Two Posts in One Day

We had another household mishap. They’re starting to become routine which is scary. To refresh your memories before I tell you about the newest breakdown, our washer is still acting up and my retarded Dyson Animal is still broken. The newest thing? Our garbage disposal is broken. Let me tell you why.

I have a lazy teenager. Her only chore in our house is to unload and reload the dishwasher. For a normal person, this would take 20 minutes a day at the most. For her, it can take upwards of four or five hours depending on how much I yell and badger. Last night we had spaghetti for dinner. It took her about an hour to not clean all of the dirty dishes and to shove all of the unused spaghetti noodles down the sink which totally packed in the pipes and clogged them. Then, she neglected to tell us that she had clogged the sink up. I discovered this at about 10:45 last night when I was trying to wash my hands and the water didn’t go down the sink. I turned the garbage disposal on because 99% of the time, that’s all it takes. Nope. All this did was cause noodle water to explode out of the other side of the sink. I tell the Mister and he grabbed the plunger and tried clearing the drain that way. He plunged and all this did was pull more noodles up the drain. Then we tried running the disposal again and that’s when we had a massive geyser. Noodles and noodle water everywhere when the pipe burst its seal under the sink. By now it’s after 11 and we’re picking noodles off of ourselves and there’s nasty water all over my kitchen. The Mister took the pipes apart and snaked the drain with a wire hanger (we don’t have an actual plumber’s snake.) After some snaking and more plunging, he cleared the pipes. He put everything back together but when I tested the garbage disposal, more water started coming out of it. It blew some sort of seal on the inside of it. We know NOTHING about garbage disposals but I’m assuming it’s going to have to be replaced.

We didn’t get to bed until after midnight because we both needed showers. I literally had to pick noodles off of the Mister’s back. We were a mess. I am so not happy with my child that she should be entirely grateful that I don’t beat kids. In her roots, she’s a good kid but this laziness of hers is becoming an epidemic. And yes, I know. What else is a teen supposed to be but lazy? But GEEZ! That doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Considering the punishment and grounding I have in mind for her, my house is going to be the most un-fun place to be for the next week or so. Calgon take me away!

An Award!

Pam over at 30 Something gave me this award today. Considering how much I blog as of late, it was very generous of her to think of me. Thanks Pam!!!

Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

7 things you may not know about me.

1. Coming up with seven unknown facts about me at this point in the game that I’m willing to share is a hard thing to do!
2. I feel more exposed opening up our soap business than I ever have in the six years that I’ve been blogging.
3. I got my carpet cleaned last week and it really gave me a feeling of contentment knowing that it was clean. How sad is that?
4. I don’t have time to read very much these days. This includes blogs, articles, and books that I read for leisure.
5. I think I’m a little addicted to Bag, Borrow, or Steal. I’ve spent a little bit of money there recently, hehehe.
6. I’m tired of living in Small Town, U.S.A. I need more.
7. You wouldn’t believe the amount of time it took me to make this list.

Now I’m supposed to nominate seven blogs for this award. Sadly, I’ve fallen behind in my blog writing and reading and I have no idea which blogs to nominate that haven’t already been nominated. :( I suck.

If I Didn’t Have Bad Luck…

After our infamous trip to Ohio, we arrived home to discover that our washing machine wasn’t working right. It was making noises like it was going to run a regular cycle but the lid wouldn’t lock and it wouldn’t fill with water. You can picture me with steam coming out of my ears. The ding dong machine isn’t even three years old yet.

So, I do a bit of research online and find a message board about my washing machine with people posting about similar problems. Their machines had the computer board go out on it which is about $200 just for the board to replace. This isn’t including a service charge or labor. Again, me, steam, ears. I have the worst luck with washing machines. My old machine had the shocks go out on it and that was $250 to fix.

Anywho, we get back from Ohio and we’re pretty broke. We are able to get our machine to work if we unplug it and reset the computer EVERY TIME WE RUN A NEW LOAD so this is what we’ve been doing. I finally was able to get a repairman out today and the DING DONG MACHINE WORKED FINE FOR HIM!!!! WTF?!?! I had to pay him $59 for a service call for him to tell me the freaking thing was fine. In addition to feeling like a complete and total idiot, this repair call is occurring right in the middle of a phone conference for which I have to keep muting myself so I can talk to the guy. SHEESH!!

He did tell me that it probably is the computer board going out and I could go ahead and have him replace it if I wanted him to. I opted to wait even though I’m fearful that the board will crap out on me in the middle of a cycle and leave me with a washer full of wet, drippy, soapy clothes. It just seemed kind of silly to pay to fix something that was working.

Oh. And my wonderful Dyson Animal is broken too and the nearest repair shop for that is an hour away. I’m telling ya, bad luck. If I didn’t have it, I wouldn’t have any luck at all.

I’ve Come To Realize

1. I’ve come to realize that my chest-size…
is good enough for me. On the small size but at least I don’t have to worry about being able finding the right bra and I can wear pretty lacy bras too.

2. I’ve come to realize that my job…

is something to be envious of. I can’t tell you how many people have asked me how can they find work from home jobs.

