Rest in peace, Mr. President

Tuesday is a National Day of Mourning in honor of our thirty-eighth United States President, Gerald R. Ford. President Ford is the first President I remember being on TV when I was a kid. Nixon was in office when I was born, but I remember Ford's Presidential Addresses cutting into my cherished TV time occasionally, that's how I remember him. LOL Black and white, fuzzy and with a slight ghost to his righ. LOL

We found out late today that our office is closing for the day Tueseday in honor of this American icon so here is my little tribute to the man of the hour.

Here are some interesting facts about President Ford:
He was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., after his biological father and later renamed after his adoptive father, Gerald Rudolph Ford, Sr.
Except in formal signature, he signed his name Jerry Ford.
Gerald Ford had two attempts on his life in California during the month of September, 1975. Both attempts were by women.
Ford was once a male model.
He became Vice President and President without being elected to either office.
Ford had another swimming pool dug after he became president because Richard Nixon had had it filled in.
Ford was on the University of Michigan football team from 1931 to 1934. He was offered tryouts by both the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears.
In 1977 he had a hole-in-one at the Memphis Classic.
He was right-handed, but he wrote with his left hand.
Ford was the only president to serve without being chosen in the national election.
When Ford proposed to to his wife, he was wearing one brown & one black shoe.
Ford was the first President to have been an Eagle Scout.
Ford's daughter Susan held her senior prom at the White House.
Ford was the head boxing coach and assistant football coach at Yale University.
Ford was one of the members of the Warren Commission appointed to study the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, he declared, "I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts."

It was indeed an unprecedented time. He had been the first Vice President chosen under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment and, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, was succeeding the first President ever to resign.

Ford was confronted with almost insuperable tasks. There were the challenges of mastering inflation, reviving a depressed economy, solving chronic energy shortages, and trying to ensure world peace.

The President acted to curb the trend toward Government intervention and spending as a means of solving the problems of American society and the economy. In the long run, he believed, this shift would bring a better life for all Americans.

Ford's reputation for integrity and openness had made him popular during his 25 years in Congress. From 1965 to 1973, he was House Minority Leader. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1913, he grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He starred on the University of Michigan football team, then went to Yale, where he served as assistant coach while earning his law degree. During World War II he attained the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy. After the war he returned to Grand Rapids, where he began the practice of law, and entered Republican politics. A few weeks before his election to Congress in 1948, he married Elizabeth Bloomer. They have four children: Michael, John, Steven, and Susan.

As President, Ford tried to calm earlier controversies by granting former President Nixon a full pardon. His nominee for Vice President, former Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, was the second person to fill that office by appointment. Gradually, Ford selected a cabinet of his own.

Ford established his policies during his first year in office, despite opposition from a heavily Democratic Congress. His first goal was to curb inflation. Then, when recession became the Nation's most serious domestic problem, he shifted to measures aimed at stimulating the economy. But, still fearing inflation, Ford vetoed a number of non-military appropriations bills that would have further increased the already heavy budgetary deficit. During his first 14 months as President he vetoed 39 measures. His vetoes were usually sustained.

Ford continued as he had in his Congressional days to view himself as "a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and a dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign affairs." A major goal was to help business operate more freely by reducing taxes upon it and easing the controls exercised by regulatory agencies. "We...declared our independence 200 years ago, and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and computers," he said.

In foreign affairs Ford acted vigorously to maintain U. S. power and prestige after the collapse of Cambodia and South Viet Nam. Preventing a new war in the Middle East remained a major objective; by providing aid to both Israel and Egypt, the Ford Administration helped persuade the two countries to accept an interim truce agreement. Detente with the Soviet Union continued. President Ford and Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev set new limitations upon nuclear weapons.

President Ford won the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 1976, but lost the election to his Democratic opponent, former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia.

On Inauguration Day, President Carter began his speech: "For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land." A grateful people concurred.

The party is over......

It's Wednesday, oh, wait, Thursday, and I'm just whooooooooooooped. Tuesday I crapped out and didn't get my final pajamarama picture taken even though I had on 3 separate pairs of pajamas! Really! I slept in one pair, got up and went to Wal-Mart for some clearance crap, came home, showered, put on a fresh pair, went to Joplin for more clearance crap, came home, ate dinner (I think) and then changed into another pair of the warm fuzzy little pants.

I didn't really get much along the lines of Christmas clearance, but Bob found a shit load of duck decoys and stuff. That's good, I guess, whatever makes him happy.

*****************************
Yesterday was sheer hell for my poor, goofy mother. She has spent all year making it to work on time, never missing a single day, never leaving early...... But yesterday, on her way to work she was pulled over for speeding, going 77 in a 60, she was passing some blue haired gummer who didn't have to be at work. Needless to say she got busted and has a $137 ticket to pay. The officer who pulled her over took his sweeeeeeet time and she was 2 minutes late for work, now she'll lose her perfect attendance bonus and all the goodies that come with it. She also lost her driver's license, not lost as in confiscated for speeding, but lost as in he gave it back but now she can't find it. Well after three frantic phone calls from me trying to calm her down she calls me back saying she did find it, she wasn't going to have to take off work again to get a replacement driver's license. Super! There is hope yet!

*****************************
Today I got an email from my eldest half sister. We didn't hook up at Christmas and now we both feel guilty. She has other siblings who live near me so she comes down a lot. I think I've gone to St. Louis three times in the past dozen or so years and it's just not right of me to put all the driving onto her. She's had a pretty rough year this year and she really needs a lot of support. She lost her mom and that has been traumatic for her. She also spent the majority of the year pregnant and that is just difficult no matter what but she was high risk because of her age and other concerns. Luckily, all is good now though. When she did have her second child, a son, he had some health concerns but I think all is good now. One thing you can deal with, but when you start adding up one thing on top of another it's overwhelming and I should have been more supportive. I'm a sucky sister........

*******************************
Before I go, here's a blonde joke.

A girl was visiting her blonde friend, who had acquired two new dogs, and asked her what their names were. The blonde responded by saying that one was named Rolex and one was named Timex. Her friend said, "Whoever heard of someone naming dogs like that?" "HELLLOOOOOOO......," answered the blond. "They're watch dogs!"

A - Z of Meeeeeeeee (Thanks Bexxie!)

A - AVAILABLE: Nope, been married for over 16 years
B - BIRTHDAY: April 25th
C - CRUSH: Nope
D - DAD'S NAME: Duh, Dad
E - EASIEST PERSON TO TALK TO: My kid, she rawks
F - FAVORITE BAND: Aerosmith, until the end of time.....
G - GUMMY BEARS OR GUMMY WORMS: Ewwww, chocolate
H - HOMETOWN: I consider Miami my hometown, even though it's not :o(
I - INSTRUMENT: I played the clarinet when I was in 3rd grade, I sucked
J - JUGGLE: just life, not things
K - KILLED SOMEONE: I'm soooooo not answering that
L - LONGEST CAR RIDE: Farmington, NH to Miami, OK
M - MILKSHAKE FLAVOR: Hot Fudge !!
N - NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: 3, Kindel, Kelly & Kristi, all older half sisters
O - ONE WISH: To be rich!!!!!!
P - PERSON WHO EMAILED ME LAST: RetroKim asking if I wanted to take a class with her
Q- QUICK FACT: I have a spider bite on my right arm
R - REASON TO SMILE: My kid
S - SONG YOU LAST LISTENED TO: Hinder, Lips of an Angel
T - TIME YOU WOKE UP: 6:00am
U - UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME: I love to do crafts but I have absolutely no talent
V - VEGETABLE YOU HATE: Beets, they make your pee pink
W - WORST HABIT: Popping my knuckles, rolling through stop signs, need I go on?
X - X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD: Tummy (gallbladder), teeth, knee.......
Y - YOUR NUMBER OF EMAIL CONTACTS: crap, a lot!!
Z- ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus

Pictures, pictures, PICTURES!!!!!!

As promised, here are the pics!!

CHRISTMAS DAY!! Monday, Pajama Day: Day 4

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Every year we say we're going to wait until Christmas morning to open our presents, but then every Christmas Eve I can't wait. So last night I decided the kid in me just couldn't wait and we opened the presents early again! Sheesh, I'm such a pushover. LOL

MWH played Santa and I swear she lost 2 pounds carrying all the gifts back and forth to each of us!

She got to open first (as usual, damned kid). When Bob said something about opening, I said yeah, let her, you know, "age before beauty". LOL MWH laughed and then realized what I said and scoweled at me. LOL Kids..... they're so funny! I swear of the first 7 gifts she opened 5 were shoes! She got winter boots, green Mary Jane crocs, American Eagle sneakers, Old Navy house slippers and some Soda waffle stompers. Bob asked me "ARE THERE ANY MORE SHOES!?" I said, I don't think so but hell I really didn't know. She got a tye dye hoodie and pants (with the strong stipulation that she couldn't wear both of them at the same time), lots of Tinkerbelle shirts, a green military jacket, a long, fur lined denim coat, tons of Bath & Body Works and The Body Shop body butters, lots of lipgloss, Aquamarine DVD, a silver phone purse, some glitter blush, the last 2 Charlie Bone books, a ton of other books (you gotta love Books-A-Million!!), two new bras (sooooooo embarrasing) and so much more!



