Sunday, March 30, 2008

The Weekend

After Thursday night's ordeal, I'm feeling much better now. I know I said that before but I actually mean it this time. I slept in my own bed for the first time in several days Friday night and didn't wake up coughing at all. I knew going to the doctor was unnecessary. ;)

Aside from that, the weekend was pretty dull. It was chilly and rainy here all weekend. We had some early morning excitement here in New Bern though. Turns out that our Arby's burned to the ground this morning. Well, the walls are still there but the roof is now inside the walls and the rest of the building is pretty much gutted. I haven't heard on the news what happened but the guy at the infamous Shell station across the street (we were only buying a newspaper) said it started about 8 this morning. I'm not sure if Arby's does breakfast, but I hope nobody was hurt.

I made it through my Spanish midterm. I'm not sure how I did yet. It's really hard to tell on the oral portion since I won't know what mistakes I made until I get my grade back. The written part was easy though. On the flip side, I rushed my editing midterm getting ready to go to California and paid the price. I didn't fail it, but I didn't get an A either which is a first. It was my own stupid fault and now I get the reap the benefits of being hasty.

Also, I watched the season 2 premier of The Tudors tonight. It was FABULOUS!! I just love that show. It's hard to believe that's it's a tv show with the costumes and the sets and the scenery. I also like that it pulls some of the actual history of Henry VIII into the story which makes it more real and believable. Anne Boleyn is such a bitch, lol. I can't wait for next week's episode.

Tomorrow, the kids go back to school after their spring break and I couldn't be more excited. It'll be the first day that I've had to myself since the 18th and I'm totally looking forward to the peace and quiet. Peace and quiet. I'm not even sure I remember what that is.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Living is Overrated

It's 3:15 in the morning and I'm awake. This cough is driving me insane. It's my fourth night in a row on the couch as well. I feel bad coughing while the Mister is trying to sleep. It looks like I'm going to have to break down and make another doctor's appointment and actually go this time. Geez, I hate the doctor. I feel like a numskull going for a cold but I've had this for almost two weeks now. Sunday will make it two weeks. That's not normal, right? Ugh!! I have the oral portion of my Spanish midterm coming up and it's going to be a disaster with all my coughing, hacking, and scratchy voice.

Now I'm whining. It's 3:20 am so I think I should have the space to whine a bit. I'm going back to the couch now.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Back Among the Living

Today is the first day that I've felt human in quite some time. My illness turned out to be more than your average cold. I actually made a doctors appointment for yesterday morning which shows how bad I was feeling. I cancelled because I didn't quite feel like death yesterday morning but was too lazy to drive myself to the hospital, lol. Now I'm left with a nagging cough. No biggie.

As a result of being laid up, I have very little to blog about. Unless you're interested in how many boxes of tissues I've gone through, bags of cough drops I've sucked on, and cold pills I've popped, I have nothing you want to read. Right now I'm playing catch up with laundry, the bills which have been sadly neglected due to both my vacation and my sickness, homework that I'm way behind on, and filling out my FAFSA that's due by the end of this month. Pictures from my vacation are still coming, I swear, but they're not priority at the moment. Clean clothes and paid bills are. Sorry.

Oh yeah. And we bought another car last week.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter

We're not doing much for the holiday. We're coloring eggs even though my kids are getting to be too old for that but I like to do it, heheh, and that's about it. Instead of baskets, we bought the girls clothes for the spring. Oh, and we're going to a friend's house for a bbq later on today.

Pictures from my trip are still coming, I promise. I have them uploaded but I haven't resized them or anything yet. I've been pretty laid up with my...whatever I have got. I think it may be bronchitis but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's not and it'll go away by itself. I think this pretty much rules out ever moving back to California though. I used to get like this every four months that we lived there and I had forgotten how sucky that is. My lungs must not be able to handle the air out there.

I guess that's about it. I don't have the energy to sit at my computer these days. I just got done staring off into space for about five minutes, lol. I'll be up to speed soon enough. Enjoy the holiday.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

I'm Home Again

I arrived home early this morning, around 2 am EDT. I had the flight from hell on the way home and on the way there, it was worse. Here's the story.

