And We’re in Business!

I am officially in business. I finally applied for and received my business license last week! Woot! I figured it was about time. It’s actually past being about time but hey, better late than never.

In other news…

We’ve been having the most excellent weather. It’s been in the 70’s and 80’s for a few days now. I LOVE it. I have the windows open in the house and I’ve been wearing shorts and sandals. It’s supposed to cool back off to seasonal temps this week, but it was a sweet taste of spring while it lasted. As for daylight savings, as usual, it sucked. I wish we could do away with it altogether. The youngest child walks to her bus stop in the dark now. How much fun is that?? It’s also a lot harder to wake up in the complete dark as well. I just don’t like it at all.

AND!!! I have lost a total of TEN pounds now. Woot woot!! Yup. I’m still going strong on the dieting and exercising. My plan is to lose 1 1/2 pounds a week so I’m ahead of the game still. I ran for five miles on the elliptical yesterday and I’m actually going to  hit the streets with the Mister this weekend. I’m nervous about running for real, but he says it’s about time, lol. I’m hoping I don’t chicken out.

In the world of being a gadget whore…

The Mister and I got BlackBerry Curves last weekend. I figured with having four business e-mails (and counting) and a couple personal e-mail addresses I could use a mobile way of checking my e-mails. BlackBerrys are good for a lot more than that, but it’s a start. ;)

Also, I downloaded a Kindle app for my iPod touch and I LOVE it. I’ve been really reluctant to buy a Kindle and for a few reasons.

1. 1.  I like to own my books. This means that any books that I digitally download will also have to be bought for my bookshelf. That’s one book for the price of two.
2. 2.  Kindle makes it waaaay to easy to download new books and I would have to learn a way to control myself, lol. I’ve had the Kindle app for less than a week and I’ve already downloaded and read five books on it. I’ve been on reading roll.
3. 3.  They are freaking expensive!! I don’t know if I can justify spending $359.00 on this gadget which is only the beginning of the cost. Refer back to numbers 1 and 2.

So, I figured the Kindle app was a compromise. Kindle e-books are cheaper than most other e-books and if I ever do get one, all the books that I’ve downloaded will work on the actual Kindle as well as my iPod. Ho hum.

I think that brings you all up to date. Work has been pretty crazy but now that I’m settling into a routine, I hope to be able to blog more often. It’s just that by the time that I’m done sitting at my computer for hours working, I don’t feel like being in my office anymore. I don’t even play games on my computer these days. I’ve been reading books on my iPod, crocheting a throw, and hanging out on the couch in my off time. Excuses, excuses, lol.

On Being Confident and Professional

I’ve never done this before on my blog, but I would like to introduce you to my newest client. I find her both fascinating and informative.

My newest client is Guila Muir and Associates. Guila is an expert when it comes to presenting oneself as a professional. She teaches and coaches people on how to be a confident facilitator as well as  how to give presentations without falling flat on your face. I don’t know about you guys, but these are tips that I could use. For example, when I’m on a business phone call, I catch myself umm’ing a lot. I cringe every time I do it but I can’t seem to stop myself. And you can forget about public speaking. I’m pretty sure you’d have to drug me first. Guila’s website and the articles that she writes give the everyday person or professional the tools that they need to present themselves in a confident and professional manner.

Guila’s newest article is titled, “Two Presenting Myths:  BUSTED!” In her article, Guila discusses how thanking your audience isn’t necessarily the correct opening to a speech. The second myth in her article covers how there is a definite difference between moving about in front of your audience with a purpose and rambling around as if lost. Both points Guila talks about have to do with body language and how you are presenting yourself to your audience. Even if you don’t regularly present at conferences or meetings, people such as teachers and managers would benefit from Guila’s advice. The Mister, who is a Marine, gives a class on Lean Six Sigma several times a week and has told me how Guila’s insights have helped him to better convey his message to his Marines.

If you would like to read more about Guila Muir and Associates and to get more advice on how to be an expert facilitator and presenter, I’m sure Guila would appreciate a visit to her website. When you stop by, be sure and leave her a comment. She even has articles that could help students when it comes to remembering what you learn.

Guila Muir and Associates

The Good, The Bad, and The Evil

We’ve been having a lot of highs and lows lately. Lots of peaks and valleys with no plateaus. I’m very much the type of person who prefers a smooth ride rather than a roller coaster thrill. So, do you want the good or the bad first?

I’ll start with the bad. My father-in-law fell the other day on ice. He fell on concrete which resulted in a broken hip and a torn rotator cuff. The day after he fell, my brother-in-law had  surgery on his rotator cuff so he can’t help out a lot with his dad. Things in Ohio are pretty much a mess right now. The Mister is considering going up to help out but both of their recovery times are going to be a lot longer than the ten days leave he would be able to take so we’re not really sure how much of a solution that would be. Ugh!

Now for the good news…I’m up to FOUR clients now. Woot!! I still have a hard time believing that I went from being a sahm for twelve years to having so much work that I’m considering taking on my own intern or assistant of some kind. It’s crazy really. It’s a good crazy but crazy nonetheless. My working has become such a change in our household, that we are having to figure out stuff. For instance, I was up working until 10 pm last night. The oldest child takes this as her being allowed to set her own bedtime now. As a result, she didn’t get up for school this morning until she only had ten minutes to get ready before we had to leave. The house is also in a constant state of disarray. We need a system of some kind. I think the benefits of the extra income, the awesome contacts that I’m making, and the boost to my self esteem and having my own identity far outweigh the temporary chaos in my house. All changes take some adjustment time. One of the things I always put on my resume is that I’m “highly organized” which I am. You should see my spreadsheets, lol. I just need to find a way to apply my organizational skills to every day life. If all else fails, I’ll just start beating the kids and locking them in their rooms. Just kidding. Heheh. Maybe I’ll just hire a cleaning service. Who knows.

I would like to know how two income families do it. We’re certainly not the first couple to have kids and to both work. Are other people’s houses messy with their kids sneaking around and not doing as they’re told? Am I going to become one of those parents that I can’t stand who doesn’t watch their kids? Is CPS going to be knocking on my door next? And what about single moms?? They work, they don’t have a partner to help out, and they have kids and a house to take care of too. How in the heck do they do it??? There’s a solution. I just have to find it.

Happy Tenth

We celebrated the youngest child’s tenth birthday yesterday. We had cake and presents and we took her out to dinner. She got some pretty good loot from ol’ mom and dad and has a card in the mail from my mom and a little something is on the way from Jennifer. She also got a card from Geoffrey at Toys R Us, a phone call from my mom, the Mister’s mom, and the Mister’s sister. Jennifer also called to make sure she got some birthday love. Why the rundown? Because she is normally forgotten on her birthday. The oldest child’s birthday is in July which is when they are in Ohio with the family. She always gets at least one party, more often it’s two or more though. She gets a couple cakes, TONS of presents, and lots of attention. Because the youngest child’s birthday is in February and all the family is still back in Ohio, they forget to call and they hardly ever send her anything. It’s sad and it’s unfair. Either show them both the same amount of attention or none at all. So this year, she talked to three of her six grandparents (welcome to the world of a multiply divorced family) and one of her four aunts and uncles (I didn’t count spouses.). It’s better than last year.

Anyway…

The Mister and I overindulged on dinner out and birthday cake last night and paid the price. We were up a good part of the night (and this morning for me) with upset tummies. I guess we can’t go from eating 95% healthy stuff to eating junk and not have some side effects from it. We also both had headaches which I think was from the sugar. How sad are we, lmao??

Today marks day one of week four of working out and eating right. At my weigh in yesterday, last day of week three, I had lost 8 pounds. 8 pounds in three weeks!! I’m pretty excited about that. I have one pair of jeans that are too big on me now and the Mister calls them my saggy butt jeans, heheh. My other jeans fit nicely and are finally comfortable. It’s nice to be able to have tangible evidence that the hard work and sacrifices are paying off.

Back to work for me.

Getting Some Work Done

I twittered this earlier this morning, but I am so entirely grateful that today is Friday. My days have been hectic and filled beginning to end this week. This is actually going to be a work-weekend for me but it won’t be as intense as the week has been and I’ll get to sleep in Saturday and Sunday, heheh.