Bob and MWH got me Natinal Treasure on DVD, a beautiful, super soft, deep purple fleece jacket from Bass Pro, some Vent Visors for my Jeep and the most gorgeous Brushed Nickel Wall Mount Pot and Wine Rack. I have no actual pot to hang from it so I think I'll just hang my new Krona pans from Cruella on it. LOL You can hang wine glasses from it too but I haven't done that yet. Bob got his skid plate, some hand guards, lots of DVD's (Slingblade, the X-Men trilogy and Liar, Liar) and some Old Navy shirts which I fully intend to break in for him. LOL



We all went to bed thinking that Christmas was done but oh, was MWH ever wrong!! Bob waited patiently (that's so hard for him) for us to get up and when we did, MWH discovered that Santa had left something in her stocking! Imagine that! She had a manual and a key!! LOOK WHAT SANTA BROUGHT!!!!





Based on the ear to ear grin and the bear hugs here, I'm guessing she really likes it.

MWH was really excited, Bob was tickled shitless that she was so happy and I am just beside myself that she looks so small on it. LOL Is that an ATV or a tank? Good grief!

We spent the afternoon being lazy, watching Slingblade and munched on leftovers for lunch. That ham was sooooooo good!! We had planned on ordering pizza but none of the pizza places were open! When we headed into town, all that was open were gas stations (some, not all), Movie Gallery and Taco Mayo! So, we decided to have Christmas dinner at Taco Mayo with about 40 other families. LOL The drive thru was packed and so was the dinning room, it was hilarious! Everyone was so nice though, laughing and having a good time. It wasn't a normal Taco Mayo experience but more of a Christmassy good tidings type of atmosphere, you could literally feel the Christmas spirit all around you.

After dinner, Bob made duck hunting plans with his friends and napped in his chair while MWH and I watched Aquamarine. Yeah, life is goooooood.

Here's today's pajama shot. This is one of the piles of boxes and wrapping and everything leftover as I was taking it out to the trash. I actually wore these pants Friday and slept in them Sunday night (yes, they were washed in between there) and I stayed in them all day today. Yep, I'm totally lazy. LOL I even wore them to Taco Mayo!

Blogger is seriously fucking me over tonight. My spacing is all wrong and I just don't care. Enjoy and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

CHRISTMAS EVE!! Sunday, Pajama Day: Day 3

It's Sunday already and I'm just in shock that my little vacation is going so well!

Tonight we had the annual Christmas with the Horns get together and I'm telling you it was awesome! RetroKim always outdoes herself. Her house is just entirely absolutely the epitome of Christmas. Her dining room is Santa Red and I kid you not it looks like some elves decorated it. She scours resale shops and garage sales and everywhere to find the most amazing decorations, it's just her thing. One of our friends says it's "Christmas on crack" not that any of our friends would know what crack looks like. LOL Basically, they have anywhere from 13 to 20 trees, fully decorated, all over her house. She has trees in each bedroom, even the bathrooms! Theme trees, classic trees, bare trees, tinsel trees....... Oy, you name it, she can do it!

Here's a pic of today's pajamas and my wonderful new water machine!

I spent the afternoon making the traditional greenbean casserole and Rhodes rolls. I was also supposed to make a sugar free dessert so I made a Tiramisu. I found the recipe on splenda.com, you gotta love the internet!

After a magnificent dinner of decadent ham, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, some kind of fantabulous corn dish, a pistachio salad and more we all retreated to the living room and opened presents. The girls got some awesome gifts, MWH got a purse from Claire's that she absolutely LOVES , Cars DVD and Over the Hedge DVD, as well as a ton of other goodies. Some of my loot was a super soft robe, a night shirt (that actually fits me!!) and some scentual smelling candles. I'm telling you, I have such great friends!! Bob got some new grilling tools and a really neat picture frame with antlers on it!! So kewl!

We all kicked back and enjoyed an array of spectacular desserts and lots of wine while we watched Cars and laughed our asses off at Mater and the other Radiator Springs characters. Did you know that Mater's character was based on an old International that was parked in Galena, KS? Don't believe me? Read this......

TOMORROW IS CHRISTMAS!!!!!! This could only be be better if they were predicting snow!

More Saturday

Today we had Christmas with my mom. Yes, she's gone back home and all is well now. She'd been here since Wednesday evening, and yes, I had wine. All in all we had a good visit. She's so funny to be around sometimes, she says the silliest but oddest things.... I do think she had a good time though, that's all that matters.

She gave MWH a ton of clothes, as if the kid needed any more, a Phantom Stallion book and some DVD's (Benny and Joon!!). There were a few other little trinky dinks in there too but honestly I was too busy trying to figure out what was in one of my packages to see what MWH got. LOL She also gave her a nice sized wad of cold, hard cash. Now, to a 13 year old, that is amazing. Bob got a reciprocating saw that he's had his eyes on for some time (I tipped her on to that find) and some clothes and more cold, hard cash. I got some nice Isotoner black, leather gloves, a pizza peel, a stainless steel collander, clothes (God knows I need them with as much weight as I've lost) and exactly what I wanted, a hot/cold water dispenser! WOO HOO! I also got some pocket money to spend too. My mom rocks!!

All afternoon we did the kitchen thang. We slow simmered a chicken to make my world's famous chicken and noodles and we made FOUR batches of my fantastic fast fudge too. Two batches of peanut butter and two batches of chocolate peanut butter. I have a stand mixer and wow, that thing is incredible when it comes to making fudge! It really makes it extra creamy and so decadent! Yummmmmmmm.

I'm sitting here now, drinking some wine, and I'm a bit toasted. It's hard to type.... I bought some white zinfandel wine that came in little tiny bottles that is equivalent to 1 glass and I'm thinking that one glass may be too much for me now. LOL Oh well, I'm feelin' fine, just fine......

Saturday, Pajama Day: Day 2

Here is the pic of DAY 2 of my PAJAMAMAMAMAFEST!!!! Sorry it's blurry, my mom took it and she isn't really good at stuff like that, sometimes the toilet handle is too complicated..... LOL

It's not even noon and I've done way too much for a Saturday!

So far, I've finished wrapping ALL of the gifts, I'm done. YIPPEEEEEEE! I've gone to Wal-Mart and bought groceries for tomorrow night's Dinner with the Horns and for my world famouse chicken and noodles for tonight's dinner. I treated MWH and Mom to breakfast at a local diner. I've even done some laundry today too!

Yesterday, after over three years of heated discussions, I finally convinced my mother to upgrade her cell phone. She has US Cellular and still uses a Nokia 5125. It's a dinosaur phone, the battery is loose and the phone is just not good. I called Cingular and got them to waive the $36 activation and she got a basic phone, the Motorola L2, for free. I think she'll like it, in a few years..... LOL

A dear, wonderful friend called me out of the blue yesterday and invited me out for drinks and dinner. She moved to Tulsa this spring and I don't get to see her much anymore so it was fantastic to hear from her and to get to go out and do something! We went for Mexican and shared a mango margarita, yummmmmm, it was so good! We sat there and talked about kids and men and jobs and life and Christmas and drank and talked about some more stuff. I'm so proud of her for all she's accomplished, she's so brave.

I'm gonna get off here and go make some fudge!! HO HO HO!!!!! Merry Christmas!

Friday, Pajama Day: Day 1

It's official, it is now DAY 1 of my pajamamamamarama excursion.

Today we slept in, ah, that was nice. After a slow and lazy morning we headed to Joplin but of course we had to make one stop first. One of the greatest little shops here in tow was closing today, On The Corner, a little mom & pop shop that sells school clothing and candles and stuff is now closed for good. The owners also had a frozen custard place but that too has closed down now. So sad.

When we got to Joplin, I had a mission. I was in search of a soundtrack CD for The Preacher's Wife. A friend of mine is looking for it, she can't find her copy and I thought I'd suprise her with it for Christmas, but no luck. I hit Vintage Stock (formerly the Book Barn), Eccentrix (yes, the creepy little man was there again!!), Hastings (even though I'd been there once before), Best Buy, Sam Goody's, Wal-Mart and a few other places. I guess I'll just end up buying one new or hitting ebay, but no luck getting it in time for Christmas...... Oh well, I tried.

We also hit Books-A-Million where I scored like a madman on some great books! Thanks to Cruella for getting me the Millionaire Club card, I saved about $5 today, thanks sooooo much! I went in to get one particular book that I needed for MWH and found not only that one but a table of other teen books on sale! Well, one I found was a "choose your ending" type book and t wasn't on sale but those are awesome so I got it too.

We jaywalked across the street (yes, we're insane) to go to Shoe Carnival where we found absolutely nothing. I hate that damned clown store.......