3. I’ve come to realize that when I’m driving…
I obsess too much over how other drivers suck. It makes driving something that I don’t enjoy doing in the least.

4. I’ve come to realize that I need…

more self control. Oh. And a vacation.

5. I’ve come to realize that I have lost…

touch with too many good friends.

6. I’ve come to realize that I hate it when…

Mondays roll around and completely cherish weekends and holidays.

7. I’ve come to realize that if I’m drunk…
It’s not as much fun as it used to be when I was younger. Now it kinda makes me feel stupid and immature.

8. I’ve come to realize that money…

is a necessary evil and I am happier when I have it than when I don’t.

9. I’ve come to realize that certain people…

need to call more often while other certain people need to bite me.

10. I’ve come to realize that I’ll always …
be a realist and judgmental and an over-protective parent and a good listener and techno-geek and a homebody.

11. I’ve come to realize that my siblings…

Will always be a source of wonder for me. Both of them can be pretty weird.

12. I’ve come to realize that my mom…

and I will never be as close as we once were.

13. I’ve come to realize that my cell phone…
is both my lifeline and the thing that weighs me down.

14. I’ve come to realize that when I woke up this morning…

the banging I was hearing wasn’t my dogs in the trash but the next door neighbors taking their trash out.

15. I’ve come to realize that last night before I went to sleep…

I stayed up too late watching the season finale of True Blood on my DVR. I still haven’t decided if it was worth it or not. That episode was just weird.

16. I’ve come to realize that right now I am thinking…
I have a ton of stuff to do that doesn’t involve blogging. I need to get to homeschooling, reading my assigned reading for the week, and I have client work to do too.

17. I’ve come to realize that my dad…
is one of the most intelligent people that I know and that I get my temper from him.

18. I’ve come to realize that when I get on Facebook…
I have a hard time figuring out what is so much fun about it.

19. I’ve come to realize that today…
is a beautiful day outside for a change. The sun has been shining since daybreak.

20. I’ve come to realize that tonight…
Is my night to cook. I’m making spaghetti with homemade red sauce, garlic bread, and a salad. Not very imaginative but it’ll be great.

21. I’ve come to realize that tomorrow…
is just another day. I have nothing special planned.

22. I’ve come to realize that I really want to…

Take a vacation.

23. I’ve come to realize that the person who is most likely to repost this is…
nobody I know, heheh. You should though if you’re reading this. It’s kinda therapeutic.

24. I’ve come to realize that life…
is gonna happen no matter what you do. So take those lemons and throw them at someone.

25. I’ve come to realize that this weekend…
will hopefully be fun for reasons that I can’t disclose.

26. I’ve come to realize that marriage…
is what you put into it. It’s ups and downs. It’s not perfect. And still, it’s warm and fuzzy.

27. I’ve come to realize that my friends…

are TOO FAR AWAY!!!

28. I’ve come to realize that this year…

Wasn’t a banner year. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that next year will be better.

29. I’ve come to realize that my ex is…

I don’t have an ex significant enough to talk about.

30. I’ve come to realize that maybe I should…

get lunch and stop being so lazy. Oh. I should probably also answer some of the work emails that have been coming in over the weekend and today.

31. I’ve come to realize that I love…

my life. I love my kids, my husband, my dogs, my job, going to school. I love it and consider myself lucky even though I’ve been saying I need a vacation. Everyone needs a break every once in a while.

32. I’ve come to realize that I don’t understand…

People who blindly trust. People that have to follow the crowd just because it’s trendy. I don’t understand violence against children.The list goes on. There’s a lot about this world and the people in it that I will never understand.

33. I’ve come to realize my past…
has gotten me to where I’m at today and it’s made me the person, wife, and parent that I am today. Overall, I don’t think I’m such a bad person.

34. I’ve come to realize that parties…

make me nervous. I can’t relax in the midst of a bunch of people. And it gets worse the older that I get. The thought of actually hosting a party makes me sweat.

35. I’ve come to realize that I’m totally terrified…
of something happening to my kids or my husband.

What’s for Dinner?

We’re busy this year. BUSY. The Mister and I both started the fall semester Tuesday. We’re only taking two classes a piece this semester but add jobs, kids, and homeschooling to that and it’s more than enough. So, we came up with a way to balance out the home life stuff and I had to share because I’m excited about it, lol.

Mondays and Wednesdays, dinner is my responsibility. Tuesdays and Thursdays, dinner is the Mister’s responsibility. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be either take out, leftovers, or a joint collaboration. I LOVE IT!! And today was the first day the Mister cooked dinner, lol.

He made chicken fajitas, nachos, and rice. It was great. He could have made boiled hotdogs and I would have been happy so long as I didn’t have to come up with the idea and cook it.

I’m sick to death of dinner. Dinner sucks. By the end of the day after working, doing homework, and homeschooling the youngest, I could really care less what we have for dinner. Have a sandwich, bowl of cereal or a handful of chips for all I care. Seriously. But I think this will make me more interested in cooking again. I used to like to cook but cooking and eating your own food night after night gets old.

So, YAY!!

Left or Right?