My departure flight was scheduled for 5:50 am. We got to the airport at 5:20 which was cutting it close, I know, but we didn't realize the airport was clear out in the middle of fricking nowhere. I go to the ticket counter and it's closed. The Jacksonville airport is so teeny that US Airways has one person to do everything. The person that does the ticketing also does boarding so as a result, they close the ticket counter 30 minutes prior to take off so that the airline person can do boarding. I've never seen an airport do this, so I had no idea and as a result, I missed my flight...me and five other people. Because of scheduling, I didn't leave Jacksonville until 1 something. In that time, I saw two other US Airways flights depart and they left passengers behind on both of them because of their policy.

THEN, on my return flight, I get out of LAX okay and I arrive in Charlotte 20 minutes early only to sit on the taxiway for half an hour because there was another plane at our gate that was delayed because of backups in New York. Ugh! THEN, on my flight from Charlotte to Jacksonville, we boarded the plane at 9:50 pm and we didn't take off until 11:20!!!! Our plane had indicator lights come on so we sat on the freaking hot plane for an hour and a half. And I'm sick and when I get hot, I start to have uncontrollable coughing fits. I coughed for like 20 minutes until the flight attendant finally brought out water for everyone to drink. I wanted to die.

My whole flight experience was the worst. I've flown many, many times and this was, by far, the most nightmarish and it was also the only time I've flown with US Airways. The only time because I won't be flying with them again. They also advertise their credit card in flight as well. I've never seen an airline do this before. How cheesy.

Anyway, my last night in San Diego was fun. I took Jennifer to Forever Fondue because her birthday is on Sunday. The food was awesome and I had two cosmos that came in full glasses with actual alcohol in them. Fondue restaurants are fun if you've never tried one.

My entire time in California was the best. I can't think of anything that I wanted to do that we didn't do. When we went to Balboa Park in San Diego, we also went to Petco Park which was under construction when we moved, and we drove to Miramar and our old base housing which was neat. I miss our old life there sometimes. Oh. And gas was $3.46 on base whereas it was $3.61 - $3.75 out in town depending on where you are. Here, gas is sometimes one or two cents more on base than out in town which is irritating, but whatever.

All in all, it was a wonderful, fabulous time and I took home tons of great memories. Seeing Jennifer and her kids after almost seven years was the best part. How many people do you know will have you in their home and then drive you all over creation while you act like an insane tourist? We're both hoping that it won't be another 7 years before we see each other again. I'll have pictures up in the next day or two. I'm still jet lagged, not feeling well, and I need to get them uploaded and edited first.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Vacation Days 5 and 6

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Although, if you're Catholic, it was on the 15th. I don't think we're doing anything special for the holiday. I forgot to bring anything green with me to wear too so, oh well.

Yesterday, we endeavored to do nothing which is pretty much how the day went. We went to Jack in the Box for lunch which was good and then to the grocery store for food other than the fast variety. However, we had Pat and Oscars for dinner last night, hehehe.

Also yesterday, I woke up without my voice and I'm in the same predicament this morning. I get sick almost every time I travel away from home so I was expecting this. I'm a little worried how a stuffed head is going to be when I fly home but I'm trying not to think about it. I'll just have to stock up on some decongestants for the plane trip.

Anywho, today we're going to Balboa Park. I really want to see the botanical gardens because when we moved they were refurbishing them and it's one of my favorite San Diego things to do. I love botanical gardens. We also might check out a museum or two but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure what we're doing for lunch and dinner today, lol.

I hope everyone has a safe holiday today. Don't do something stupid like get drunk off your ass at 10 in the morning like some people I know. ;)

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Vacation Days 2, 3, and 4

I'm still alive. We've been staying pretty busy. My first full day in Cali we went to Encinitas so that I could buy my daughter a California Webkinz (yes, I know they're all the same but she wanted one that came from California) and we ate some Mexican from a dive Mexican place. It was excellent. The scary looking places have the best food. And because I was exhausted from travelling, that's all we did the first day.