Our next stop was the Northpark Mall, yes, today's stop made three visits this week, I am soooooo ready for Christmas to be over with. LOL I couldn't tell you all the stores we hit in the mall, I don't want carpal tunnel that much. LOL Let's just say that I did run out of checks. Oh, note to self, order more checks!

We tried to stop for lunch at that Greek place, Mythos, but they were closed for lunch, I guess they only do dinner....... darn it!

I have more to write about, Cingular and my dinner date to name a few things, but it's midnight now and I'm exhausted. More tomorrow folks, more tomorrow....... as if anyone's even reading this. LOL

What's under YOUR Christmas tree?

*said in my best Capital One "What's in your wallet?" voice*

I have five gifts under my tree. Three are marked with my name or "mom" on them. One from my mom is (I think) a hot/cold water dispenser that I asked for, another is from Bob and I'm pretty sure it's a set of vent visors for my Jeep, which I've been wanting since the day I bought my Jeep, there's a DVD in my stocking, National Treasure I hope, I have a soft, squishy box from MWH that I think is a robe and then the last thing is from my mom and I don't know what the hell it is.

We had our gift exhange at work today and it was rather funny, there are 4 of us girls and we each drew a name out of a cup. I got T, T got me, C got D and D got C. There wasn't much variety this year. LOL T seemed to like the Bath & Body Works body wash I got her. When I bought it though I thought it was lotion. The scents were peppermint, gingerbread and hot chocolate, they all smell sooooooo real. But they were body washes not lotions, I could kick myself sometimes. T got me a neat bath basket and some body wash too. I guess we both think the other stinks. LOL T got D a yummy cake candle with a glass stand and a carton of cigarettes and D got C a purple hat and scarf set, very her, very cute and fun! One of the wise men bought our lunch and entertained us for the hour, he's so funny!!!!!! We even got a pic of him with C's purple hat on, sooooooo hilarious!

Bob has left to One Eye's, it's just me, mom and MWH. We're gonna go shopping tomorrow sinced I don't have to work, woo hoo! Hey, Earthlily, I SUCK! hahahaha I may suck, babe, but YOU are stuck at your desk working...... LOL I'm sorry, that's mean, oh well, that's what best friends are for. Honestly though, I do have the world's greatest bosses, they are truly, absolutely, 100%, undoubtedly amazing! It's all "family" and "fun" and "do your best", you don't find many places like that anymore. I'm truly lucky!!

Oh, a sad thing...... Two of my favorite places ever are closing. J&W Custard and On The Corner. Todd & Missy are closing the doors for good. So sad........

Tonight I have on my flannel striped 'jama bottoms (THANKS CRUELLA!) so I'm all warm and so ready for sleep, good night!

I have the best...

Friend!!!!!!!!!! My friend Cruella mailed me the bestestestest Christmas package this week! She sent me FOUR pair of the mosty comfortable flannel pajamamama bottoms! For those of you keeping count, I now have 5 pair of flannels and 2 fleece! I'm not getting dressed all holiday weekend! She also sent me GREY'S ANATOMY SEASON 2!!!!!!!! WOO HOO! YIPPEEEEEE! And if that wasn't enough, there was the most adorable little beanie baby and a fabulous holstien cow that just melts your heart! She and the ol' Coyote really outdid themselves this year which brings me to my next I have the best...

BOSSES!!!!!!!! My bosses (and the first bitch) have decided to close our office at noon tomorrow and close both Monday and Friday. Since I was originally told I'd have Friday off though I STILL GET IT OFF! WOO HOO! So I have 5 days off for Christmas, three of which are p.a.i.d. That fucking rocks!

So, I sit here, ready to leave for the extended holiday weekend with optimism and blessings in my heart. Merry Christmas y'all!

Christmas, just a few more days...

Where has the year gone? We're only 6 days away from Christmas and I still remember January like it was yesterday! Oy, vey!

It's still unclear how much time I'm getting off for Christmas. We were going to just be closed Monday, two of us girls were going to work Friday while the other two took off, then Tuesday the two who were off would work and the two who worked would be off, but now we may have both off, I have no idea, I just want to know one way or the other for sure. LOL

My mom is coming over tomorrow, we're going to do Christmas a little early. Bob is going to One Eye's to go duck hunting and I'll have some alone time. Yeah, with my mom and MWH. I'll need alcohol....... Lots of alcohol. Christmas Eve will be with friends, our annual thing where we sit around and gab, do karaoke and talk about the kids and everything that has happened since the beginning of time, I can't wait for Christmas Eve!

Friday night was the PTSO dance I had to go to. It went well, I really enjoy stuff like that. I had a fair amount of help and I'm so grateful for that! We even had one parent who works for AT&T donate 10 MP3 players and 10 CD players for the door prize give a ways! That was awesome!

Saturday Miss Whineyhiney and I got our hair all done and we looked so nice. I took everyone to Wal-Mart and got the annual family Christmas photo taken, I can't wait until they come in Friday! I actually bought a new frame tonight, I'm really looking forward to it!

After pictures we headed to Grove to Bob's work Christmas party. There were a lot of people there as usual and it was so fun to get out and not have to do anything. I got a few compliments from people I hadn't seen for a while, that rocks.

After work Monday, RetroKim and I headed to Joplin for some last minute shopping. I found what I thought was my last stuff but again I bought something for myself (hahahaha) and realized it was too big so Bob and I went back to Joplin tonight and exchanged my too big pants.
I now have three pair of pajama bottoms, one flannel and two fleece. During my four day holiday I will not be getting dressed. I will be wearing pajama bottoms all holiday. I am boycotting pants and dressing up.

Pajama bottoms every day for meeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

No pics yet

I am such a slacker! I did get our pics taken Saturday but they won't be in until Friday. I tried to get my family to take my picture because I was all dressed up for the Christmas party and had my hair done and had make up on but nooooooo, no one would take my picture. UGH!

So, Friday the pics will be in. I'll run them to work and scan them in so I can upload them here to share. Sorry for the delay folks, so sorry.

What do they say? The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Hiatus

It's been ages *over a week!!* since I blogged. So not cool.

Let's see..... what happened in the past 8 days? Well, Friday I took off work to chaperone the chorus kids at WRMS to go to Tulsa to sing Christmas carols at the Promenade Mall. The teacher, the school counselor and me and 45 kids. I was the only parent who went. I had a blast and did a little Christmas shopping. I had lunch at Chic Fil A and I think it's my new favorite place to eat. They have these grilled chicken tenders in the kids meal and they are wonderful. They let you get a fruit cup rather than french fries and that totally rocks too! YUMMMMMMMM!

Friday night was our office Christmas party and had a fucking blast. My bosses are sooooooo cool, truly amazing. I had the best shrimp ever and I even drank a little! I had a little wine and W ordered me a redheaded slut or something like that. My first shot since my surgery. No, I didn't down it in one drink, I broke it up into 3 drinks, but damn it felt gooooood. After dinner and drinks and good company and a little dirty Santa, we gambled a little and went home. My dirty Santa gift was a stunning set of crystal wine glasses. Stunning. W's wife did a fantastic job in buying us girls gifts this year, I think everyone got what they wanted and were very pleased with what we got. When we got home it was midnight and we were flat out exhausted. Bob had to get up at 3:00 am to go to One Eye's to go duck hunting (his new passion). He was probably still drunk when he left but I really don't know because I was completely unconscious. MWH spent the night with a friend so I was alone but I still woke up before 6:00 am! What is up with that? I can NEVER sleep anymore. It was fine though, I laid on the couch and watched the movies that I'd PVR'd all week and hadn't had time to watch. Nice....

After I picked up MWH from her sleepover, I took a nice, long nap. Ahhhhhh. We had plans to go to the Christmas parade and to see Mrs. Coach and her fine family in the Nutcracker. The parade was actually pretty good this year! Usually there are a crap load of fillers and huge gaps between the different entrants, but not this year, they hoofed it and really kept the pace going! We had plenty of time to get over to NEO to see the Nutcracker.

MWH's friend who was in it actually sprained her ankle in the first scene. Oy vey.... Poor kid. Wait, when did I become Jewish? LOL Anyway, she's a trooper and just kept on going. She endured through both Saturday night's performance AND Sunday's matinee. Amazing child....

Sunday we did nothing, absolutely nothing. I was wiped.

Work has been good this week. Busy but good. I had my 6 month evaluation and got a nice, very nice, super sweet wonderful nice raise. I also got told how great I was doing and that means the world to me, the money is nice, ok, damned good, but to hear your boss say good things about you and how you do things is priceless.

I also now am UNDER 200 pounds. That is so fucking awesome. Words just can not say it. I'm wearing a size 16 jean and got called "hot" and "sexy" yesterday. Wow....

Tuesday I felt a little tickle in my throat and my nose, I could tell something was looming. I haven't really broken out into a full fledged anything but if I had stock in Kleenex I'd be loaded right now. My nose is leaking. I'm tired and my back and neck hurts. It's been a few days and it's not progressed into anything major so I think I'm lucky.

