Drum Roll Please....

Okay everyone - here's the situation. Last night I drew a name out of the 'name bucket', and, I couldn't get the thought out of my mind on how there are certain people that read my blog that have impacted me in some way or another....

So, when Amy came home this morning & jumped in bed with me, we started talking, and we were laughing about what kind of presents I would give certain people that reminded me of them... So here it goes...

In addition to the person whose name I picked, Amy had a favorite and an idea of what to get this person. As well, I had someone in mind. So - here are the 3 that I need addresses from:

Dan
Desperate Housewife
Netter

Nothing creepy, I promise. hahahahah

darlene_z@hotmail.com

Hey all - sorry about not blogging since last week, but the plague has overcome me. By Saturday I was feeling not too bad, but woke up with the most terrible migraine on Sunday that kept me bedridden until Monday night. Since then, I've been chauffeured around by Vaughn because I feel like I'm just not up to tackling anything yet.

On the downside, our holidays started Friday & we were supposed to leave town Saturday. The weather has been pretty shitty so me being sick was kind of a bonus. We really couldn't go boating in the rain anyway. On the upside, much to everyone's disbelief, I'm glad I got sick while I have time booked off of work - I absolutely HATE calling in sick, and take extreme offence to anyone that does. Is that wrong? Probably, but whatever.

It was Porkchop's 3rd birthday on Saturday, and I've got some great pics to add, but Vaughn bought me a new camera, so I've got to get him to load the software onto the computer.

ANYWAY.........Tomorrow's the end of the month, therefore I'll be drawing for the prize probably tonight. I'm thinking that we'll leave to go out of town tomorrow for a day or two before Adam starts back at school. I'll post the winner!!!!

Have a great day everyone! Peace.

Grad 2009

Today was school registration - once a year it's the most chaotic, unorganized event. Why is it that we cannot confirm registration online? Why is it that we have to wait in line for almost two hours to get the school schedule, then another line for payment, then another line for lockers, another line for bus passes and, last but not least, the photo lineup. This prehistoric way of registration is only in high school, and I've been standing in these lines once a year since 1999. I swear I wanted to be shot - until it hit me...Next year will be the last time I ever have to wait in these lines again. My baby will be graduating next year. My eyes instantly welled up with tears. All Adam could do was roll his eyes, chuckle, and say, "God, Mom! I can't take you anywhere!" Where in the heck did the time go?

Have a great day, everyone. Peace.

Things I Learn as I Get Older

I've been told that you should learn a new thing every day - that with every experience, whether good or bad, you should take something away from it and categorize it as a learning experience. Well, today, this is what I've learned:
Never - and I repeat never put a handful (approximately a dozen) Milk Duds in your mouth all at the one time while you're driving. Not only does the sugar rush bring on a coughing fit, but the caramel doesn't dissolve and you end up with a chewy wad about the size of a golf ball in your mouth. You then finally realize that you have one of two options:

1) Spit the gob onto your lap.
2) Swallow

I attempted #2.

Today I learned that it is impossible to give yourself the Heimlich maneuver while driving.


Have a great day, everyone. Peace.

As usual, the weekend just wasn't long enough - however, it was very relaxing and enjoyable. Today was back to work, and crazy busy.

I'm proud of one accomplishment, though. I've been talking that I need to do something. Something other than my job & housey/wifey things. So, I went to the college after work today and registered for creative writing classes. It's probably fluff, but I'm pretty pumped. This should be a hoot.

Have a great day, everyone. Peace.

p.s. I can't get on sue, dan, or librarian's blogs.... What's up with that?

What I'm Reading

I noticed Amy reading this last week, and she was unable to put it down. So, as I'm in the process of reading a book that I'm having a hard time getting into, she suggested I take a break from it and give this one a shot. I've only just started it, but I'm enjoying it already. However, I have a feeling that I may shed a tear or two...

Madness??? This...Is...Sparta!!!

I'm a 'chick-flick' type of girl. Sure, when I was younger, I spent many an evening at the movie theatre watching horror - the scarier the better. I think I've outgrown that somewhat, but a little creepy is always good. I also love kid's movies - I even spent time wondering what I was going to do when my children finally grew up and I had no one to take to these movies - I often joked that I would have to rent a child just so I would have someone to go with. As well, I'm a lover of 'fluff' - you know, "Van Wilder", "Napoleon Dynamite", and stupid comedies like that. My kids and I will blurt out quotes from these movies at any given time and laugh our asses off - even if it's been months or years since we've seen the actual movie.

