Brett is now a Jett. When I asked Den this morning if this was a big deal, I suddenly could feel his eyes boring into the side of my head. He sarcastically replies, "I guess by looking at the line up on the side of the TV screen, should tell you how big this is. It all relates to the trade". I had to laugh, because that's how we roll.

Regardless, they were showing multiple clips of Brett, and the Packers playing in falling snow and sunny fall days.

I like football. I don't know much about it, but I do like to watch it occasionally. For me, football is freshly sharpened #2 pencils, freshly fallen leaves crunching under foot, carved pumpkins and halloween decorations. It all leads into my favorite time of year. Winter. I LOVE Winter... only until January 2nd though. lol. Of course then I love S.W. Florida.

Regardless, we are lucky. We get to experience absolute change. We get to experience the warm breezes of summer. We get to throw on a fleece and have the crisp fall mornings. We get to see the beauty of freshly fallen snow then the rebirth of spring. I know, there are the pitfalls of each season, but today... the air conditioning is off. The windows are open, and my glass is more than half full.

Enjoy your day.

Murphys Law

Isn't Murphy's law a biatch? I swear, this house is sucking the life out of me. Ok, so I KNOW you all know about the dryer fire. Now that we have dropped a HUGE amount of quid on a new washer and dryer all should be fine in the land of Milobar, right? Right.

The refrigerator stopped working. We knew something was "about to happen" as last week, just days before I was throwing a surprise birthday party for Dennis here at the house... it decided to take a night off. I woke up to water all over the kitchen floor. At first I thought, Oh the hose for the drink dispenser must have split, no biggie, he can fix it when he gets up. Yeah right. Everything in the refrigerator was warm. Almost everything in the freezer was thawed.

So I'm trying to "remain" calm, and make it look like I'm calm, when inside I was totally freaking out. I had about 5o people coming HERE on SATURDAY for a surprise party, and the refrigerator stopped working. And the thing is... Its ONLY 7 years old!!! WTF!!!!!

Deeeeeeeeeeep cleansing breath. Innnnnnnnnnnnnn Outttttttttttttttttt.

So while we are trying to solve the mystery, the stupid thing turns itself back on. WTF!!!!!!!!! And it has ran ever since...... until today.

Picture it.... Sicily 1942.... lol. (LOVE the Golden Girls). No really. So Audrey and Randy are over. We were enjoying the cool air of the house, watching a Food Network marathon on TV. Suddenly there is this ROARING NOISE, that I swear to you, sounded like a crotch rocket motorcycle, throttling up RIGHT IN THE LIVING ROOM. Startled the shit out of all of us. WTF???

It was the refrigerator. It was so flipping loud, we couldn't hear how much butter Paula Deen was puttin in her concoction. So I pulled out the refridge (so proud of my strength as I had never done it before and this fridge is HUGE - next size up is a subzero). While goofing around back there, I managed to get it to stop squealing.

And shortly after... it stopped running. My BIL thinks the fan must have gone or a bearing some where went. Regardless, DENNIS IS AT WORK AGAIN... OF COURSE.

OMG, stick a fork in me. I'm done. And I SWEAR to you. If we have to purchase a new fricken refrigerator, we are getting the smallest, no name brand out there. I'm talking Magic Chef or Speed Queen. We are not prepared to buy a brand new refrigerator, as we want to remodel the kitchen soon. We have NO idea what we want to do to the kitchen, so buying a big fancy appliance right now is out of the question... and out of the kitchen.

Send good Karma... Sears is coming tomorrow to "look" at it. I can't wait for Milford Memories.

Save Katrina's Blog!!!

I am so upset to see Katrina deleting her blog. We bloggers live vicariously through each other. We go to bed and breakfasts, we go on houseboats, we go to Mackinac, Chicago, South Carolina., New Jersey. We do bike trips, car trips, airplane rides. We marvel at the size of each others pets, and the very odd things they do. We laugh with each other and cry too. We reminice together. We bitch about stuff. It's what we do. So I wish for Katrina to not end this link.

Please vote on the right for what your thoughts are, and post your comments.

Joey

I feel so bad. The Tigers traded Pudge. Oh don't get me wrong, I don't feel bad for Pudge at all. My heart breaks for Joey.