Oh, Tuesday I hit it pretty good at the casino. Well, not taxable good, but I put in $5 and walked away with $90. To me that is damned wonderful. Hellooooooo Christmas cash.

Tonight is a dance at MWH's school. PTSO is doing it and since I'm PTSO president it's me doing it. I'm so tired and I feel like I've let the kids down by not doing more. I should have gotten more door prizes and stuff but I didn't. I should have called more parents but I didn't. I'm sick. Bite me.

Bob's Christmas party is Saturday night and MWH and I are getting our hair done. I am hoping to do some pictures that afternoon so I can get someone to stop asking me to update my pic! LOL

Oh, I need some advice. I have Cingular and I want to upgrade my cell. I'm thinking of getting a RAZR or a SLVR. I just don't know how many songs you can put on them and do you have to use iTunes? There's also a couple Sony units that look good too. I want a camera and an MP3 player this time. I don't have to have a flip phone, oh the choices. I'd like a Palm Treo but I can't afford it since I blew all my bonus on diamond earrings and crap. LOL

Well, it's about time to get up and start my day, I'm outta here.

ADVICE!

You are driving in a car at a constant speed. On your left side is a 'drop off' (The ground is 18-20 inches below the level you are traveling on), and on your right side is a fire engine traveling at the same speed as you. In front of you is a galloping horse which is the same size as your car and you cannot overtake it. Behind you is another galloping horse. Both horses are also traveling at the same speed as you.

What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?

For the answer click and drag your mouse from star to star.

* Get your drunk ass off the merry-go-round. *

Tis the season

Last night was Miss Whineyhiney's Christmas concert at the beautiful Coleman Theater in downtown Miamuuuuuhhhhhhhhh. I was a bit apprehensive about going because I really don't care for a particular someone who works (rather, volunteers) at the Coleman but I will walk through hell and high water to do whatever it is that my kid wants so I went. And, yes, that particular someone was there but she didn't give the usual choreographed speech about chewing gum and what not so it wasn't entirely miserable.

A few good things happened while there though.

For starters, I got to watch my daughter sing, that is priceless. She was next to one of her best friends and they were so happy, it just made my heart so proud. She's growing into such a wonderful, brilliant, beautiful young lady...... She was just so happy, I truly don't deserve such a good kid.

Second,and selfishly, terribly important, I sat comfortably in one of the Coleman seats. My ass touched nothing. My hips touched nothing. I had rooooooom to moooooooooove. That completely and utterly rocks.

Third, I saw a TON of people! Brady and Steve, Jody and Jennifer (old, old, old school friends), the whole Divinity clan (even Nana!!!!) and Tamara and her family.

The whole show was only 35 minutes long but I was glad to go, my butt was getting numb. I got there half an hour early so I could sit in the front row. LOL My own fault I guess..... Oh well. I comlain if I don't have padding, I complain if I do! LOL Go figure! The choir teacher (who shall not be named here) did a fantastic job! He is so, um, what's the appropriate word, dramatic? no, ummmmm, animated? YES! Animated! He puts on one hell of a show, it was hilarious just to watch him!

**********************

This weekend looks to be a good one too. Friday night is our office Christmas party. MWH is staying at a friend's house so Bob and I can go alone, sans children. Yes, score! I do plan on drinking and making a total fool out of myself. If you see me, please tell me about it later. Hahahaaaaaaaa. Take pictures too, they might just be good for some odd favor someday.

Saturday, Bob is going up to ol' One Eye's to go duck hunting. SCORE!!!!!! He'll leave early and I can sleep in since there will be NO ONE IN THE HOUSE BUT ME. Now watch, the house will catch fire and I'll be forced to flee the house in my 'jama pants and t-shirt........ Oh well, life goes on. Saturday night is the city's Christmas parade on main street in beautiful, downtown Miamuuuhhhhhhh and also the Nutcracker performance that I'm torn between.

Sunday is the second Nutcracker performance so I'll be seeing it then. MWH's friend, crap, I forgot her nickname, is in it and so is Mrs. Coach and Mr. Coach and Lil Nati Coach and a hole crap load of people.

********************

Oh, one more thing before I go. I went to get some prescriptions filled last night and OH MY GOD am I ever so grateful that I have insurance. I paid $55 for 3 scripts but had I not had insurance they would have cost me over $215! HOLY SHIT! I nearly fell over, then we got home and realized MWH was out of yet another so I still have to go back for one more........ it never ends!

I think my lunch hour is about over with so I'll be logging off now. Later!

Happy Birthday MamaKBear!

Today is MamaKBear's 35th birthday! WOO HOO! Go here and tell her to have a great day!!

I hope you have a great day and that you get something very sparkley and expensive!

Oh, and lots of cake, always lots of cake. Yummmmmm.

So, if you're in Oklahoma City and see MKB out and about, give her a swat on the booty for me cause IT IS HER BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!!!!

Far Away

This song has been on the radio every freakin' time I turn it on. It's killing me.

Far Away

Nickelback

CD - All The Right Reasons

This time, This place

Misused, Mistakes

Too long, Too late

Who was I to make you wait

Just one chance

Just one breath

Just in case there’s just one left‘

Cause you know,

you know, you know

That I love you

I have loved you all along

And I miss you

Been far away for far too long

I keep dreaming you’ll be with me

and you’ll never go

Stop breathing if

I don’t see you anymore

On my knees, I’ll ask

Last chance for one last dance

‘Cause with you, I’d withstand

All of hell to hold your hand

I’d give it all

I’d give for us

Give anything but I won’t give up

‘Cause you know,

you know, you know

That I love you

I have loved you all along

And I miss you

Been far away for far too long

I keep dreaming you’ll be with me

and you’ll never go

Stop breathing if

I don’t see you anymore

So far away

Been far away for far too long

So far away

Been far away for far too long

But you know, you know, you know

I wanted

I wanted you to stay

‘Cause I needed

I need to hear you say

That I love you

I have loved you all along

And I forgive you

For being away for far too long

So keep breathing

‘Cause I’m not leaving

Hold on to me and

never let me go

What is that song?

There is a song called Through Glass by Stone Sour that just haunts me. The melody, the tone...... I can't get it out of my head. I get lulled into the voice. Don't ask me the lyrics, I couldn't tell you, I just know that the singer sounds like Spike on Buffy's Once More With Feeling episode and it just makes me quiver and get all woosey inside.

Stolen from Matt who stole it from Max II

Look at the songs listed on this site from the year you turned 18 and make note of the ones you like and dislike.

Ok, I did get a look at the songs and I guess I'm just getting old because I don't remember half of them! Damn I really am getting old! I'm only 34!!! Oh well, here's my list. I'm not breaking them down like Matt did, just sharing the list. I loved Aerosmith , Poison, Heart, UB40 and that kind of music. I think some of it is rap or techno and I don't listen to any of that stuff.