There are certain types of movies, however, that I don't like - anything that has to do with gladiators, any extreme ridiculous violence (vampire movies excluded). There's tasteful violence and then it borders on the line of absurd. I mean, "The Blair Witch Project" was insane good, and there wasn't one ounce of bloodshed in the entire movie. My son? Well, he's not like that. He's a huge "Star Wars" fan. Even at 3 years old, he would sit watching the old movies, with his light saber in one hand and his Darth Vader helmet on his head. I didn't get it at all - So when George Lucas decided to make 3 prequels to the trilogy, I shuddered to think that I would have to spend time at the theatre watching these, all the while, trying to stay awake. Let me just say, that after "Episode 1", I was hooked. I'm a huge sucker for a love story, and I'll pick it out & embrace it. I was enchanted by Anikin's love for Padme, and that got me to the movies - waiting in line for hours, and I was a "Star Wars" fan after all.

When the previews came out for "300", Adam was stoked. I adamantly refused to go see it, even to the point when I dropped him & his friend at the theatre to see it, and I was informed that because it was rated 18A, I had to actually go in with them, I told them to pick another movie or we were leaving. Despite all the great reviews it received, there was no way I was even going to consider it. The trailers made it look extremely violent, and plotless. So, Adam waited for it to come on DVD, and, as promised, I bought it for him on the 1st day it was released.

Just this past weekend, he was talking about it to me, so, out of curiosity, I asked him to give me a brief synopsis of the film. Much to my surprise, it had a very interesting story - as well, King Leonidas (the main character) had a wife that he adored. Wow! There's a bit of a love story! So, I figured, 'what the heck', and I sat down and watched it with him. All I can say is, holy shit - the movie was amazing. It completely captured my attention - I will be the 1st to say that I was totally wrong. I don't think it's changed my taste in movies at all, but this went above and beyond the realm of anything I was ever interested in before. I think I'll be quoting this movie for a long time. "Spartans! Ready your breakfast and eat hearty, for tonight we dine in Hell!" Soooo good!

Have a great day, everyone. Peace

I want a Do-Over

Vaughn & I were invited to a wedding Saturday night. After the ceremony, we were sitting with a couple and his wife started to reminisce about her wedding. That got me thinking about mine. You see, I hated my wedding, but before I get into the reasons why, let me explain my courtship with Vaughn.

Vaughn and I dated for almost 3 years before we got married. I don't know what it was about him, but, from the first date, we just knew. We loved each other right from day one, and we knew that eventually we'd get married. However, there were obstacles that prevented us from rushing into the wedding. From the very beginning, my Father hated Vaughn. I know you may think that I'm over-reacting. I mean, how could a parent despise a man that was obviously making his daughter so happy? Well, I'm sure he had his reasons - one of them being that he wasn't rich. He was a student at the time without a steady income. At one point, early into our relationship, my dad actually met him at the door and started screaming that if Vaughn was ever to show up at our house again, people would find pieces of him all across our city. I'm serious.

Despite this, Vaughn stood his ground and we eventually got engaged. The planning of the wedding was a nightmare. Every girl dreams of their wedding day, and I was not the exception. I brought my mother to see the dress that I had fallen in love with, and when I tried it on, she started to cry - you see, I'm the only girl & my mom assumed that she would make my wedding dress. She swore that it would look just like my dream dress (big mistake), because when the material finally showed up (3 weeks before the wedding), it was the wrong color and the wrong fabric. I've always had this idea of having this amazing wedding cake, and when I sent my mom to order it (mistake #2) with specific instructions on what I wanted, she assured me that it was exactly what she ordered. When I picked it up the night before the wedding, it was the wrong shape, the wrong color and the wrong size. When I brought it up with mom, she simply said that she thought the one she ordered was nicer.

I wanted a small wedding, so we decided on a few witnesses and our immediate family. What it ended up being was 110 people & the only ones that were our friends were in our wedding party. Another obstacle was the fact that my parents are Catholic and Vaughn's are Baptist. This was the biggest nightmare. My parents wouldn't go if it was in the Baptist church and Vaughn's parents didn't want it in the Catholic church - we resolved this by not taking anyone's side and getting married in the atrium at a hotel by a Justice of the Peace. Being Baptists, Vaughn's parents also refused to attend if there was dancing and alcohol. Excuse me??? My family is Catholic. We drink. A lot. So, I had to give up the dream of our 'first dance', but had to draw the line on the alcohol.

I have this picture in our wedding album where my dad is walking me down the aisle - I have this 'deer-in-the-headlights' look on my face, and you can tell that dad is talking to me. What everyone didn't know was that, at that very second, dad was trying to talk me out of marrying Vaughn. Seriously.

Needless to say, the reception was insane - I was drunk in the matter of a few hours, and we left at 8:15pm, without saying goodbye to anyone. I realized, on my way out that I hadn't even thrown the bouquet or Vaughn hadn't removed my garter, so, I hiked up my dress, gave the garter to a guy sitting at his table and handed the bouquet to my cousin.

Almost 18 years have passed. It took a very very long time, but my father finally accepted Vaughn. There are far too many stories that I wouldn't bother boring you with, but, I like to think that he finally realized that I married a man that loves me more than anything. He treats me with more respect that I probably even deserve.