I don't and never have considered myself to be an overly political person. I think that it is beyond ridiculous that if you call yourself a republican that you automatically agree with every other republican, that you all have the same views, and that you all have the same priorities and values. Vice versa with democrats. I call myself neither a republican nor a democrat but more of a centrist with left leanings. This may be considered odd by some because we're a military family but that's just how I am. My dad, however, would be appalled because he's very much a conservative, heheh.

I've also never been one to agree with people or ideas because of trends or because something is the "popular" choice. I make up my own mind based on facts that I can see for myself and not blindly believe what other people tell me. I like to think that I make informed decisions.

All that being said, I'm going out on a shaky limb to say the following about the President's address to students.

I've read the text of the speech myself and I don't have a problem with it and the message it is conveying: Stay in school, achieve your goals, get your diploma. What made me angry in the beginning is that the whole thing was made out to be like the President was using this speech as a method to push his agenda on our kids. Turns out, in all honesty, that that wasn't the case. I think the Whitehouse should be blamed for not presenting the speech for what it was correctly from the get go. What REALLY made me angry is that on Friday, I called my daughter's school and asked if the student's would be watching the speech today in classes. This was before the text of the speech was available to be read beforehand. I was informed that they would be recording the broadcast to show at a later date after sending home permission slips to parents first. I found out today that that wasn't, in fact, the case and that they were showing the broadcast as they deemed it appropriate to the curriculum for the day. I feel like I was lied to or at the very least, misled. In the end, I would have been angry if the Whitehouse had intended to broadcast the speech without allowing parents and educators to read the text first and know ahead of time what they were exposing the children to. In my opinion, it is the only responsible thing for parents and teachers to do, to know the materials that their kids are reading and watching before the kids actually read and/or watch it. They, and I, would do the same thing with any movie.

It also ticks me off that parents who agree with me are automatically labled as being eccentric conservatives or unpatriotic or conspiracy theorists. That kind of thinking says to me that people think that because I choose to be involved with my children's education and because I care what kinds of media that they are exposed to, that this makes me a crazy parent. I think it makes me a responsible parent and I don't defend my point of view.

Does all this make me more of a republican, fanatical conservative? I don't think so but I do think that it should be beside the point altogether. First and foremost, I'm a parent and then I'm a concerned, informed citizen. I think everyone, lefties and righties, need to get a grip.

Random Saturday Ravings

I'm taking a mini non-vaca this weekend. What in the world is that? It is where the Mister and I have turned off all of our phones and they aren't scheduled to be turned back on until Tuesday morning. Yay!! I couldn't be more excited. If you need to reach me, try calling the oldest child. I'm pretty much ignoring email and Twitter this weekend too. If you don't have the oldest child's phone number, sorry bout your luck.

I stole this meme from Literary Feline's blog. Read on!

Share your ABC’s

Available or single? Married
Best Friend? The Mister of course
Cake or Pie? Pie. Apple if you want specifics.
Drink of choice? Pepsi
Essential item for every day use? Toilet paper.
Favorite color? I'm into the green family right now.
Google? Way superior to Bing.
Hometown? All over Ohio.
Indulgences? Video gaming. At my age, it's just embarrassing to admit out loud
January or February? Neither and YUCK!!
Kids and their names? Four daughters (humans and dogs) named Morgan, Sidney, Bailey, and Hannah.
Life is incomplete without…? Pets
Marriage date? May 1996
Number of siblings? Two: An older brother and a younger sister. Yes, that makes me a middle child.
Oranges or apples? Apples
Phobias and fears? Rushing water.
Quote for the day? "Friends may come and go but enemies accumulate." Oscar Wilde
Reason to smile? The thought of no phone for three days makes me smile.
Season? Summer
Time Travel Destination? England in the 1500's. A scary time and place but I would love to have seen the Tudor court first hand.
Unknown fact about me? My middle name is...
Vegetable you hate? Asparagus
Worst habit? Procrastination
X-rays you’ve had? Wrist and chest.
Your fave food? Mexican
Zodiac sign? Cancer

I'm going to finish this post off in the same manner that Literary Feline did hers.

Random Thoughts for the Day:

• I was completely, thouroughly, and totally irritated at my job for the first time since I started working 16 months ago, yesterday.
• Both of my kids are grounded to their rooms this weekend. First time ever for that too.
• I can't wait for the new television season to start.
• Last night I had a dream that the remnants of Erika reformed into a Cat 5 hurricane and skimmed up the entire eastern seaboard.
• Ohio State football season starts today.
• I think my marketing class is going to be fun this semester.
• I want a stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut.
• I think that's going to be dinner.
  

The Grind

Pardon me while I whine and vent.

I need a vacation. Not the pseudo-vacation that we took to Ohio where the only person that might define that as an actual vacation would be Hitler or maybe Stalin. I worked almost every day that we were there and I was stressed out beyond belief. That was not a vacation. I’m talking the variety of vacations where there are no kids, no relatives, NO EMAIL, and limited access to a phone. What there is, is lots of books to read at my leisure. sleeping in until I feel like getting up, staying up as late as I want because I know that I won’t have to get up the next morning, and nobody for company except for the Mister. I need that. Seriously. I think I’m getting an ulcer and I know that I get migraines way too often. I’m about sick to death of hearing my incoming e-mail sound on my BlackBerry. That thing never freaking stops. I hear it in my nightmares. I can be reached way too easily and too many people know that.