1. Humpty Dance - Digital Underground
2. Here and Now - Luther Vandross *** I hated Luther Vandross***
3. I Wanna Be Rich - Calloway ***I remember this one!***
4. Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice ***Ok, I really did like this, still do***
5. U Can't Touch This - MC Hammer ***Oh, gawd, Hammer pants.... ***
6. Groove Is In The Heart - Dee Lite
7. Vogue - Madonna ***She still rawks!***
8. Pump Up The Jam - Technotronic ***Great song!***
9. Here We Are - Gloria Estefan ***HATE HER!***
10. Everybody Everybody - Black Box
11. Blaze Of Glory - Jon Bon Jovi ***Good song, never wanna hear it again though***
12. Tom's Diner - Suzanne Vega/D.N.A.
13. She Ain't Worth It - Glenn Medeirous
14. Step By Step - New Kids On The Block ***gag......***
15. Unskinny Bop - Poison ***I freakin' LOVED Poison!***
16. From A Distance - Bette Midler ***guilty pleasure***
17. Cherry Pie - Warrant ***SWEEEEEEEEEET!***
18. The Power - Snap!
19. Love Will Lead You Back - Taylor Dayne ***I remember, how could I forget?***
20. All My Life - Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville
21. The Way You Do The Things You Do - UB40 ***Totally rockin'! Even to this day!***
22. Just A Friend - Biz Markie
23. Black Velvet - Alannah Myles ***such a sexy song!***
24. Hippychick - Soho
25. Get Up! (Before The Night Is Over) - Technotronic
26. Jerk-Out - The Time
27. Janie's Got A Gun - Aerosmith ***I can not die until I see Steven Tyler in the flesh***
28. Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson ***I like her songs but hate her***
29. Miracle - Jon Bon Jovi
30. Joey - Concrete Blonde
31. Epic - Faith No More
32. It Must Have Been Love - Roxette ***I still have this cassette!!***
33. Cradle Of Love - Billy Idol ***soooooooo good***
34. This Old Heart Of Mine - Rod Stewart and Ronald Isley***guilty pleasure***
35. Close To You - Maxi Priest
36. (Can't Live Without) Your Love and Affection - Nelson ***actually, I liked Nelson, what happened to them?***
37. Vision Of Love - Mariah Carey***HATE HER TOO!***
38. Wiggle It - 2 In A Room
39. I Don't Have The Heart - James Ingram
40. All Around The World - Lisa Stansfield
41. That's What I Like - Jive Bunny (50s medley)
42. Heart Of The Matter - Don Henley ***HATE HIM TOO!***
43. Swing The Mood - Jive Bunny (1940s medley)
44. Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode
45. Do Me! - Bel Biv Devoe
46. Enjoy The Silence - Depeche Mode
47. Up All Night - Slaughter
48. Something Happened On The Way To Heaven - Phil Collins ***I don't remember this song but I love Phil!***
49. Downtown Train - Rod Stewart ***I like Do Ya Think I'm Sexy so much more!***
50. Freedom - George Michael
51. Suicide Blonde - INXS
52. Pictures of You - Cure
53. Dirty Deeds - Joan Jett
54. King Of Wishful Thinking - Go West
55. Escapade - Janet Jackson ***gag***
56. Cuts Both Ways - Gloria Estefan ***hurl***
57. Think - Information Society
58. Lambada - Kaoma
59. Two To Make It Right - Seduction
60. Oyo Mi Canto (Hear My Voice) - Gloria Estefan
61. Got To Get - Leila K with Rob 'n' Raz
62. L.A. Woman - Billy Idol
63. Bad Love - Eric Clapton
64. Free Fallin' - Tom Petty ***he's gross but it's still a good song***
65. Black Cat - Janet Jackson
66. I'm Free - The Soup Dragons
67. Dangerous - Roxette ***soooooo good, still got it too!***
68. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - Jimmy Somerville
69. Deadbeat Club - B-52s
70. Doin' The Do - Betty Boo
71. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You - Heart ***they totally rocked!***
72. Hungry - Lita Ford
73. Opposites Attract - Paula Abdul & The Wild Pair ***good beat, I remember this song well!***
74. 911 Is A Joke - Public Enemy
75. I'm Your Baby Tonight - Whitney Houston***total skank, couldn't stand her then, can't stand her now***

Copied from Mrs. Coach who stole it from Ann...

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

I see icy everything!

It's been days and the snow is still here, yippee! I'm so glad. I have figured out why we got this wonderfully beautiful treat though, it's 'cause Bob and I bought new windows to put into our house. Yes, you can blame (or credit, depending on how you look at it) me for this wonderful weather.

Oh, before I forget, my chicken and noodles Friday freakin' ROCKED! They were sooooooooooo amazingly good. If you could have scratch and eat internet I'd show you but damn they were great.

Back to my extended weekend....... I was off (WITH PAY!) Thursday (afternoon) and Friday and really enjoyed the down time. MWH and Bob are both sniffling and snotting but life goes on. Bob came home early from work Friday but we still didn't do much, just ran to Wal-Mart to do the socializing thing. LOL You know you live in Podunk when you go to Wal-Mart just to socialize. So sad....

Saturday though was a different story. Saturday Bob decided to load us all up and head to Tulsa. Yes, Tulsa. The roads were still icy but dammit my Jeep is four wheel drive and no amount of snow or ice is gonna keep us from a gun show. Yeah, he's a complete redneck. He's been wanting a Benelli shot gun (12 guage I think) for duck and turkey hunting, I guess his Mossberg isn't cutting it anymore. We went to the gun show and found nothing, they had some reloading things but with the weather there was no competition so the prices were outrageous. After the gun show we went to Old Navy to return the sleep pants I had bought that were too big for me. I tried on some XL's and they were too big too! WOO HOO! I didn't care for the fit though so I just got MWH a pair of them and decided I'd get some cheapies from Wal-Mart. I've got them on now and DAMN they are wonderful. You know I never had 'jama bottoms before so this is a real treat. It's been 13 plus years since I've been this small, I'm so happy! After Old Navy we hopped on the Broken Arrow Expressway and went to Bass Pro in search of the elusive Benelli. Ok, I didn't give a flying fuck about the Benelli but they have a Starbucks in there and that was all I needed to hear. LOL Plus, I decided I was going to get a camo crockpot while I was there too. So Bob did get his gun, not in the black like he wanted but in a kewl camo pattern and I got my Starbucks and the camo crockpot. I even got it at the sale price from Black Friday so that totally rocked! YIPPEE! I love a good deal.

Today we didn't do a whole lot, just watched a lot of Lifetime Movie Network, read the Sunday papers, bought groceries, cooked a pot roast (soooooo good) and piddled around. I took a 4 hour nap and went to High Winds for my Sunday freeplay. Now I'm sitting here on my laptop, in my 'jamas talkin' on Yahoo Messenger to my good ol' friend Cruella. Yep, life is goooooooood.

SNOW DAYS!!!!

Yes, plural. Days. With an "S". Let me say it again. Snow days. You could even call it snow daze because that's what I'm in right now.

I live in northeastern Oklahoma. A good snowfall here is a light dusting, we just don't get any accumulation here and when we do it's gone within the next 48 hours. Gone as if it never happened. I think this may be a little different.

The weather started coming Wednesday night, the horrendous rains came and the temperature dropped probably 30 degrees in just an hour or so. My friend Sunshine Country and I went out for a little Girls Night Out fun and gossip. I love a good GNO!! The night was pretty good, considering one of us hit 7 7 7 TWICE on the same machine! But alas, SC had to pick up her lil Sun Ray and the fun was over.

Thursday we woke up to the wonderful smell of beans in the crockpot (a nice surprise from Bob!) and outside there was ice. About an inch or so of solid ice. School was cancelled and MWH was staying home. I decided to head on into work and, even with all the cold weather and ice, my Jeep started up just fine, defrosted quickly and I made it to work with plenty of time to spare, not knowing how much to expect for the day. One news channel was calling for 3 to 7 inches of snow and yet another channel was calling for 7 to 14 inches. That's a pretty good difference if you ask me! Work was insane, the Courthouse was closing at noon and so we had to reschedule all the afternoon court cases. In that shuffle, we discovered they were tentatively closed for Friday too so we had to call all those clients too. Actually it was all fine, the wise boss men decided to send us home early and to play it by ear for Friday.

I had such a good afternoon home alone, just me and that bean pot. Ok, MWH was there too but she's old enough to take care of herself. LOL It was so nice to have nothing to do or no place to be. Soooooo nice. When Bob got home we had dinner and those beans were the best beans I've had in ages! YUM-OH! Bob cleaned the Jeep off again an we headed to Wal-Mart for a little entertainment and a few cold weather supplies. While there, one of the girls from work called me to tell me the Courthouse definitely was going to be closed Friday so I WAS IN THE CLEAR!!!!! Bob had to work but I didn't, YIPPEE!

I tried to sleep in this morning, soooooo did not happen, it never does. LOL But when I did get up, this is what I woke to!

So I'm home, Bob's at work, I've got not a whole lot to do and dammit I'm enjoying myself! WOO HOO! My afternoon consists of roasting a chicken for chicken and noodles tonight and watching Grey's Anatomy. Yep, life is goooooood.

Here's one more pic for you. I got a little camera happy this morning so here you go. I had a pedicure a while back and my toes still look adorable so I figured I'd share.

Whiney Wednesday

It dawned on me today that I haven't whined in quite some time. Methinks I'm long overdue for the ritual!

Actually, I could probably whine about my whole day. My day started with mixed blessings. I didn't have to rush around this morning (a plus) because (a negative) I had to go to the doctor for my annual exam. I had a hysterectomy in 2003 and haven't had an annual exam since. I know, I know, shame on me...... Needless to say, I did it, it's over, and if just being done with it isn't good enough, I don't have to have another for 5 years because of my hysterectomy! WOO HOO!

While my blood pressure was normal (not borderline like it used to be, 115 pounds ago), the doctor did ask me about my asthma and kind of got onto me because I don't use my inhaler or take daily meds for asthma. FINE! I'm an idiot! Now YOU know too! LOL I really thought my asthma was under control but I guess I was wrong. I think it's flaring up because of a combination of three things, the new windows (maybe lead dust in the house), the water damage in the office (it's been fixed but I'm sure there is still some residual mold around there) and the second hand smoke I breathe in daily. Here's a whine. I work with women who smoke. Luckily they confine their cigarette smoking to two rooms, one office and the women's bathroom, but I'm in and out of the bathroom and the smoking office all day. Now please don't think I'm complaining about the smokers in the office, I'm not, to each his (or her) own, I'm just stating a fact. Here's another fact, I also spend a lot of time in the casinos and there is a LOT of second hand smoke there. So, I'm sure that the smoke in the office is nothing compared to that but it's still a factor.