Monday, I had my first conference call. I’ve had other business calls but they have always been one on one. The call on Monday involved the CEO and director of the organization for which I am consulting. Not knowing what to expect, I figured the call would last 30 minutes tops. Most of my other work related phone calls have been 20 minutes or less. Boy was I wrong. I was on the phone for an hour and a half. So long that I needed to plug my phone in and I had to pee so bad that I wanted to cry. We also ended up getting take out that night (one of our bad dinner nights) because I hadn’t anticipated being on the phone so long and didn’t leave myself time to make dinner. I had my second conference call with the same people this morning. I figured that since we had hashed out most of the agenda on Monday that this morning’s call would be short and sweet. Wrong again. This call lasted for a little over an hour. I have yet another follow up conference call scheduled for Tuesday and I’m going into it with no expectations at all, lol. I’ll make sure my phone is fully charged and that I take a potty break beforehand.

Work for my new client is moving along. It’s a bit out of my, I don’t want to say comfort zone or expertise, but it’s unfamiliar territory. The new client is a plastic surgery information website. Up until I started working for them, I’ve never had any dealings of any kind with anything that has to do with plastic surgery. The only surgery I’ve ever had is an appendectomy when I was 12, lol. I’ve seen so many before and after pictures of stranger’s boobs this week that I see them when my eyes are closed which is taking some getting used to, to say the least. But, this work is new which makes it a little challenging which keeps it interesting.

You wanna know the really cool thing?? I took that conference call in my sweats and a ratty old t-shirt, HEHEHEHE!! I love working from home.

On Being Consistent

The only thing consistent about my blog lately is that I update inconsistently. Funnily enough, it’s not because I haven’t had anything to say. Lots of stuff has been going on in my little world of late. Now I need to figure out where to begin. It’s been a while.

First off, I’ll start with some good news. I took on a new client this week. Yay!! It more than doubles my work hours and the pay is really good. I love starting new projects for clients because it keeps things interesting and me interested in working. I hate monotony where my work is concerned.

Even though I now have two steady clients, I applied for a third last night and I’m also thinking about volunteering at my local library. I talked with them last night and they said that they don’t have many volunteers at all. The only thing is that I’m not sure how much spare time I have now that I have two clients. I think I’m going to wait a couple weeks to see how much work this is actually going to be before committing myself to volunteer work. I’d feel bad if I said that I could help out and then discover that I didn’t realistically have the time to do so.

Next up, the teacher thing…I don’t really have a resolution to that. I talked with her teacher and she denied having told the kids that bringing in something for the party was mandatory. Normally, I’d be more inclined to believe the adult but I had three different kids tell me the same thing when I casually brought it up to them separately. Also, this teacher doesn’t have the best track record for being reasonable. Having decided not to make a big deal out of something that turned out to be a non-issue (I’ll explain why next) in the end seems silly. I dunno.

Why was it a non-issue? Because the youngest child ended up missing school half of Wednesday, and all of Thursday and Friday anyway. She came home from school Wednesday with a fever that ended up going up over 103 degrees and involved a trip to the hospital and a round of antibiotics. We’re still not sure what she had. The Navy doctors prescribed penicillin guessing that she had strep throat. They guessed because they didn't have any rapid strep tests and it took six days to get the lab results of her throat swab back. I find it disturbing that they arbitrarily prescribe antibiotics with them losing their effectiveness due to over-prescribing but what do I know. And btw, I still sent in the snacks that I bought for the party and the youngest’s Valentine’s cards so that they could be given out to her classmates.

Anyway, remember a while back when I blogged about how some neighborhood kids came to my door after dark to ask if they could use my cell phone to call their friends? Well, we got a knock on our door Monday and someone from child protective services was standing there. Turns out that these same kids were almost hit by a car on our street while they were playing in the street after dark recently. I have no idea when or who almost hit them. NO, it wasn’t me that called. While I don’t necessarily agree with letting young kids out after dark and I found it really annoying that they thought it was okay to ask neighbors to use their phone  to call a friend, I didn’t think it was dangerous at the time. I didn’t know they were out playing in the street after dark too. Well, after knocking on some of my other neighbor’s doors, they went to the parent's house and questioned them. I don’t know the results of all that, but if I were her (she’s a single mom) I would be so embarrassed that I would probably look into moving, lol. I didn’t let my kids run roughshod over the neighborhood before, but now I’m keeping an even tighter reign on them. I stressed their rules and told them that if they break them, not only will they be grounded but they won’t be allowed outside unsupervised anymore. I told them that they could probably guess how often I would feel like sitting outside in the heat to watch them play, heheh. I also discovered a black scratch down the side of my car the same height as a scooter’s handlebars. I had to tell some of the neighborhood kids to stop playing in my driveway around my car (my kids were inside and weren’t even playing with these kids at the time.) but it turns out I was too late. My kids don’t have scooters because they were dopes and left them outside in the front yard to get stolen at our old house. Irresponsibility doesn’t get you a new scooter at my house. I would be so angry if I found out my kids were playing in other people’s driveways or around cars in general. That’s why we have yards and sidewalks for pete’s sake.

As for the healthy lifestyle thing, well, I’ve slacked off a bit in the last week. Instead of working out 7 days a weeks, I slacked off to 3 ::blush:: I kind of have an excuse though. The elliptical machine has started making this really high pitched squeak that makes you want to stab out your eardrums. I’m not ready to run out in public yet. I’m too insecure. There. I admitted it out loud. I had to get gas in my work out clothes this morning (the Mister ran it out of my car and I wasn’t anticipating having to stop) and I was pretty embarrassed, lol. The Mister is going to take a look at our machine tonight so I can get back into the habit again. Eating right is still going good though. We had two days where our dinners were less than stellar but we're still doing good overall. It’s starting to get to me psychologically however. Constantly keeping track of how much I’m eating and how much exercise I’m getting is a little depressing. Also knowing that I can’t eat at the brand new Dunkin Doughnuts that just opened like a block from my house is also depressing. I loves me a chocolate cream filled doughnut gosh darnit! They are over 300 calories a piece though and most of that is from fat. Big surprise, right? Still :( The only thing that keeps me going is that I’m still losing weight. Not as fast as the first week which is to be expected, but it’s still coming off. My jeans fit nicer nowadays.

And now I’ve got to hit the shower (I managed to put in a bit of time on the elliptical this morning) and get some work done. Yay!! Work! Woot!

I Need Feedback

I have an issue and I need to know if I’m making a big deal out of nothing. Please, if you decide to leave a comment at all, be honest and don’t worry about telling me to lighten up.

The youngest came home from school today and told me that if she doesn't  bring  something to her classroom Valentines Day party that she won’t be allowed to participate. Now, I have no problem whatsoever buying chips, cookies, plates, cups, or whatever they need for the party. I always contribute something. I do  have  a problem with them saying that it’s mandatory or my child won't be allowed to participate in the party at all. The way I see it, she’ll be punished  if I don’t buy something for their party. Oh. And they forgot to print up letters to send home to the parents so all we get is word of mouth notice two days before said party. Whatever. The dumb letter wouldn’t have been spelled correctly anyway. Hmm. Anyway. At first I didn’t believe her and I thought that maybe she just didn’t understand what her teacher had said. So, I asked two other kids that are neighbors of ours and are in my daughters class  what their teacher had said about the party and whether or not their parents had gotten letters. They confirmed what my daughter told me and one of the older siblings who is now in junior high said that the same thing happened when this woman was her teacher and that she was just mean, lol.

Is this right? Do you think that the children should be obligated to bring something to the party in order to be allowed to join in the fun with the rest of their classmates? And what about the parents that can’t afford to send anything in? Are they to be punished because rather than buying  conversation hearts for the party they bought milk in stead?? That last part is a bit dramatic but you get my point. I’m sure that there are parents out there that can’t afford to buy extras for a frivolous party.

I don’t remember it being like that when I was in school. AND, I know for a fact that it wasn’t like that at any of the other schools my kids have  attended. I’m pretty angry and I really think I’m going to say something to the school. Classroom parties are supposed to be fun, not a way for the teachers to punish the kids.

Thoughts??