Yesterday, we hit L.A. We started out at the Santa Monica pier which was very cool. We walked out to the end and back and I bought a magnet to remember it by. We also bought a lemonade from the original Hotdog on a Stick which was yummy.

Then we had to try out Tito's Tacos. This will sound familiar to the Rachel Ray fans since this is one of her favorite fast food places to eat. Tito's tacos, burritos, chips, salsa, and guacamole were excellent. YUMMO!!!!

After lunch, we went to the La Brea Tar Pits so that nobody could say that I didn't try to educate myself while I was gone. I was duly impressed by all the dino bones. I tried to buy a magnet there but they were sold out.

Next, we went to the Farmer's Market and bought some crap. Well, actually, I got some tea and some stuff for my kids. That was cool and shopping is always fun.

Then we went to China Town and Olvera Street to buy more crap...I mean meaningful souvenirs that will last a lifetime.

After that, we drove into Beverly Hills where I about had a heart attack at all the shops. I took a picture of Mikimoto's store front and the lady in the car behind us laughed. I also took a picture of somebody's gorgeous multimillion dollar home. We also had a little road rage at a stop light. Some fool thought it was necessary for us to turn left in front of oncoming traffic so that he could get to his destination faster. I yelled, waved my arms, and called him a bad name. I miss California road rage. Nobody does it better than Californians except for maybe New Yorkers.

After that, we drove down Hollywood Blvd and gawked at the weirdos. They were NOT in short supply. We stopped at the Graumann's Chinese Theater, took pictures, looked at the footprints, and fit in with all the other tourists doing the same thing. I tried to see the Hollywood sign but by this time it was dark and they didn't have it lit up. I could tell where it was supposed to be though so I wasn't too disappointed.

All in all, a completely thrilling day. I have pictures that I'll post when I get home. It's too much of a hassle to do it from Jennifer's.

Today, we drove up into the mountains, 5,550 feet to be exact, to the Palomar Mountain Observatory. More educational sightseeing. On the way back to Jennifer's we stopped at the Julian Apple Pie Company for, you guessed it, apple pie. Yum, yum, and YUMMO!! We also bought a caramel apple pie and an apple mountain berry pie to take home. Oh! And guess what we see as we're getting ready to leave the pie place!!! Flurries! We were far enough into the mountains that it was only in the 30's. It was COLD!! And, oh yeah. We stopped at a roadside fruit stand on the way up the mountain and bought oranges, avocados, and lemons. 5 pounds of oranges for $3.50!!! You can't beat that with a stick. I don't remember the last time I saw oranges that cheap. Probably when I lived here, heheh.

In our eating excursions, we also had In and Out and Weinerschnitzel. California staples.

Tonight, we're just being lazy which is a theme that we plan on continuing tomorrow as well. We're worn out. And gas is freaking expensive here. EX-PEN-SIVE!!!! Holy, moly, cow.

Lastly, thanks to Jennifer's mom for her contribution the 2008 version of Jennifer and Trisha's Vacation. You're a gem. :)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Mother Ship Has Landed

I made it!! I'm blogging from not-so-sunny California. I had a really interesting trip, let me tell ya. I will never fly with US Airways again nor will I fly out of Jax, NC airport unless I have no other way out and it's a life or death situation. Long story short, I missed my flight, which was not my fault, and I didn't get into LAX until 7 pm Pacific time when I was supposed to have arrived at 10:15 am. And for the privilege of a flight from hell, I got to get up at 3:45 in the morning. Yeah. I was up for 23 hours yesterday. But, I made it and I'm so thrilled to be here I could weep.

As for my plans while I'm here, I have no idea. First thing I'm going to do is take a shower when I'm done here and then the rest of the day is up in the air. Oh, and I'd like to eat. I haven't had anything but airplane snacks since 9:30 yesterday morning. Oh, and Jelly Bellies. I bought some at the Charlotte airport, hehehe.