Let me see....... Another whine. Oh, I know. My dear, wonderful, super-fantastic friend Cruella is under the impression that I'm coming to see her for Christmas. While I would love nothing more to be able to do that I don't think it will happen. First, I don't have the extra money to do it, second, I don't have the time off work, third I'm scared that if I did make the plans to head to Wyoming in December, there would be some kind of horriffic weather related event that would happen to me and my family that would make the Donner Party and their tragedy pale in comparison.

Another whine...... I have been having dreams (good memory dreams, not anything bad) about an old, very dear friend. I ODCR'd them and it seems this person has ran into some seriously hard times (divorce, money judgments, multiple protective orders, etc). I tried to call this person and haven't been able to reach them. I feel bad because I have had dreams about this person and really am worried about them. I just want them to know that I still care, that someone thinks they were and may still be a good person. Sometimes you just need to hear that. I know this old friend does not read my blog (haven't seen or spoken to them for 15 years) but I'm putting out some good vibes for them. Here's to you M.R.B., I hope your current situation remedies itself and you come out stronger and happier than you ever dreamed possible. I don't know who you are now but I do know who you were then and if you're half the person you were then YOU STILL ROCK and I still think the world of you.

I do miss so many of my old friends. I have one old friend I email jokes and what not to and he won't email me back for some reason. Ok, he never emails anyone back but dammit I'm me and not just anyone! LOL There's yet another whine! I haven't talked to you in WEEKS, I miss you!! Now, suck it up and email me back, let me know you're doing ok!

Oh, my sisters, there's another whine. I have three half sisters, Kid, Kel and Bear. Each sister has 2 sons. I'm the only one of us with only one child and the only one who has a girl child. I stick out like a sore thumb. All of their real names begin with a "K", me, I begin with an "A". I swear I never had a chance! I recently saw a pic of sister Bear and her two boys, Jake and Zack, and I'm sad because MWH will never know her or them. I'll never know them. My father is one sorry fucker, he's messed us girls up so bad! I hate him for doing this to us! Only 1 of my 3 sisters, Sister Kid, even talks to me and she lives 5 hours away so I never get to see her and her adorable boys. Sister Kel lives about 45 minutes away but she wanting nothing to do with me. Sister Bear lives out on the east coast and I haven't been able to reach her directly but I'm guessing she wants nothing to do with me either. So sad........ I always wished that we'd have relationships as adults.

Ok, it's getting late and I need to get some rest, I could ramble on and on if I had the time but I'm already in bed and my laptop battery is flashing so I'm going to stop for now.

***UPDATE*** ISO XBOX or PS2

The game system has been found and purchased. The First Bitch is pleased. Thank you all for all your great ideas!

I am so glad that MWH and Bob aren't into games. I don't really know why, they're good for hand-eye coordination and can be educating, I just think they're a big waste of time and money. We bought MWH a N64 a few years ago and it was NEVER played. We still have one of those little arcade boxes we hook up to the TV occasionally but it's been a year or more since we've played it.

When I was a kid I had an Atari and tons of games, Frogger and Donkey Kong were my faves!! I remember Pong even before that. (Slight nausea just from thinking about that bouncing dot.) Yeah, I'm old. As a young teen, some kids I watched had the Nintendo system (I think) and I remember putting the little guys to bed so I could play Super Mario Brothers. That made me nauseous too. The music is still in my head (spoken with my best Drucilla voice). LOL

Oh well, to each his own!

Gobble Gobble ya'll and various random thoughts

I know it's passed but HAPPY THANKSGIVING FOLKS! I hope Turkey day was good to you because it's been "not entirely sucky" for me.

I got off work early Wednesday so I started my holiday weekend in the black, so to speak. LOL I tried to hit a few local stores while I was free from man and child but unfortunately the shops I inteded to shop in also closed early for the weekend. LOL Wonderful. Oh well, that is my luck.

MWH was over at a friend's house for the day and Bob was supposed to be at work but he took off early too. He had to run to Joplin though for more wood for window #3 so I had a little bit of a reprieve before anyone was going to be home so I jumped on that opportunity! HOME ALONE! WOO HOO! Since my shopping spree was a bust, I headed to my empty abode and popped in my latest Movie Gallery rental, The Da Vinci Code. More on that movie later.

Wednesday night we didn't do a whole lot, honestly I don't even remember it. I think we just sat around and watched the boooooob tube. The idea of 4 days off work was mind numbing and I don't think I could muster up enough energy to do anything but relax and ponder my many days of laziness. LOL

Thursday I didn't cook. I didn't do much of anything but read the newspapers and Black Friday ads and plan my strategy. I have to admit that I wasn't all that impressed with what I saw, but there were a few things that were worth my time. Last year, Mrs. Coach and I hit the streets on Black Friday and we had a blast, this year I had more money and more energy. I was sooooooo ready for it! Luckily, Mrs. Coach was too so that was wonderful!

After she picked me up at 4:30, we headed to Joplin. I know you're all thinking at least one of us is completely stupid and you'r probably right. When we got to the mall the line to Best Buy was, well, insane. It was literally over 1/2 a mile long and probably 4-6 people wide in spots. I was starting to get a little scared but I didn't want Mrs. Coach to smelly fear so I sucked it up and put my game face on. We started out at Sears and while most of what was on my Sears list was unavailable, they did do ad matching so I found a few things there that I knew I'd not be able to get later. Old Navy was next and I found a coat that I absolutely loved. Much to my dismay, when I checked out I discovered it was not the $20 I thought it was. I misread the sign and it was $20 off. Too expensive for my taste considering this will be the one and only year I'd get to wear it. I did get myself some sleep pants. It seems I've been entirely too cold since I have lost 115 pounds and the concept of flannel pants is a freaking miracle. Unfortunately when I got home to put my pants on they were about 2 sizes too big. Hmmmm, I really need to learn to try stuff on. LOL Next was Bath & Body Works for some goodies for me and gifts for others. LOL Do you see a theme here? A little for them (family and friends) and a lot for me? heheheeee Actually, the next stop, Dryer's Shoes, was all for family, they didn't have any tennis shoes I could afford. I don't want to bore you with stop by stop (Victoria's Secret, Macy's (home store), Select Comfort, Limited Too, Macy's (jewelry and clothing store).....) but let me tell you there were jewelry stores all over the mall and I HIT THEM ALL! LOL I did end up with a pair of 3/8 t.w. white gold princess cut diamond stud solitaire earrings. I did good I think. After the mall we went to Lane Bryant and Target. Do you know that Target does not ad match? I'm sorry but that totally sucks! We still had money and energy left and we headed to Goody's and Toys R Us! Still more money and energy took us to Home Depot for a big disappointment, the tree I wanted had sold out. We had a great lunch (with free wine) at Olive Garden and we ended our day with JoAnn's and Masterson's. I had such a great day. Mrs. Coach picked me up at 4:30am and didn't drop me off until 4:00pm! Oh my gawd, I had so much fun! Thank you soooooooo much Mrs. Coach!


Ok, back to The Da Vinci Code.

Now, if you're a modern Christian and have faith that there is one and only one God and that He is all that the Holy Bible puts him to be, you may want to stop reading here.

While I do believe in a higher power, I don't believe that one person, man or woman, could have done all this. I am not some pagan freak, really, I do believe that there is a higher power or are higher powers, Gods and/or Goddesses, singular or plural I don't know, but I do believe that there could be something other than the whole Holy Bible story.

The movie The Da Vinci Code is something that intrigues me to no end. Again, I don't know anything for sure and I'm not a scholar on the subject, but I do know that my heart tells me that there is some truth to this work of fiction. I like the idea of Jesus being mortal and having been married and a child being born of that union. I like the idea that that child's lineage, Jesus's lineage, is still with us to this day.

Holiday Meme

Welcome to the 2006 Holiday Edition of Getting to Know Your Friends!

You know the drill. Highlight, copy, and paste (never, ever forward) and change my answers to your answers. Be sure to send back to me. Enjoy!! Everyone has time for a few moments of fun! Don't be a scrooge!!!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Duh, chocolate anything.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? When MWH was little he left them under the tree, then he wrapped a few, now he wraps them all.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored lights on the tree, white on the house (not that I'll ever have lights on the house)

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Have you met my jealous husband?

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually I do it the day after Thanksgiving but I didn't get motivated to do it this year, probably this weekend though.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Sweet potato casserole, yummmmm.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Probably opening up everyone else's gifts accidentally.

8.When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I waited up for him one year and he never came, ever.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Usually, it's one of our traditions.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I decorate it with metalic ornaments and lots of silver accents, I hate gold!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it, love it, LOVE IT!

12. Can you ice skate? No but I'd love to learn!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I don't really remember the gifts I got as a kid.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family time.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Pecan pie!!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Making magic reindeer food with MWH.

17. What tops your tree? A silver metal star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Receiving! WOO HOO! I'm all about me this year!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Hight by Jodee Mesina

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Eating them is yuck but the smell is yummmmmm.

ISO XBox or PS2

A friend of mine is looking for a good, used XBox or PS2 for their kid (or husband, whatever) for Christmas. I don't do games so I have no idea where to go or what to look for, is anyone upgrading their kids' units for Christmas and wants to sell their old machine?