Joey LOVES baseball. Joey plays baseball. For Joey, the sun rises and sets with baseball.

Joey is our friends 10 year old son. I remember, not too long ago, as much as he LOVED Pudge, he could not say Rodriguez to save his life. It always came out "Ronriguez". Yet he LOVED Pudge.

Yesterday I heard about the trade at work. At first I was shocked, but immediately I thought - I wonder how Joey took the news?

When I arrived home, I talked to Den and asked him if Joey knew about the sudden departure. He found out earlier that Joey was so upset, he started crying, ran up to his room, and immediately wanted all of his Pudge things OUT of his room. Pudge and The Tigers broke Joey's heart.

Of course, I started to cry. I felt horrible for Joey. Like baseball, the sun rose and set with Pudge "Ronriguez" in Joey's eyes.

With this, I hope that Joey finds comfort somehow. His little 10 year old world just got rocked.

Auntie Val loves you Joey. My heart breaks for you... Not Pudge.

Kwaymegate

Ok, I just don't get this. Maybe I should have studied government instead of doing whatever else I was doing.

So how is it that a public official that is voted into office by the PUBLIC can not be "voted" out of office? It is amazing how the story with this thug keeps getting worse and worse. It makes me not even want to visit the city at all. Plus with some of the city council members being roped in to the crap too. Oh and let's talk about the schools and how they are so far in debt that they are facing quite a few closures.

I am sure that a lot of people would disagree with me on this, but I could easily have lived in a different time period. Picture Hill Valley in Back to the Future. Kids could play all over the town and be safe. People were held accountable. People had integrity. And the thing is, that this was the way it was, when most of our parents were growing up.

My parents sometimes talk about living in Detroit and Hazel Park. They talk about how safe it was to walk to Bell Isle to go skating. They talk about shopping up and down Woodward going to Hudsons, and other stores.

Have you been down there lately?? Although I must say that some parts of the city are looking better, I just have to ask... what the hell is wrong with some of the elected officials.

I think they should be "voted" out!

Chicago 2008

After our trip to see Chris graduate, we went to Chicago for a 1 day, whirlwind trip... and boy was it ever!

We did more in this one day than I've done in any other visit to Chicago. We walked until we thought we would drop. We took tours, shopped until the credit cards were smooth, dodged rain drops, pointed at favorite spots, Ooh! ing and Ah! ing. Went up in some buildings, down in others.

We ate at The Weber Grill Restaurant. Let's just say that everything we ate was worth of my "lick the platter clean" title. We tried to get into one of Katrina's recommendations Pizzaria Due, but it was hot and muggy and they had no air. Unfortunately we didn't stay because crabby kiddies make for crabbie parents.

When we passed Heaven on Seven, immediately I recalled the fabulous dinner we shared with Kraig and Katrina. We avoided the Underground Wonder Bar for obvious reasons, lol.

We kept our niece with us for this jaunt, and ran her ragged. Notice the before and after pictures of them at American Girl. Look at their faces after they have bags in hand.

This time we stayed at the Marriott Downtown on Michigan Avenue. It was the best hotel we have EVER stayed at in Chitown. It is just a block or two north of the river, and in the center of EVERYTHING!

A night view from the Hancock Bldg.

Plus when we ate a room service dinner at 11:30 pm, the food was fabulous. We are DEFINITELY staying there again!!!

Emotionally Drained.

Wow, am I exhausted! Literally I don't know which way is up, or what is coming next. I'm getting envious of Miralee and Jro for posting more than I do... and I LOVE blogging! Time to rearrange my priorities!

It all started last week when my brother Mike, Niece - Ashley, and great nephew - Christian rolled in to town. They came in on Saturday evening and stayed until Thursday. Thursday, our family, our guests, and my parents all rolled out of town heading to Illinois. We went to see my nephew Chris, graduate from Naval Bootcamp.

We sat in the upper deck bleachers in this HUGE building waiting for them to come in. We were entertained for a while, and then it happened... this large garage door opened up to the outside and there they were. The recruits. Standing in formation waiting to come in. The crowd went BANANAS! It was an awesome sight to see. Chris later told us when the door opened, they could hear everyone cheering and screaming - and he was 3 companies back from the open door.

