Ramblings of An Overtired Mommy

2006-04-13T16:02:00.000-05:00

I am soooo out of shape. My body aches. This all started Sunday when I took lots and lots of pictures for the Hooker for her senior portraits. All of the bending, squatting, and angling around bushes really got my legs and back sore. In my defense, I have a hip problem which hurts my lower back alot, so that was normal. The legs, however, purely from being fat and lazy.
So, as if that wasn't enough, I bought landscaping bricks and started the addition of flower beds in my yard and planted and potted some flowers and vegetables. I love spring. I planted tomatoes in a big pot (I hope they will make it in the pot and I don't have to put them in the ground (I hate digging). I also put some okra, a cantaloupe (that was an accident), and squash in various large pots.
I also bought some wave petunias and beautiful white lillies and planted them (in the ground....uugghh) in my new flower bed. It looks great. No pictures yet. I was filthy dirty and went in and took a shower and didn't feel like going back outside. I was going to get a picture this morning, but the sun wasn't quite up yet. Oh, yeah, and I potted some cute miniature roses for my outside table. Very cute pots in a mix and match Fiesta ware theme.
After all of the yard work (and before I took a shower) Layla and I went for a nice little walk. She LOVES to be walked on her leash. She prances around like she is in a show ring or something. She's quite the princess.
LittleMan is doing great! I took some cute pictures on Sunday when we went to the gardens with the Hooker for some senior pics. You can see them here.
LittleMan's birthday is coming up on the 22nd. We're going with a friend of mine and her little boy (LM's friend, Hunter) to the zoo. It's also Earth Day at the zoo, so they have some activities planned as well. Fun stuff I hope.
His party will be on the 29th. The place I want to rent was called 2 weeks ago and I haven't heard back from them yet. They always do this and it is soooo annoying! I might call the head guy at home. We're having a Western themed party. I need to get my crap together and get everything ready. For his first birthday, I planned months in advance. This year, I'll be doing good to have everything done by the day of the party.
This weekend is Easter and I'm so excited! I don't have an Easter dress yet (and probably won't buy one). I do have all of the Easter Bunny stuff bought and ready to go though. I make a basket for LittleMan, LuckyHusband, and Scuba Steve every year, so it takes planning. There is an Easter egg hunt in town on Saturday morning and one Saturday afternoon at my aunt's house. So, he'll be hooked up for Easter.
I hope everybody has a great Easter!
Melissa

2006-03-28T10:09:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've updated this blog. Mainly because I've been spending a lot of time knitting, so the knitting blog has been getting a little bit more attention lately.

Today would have been my great-grandmother's 98th birthday. She died in 2002, at the age of 94. She honestly was still getting around great and then all of a sudden got sick on a Monday, went to the hospital where she was diagnosed with cancer, and died the next morning. It was definitely the way she would have wanted to go.

I have so many funny memories of her. When I was a freshman in college, she fell and broke her hip and ended up in the hospital for a few months in the town where I was in college. I teased her that she couldn't stand it that I wasn't right where she could keep up with me and that's why she ended up there. But, anyway, every afternoon around 6 pm, I would drive over to the hospital and keep her company while she ate supper and we watched the news and Wheel of Fortune.

Another time I remember was when I was around 17 or 18. My aunt who usually did all of the medical stuff for her was on vacation and my great-grandmother had went into the garden and picked up a 40 pound watermelon that she had grown, and broke something in her back. She refused to go to the doctor for a couple of days and I finally convinced her. When I arrived at her house to take her to her appointment, she had her very worn brown leather bag in her hand. This was the hospital bag. If you picked her up and it was with her, she knew she was in bad shape, but wasn't about to tell you. In it was always a gown, a housecoat, slippers, and a bag of Hershey's kisses. The doctor's office was 1 hour away (she refused to go to anyone but him...I thought he was a quack). So, we made the drive and sure enough, she was admitted to the hospital. So, I was faced at what was fairly a naive age with DNR paperwork, etc. I was scared to death at that point. But, she pulled through and the trip earned me a distinct honor (I say that with sarcasm). She deemed that my driving was good enough (those who know me are laughing hysterically at this point) to be her new chauffeur. So, from then on, I was her ride back and forth to church. That was the only place she ever left the house for.

At the age of 92, she went to Wal Mart for the very first time ever. She was amazed. The garden center amazed her and the fact that they had a vision center, well that did it. She told me to make her an appointment and bring her back the next week for some new glasses. My mouth was already hung open from the mere fact that she had wanted to go to Wal Mart, but to actually want to come back? I was floored! You see, her husband did all of the grocery shopping and the Wal Mart shopping. When he died in 1988, her grandchildren (my dad and his brothers and sisters) started doing her errands. When I got my driver's license, I was added to the list of sometimes-willing helpers. So, she had never been to a grocery store or Wal Mart until she was 92.

I could tell tons more stories that would have you rolling about her quirky behavior and about strange customs which came from being 1/2 American Indian and 1/2 Caucasian in a time where that wasn't overly accepted, but I would bore you to tears. Anyway.....

Happy Birthday Sangie.

New puppy and baby showers

2006-03-19T18:13:00.000-06:00

Hi! Thought I might update, it's been awhile.
We got a new puppy, Layla, a mini pin. She's really tiny, just a little over 2 pounds, and tons of trouble. We love her lots, but the housebreaking is going terribly. When we're not home, she's in the guest bathroom where she does pretty good with the puppy pads, but when we let her out when we're home, she does terribly. She goes everywhere BUT the pads we have out for her in the kitchen. If anyone has any advice, please help. I really want to get her to that good housedog stage that I see other people's dogs at. Right now if I can't be totally watching her, I put her up. So, when I get dressed, take a bath, cook supper, she has to be put up. I need help you guys!
We had a baby shower for LuckyHusband's sister today. It went well and she got lots of great gifts. I knitted her a really cute baby fisherman style hat which she loved. In return for hosting the shower I got an awesome purple cala lilly (not sure if that's how to spell it) which I will probably take to work and for my upcoming birthday, I got a gift certificate to one of my favorite places, Bath Junkie. I can't wait to spend it.
I have Layla pics on my knitting blog. I'm at home and the dial up is too slow to repost, so go over there and check them out from last weeks post.
Hope you all are well! :)
Melissa

Post Surgery

2006-03-07T07:09:00.000-06:00

Well, I made it. I am now totally gall-bladderless and although I feel like my stomach was run over by a Mack truck (or Peterbuilt, whichever you prefer), I am glad it's over. The night before the surgery, I totally started to freak out. I thought about all the "what ifs". What if I don't wake up......what if I'm permanently disabled.....what if my hair looks really bad when visitors come by. Just joking on the last one. The morning of the surgery I had reduced myself to tears worrying (which is very much unlike me) and then the Angel of Mercy came in. My nurse shot me up with a "relaxing" shot which made me not care about anything. It was wonderful!
Supposedly, the surgery went well. It took about 30 minutes. Recovery took a bit longer because I couldn't wake up and when I did I was instantly nauseated and received another wonderful shot for that which put me right back out. I remember when the anesthesiologist (I'm sure that's not spelled right) gave me my sleepy-time shot that it hurt like hell, I remember gagging after waking up and beggin for ice or water. Other than that, I remember nothing.
The sweetest co-worker in the world, Jamie came by bearing gifts. A basket with some yarn (yippee) and knititng needles. What more could a girl want. Jamie, I know you are reading this and you are the best. As soon as I get all these baby gifts knitting (and of course my socks) I am soooo knitting you up an awesome gift. I have it all picked out and I'm ordering the yarn today!
My LittleMan bought me some sock patterns and a knitting needle case and his NayNay brought him home yesterday afternoon. He came and rubbed my face and say "I wuv you mommy" and of course I cried like a baby. How in the world did I ever end up with a child this sweet? Periodically throughout the afternoon, he would come and rub my face and give me a hug and kiss. Poor kid, he knows something's wrong, but really doesn't understand. He also made me a picture. He's not going to be an artist when he grows up....
A lady from my church brought over a casserole and a cake along with a little gift basket of lavender shower gel and lotion and candles. Yummy! I thought that was so sweet. I have the nicest church family ever! And my super awesome mom cooked LuckyHusband and LittleMan supper, cleaned out my fridge (for which she deserves a nice knitted gift as well), and cleaned my stove (bigger job than it sounds).
I've been up since 4:30 this morning and now it's 7:00 and my 6:00 pain pill is kicking in. I think I should go now and rest before the guys wake up.
Have a good week!
Melissa

Just life.....

2006-02-27T09:25:00.000-06:00

Life in General
Well, the wedding went off really well. We had a blast! The rehersal was fun. LittleMan got attacked by the flower girl. She literally laid on top of him! She's a cutie, but a little overzealous.
LittleMan walked down the aisle really well, but when he got to the end, he turned around, saw his papaw and yelled "Hey Papaw!!". Other than that, he did well. I'm going to add pics to the photoblog later today.
Our family is full of nuts though and all it takes is a special occasion to get them all in full form. From the boozed up uncle to the cousins trying to one-up each other in any category that comes up in conversation, they honestly make quite a showing!
We are taking a little family trip this weekend and I'm so excited. I think I'm one of the rare people who actually enjoys being around my family. I actually prefer being around them as opposed to other groups of people. I think it's because you can be yourself and no one cares. Anyway, we are going to a lodge at one of the Louisiana State Parks and we're just going to hang out. There should be 13 or 14 of us going at last count. (The cousins who try to one-up each other aren't invited!) It should be fun.
TV
Okay, I must admit, I became hooked on Dancing with the Stars. I was kinda late in the game. I started watching the week Tia whats-her-name was kicked off, but I've really enjoyed this show! My jaw hit the floor last night when Stacy Keibler (I'm sure I misspelled her name) was kicked off. I mean, come on!! Not only was she a kick-ass dancer, but have you looked at her??? She's hot!! If I could have a body transplant, I would want hers! Her legs must be 6 feet long by themselves! And honestly, can anyone really say that they think Jerry Rice is better than her? I mean, sure, it was admirable how much he wanted to win, and he really improved, but she was still better!
Also, Grey's Anatomy keeps getting better and better. When Desperate Housewives started really getting stupid, I think they totally picked up the slack! I love this show. I sooo want Meredith and Dr. McDreamy to get together, but I must admit that I'm starting to like Addison also. And where did Mark go? I wanted him to stay at least so we could look at him for a while. And George has to be the most adorable person ever. He's too precious. I hope the doctor last night can be a new love interest for him. He needs a good woman.
Well, I've bored you enough for now. Have a good week!
Melissa

Sick, sick, sick

2006-02-22T07:46:00.000-06:00

Sorry so long since an update. I really don't have alot to report. I've been pretty boring lately.
Right now I'm working at home because I came close to having pneumonia when I finally went to the doctor Monday. I hadn't been sick but for a couple of days, but apparently that stuff gets bad quickly. Anyway, so that I don't catch anything else and end up in the hospital, I get to work here in my cozy home for a few days. Yippee!
It has advantages and disadvantages I guess. Working in pajamas...advantage. Having LittleMan underneath me all day....advantage and disadvantage depending on how you look at it. I've enjoyed being around him more this week, but he is rather distracting and LuckyHusband seems to forget that he's in charge of the kid and I'm working.
The only other thing I've been doing is knitting. I swear I'm soooo addicted to this! You should all try it, it's super easy and super addictive. I finished my first sock and I've started on the mate. I've tried to keep my knitting to a minimum on this blog, so I started a knitting blog for that stuff. I don't have pics of the finished sock yet since I haven't been to work lately, but maybe tomorrow I can fix that.
LittleMan is in a wedding this Saturday, so I should have some good pics from there after Saturday. :)
Hope you are all having a better week than I am!
Melissa

Happenings......

2006-02-06T10:29:00.000-06:00

Do you ever sit down to write a blog entry knowing that you had ideas the day before or a few hours ago, only to have them disappear as soon as you sit down to type?

Hmmm....so what have I done lately???? Well, I went Saturday morning to get my hair cut. That's always a relaxing experience. LittleMan stayed at home with LuckyHusband so I got to go to town all by myself!

Then I went to a little local shop that has such cute kid's stuff! They have cute wooden painted toyboxes, tables and chairs, stools, and other cute little stuff. I got LittleMan the cutest little stool so that he can pull it up to the counter and be able to see Simon better. I also got Hooker a really cute Valentine from LittleMan.

Then, Saturday afternoon, the owner of the shop contacted me about getting some pictures of her kids done. So, since I picked out some really cute birthday party stuff I'm hoping we can trade goods. :)

Anyway, Saturday night consisted of fun with the in-laws who I swear can offend LuckyHusband quicker than any people I know and they are his family! They never include him(us) in any family gatherings, but complain about how we never come and see them. DING, DING, DING!!!! Invite us! I swear that even when we don't feel like leaving the house, we will go to one of their gatherings that we get a last-minute invite too (and yet everyone else knew for a week) just because we never get invited and don't want to be rude and turn down the one invite that we actually get. I swear that I don't understand these people!

Sunday (yesterday) we started revival at our church and had an excellent morning service, but it lasted 2 1/2 hours which makes me reluctant to go back. If it was just me, I would, but with LittleMan, 7-9 pm is kind of a bad time for him to be sitting still. So, I don't know. I want to go, but I'm not sure if I can.

I am putting some pics of Hooker's brother and fiancee that I took on the photo blog. Enjoy!

Melissa

Under the Knife

2006-02-02T07:55:00.000-06:00

Well, faithful readers, for those of you who didn't know....I'm going under the knife. Well, not really the knife so to speak (well maybe a little I guess). What I'm trying to say is that I'm having my troublesome, stone-filled gallbladder removed. March 6 is the big day and I can't wait!
Why am I waiting so long you ask? Well, I have Hooker's brothers wedding coming up in which LittleMan will be ~~starring~~ the ring bearer and we are getting a new puppy (see picture on the photoblog. Also, LuckyHusband had a vacation scheduled for that week which means that he can ~~maybe~~ relieve me of LittleMan duties and allow me to ~~knit~~ relax.
I'm kinda nervous, but I figure if I had a whole baby removed from my belly, how could a gallbladder possibly bother me.
The first thing I'm doing after I'm free to resume a "normal diet" (Have these people ever watched me eat? I'm the A-1 and crackers queen) is eating a big huge greasy order of McDonald's french fries which I lust over every time I drive by. I think they infuse cocaine in those things.....and my thighs are seriously having withdrawals.
Well, I must go and resume ~~screwing off~~ working.
Have a great day!
Melissa

Who needs representation???