Keeping Busy

In addition to working two jobs, raising two kids, keeping house, blogging, reading, exercising, wand keeping up with my favorite TV shows, I’ve brought back out one of my old hobbies:  crocheting. Last night I got my sewing bag and decided to make something, namely two scarves. Why scarves?  Because they are easy and I get lost in the repetitiveness of the pattern. I needed something soothing. Sometimes I think I’m developing ADHD. The thought of sitting through a 2 hour movie and not doing anything else makes me feel a little panicky  I seriously have only sat through one entire movie without doing anything else once in the past year or so. Well, it’s been long enough that I don’t remember the movie that I watched before the one to which I’m referring. Even when I’m watching TV I’m checking my e-mail, Twitter, Google reader, FB, etc. I have to be doing at least two things at once. It’s really odd.Is anyone else like that? Cooking is about the only thing I do alone and that’s probably because I’m chopping, sautéing, boiling,  mixing, etc.,  all at the same time.

Speaking of cooking, last night for dinner we have Beef, Cheese, and Noodle Bake. It’s another of our favorite dishes and it was fantastic. I saved the leftovers for lunch today. Last week I baked two loaves of Pineapple Zucchini Bread. We ate one loaf over the course of the week and I froze the other for us to have this week. It’s an awesome bread. The loaf we thawed yesterday was just as moist and tasty as the fresh loaf we ate last week. And it’s not that bad for you. The Mister and I eat it for a snack as do the girls. They also like to have it for breakfast. We’re still going strong on the new eating right lifestyle

This morning, I ran for an hour on the elliptical. I only ran for 4.8 miles today but I still feel good about it. Yesterday I ran 5.1 miles in one hour. I’m sure I’ll be able to get up over five miles again by the end of the week.

Title Me This

My weekend went just as planned…Do as little as possible, lol. Saturday without the Mister went just fine. Other than a minor skirmish with the oldest child (again) it was amazingly quiet. We had excellent weather so the kids spent most of the day outside. The turkey tetrazzini was awesome. For fun, we played some games, rough housed a bit, and watched Psych. It was a good all girls night.

Sunday, the Mister and I drove downtown to check out the supposed sidewalk sale that the downtown shops were having. However, we got down there and most of the stores were closed. Our downtown is suffering a bit because one of the main roads that leads downtown is closed while they replace a drawbridge. It’s sad because downtown New Bern has quite a few locally owned, one of a kind businesses. The Mister and I like to stroll down along the waterfront whenever we get a chance.

Anyway, that was all we did on Sunday and it turned out to be not so much fun. Sunday night, we had Southwest Pasta and Beans for dinner. It’s a vegetarian dish that is so very YUMMY and super easy to make. For my first week of dieting and exercise, I lost a total of 4.8 pounds. I’m feeling really good about that. This morning, I almost doubled my time on the elliptical and ran for 5.1 miles. I was pretty tired but it felt really good. My only thing is that my running shoes cut off the circulation in my toes. It’s uncomfortable and makes me want to stop before I’m even tired. I think it’s time for new shoes, lol.

I’m off.  Have a fab Monday.

Saturday Update

Get this…I have lost 4.8 pounds since Monday. Woot!! AND, I have done it with exercise and withOUT starving myself. Oh. And without taking “miracle” pills. This is the most success I’ve had with weight loss ever. Even back in Cali when Jennifer and I were walking five miles a day. I didn’t lose ANY weight at all then.

Last night for dinner we had baked rigatoni. Once again, it’s a recipe that I got from Cooking Light and it is one of our favorites that we have just because we like it. When we’re not dieting, I don’t follow the recipe and add whatever amounts of cheese I would like, lol. I also make the sauce from scratch which is so much better than jarred pasta sauce and it has a lot less sodium.

This morning, I cut five minutes off my elliptical run because I was struggling BAD. I didn’t drink my Cranergy this morning and I could really tell a difference in my energy levels. I knew it boosted my energy, but I didn’t know by how much until this morning.

The Mister is at work on duty this fine Saturday morning. I’m trying to brainstorm some ideas for stuff for the girls and I to do today.  I’m thinking movie and popcorn night. We’ll see.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!

Fizzle, Fizzle

Dinner last night wasn’t too bad. We had skinless chicken thighs in a lemon,garlic marinade served with roasted grape tomatoes and corn. The chicken was a bit bland, I thought, and NObody liked the tomatoes. It’s weird because we all like tomatoes when I put them with meat and veggies, grilled in a kabob. Oh well.

The Mister and I have also added in a multivitamin into our daily routines.I know. You should take vitamins even when you’re not working out but I hate taking pills. Vitamins are the worst because they’re huge, have a bad smell, and they make me nauseated. This morning was no exception. The nausea kicked in right as I was walking out the door to drive the oldest to school. There wasn’t anything I could do about the timing and I was seriously afraid I was going to puke in my car. I hate puking though and held it in valiantly, lol. I think that I’ll start taking them at night before bed. That’s what I used to do with my prenatal vitamins because they made me really sick and it worked for me that way.

My workouts are still going strong. I made it up to three miles on the elliptical today. Woot!! Jacki suggested that I buy myself cute workout clothes to keep motivated so I took her advice last night. I got one of those trendy tennis-type skirts and a matching tank top.

As for the oldest child, she handled her punishment way better than I would have ever imagined. She also did a great job cleaning out the garage. Aside from some heavy things that she couldn’t lift herself,  I’ll be able to park my car in there by the end of today. Yay! I’m excited about that. I’m tired of using my coat sleeve to clean off snow and frost off of my car in the mornings. We used to have an ice scraper from living in VT but I think we threw it away. I  really didn’t think we’d get much use out of it living here in N.C. Turns out I was wrong.

We don’t have much planned for the weekend. The Mister has duty Saturday night so the girls and I will be having our traditional “Daddy has Duty Meal” of turkey tetrazzini which is also a Cooking Light recipe, handily enough. He doesn’t like it but the girls and I love it so we have it when he’s not home. I’m really looking forward to it, lol. It’s sad that the highlight of my weekend is going to be turkey tetrazzini, lmao. Oh. And tonight’s episode of BSG. I’m totally looking forward to that too.

Being Kreativ

Pam passed this award on to me this week. How nice of her! And it’s a pretty one too, lol.

So here are the rest of the rules!
List 6 things that make you happy
Pass the award on to 6 bloggers for Kreativ.
Link to the blogger who gave you the award.
Link to the blogs receiving the award.
Notify the recipients.

Things that make me happy:

1. My dogs when they’re all goofy and affectionate.
2. Being at the beach.
3. Having a good book in my hand.
4. When my house is clean top to bottom.
5. Losing weight and being healthy.
6. My gadgets. ;)

I’m going to pass this on to my top six Entrecard droppers:

Definitely Maybe

Rosilie:  My Blog

The Toy Report

Tasty Thoughts

Everything Has a Reason

Everything Plus the Kitchen Sink

Fed the Garbage Disposal

Last night’s dinner was a big bomb. I’m very much a recipe kinda person. Some of what I make starts out from a recipe and then is modified by me to make it tastier. Some of what I cook is straight up recipe. Lastly, a few dishes that I make I don’t use a recipe at all. One of those dishes is homemade macaroni and cheese with diced ham. How hard is boiling up some elbow noodles and melting some cheeses into it, right? Well, last night I decided to try a recipe for three cheese macaroni and cheese that I got from Cooking Light. One of the reasons I chose this dish is so that I could use their nutritional information rather than having to look it up on all my ingredients and then doing the math. It’s lazy but what can I say. Another reason is that their recipe called for gorgonzola cheese and we’ve never tried that variety of cheese before. Well, it was GROSS. The cheese sauce was really thin and then it started gooping altogether until it was pretty basically inedible. I know how to follow a recipe but the mistake still could have been mine. Who knows. My mac and cheese is always a huge hit with the family. I think this is a lesson learned in don’t mess with a good thing. We ended up dumping the entire pan (what a waste) down the garbage disposal and ordering a pizza. The only other thing I had to cook in the house was frozen solid chicken. Still, even after eating two slices of pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom pizza, I was 600+ calories under my daily allotted amount. Go me! I’ve lost 3.4 pounds this week so far.