Do you know the last time that I had a real vacation? A vacation where work and/or school wasn’t hanging over my head? That would be March of last year when I visited Jennifer in California for my spring break and even then I was thinking about having to hit the books when I got back. I suppose that’s not so bad when I look at it. It’s only a year and a half ago. Whatever.

A vacation. Seriously, And soon. I need one or you might be hearing about some crazed lady from North Carolina in the news.

Thursday Meme

It's been a while since I've done a Booking Through Thursday. Today's topic appealed to me so here we go with an old friend.

What’s the lightest, most “fluff” kind of book you’ve read recently?

I haven't had a lot of time to read anything at all lately having been on my pseudo-vacation and then getting the kids back to school. I just finished reading Julie & Julia by Julie Powell yesterday though. I'm not sure how "fluffy" this book is but I enjoyed it as a leisure kind of read. When I decided to read it, I didn't realize that it was a memoir. I believe this is the first memoir I've ever read. Julie said in her book that she was criticized for the foul language she used on her blog and thus, in her book, lol. I thought it was funny and made the book more real. I figure there are more important things to obsess over in life than someone's exuberant use of the "f" word. My blog is pretty clean compared to the way my mouth works in real life. You should hear me while driving.

Anyway, before Julie and Julia I was reading and I'm still in the middle of Charlaine Harris' Shakespeare's Landlord. I decided to give this a try after reading and thouroughly enjoying Harris' Southern Vampire series. Like I said, I haven't finished it yet but I started reading this book a couple weeks ago and it was fairly easy to put down and not pick back up in favor of another book. I still plan on finishing it in order to give it a fair shake but at this point I thinks it's safe to assume I won't be reading the second book in this series.

Another Day of Firsts

Today was the first time the oldest child was allowed to wear makeup to school. Nothing too dramatic. Luckily for me, she seems to lean more towards the conservative side rather than the clown school side. She’s also the same way when it comes to her clothes. I’m keeping all my appendages crossed that she stays this way. I consider myself really lucky that I don’t have to fight with her about how she dresses and stuff.

Today was the first day that I’ve ever homeschooled a child. It went really well. Way better than her first day of school last year when she came home crying. We covered reading, spelling, math, and science today. I had a lot of misgivings about this undertaking but I honestly and truly think it’s the best thing for her. It’s only the first day so there’s still obstacles to overcome but we can’t do any worse at educating the youngest than public schools have done. This I know without a doubt.

Today was the first time that I’ve ever smashed a cell phone into a bazillion pieces. Well, to be more precise, a Marine Corps six ton did the job but either way, my BlackBerry is still dust in the road. I’d rather not say how it happened because I come off really bad in this story so don’t ask, heheh. I got REALLY lucky in that my line was eligible for Verizon’s new every two so I have a brand new BlackBerry Storm and I LOVE it. I’m sad that all of my contacts, saved e-mails, and pictures on my other phone are lost, but I have a new gadget so I’ll survive the loss.

Today is the first day that I’ve ever had the Uh Huh Hers on my iPod. I just downloaded their Common Reaction album from iTunes and I have to say that I think I’ll really love it. It reminds me a lot of the 80’s electronic pop kind of music. It’s also very much chic music too. They sound great and I love the  upbeat-ness to all their songs. It’s gonna sound pretty great at top volume in my car tomorrow, heheh.

Today was the first time I’ve ever run over two curbs in one outing. I don’t know what was wrong with me but those curbs kept jumping out in my way.

Now, I’m off to bed. Today is NOT the first time that I’ve ever hated getting up at 6:30 in the morning making it so I have to go to bed early at night just to get through the day. I’m so not a morning person.

Vaca Visiting the Fam Finale

So, we’re home. One day later than we wanted and one day earlier than planned. Get that? We had planned on being home 8/22, decided to leave on 8/20 and actually left on 8/21. The youngest child ended up getting a fever so we left on Friday. We left earlier than planned because we were ready to come home, lol.

This trip has made me reevaluate how I feel about Ohio. For the last 12 years, I have said that I hate Ohio and anything to do with it. This was a totally unfair assessment. Ohio is a pretty neat state. There is a lot to do with the Columbus Zoo (voted #1 in the nation), Cedar Point, Kings Island, The Wilds, Old Man’s Cave, Lake Erie, and tons and tons of other things I haven’t listed (not that I got to enjoy any of them while on this trip). In addition to sight seeing and other activities, there’s lots of shopping and dining opportunities in Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, and their surrounding suburbs (which I did get to do.). Funnily enough, I also realized how much I miss seeing miles of soybean and corn fields in the summer. It’s almost a Zen type of thing to look out over the rows.