2006-01-30T10:44:00.000-06:00

Hmmm...I have tons to say, but when I started getting ready to type this, it all went away. So, here's what I remember thinking would make for an interesting topic.
First of all, a little national current events. Recently the NCAA issued a bunch of bull$*&# that basically meant that the college that I attended would have to change it's mascot from the ultra-offensive Indian. However, I have yet to see who is actually offended. Some Native Americans wrote letters supporting the mascot of the school and I haven't honestly saw a real Native American on the news talking about this being offensive. If I had, I could respect that and move on, but I haven't. And if that's the case, since when does this group need someone defending their rights and feelings? I find it all to be kinda shady. And honestly, what will this cause in the future? Will the national association of bulldog breeders want bulldogs to cease as a mascot because it unjustly labels their breed as agressive and prone to fight? Will Longhorn cattlebreeders get disgusted about the image portrayed of their selected breed of beef? Probably not....I'm sure some group for the special interest of beef and leather will act on behalf of the cows and dogs themselves, because let's face it guys, why do abused children and neglected babies need special interest groups to stand up for them when there are canines and bovines in need of representation?
I just really feel that there are groups out there who need a strong voice because they can't take up for themselves, abused children, mentally and physically challenged people, neglected babies....
Anyway, I guess that's about all I have to say. I haven't done much lately other than knit and clean house, so unless you have ideas on what to do with toys that LittleMan has outgrown, I'm pretty boring today. I plan to take them to the Salvation Army or Goodwill, but any other suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks!
Melissa

2006-01-25T10:17:00.000-06:00

Well, I had a pretty full weekend! Friday, LittleMan and I attended the AgExpo at the local civic center. We petted Elsie the cow and also a little baby calf, goats, rabbits, ducks, chickens, what I assume were donkeys of some sort, and alpacas. LittleMan was enthralled with the antique tractors and screamed when I took him off of one. I have some pictures at home that I need to upload that one of my wonderful readers and co-worker, Jamie, took for me.
Saturday was the Mardi Gras parade in town. I now have more tacky beads than 50 streetwalkers could wear. But, LittleMan had a good time, so it was worth it.
Saturday afternoon, Hooker and her boyfriend, Dusty, begged (well, Hooker begged) for me to take some pictures of the two of them, so we headed out to the state park where the beach was totally deserted and shot tons of pics. Check out the one that's posted and more on the photoblog.
Saturday night, we had our first Family Fun Night. This was started by my two aunts who wanted all of our extended family and friends to get together and snack, play games, and just visit. It sounds corny, but we had a blast. I enjoy getting together with family that we don't see that often even though we all live within 3 minutes of each other.
The past few days have been super busy at work, so I need to get back to it. Don't forget to check out the pics!!

Tales of a fish and a puppy

2006-01-18T07:46:00.000-06:00

Well, Simon is still being overly adored and pampered. I've joked about gettting a second fish and naming him Garfunkel (not sure if I even spelled that right) just to listen to LittleMan try to pronounce it.
I finally found a puppy that LuckyHusband and I could agree on. The problem was that we had kinda narrowed our qualifications so that very few puppies would actually fit what we wanted. We wanted something 15 pounds or under so that it wouldn't be too big that it would get in our way as a housedog. We wanted something that did not have long hair (that was mostly LuckyHusband's decision....he hates when we go to someone's house and leave with three tons of dog hair on our clothes). We also wanted something that was slightly intimidating and protective so I'd feel better when he was working evenings and nights. So....with all that in mind, I started looking at a breed that I have always loved.....Miniature Dobermans. I didn't realize how few breeders there were that were even remotely close to us. I finally found one...yes one, that's it...in our state. They are located about 4 hours or so away, but willing to meet us halfway. They have two black and tan puppies who don't even have their eyes open yet. So, as soon as they do, I'll get a picture of them. We wanted a girl, and both of them are girls!
They won't be ready for another 6 weeks or so, so that gives me plenty of time to get the house cleaned really well, buy a dog bed and all the accessories, and get LittleMan pumped up.
We've planned a weekend getaway to a Louisiana State Park that is about 2 hours from home for the first weekend in March. We have reserved a lodge and LuckyHusband, LittleMan, myself, my mom, Scuba Steve, Hooker, Hooker's boyfriend, Hooker's mom, and Hooker's dad are all going to go. There is a historic place close by that has really cool Indian mounds and stuff like that. We are all going to visit there and then the men (minus LittleMan) are going fishing while the women go outlet mall shopping! I can't wait. The point of this story is that we should probably have the puppy by then (I've got to think of a name) and she along with Hooker's two dogs, Bruno and Rusty, will get to go with us!
I took pics of two of the scarfs I made and a picture of Simon which I will load to the photo blog today. Check them out! My newest project is trying to make a baby hat, but it's going pretty poorly at this point :( I also have 5 babies that will be born to friends and family members in the next few months, so I really want to find something easy yet cute to make for them. I think I found a hooded blanket that I will be able to tackle.
Have a great day!
Melissa

Knitting, ,Fish, and Puppies

2006-01-13T13:27:00.000-06:00

Knitting-Well, I've successfully finished my very first scarf. It's pretty cute. It's a navy and red striped boys' scarf. As soon as the weather dips below the 60s here, maybe LittleMan will get to wear it and I can get a picture.
I also started another project which is a really cute fuzzy scarf that is lime green and blue. Not really my taste, but perfect for the intended recipient.
Simon
LittleMan got a fish yesterday. A cute little blue beta named Simon. Last night Simon got a night-night kiss and hug. I tell ya, the kid is going to end up being a veterinarian.
Puppy
We are getting LittleMan a puppy for his birthday this year. He is so good with my dad's and aunt's house dogs that we wanted to get him one of his own. So, we've been looking at different breeds, etc. I really wanted a puggle, but LuckyHusband says no. He want's a mini weenie dog, but I'm not that sold on that idea. So, who knows....
Melissa

Christmas, the final installment.

2006-01-09T10:37:00.000-06:00

Now for the final installment of my overly long Christmas story. As we all know, it's finally over. I just took down the tree yesterday (sure, I'm a little late). But, now we have the problem of way too many toys in our house. I'm trying to sort through them and get rid of some, but I hate to get rid of toys that are in perfectly good condition.
On Monday, the day after Christmas LuckyHusband's dad was feeling pretty crappy. Apparently, he had been really having alot of pain in his right side, but was too stubborn to go to the doctor. So, on Monday (4 days later) he went to the ER and ended up with an emergency appendectomy. OUCH! The dr. said that if he had waited until the next morning (as he had planned to do) he wouldn't have made it there. Men!
Also, I have another addiction to add to my list. Harry Potter. I am a little late on the HP bandwagon, but a couple of months ago I checked out the first book on CD, and I have listened/read all of them. What awesome books! I can't wait for the next one. I used to wonder what in the world would possess someone to be one of the people in line at midnight, but now I'm already planning to be one of them for the final book release!
And, finally, we had another little incident and I had to call 911. LittleMan and I were home alone getting ready for bed and I heard what I thought were people talking outside my room. I was on the phone with Scuba Steve and he told me that I was losing it. So, about 20 minutes later, I heard talking again, this time loud enough to make out what was being said. I freaked out and called Scuba Steve again and he told me to call 911. Of course, by the time he responded to the call, no one was there. Maybe I am cracking up!
I also learned a new hobby over the holidays. I finally taught myself to knit. I am super-excited about it. I have almost completed my first project which is a cool scarf for LittleMan. However, with the 60 and 70 degree temperatures that we have been having I guess we'll just have to admire it hanging in his room and not around his neck.
Melissa

Christmas Cont.

2006-01-03T13:40:00.000-06:00

Well, now for a continuation of my long Christmas post. First off, age recommendations on toys. Some people have no sense when it comes to buying kids' toys. So, for all of you...here is a little hint. Look on the box at the thing that says "Age recommendation". If it says 3 years and up, then a 20 month old probably won't be that into it.
LittleMan got a toy that he was super-excited about, only for it to frustrate him beyond belief because he was unable to play with it without tearing it up (surprise, surprise). So, it is in a box, taking up space that we don't have. Gotta love those people that ask you what to buy and then buy something else.
Ok....now onto Christmas Eve lunch. We decided to have Mexican food for our lunch at my aunt's house instead of traditional food because we were all sick of turkey and ham. So, I decided to make margaritas to be a little festive for the occasion. Now, I know where your mind is wandering with this, but you are all wrong. We weren't a bunch of drunks slurring "merrrrry Cwristmmmaaasss" at each other. I know my family and alcohol is never a good idea.
They were non-alcoholic and the kids (ages 12-17) loved them. They carried them around (in the margarita glasses I brought) like they were really grown up or something. It totally cracked me up.
Christmas morning was great! LittleMan wanted to play with all the toys that he had gotten the day before instead of opening his gifts though. But other than that, it was a blast. He would open a gift and want to play with it for a while instead of opening another, so it took FOREVER!
And, finally, after Christmas we found out that we would be welcoming a new family member. No one is having a baby, but Hooker's older brother Mark asked his girlfriend (of what seems like a zillion years) to marry him. She was proudly showing of the really sparkly ring finger. And, she wants LittleMan to be the ring bearer, so I'm really excited.
I'll finish the rest of my stories another day. Pictures have been added to the photoblog. However, photobucket was acting goofy, so some may be duplicated and some may not have showed up at all. Grr... http://cuteboyphotos.blogspot.com
Melissa

Merry Christmas a Little Late

2005-12-29T09:50:00.000-06:00

Well, our last week has been really eventful. I will have to space it all out over a few posts. Here is a list of what you can expect over my next few posts.......
1. Internet shopping pitfalls and a little life lesson courtesy of Melissa
2. What's Christmas without a little surgery?
3. Age recommendations on toys are given for a reason
4. Margaritas for lunch on Christmas Eve
5. LittleMan on Christmas morning
6. A new member to the family
7. Ahhh.....it's finally over
8. Men, Doctors, and more surgery
9. Addiction to Harry Potter
10. Prowlers and Cops

Wow! Looking over that list confirms that I am indeed a very strange person. I'll try to tackle a few of hte first topics anyway.
First of all, internet shopping.....I have been saving a little money and along with the money that LuckyHusband so graciously decided to spend on me for Christmas, I decided to buy a new digital camera. Not just any camera, a Nikon D50 that I had been drooling over for a couple of months. I am a huge fan of pricegrabber.com, so I had been commparing prices there and last Monday (the 19th), the lowest price had went down another $20, so I decided that was my sign to buy. I placed an order with Abe's of Maine who appeared to be a pretty reputable company complete with the BBB logo. I ordered the camera and a lens. Sincce there were still 5 business days until Christmas, I selected the normal UPS shipping and decided that even if it didn't come before Christmas that would be okay.
So, Tuesday morning (the 20th) I received an e-mail from Abe's needing me to call and confirm my order. So, I called, got a voice mail message, gave my order number, name, and a callback number and told them that I was confirming and to ship away! I also replied through e-mail as well. Tuesday evening when I got home, I had a message from the same guy. I called back and got, yet again, voice mail. I left another message like the one I had left that morning.
So, on Wednesday (the 21st) morning I called again to make sure that the message had been received and that my order was in its way. By this time I had started to get a little peeved at the whole thing. I finally go this guy on the phone and after insulting my choice in lens and trying to sell me another one, he told me that my order would ship that day. YIPPEE!! He asked did I want it by Christmas and that was only possible with 2 day shipping which would be an additional cost. I todl him that I expected it ot ship Monday; therefore, making the express shipping unnecessary at that time. He then tells me that even if he had shipped on Monday, it wouldn't have gotten there in time because UPS had a 4-5 day delay due to the holidays (WTF????).
So, Thursday morning (the 22nd) I called to verify that my order had shipped because I had yet to receive e-mail confirmation of the shipment. I was informed that it had not shipped and when I asked why, I was told that my card was declined. Now, I know that was not true because there was more than enough money in teh account and my bank also verified this later as well. I asked why I had not been notified that the card was declined and was met with a really rude response.
By this time I was pissed. I started researching Abe's on the internet and found tons of complaints on various sites about their horrible confirmation policies and their delayed shipping. So, I decided (while on hold) to cancel and order with someon else. I told the CSR this when they finally took me off hold and he attempted to put me on hold again. I firmly told him No, that I was tired of being on hold, so of course, with no warning, I was on hold again. There was nothing I could do because I needed to cancel so I waited and cancelled.
I then placed an order through buydig.com, whom I had ordered from in the past. I received my stuff the very next day! So, the lesson here is, research the comapny first (not after you've become suspicious) and don't put up with crap from customer service.
On to the surgery story.....last Christmas I had LASIK. IT was awesome. I still needed a little touch-up, so I did that on Thursday (after ordering my new camera). It went great and I had a wonderful excuse to spend all afternoon taking a great big nap!
Well, my hands are tired from all of hte typing, so I will bid you farewell for today. I will post some new pics on the photoblog ( http://cuteboyphotos.blogspot.com ) sometime today. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!!
Melissa

The season is definitely here.

2005-12-13T09:00:00.000-06:00

The season is definitely here. No, not Christmas (although it seems to have gotten here in full force), but cold season. Last Saturday, the temperature here was around 75. Pretty hot for December. Now, its around 30 degrees when I wake up in the morning. So, in response, my sinuses have staged a revolt and apparently their destination was my chest. It hurts to breathe, which unfortunately is a necessity for some reason. I went to the doctor and got some great medicine, but it makes me sleepy, so, I guess I'll just be medicating myself after work in the privacy of my own home, far, far away from vehicles and heavy machinery (and motorists everywhere breathe a sigh of relief).

This sickness has put a definite damper on my holiday spirit. I don't know if my newly hightened cynicism is a result of the cold, or just the holiday rush. I noticed a radio commercial the other night for a TV program that sounded pretty interesting, only to find out by looking at the clock that it had ended 30 minutes ago. Please tell me that these people don'tt pay for that advertising!I also have become annoyed by people who obviously started decorating their house with lights, only to have completed 1/2 a window and decided that they really weren't that into the holiday spirit. That in itself is understandable, but why oh why do you actually turn on your one strand for the world to see? Do you really think that I'll look at that and say "They're in the holiday spirit." Nope..more likely that I will make a really nasty comment that will make LuckyHusband smile admiringly (as if he taught me to be that mean..it was there long before he came along).

And while I am acting Scrooge-like, the following message is for the a$$holes who decided that they were too cheap to buy gifts this year and decided they would just steal some from under my porch.

To you a$$holes that aren't even worthy of a lump of coal:

I really hope that you have made someone's holiday season brighter this year. I'm sure that the screwdriver set with half of the screwdrivers missing (don't you just hate men who don't put stuff back where they belong?) will make an excellent present for your obviously white trash redneck father. I assume that this is the case based on your obvious lack of upbringing. I assume he has made it out of the pen in time for Christmas judging by you buying stealing him a gift. Way to go!!

I'm sure your drunken uncle (just a guess) will enjoy the drill that you stole as well. I can only hope that the two of you will try to operate it while drinking copious amounts of alcohol. And I'm betting that the tackle box will be just what your high school drop-out sister has been waiting for!! Nothing like some good bait to snag that future husband!

But, for the greatest gift of all...the two cases of bottled water. I must admit, this one puzzled me for a minute. Then the light bulb came on! Why did I buy (this means actually paying money that came from a job that I worked) bottled water? Because it's healthy and I wanted to try and lose a few pounds. So, I'm assuming that this gift could only be for the love of your life/mother to encourage her to lose a chin or two. I hope she smacks your a$$ into next year. Too bad she's obviously about 15 or so years too late.

And finally, if you are the same person who broke into my house in March and stole my digital camera, I hope you have a great time capturing the memories of this holiday season. I also hope that your propane heater (stolen I'm sure) introduces massive amounts of carbon monoxide into your lungs until the oxygen leaves your blood and you suffocate to death in your sleep. (with visions of bucks and ducks dancing in your head)

Merry Christmas and Bah Humbug!!