I'm A Podunk Girl

Saturday night our little neck of the woods received a special treat. One of Miami's finest came home. Keith Anderson, a 1986 graduate of Miami High School, came back to Miami to do a free concert and shoot a video for his new single, Podunk. Candy Coburn opened for him (she's from Springfield, MO) and, like at the Big & Rich concert, she rocked. When Keith finally came out the crowd just came unglued! He had on a Miami Wardog football jersey an was just sooooooo ready to perform! He sang one song and then said that they were going to start filming his video for Podunk, they were going to sing it live once then lip sync it three more times to shoot the video at different angles, etc. By the time they hit the 3rd Podunk I was numb from the cold and ready to go home.

Yes, I live in Podunk, a.k.a. Miami, Oklahoma. His web site says Podunk has a population of 319 when in reality Miami has about 12,000 people. That's really not Podunk if you ask me. My concert-going friend Terra and I grew up in Baxter Springs, KS, about 20 minutes from here, and it was and still is a podunk kind of town. In Miami, there are about 200 per graduating class, in Baxter we had about 60. Podunk. I actually graduated from Quapaw, OK, and we had less than that, about 45 if memory serves. Bob graduated from Miami a year before Keith Anderson and honestly didn't know half of the class he spent so many years with. I knew everyone from Baxter and Quapaw, years before me too! LOL Those were true Podunk towns. Oh well, I guess to Keith Miami is Podunk even though we have more than 319 people, but to me and Terra, well, we know what Podunk really is.

Main Street was in partial chaos. We didn't have the 10,000 estimated fans but we did have a lot. There were radio stations and TV crews and people from everywhere! Pizza Hut ran out of pizzas, can you believe that? The City of Miami is in the middle of redoing Main Street so they did have part of the curves removed but we were lucky enough to be able to stand on the planter by the Miami Towers to see the concert. Everyone up there was picking off tree branches and tearing the limbs down so we could get a better view. So sad that the whole tree will come down. Oh well, I guess that's progress.

Miss Whineyhiney, Terra and her 7 year old daughter all went and Terra and her kiddo had never been to a concert before so it was very fun for them! Plus, Terra hadn't been out to do anything that didn't involve princesses or Thomas the Train for years so she was really livin' it up! We spent a lot of the night people watching and being mean. Ok, I know, it was wrong, but damn, we had to do something to entertain ourselves while they changed the set over from Candy Coburn to Keith Anderson! We were never mean to anyone really, just mocking people's hair and stuff like that. Yep, I'm a rebel.

I ran into another great old friend while at the concert. Her hubby had just gotten home from Iraq. His name is Keith too and I teased them that all the signs around town were really for him, not Keith Anderson. LOL Actually, I didn't know Keith Ande rson was coming back but I knew the other Keith was and I really thought the signs were for him! LOL Angie took a pic of us but she hasn't emailed me with it yet, as soon as she does though I'll be sure to post it!

If you haven't heard Keith's song Podunk I recommend you listen to it. I heard it 4 times Saturday and it was pretty good. Here are the lyrics.

Podunk - Keith Anderson

Same Saturday night, same ol' crowd

Draggin' Main to the Safeway then turn back around

'Til curfew and then head down to the river's edge and get drunk

Ain't nothing new, what else you gonna do out in Podunk

Well I knew this six string was my ticket out

No flashin' red light was gonna slow me down

18 years old everything that I owned in the back of that truck

I put a dip in my mouth and I headed straight outta Podunk

1st Chorus

Goodbye, daddy looked me in the eye said go where you gotta go

But don't forget to call home

And momma cried keep Jesus in your life and I hugged her one last time

And then I headed down the road in a dusty cloud of smoke

Out of Podunk

Bridge

A lot of years gone by showin' on my face

Nothing in this life that time hasn't changed

I chased a lot of dreams and some of them came true

Ain't it funny how the very place I ran from is the place I'm runnin' to

Another Saturday night singin' to the same ol' crowd

Still playin' this six-string but things are different now

I met one of them girls turn your whole world around girls

And wouldn't you know it

We got our eyes on a house 'bout a hundred miles south

Out in Podunk

2nd Chorus

Goodbye, her daddy looked me in the eye

And said go where you gotta go son but don't forget to call home

And her momma cried said keep Jesus in your life and we hugged her one last time

Then we headed down that road to start a family of our own

Out in Podunk

Repeat 2nd Chorus 2x

Yep, I am a Podunk girl.

To bitch or not to bitch, that is the question

In my quaint, little Mayberryish town there is charm. There is warmth. There is uniqueness. Or rather, there was.

Our Main Street is not your normal downtown avenue. We have a half mile of serpentine roadway. We have something unlike any other town I'm aware of.

About two months ago, while driving to work, I noticed the view was off, the skyline just wasn't the same, something just wasn't right. I quickly realized that there were trees missing. I was in the southbound lane on Main and Central and there was a tree cut near Harvey's Diamonds. I think there was another tree missing down by the Friendship House.

I drove down Main Street today and realized that they are slowly, methodically removing part of the charming serpentine on the southern part of Main Street. I have heard rumors that there will be parallel parking and four lanes. I dread this. Most people don't know how to parallel park, fortunately I do, but most don't. I don't want this. I am angry that the residents of my quaint, little town didn't get to vote for this extreme change.

A few blocks north of the serpentine displacement they are building a four screen movie theater a block off of the main drag. This eyesore is also a problem. It's huge, it blocks traffic viewability and they had to close a road for it. It's a road my husband used often.

I don't know who to bitch to. I don't know if anyone cares that one person (duh, me) doesn't like the changes. I don't like that my tax dollars are being wasted on this project. I don't like that it was decided by one person or one group and not voted on by the community. I don't like where they put the movie theater, Steve Owens or north Main Street would have been a better choice. I don't know all the answers, I don't know all the questions, but I do know that I'm not impressed.

Aprehended!

The jig is up folks, the Dog has found me.

Looooooong Weekend

I'm on lunch so I guess I'll do a little weekend review.

We had Friday off for Veteran's Day so I took the day to myself. Normally Bob is off on Fridays but he had to work this one in exchange for two weeks of paid time off at Christmas. That is sooooo going to suck for me. LOL I started my day at the local Jeep dealership doing a recall thing on my Liberty. I sat in the waiting room of the dealership in the dark and watched the Today show and caught up on the world news. I really enjoyed that. A lady came in while her car was being worked on and we talked about the news and about her son who is in Iraq right now on the front lines. Very fitting for Veteran's Day. She lost her father in the Korean War and this was her son's second tour in Iraq for this war, he was in the first Gulf War too.

Then I had to go to the doctor's office to do my 6 month labs. I have to do blood work once a year now to make sure I'm eating right and getting in enough nutrients. The plebotomist (or whatever the blood drawer is called) told me that I was really having a lot of labs done at once. I asked her if it was a lot of blood and she said no but it was a lot of vials. More on that in a sec...

After that I went home and cooked up a huge pot of scalloped potatoes for dinner. They were the kind with ham in them. Oh my gawd they were amazing! Soooooo cheesy and creamy and they had the perfect amount of sauce! I really did outdo myself!

I had lunch with the ol' Boss Lady. It's been nearly 5 months since I switched jobs and she's still so nice to me. We went to El Charro's and talked about all sorts of things! I sure do miss her and her family!

After my yummy lunch I had a pedicure appointment so I had to run home to get my flip flops on so I didn't ruin my pretty toe job! The lady doing it was someone I've known for a while but didn't know she was a cosmetologist. She really didn't do that good of a job but oh, well, it was better than I could have done myself!

I picked up MWH from school and went back home to the wonderful aroma of my scalloped 'taters..... MWH was starving and kept trying to steal bites. LOL Bob was about an hour late coming home from work so she was about ready to die of starvation by the time she did get to eat dinner! LOL Kids.... But it was soooooooo worth the wait!

Back to the blood. I get home and check my caller ID and the lab had called me for some reason. I called them back and they said that they didn't draw enough blood, I needed to go back. Um, no. I don't wanna. I told them I was done running and it would be Saturday before I went and they didn't like it but that wasn't my problem. LOL I hate that I had to get stuck twice for their stupidity. She was missing 2 vials and SHE FREAKIN' KNEW IT while I was there! UGH! I hate stupid people.

Friday night I stayed home and watched TV and vegged. I did nothing. Ah, how wonderful.