Words can not express how moving this whole ceremony was. It is easy to go along in your day and not realize how much we take for granted. These amazing individuals have chosen to protect you and I. Because they have made this monumentous decision to join the service, not only do they have a future, but they also protect ours. Because of people like this, we are free.

The anticipation was too much for Christian... As for Ashley, seconds felt like hours.

A very emotional, family reunion.

I never realized that my brother, The Chief.. has to look up at his son.

Gregory LOVED this ceremony. When they saluted, so did he!

The way it should be.

Who would have known...

Who would have known that the washer would provide hours of entertainment.

Hiatus...

Just a quick update...

We have a new washer and dryer. Pumpkin is completely facinated by the washer. I took a photo of him watching it... for over an hour!

Plus my brother, niece, and great nephew are in town, so I don't have time to post.

Later!

My Name is Feefee.

Yep. He calls me Feefee, or Feef. And because he calls me that, A LOT of people call me that. And now that you know it, you'll probably call me that too. Go ahead and chuckle. I would tell you what I call him, however some readers have been known to take things to an extreme. They know who they are... and you do too.

You have no idea what grief I am taking over this dryer fire. I have heard it all...

A guy I work with, that is on the Fire Dept that came here (but HE did not come here) called...

"Heard you had the F.D. at your house... AGAIN" - he then erupts into laughter.

This one is compliments of my brother, Mike...
"So you no sooner go to work Monday and feef tries to burn your house down...LOL... I told her empty the lint filter more than once annually..LOL..."

Oh and then Miranda had to pour salt in my wound with her little comment about the Laundromat, lol. (I did laugh as she did call me out)...

So while Den worked his 72 hours STRAIGHT... I called the F.D. multiple times, and of course, I hear from one of the firefighters... "don't set anything else on fire before he comes home".

Oh the grief I get.

So I have to tell you...

Dennis FINALLY came home today, and we went shopping! We bought these machines... ok, so the photo didn't load, nor save. So anyhue, we purchased the LG 4.2 cu ft front loading washer, and the LG 7.0 cu ft dryer. I am SO relieved. They come tomorrow.

So while the dryer fire turned into a "washer and dryer" purchase, that turned into a "paint the ceiling while nothing is in the room job", which turned into....

A "Let's change the color of the room too" job. BTW... he's talking on his cell phone while painting. He brave ain't he? lol

My new homekeeping assistants will be delivered and installed tomorrow. Thank GOD.

Day 1 w/o dryer

Within 24 hours, I have realized how bad THIS SUCKS. First off, we have my brother, niece, and great nephew rolling in on Saturday, I have laundry piling to the ceiling, and my podunk hillbilly drying rack only holds a few items. Plus dear husband is in the middle of working a 72 hour shift. (He went to work Monday won't be home until Thursday). So here I am, like a true pioneer woman, with clothes hanging everywhere, although we have WAY more today than the pioneer's did.

24 hours and this totally sucks.

Don't Leave Home...

Literally. If you listen to anything I say, please let this be it...

While doing laundry, I took some stuff out to hang, then restarted the dryer. I was going to go out by the pool, where my sister, brother in law and the kids were swimming. However, I wanted to check one more time to see if the clothes were done drying. As soon as I walked up, I could smell something burning. I opened the dryer, looked inside, but didn't see anything. It was then that I saw smoke coming out from between the washer and dryer.

THE DRYER WAS ON FIRE!!!!

I immediately flew out to get my B-I-L, and ran back in, he came straight from the pool, sopping wet, and sure enough, there were flames under the dryer. He shut the gas off, took it off the line, while I ran next door to get the neighbor guy, and a wrench (to disconnect the gas line).

The fire put itself out before we could get the dryer out the garage door (First Floor Laundry is a WONDERFUL thing).

So my point is this...
1. NEVER leave your house (even to go to the yard) while the dryer is running.

2. ALWAYS clean your lint filter. I do this EVERY TIME I use the dryer, because I am married to a firefighter, and he is a neurotic about anything that is attached to a gas line or electrical line. Literally, everything gets cleaned fairly frequently.