The reason I have always said that I hate Ohio is because of how much of a PITA it is to go there. It’s either a 6 hour flight from California, a 13 hour drive from Vermont, or an 11 hour drive from North Carolina. Then, once you get there, the entire fam expects you to continue to traverse the entire state to visit them since the Mister and I have family pretty much all over the state with the exception of the very northern parts and we probably have family up there that I’m forgetting. I have decided that I’m not going to Ohio again unless it’s in an RV that we rent. Then we’re going to park it in some campground and everybody can come to US!!! We always end up pissing people off because we spent too much time there and not enough time here or vice versa and with an RV, it’ll be their fault if they don’t make it out to the campground. Ingenious, right?

Do I have pictures to share? Just a few with some animals. I didn’t get any of my grandparents house because the youngest was sick and we didn’t make it out to say goodbye like I had planned. I’m actually glad that I didn’t. I was almost in tears several times thinking about it and I know what kind of a fool I would have made of myself if I had actually known my last time there was my last time there. I think it’s best this way.

Now we’re home and trying to get back into a routine and get the kids started at school. Their first day is tomorrow and today will be hectic to say the least. It’s not even noon yet and I already feel like I’ve had a full day.  The Mister goes back to work tomorrow too but my first day back is today and I have a bit of catching up to do.

Vaca Visiting the Fam Pt. 2

Let's see. We left our house last Friday so today makes ten days since we've left home. I'm ready to go home. It's not anyone or anything but I guess I'm just homesick. I miss my bed, my house, the peace and quiet, my office, my Internet, my phone charger (I forgot the wall charger and can only charge my phone when we're in the car which is a major PITA!!), and most of all, I miss my sleep. Everyday that we've been here we've been up late and I've been woken up by either kids, dogs, or my sister's alarm going off at top level for an hour. I'm not exaggerating either. I am whining but I'm not exaggerating.

As a result, we're heading home a few days early. Just a few but enough that it'll be nice. We're not going to be able to go to the zoo, Cedar Point, or COSI but who cares. I want my house.

Anyway, enough whining.

I don't really have too much to say though. We haven't done anything. We did get to go to this petting zoo thing that had a giraffe, llamas, alpacas, goats, kangaroos, camels, and some other animals. What was cool about it is that you could feed and pet everything there except for the donkeys. I got to feed and pet a giraffe which was way cool. I also got to pet the kangaroos which was neat too. We had a lot of fun. Other than that, all we've done is hang out, shop, and eat. We discovered The Cheesecake Factory which is our new favorite restaurant. We've been twice and got something different each time and shared. Great food, HUGE portions, awesome cheesecake, and a nice environment. My only itch about it is that the menu is so big that it's hard to decide cuz everything sounds good and so far I've tried five different entrees and liked them all.

Despite my sister's alarm clock, I have truly loved staying with her. It seems very grown up to stay with my sister and her family, lol. I introduced her to my favorite wine last night and we enjoyed a bottle together. I also introduced her to Dooney & Burke, Coach, and Burberry but that's another story. ;)

Tomorrow we're leaving my sister's to visit some other fam. Then, we're headed back to N.C. first thing Thursday morning. We're driving straight through since staying in a hotel didn't really work out last time, heheh.

If you're tweeting me, leaving me Facebook messages, or comments on my blog and I'm not answering, I'm getting them, it's just hard to respond on my phone which constantly needs to be charged and I can only get on the Internet sporadically. I love and appreciate them though so don't stop!!

Vaca Visiting the Fam Pt 1

We've had a pretty good trip so far. We haven't really done all that much yet except for visit. We've been gone six days and gotten gas four times already. That's how much driving we've been doing.

Sunday, we met my cousin Mandy, my brother, my niece and nephew, and my grandparents for breakfast. The last time I had seen my cousin was nine years before at my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary party. I was honestly shocked when I realized it had been that long. It was so great to see her again. She had to leave that day to drive home to St. Louis and I really wish we had had time to visit longer.

After breakfast, we drove out to my grandparents' house to visit for a while. Bittersweet is the only way to describe it. Anyway, my grandma has this table that she got for her 50th birthday in Italy. The table is inlaid and is six triangles that fit together to make an entire table. Each triangle piece of the table opens up and plays a different song. Because my grandma started my music box collection, she told me that one day that table would be mine. Well, since they're moving, she told me it was time to take my table home. I absolutely love this table and we are having it shipped home. I was also supposed to get this ballerina, harpist musical statue thing that was my great grandma's but my uncle snaked it from me. I'm not happy but what can I do? Had he taken my table, I'd be in Iowa right now beating him up for it, lol.

We've been staying with my sister while visiting. She just bought her first house so it's been a real treat to stay with her. It all feels very grown up, lol. Also, she loves my dogs so they've been welcome in her home. She and her husband actually have an appointment set up with a breeder to look at Boxer puppies, hehehe. I'm a bad influence I guess.

Like I said, it's been a nice visit so far but today was a touchy day. The youngest child and my nephew who is four like to nitpick at each other. Today, he was spitting on her which caused her to lose it which caused me to have a meltdown. I really just wanted to beat on everybody. Now, we're kind of all in our own corners, lol.