So, I'm off to start the day.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Eleventh Hour


I'm sitting here with my frou frou coffee (the genius that put coffee and chocolate together deserves a sainthood) trying to be awake enough to get some work done. I don't think I slept last night. Maybe for an hour or so. I dozed off for about five minutes this morning around 6 and I had the strangest dream that I was trapped in my grandparent's house with a murderer. I climbed out through a window in their bathroom to escape but he saw me as I was running past the kitchen and then I woke up. I wonder what it means. They're not even at their house right now since they winter in Texas, lol.

In both of my posts yesterday I forgot to mention how much I hate the time change. I wish they'd just let us stay at daylight savings for the entire year. How much difference does three months make anyway? I'm not hungry when it's time for dinner and I'm not tired when it's time for bed. Just leave the hour alone is what I'm saying.

I have to call my landlord today. I think our septic tank is backing up because we have this constant wet spot that is sometimes a puddle in our backyard. I'm dreading making this call because I hate bothering him with stuff. I know that I hate getting calls from my renters. This is the first house that I've ever lived in that has had a septic tank. It might be something to keep in mind when looking for our next house.

Okay. So, I've stalled long enough. Gotta get to work.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Something I Didn't Think Of

When I was booking my flight, the only thing I had in mind was to spend as much time as I possibly could in San Diego within reason. As a result, I have the worst departure time for the flight out and the worst arrival time for the flight back. My flight takes off at 5:50 am and the airport is 45 minutes away. I'm going to have to get up SO early Wednesday morning (or Tuesday night depending on how you look at it) and I can't sleep while travelling so the extra time I'm going to get in California the first day is probably going to be spent sleeping, lmao. My arrival time back in North Carolina is 11 something at night. It'll feel like 8 something to me so that's no big deal but the Mister has to pick me up and then go to work the next morning. I kinda sorta feel a little bad about that.

In other news, homework went really well today. I got all of my Spanish homework done and all of my business homework done. All I have left is to finish a paper for my Lit class and do an editing project. I should be able to get all that plus my packing done tomorrow. I was going to clean the house for the kids and the Mister but I don't think I left enough time for that. Besides, they know how to use the dishwasher and vacuum cleaner.

Also, I made a Rachel Ray recipe for dinner tonight that was a huge hit with the family. It was a cream of mushroom casserole thing and I added chicken breast to it. YUMMO as Rachel would say. It's not exactly good for you because you use real cream, lottsa cheese, and carbolicious noodles but I think it's okay to indulge every once in a while. It had three kinds of mushrooms in it. That's good, right?

Oh! And my iLuv iPod case arrived today...twice. Yup. They sent me two and I only paid for one. If they're willing to send me shipping materials, I'll send it back. If not, their loss. I'm not paying for their mistake. What sucks is that we only have one full size iPod so we can't even make good use out of the second case. If I end up keeping it, maybe I'll sell it on eBay or something, heheh.

Okay. So we're pushing on towards midnight and I should probably try to go to bed. Insomnia has been my companion for the past couple weeks so I'm endeavoring to be really tired before I try sleeping. Now, I'm not going to have anything to post tomorrow, heheh.

Title This

Every Monday when I'm trying to think of a title for my post the song Monday, Monday by The Mamas & The Papas pops in my head which, in turn, makes me think of Kathy Reichs' book Monday Mourning. Today is no exception.

Aside from the Mister's adventures on Saturday, we had a pretty dull weekend. We had some friends over Saturday night to help us eat $43 worth of free pizza courtesy of Dominos. On Sunday we went to Target, Walmart, and the pet store looking for one of those dog collar, cone things for Hannah. She has a sore on her face that she keeps scratching and now it's an open, oozing wound. We couldn't find one in her size though so the search continues.

Today and tomorrow my plans are the same: homework, laundry, and packing. I have to get a week's worth of homework done today and tomorrow because I don't want to have to take it with me. I'm on spring break next week so I won't have to worry about homework the last part of my trip.