Melissa

Conversation held with Nana and LittleMan

2005-12-08T10:06:00.000-06:00

Conversation between LittleMan and Nana:

Me: “LittleMan, tell Nana what Santa does..”

LittleMan: “Ho, ho”

Nana: “No, LittleMan, it’s three ho’s Now, what does Santa do?”

LittleMan: “Three Hos”

Busy as Little Elves....

2005-12-07T11:14:00.000-06:00

Well, I brought the digital camera to work, and uploaded some great pics to the photoblog, http://cuteboyphotos.blogspot.com I really think everyone will enjoy LittleMan’s inventive way of talking to Santa Clause.

I found myself the perfect Christmas present today. When I was on vacation in New Orleans this summer, I noticed an awesome bracelet on a woman in the elevator of our hotel. I asked her about it and she told me about a store in St. Francisville where she purchased the bracelet. I had almost forgotten about it, but remembered today and checked out the website. The website is http://grandmothersbuttons.com They have these things called Charmsakes. You can send them a picture (real or digital) and they can make a charm for you. Of course, the charm that I purchased was a too cute picture of LittleMan. I can’t wait to get it in!! So, check it out and if you order, tell them that you heard about it here (then maybe my order will get rushed in time for Christmas). Actually, they have a 5 day turn around, so they can get it to you by Christmastime. Anyway, I thought the stuff was cool, that’s all.

Hope you are having a great week! Don’t forget to check out the pictures!! J

Melissa

The Christmas Rush has begun!

2005-12-05T09:21:00.000-06:00

Well, it was bound to happen I guess. The Christmas rush has officially begun. This weekend was jam-packed with stuff for us to do, and places for us to go. Not all of it was Christmas-stuff, but still, it was definitely a sign of the impending Christmas rush.

We started off Friday night with a trip to see the Christmas Express train. It was a huge train that was decorated for Christmas with lights and all kinds of stuff. Rumor is that Santa was on the train, but the line was way too long and LittleMan would have only cried, so we decided to skip that whole fiasco and just look at the train. I have pictures, but left the camera at home today. I’ll probably download them all tomorrow and post on my photoblog.

Saturday, we tried the Santa at Wal Mart thing. He had fun talking to Santa from afar, so we are a little closer to the right direction I guess. Saturday afternoon was spent helping Hooker study for the ACT and putting up our outside Christmas lights.

Sunday we had to go to a baby dedication for our awesome photographer’s adorable little boy. Afterwards, she had a reception with Corky’s BBQ (mmmm) and then last night was LuckyHusband’s dad’s birthday party. WHEW!! I’m winded just talking about all of it.

Anyway, hopefully some pictures to follow tomorrow.

Melissa

Visit With Santa

2005-12-02T08:44:00.000-06:00

Well, LittleMan had his first real visit with Santa last night. He sat in Santa’s lap last year, but was too young to know what was going on. So, last night was the night. He was so excited. “Santa, mommy….see mommy…Santa Claus!” He repeated this phrase over and over while waiting in line. He waved and waved at Santa and Ms. Claus and then, his time had arrived. I was standing in front of the booth and his daddy was to the left (as you can tell by the direction of his arms in the picture). So, check out http://cuteboyphotos.blogspot.com for the official Santa picture. LOL!

We also rode in a horse driven buggy last night. He was pretty excited by that. He LOVES horses. The whole paper mill was lit up with lights and wooden cutout scenes. It was great. Hope you enjoy the pictures!! J

Melissa

Surprise, Surprise!!!

2005-11-30T16:51:00.000-06:00

Surprise, Surprise!!! I’m posting and it hasn’t been a week or more since my last post! See, Christmas miracles can happen. I don’t have a lot to report. As of today, I am officially almost finished shopping for everyone and only have to pick up 1 or 2 tiny little gifts…you know…stocking stuffers for the husband, and a couple of gift certificates to complete the gifts for others. It feels good to be finished, but I must admit that I really do love the thrill of picking out the perfect gift. I hate it when people want really crappy stuff that isn’t fun to buy. My brother for instance told me that he wanted an ironing board. ?#$&%#?? What’s that all about?

Speaking of Scuba Steve, he’s been working on his degree by taking night classes and he had a paper due a few weeks back and had paid (yep, he’s awesome) me to type it for him. Well, he got his grade back yesterday and he made 100%!! I was really impressed. Of course I would like to think that it was my stellar typing skills that were the main cause for the grade, but I know better than that. LOL!

We have a busy month planned already. I was making out a calendar for the fridge since I know I’ll have a hard time keeping everything straight and WOW!! Tonight, Rudolph on TV (yippee…more for me than LittleMan, but don’t tell), tomorrow is Christmas at LuckyHusband’s job, Friday night is the Christmas Express Train in town with Santa and everything, Saturday is visiting Santa with LittleMan’s friend Hunter at the local Wal Mart (I know…cheesy, but fun…it’s the same Santa that I saw when I was little), and Sunday is the Christening of our photographer’s baby. And the rest of the month is shaping up to look exactly the same as this week!! I’ll be so exhausted when Christmas gets here!! I’m having my LASIK touched up on the 22^nd, so at least I’ll get a little rest then.

Until my next rambling post….

Melissa

2005-11-28T09:58:00.000-06:00

Well, Thanksgiving is over, and of course, not without incident. Wednesday, LuckyHusband and I went out into the middle of nowhere so that I could check out some stuff for work. We had to go and look for an old water well at an old school (long story) and it was pretty cool. The school was falling down, but the gym and auditorium were still in tact. It was really neat. But then again, the smallest things amuse me. LOL! Wednesday night, we went to eat at my mom’s house, which all in all went pretty well.

Thursday, we began at 10 am with lunch at my aunt Sarah’s house and then went to LuckyHusband’s dad’s house at noon. I was so tired when that was over and LittleMan didn’t nap very well because he was sooo tired.

Friday, Scuba Steve and I went to the movies and saw Ice Harvest. Dark comedy is one of my favorites and this movie was great!! Billy Bob Thornton is hilarious and the movie was really well cast. (or is it casted??? hmmm…not sure). When we returned to my dad’s to pick up LittleMan, he had fell and hit his head. He had a HUGE goose egg on his forehead. But, it really didn’t seem to bother him too much. We also managed to get him to sit still long enough for a picture for our Christmas cards. You can see the pic at http://cuteboyphotos.blogspot.com if you want.

Saturday was the parade in town. LittleMan and I were supposed to ride in the passenger seat of Hooker’s car (she was in the parade for being on the Homecoming court), but it rained and so rather that sit up on the back of the convertible and us sit in the front, she had to sit inside with the top up and so we didn’t get to ride. It was so rainy and cold. I couldn’t believe that people had their kids out in that mess to catch $1 worth of candy! Instead LittleMan and I went home and ate supper (spaghetti, I was so sick of all that holiday food!!) and snuggled up on the couch and watched a cake-off on Food Network (which reminds me…I need to get on their website and see if those recipes are on there).

Sunday (yesterday) we woke up and went to Sunday School and then to LuckyHusband’s mom’s house for Thanksgiving. His two sisters kinda argued a little, which I found to be funny, and then his sister and mom were in the corner whispering (which I’m fairly sure was about me), and then we ate. Nothing overly eventful. LuckyHusband and I sent each other “help me” looks throughout the “visiting” stage after eating. I hate that visiting stage. You never know how soon you can leave and not be seen as rude. I really hate lounging around at anyone’s house other than my own or at Hooker’s. Everywhere else I just feel uncomfortable.

Anyway, after eating, we went home and played outside where I tried to take some pictures while LittleMan played. I got a cool pic of a fly that I’ll add to the photoblog soon. Then we went into town and visited with LuckyHusband’s grandmother and that was about it.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

It's Almost Thanksgiving

2005-11-21T10:43:00.000-06:00

We’ve been so busy with the upcoming holidays! It’s amazing how much stuff you can cram into one little weekend!

Saturday, my friend Cristi and I took LittleMan and her little boy, Hunter shopping for a day. LOL! We went to an arts and crafts expo at the local civic center, then went to Hobby Lobby and Sam’s Club. We had a pretty good time and then took the kids to Olive Garden to eat. That was interesting. The Sam’s Club trip yielded lots of good food and a gigantic package of grapes that LittleMan just HAD to have after eating a sample. (I guess that serves me right for grazing and not buying when I go in there sometimes).

Sunday after church, we went grocery shopping and came home to cook a HUGE supper for Hooker and her boyfriend, and her mom, dad, brother and his girlfriend, my mom, and Scuba Steve. We had ham, mashed potatoes, homemade mac and cheese, crescent rolls (I love those!), sweet potato casserole, broccoli with potatoes and cheese, corn, pecan pie, and cheesecake. It was yummy (and I was stuffed). I love to cook big meals, but have to invite people over so that the food doesn’t go to waste.

We are all eating at my mom’s again on Wednesday night and I am going to try to remember and take lots of pictures. I love family pictures and don’t have nearly enough of them. I wish I had gotten some last night, but being the one doing all of the cooking, I was way too busy!

After everyone left, I realized what the holiday was all about. One of the people at our gathering last night really broke my heart. This person is going through a lot at home and was so glad to be invited to eat with us and thanked us multiple times. I’ve never been at a point where I felt alone. My family is HUGE, and as our preacher pointed out yesterday, we are like the mob…we always travel in little family cliques. I can’t imagine not having that strong family background to fall back on. I know that at any given time Hooker’s mom and dad would take me in, no questions asked, if I needed. I know that my aunt Sarah (the crazy one….all families have them I guess) would give me the clothes off her back if I needed. I just can’t imagine not having that. So, this Thanksgiving, the old cliché is actually true, I am most thankful for my family. It just took seeing us through the eyes of someone else to realize it.

Oh, the Holidays....

2005-11-15T13:21:00.000-06:00

Well, it’s that time again: the holidays. The time when a family tries to emulate Stretch Armstrong and string themselves in various directions all at once while simultaneously trying to keep a “happy face” because heaven forbid you act like the idea of eating grandmother’s tree-bark turkey isn’t foremost on your to do list.

Discussions have begun in our household about the many engagements being booked for the holidays. We have anywhere from 4-6 venues that we MUST attend every holiday. One year, we hit a grand total of 11. Yes, after that I insisted that once I had children, the madness must stop. And for a large part, it has; however, not as much as I would like.

I guess it should be flattering to know that the presence of my family is a definite must for our families, but I also realize that it’s more like the presence of LittleMan is a must for LuckyHusband’s family and that I am just an unfortunate accessory which they must tolerate. Sadly, I would love to give them the deepest desires of their heart and not show up, but I honestly would be sick with worry if LittleMan were to go without me. I have nightmares of the hyperactive cousin kicking him in the head (probably due to the fact that while LittleMan was about 4 weeks old, the kid fell on LittleMan’s head and I was made to feel like a b**** for getting on to him and then I was basically called a liar and assured that I really didn’t just see what I know that I saw), or of the in-laws feeding him something that will inevitably choke him and lead to irreversible brain damage. Unlikely (well the last one anyway) I know, but being a mother has made me worry about the unlikely far much more than I have ever done.

Anyway, as usual, these are my ramblings…tell me I’m not the only one.

Pictures

2005-11-11T10:48:00.000-06:00

There are some new pictures up on my photoblog http://cuteboyphotos.blogspot.com Hope you enjoy! We are going to see Hooker’s big night tonight. She is on the Homecoming court. For the first year ever, they decided not to give roses to the court, so I decided to let LittleMan “buy” her some at the flower shop and he’s going to take them to her after the court presentation. I think that will be really cute. I’ll take tons of pictures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAYNE!!!

2005-11-07T16:03:00.000-06:00

Well, Saturday was my papaw’s 74^th birthday. We have always had a “love-hate” relationship. I’ve never really called him “papaw”, just Wayne. He was never really an overly active grandparent. I can remember spending the night with him when he came into town to visit his parents, but that was about the extent of it. He lived in our state capitol and worked in state government, so I rarely saw him. When I was a junior in college, I received a call that Wayne had suffered a stroke and wasn’t doing well. I made the 4 hour journey with my dad to bring him home, but he suffered a massive stroke our way to pick him up and was unresponsive when we got there. He gradually came back around, but has never been the same.

He turned into a sweet, caring, overly involved person (apparently the mean sensors got fried). So, in a strange way, the stroke gave us the papaw we always wished that we’d had growing up. He is really attentive to LittleMan and LittleMan is fascinated by “Waynie”. In fact, instead of Halloween, we celebrated “Hallo-wayne” as LittleMan called it. LOL!

Anyway, we had a little birthday party with some sugar free pudding at the nursing home. Wayne moaned and groaned because we didn’t bring cake and said “It’s my damn birthday and I can have sugar if I want it!”. He also argued with Hooker on her latest choice in someone to date. Pretty funny stuff.

I’ll try to post a few birthday pics tomorrow. Be sure and check them out. Wayne’s a hoot and the pictures are pretty good.

Mawry, Mawry, Mawry

2005-11-03T13:13:00.000-06:00

Well, LittleMan came home yesterday with a new girlfriend, Mawry. I know this because he said her name every 5 seconds….Mawry, Mawry, Mawry aka Mallory. He apparently likes older women. She’s about 19 or 20 years old and is a freshman in college. She’s one of Hooker’s friends and was over at Hooker’s yesterday. So, when LuckyHusband got home, I told LittleMan to tell him who he loved. He replied, “Mawry”. So, there you go. Already I’ve been upstaged….and he’s only 18 months old.

Frustrated and Tired!!

2005-11-02T14:33:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had one of those days that start out beautiful and leave you optimistic that this will be one of the best days you’ve had in a while? You know what I mean, the weather is good, your hair looks great despite the fact that it desperately needs a little color touch-up, you are on time (early even!), and your pants button with no embarrassing bulge. Well, that’s how my day started, but as soon as I walked into the door at work BAM!, it all came crashing down.

I take some things a little too personal at times and this morning was one of those mornings. If an isolated incident, I would have probably been able to blow it off with no problems, however, after that more things started to go wrong. I won’t go into details, because it honestly wouldn’t do any good. I ate lunch with my beautiful little boy and tried to get a more positive attitude. But, I came back to work and learned a startling piece of news that I can’t share with anyone because I’m too paranoid and now I have to do what I do very poorly….wait for the other shoe to drop on the piece of news that I learned. Grrrr…..I hate that!

Anyway, maybe my afternoon will be better. I hope so.

Melissa

Rain, rain, go away....

2005-11-01T10:21:00.000-06:00

It hasn’t rained here in 2 months, but put on a costume, load up a wagon and start trick or treating, and you can rest assured that the thunder, lightening, wind, and rain will all make an appearance. We made it to about 6 houses when it looked like we were going to get drenched. We had decided to trick or treat in my dad’s neighborhood this year because we could walk to all of the houses and take our wagon to haul home our loot. So, after about 30 minutes, we were back at my dad’s house, getting ready to head home before the rain melted us in all of our sweetness.