3. TO ALL YOU WOMEN... It is HIGH time we learn how to remove the panel off the dryer. THIS IS WHERE THE FIRE WAS. Because we couldn't get the panel off, we had to take the whole damn thing out to the garage - it would have been on the driveway if the fire didn't go out. If we could have gotten the panel off, we could have put it out with an extinguisher - which is what I would have had to do if I were alone - hence the reason to learn how to remove the panel.

If I had been alone, I would have been screwed. I was in a full blown panic, and didn't know where to start with this. So... KNOW YOUR DRYER. KNOW HOW TO SHUT THE GAS/ELECTRIC OFF, KNOW HOW TO REMOVE THE PANEL, AND FOR GOD SAKES... KNOW WHERE THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER IS.

Your assignment for the day, if you choose to do it...
Find out how to remove the panel, and make sure all looks clean down there. We just had a little bit of dust, but it was still enough to ignite.

Pardon me while I go breathe into a paper bag now...

RIP Bozo

Thanks for all the laughs.

Kids Eat Free... assignment to follow

The other day, after back breaking labor in the back yard (at least on Den's part), we decided to take the kids out to dinner. We went to our FAVORITE place... Chili's. We have celebrated everything at Chili's... new apartment, new job, engagement, new house, new baby...etc. Chili's is "our place".

We had a wonderful time as always... until the bill arrived. $45 dollars (not including tip). OMG! Now for some of you high rollers, you are probably wondering what the big deal is. For us, we were floored. Mainly because we had been to Chili's so many times before and don't remember the bill being that astronomical.

Then I realized... if we all had water, we would have saved $12 in beverages. If we would have just shared our Fajitas for two with Greg, (which he ALWAYS eats a fajita), we could have saved an additional $4.99.

This all transpired 2 days ago, and I am still reeling over it. So today while opening the mail, I found coupons for Don Pablos announcing on Sunday's Kids Eat Free. At Da' Francesco's Kids eat free on Mondays.... see where I'm going with this?

Your assignment... Keep an eye open for restaurants that offer "Kids Eat Free" days. Inquring minds want to know. It's either that... Or I have to learn how to cook. :-(

Post away my friends, post away.

This makes me sick...

American Axle CEO Gets $8.5 million Bonus
Last Update: 11:48 am
DETROIT (AP) - American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. Chairman and CEO Richard Dauch has been awarded an $8.5 million bonus in part for leading the auto parts supplier through a bitter strike. The bonus revealed Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission is in addition to his earlier reported 2007 compensation valued at $5.55 million. About 3,650 United Auto Workers union members at American Axle's five original facilities in New York and Michigan went on strike Feb. 26 for nearly three months, but later ratified a contract with deep concessions. Most of Dauch's previously reported pay was stock and options worth roughly $3.99 million on the day they were granted. He also earned $1.47 million in salary and $94,684 in other compensation.

My brother and sister (both family breadwinners) are about to lose their jobs. This literally makes me want to throw up.

MY FAVORITE...

I LOVE Fruity Pebbles. There isn't much to them, and they get mushy really fast, but they are packed with flavor. Of course I don't eat them often because I can't imagine they are healthy, but I still love em.

Inquiring minds want to know.... What is YOUR favorite cereal and what do you like about it? Feel free to post your favorite "healthy, and non healthy" varieties.

Nesting

Yesterday I decided that I absolutely HAD to get my flowers into the ground, into the pots. I have been putting it off FOREVER. Finally I had to do it. For some reason NOTHING ever gets put back where it belongs. I am quite sure I am somewhat to blame for this.

I went to the shed and got out my stuff. I came to the garage and got myself organized. As I stuck my hand into the glove, I felt something "soft". I took my hand out, and looked into it. It was a NEST. I literally shed my skin, broke the windows within a mile radius screaming, and proceeded to jump around the garage flipping out while Dennis stood there laughing. I'm still shuddering while I type this.

We did throw the gloves away and think it was a mouse nest, as there was a tiny hole chewed in the top of the glove. Next year, the gloves will be kept inside the house.

The "Jennifer"

Ok, so I KNOW you remember when Jennifer Aniston was known for her fabulous hair. I still love that cut to this day. But that isn't the inspiration for this post. Well actually I guess it is...