To add to our somewhat shoddy evening, the Mister and I butted heads with the oldest child all night. Sometimes I just don’t know what gets into her. She’ll be 13 in July so I’m perfectly aware that this is only the tip of the iceberg of what’s to come. After her atrocious behavior last night, she has lost her phone, she’s grounded until Monday, and I’m making her clean out and organize the garage (She doesn’t know about the garage yet. Keep your ears tuned for yelling around 3:30 EST this afternoon, lol.)  I also got her up for school early this morning so that she could unload the dishwasher and wash the dishes that she didn’t wash last night. You know something they never tell you about being a parent? That punishments suck just as much for the parents as they do for the kids. Although, I did find it funny to watch her stomp around the kitchen this morning, heheh. I'm evil, I know. And you know what really sucks about this whole thing? She’s just like me. I have nobody to blame for her attitude but myself. In fact, my attitude was probably worse at her age, lol.

In My Neighborhood

It snowed again. This snow is much wetter than the other snow so it’s mostly slush. Weird thing about it is that the last time we  got snow, school was cancelled while it was still raining. This time, it was actively snowing and at a good rate and school wasn’t even delayed. Not that I mind. I get much more work done when the kids are in school, but it was still a bit intimidating being out on the streets with people that can’t drive in the rain.

Also in my neighborhood…

We got Bailey back in 2005. She has lived in three different houses. We got Hannah in 2007. She has lived in two different  houses. In all that time, with all the different neighbors, my dogs have never barked at people. They don’t bark at the mail carrier, the UPS delivery person, the neighborhood kids, people on a stroll, nobody. That is, until a couple weeks ago. I’m not sure if we got new neighbors or if they are just behaving differently, but every time the guy that lives directly behind us comes out of his house (our backyards butt up against each other being separated by privacy fences.) Hannah goes crazy barking at him, scratching at the back door, and jumping at the fence. She does not  like this guy. It’s weird. Even more weird, the oldest child and I saw him standing inside his house, staring out his patio doors, and into our kitchen yesterday afternoon. He wasn’t just glancing, he stood there for several minutes. It was so odd that I closed all the blinds at the back of the house. I know it’s probably wrong to judge a person based on how your dog reacts to them, but her behavior is so out of the ordinary and then the watching our house, I’m beginning to wonder what the heck is up with this guy. I’m probably just being paranoid.

Also in my neighborhood…

One of our neighbors moved yesterday. They moved into their house a day before we moved into ours and they are already moving. We’re sad about it because their daughter is friends with my daughters. She’s a sweetheart too. She calls me Miss Trisha and gives me a hug whenever she sees me. The turnaround time in my neighborhood is huge. There are several houses for sale and for rent and there’s only two streets. That also makes one wonder about the neighborhood. Oh well.

Living healthy update…

Prior to typing this entry, I was on the elliptical. It was a pretty good workout and no nausea, lol. Last night for dinner, we had seasoned tilapia, broccolini, and corn. We were supposed to have polenta with it but I bought the wrong kind and it looked like nasty, gooey, slop in the pan. The recipe was another one from Cooking Light. For the day, I was 382 calories under my total allowed for the day AND, I wasn’t even hungry. Nifty, eh?

Now that I’ve stopped sweating, I’m off for my shower and breakfast. Oh! That reminds me. Something that I’ve added to my daily routine is a glass of Cranergy. I honestly can’t stand the taste of the stuff. For one thing, I hate artificial sweeteners and for another, it has a celery taste to it which is odd considering that isn’t an ingredient. Even so, it gives the most awesome energy boost that lasts for several hours and it’s only 50 calories per 12 ounces. You can’t say that about coffee or soda. At least not the coffee or soda that I would normally drink trying to perk myself up.

Ok. Enough. I’m off

Putting it out There

The Mister and I started something new this week. We have both gone on a new diet and exercise regimen. This isn’t really all that new. We both regularly go on diets to try and lose our extra poundage but it never seems to last. I hate that. This time, I hope it’s different. I have a philosophy about weight loss and it’s by no means unique, lol. Losing weight should be more about making a lifestyle change than about finding a quick, and usually, temporary fix. You don’t lose weight and keep it off by popping pills, starving yourself, and then sitting on your lazy butt while you wait for the pounds to melt off. It should happen by modifying your diet and getting a healthy amount of exercise. Thus, our newest journey is beginning.

The Mister is trying out this program that a coworker introduced him to. I don’t remember what it’s called, but the Mister said it’s Satan at work, lmao. After his first workout, he couldn’t walk straight for days. My regimen includes regular abuse on the elliptical machine (I laid on the floor and dry heaved after my first workout yesterday, lmao) and some weight training. I’d also like to throw some yoga in there because I don’t think there is anything more relaxing while being stimulating at the same time than yoga. I love it.

We are also modifying our diet. Eating out is a thing of the past. Normally, I cook very healthy meals. I don’t fry anything, we have veggies with every meal, lean meats, etc, etc. The only bad thing I cook is starchy carbs. We likes the pastas and potatoes. Eating out is our Achilles heel when it comes to eating right. It has got to stop and we have already been making positive steps toward to this goal. Last night, for example, we got a late start to dinner. Our old selves would have rationalized that we didn’t have enough time to cook so we may as well pick up some Burger King instead. HOWEVER, last night, we sucked it up and made our planned meal at home like responsible adults. It felt really good. Plus, it was excellent!. We had a healthy fried rice. Sounds UNhealthy, right? Well, I got the recipe from my Cooking Light magazine and it had very low sodium and fat while still being loaded with nutrients. Loves me my Cooking Light magazine.

So, if you’ll bear with me, I would like to start posting regular updates about how we are doing. I figure that if I talk about it, it’ll give me more motivation to keep going. So, I’ll be talking about my exercise and our meals and how we are doing. You will NOT be given updates on how much I weigh, lol. I don’t even tell the Mister that even though he probably knows. That’s a skill he picked up as a recruiter, being able to tell how much people weigh by just looking at them. He’s kind enough not to tell me that though, lol. I will tell you, however, how much I am losing. For example, I lost 2.1 pounds in my first day which was awesome. My jaw dropped when I saw the scale this morning. I know you lose weight faster in the beginning, but I didn’t expect to lose 2 pounds in a day. Neato and very encouraging. Plus, I had no nausea after my elliptical run this morning. Improvement already! I am also open to comments about this topic. If you ask me what I had for dinner or what I did for exercise every once in a while, I’ll be more motivated to keep up with it so that I don’t have to lie, lol. This blog is NOT going to turn into a weight loss blog though. You know me, I’m never on topic nor do I stay on any sort of topic for very long. This is just something positive to post about instead of my usual whining, heheh. Plus, maybe you’ll get some healthy meal ideas from me which would be cool.

Last night at dinner, the youngest asked why we are dieting. The Mister and I both replied that it’s because we are trying to lose our fat, lol. She said that we weren’t fat which was very sweet of her. But the real reason is that I’m unhappy in my own skin. Before I had kids, I weighed 115  pounds. Gosh! I can hardly remember being that little, lol. I have no intention of trying to get back there but I would like to be happy with how I look in the mirror and I would like to have fun shopping for clothes again. I don’t think those are unrealistic goals. Plus, I feel tons better mentally when I’m exercising.

Anyway, enough blah, blah, blah’ing for now. There will be more to come laters!

Being Awarded

I recently had two awards bestowed upon me by Bridget at Mama Belly Blog. What a sweetheart! The first one is

."These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

The second one is

Honest Scrap award:A) First list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!B) Pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

 

And here are my ten honest things:

1. I’m a girl gamer and a nerd at heart. I enjoy MMORPG games, watching shows like Battlestar Galactica on television, and learning about SEO, social networking, and website development.
2. Along the same lines as being a nerd, I get addicted to my gadgets. My new iPod goes with me everywhere including but not limited to restaurants, the car, and my bed.
3. Sometimes I tell my kids that I’m working even when I’m not just to get some peace and quiet in my office.
4. I get tired of defending why I was first a sahm and now why I’m a wahm. If I worked outside of the house, I’d probably have to defend why I neglect my kids, home, and husband. It’s really a no win kinda thing.
5. I got my hair cut and colored the other day and I’m really not sure I like the color.
6. I have chosen some truly lovely people to call friends. My only wish is that they lived in the same town or even state as me. (((Hugs)))
7. I get insomnia and migraines when I’m stressed out.
8. I honestly think that some of my online blogger friends and I would hit it off great in real life.
9. No matter how much I clean it, my desk is always a mess and I have no one to blame but myself which sucks, lol.
10. This was harder than I though it would be.