Now I'm off for lunch and, you guessed it, homework.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Holy Highlights

I got my hair done today. I went in for a cut and a foil highlight. I've had both of these done countless times before and I always like the results. Today, my highlights are a little...WHOA!! I think I'll like it once I get used to it but for now, I get a shock when I see myself in the mirror. The Mister's response, "It's different." That's man speak for, "I don't like it." Oh well. He'll get used to it too. Despite the brightness of my new hair, I'll definitely go back to the guy who did it for me. I LOVED him. It was my fault for not being more specific when I told him what I wanted. As for the cut, it's just a normal cut with some layering. No biggie. But my stylist is going to buy a cheesecake from the Mister for his wife's birthday next month. How cool, right?

In other news, the Mister ran in the Crystal Coast Half Marathon this morning. It was his very first marathon and I was entirely proud of him for finishing it and in way less than stellar conditions. The coast had a gale storm warning and he said when he got to the top of the intracoastal waterway bridge that the skies opened up. They got hailed on, drenched by rain, and were buffeted by the wind. This is so funny and I have to share, lmao. His nipples were rubbed raw from the wetness of his shirt, HEHEHEH!! How funny is that? He said that even though he was hailed on, his nipples were abused, and his bleeding feet, it was fun. I told him that he and I have vastly different ideas on what fun is. Anything where I'm pelted by ice and am bleeding is not my idea of fun at all, but to each his own.

Tonight, we're hanging loose and I'm going to make some guacamole. YUMMO!!

Friday, March 07, 2008

Music Sooths the Savage Beast

I went on a downloading spree last night. Jennifer S. suggested that I needed to listen to some Bach in order to chill out and I took her advice. Then I took it a bit further and downloaded some Sinatra too, heheh. Who doesn't love Sinatra?? I also ripped three opera cds, one Mozart cd, and two Celtic music cds onto my computer to add to my "chill out" music on my computer. Despite being amazingly mellow when I went to bed last night, as soon as my head hit the pillow my mind went into overdrive and I didn't get to sleep until after 2 this morning. I just have too much stuff going on right now.

It's absolutely pouring rain here today. Bailey hates the rain and won't willingly go out in it. We literally have to shove her out the door so she can do her business. Hannah, however, doesn't care in the least and she'll stay out until she's soaked to the bone. Speaking of my dogs, I haven't posted new pictures of them in forever. I should do that. They're going to miss me while I'm gone.

My iLuv battery case for my iPod probably isn't going to make it here before I leave which really peeves me. I placed the order on 3/5 and it's only in processing as of today. My luck, it'll get here on Wednesday after I leave, lol.

Come fly with me. Let's fly, let's fly away! I leave in FIVE days!!

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Thursday Meme

The Thursday meme courtesy of Booking Through Thursday.

You should have seen this one coming … Who is your favorite Male lead
character? And why?Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so
people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer,
leave your answers in the comments themselves!


I could say Roarke to go with Eve from the In Death books but he's too perfect and not real enough. I do have a few other characters in mind though.

I liked Pi from Yann Martel's Life of Pi. I can't help but respect someone who practices Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam all at the same time.

Another favorite male character of mine is Odd Thomas. Odd was truly a hero.

As with female characters, I could go on and on with the male characters so I'll limit myself to two.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

I'm Getting Peeved

Therefore, I blog. Just an FYI, I'm about 2 seconds from turning the text messaging on my cell phone off. Why? Because I keep getting pointless, forwarded text messages from various people. No, they don't cost me anything since I have unlimited texting but they are ANNOYING!!!! ANNOYING!!!! ANNOYING!!!! I like getting actual text messages that are actual messages and not just the "forward this or you're going to have bad luck for the rest of your life" type messages but if they start out with a "fwd" I DON'T EVEN READ THEM. STOP IT!! To certain texters, don't take this to mean that I don't like or love you, but STOP IT!! I really can't emphasize this enough: ANNOYING and STOP IT.

Thank you.

Hump Day

This is definitely a hump day for me. I leave a week from today!! I'm both excited and nervous. I ordered a battery/case thing from iLuv today for my iPod. I paid extra for fast shipping so that I can have it on the plane to and from. Yay!