Wow - I think I needed this venting session about my wedding - Thank God that it wasn't a prelude to my marriage, because, as unhappy as I was on my wedding day, every day since has been the exact opposite. The wedding day wasn't much of a celebration, but every year, we celebrate the day we started our life together. And we are happy.

Have a great day, everyone. Peace.

I'm thinking I'm letting my stress consume me. I assumed that my 'sanity day' yesterday would calm me down enough to get back to work with my mind working more clearly, and maybe my bitchiness having passed.

I did accomplish a few things off my list yesterday...The bananas are now loaves & muffins:

And even though I waited until the very last minute possible, I even managed to make spaghetti for dinner:

The suitcase is still on my floor, but I've decided that since we're going on holidays again in a few weeks, it's only logical to leave it there now - why go through the trouble of putting it all the way under the stairs when it'll only have to be dragged out again? I just love the way I rationalize things sometimes.

Back to my mood - I think today must have been the absolute worst day at work. I could actually visualize myself flailing my arms wildly and screaming to the top of my lungs. Luckily for everyone, I kept these thoughts to myself, and left as soon as I could. I picked up my daughter at work and we went to visit her girlfriend who just had twin boys yesterday. It changed me completely. I held one of the babies & all of my anger diminished. It's amazing how the innocence of a little child can bring us back to our senses and make us realize that shit happens, and we really need to reevaluate our priorities every once in awhile. Did it make me want another baby? Did my maternal instinct kick in? Not even one bit. However, if it had been a litter of puppies, I would have definitely brought every single one of them home.

Vaughn has been great, and I guess a little worried about how stressed I've been, because when I walked in the door this evening, this is what was on the table:

I'm very blessed - however, a gallon of Almond M&M's would have done the trick too. ;o)

Here's hoping that tomorrow is better...*crossing fingers*

Have a great evening, everyone. Peace.

Do you ever find that your life is so busy, that at the end of the day, you don't look at what you've accomplished - instead you beat yourself up at the things that you forgot to do? When I took this job a few years ago, I couldn't believe the luck I had, working Monday to Thursday til 2:30pm and Fridays til noon, and no holidays. I could finally be somewhat domestic! Things would get done around the house, and I wouldn't feel like my days off consisted of nothing more than cleaning & laundry. This lasted for about a month. Even though my day begins at 5:20am, there still never seems to be enough hours in the day to get to everything.

I was looking forward to this past weekend. It was a long weekend, and I figured I could devote one whole day to housecleaning/laundry & then I'd have two days of just enjoyment. I don't know what it's like in your house, but when the entire family is home (especially the husband), it seems as if all plans are thrown out the window. Monday night came, the house was still a mess, and I had to be back to work the next day.

Because I'm doing a favor for my manager in the next few days, she suggested that I take today as a "Personal Day" (which I like to refer to as a 'sanity day') Wow! A day in the middle of the week! My husband would be at work, the kids would be doing their thing, and I would be alone! My mind started racing at all the opportunities that this day had in store for me. The possibilities were endless! So, being given this unexpected gift, I started making mental notes as to how I would spend this glorious time. This what I came up with:

1) Make muffins out of the bananas that are about to start a mutiny on the counter
2) Change bedding & finally unpack the suitcase that's been in the bedroom for 2 weeks
3) Attack the 4 foot mountain of laundry
4) Dust furniture, because it looks like potatoes could grow in places
5) Clean floors & bathrooms
6) Cook a nice dinner

So, that's the plan....In reality, here's how I'm assuming my day will unfold:

1) Make muffins (yes, I really think I'll do this)
2) Decide that the bedding can wait until the weekend and walk out of the bedroom, tripping over the suitcase on the way out
3) Play a few games on pogo.com
4) Start to fold one load of laundry while watching the cooking channel & decide that it's a 'me' day, so have a much deserved nap
5) Realize at 4:30 that nothing was taken out for dinner, and order pizza

Hey, at least I'm being realistic.

Have a great day, everyone. Peace.

I'm Back..........

Okay, so it's been a million years since I posted last.... I promised Netter that I'd start blogging again, but as I look back at the past 3-4 months, I've realized that nothing has been going on in my life that would be considered 'blog worthy'.

I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, drinking way too much coffee & reading a lot. By the way - I loved the last Harry Potter book. I have taken a small oath this past weekend that no matter how boring I think my life is, I will blog nomatter what.

I've decided, in following Netter's lead, I will put on a contest. For every comment I receive, your name will be put into a jar & I will draw at the end of this month. For those of you who have been patient, I promise I'll make it worth your while. ;o)

Thanks again for your patience with me. Have a great day, everyone. Peace.

p.s. If anyone gets the chance, read the book "Lovely Bones". Kare bought it for me. It was amazing.