Comcast.net is our homepage. Everyday when I log on, that is the first thing that comes up. Lately they have been showing stars from "then and now". I have to say that just looking at a photo of Jennifer Aniston from her Friends days, conjures up a huge amount of memories and emotions so strong they are almost palpable.

I watched Friends while in college. Actually pretty much through out my college years. Just looking at this photo, I vividly remember my EMS classes. Working concerts and clubbing down in Detroit, being so addicted to Depeche Mode, I saw them twice within one year, and partied with them at the State Theater (photo is around here somewhere). I bought my first new car (on my own), I lost a job working at a mortgage company, and took up to watching Star Trek The Next Generation until the wee hours of the night with my cousin. I still think of that when I have a slurpee, and laffy taffy. Total sugar rush.

I hung out with wild people and did things I never dreamed I would do. I went to places I never thought I would, and saw a different side of life that was a total blast. It was there, in the early 90's when I met Dennis in a parking lot. We dated off and on, and on, and on until I moved in with him in 95. We were engaged in 96, and married in 97. We were with child in 98 until she was born in 99.

It is totally insane how fast time goes by. And even more nuts how just a photo can suddenly transport you to a different time. I would love to know what YOU were doing when Friends was on TV.

Wii would like to play...

I never understood that commercial. The two asian dudes standing at the door handing the little white thingy over. Now I get it. We LOVE our Wii... and we love it even more that we got Monkey Ball for it. The kids got sucked in a couple days ago when we picked it up. It wasn't until I saw Emily trying to play "Red Light/Green Light" that I HAD to play. You know the game... someone stands facing the other way, and when their back is turned, you walk towards them. If they turn around and catch you moving, you have to go back to start. Bring back memories?

Well Wii has the same version on Monkey Ball. What a game! Let me tell you that there is no way possible that I can even move my arms above my head. My body is screaming from me "getting into it", because I just HAD to win.

And in honor of doing something "different" this summer, we have been riding our bikes more. I had the brilliant idea of us parking at Metroparkway and Crocker, leaving the car, but picking up the bike trail, and riding into Metropolitan Beach for dinner. We rode the entire distance, all the way to the lake. We watched the boats come in and out of the black creek, and the U.S. Coast Guard pop some dude for throttling up in a no wake zone. We love seeing someone get popped, lol as long as it isn't us. :o)

Well let's just say that this great idea of mine was a lot longer of a ride than I originally remembered. So now not only do my arms ache from the Wii, my booty is aching from that freaking bike seat. I think it will be an easier trip next time after I get the bike in for a tune up.

I'm so exhausted. I have to go medicate now...

And they will write...

Summer is here. It may only be 60 today, but summer is definitely here. And I know, because we have all been staying up late, and sleeping in all morning. I LOVE that there are no more forms to send, papers to sign, checks to write (I actually wrote the school 5 different checks in one sitting once). I am so glad it is over.

But... they will bicker. And they will bicker. And I have decided... They will write when they bicker. They are going to write sentences. And they have decided that they LIKE to write sentences, although they haven't even done it yet. Emily LOVES to write anything, but she has no idea how to "write" sentences like WE did when we were little.

So as it stands... the threat alone has worked to calm small fires, but if necessary, I WILL pull out the heavy artillery... pencils and paper. We'll see how THIS goes.

How is YOUR summer starting out?

Let me explain...

I have a theory on the storms we've had recently... and I think it's our fault.

1. We turned on our sprinklers after not using them for an unsaid number of years (after we had the pool put in, because we didn't know what to do with one of them).

2. Because I opened up my big trap and said, "You know... we never get any storms like we used to."

Yep. Classic case of open mouth, insert foot.

Update...

Here is an update to the post below...

I went back up to the school to give Emily a sweater, and she showed me a new T-shirt she was given. Apparently in between my trips to the school, one of the children that was picked to do the announcements had quit, leaving the position open for Emily. The Tshirt has a TV on the front with the name of her school on it, and the back says "CREW".

She was so excited, I thought she would rupture something! What a relief!

More than Parenting

Today I found out some news that has reduced me to tears. My beautiful daughter has once again been passed over on the school announcements. Every morning, the announcements are broadcast throughout the school via television. Try-outs are held at the end of the year for open positions. This year was Emily's third attempt.