Now I must choose blogs to award. This is hard but not because I can’t think of anyone deserving but because I try not to pick the same people every time which  I will inevitably do anyway, lol.

• Lady Banana
• This and That
• Musings of a Bookish Kitty
• Tropical Fruit
• What Happened to My House
• 30 Something
• Books Love Me!
• Love to Read

There ya go. If any of you have gotten these awards before, you must’ve really deserved them. ;)

What I’m Reading

I have recently discovered the Stanza app on my iPod. It’s my favorite book app so far. I’ve downloaded 14 “classic” book titles to it so far and have started reading "Lady Chatterley's Lover” by D.H. Lawrence. I started out with that novel because it was so controversial in its day. I think it’s funny that it was considered pornography when today, the themes in the novel would hardly set off anyone’s porno alarm. Yes, there are love scenes and some of them are a very little bit descriptive, but in my jaded, modern, view, they are nothing to  get your panties in a twist about. I completely understand why, in 1928, it was so racy though. “Penis” just wasn't a word that was said or read about in the open, lol.

Anyway, I think I’m about halfway through and I am really enjoying it so far. There are times when it’s a bit slow but I’m an excellent skimmer and get past those parts fast enough. There is a scene in which the housekeeper/nurse is sharing all of her “town” gossip with the Chatterley's that drags on for a few pages that I really didn’t see the point in them. Maybe I skimmed too fast, lol.  As for the sex scenes, rather than getting all hot and bothered, they really only make me feel sorry for the “lovers” that are involved in them. They are cold and almost emotionless.

I’m still also reading my Marie Antoinette biography. I sorta put it aside for my iPod. That darn thing is taking over my life, lol. Anyway, I’m getting towards the end which is why I think it was so easy for me to leave it on my nightstand for a few days. I know how it ends, anyone with a bit of knowledge about World History should know how it’s going to end. Even knowing, I keep hoping that that cold fish, Louis XVI would pull his head out of  the clouds and finally decide to stand up to the French people. It’s the same way that I am when I watch the movie Titanic. I know how it’s going to end but I always hope that they’ll turn the damn ship in time to miss the iceberg, lol.

I just finished reading Plum Spooky  by Janet Evanovich. It’s her first full length “between the numbers” novel. I've been reading around the blogosphere how people are unhappy with the cost of the book. It’s about 300 pages long and the list price is $27.95  and it’s a hardcover. $27.95 is a bit steep but I got a 40% discount with my membership at Books A Million. All that aside, I liked the book. It was just what I was looking for:  lighthearted, funny, and easy. I read it in a day. While it wasn’t as funny as some of the other Stephanie Plum books, I still really liked it. The monkeys were hilarious, heheh.

I just bought a few books that I’ve added to my TBR pile that I’m anxious to get into. One is about the de Medici’s, one is about King Edward IV, one is about Henry VIII’s wives, and the last one is John Grisham’s latest. Fun, fun, fun.!

And I think that’s all the reading news that I have right now.

What I’ve Been Up To

I haven’t been the most consistent of bloggers lately. Having the kids home for the entire week last week really threw my routine for a loop. Actually, it stomped on it and then flushed it down the toilet. This week, I have the Mister home with me because he took some leave. Maybe my life will get back to “normal” next week.

Anyway, I took the time to catch up on some TV shows that I had DVR’d last night. I watched Private Practice which is still keeping me highly entertained this season. The agoraphobic in the closet cracked me up.I also watched ER and the ending which I won’t give away in case someone else hasn’t watched it yet, made me want to cry. I’ve also started watching the United States of Tara on Showtime. I already love that show. I’ve been a fan of Toni Collette’s since I saw her in the movie About  a Boy. She plays crazy amazingly well. Showtime is also finishing up The Secret Diary of a Call Girl. I don’t know what it says about me, but I really love that show too. Despite it’s title, it’s really not all  about being an escort. I enjoyed a nice glass of wine with both of these shows. They just seem to require wine. I don’t know why. ;)

Let’s see…

The Mister and I packaged up our first set of soap samples that we mailed to a select few for what I am hoping will be honest opinions. We’re definitely going to push back our official grand opening to mid-February, beginning of March. I still don’t have the website going yet and we don’t have labels printed up yet either. We ordered some software for the website and accidentally got the wrong program. So, it has to be exchanged for the correct one which won’t give me enough time to launch the website by Feb 1st as we had originally planned. Since  this is the biggest potential failure we’ve ever attempted, I can’t say that I’m sorry, lol. I’m really nervous about getting going and this setback takes a little of the pressure off for at least a week or two.

I’ve also been really into my new iPod and it goes everywhere with me these days. The Mister was jealous of mine so he bought himself one too over the weekend. I think I created a monster though because he Twitters more than I do nowadays, heheh. I tried calling him from the car today and he didn’t answer his phone so I tweeted to him to call me. That’s how addicted we both are. Kinda scary. We both download new apps like someone is chasing us with a hot poker. It’s really sorta insane. Oh well.

Trying to think…

I have the weirdest ear pain in the world. It’s not in my inner ear like an ear infection pain but it’s on the outside. It hurts bad enough that it wakes me up if I lay on it and it hurts to turn my head. How crazy is that? I’m going to give it a few days to see if it gets any better before making a doctor’s appointment. I feel sorta silly going to the doctor for outer ear pain, lol. I cannot for the life of me figure out what’s causing it though. Like I said, it’s strange.

I know there’s other stuff to blog about becasue it’s been so long since I’ve updated but I can’t think of anything else at the moment. I’m pretty tired and I”m going to hit the couch and see what’s on TV tonight.

Laters.

Snow In North Carolina

The snow in our state has been such a huge deal here. If it hadn’t been for other goings on yesterday, this would have been the only thing on our local news. All of our city and county government offices were closed yesterday as well as all the schools and local colleges. I’m sure northerners are laughing at how a couple inches of snow completely incapacitated our state, lol.

The girls got both yesterday and today off of school because of the weather. Even the Mister didn’t have to go to work until noon today. The girls got off really lucky because they didn’t have school Monday because of the holiday, Tuesday and Wednesday because of the weather, and Thursday and Friday because of teacher work days. So they ended up having the entire week off of school.

Here’s a picture from this morning:

I also took a very short video yesterday of the dogs playing in the snow. I tried uploading it here but after 3 hours of waiting, I gave up. It’s online:

In other non-snow news…My dad had surgery yesterday for his PAD. They had to take some artificial arteries and use them to bypass the blockages in my dad’s right leg. He hasn’t had a pulse in his foot for some time and it’s also been cold because of the lack of blood flow. Today, his foot is warm and it has a pulse. It’s amazing and we’re thrilled for him. I just got off of the phone with him from ICU and he’s in great spirits. He said that it’s weird to have his right leg and foot warm when the left is still cold. They’ll be performing surgery on his left leg after he’s had time to recover from his right leg. Anyway, I just wanted to share my good news and ask that you keep my dad in your thoughts that he continues to have a smooth recovery. Thanks! :)

Laying Low

I’ve been keeping a low profile the past few days. The Mister had yesterday and today off of work as did the kids. I haven’t checked my e-mail or answered the phone since Friday, lol. Do you know how wonderful that is? My mini-break is over today since I have to get some work in which means I have to open Outlook but it was nice while it lasted.

The girls were supposed to go back to school today but they cancelled school on account of all the snow we got:

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Scary, huh? The entire eastern part of North Carolina is closed today. It’s probably for the best since snow in these parts tends to panic people. I remember a time in Vermont when we already had about four inches of snow on the ground and it was still snowing so hard you could barely see and they still didn’t cancel school for my kids, lol. At the time, I thought it was a bit ridiculous but there had to be snowfall of an epic proportion before they cancelled school up there. As much as I hate the snow and cold I was still hoping just a little bit that we would get the 3-5 inches that was forecasted. Hannah has never seen the snow and I think she’d be really funny playing in it. Bailey always was. She liked to snuffle her muzzle in it then come back up with a snow beard. It always made us laugh.