We ended up at a party at a local bank that was indoors and then hit a few houses on our way home. The most fun LittleMan had all night was when we stopped by an elderly neighbor’s house partly to trick or treat and partly to check up on him after his knee surgery last week. He had gotten a hospital bed for the living room and had his walker beside the bed. All of this fascinated LittleMan and he cried when we left, much to the enjoyment of our neighbor. LOL!

Overall, we had fun and when LittleMan got home, he begged for a diaper change, pajamas, and the bed. He was exhausted. We should do that more often!

Melissa

Mommy Meets a Dragon

2005-10-30T15:14:00.000-06:00

Here we are at the Halloween in the Park on Saturday night. Me and my little dragon.......

Melissa

Finally, an update

2005-10-28T13:36:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay…beat me with a stick. I am finally updating this thing. I haven’t updated in a while for two reasons…(1) I’ve been swamped and (2) I can’t get on the internet at work hardly anymore, so I can’t visit all of your blogs and it makes me less interested in blogging altogether because I feel like I’m kinda one sided. But….here I go!

We have been getting in the spirit of fall around here. I took LittleMan to the pumpkin patch (pictures on my photoblog http://cuteboyphotos.blogspot.com ) and bought some pumpkins and a really cool green curly gourd. I think I’m going to try to make a birdhouse out of it. We went to a fall festival for the church a couple of weekends ago and LittleMan was dressed really cute as a cowboy and I put on overalls and a kinda country looking shirt to get into the spirit. Well, no one else in my age group did even that, so I won the “costume” contest in my age group. So I guess the overweight frazzled mom running after a toddler look is “in” this year. Or maybe I looked really scary……hmm…….

Halloween in the Park is going to be tomorrow night in our tiny little town, so we are going to go to that with my friend and her little boy who is only a few weeks older than LittleMan. It should be fun. Then Trick or Treating on Monday afternoon. He’s going to be a dragon!! It’s a cute costume from the Children’s Place.

I’ve been keeping up with all my book reading lately too. I finished the Ashley Smith story last weekend and it was a pretty good book. I was skeptical, but really ended up enjoying it. I have some Jane Green (I think that’s her name) books on hold at the library that should be in today, so I’m psyched about having them for the weekend.

I promised myself that I was going to do some super cleaning this weekend. I started on it last night, but didn’t get very far. Just one of the bathrooms, but that’s a start I guess!

Well, until I update again (which hopefully won’t take this long)…Have a Great Weekend!!!

Melissa

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

2005-10-28T09:26:00.003-05:00

Books

2005-10-05T09:37:00.000-05:00

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and when I updated my book list on my sidebar I was surprised at just how many books that I’ve read lately. I’m a very fast reader, so that helps, but now I understand why my house is such a mess. LOL! So, I thought I’d give a quick book review for all of you in case you are looking for a great read.

First up, P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. Great book. I couldn’t put it down. It was sweet, funny, and kept me interested to the very end. I really enjoyed it. However, I think there should definitely be a sequel.

Secondly, No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark. I may have reviewed this one before, I can’t remember, but here goes again. MHC is one of my most favorite authors, but my one complaint is that her books had gotten to where they were all pretty similar, kind of like V.C. Andrews (I mean, how many stories can you write about inbreeding, child abuse, and crazy mothers?). Anyway, this book surprised me. Unlike her more recent books, I never suspected the killer. Not even a clue! Some of her books write from both the viewpoint of the victim and the killer, this one did not write from the killer’s viewpoint and I think it made me like the book even more. This is one of her better books I think. A good read if you like MHC.

The Pot Luck Club (can’t remember the author) This is a Christian fiction book, and very, very good. A bonus is the great recipes in the back. I only had a few complaints about the book. First of all being that from the viewpoint it was written, you would think that the characters are pretty much the only people in the whole city and that the place they lived was this happy little sheltered town which I really don’t believe could ever exist. It was a little too “perfect”. But, a decent book. When the next in the series comes out, I’ll definitely be buying it.

Books 1-4 of the Abram’s Daughters Series by Beverly Lewis. First off, I have always had a strange fascination with Amish people. This book gave such a detailed look at their day to day life and also had some “real world” issues in it, not just a perfect little story. To read things from the Amish viewpoint is very interesting really. It made me really wish I could try that lifestyle for a little while. There is one final book to the series (book 5) which I have ordered and have on its way. I can’t wait to finish this series. These were definite page turners for me.

And finally, I have started Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner. So far it’s great and has had me laughing out loud. I love a little murder mystery, so I think this will be my favorite book of hers yet!

A few of these books that I have recently read, I am finished with and have listed on Amazon.com. If any of you would like to purchase them, e-mail me at littlemp at gmail dot com and we can work something out. I’m not looking to make a fortune, just enough to feed my book buying habit. So, let me know if you are interested.

Melissa

A Special Announcement from LittleMan

2005-10-04T10:42:00.000-05:00

Here’s a special announcement from LittleMan:

Congratulations to my Hooker. She is going to be a Senior Maid on the Homecoming court this year because everyone else thinks she’s pretty just like I do. I’m excited and I can’t wait to see her all dressed up and take lots of pictures with her.

I love my Hooker!

Love,

LittleMan

Update on Little Man and bringing new meaning to "floaters"

2005-10-04T08:42:00.000-05:00

LittleMan is finally feeling a little better, but is still not himself. Last night he ate his first good meal in about 4 days. He ate like a horse!! I guess he was making up for lost time. After supper, it was bath time and I decided to get in a phone call to my aunt while he was playing in the bathtub (I was watching him though). When I happened to look at him in the bathtub, I saw something that I’ve never ever witnessed this child do before. **Warning, for those of you with no children, this will seem really disgusting. To those with children, really really hilarious**

There it was, floating in the tub…..poop. I was sooooo grossed out. I grabbed him up, toweled him off, and wiped him down with antibacterial wipes. (See, you will use stuff you buy on sale at Bath and Body Works later on) and then looked at the mess that I had to clean up.

Thankfully, I noticed it in enough time to grab LittleMan up before he could touch it or anything like that. But, I still had the daunting task of cleaning the tub. Thankfully, Sunday I bought a big bottle of Soft Scrub with bleach, so I squeezed enormous amounts of that into the tub and let it sit. Then, I cleaned. I swear my bathtub hasn’t been that clean in a LONG time. Not that I’m nasty and don’t clean, but I will say that my tub gets neglected because it’s so big that I have to stand in the middle of it to clean it.

Even this morning after multiple applications of lotion, my hands still smell like bleach. YUCK!

We did go to the animal stuffers place this weekend and let the sick little one pick out an animal of his very own. We looked at the wall of different selections and I asked him which animal he wanted. He quickly replied, “moooo cow mommy” and I told him there wasn’t any cows. He got kind of angry and said “No! Mooo cow mommy!” In the end, he settled on a nice alligator and dressed him in a cute fishing outfit complete with a pole.

Speaking of fishing, our church is having a Fall Festival and I’ve been asked to help with the go-fish booth. So, any decorating suggestions are welcome. I have a few in mind, but I could always use more.

Hope you are all having a great week!

Melissa

Hello again

2005-09-30T16:53:00.000-05:00

It's been such a busy week! LittleMan has been sick, so I've been home a couple of days and it was really nice. I got a good bit of cleaning done while he was asleep and even weeded my flower beds! We put up our scarecrow and potted some cute fall flowers too! I need to take some pictures. We made the cutest pumpkin with a kit from Target. It's a Mr. Potatohead pumpkin that is a little pirate. Too cute! LittleMan thought it was hilarious.

We found out that our tiny little town is going to have a pumpkin patch this year, so I'm pretty excited about that. I hope to get some really cute pictures. I also saw an advertisement for the grand opening of a little shop where you can stuff your own animals (kinda like Build A Bear) and we might have to check that out tomorrow if he’s feeling better.

Melissa

Rita Update

2005-09-27T10:10:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it with very minimal damage in my area. A few trees in houses, but overall, it was much better than predicted. At around 2 pm on Saturday, the main storm came through and there were really heavy winds, lots of power outages and rain, rain, and more rain. Our power went out at around 6:30 am on Saturday morning due to a tree falling on the line. So, we went to Wal-Mart and stocked up on supplies and then we went and stayed at Hooker’s house. Aunt Loo was without power, so we had to cancel our plans to stay there.

In other happenings this weekend, a classmate of Hooker’s was killed in an accident early Saturday morning. So, the mood around her place was pretty doomy and gloomy.

Sunday would have been my uncle David’s 49^th birthday, so the weekend was already pretty much spoiled since Hooker’s mom was dwelling on that and then the accident happened and shot the rest of it to hell.

But, due to the funeral, I had no babysitter yesterday, so, I got to work at home with the LittleMan. It was a blast! It’s funny how he realized that I wasn’t supposed to be there. He kept coming by the couch (where I was working) and smiling and patting my arm. He’s such a sweetie!

Anyway, not much to report. Pretty much a boring depressing weekend. I hope the rest of you had a much better weekend than myself.

Hurricane Rita

2005-09-23T12:52:00.000-05:00

Well, it looks like my area will be hit be strong winds and severe thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday. Everyone is already gearing up and buying water, canned food that doesn’t need preparation, and generators. I’m fortunate that I already have a generator that can keep everything in my home running, however, it requires gas to run, and so, if we are out of electricity for the long run, that could get quite expensive. I guess I need to take a gas canister and fill it up. From what I hear, all of those are pretty much bought up. Oh well....

I am pretty proud of myself that I have a hurricane plan for us already. LuckyHusband will be working from 11 pm Saturday until 7 am Sunday morning, so when the storm hits my area, he will probably not be home. So, LittleMan and myself are going to stay with my crazy aunt Sarah, who calls herself Aunt Loo (for loony). So, that should be interesting to say the least. After the storm passes, we are going to go home and plug up the generator if we don’t have any power. I have bought a lantern, batteries, M&Ms (a necessity), candles, and cans of soup. I still have to find ice when I get home. That should be fun…the stores around here are like the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve. A small (insane) part of me loves seeing all the people rushing around. (Not because of why they are rushing around really, just the fact that everyone is out and about…I’m a big people watcher). But, then again, I hate trying to actually get anything done in a crowded store.

So, keep me in your thoughts and prayers Saturday and Sunday as our area prepares to get hit by some form of weather.

Melissa

Clothes!!

2005-09-20T15:58:00.000-05:00

Okay, I went to Old Navy today and had lots of success…..too much success actually. I found one cute pair of black pants, and 2 pair of cord pants, 6 shirts, an awesome khaki trenchcoat, and some cute little black flats. All of this, and it was only $200, which I didn’t think was that bad.

The girl behind the counter needed some serious math skills though. I had a $10 off coupon and a 10% off thing. I wasn’t sure if I could use both, and of course, I couldn’t, so I told her to just use the 10% off. She informed me that the $10 was better. ???$*#&??? I told her that 10% of $200 was $20, which was more than $10. She said, but the 10% only takes off about the same amount as you pay in tax. Ummmm…yeah…so….. Then she was like, well, if that’s what you want?... Of course that’s what I want! Save $10 or $20…hmmm…let me think. I’ll choose $20. Ding!Ding!Ding! We have a winner! Sad thing is that she probably made fun of me to her co-worker when I left and that other $10 says that the co-worker thought I was an idiot also.

The season finale of Big Brother is tonight!!! And Rock Star INXS. So, pretty much nothing will get done at my house tonight. Good thing that today is Tuesday. My dad babysits LittleMan on Tuesdays and brings him home with a bath and everything! WooHoo! So, all I have to do is feed him some resemblance to a meal and I’m set! I even have the popcorn ready. I’m such a dork! I really hope that Big Brother finds some way to let Janelle win, but since that’s pretty much not going to happen, I don’t care who wins! However, I’m really pulling for Mig tonight in INXS, but I have a feeling that J.D. will win. Don’t get me wrong, I think J.D. is great, but Mig is such a sweetie. Either way, I think both are great choices. Marty is pretty good too, but something about him creeps me out. Not sure what..maybe the eerie resemblance to Tom Petty.

Melissa

Update

2005-09-19T12:38:00.000-05:00

I’m having such a hard time keeping up with my blog. Our office has gotten into super-Big Brother mode and is monitoring all of our internet usage. Grrr…. So, I’ve been limited on my blog time and it’s killing me!!

I went shopping at lunch for some new clothes for our new dress code. OMG, shopping sucks! None of the shirts I tried on fit right because I’m a little big up top. So, they were either too fitted resulting in me looking like the seams would burst anytime, or not fitted enough and it looked like my attempt at a mumu shirt. So, I came back empty handed and super frustrated. I only made it to Sears and JCPenney’s, so I’m going to try Old Navy some other time this week and pray for a miracle.

Last week I did lots of evacuee helping. I took tons of supplies that were donated by my super-wonderful blogging buddies to some of the shelters and I also took some cookies and microwave popcorn in little bags with the youth from my church. It was fun and these people are really appreciative.

LittleMan has gotten really into dancing lately. He has figured out how to turn on the radio portion of our clock radios and dances all over our bedroom. He also has gotten in the habit of saying “yes ma’am” which is really cute.

Sorry the update is so short, I need to finish my lunch!

Melissa

Wow! Is it already the middle of September???

2005-09-12T08:18:00.000-05:00

I can’t believe how quickly that time has seemed to pass lately. It seems like I can’t get anything done! Anyway, here’s what’s going on with me…..

Hurricane Update

Last night, I met some really sweet kids at church that had been bused from one of the shelters. Well, not really a shelter…it’s a state park facility with cabins and stuff, so a lot better than just a normal old shelter. Anyway, point being, these kids were so sweet! One boy kept thanking everyone for inviting him and picking him up. He said that it was nice to get away. All they have to do over there is play basketball. And, he likes my little cousin Taylor…so maybe a little romance. LOL! Another girl told me that she was excited because her family had decided to stay in our town after everything was over with. She said that they had been so touched by everyone’s generosity that they wanted to live somewhere like that. I thought that was odd until my aunt Sarah told me her shelter-working experience from last week.

She said that she had went to Metarie and worked. She is a really loud, smiling, boisterous person. The type that you don’t want around when you need peace and quiet. LOL! Anyway…she was talking to a man who told her that he was shocked at how nice all of the state workers from the northern part of the state were. He told her that he was so surprised at how generous and helping everyone was. She blew it off by telling him that he would have done the same had the situation been turned. He told her that he definitely would not have. He talked about how people in his town (not sure where) never helped their neighbors out in times of trouble and this was a totally foreign concept to most of them. He said that anyone who would have had probably been ripped off enough that they had quit doing things like that. So, I guess these people in our town see a group of people that care about one another and want to be part of that. We are like that with each other as well. A childhood friend of mine has a father who is basically a vegetable in a rehabilitation hospital after a massive heart attack 3 weeks ago. He worked at the paper mill that LuckyHusband works at. All of the guys from this man’s area have been pitching in and paying for his insurance so that his wife won’t have to worry. They are going to continue to do this indefinitely. They also raised hundreds of dollars by worker donations to give to the family for expenses. I can’t imagine living somewhere where this isn’t the norm. I know that if anything ever happened to me where I was unable to care for my husband and child, there would be tons of people pitching in to help. I can see why these people want to stay.