The recording part of our DVR crapped out on us again today. This is the fourth or fifth one that we've killed in just over a year. It's only the HD DVR's too. We have a regular DVR in our bedroom that we've had since we moved here and it's still going strong. The Mister is the one losing out on the most shows. He's going to miss this entire season of Prison Break, most of this season of Dexter, and some other odds and ends because we had stuff saved on there from back in November. I lost last night's Jericho, October Road (which I watched online) and Medium which I tried to watch online but the video was horribly choppy and I gave up. It also means that I'm going to have to actually watch shows as they are on tv which means less Wii, lol. I wish they'd make the HD DVR's a little hardier because they don't last long in our house.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Wiiiiii

We got our Wii yesterday. As I said in the comments on yesterday's post, I told my kids that their dad had ordered a snake and that's why the box said fragile. They both kept their distance while I opened the box, heheh. Wii played Wii Sports that came with it and then the Mister and I bought Wii Play because it came with a remote, some soccer game that the Mister wanted and is funny to watch, and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games which is fun too. I wanted to get My Sims but neither Target nor Walmart had it. What I really like about it is that it's backwards compatible with the Gamecube so all of our Gamecube games work with it too. All in all, it's a fun time and now I have something to hold over the kids' heads to get them to do their homework and chores, lol.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Monday. Ugh.

How was everyone's weekend? Ours was pretty blah. We had a good time in Jacksonville Saturday night though. Sunday, the Mister and I spent the entire day with our noses to the grindstone. We both had about two weeks worth of homework to catch up on. Also, the oldest child caught the youngest child's illness and had a fever of 102. I hope that either a) I catch what they have now and get it over with before my trip, or b) I don't get it all so it doesn't ruin my trip. Flying with a head cold is such a pain.

We did have one funny over the weekend. We had some family drama going on which resulted in a betting pool. My sister-in-law won over all but between the Mister and I, I won. My prize? I get to order some candles from Illuminations. OOOH OOOH!! Or maybe I'll wait and buy them in person when I get to San Diego. Hmm. Now I don't know if I want to wait or not. Life is full of so many decisions, heheh.

I'm off to keep the youngest child company while she gets ready for school.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

I Need Help

I need to edit a project for my final project in my editing class. It needs to be approximately 10 pages long (I'd prefer it not to be much longer than 10, lol) and have enough mistakes in it to show that I actually know what I'm doing.

If you have something that needs to be or could be edited or know of someone who has something, I'd appreciate you passing it along to me.

This is a weird request, I know. I can use a project that my professor already has but I'd prefer to use something original.

Thanks!

Humdrum Saturday

I've had a weird week. The youngest child was home sick Thursday and Friday. Both kids have the sneezes and a cough but the youngest had a fever to go with it so she couldn't go to school. Today, they're both annoying with sneezing and coughing but no fever.

I found out Wednesday that a friend of mine is pregnant. I'm really excited for her and her husband. They were having conception issues so this is really great news for them. What's weird is that the Mister and I were at Target just last week buying baby gates for the dogs and while we were there, we looked at all the neat baby gadgets that have come out since our kids were babies. While I am totally done having kids and don't have that want to have more, I love buying baby things for other people and we don't currently have any babies in our families. I have to wait until my friend is three months along, but then I can start buying baby stuff!! I can't wait.

Right now I'm waiting for the Mister to get home from work. Yep. He had to work on Saturday. We haven't had a full weekend together since the first weekend in February with him being in Maryland and then he had duty the first weekend home and now they have a huge inspection next week so he's working this weekend too. Whine, whine. But really, I'm pretty much numb to him working 6 or 7 days a week. I just feel bad for him cuz he's really behind with his school work because of work work.

Anywho, this weekend is going to consist of the following: a trip to Jacksonville to buy all the pets food, we'll maybe look at some houses, and homework. Lotsa, lotsa homework. I haven't ready ANY books this week other than text books. Can you believe that? I swear, I'm not lying.