Saturday I had no plans. Bob went duck hunting and I slept in. MWH and I just laid around and watched Just Friends with Ryan Reynolds, Digging to China with Kevin Bacon and The Initiation of Sarah. Bob was back by that time and so we had some left over scalloped 'taters and didn't do much else for a while. MWH and I decided to head to Joplin again 'cause Bob had plans with a guy from work so we went back to the lab for the remainder of my blood work. I got stuck yet again! I ran into an old friend who just had breast implants because of breast cancer. She has no fear, she just popped her new boobs right out in the middle of the waiting room, right there in the emergency room lobby! LOL Cracked me up! We left the ER in boob shock and headed to the Stables for a late lunch before our mall crawl. Yummmmm. We had a great lunch! In Joplin, we hit Target, Kohl's and every square inch of the mall. I don't know where my kid keeps getting it from but it seems like she has an endless supply of money! She got two more pairs of pants and some Christmas gifts for her posse. I did stop at Hallmark and bought one of those Very Merry Trio dancin' penguins you see on TV. So cute. I'm a sucker for crap like that. LOL

Sunday was normal, newspapers, grocery shopping and TV. We watched several hours of the 100 Best Songs of the 1980's on VH1. Meaning I sat there and reminisced about A-Ha and soooooo many other groups I adored in my teen years. I screamed at the TV when it didn't have enough Aerosmith or Bon Jovi, even Def Leppard seemed to be ignored. They did a pretty good job though and I was pleased overall. Things like that just rock. I wish I could have a CD with all 100 songs on it!

After that was over with I watched Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. I had a great weekend and really didn't do much. I hope next weekend is as lame as this one was! WOO HOO!

Hug your favorite Veteran today

Today is Veteran's Day. It makes me think of those I've lost. My grandfather is one. He was in the Korean war. I am not sure which branch of service but I know he served. I know he was a proud man who served his country.

My best friend's father was also a veteran. Her dad served in Vietnam. He came back a changed man. I didn't know him before and didn't know him well after, but I do know that his service time changed her life forever. His tour changed his family in ways that can not me measured.

My father was not a veteran. My father had no respect for our country or those men and women who make the wonderful choice to serve. My father was, and still is, a sad, lonely, spineless, pathetic, miserable, weak, selfish man who deserves all the pain he endures.

I don't really know many people who have served. The first person who comes to mind is the ol' Coyote. He was a Marine and he's still very proud of his service. The only person I know who's on active duty is a guy who I went to high school with. We have emailed with each other a lot over the years. He and his wife have lived all over, they just came home from Alaska and I think they're stationed in South Dakota now. Another veteran I know is a mystery. I haven't seen him for years, he was in Desert Storm and he's got three kids who were born after his tour and last I heard all three have had major health concerns. He's divorced and not having the best of luck, at least that's what I've heard. He doesn't live here anymore and I sure do miss having him in my life. He was one of my best friends when I was younger. His life isn't great now and I know he deserves better. Another great man who served in Desert Storm is a good friend of mine who I don't get to see and talk to often enough. I don't think his time spent in the Marines was necesarily a good one, I really should ask him again about his tour the next time I see him. Luckily he does live locally so that shouldn't be too hard.

I regret not serving. I regret not knowing more service men and women. I regret not understanding what is happening in Iraq. I regret what is happening to our troops in Iraq. I regret not keeping up with my dear, old friends who meant so much to me and I (hopefully) to them.

I wonder if they think of me as often as I think of them.

The Teen Years

Saturday my precious baby turned 13.

Yep, I'm now officially the mother of a teenager.

I sent her a HUGE candy basket and balloon bokay at school Friday and she was really happy with that. I think she's come to expect it really, damned spoiled brat.

Saturday we got her up early and had her open presents. I made her keep her eyes open while she guessed what was what. Amazingly enough she guessed a lot of it pretty close. The last thing I got her was a bra from Victoria's Secret. A cute little padded job with little pink dogs on it. Very cute. Unfortunately, it embarrassed her beyond belief! Oh, well, it's my job to embarrass my kid. LOL

So, after the gifts and the jokes and a quick count of the birthday loot, we loaded the Jeep and headed out for a day of birthday fun. She had no idea where we were going. We had her pack her ATV helmet, cowboy boots and other miscellaneous items to confuse her. Our first stop was in Springfield, MO, at the (duh) Bass Pro Shop. If I had a nickel for each time I've been there I'd be a thousandaire. I'm so not overexaggerating. We checked out "our" turtle and ooh'd and aah'd at all the neat stuff and loaded up yet again. She was still curious about what was happening.

Finally, when we got closer to Branson she figured it out. We asked her what she'd like to do in Branson and she kind of pouted and said she'd like to go to that indoor water park but that she didn't bring her swim suit. After I let her sulk for a minute, I told her I PACKED IT!!!!!!!!! LOL She was so excited! She had been wanting to go to Splash Country for, well, ever! LOL

So that is what we did, we swam, we shopped, we ate and we had a super fantastic time! We had lunch at Shorty Small's, dinner at Landry's (OMG I had the best shrimp!), breakfast at Hillbilly Inn (ewwww, new owners have made it nasty) and lunch on the fly at the pretzel place, Auntie Annie's in Branson Landing.

I was really excited about and very impressed with the new Branson Landing. Branson has really improved in the past five years or so and I think it's back on the right track.

I have so much more to write but not enough time, I started typing this Sunday night but just now finished it and I'm not at all happy with how little I wrote. Oh well, such is life. I could sit here and write about it or I could get off my ass and get out there and LIVE IT! Care to guess what I'm choosing?

Girls Night Out

Yesterday I got a desperate call from a friend. She said something to the effect of "I need to drink. What are YOU doing tonight?" Me? Hmmmmmmm, let's see. I did a quick belly button lint check and figured I was good for the night so I told her I was ready to rock and roll! LOL

We started out at High Winds because I had free play coupons and their Coronas are the cheapest (no, I didn't drink but I wanted to).

We gambled a little and talked a lot. We had such a super time, I really needed to get out, alone, no men, no kids, no nothing, just me.

We had dinner out and even made a stop at a local liquor store for more spirits. LOL

I'm so lucky to have such good friends who care about me!

Flowers

Monday I helped a bleeding man in the office.

Tuesday I received these flowers.

Aren't they beautiful?

Now, could someone tell me how to get that stupid look off my face? I tried to smile but it doesn't look right! LOL I have NEVER been able to take pictures! UGH!

Depressed... almost

Friday I will celebrate my 6 month surgery anniversary. As of Sunday, October 21st, I had lost 100+ pounds. I'm doing GREAT. I can't complain. I look good (for a fat chick) and feel fabulous, but...... (isn't there always a but?!) anytime I see someone I haven't seen in a few weeks I keep getting asked the same fucking questions.

What is your goal?

Do you have a set weight you want to get down to?

What's your magic number?

I know everyone means well but I didn't do this for any number, I did it to be healthy, to be able to be comfortable in movie theater and/or airplane seats, to be able to live past 35. I'm pleased where I am now but I'm still technically obese according to my BMI. I'm no fool, I know I'm fat, I don't have any grand delusions that I'm not.

When I started this journey in August, 2006, I didn't have a set goal. I just want to be normal, average, healthy. Read the paper, babe, obese is now the normal. Is there really an average anymore? Ok, so scratch the whole normal, average idea but healthy should be attainable.

I ran my BMI through and I started with a 52 or 53. I had to have a 40 to qualify for surgery (check on that!). My BMI now is 37, my "target" (i.e. healthy) BMI is 25. That is 70 more pounds away. Ok, I've lost over 100 pounds and I am tickled shitless over that majorly incredible feat. I could NEVER have done that without the surgery, but an additional 70 pounds just seems like such an unattainable goal! Maybe it's me, maybe it's the "winter is time for comfort food" attitude, maybe I just need to get my mind back into it (did I ever NOT have my mind into my weight though?).

So my questions are these:

Do I stress that I may never be "healthy"?

Do I think I can lose another 70 pounds?

What if I only lose another 35 and never get "healthy"?

So I've sat here today and thought about this long and hard. Am I depressed over it? Nooooooo. Am I going to let it bother me? Noooooooo. Am I going to do anything about it? Nooooooo. I know that my body will plateau at some point. I know that my body will find it's happy place. I know that my body will tell me when it's done losing weight. My body, not my desire, is in charge here.

Weight Loss Surgery is a tool and I'm using it to achieve the best goal for me which may or may not be what the BMI calculator says is "healthy". I can assure you though that a BMI of 37 is definitely healthier than a BMI of 52 or 53.

I am already healthier and if I never make it to "healthy" then that's just fine and dandy with me!!

Quiet Halloween

For the first time in, well, ever, we stayed home last night and greeted trick or treaters. MWH had planned on going out but due to circumstances beyond my control that didn't happen. Luckily I had bought some candy just in case. LOL

We probably had 2 dozen or so kids come by. I didn't have much candy and I had no idea how much traffic we'd have so the kids each just got one little candy bar but at least I was giving out chocolate not crap like toothbrushes or Frosty coupons. LOL

Today is Cruella's birthday. She's a jet setter and on the road again so I didn't send her a card. I suck at planning things out. I need to work on that. LOL I still have my nephew's birthday presents here and his birthday was several months ago!! UGH!!

Today is November 1st and it's officially "Christmas" time in my book. I did start my holiday shopping this weekend so I think I'm ahead of the game. At least for now I am. LOL