There are so many ways that our town has changed in the past 2 weeks. The local high school got a star quarterback from Slidell and also is a possible love interest for Hooker. Apparently he’s pretty cute, of course she claims that she doesn’t want a boyfriend. LOL! I’ll have to go to a game and check him out. Supposedly a man who has relocated and plans on staying is going to open a restaurant. I can’t wait. I bet the food will be unbelievable! And I know personally, it has made so many people take time to think of others instead of themselves.

Okay…onto something else…

My office is about to institute a new dress code. I’m so distressed about this. Formerly, any day of the week, I could be found in jeans, usually some form of flip flops, and a comfortable shirt. Now, no flip flops and no jeans except on Fridays! I had to go clothes shopping this weekend (a huge source of dread for me!) and I bought a couple of pairs of dress pants and a couple of dressier shirts. Today, I’m dressed in khakis, a dressy tunic-type shirt and some really large platform like sandals. They are killing my feet already! This is going to take a TON of getting used to. I just really, really, really hate dressing up. And this is dressed up for me. Grrrrr….. If they don’t specify anything other than no jeans, I’m tempted to find a nice comfy pair of jogging pants. Hmmm…or yoga pants..those look really comfy. And if I ever decide to take up yoga (yeah right) I’ll have them.

Books

I read There’s No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark this weekend. Great book. I was really shocked by the ending. Usually I have it semi-figured out by the end. That’s what happens when you grow up with a detective for a dad and then you get to talk to your cop brother about his cases. So, I’m always glad for one that kind of fools me. I ordered some new books from the book club I joined (which by the way isn’t so bad…I kinda like it). So, I can’t wait until they come in! I also should have a hold book in at the library to read today. Yippee!!!

Random Crap

I read in this month’s Glamour that if you sleep with your face on the pillow it will give you wrinkles. If you sleep on one side instead of the other, that side will have more wrinkles. Now I’m sure I will be constantly obsessed with not sleeping on my face. Great…something else to keep me up at night.

Have a great week!

Melissa

Thank you!

2005-09-08T10:51:00.000-05:00

I cannot say Thank You enough to all of you who have posted comments or emailed me. My mom got back yesterday from working a shelter that was basically an ER/triage area in Baton Rouge. She saw all kinds of things and the saddest part is, she found people being turned away from the shelter. Let me explain, if someone had an injury/illness that the people in charge deemed worthy of care, they were put on a bus to this facility. When they were checked out, if they had a medical need, they could stay in the shelter part. If not, they were discharged with no one to take them anywhere for shelter.

One family was with a 12 year old who had a nosebleed. She tried to tell the people in charge that it was nothing so that her family could go to a “normal” shelter, but they put them on the bus to the medical ER/triage place (don’t I have such eloquent writing…lol). When she got there, the nosebleed was determined to be stress (just like she told them) and they were told to leave. My mom finally wrangled them a few cots and they were allowed to stay, but this is the kind of stuff that these people are facing.

Also, lots of talk is coming out about how the governor and the mayor of N.O. refused, even with the information they were presented with Friday and Saturday, to declare a state of emergency and evacuate. Apparently, New Orleans had procedures for this type of thing, which entailed using school buses and public transportation to get people out. They chose not to do this. I saw pictures of rows and rows of school buses that are now mostly under water. It was the weekend, no school….why were they not used?

I still think that it’s premature to start the “blame game” until these people are helped. But as soon as it settles down, I think we as the citizens of Louisiana should demand an investigation into how this crisis was handled.

Another issue that has come to light is the hazardous water these people are wading in. Any skin contact can be detrimental to health and safety of these people. Also, they are saying that people in helicopters doing rescues are at risk. They are starting to see people die from illness sustained in the water. To me, that is really scary. These bacteria are running rampant and now, mosquitoes are starting to infest the area and the reality is that mosquitoes will bite on cadavers and then bite someone else. So, even if you are in the area, but not near the water, you could be at risk. As information pours in from the CDC, it should be interesting for medical geeks such as myself.

Also, an update on the woman who lost her 3 children. The radio program I heard the story on is syndicated across the country. Her children were found and they were reunited. I think they said the kids were either in Oregon or Ohio (can’t remember which). The mother was in Texas. This is why some families are unable to re-unite, they are hundreds of miles apart. But, at least that story had a happy ending.

And, now something “normal”. LittleMan got a Halloween costume. He is going to be the cutest dragon you’ve ever seen!! Last night he tried on the costume for my mom and refused to take it off until an hour later (probably only then because it was hot). He puts it on and goes…GGRRRRR. LOL! He also has learned to grab my shoulder if I’m sitting down and say “Come on” to make me get up to do whatever it is that he wants. Usually it’s to point and tell me “cookie” in a “Fetch, mom” type attitude.

Hope you are all having a great week. Check in on Cat at amomintheswamp.com and try to send her some encouraging words (and other stuff if you are able). She lost everything to Katrina.

Melissa

Trying to "Get Back to Normal"

2005-09-06T08:38:00.000-05:00

People seem to be trying to return to some of their normal routines around here. Displaced people are enrolling their children in schools here in north Louisiana and local people are trying their best to provide school supplies and clothing for these children. Other families are already looking into how they can put the pieces of their lives back together, except in northern Louisiana towns this time. One displaced restaurant owner is looking into opening a seafood restaurant in my town (yippee!) and a friend of mine with a home for sale said that a retired couple was looking at buying her home as soon as they get their insurance check. They told her that they had nothing to go back for.

New stories are beginning to be heard about extraordinary situations that are a result of Katrina. One story that I saw on the news was of a couple who gave birth to a preemie just 2 days before Katrina. They had to leave her in the hospital in NICU and they were evacuated. On Friday (I think) they finally found her and were reunited with her in Texas. I can’t imagine how painful it must have been to not know if your just days old child is alive or where she is.

Many children have been separated from their parents during this mess. I have heard of a lady in Texas who thought her 3 children were behind her when boarding a bus at the Superdome, only to find out that they weren’t. She hasn’t found them yet. Also, on in a shelter in Baton Rouge are children who were separated from their parents. One was just 14 months old. Due to so many people wanting to help, there are so many websites to reunite with your family, that some think that family members are posting on different sites and not finding one another.

Another story that I found touching was of a 90-something year old man who was in a shelter last week. A news correspondent was feeding him because he was unable to do so himself after suffering a heart attack. Family members saw this on the news, and rushed to get him from the shelter and he is now in the care of his family.

Conditions are starting to get better and people are slowly getting rescued. Even Fats Domino was rescued last week. (I thought that was interesting) But, just by hearing some of the stories from friends who are working shelters, we have a long way to go.

Please keep my mother, who has went to Baton Rouge to work a shelter, in your prayers. My aunt is also in Metarie working a shelter as well.

Thanks to all of you who have contacted me to help. I will be getting back with you as soon as I can.

Melissa

A little relief

2005-09-04T19:55:00.000-05:00

It appears that the organizations which are supposed to "save the day" are finally here and trying to do so. For many, it is too late. The reports that we have all seen are nothing short of horrific. People giving birth on bridges with only a pocket knife sterilized with a lighter to cut the cord, a wife carrying her spouse's dead body in a sheet through flooded streets, babies with no food or diapers.... it's stuff that until now only happened somewhere far, far away.
The stories Scuba Steve told sounded like something from a movie. Hiding behind truck tires, weapon in hand, just waiting for their orders...One MRE a day and a limited supply of water... It sounds like the story of a soldier gone to war, not a rural police officer trying to rescue people from a natural disaster.
Thank you to all who have donated money to the Red Cross, clothes to the Salvation Army, and volunteered your time. You have no idea what a difference it makes to these people.
Yesterday Hooker cried her eyes out. Not for someone's loss, but instead for the generosity that people show in times like this. At our local state park, hundreds of displaced people took shelter in cabins. Local people heard that one girl would be celebrating her 12th birthday out there with no big fanfare. Businesses were called and before they knew it, 2 large sheet cakes (big enough to feed all the people at the park) were delivered, along with decorations, and tons of presents donated by local people. The party was a surprise and when the girl was brought out, her eyes filled with tears and she thanked everyone for the party that she thought she wouldn't be having this year.
Out of tragedy, the human spirit always seems to amaze me. People are so generous and their willingness to help without even the thought of anything in return makes me glad to be a part of this whole thing.
One person did get something in return though, Hooker has been volunteering since Tuesday at a makeshift nursing home. She gets there after school (around 12 pm) and stays till around 9 pm. She has bathed people, changed diapers, fed them, and went and spent her own money to buy gowns, houseshoes and toiletry items for them. I have been so proud of her. Yesterday, she was offered a job there for the duration of their stay. She had been looking for a job for about a month, and these people had no idea. They wanted to reward her for all of her help, and when money became available for them to hire, she was their first choice. Even better, another local nursing home who has been helping by sending staff members, told her that when these people went back down south, she had a job with them waiting.
So, when you least expect it, you get the best rewards without expecting them.
Keep praying, they need it.....
Melissa

Friday's Update

2005-09-02T09:41:00.000-05:00

It’s times like these that the little things make me happy and sad at the same time. My little brother, Scuba Steve, is home and I am so glad. He is buying supplies today to go back. When most think of supplies, they assume water, food, etc. No. He is buying another bullet-proof vest, other body armor, ammo, and gathering his guns. Survival items for himself are a must also in case he is abandoned again. I’m not sure when he will go back. Selfishly I wish he wouldn’t go back, although I know that these people need help. He is developing his pictures today and I will try and post some of them for you.

Last night, LittleMan and I gathered Happy Meal toys, and baby rattles, and those plastic keys on a chain, etc for the children and babies in our local shelters. I realize they have immediate needs for water, food, etc, and we have bought and delivered things to meet those needs as well. However, these children are being cooped up for days on end, and I know that toys and the markers and stickers and paper that we sent will be a blessing.

I also gathered my clothes and shoes that I don’t need and headed out to see where they could be used. Hooker has been volunteering at a makeshift nursing home that a whole entire nursing home from Metarie was evacuated to. A granddaughter of one of the residents had only the clothes on her back and the shoes that she took from a dead person because hers (flip flops I think) were gone (not sure if they washed away or wore out). I was her exact shoe size and hooked her up with some very gently used Sketchers tennis shoes and some flip flops and some clothes. Hooker, however, really stepped up and bought her some other necessities and is letting her spend the night at her house. I am so proud of her. She has bathed and changed nursing home residents and fed them and visited with them. Already, they know her by name (her real one, not Hooker) and ask for her when they have something they need.

The thing that I am most struck by is how my town has pulled together to help. Shelters have been opened and people have shown no hesitation to help. The owners of our local motel are Indians (as in from India) and have never been overly well-received in the community. They have housed and fed these people from their own pockets. I visited with them last night and the level of generosity is astounding. The owner told me, “I have food and clothes for my family. They don’t and I can’t watch them do without.” I have been brought to tears so many times by the generosity of my town and I’m so proud to live in such a great place.

Another Red Cross shelter will open tonight. It honestly breaks my heart to see these people go through this. With the continuance of evacuation, many families who have been in the shelters are beginning to fear the new ones coming in. The more recent additions are more likely to be drug addicts, gang members, and have weapons. They are scared to be in a shelter with them. I can’t imagine their level of anxiety.

Another situation that I would like to bring to light is how you can help. Donations to the Red Cross are great, but many of these people are not being housed in a Red Cross shelter, but in a church or community shelter because the Red Cross ones are full. These people are not eligible for any Red Cross aid because they are not in a shelter. All they are getting is what the citizens are able to help them with. Long term, that may be a problem. If you have used clothing, ESPECIALLY baby clothing or children’s clothing, toiletries (doesn’t matter if they are opened), coloring books and colors, socks, underwear, etc that you would like to donate, find a Salvation Army shelter and ask that it be sent to hurricane victims or e-mail me if you want to send it to our community shelters in North Louisiana. I promise you that I will make sure it gets to people who need it. My e-mail is littlemp at gmail dot com if you are interested.

Finally, the best thing you can do is remember these people in your prayers. They have a long road ahead of them and the devastation is just beginning.

Melissa

More updates

2005-09-01T17:00:00.000-05:00

Scuba Steve was allowed to call home this afternoon. He told my father so many horrible things. First of all, they have been removed from the area for their own safety. As they were on a bridge waiting, people were shooting at them and a sniper with the SWAT team was having to kill people who were shooting at them. These people are shooting at any authority figure so that they can continue the looting and horrible behavior. I guess the mindset is to steal and hide what they can so that when the city opens back up, they have enough material possessions to pawn or sell for lots of cash. Scuba Steve will leave in the morning headed home.

Special tactical forces are being flown in for the next few days to try and regain control of the area. A few of the things my dad relayed to me was that as they were wading through bodies in the French Quarter, many of them seem to have been murdered and not drowned. The convention center near the Superdome was taken over by gangs last night. Three murders have been reported, numerous reports of rapes, knifings, and muggings. This is in the place where people were supposed to be safe. He said that at night when it’s quiet, all you can hear is babies crying. He said it was so sad. He also said that the New Orleans police are responsible for a major portion of the looting happening at this point. They are looting for their own personal gain. How sad is that.

Thanks for the prayers and kind thoughts. I’m sorry I haven’t been to your blogs, I hope you understand my limited capacity. We are unable to even place outgoing phone calls for the most part. I am e-mailing this post.

Thanks again!

Melissa

Very worried

2005-09-01T09:35:00.000-05:00

Last night, my brother, who is in New Orleans working on helping the cops with looters, didn’t report back to the command center. He was reported missing. Early this morning he was found. He and some others were dropped off by helicopter and the helicopter never returned. The command center didn’t remember where they were. It was very scary. This morning he left with a SWAT team to go back into New Orleans. I am so worried and will not feel better until he returns home tomorrow afternoon.

Gas is getting so expensive. I’m worried that I won’t be able to afford to drive to work anymore.

WOW! 2 posts in one day

2005-08-31T13:36:00.000-05:00

Just a little update to let you know how desperate they are to evacuate these people in south Louisiana. Preachers and medical workers showed up at our local high school today requesting high school kids to help move things into a shelter to ready it for people on their way up and more kids to clean up a nursing home that has been closed for about 3 years so that it can re-open to house residents from New Orleans area nursing homes. I’m supposed to check back with a lady this afternoon about Hooker, her mom, and myself volunteering at a local shelter this weekend.

Gas prices have continued to rise throughout the day. I predict a price of $3 per gallon by Saturday.

Update on Hurricane Katrina and me

2005-08-31T08:59:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much for everyone checking in on me. We are slowly getting internet back up here and it’s wonderful. However, now I get to see the horrific photos from all of the devastation. It’s so heartbreaking. For those of you who asked, I live about 5 hours northwest of New Orleans. If you look at a Louisiana map, you should be able to find Monroe in north-central Louisiana. That is where I work, I live about 45 miles southwest of Monroe in a little town called Jonesboro (may or may not be on the map). Here’s how things are looking here:

There are 2 very large shelters in Monroe, which are currently at capacity. They each currently have 1,600 people staying there. There is also a dog shelter in an attached building to one of the shelters housing nearly 300 pets (I guess they have cats too). There is also a HUGE livestock pavilion and convention center like thing that is housing people and their livestock. As I said, these shelters are operating at capacity, and the governor has directed the current evacuees (from the Superdome and people who have been rescued) to come to Monroe because of our shelters. So, in response local towns and communities are opening smaller shelters to take in the extras. In Jonesboro alone (remember, really small town), there are currently 6 or 7 places offering shelter. A nearby church camp will be receiving over 100 cots from the Red Cross to house people in their encampment facilities as well.