So, that's the trip so far. I have no idea what's planned for tomorrow. We're supposed to be going to the Columbus Zoo, COSI, Cedar Point, shopping, and we have tons more family to visit with. It should be an interesting few days. ;)

Oh. I got a cute pair of shoes on sale today too.

Getting Ready to Go

Our first order of business while we're in Ohio is to visit my grandparents. They are selling their house so this will be the last time that I get to see it. I am most unbelievably sad about this. Their house has been the one constant in my life. My grandpa and my uncles built that house. They've lived in it since before I was born. This house represents summers spent swimming with my cousins, Christmases spent camping out on the living room floor with all my cousins, walks in the woods behind their house, walks to the bridge with my great grandpa, just so many memories. This house was a happy safe haven when I was a little girl.

There is a folding door that goes from the den to the hallway that every grandkid has gotten their fingers smashed in at least once, lol. When I was teeny, tiny, I locked myself in my grandparents' bathroom while I was playing in my grandma's makeup, heheh. My uncle had to take the doorknob off cuz I wouldn't let anyone in while I was trying to clean up my mess. My cousins, sister, and I had this kinda traditional game we'd play during the holidays that we aptly name The Wall Game. Basically, it was a game of tag where the opposite living room walls were "base" and you had to run safely between the walls while the cousin that was "it" tried to tag you. My grandma was in a constant tizzy over the hand prints us dirty kids would leave on her white walls. One year, my 6+ foot tall uncle decided to join in and his clumsiness led to a mirror getting knocked off the wall and broken.

I can remember many nights sleeping in the middle bedroom that used to be my great grandpa's before he passed away. Their house is in the country so the silence is very complete at night with the only sounds being from crickets in the summer and the wind in the winter. It was quite different than my childhood bedroom in my house that was on one of the busiest streets in the town where I was born. It was peaceful.

There were also nights that I would sleep in my grandparents' bed with my grandma because my grandpa was working a 24 hour shift at the fire house. In the mornings, I would sit and go through my grandma's jewelry boxes trying on her rings and picking out what I would have liked to have had for myself.

And now that I'm grown with my own kids, I enjoy memories of my grandpa taking my daughters for rides on his lawnmower. Memories of them swinging with my dad in the swing in the backyard. Walking with my kids out to the pond so we could watch the frogs jump in and bluegill swim around the cattails.

Life goes on and change happens but this will take some getting used to for me. Maybe some Xanacs and therapy will be in order, heheh. I'm sad but I'll get over it. I'm really looking forward to seeing my grandparents and their house once more time before they move. It's been a few years since we've been out to visit. Our trips to Ohio don't often coincide with them being in Ohio at the same time since they enjoy travelling and spend their winters in Texas. It'll be a treat if not a bittersweet one.

Best Beach Reads

Pam had this over at her blog so I found the list on NPR's website and decided to highlight the books that I have read. Sadly, it's only 15 (thanks Pam, heheh) out of 100. Oh well.

1. The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
3. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
4. Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding
5. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
6. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
7. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
9. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
10. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver


11. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
12. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
13. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
14. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
15. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
16. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
17. Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett
18. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
19. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
20. Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen


21. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
22. The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver
23. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
24. The World According to Garp, by John Irving
25. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
26. The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy
27. Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel
28. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
29. The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler
30. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer


31. A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
32. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
33. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
34. Beach Music, by Pat Conroy
35. One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
36. Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier
37. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
38. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
39. The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough
40. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon


41. Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
42. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
43. Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice
44. Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier
45. Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
46. Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes
47. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
48. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, by Tom Robbins
49. I Know This Much Is True, by Wally Lamb
50. Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie


51. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
52. The Stand, by Stephen King
53. She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb
54. Dune, by Frank Herbert
55. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
56. Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
57. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
58. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
59. The Godfather, by Mario Puzo
60. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith


61. Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver
62. Jaws, by Peter Benchley
63. Good in Bed, by Jennifer Weiner
64. Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner
65. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
66. The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
67. The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
68. Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut
69. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
70. The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler


71. The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
72. The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy
73. Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns
74. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
74. Bonfire of the Vanities, by Tom Wolfe [tie]
76. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
77. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
78. The Shell Seekers, by Rosamunde Pilcher
79. Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver
80. Eye of the Needle, by Ken Follett


81. Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
81. The Pilot's Wife, by Anita Shreve [tie]
83. All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy
84. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
85. The Little Prince, by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
86. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
87. One for the Money, by Janet Evanovich
88. Shogun, by James Clavell
89. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
90. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera


91. Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow
92. Franny and Zooey, by J.D. Salinger
93. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
94. Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris
95. Summer Sisters, by Judy Blume
96. The Shining, by Stephen King
97. How Stella Got Her Groove Back, by Terry McMillan
98. Lamb, by Christopher Moore
99. Sick Puppy, by Carl Hiaasen
100. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Summer...So Far

It's been forever since I've had a real blog post. I read somewhere that you're not supposed to acknowledge time away from your blog or apologize for it. I think that's funny but even so, I won't apologize. Life happens, ya know?