As I went into the school to see her, and to give her some medication for an infection she's developed, the teacher responsible for the announcements, told me of the news. It took everything I had to not start crying right there at the desk in the office... and I hadn't even seen my child yet. How was I going to hold myself together while seeing Emily. I knew right then if she cried, I was going to cry too. And if she cried, I was taking her home for the day.

This has been a pretty bad week for her, and it seems to be one hit after another lately. I am ready for school to be out. And this final blow has brought her mom to tears... for her.

When I saw her, she didn't look ok, even though she told me she was. I held it together long enough to kiss and hug her goodbye, and to let her go back to her class. As I walked through the doors of the building, the tears started rolling. My heart is broken for her because she wanted this so badly, that she rehearsed every morning at the breakfast table.

As you know from previous posts, this year hasn't been smooth sailing for this child. She's had multiple issues with friends that have since dissipated. I am ready for her to be out of school and in the safety of her home so we can protect her once again... until September.

I am a wreck, and she is so strong.

Ticker Added

I'm so excited. I'm going to Nationals. I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. I have been having an absolute riot with Tastefully Simple and this unbelievable team I'm on. So I'm joining them in Minneapolis in August. And I can't wait. So hijacking from Jro's website, I've added the ticker, because I just can't wait!

What's in YOUR planner for this summer?

Pop Quiz

POP QUIZ:

What job can you have, that you are wrong more than 50% of the time and still have a job?

Weather person aka meteorologist.

Last night, before we went to bed, we watched the news. Nothing on the radar, nothing in the forecast.

Fast forward to 2:30 this morning. I got up with Emily, who was not feeling well, due to a sunburn she got yesterday. I noticed it was lightening outside, but no thunder.

3:00am - Emily comes and gets in our bed. It is lightening and thundering like crazy - to the point that now none of us can sleep. It was one after another, after another.

THEN IT HAPPENS. HUGE STRIKE OF LIGHTENING AND IMMEDIATE CRASH OF THUNDER. Scared the crap out of all of us. Dennis got up and looked out. I expected he would find our tree out front blown to smithereens, and the windows of his truck blown out, with smoking tires. NOTHING. No evidence of where it hit.

Regardless, it was a "What the H-E double hockeysticks" moment.

If I were wrong more than 50% of the time in my job... I would be OUT OF A JOB.
BTW... Emily wants to be a meteorologist when she grows up.

BIG TIME BUCKETS!

Who would have known that the drink buckets would be such a huge smash hit this year?! And it isn't even summer yet!!! Yes my beverage loving friends, Tastefully Simple has come out with some spectacular products in the Spring/Summer line.

Normally I don't plug TS on here, but I just came home from a great meeting in which I won $50 off my Nationals, Cookbooks, a Tastefully Simple Apron (which I just said I needed on Friday - funny how the law of attraction works) , a license plate cover, and a BUNCH of other things.

At the meeting, we found out that the drink buckets pictured below have sold OVER 140% MORE than originally projected. In fact they have sold so many that they ran out of the cute oval buckets that they originally came in, and are now temporarily being packaged in round buckets. Isn't that insane? And I will admit... I HAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTEEEEEE tequila. HATE it. Stems from previous baaaaad experience. HOWEVER.... I was told at a party, "In really good margaritas, you can't taste the tequila".... and the girl was right! This margarita mix is so awesome, I have one of each bucket, sitting in my pantry right now, ready for me to share with some summer guests! And yes... they look THAT good in real life.

Mango Breeze Margarita Mix

Samba Sangria Slush Drink Mix

I wouldn't ever try to sell something "just because"... but this stuff is awesome! You can make it up and throw it in your freezer. It's also perfect when you've had a crappy day. Would you believe the Sangria bucket holds 2 (yes two) bottles of wine, PLUS water?! (just mix it in a bowl first, then pour it back into the bucket to freeze).

Regardless, this is an item you just can't get through summer without. Especially if you are having a staycation this summer (staying home).

If you are interested in ordering, click my link on the side (not the photo, but under it). Now word of advice... shipping can be a bit steep. Tastefully Simple believes in the fact that you should have it asap, so they use Fed Ex. Save on your shipping... have a friend or family member place their" with you, and split the shipping. It's much more economical that way.

Cheers!