I don’t know what the national news is reporting, but things that people don’t realize are that when these people fled, they thought they would be here for 3 to 4 days max. However, it’s looking more like a month. They don’t have the food or clothing for this type of stay. Also, the ones who were fortunate enough to find hotels that were vacant, now can’t afford them anymore. Their money is running out and they are having to ration money because they have no idea how long they will be here. There have been people found sleeping in their cars in the Wal Mart parking lot. Fortunately, this area is big on helping. People are taking complete strangers into their homes and putting them up indefinitely. Honestly, if I came across someone in need, I would do the same.

Yesterday after lunch, my brother, Scuba Steve, was called to go with a group of police officers from North Louisiana and help out. At first I thought that it was awesome that he’d be able to be down there helping, but the more news coverage I see, I’m scared to death for him. There are reports of looting, gun fights on the streets and in the Superdome. There is even a prison guard and his family being held hostage in a prison by inmates demanding food and water for the family’s lives. The sad part is that their cries go unanswered because no one can get to them. We are unable to talk with SS because there are no land or cell phone lines to call home. My mom will also be going down there on Monday for 72 hour duty at a special needs shelter in Baton Rouge.

What really hit home as to how dire this situation is was when I saw that they are planning to build refugee camps for these people. I’m talking tents and stuff like you see in third world countries. One soldier who had spent 1 year in Afganistan (sp?) called into the radio after being in New Orleans for 2 days and said that this was exponentially worse than anything he saw in his one year overseas.

These people need prayers, donations of money and blood to the Red Cross, and anything else that the public can do. They have lost homes, family, jobs….basically everything. Keep everyone in your prayers!

Melissa

Katrina is a bitch

2005-08-29T08:41:00.000-05:00

Just one short week ago, I was strolling down the French Quarter, margarita in hand, enjoying all that New Orleans had to offer. Food, music, drinks, and culture abounded. I was in amazement at the beautiful architechture, the very interesting aquarium, and the amazing Audubon Zoo.
Now, one week later, all of this is threatened by Hurrican Katrina. The story that breaks my heart the most are the people with no means to get out. Monetarily and transportation-wise, they are without. Last night, when talk of the town flooding much like a bowl full of water was broadcast on the news, my mind flashed back to the scene on Titanic where the older couple and the parents tucking their children into bed know what's coming in just a few short hours.
As shown on the news, many residents were housed at the Superdome, which I now hear is leaking (no big surprise), but don't let that comfort you for too long. I can assure you that there are plenty of people without the means to even make it to the Superdome. My high school vice-principal, Mr. A., has an elderly aunt, who refuses to leave her home. With all roads to New Orleans closed, no one in her family was able to go and remove her.
I am constantly amazed at how the media sensationalizes stories to the point that when they come to fruition, no matter how horrible or catastrophic, they somehow seem "not so bad" because they weren't to the degree of doom and gloom predcited. I think that's sad and makes light of the horrible plight of these people.
I went to buy groceries yesterday and a woman in the line in front of me was from Slidell, Louisiana, and had come to our town in evacuation. She was sure that she would have nothing to go back to. I can't imagine.....
This weekend, I made visits to the hospital to see my grandfather on Saturday. Little did I know that in the other part of the hospital, my grandmother on my mother's side of the family, was being prepared in the ER to be moved just across the hall from my grandfather, Wayne the Pain. I found this out after I was home on Saturday. I had not planned on making the trip on Sunday, since I had just been the day before and gas is so expensive. But, with my grandmother now in there, I decided to make the visit. I wish I wouldn't have. Wayne the Pain seemed to have made a turn for the worse. I've seen him pretty bad during times of the last 4 years, but never have I thought that death seemed to be creeping up on him so quickly. His face looked like that of someone knocking on death's door, the fight seemed gone from his eyes. Last night, I sat up thinking about it all and finally accepted what I thought I had been working on accepting for the past 4 years. It's hard, and for selfish reasons, I wish he'd pull through yet again, but I know that's probably not going to be the case this time. I just hope it's quick and painless for him and that my aunt who has taken care of him for the past 4 years will be able to deal with things. She's really a fragile person beneath her very outspoken exterior and I hope that she is able to withstand this blow. Like me, she has been preparing for this for some time, but I really don't think that you can ever be truely prepared. So, I guess I'll finish this and give her a call at the hospital and do a little hurricane tracking on the internet. Forgive me if I don't visit you all, I have sooo much going on right now, but I will try to make my rounds soon.
Melissa

Tummy Yummy

2005-08-25T16:16:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Rebecca for this meme!

7 things I plan to do before I die
1) Learn how to knit
2) Go to the Bahamas
3) Visit Europe
4) Go shopping in New York (with someone else's money)
5) Get skinny
6) Build a house of my own that is just the way I want it
7) Learn to cook decently

7 things I can do
1) Read books quickly
2) Needlepoint
3) Curl my tongue really strangely and make a weird noise
4) Play the piano
5) Bake really well
6) I'm good at crafts
7) Sing

7 things I cannot do
1) As stated in question one, cook very well
2) Not be afraid of heights
3) Stay focused.
4) Turn away sweets
5) Sew.
6) Eat seafood...nasty
7) Say no to most people

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex
1) Eyes
2) Personality
3) Humor
4) Body...come on...we're being honest right!
5) Good fashion sense
6) Doesn't think I'm strange for my weird habits
7) Thinks I'm funny

7 things that I say most often
1) F%&$
2) S#&#
3) DAMN!!!!
4) He/she makes me want to slit my wrists
5) He/she is an idiot!!
6) This state sucks!
7) That's nice

7 celebrity crushes
1) mmm....Patrick Dempsey
2) Paul Walker
3) Vin Diesel
4) Rick Shroder
5) George Strait
6) Adam Sandler
7) the plumber on Desperate Housewives

7 people I want to do this (if you have not done so already)
1) Christie
2) Heather B
3) Lassa
4) Lindsay (The Martins)
5) Xtessa
7) Anyone else who wants to do it

I got a strange phone call yesterday informing me that I had won something. I really couldn't understand the lady, but I could have sworn that she said something about a cookie bouquet from Tummy Yummy. I thought she said something about A Best Friend's Contest. I mentioned it to my mother and she told me that she had entered me. It was a radio contest where you entered the name of your Best Friend for a Best Friend Cookie Bouquet and I won!! The bouquet was adorable and pretty yummy. LittleMan is going to really enjoy one of these tonight. I walked him around our neighborhood yesterday in his wagon, and I might do it again today with a cookie on a stick for a treat to keep him occupied. Hope you all have a great day!!

We're BACK!!!!

2005-08-23T11:10:00.000-05:00

LittleMan acting like a "big boy" after stealing LuckyHusband's drink:

LittleMan, LuckyHusband, and myself at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans:

LittleMan checking out the fish at the aquarium:

Our carriage ride through New Orleans:

The Tabasco plant:

LittleMan eating:

Glad to be going home: (after eating a cookie)

Well, as you can see, vacation went really well. We had a really good time and were super glad to get away from home. Especially since our air conditioner died late Tuesday night. It was fine for sleeping on Tuesday night, but we had to spend Wednesday night with my mom and we left for vacation on Thursday. When we returned Sunday, it still wasn't fixed, so we spent Sunday night with her also. It got fixed yesterday afternoon (yippee!), so we are back on track! I was so glad to be able to finally sleep in my own bed last night! As you can see from the pictures, we went to the Aquarium of the Americas and then we took a boat ride to the Audubon Zoo. That was a lot of fun. They had the most awesome gorilla there. He looked just like a grump old man.

We also toured the National D-Day Museum, which was really nice, but not a kid place. We did TONS of walking on Friday. My feet were so sore! When I got back to work yesterday, I utilized our drafting department to see just how far I walked on Friday alone, and we came up with around 6 miles!! No wonder I was sore (plus I counted that as excercise. Go me!) We did lots of walking in the French Quarter. I visited my homeland, Margaritaville. I had a nice huge one for all of you and it was super-tasty!! I also got a t-shirt to prove that I went. LOL! We ate lots of great food while we were there also. But, strangely enough after being "good" on my diet, I found it hard to be really, really bad and cheat. I couldn't even eat nearly as much as I formerly would have been able to. I guess that's good, but I was really looking forward to cheating. LOL!

The hotel managed to lose my car Sunday morning when we were getting ready to leave. That really sucked. I actually stood up to the hotel management and got a partial refund. It took them over an hour to find my vehicle.

On the way home, we visited Avery Island, home of Tabasco. That was cool. They have some really neat gifts! I think you can also order them on the Tabasco website. Check them out!

Yesterday, I loaded my 130-something pics on Shutterfly and made the cutest bound vacation album that I should receive soon. They really are nice if you are looking for a great way to display some vacation pictures, or any pictures for that matter! I want to get all of LittleMan's baby pictures together into a book like that. I am also working on a cute vacation scrapbook utilizing the brochures from places we visited so that one day LittleMan can read about everything at the places we went (since he won't remember) and I also bought postcards everywhere we went to include in the scrapbook. My parents used to give us money for postcards on vacation and I have a big book full of them from vacations when I was a kid. I wish we'd have thought to remember to collect brochures though. I think that would have been cool too.

Well, I know you are tired of reading this! I'll be by to visit all of you as soon as I can! I missed you all! I'll add more vacation pics throughout the week so you can see other cool stuff!

Melissa

Gas and other stuff

2005-08-16T11:28:00.000-05:00

Can you believe how quickly the cost of gas has risen? It is currently at around $2.45 or so here and I saw on the news where it is expected to rise until October, then steady off and drop about 25 cents per gallon by the end of the year, which will probably put us right back where we are right now. If this continues, I don’t see how the economy will withstand it. I seriously doubt people will have the money to spend on Christmas like they normally do this year if this trend continues. Surely our government can do something about this. This is just ridiculous!!!

As of today, I have only 2 more days until I leave for vacation. YIPPEE!! This is a well needed trip! We have planned trips to the D-Day Museum, Confederate Museum, Children’s Museum (my child is going to hate my educational outlook later on), the Aquarium, the Zoo, and of course, the most important thing…..THE MALL!! I can’t wait to do a little shopping!

LittleMan is growing so fast! He started showing some of my OCD tendencies this weekend by throwing away diapers, candy wrappers, and anything else he could find. Boy was I proud…lol! He also is fully understanding yes and no and when he wants or doesn’t want something. It’s kind of funny to see how opinionated he gets. He’s also formed a strong affinity for his rubber boots his aunt bought him. He insists on putting them on every morning after he wakes up. They will not be making the trip with us this weekend. LOL!

I’ve been kinda scatterbrained lately. Last Friday, I put a book I’d been reading and some of LittleMan’s clothes on the top of the car while I buckled him in. I forgot about them until I was halfway to work. I was really enjoying that book (Thanks Marie for the recommendation…I’m reading Sarah right now) and the clothes were some of my favorites! I called LuckyHusband and asked him to do a little looking and see if he could find them. I knew they wouldn’t have made it very far. But, he didn’t find them. The next day we got a call from a neighbor who assumed they were ours based on the clothing sizes. Thank goodness!

Melissa

Feminism and it's pitfalls

2005-08-12T09:52:00.000-05:00

In the society that we live in today, more often than not, career men and women are forced to work side by side on projects all day long. Since we spend 40 hours plus at work every week, it’s no wonder that these co-workers should develop friendships that result in the exchanges of friendly banter from time to time. What is surprising however, is the view of these friendships from different perspectives.

All throughout my life, one of my best friends was my cousin John, who was a year younger than me. It was through him and his friends which usually became my friends that I realized the benefits and the pitfalls of these type of friendships. Although we live in a society which boasts its tolerance of equal rights for women, I find that is rarely the case. If two men sit around the office and gossip, go to lunch together, and *gasp* even hang out after work, it’s viewed as an extention of the “Good Ol Boys Club”. However, if it is a woman and a man hanging out, we assume that they must be doing something immoral and that it isn’t appropriate for them to share a friendship. Why is that? If two men are friends, in this age of increased awareness of the gay lifestyle, I don’t assume that they are partners, just friends enjoying each other’s company. I find it hard to believe that in a world that is so accepting of coloring outside the lines, that this is one myth that we fail to let go of. The myth that there is no such thing as a platonic relationship is a crock of crap.

So, answer this for me. If your spouse had a platonic relationship at work, would you be mad? When you see these relationships, do you automatically assume there is more than meets the eye? And, if the woman is attractive or unattractive, does that change your viewpoint?

Music!

2005-08-11T13:27:00.000-05:00

I stole this from Susie at Raising Liam. I can’t link when I post from e-mail (I don’t think I can anyway!)

List ten songs that you are currently digging... it doesn't matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they're no good but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artists, and the ten songs in your blog. Then tag five other random people to see what they're listening to.

1. Toxic by Brittney Spears – this really gets me moving and although I think her life is one big train wreck, I really like this song.

The Joker by Steve Miller Band – this is one of my most favorite songs and I’ve heard it 3 times on the radio this week. It always makes me smile.
I Want You to Want Me by Cheap Trick – This is another one that really gets me moving at the gym.
Melissa by the Allman Brothers – Surely I don’t have to explain this one.
Dust In The Wind – not sure who sings it but I really like this song for whatever reason
Seven Spanish Angels by Willie Nelson and Ray Charles – I have loved this song since I was a kid. For what reason? Who knows
Y’all Come Back Saloon by the Oak Ridge Boys – This song reminds me of being a kid. I love it.
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground by Willie Nelson – My little brother used to sing this all of the time when he was a kid. It reminds me of him
Lose Yourself by Eminem – Another one that I love at the gym.
These Boots are Made For Walkin by Jessica Simpson – I love this new version. I need to download it from itunes.

Did you know that if you try on jeans at the Gap they will give you an itunes giftcard? I got a few from a co-worker who has the hook-up at the Gap. Woo-Hoo for me!!

So, anyway, I am tagging the following five people to complete this. HeatherB, Julie, Lainie, Linda, and Christina. Can’t wait to see your answers!!!

Melissa

I love shopping!!

2005-08-10T12:52:00.000-05:00

You know, sometimes when you don’t do something for a while, you forget how much you truly enjoy it. Today, instead of running on the treadmill and quickly getting dressed before returning to work, I decided to reward myself with a little shopping trip.

I began at Old Navy, where I purchased an adorable pair of charcoal pants, a pink polo shirt, and a cranberry and a lime tank top! Old Navy rocks (and was much less crowded than my last trip). I then went on to Sam’s Club. Goodness, that place is heaven! While shopping I enjoyed a beef and cheese chimichanga sample (and yes I bought some too….delicious!!), and a chicken tender sample. This is the best place to “cheat” on a diet because they give you the small little portions and that’s it. So, you can cheat, but not eat the whole thing!