So, the summer. The Mister spent most of his summer in Jacksonville at Staff Sergeants Course. If you're not familiar with this, it's basically a bunch of Marine Staff Sergeants getting beat down with PT (Physical Training or exercise to you and me.)and supposedly learning how to become better Staff Sergeants. No biggie. He was able to come home every weekend and even some week nights. The girls and I manage quite well on our own. I enjoyed not having to cook hardly at all this summer. With the Mister gone, the girls and I ate light and had many "catch whatcha can" nights.

The oldest child celebrated her 13th birthday back in July. She had two different sleep overs for it and managed some pretty good loot. She got a new cell phone, some clothes, DS games, and her first real, not play, makeup.

My 32nd birthday was 6 days before hers and I spent it at home. I honestly don't remember if the Mister was home, if we went out to dinner, or what. My own birthdays mean very little to me.

The youngest child has been herself. She's made a couple new friends in the neighborhood and has stayed busy, out and about, all summer. Oh. And we've decided to home school her this year. Maybe I'll talk about that in a separate post sometime.

Work has been pretty crazy for me. CRAZY!! I've had several big projects due this summer and with the kids home and the Mister gone, I've been busy. I even worked overtime for the first time last month. I may or may not have a couple new clients lined up for the coming months as well. I'm pretty ambivalent about that. Don't get me wrong. I'll be grateful for the work but I'm to the point where I'm happy with my the steady clients that I have now so if these new ones don't work out, I won't be too sad about it. In addition to my consulting work, I've been trying to write for another blog that has to do with social networking and working from home. It's really tough keeping up with two blogs let me tell ya.

Also, the Mister and I are on the very cusp of being officially open for business with the soap project. We've made three new and improved batches that we are taking to Ohio (more on that in a minute) that we plan on hawking to friends and family to sell. I've redesigned our website, designed a logo, made cigar labels, and we are just about ready to open our virtual marketplace. More on all this in another post as well but feel free to ask any questions and pass along the word!!

So, Ohio. We are planning a trip there. This will be our first, for real, honestly, planned trip to Ohio that we've ever taken. We've gone for weddings, funerals, illnesses, and to pick the kids up but never just to visit. The last two times we tried to plan a trip, someone in our family died. I kid you not. The last time, almost two years ago, the week we were going to go, my brother-in-law was killed in an accident. We hadn't even told anyone we were coming cuz we wanted it to be a surprise. I'm telling you what though, if someone dies this time, I will never plan another trip to Ohio again. That would just be too freaky. We have lots planned. We are taking the oldest child to Cedar Point. It will be her very first trip there and she's very excited. It's almost a rite of passage for someone from Ohio. The youngest isn't going because she won't ride rides. She'll be hanging with her cousins and grandparents. My step mom is also treating us girls, and my sister, to a day spa. They're getting mani/pedi's and facials while I get my hair cut and colored. I'm not much for having people touch me so I opted out of the other stuff. We're also going to a zoo. We haven't decided between the Indianapolis Zoo or the Columbus Zoo yet. We're also going to try and fit in a trip to COSI in Columbus. I used to LOVE going there when I was a kid and I would really like to take my girls there. Man. I'm kinda tired thinking about all that, lol.

Anyway, we've made a couple trips to the beach but not nearly as often as I would like to have. I timed it the other day...From the time we get up, get ready, and drive to the beach, it takes us two hours till we hit sand. Two hours makes it so that we don't get to go as much as I would love to go.

To fill in the nights, I've been watching some new TV shows. I really like True Blood and Hung. They're fun and pretty over the top. The Mister and I have also started watching Nurse Jackie on HBO. I love that show. I've been a fan of Edie Falco's from when she was on the Soprano's. Old summer shows we're still watching and loving are The Close, Raising the Bar, and Weeds.

I've also been reading again. I read the entire Sookie Stackhouse series (The books from which True Blood is based.) in a week, lol. I downloaded them all to my Kindle app on my iPod. I've also been reading my English Royals non fiction books as well. I'm reading a book about Henry VIII's wives and a book about Mary Queen of Scots. I'm really enjoying them both. They make me miss watching The Tudors less, lol.

I don't think anything else of significance has happened this summer. It's been relatively quiet. The Mister graduates from his training on Wednesday and we leave for Ohio on Saturday. We'll be back a couple days before school starts and that will be the end of summer. I'm a little sad about that. I look forward to summer all fall, winter, and spring and it just doesn't seem to last long enough.

So. What did you all do with your summer?

E-mail Survey Conclusion

80% said that that e-mail addresses don’t influence their opinion of a business.

The other two responses each received 10% of the votes:

Yes. Addresses that end in ATT, Verizon, Cox, Comcast, etc. (Service Provider Accounts) don't sound professional to me.

Yes. Addresses that end in Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail (Free Accounts) don't sound professional to me.

Oh well. Either way, I wasn’t planning on changing my e-mail address, lol. I was just wondering what everyone else thought about it. Personally, I think ISP email addresses and free accounts sound less professional, however, I think Gmail is more acceptable than Hotmail or Yahoo. But, I’m biased. I love Gmail and I use it for three different business accounts of mine. I don’t use ISP email EVER because we move so much and it doesn’t make sense for me to use them. I’d be changing my email address every three years or more which isn’t good for business.