Well, since I have done nothing, I have nothing else to blog about. Our plans for today include staying inside because of the snow and it’s quite blustery outside with the wind chills. I made a nice pot of chili for dinner last night which we’re going to have for lunch today and then I’m making homemade chicken and noodles for dinner tonight in honor of the “snow”, heheh. Fun times.

Did I Mention

That I got an iPod Touch for Christmas? I so very much love it. It’s my third iPod and my favorite by far. It goes everywhere with me including to bed because I use it for an alarm clock, heheh. I use it so much that I’m barely at my computer anymore except for work and to plug it in to charge it. You all are probably aware of my gadget addiction by now and my iPod will feed it for some time to come. Well, at least until a new version comes out, lol.

What I like about it is that I can check my e-mail, Twitter, read books, surf the net, check the weather, play games on it, watch videos on it,  and many other things. I’m not sure if there’s anything that it doesn’t do aside from the phone functions that you would get with an iPhone should you be able to stand having AT&T for your service provider.

The only, and I mean only, tiny thing about my new iPod that isn’t quite as nice as my old one is that it’s not compatible with the iPod harness that came with my car. It’ll still play music through the stereo and I can use my stereo controls to play my music but it won’t charge it like it will older iPods. This means for long trips that we will need to bring our iPod charger for the car. No biggie. I can deal with it.

If you don’t have one and are in the market for an MP3 player, I highly recommend an iPod Touch.

Many Thoughts

I have so many things flying around in my head these days that it’s hard to figure out what to say.

I hate listening to other people’s descriptions of the dreams that they had which is why I don’t talk about mine that often, but I’ve been having some absolute doozies lately. Sunday night, I didn’t sleep at all. The Mister has a cold and when he has a cold, he snores like a bear. Coupled with taking nighttime cold meds, he’s impossible to wake up. Monday night, I couldn’t take it anymore so I went out on the couch. I don’t mind doing that. My couch is pretty cozy to sleep on. Still, even without the incessant snoring, I didn’t sleep very well. Around 3, I finally dozed off only to wake up again around 5. I laid there for a while and I think I must’ve dozed off again because that’s when I had my dream or whatever it was. I really could have sworn my eyes were still open at this point. Anyway, I “dreamt” that the youngest child came out of her room and then stood in front of me just staring. In my conscience, I knew that was wrong because she never gets up and the figure in front of me was too short to be her. This realization startled me awake and I was up for good after that. It totally weirded me out. Tuesday night, I started out on the couch instead of getting up like I did Monday night. I didn’t sleep very much at all because my other dream left me with an other-worldly feeling all day. When I did sleep, I had nightmares. Same thing last night too although I slept in my own bed. I figured that I’m not sleeping on the couch either so I may as well at least be in my own bed not sleeping, lol.

This not sleeping thing is totally getting ridiculous and having nightmares when I do get to sleep is making a bad situation worse. Whine, whine, bitch, moan, and complain. I know. Enough already. 

Now I’m on the phone with my sister and I get to listen to her whine, bitch, and complain. It’s really not so bad because it distracts me from my own whining, lol.

Day of People

Despite the crazy drivers I encountered today, my faith in humanity is pretty high.

First of all, it rained. All day.Lots of rain. But you know what? This is North Carolina. People here shouldn’t be strangers to rain and they should know how to drive in it. The oldest child’s school is 2.5 miles from our house. Round trip, it took me 25 minutes to drive to and from her school and in those five miles, I saw police, fire trucks, and ambulances responding to two traffic accidents. 25 MINUTES to drive FIVE miles. Friday, there is a slight chance of snow. We’re in some sort of cold snap. Anyway, if it snows, the oldest is just going to have to miss school because I’m not getting on the same roads in snowy conditions with people that can’t drive in the rain. Nope. Not happening.

Now, why is my faith in humanity on an upswing??? I received a Christmas card from my grandparents today. It’s a might late, right? Well, there was a note in with it explaining that they had sent it to our old address on accident. The new residents’ son accidentally opened the envelope thinking it was theirs. The father took the card and the check, put it in a new envelope, and sent it back to my grandparents in Texas with a note of apology. Can you believe that?? He totally could have just thrown the whole thing in the trash but was so very kind enough to go out of his way to mail it back to my grandparents. I was truly touched. I’m going to send them a thank you card for being kind, upstanding citizens. They made my day a little brighter despite the rain and gloominess.

Old Friends

Saturday we visited with some friends that we hadn’t seen in about three  years. It was a really great visit. Both the Mister and I commented on how we picked up right where we had left off and that the three years didn’t make us feel awkward in the least.

We were originally going to have them down to our house because they don’t have a house of their own yet. But instead of staying in a hotel until they could move into their new house, they decided to rent one of the beach rentals on Camp Lejeune at Onslow Beach. We, of course, couldn’t turn down a chance to hang out at the beach for the day. They wanted us to come for the whole weekend but you’re not allowed dogs there and we had nobody to watch Hannah and Bailey on such short notice. Do you know how much easier it is to travel with kids than it is with dogs? With kids, they’re allowed most anywhere that you are. You don’t have to pay a non-refundable deposit for kids at hotels. People are more willing to watch kids than they are dogs because kids don’t eat your garbage, chew your furniture, pee on the floor, or dig up your yard. Anyway…

So we spent the day at the beach rental. We mostly just sat around and reminisced and caught up with what we had missed out on the last three years. We had dinner together and the girls collected lots of neat shells on the beach. Then we had to leave because we had to get home to let the dogs out.

About a block of two from our house, the Mister asked the kids if they had locked the door on their way out. I have no idea what prompted him to worry about the doors being locked at that point because it was way too late to do anything about it had someone decided to break in while we were gone. Then, he gets this look on his face because he had just realized that we took his car instead of mine which meant that we didn’t have house keys with us. See? We have four sets of keys; two each for the Rav and the Scion. My Scion key also has my house keys on the same key chain because that’s the car that I drive. Likewise, the Mister’s Rav key is on the same keychain with his set of house keys. Turns out that he’s been using my Rav keys for some time because he lost his. We had to take the Rav to Camp Lejeune because we had to take our friends’ huge boxes that they had sent to our house when they moved. We held out hope that that interior garage door was unlocked because we don’t always keep that door locked. Nope. No such luck. Then we checked all the windows which was no easy feat because we have solar screens on all the windows and we had to climb the privacy fence to get in the backyard, heheh. But alas, I’m a stickler for not getting murdered in my sleep and all our windows were locked up tight. What other choice did we have at 8:30 at night but to call a locksmith. I was afraid that it was going to cost a lot to have the locksmith out but it didn’t at all. I was pleasantly surprised. It also only took him like two minutes to get the door open with his lock picking tool. Through it all, I totally kept my cool. I sat in the car and surfed the Internet on my iPod, lol. Oh. And you know what else?? The locksmith didn’t ask for identification AT ALL and we paid in cash. I know we didn’t exactly look suspicious with two kids and all, but that would be a really good cover for breaking into people’s houses. He should have at least asked for a driver’s license, imo.

That was our Saturday.

Sunday, I didn’t do a darn thing all day. I didn’t even get dressed but stayed in my pj’s all day. Last week was rough and I just wanted one mindless day. The biggest thing I did all day was cook dinner, lol. It was wonderful.

How was your weekend?

Personality Test

Is this me to a T or what? Although I think it's extreme to say that, "You generally see others as selfish, devious, and sometimes potentially dangerous." That's not really true. I don't trust easily but I don't "generally" think all people are dangerous.

My Personality

Neuroticism	63
Extraversion	19
Openness to Experience	55
Agreeableness	18
Conscientiousness	84

You do not experience strong, irresistible cravings and consequently do not find yourself tempted to overindulge, however you feel enraged when things do not go your way. You are sensitive about being treated fairly and feel resentful and bitter if you think you are being cheated. You tend to feel overwhelmed by, and therefore actively avoid, large crowds. You often need privacy and time for yourself. You prefer facts over fantasy and are more interested in what is happening in the real word. You see no need for pretense or manipulation when dealing with others and are therefore candid, frank and sincere. People find it relatively easy to relate to you, however you generally see others as selfish, devious, and sometimes potentially dangerous. You have a strong sense of duty and obligation, and feel a moral obligation to do the right thing.