I went with the intention of picking up some strawberries and grapes, which I did. But I also came back with the chimichangas and milk and cereal! I found a box with Fruit Loops (LittleMan’s favorite), Cocoa Krispies, and Apple Jacks. I also found a box with individual boxes of a bunch of different kinds to take on vacation for LittleMan to snack on.

So, I came back to work, ate some Cocoa Krispies (yummy) and strawberries, and now I need a nap. I think corporations should institute a mandatory naptime (Jimmy I know you agree!) in the afternoons. I bet after it’s over, productivity would definitely increase! I should suggest that during our next company meeting. I bet it will go over really well.

Melissa

Websearches

2005-08-09T12:15:00.000-05:00

I have a new addiction. I got an e-mail about asking for your information to be removed for background searches, etc from a website called zabasearch.com. So, I visited the site. Holy crap! You can find anyone on here! I had a blast looking up people that I haven’t even thought about in years. You can pay for a background check (which I’m not bored enough for), and I wondered what would come up from a background check for me? That could be interesting, but not worth 20 something bucks.

Today at lunch I did the treadmill thing again. The activity center is located on the ULM campus, where I went to college. They are doing lots of renovations and it is so strange to drive by and not see the dorm where I spent my freshmen year living. It has been torn down in preparation to build new student housing. The dorm where my friend, K, lived is torn down too. The new student housing looks great, but I’m kinda sad everytime I drive by that the new students won’t have the memories of crappy washing machines and dryers, ACs and heating problems, and trying to make an ugly room look cute that we all did. Also, when I’m walking or running on the treadmill, it’s hard to believe that this much time has passed and that I’m not running with my friend A, while discussing the many ways that K drives her nuts and how sloppy and irritating he can be. I look at all the college students and wonder if I was ever that young looking. Surely I was…right?

Melissa

Soooo busy!

2005-08-08T08:04:00.000-05:00

Goodness! I’m finally sitting down to update my blog! I thought I would surely have time for that this weekend, but I was wrong. LittleMan got his shots and was pretty cranky. He went to a birthday party Saturday afternoon and then we went out to eat with my Nana and Uncle Mark (aka Uncle Kracker…long story there!) for a little Chinese…yummmm! Saturday night and yesterday he had a little bit of fever from the shots and was a little fussy, but not too bad. We went shopping and grilled hot dogs last night and he seemed to be feeling better.

Hopefully, I’ve gotten control of the craziness here at work and will have a little more time to get things done this week. Friday, I didn’t even get to go to lunch! I spent my “lunch” buying something for the office that I needed for that afternoon! I should demand an extra-long lunch today in return. LOL!

I finished The Undomestic Goddess this weekend. The cranky kid didn’t leave me much to do Saturday night but hold him while he whined, so I held him and read. The book was pretty good, but I like the Shopaholic books better. But, overall, not a bad book! I bought In Her Shoes yesterday while I was out shopping, so I will start on that one soon.

Hope you all have a great Monday!

Melissa

Thank God it's Already Wednesday!

2005-08-03T08:36:00.000-05:00

I swear, the past two or three weeks have been so busy for me. Work, home, and everything else has seemed to pile up! I have a decent amount of stuff done, but LuckyHusband begins his seven days of evenings (3-11) tonight, and that usually gets me way behind on household stuff because I don’t have any help with LittleMan when I get home in the afternoons. Next Wednesday and Thursday, my regular babysitter for LittleMan is taking off to paint her bathroom, so I’m thinking that I might ask Hooker to come over to our house and babysit and throw in a little extra money if she will wash clothes and dishes for me and maybe sweep and mop while LittleMan naps. She’s usually pretty good with that kind of stuff. When I came home from the hospital from having LittleMan, she had spent the whole day before cleaning and doing laundry. The place was spotless. (She’ll do anything for a little money!)

Saturday LittleMan will be getting shots. I’m kinda nervous about it. The last time he had shots, he wasn’t really aware of what was going on and his memory of the experience didn’t last 2 minutes. But this time he’s older and understands more and I’m very nervous about the whole thing. I hate having to hold him down and I can’t stand it when he cries “at” me. You know, where the hurt or anger is directed at you, like you could have stopped it or something.

Thanks for all the sweet comments about my grandfather. His nurse came to his house yesterday and believes that he has Parkinson’s on top of everything else. This does explain a lot of things that have been going on with him lately. One of the few things he is able to do is to feed himself and drink by himself, and if he does have Parkinson’s, it won’t be long until this has to be done for him as well. But, at the rate he’s been going, I don’t think it will be a very long progression. Who knows, he’ll probably be around 10 more years just to show us who’s boss.

Friday will be my debut as a contributor to the Working Moms blog. I’ll post a link on Friday to my post, but if not, the blog is on my sidebar for anyone interested.

When I opened the mailbox yesterday, I felt like a wish fairy had come to visit. My copy of Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella was in the mail. Yippee! I can’t wait to read it, but I’m currently in the middle of Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner, so I think I’ll finish it first. So far it’s a pretty interesting read!!

Well, I’ve bored you all enough for now. I’ll be around to visit your blogs today (hopefully) after I get back from my treadmill routine at lunch! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Melissa

I'm back....

2005-08-01T09:05:00.000-05:00

Sorry for not updating for a few days. Things have been so hectic lately and I’ve barely had time to do things that I need to do! My vacation can’t get here soon enough!!

Old Navy

The Old Navy experience is one I won’t soon try to repeat. They had to open the doors an hour early because of the pile up of people trying to get in. The idiots in charge of the store handed out cupcakes to celebrate the opening and of course every kid there smeared theirs onto displays of clothes or either just threw the remainder of what they didn’t eat in the trash. The line to check out was an hour long (really…a co-worker of mine actually stood in it and waited!) and I couldn’t even get close enough to the stuff I was interested in to see what sizes that they had. So, I will be going back one day this week at lunch to check it all out. Maybe it won’t be crowed then (please, God!)

Family

My family seems to be in one giant tailspin lately. My dad’s family (brothers and sisters) are all arguing and I hate being in the middle of all of it. Sometimes I think I’m the sane one and for anyone who knows me, that’s pretty scary! Hooker had her wisdom teeth cut out on Thursday (and is recovering well) and my grandfather’s health is rapidly deteriorating. We all knew this time was coming (with my grandfather) but now that it’s here, it’s pretty scary. I hate to see someone who was once so self sufficient, smart, and never in need of help from anyone, struggle to chew his food or think of anyone’s name. Strokes are a horrible, horrible thing. I hope I never have one or if I do it kills me immediately. Having your brain turn to mush is not my idea of how to spend my golden years.

Books

I’ve done so much reading lately and not updated on it. I need to update my sidebar. I read She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb at the suggestion of someone on here. I really liked it. Thanks for the suggestion!! I also read Rosie Dunne by Cecelia Ahern. Laina suggested P.S. I Love You by this same author, but the book club didn’t have that as a selection. I’m going to have to try and find it now though because this book was great! I loved it and couldn’t put it down. I took it with me to the gym for when I was walking at the beginning and end of my session and I found myself slowing down the treadmill so that I could read some more. LOL…not good for a workout, but a great book for those who like light-hearted romances. Last night I finished The Saving Graces, which Dottie raved about. What a wonderful book. This book really made me rethink life, friends, family, and so much more. I am so glad I bought it because I think I’ll want to take it out and read it again sometimes. It was about a group of friends and basically how they face life and it’s struggles and tragedies. It made me also really wish that I was part of a tight knit group of friends. I’ve never been one to have a lot of “girlfriends”. I had a few in high school, who helped define the term “fair-weather friend”, and a couple in college whom I have since lost touch with. I’ve always found myself to have WAY more guy friends than girl friends. I attribute that to my total dislike for cattiness and the fact that guys don’t possess that for the most part. Who knows. But, honestly, the people from college that I am still in touch with are guys and when I think back on friendships that I miss, the ones that I totally wish I could go back to are my friendships with guys. I wonder why…. But, because of this book, I am going to contact the one friend from high school that I e-mail occasionally. Anyway, get the book and read it. I’ll let you borrow it if you want.

LittleMan

LittleMan gave me the gift that every mother loves on a hectic weekend last night. We had just gotten him dressed for bed and I was letting him play while I tried to watch the end of Beach Girls on Lifetime. Next thing I knew, I looked down on the floor and he was laid out asleep. Poor kid. He was worn out. LOL. It was so cute though. I think a herd of elephants could have tromped through the living room and he would have never noticed!

I’ll be around to see all of you soon!

Melissa

Today's the Big Day!!

2005-07-27T12:19:00.000-05:00

Today’s the Big Day!!

The town I work in is finally getting an Old Navy. I’m so thrilled. No longer will I have to make the 2 hour drive to buy cute Old Navy clothes. So, tonight they will be opening from 6-9 pm for people with an invitation. Well, it just so happens that I got my hands on one of those invites! So, Hooker, LittleMan, and myself are shopping this afternoon. The invitation gets us 20 % off our purchases, so hopefully I can snag a good bargain. I want some cute track pants or some really casual khaki cargo-type pants.

The Diet

Well, as part of the diet, I have started trying to drink more water. I knew I had really started drinking a lot (I seem to be so thirsty lately) and yesterday I decided to start keeping up with just how much I was drinking. I was shocked. Turns out I drank around 192 ounces of water yesterday. That’s a gallon and a half of water. WOW!! No wonder I’ve been making the trip to the little girl’s room every 30 minutes! I wonder how many times a day I make that trip….hmmmm….

Space Shuttle

I saw where the space shuttle lifted off. Good for them. I was slightly disturbed by a comment on the news where someone stated that some small safety glitches were probably overlooked due to the big push to get the space shuttle lifted off. That’s kinda scary. When they start selling space shuttle trips to the public, rest assured that I won’t be standing in line!

Hope everyone has a great day!!

Melissa

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOOKER!!

2005-07-26T12:51:00.000-05:00

Well, today's the big day, so HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY HOOKER!!

A special message for the Hooker:
I remember 17 years ago being so excited that I was going to have a baby to play with. I was only 8 years old, but thought I could babysit and help out.
When I found out that you were sick, I didn't really understand, but I cried because you couldn't come over and play with me.
I remember going to my room and getting some notebook paper, markers, and crayons and I decided that I would draw you a picture to make you feel better (aren't kids just simple...lol). I found a carosel horse stencil and stenciled the horse onto the sheet of paper.
Then I colored it and wrote Get Well Soon I Love You or something like that.
I was excited that mom and dad were going to take me to the hospital to see you. I thought I would get to hold you, but when I got there, you were hooked up to all kinds of machines and they told me that I couldn't see you because you were too sick.
So, I gave Nana my picture and she held it and cried. Of course, I thought it was because the picture was ugly. I couldn't color to save my life...ask Mrs. Drayton my kindergarten teacher.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that picture is in your room in your baby book now.
I'm glad you didn't stay sick very long and became my favorite pain in the ass (besides Wayne). I love you lots and I'm very proud of you!
Love ya Hooker!

Okay...on to something that doesn't make me tear up...
I joined the gym yesterday and went for the first time today. I still had paperwork to fill out, so I didn't get to do everything I wanted to, but I did manage 20 minutes on the treadmill. A co-worker and myself have decided to do the Race for the Cure on September 10th and I really want to have a good time and possibly even place in my age group. (Yeah, right...)
But, I guess it's good to have a goal, right?

Anyway, I guess I'd better get back to work. I've been super busy lately. I'm so ready for my vacation! Just 3 more weeks!

2005-07-25T07:59:00.000-05:00

What a Weekend!!!

2005-07-25T07:45:00.000-05:00

What a Weekend!!

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I decided to take off early on Friday and spend the weekend relaxing! It was wonderful!

Happy Birthday Hooker
I went home Friday and baked Hooker a little birthday cake. It turned out pretty cute and tasted WONDERFUL! It was strawberry with cream cheese icing. Her birthday is tomorrow, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOOKER. I love you sweetie!
She's a little spoiled. Just after she came home from the hospital, it was discovered that she had bacterial meningitis (I think that was it) and she was in NICU for a long time recovering. After that, no one could visit her home except my grandmother and maybe my aunt Sarah. It seemed like she was so grown up when we all got to see her.

New Hair!
I got a new hair do this weekend. I got it cut and highlighted (I haven't done that in a while!). I was growing it out, but decided that short suited me better. Even LuckyHusband said that it did, which was surprising. I also got a manicure! I love being pampered!

Swimming and Lifesaving
Saturday night, we decided to take LittleMan swimming after it "cooled down". One of my neighbors has a pool and lets anyone drop by, so we went there. There were already people there when we got there, but it was only 3 kids and an adult sitting there watching, so we went ahead and stopped. The kids were so sweet and their aunt was there with them. They were in town visiting grandparents who were friends of my neighbor. The youngest was so proud that she had just finished swimming lessons and swam with me to the deep end (with her floaties). Anyway, after we had been there awhile, LuckyHusband was swimming in the deep end, and LittleMan and I were in the shallow. The little girl asked me to swim to the deep end with her, but I had LittleMan and told her maybe later. So, she took off her floaties to play in the shallow.

A little while later, I heard her aunt call her name, and then a second time in a panicked voice. I looked over and she had slid down the incline to the deep end and was struggling unsuccessfully to swim to the top. I had little man on my hip, so I reached for her arm and yanked her up to the shallow end, got her on my hip, and was beating her on the back while getting her to the steps. She was screaming and I was terrified. She later calmed down. I hope I didn't hurt her arm b/c I yanked it pretty hard, but I was unable to go down after her because LittleMan would have went under. Anyway, when we left, she was much better. Thank God!

Movie Date
At the suggestion of someone surprising, LuckyHusband and I had a movie date yesterday. We ate at Red Lobster (my favorite!) and watched Bad News Bears. It was awesome. Everyone should see it, but don't take your small kids. I was shocked at the number of kids in the movie. Hello, it's Billy Bob Thornton for Christ's sake!! No matter how family oriented the original was, GET A CLUE! These were 5, 6, and 7 year olds!

Garage Sale
I participated in a friend's garage sale this weekend and made almost $40! She shut it down early Saturday because it was too hot. Gotta love Louisiana. The heat index at 10 pm Saturday was 103!!

Get in shape!
I'm off to join the activity center at the college I graduated from today at lunch. I'm so excited!!!

I'll be by to visit everyone today!
Melissa

The Golden Arches of Torture

2005-07-21T07:40:00.000-05:00

The Golden Arches of Torture

This morning, I decided to treat myself to an Egg McMuffin. It falls within my diet, and I was needing a break from Special K cereal bars.
So, with childlike excitement, I drove into the drive thru line. You have no idea how wonderful it felt to be back in the drive thru at McDs. I really love this place. I could eat it every meal for a month and not get tired of it (but I'd be HUGE). So, anyway, I place my order. "One EggMcMuffin please. Oh, and do you take debit cards?" "Yes we do. Your total is $2.08".
I could almost taste the yummy melted cheese and the yummy English muffin.....
I get to the pay window, and hand over my debit card. She swipes, hands me the pad to enter my pin number, which I enter, and I wait. She closes the window, calls for a manager. Another employee comes to the window. They all stand around with quizzical looks on their faces.
Finally, she opens the window. "This will take a few minutes, " she says. Great, I thought, I'm ready for my damn McMuffin.
By this point I had started to feel what I assume an alcoholic feels like when he's about to get his hands on his next drink. Nervous excitement....
She opens the window and asks if the card can be run as a credit card, the debit portion of the system seems to be down. I tell her sure. So, I drive one window closer to my impending meal. The girl at the window hands me my bag and I tell her that I'm waiting on the machine to use my card. I wait.......and wait......and wait some more. Finally, she comes to the window, hands me my card, and tells me that the whole system is down. WHAT!!! I tell her, with shakiness to my voice, that all I have is my card. She said, "Sorry, the system is down".
I slowly handed back the bag. I felt like a patient who had been told that they were going to receive a life-saving operation, only to be denied at the last minute. Okay..maybe not that bad, but dammit it was a huge letdown.
So, I sit here, typing this story, and crunching on a 90 calorie Special K bar and chugging a bottle of water.
Oh, well, maybe that will put me closer to my sexy body goal. Dammit.....