Music Sooths the Savage Beast

Last night, I made a run with the hubs to get gas. He came home from his training last night but had to be up at 4:30 this morning to make it back in time which means he can’t get gas on his way. AnyWHO, I was sitting in his car while he pumped the gas and decided to look in his console to stuff some wires back inside of it. (He had his iPod cord and phone charger hanging out of it.) While in there, I noticed some CD cases and decided to see what they were. They were:  Blink 182’s Greatest Hits, a CDR copy of  Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams, Angels & Airwaves’ We Don’t Need to Whisper and Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace. There were also five CD’s in the CD player so I took them out to see what they were: The Jack Johnson CD, a recoded CDR that didn’t have writing on it, Gorillaz’s Demon Days, and LL Cool J’s Todd Smith. What the freaking heck is my point? None of the cases matched up with the CDs that were in the car except for Angels and Airwaves.

It’s been so long since I’ve bought or listened to an actual CD that I couldn’t even begin to guess where the missing CDs and cases are located. Probably in a box in my garage would be my best guess. Since having an iPod, I honestly don’t see the point of buying CDs anymore. I rarely download an entire CD on iTunes but when I do, it’s cheaper than buying an actual CD. I much prefer to listen to previews of tracks and download and pay for the ones that I want instead of buying an entire CD where I might like 2 or 3 tracks on it at best. People that know me best know to buy me iTunes gift cards for my birthday rather than CDs too. Heheh. Did I mention that I got four for my birthday last month?

Now, I’m going to take my long lost CDs and copy the songs that I like on them onto my computer so that I can have them on my iPod. Welcome to the highlight of my day. ;)

Curiosity Killed the Cat

My latest project sparked my curiosity so I created a survey on Survey Monkey to gather some opinions.

When you are dealing with professionals and/or businesses, does their E-mail address affect your opinion of them? What I mean is if a business person’s email is professional@gmail.com versus professional@professionalwebsite.com , does one sound more professional than the other?

I asked this question on Twitter and one response that I got was that Gmail is more acceptable than Hotmail or Yahoo. Seeing as how that’s what I use for my business contacts, I liked that answer, lol.

Anyway, if you could take the time to assuage my curiosity, I’d appreciate it.

Click Here to take survey

Random Meme

I haven’t done one of these in a while and it seemed time. I still have more pet posts, but I have to dig out old snapshots for those.

1. What color is your toothbrush? White

2. Name one person who made you smile today? The youngest

3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Watching TV in bed.

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Eating lunch.

5. What is your favorite candy bar? Snickers

6. What did you do last night? Played Mario Kart on the DS with the kids, watched some TV, talked on the phone with the Mister.

7. What is the last thing you said aloud? “You guys have to leave in 15 minutes.”

8. What is your favorite ice cream? Ben & Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch

9. What was the last thing you had to drink? Sierra Mist

10. Do you like your wallet? Sure.

11. What was the last thing you ate? Lunch

12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? Nope.

13. The last sporting event you watched? Baseball game on TV last night.

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?  Butter.

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? The Mister.

16. Ever go camping? Not for many years.

17. Do you take vitamins daily?  No.

18. Do you go to church every Sunday? Nope.

19. Do you have a tan? A little one.

20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza?  Depends on my mood, but yes, sometimes.

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? Fountain soda, yes. Canned or bottled, no.

22. What did your last text message say?  Ok.

23. What are you doing tomorrow?  Dunno. The Mister will be coming home for the weekend but we don’t have Friday plans.

24. Have you ever eaten a bug? I’m sure at some point I have.

25. Look to your left, what do you see?  The Mister’s desk.

26. What color is your watch?   Silver and gold.

27. What do you think of when you hear Australia?   Koala bears.

28. What are you wearing right now?   Tank top and shorts.

29. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?   Drive thru.

30. What is your favorite number?   6.

31. Who’s the last person you talked to on the phone?   The Mister.

32. Any plans today?   I gotta get the kids to a thing then I’m vegging until they get home. Then I’m going to make dinner and bake something.

33. How many states have you lived in?   5.

34. Biggest annoyance right now?   The headache I’ve had for 11 days straight.

35. Last song listened to?   Hmm. Something in the car. I don’t remember.

36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? Dunno

37. Do you have a maid service clean your house?   I wish.

38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?   Any of my sandals.

39. Are you jealous of anyone?   No

40. Is anyone jealous of you?   Most likely not.

41. Do you love anyone?   Sure

42. Do any of your friends have children? Most if not all of them do.

43. What do you usually do during the day?   Now that it’s summer, I hang with the kids, watch TV, shove some work in when I can, play games, hang out in the backyard.

44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? Surprisingly, I’d say “hate” is too strong of a word at the moment.

45. Do you use the word “hello”?   Whenever I answer the phone.

46. What color is your car? Silver.

47. Do you like cats?    Sure do.

48. Are you thinking about someone right now?    No one specific.

49. Have you ever been to Six Flags?    Nope. Cedar Point and Kings Island though.

50. How did you get your worst scar?   I had my appendix removed.