Feeling Out of Sorts

I didn’t take any Excedrin PM last night and therefore I didn’t sleep very well. Having an addiction is one of my worst fears so I don’t want to take sleep meds every night. I don’t even like taking Tylenol too often, lol. Insomnia sucks though. It’s depressing and makes it hard to function during the day. It also makes me very short tempered. The carpool incident I posted about yesterday, well, I was literally seeing red. My face got all hot and my hands started shaking. I really wanted to get out of my car and beat the crap out of that guy. And last night, the mister and I got in my car to go pick up Bacon food when I noticed that my rearview mirror had been messed with. I had just fixed it yesterday morning so I know that the neighborhood kids had messed with it last night. I know it wasn’t my kids because they were both grounded to the house last night. When I saw it, the freaking fingerprint-smudged, out of skew mirror, I was tempted to tell the mister to turn around so I could go and put my fingers all over those kids’ faces (they were still outside playing in the neighbors’ yard.). Seriously. I need to get a grip.

To top it off, I have a very tender cyst in my boob. Yes, it’s a cyst. Yes, I know for sure. No, you don’t need to get your panties in a twist about it. It’s just painful and irritating which doesn’t help my mood. It should go away in a day or so though.

I seriously think that if I could just beat on someone a little that I would feel immeasurably better. Nothing too painful just some punches and maybe a few kicks here and there. Any volunteers?

Boring Day

I haven’t done too much today other than work and nerdy blog/website stuff. That could actually sum up my last three days, lol. Although, today is the first day that I haven’t felt tired since Saturday. I took some Excedrin PM last night and was asleep before 11. It was very nice sleeping the whole night through.

My sister didn’t have any luck at the ear, nose, and throat specialist yesterday. Her ear is so swollen that the doctor couldn’t do anything with it. He gave her the okay to go back to work though. His advice:  Just put the stethoscope in your good ear. What a gem.

I did have a bit of excitement in the carpool lane of my daughter’s school this afternoon. Some jerkass majorly cut me off, and I mean majorly, and then sat and laughed about it with his buddy. So, I rode his ass, and I’m telling you  my bumper was kissing his, the whole way to pick the kids up. Then, I hollered for the oldest child to hurry up and get in the car so that I could block him into the lane so he couldn’t leave the school. HA! Road rage in the carpool lane! Immature, yes, but it made me feel better.

And that sums up my boring life. Work, Internet junk, and road rage in a school zone.

Being Picky Again

Is it really being picky to expect more from your local news station? Don’t they employ editors and proofreaders?

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/37049884.html#comments

Bullets ring through the home of New Bern man while he was sitting on his porch.

It happened Friday Night at 523 Miller street.

Tyjuan Starks tells police he was sitting on his porch when a male drove buy and opened fire.

The only description is that the shooter was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

Starks was taken to PCMH.

If you have any information about the shooting your asked to call New Bern Police.

Things from Yesterday

My Monday was pretty much non-stop. That’s a good thing because it kept me from being able to think about how tired I was, lol.

I got a call from my sister yesterday. Poor thing has swimmers ear on top of a really bad ear infection. The infection is so bad that she has completely lost the hearing in her right ear and she has, so far, not responded to antibiotics. Being a nurse, having an ear infection has made it impossible for her to work so she’s been laid up at home with a toddler for the past few days. I feel so bad for her because I used to suffer from ear infections as a child so bad that I had to have tubes in my ears and I still remember the agony of them. I’m hoping that her visit to an ear, nose, and throat specialist today will give her some relief.

I also got a call from some friends of ours that we knew in Vermont. They were transferred to California after VT and we were transferred here so it’s been a few years since we’ve seen them. The awesome thing? They just arrived yesterday to Jacksonville!! I am so excited to have friends nearby again. We’re meeting up with them this weekend to give them some boxes they had shipped to our house and to just hang out. I can’t wait!

Yesterday was also my first day back to work. It was a slow start back, lol. I need to get back into my old routine and find my groove again. Two weeks off is a good thing/bad thing but I don’t regret it. I needed time to refuel.

I also redesigned my Entrecard yesterday. Take a look:

I wish I had my old one so that you could compare, but I’m not sure where I saved it at on my various hard drives, heheh.

Ohio State lost the Tostitos Bowl last night. :( The Mister was not a happy camper about that. But, they still beat Michigan, heheh.

Now I’m off to get ready to pick the oldest up from school. I didn’t miss doing that over the break.

A Bookish Quiz

I figured this would go along nicely with my bookish meme of today.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

First Meme of the Year

I was tagged by Josette to do this meme. It’s my first of the year and a bookish one to boot.

The Rules from Eva, the meme creator at A Striped Armchair:

1. Tag 3-5 people, so the fun keeps going!
2. Leave a comment at the original post at A Striped Armchair, so that Eva can collect everyone’s answers.
3. If you leave a comment and link back to Eva as the meme’s creator, she will enter you in a book giveaway contest! She has a whole shelf devoted to giveaway books that you’ll be able to choose from, or a bookmooch point if you prefer.
4. Remember that this is all about enjoying books as physical objects, so feel free to describe the exact book you’re talking about, down to that warping from being dropped in the bath water…
5. Make the meme more fun with visuals! Covers of the specific edition you’re talking about, photos of your bookshelves, etc.

The book that’s been on your shelves the longest:

The answer to this one would be the copies of novels that I saved from high school. I still have A Separate Peace by John Knowles and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

A book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time, etc.):

This would be my copy of Creation in Death by J.D. Robb. This book will always remind me of Dana because we drove to Myrtle Beach together for the book signing..

A book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used bookstore, prize, etc.):

Again, that would be my Creation in Death book because I bought it at the book signing. It’s the only book I’ve ever bought at a book signing.

A book that’s been with you to the most places:

This one is really hard to answer. We’ve moved so many times that most of my books are better travelled than a lot of people will ever be, lol. Still, I’d have to say that the answer is the books that  I’ve had since high school. Since they are the oldest, they probably have the most miles on them.

A bonus book that you want to talk about but doesn’t fit into the other questions:

I can’t really think of one. I’m still reading my Marie Antoinette biography which is a fantastic book. Aside from the intrigue of the French royal court, the thing I find most interesting about this book is reading the tidbits about the American Revolution from the French perspective. Being an American myself, I’ve only been taught or have read about our history from an American perspective so it’s been fun and informative to see how the French viewed it especially considering the American/French relations of today.

Now I have to tag people. I have a really hard time picking people so I tag anybody who would like to play along. Please leave me a comment if you do so that I can read your responses though! :)

First Post of the Year

We have had a very quiet holiday season. Quiet but good. As I’ve said in the past, we don’t go out of our way to celebrate New Years Eve. We’re up just because we’re up at midnight when we don’t have to work the next day anyway. We do let the girls stay up until midnight which is something they don’t get to do on a normal night. I turned off my phone though because I didn’t want any drunken midnight calls from family and friends. I actually haven’t talked to anyone outside of my house since 12/29, lmao. That’s so funny.

We got all of our holiday decorations down and packed up. For the first time since we have lived in this house, I finally have my living room the way that I want it. All my stuff is hanging on the walls and the furniture is placed where I want it too. I love it. It’s cozy and homey while still be spacious and uncluttered.

Anyway, we’ve been busy. We’ve made some soap and have come up with an awesome new recipe. We love it and I think our potential customers will too. In other soap news, I spent two whole days trying to develop our website. It’s a lot of freaking work especially when web development is not your specialty and you don’t know what you want. I mean, I have spent HOURS working on this and haven’t come up with anything spectacular yet. Our February 1st deadline is fast approaching and I’m starting to sweat. Eventually, this sort of thing will go on Coastal Natural Soap’s blog. It’s one more thing on my soap “to do” list.

I’d like to take this time to acknowledge my top Entrecard droppers for December. They are as follows:

Please click on any of their cards to check out their blogs should you be interested. I would like to make this a monthly feature but I have a feeling I’ll forget from time to time. ;)

End of the Year Meme. I’m Entitled.

I found this meme at Posh Totty’s. Her blog is one that I have found through Entrecard and I really enjoy reading it. Plus, she gave me a meme and you know how I love memes.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Rented a vacation house and invited my parents to go on vacation with us.

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don’t “do” New Years and that would include resolutions. If you want to do something, make up your mind to do it. The time of year shouldn’t matter.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? ... Not that I can think of.

4. Did anyone close to you die? ... I lost a friend this year.

5. What countries did you visit? ... Just the United States for me but I did a bit of travelling this year. We visited the Outer Banks and I flew out to California. I also drove out to Asheville, NC which was neat.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? ... Peace of mind. I’m tired of being stressed out about everything.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? ... I’m not good with dates. My trip to California and my Outer Banks vacation are very fond memories and the high points of my year.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? ... I got a job and found out that I’m good at more than just cooking and cleaning.

9. What was your biggest failure? ... The whole VT house thing.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? ... Nope. I had a touch of some sort of flu but that only lasted a couple days. No biggie.

11. What was the best thing you bought? ... Probably the Scion. We needed a second car and I love driving it.

Where’d 12 and 13 go??

14. Where did most of your money go? ... Bills.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? ... My trip to California. I think I was probably more excited about that then our Outer Banks vacation. I miss California and Jennifer so much.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? ... Probably Hot and Cold by Kate Perry because they play it so much on the radio these days.

17. This one was missing so I’m making up my own question:  Do you have a plan of attack for 2009?  Yes. As a matter of fact we do! ;)

18. Compared to this time last year, are you richer or poorer? ... Definitely poorer, lol. All of our spare cash has been sunk into the VT house and the soap business. We’re lucky to be able to pay bills at the rate we’re going. You gotta spend money to make it though, right?

19. What do you wish you’d done more of? ... I wish that I had gone to the beach more. I never relax and I relax best at the beach.

20. What do you wish you’d done less of? ... Stressing out and whining about my stress.

21. How did you spend Christmas? ... We spent a very quiet Christmas at home with just the four of us. It was nice, peaceful, and we had a good time. Have I mentioned yet that the Mister got me a new iPod Touch for Christmas??? I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!

22. Did you fall in love in 2008? ... Nah. I’m still in love with the same man I’ve been in love with for 13 years. He’s the best.

23. Is gone too. Hmm. I’ll fill in:  What’s your biggest regret of 2008? Moving. By far. We should have stayed put in our other house. A nicer house doesn’t make everything better and our other house was in a better neighborhood with better neighbors and it was sans a Home Owners Butt-Into-Your-Business-and-Then-Publicize-it-on-the-Internet Association.

24. What was your favourite TV program? ... Grey’s, Dexter, The Tudors, The Shield, Psych, The Big Bang Theory, BSG, Californication, Two and a Half Men, and tons others.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? ... Not really. You would think that I’d say the VT renters, but I hated them this time last year too. I really don’t care for the people that the Mister works with and for, but I wouldn’t say that I hate them. I’d like to beat on them a little though and maybe give them instructions on how to pull their heads out of their asses.

26. What was the best book you read? ... My Marie Antoinette book. Gosh! I really loved that book. I’m still in the middle of reading her biography.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? ... Rehab I suppose and the new Alanis Morissette CD.

28. What did you want and get? ... An iPod Touch, a job, a new digital camera, a family vacation, to see California and Jennifer again, to have one more year with my dad, to be healthy and for the hubs and the girls to be healthy.

29. What did you want and not get? ... I want for the VT house to go away. I want for the Marine Corps to not be so stupid. I want to find a decent school for the youngest child. What did I get instead? Stupid people.

30. What was your favourite film of this year? ... I have no idea. I wasn’t in the mood to watch movies this year. I think the only movie I saw this year that I hadn’t already seen was 30 Days and Nights which was pretty good. It didn’t follow the regular formula for a horror flick.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? ... I was 31 on my birthday and we didn’t do a whole lot for it. Dinner out I think.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? ... To be able to tell all the stupid people in my life exactly how stupid they are. Unfortunately, the Mister won’t let me go into work with him to do that, heheh. I did get to tell the VT idiots what I thought about them though which was pretty darn cool.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? ... Ha!! I haven’t had a fashion concept my entire life unless you count comfy jeans, t-shirts, and sandals.

34. What kept you sane? ... Blogging. Truly. I can only imagine how many readers I’ve lost due to my rotten year and my constant griping about it. ::shrug:: That’s life.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? ... Nobody. They’re all insane too.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? ... I don’t mix well with politics. I can’t really think of an issue that I was passionate about this year even with the elections.

37. Who did you miss? ... My dad, my sister,the girls when they were in Ohio, Jennifer, Josh, Dana. I’m sure there are others that I’m forgetting considering that all my friends and family live somewhere else.

38. Who was the best new  person you met? ... Peggy. She got me my job and has thrown new ones my way. I wish nothing but the best for her.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: ... I don’t think I learned anything new so much as I had lessons reaffirmed and beat into me:  Stick to your guns, don’t let people take advantage of you, there’s a such thing as being too nice, the size of your town doesn’t matter because there are idiots everywhere.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: ... I’m drawing a blank. The only thing that comes to mind is, “Cuz it’s a bitch to grow up.” While I believe that, it doesn’t sum up the year. Or, “Bring on the tequila,” but I don’t think I had one drop of tequila this whole year. Those are both Alanis songs just so ya know.  How about, “You PMS like a bitch. I would know.” That doesn’t apply either but I like it.

I Have a Story to Tell

I’ve been saving this story for a few days. I thought it’d be a great after Christmas tale for everyone to enjoy.

Let me take you back to December 23rd. The setting is a dingy office on a Marine Corps base in North Carolina. We have a bunch of Marines and their wives and children gathered for their shop Christmas party. Everybody has brought a dish to share (They were required to do so. Remember the bread I stayed up until 2 am baking??), and there are toys and games for the kids. It’s a pretty good time overall despite the fact that it is “mandatory fun”.

In the midst of the kids running around and all of the joking, a certain Staff Sergeant suggested to a Corporal that he shoot the Warrant Officer with a Nerf gun. It’s the type kids have been playing with for generations where the “arrows” have suction cups on the ends. You all know what I’m talking about, I’m sure. Anyway, the Corporal takes aim at the Warrant Officer and misses. Not so sure what his poor aim says about him as a Marine, lol. Upon his failure with the “gun” the Corporal takes an arrow and sticks it to the Warrant Officer’s forehead. This embarrasses the Warrant Officer due to the fact that his audience is family members and he berates the younger Marine as is his right. In all fairness, the Corporal stepped over the line when he physically put the arrow on the Warrant Officers person. The incident puts a damper on the afternoon, but everyone goes home early for the day which is a nice privilege during the holiday season.

Christmas Eve: All the Marines have to check out for their holiday leave at 0800 the next morning. They dutifully arrive as ordered however, all is not as it seems. Apparently, the Warrant Officer’s pride was injured more than everyone thought and he has now decided to bring the Corporal up on charges for the Nerf incident at the Christmas party. This means that the Staff Sergeant is also in trouble for putting the Corporal up to the prank in the first place. Additionally, because none of the other Staff Sergeants present stepped up to stop the Corporal, they are potentially looking at a negative report in their files as well. Marines are mind readers in case you didn’t know. Comes in real handy in a war zone.

To sum it up, a Corporal’s career is going to be ruined because of a toy at a Christmas party and all the Staff Sergeants are looking at formal reprimands in their permanent records as well. Because…of…a…toy. True story. I can’t say, “The End” because it’s not over yet. We’re still waiting to see how much trouble everyone is going to be in.

It’s such bull. If they want a professional atmosphere where everyone can hide behind their ranks, they shouldn’t have Christmas parties at the shop. Work should be work and play should be play. I really can’t believe that this is an issue at all. This guy is making such a big deal over a toy, making himself look like a whiny baby, he put a damper on everyone’s Christmas, and he beat the crap out of the shop morale so there isn’t any. All because of a toy. A TOY!! A child’s toy. I can’t wrap my head around it. It’s pure stupidity and it lacks any common sense that an adult should possess. It would totally be a different story if the Marine had stuck the arrow on the Warrant Officer’s head out of the blue, in the middle of a normal workday. He didn’t though! This was at a Christmas PARTY where there were kids running around and toys and food everywhere. Get a grip.

Now it may be a bit clearer as to why the decision to walk away after 12 years and a $26,000 reenlistment bonus has been so hard to make and no, the decision hasn’t officially been made yet.