Blog Hopping
I've been super busy lately, so I haven't had a chance to visit all of you, but I'm on my way. Don't worry!!!!

Melissa

It's a Small, small world.

2005-07-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

It's a small, small world.......
Saturday I posted about the death of a politician in our state. Kathryn and I e-mailed about it and realized that her husband knew my grandfather back in the day and that she knew some of my friends that I met through him as well. It's such a small world.

I downloaded some songs from MSN and tried to load them in my ipod, but they aren't in the correct format. What to do? Any suggestions?

I'm tired and ready to go home, so I'll leave this short.
Hope you have a great day!
Melissa

2005-07-18T14:32:00.000-05:00

It's very rare that you get an opportunity to let those who helped make you the person that you are know just how special that they were to you. I was reading a mem on someone's site today and it said something about teachers who influenced your life. This reminded me of my trip to McDonald's on Saturday morning. As LittleMan and I were walking in, a lady was coming out. I recognized her as the librarian I had during elementary school. Ms. F had aged a little bit, but was still as sweet and kind as ever. We talked about her substitute teaching at my old school and how the younger members of my family were not nearly as stubborn as I was. Mrs. F. had a very strict "No Talking" policy, which was very difficult for a person as well versed in language as myself to adhere to. If you were caught talking, usually once a week for me, you got to do one of two things depending on her mood. The first was to be her "vase". You had to sit on her desk cross legged holding some fake flowers in your hands and be as still as possible and be a "vase" for her flowers. Of course, for an attention whore like myself, this was always fun. So, for people like myself, she made you a tail. This tail was made from notebook paper and fringed and curled on the ends. She taped it to your butt (I wish mine was still that small) and made you walk down the high school hall. This was kind of like the "Walk of Shame". I loved Mrs. F. though and she was one of the people who encouraged my love of reading. I used to read Sweet Valley Twins and eventually Sweet Valley High books. One day I decided to donate all of them to the school library (which rarely got new books) so that other people could read them. I'll never forget the tears in her eyes and the smile on her face when I brought them in. She made these cute little stickers for the inside saying donated by: Melissa ____ . I wonder if they are still there today? Maybe I'll have a daughter one day who can enjoy them.

Anyway, Saturday I got the rare opportunity to thank her and tell her how much I enjoyed her as a teacher. She was one of those teachers that you tried your best for because you didn't want to disappoint them. I'm glad I got to do that.
I went to a friend's house last night. She left Thursday for vacation and came back yesterday. A few weeks ago she had finally gotten some help at work. They hired her a helper. Anyway, right after she left Thursday, they fired him for coming to work after hours and using her computer to look at internet porn. I asked her what she said when they told her. She replied, "I told them I wanted my chair sterlized." Ewwww...

The weight loss tally after one week is the absence of two pounds! Only 23 more to go!! If I meet my goal by Halloween, I'm dressing in a sexy costume this year!!

Big Brother Recap and my Weekend so Far

2005-07-17T14:43:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Hope the weekend is going well.
Here is your Big Brother Saturday Show Recap:
Let me first of all say that I had company and a whiney toddler keeping me company during this, so some details may be missed.
Okay...First of all, we found out that James's vote to evict Kaysar was a vote for Eric and them to pin on someone else. They were planning on pinning it on Michael.
Eric got to go into his HOH room filled with goodies and pictures of his kids. He began to cry and so did Maggie, so the houseguests got suspicious of how well they knew each other.
Janelle appears to be playing dumb somewhat.
Ivette made a "Ghetto" slip n slide out of trash bags that seemed to go over well, except that Janelle acted too good to play on it.
Michael began to annoy the girls, especially April, with unwanted kisses and Eric confronted him about it. Michael then discussed it with Jennifer, apparently unaware of her ties to April. I don't know that Michael knew that April was the person who approached Eric or not.
James and Eric began to discuss the war in Iraq. Eric is against, James is for. James commented that he would rather them be over there blowing stuff up than doing it over here. Kaysar had a private conversation with him to let him know that the US has not improved the situation over there for Iraq citizens and that he had an aunt die from diabetes b/c she couldn't visit the doctor due to all the checkpoints, etc. On a personal note, that really seemed to make the situation over there more "real" to me. What a sad story.
Beau has taken to flirting with Kaysar.
A food challenge was played on the episode. It was the "Snack Shack from Hell". The contestants were in pairs of 2 and had to eat a selection from the menu to win a food group for the house for the week. I'll spare the details of the foods, but the food groups of Bread and Cereals, Meats, Beer and Wine, and one other thing were won. Maybe Snacks and Sweets?
Janelle has become flirty with Michael and Eric let her and Michael know that this bothers him.
Janelle and Michael were put up for eviction. Eric told Janelle that he thought she had been "underestimated" as a player and that Michael was a "strong player".
Next episode is Tuesday at 8 central!

My weekend has been fairly uneventful. My uncle brought over 4 watermelons, and I had already bought 2, so I guess I will be making tons of bathroom trips the next few days. They make me pee a whole lot!

My cooking skills SUCK but I attempted a roast today and it smells yummy! I guess we'll find out what I did wrong when we actually go to eat it. LOL!

Hope all is well with all of you!!

Melissa

My First ebay Auctions Ever

2005-07-16T16:00:00.000-05:00

I listed my first ever ebay auctions today. I probably did everything wrong, but I tried. Anyway, if you want to check them out my Seller ID is Mom2Garrison. I have some CDs, books, and formula up for sale.

Thank God the weekend is here....

2005-07-16T12:03:00.000-05:00

I have so much that I think about adding and putting in my blog and then *poof* when I sit down here, it is gone.
Last night while watching the news, I saw on a breaking news story that a deputy in a neighboring parish (county for those non-Louisiana folks) was killed while responding to a call. This is farily unusual in this part of the world thank goodness. But, it shook me into reality. I worry about my brother, Scuba Steve, alot. This made me cry. I couldn't help but think what would it have been like if we were the family receiving that news. My heart truly goes out to the family who had to receive that call. I found out today that another officer was wounded during this call. The wounded officer's father was killed about 4 months ago while on duty.
I have lived with this fear for as long as I can remember. My father was a deputy and later became the chief deputy of our parish. When I was younger, a man was found guilty of hiring a hit man to kill his unmarried sister because he was the sole beneficiary of her life insurance policy. After being convicted, he made a threat to our family that another hit could be easily hired out. I overheard my aunt discussing this one day and from that day on had nightmares and freaked out when we received hang up calls at our home. I didn't tell my father about this until about 3 or 4 years ago. I didn't want him to feel like it was his fault I was so paranoid I guess. But that brought me to the realization that there are people out there who would jump at a chance to kill him just because of his profession. How scary...
In other news...my dad's boss, Louisiana Secretary of State, Fox McKeithen, died this morning. He had been paralyzed a few months back and was in the hospital this time with pneumonia and passed away. How sad for this family. His father was the former La governor, John McKeithen. That news was for you, Kathryn. :)
Big Brother is tonight! Don't forget to watch! Gotta go, LittleMan is hungry and later we are going SWIMMING!!!

Melissa

2005-07-15T09:28:00.000-05:00

WooHoo!! It's Friday!!

Big Brother Thursday Night Recap

Well, I had a TON of interruptions during my BB watching last night, but here's what I caught. Feel free to give me any details that I missed.
Pairs were revealed and are as follows:
o Ivette and Beau - Former co-workers (Ya'll were right!)
o Michael and Kaysar - Neighbors
o April and Jennifer - sorority sisters
o Eric and Maggie - Maggie's boyfriend works with Eric
o Sarah and Jamies - dating
o Janelle and Ashlea - roommates
o Rachel and Howie - best friends

I think I predicted the April and Jennifer pair, but I can't remember. Some of the pairs shocked me. Especially the last one. I think the house guests are on to alot of the pairs though. I think Sarah and James are having a hard time with it. I bet that's difficult, especially when all the other girls start rubbing all over him.
The houseguests know that if their pair makes it to the final 2, that they will get the biggest prize in history. They have no idea that it's 1 million dollars though.
Ashlea was evicted with a 9-2 vote. Howie and Janelle voted to keep her.
Eric is the new HOH. I thought it was strange that Ivette jumped on him as soon as he won. Maybe she has a little crush? If I were Eric's wife I'd be fuming!
Saturday's show will have the nominations and suposedly more suprises (yeah right).

New Boots
Here is one of the distractions from BB last night. Scuba Steve came over. He had bought a new pair of boots for himself and they just happened to have the same pair in LittleMan's size. He loves them! He cried when we took them off at bedtime and put them back on as soon as he got up this morning. What a nut!

Operation No More Love Handles
This is going surprisingly well. I've kinda inched myself into it so that I don't feel so deprived right away. How about the rest of you who are in Tee's challenge?

Save Karyn
I am really enjoying this book. Thanks to all who recommended it.

Gas prices
Will they ever go down? I'm paying about $2.17 for 87 octane. What about the rest of you?

When I Grow Up
Do you ever think, how in the world did I end up in this profession? So, answer me this....
1. At 5 years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?
2. When graduating high school, what did you want to be when you grew up?
3. What do you do now and is that what you want to be when you grow up?
My answers:
1. As a child, my dream was to work at Wal Mart and drive a red convertible. LOL!
2. After graduating, I thought I wanted to be a CSI. That was before CSI was cool.
3. I am a toxicologist, but I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Have a great weekend!
Melissa

2005-07-14T09:58:00.000-05:00

Photos are a scam!

A couple of weeks ago, a local department store had an advertisement for a one day only photo session for $10 and you got a free 8x10 photo. The props and clothes were cute. Tuxedos, violins, etc. So, my mom jumped on the chance to get more pictures of LittleMan. (We don't have any wall decoration except for pictures of him and my college diploma and our walls are almost full!) So, I agreed, but told her that I wasn't going to order any pictures. I figured that they turned out cute and last night was our appointment to view the pictures. So, LittleMan, LuckyHusband, and myself loaded up to go look and politely decline. Well, my mom wanted to buy and offered to split a package with me. The smallest package was $59.99, so I agreed. By the time the shipping, handling, and tax were added it was $75.00!!! WTF???
I think that's how all of these photo places and home based businesses scam you. I know that you can order a $5 spatula from Pampered Chef and your final bill is like $17.00 by the time all the fees are added. What is that all about? Handling fee? For you to take it out of a box and put it in a bag? Please...I'll go to Target and "handle" it myself. But, anyway, back to the subject at hand. I think that picture places are a scam. They make you feel like garbage that those precious pictures of your little one looking at the ceiling, looking at the floor, and mashing his face into an expression that would make a Chinese pug recognize him as one of her own, are going to go in the trash because you didn't buy them. What a crock!!
That's why I love the photographer that normally takes LittleMan's pictures because they aren't too expensive and you view them on a CD or the internet and pick what you want. No "priceless" pics of your little one going in the trash. JC Penney's has even resorted to the level of printing extras in hopes of you buying them when you come to pick up the picutures. And, yes, I've fell into their shady marketing scheme.

Big Brother

Don't forget Big Brother is tonight! Eviction, a new HOH, and the supposed revealing of the secret pairs.

Letterman

I didn't get to watch last night! Fill me in. From internet articles I gathered that she evaded his questions.

Three Things

Okay, I'll get back to doing this again like I should.Name three songs (not necessarily your favorite) that "bring you back" to a certain situation, time period, or person. Explain what they remind you of.
1. If You Love me Again by Tracy Lawrence - Someone actually used this as a way to make me come back to them once. It worked, but the relationship was short-lived. However, I can't help but think of that phone conversation when I hear this.
2. Whiskey Lullabye - reminds me of a couple I know. The first part of the song has actually already come true. I feel that the second part isn't all that many years away.
3. You Were Mine by the Dixie Chicks - This song reminds me of a very, very hard time in my life and this song seemed to say exactly what I was thinking. When I hear it, I always tear up and relive the emotions of that time. Abandonment, hurt, guilt...I found out later that Natalie wrote that song from the exact point of view that I experienced it which made me like it even more.
What are your three songs?

I Have a Weight Loss Partner!

Christina graciously agreed to be my partner for Tee's weight loss challenge. Yippee! I can't wait to start seeing some results!

Melissa

2005-07-13T09:13:00.000-05:00

The Week is Halfway Over!!

First of all...my Big Brother Recap. If you aren't interested...skip to the next section!
Big Brother

Okay, in last Thursday's episode, Rachel became HOH, Kaysar and Ashlea were nominated for eviction. Here's what happened last night...
o Eric (firefighter) talked more about his pact with Mike, James, and Kaysar for them to make it to the end
o Eric talked with Ivette about their alliance (are they a secret pair?)
o Beau (personal shopper) talked about how full of himelf Howie is and called him "bi-curious"
o Howie dressed up in makeup and a bra
o A secret room was discovered by Rachel, who told everyone, and decided that everyone should have an opportunity to stay there
o Ivette and Kaysar get to stay in the room first.
o Rachel found the key to unlock the hot tub
o Rachel won the Golden Veto competition and chose not to veto any nominations
o Rachel got mad at Jennifer for using the HOH room and locking Rachel out. She complained to everyone and talked about wanting her gone
That's about it. Thursday will be eviction, new HOH, and the revealing of secret pairs!

Okay...now a quick rant/vent
This morning on my way to work, I noticed that the vehicle behind me had a child (probably about 2 years old) standing on the console beside the driver. A few minutes later, he climbed over her lap (while she was driving) to stand between her and the door. This continued until they turned into a gas station. The mother was wearing her seatbelt. So, she cares more about her safety in a wreck than her child's? What is up with that? First of all, how in the hell can you drive with a toddler climbing over your lap? I can't even hold a telephone conversation with one climbing all over me! Secondly, does she not care what would happen if she were in an accident. Or what if she had to slam on her brakes? This totally infuriates me becuase if something happened to that child, she would be hearbroken and probably blaming another driver for the fact that she is too stupid, selfish, or in a hurry, to properly restrain your child! I doubt she lets him play in the damn street, but honestly, there isn't a difference in my opinion. She better be glad that my cell phone didn't have a signal, because I was waiting for it to have one so I could call and report her. I didn't want to have to slam on my brakes for some reason and have her rear-end me and her child come flying through the windshield. I sure as hell didn't want that on my concience!! Anyway, lesson of the day, put your kids in a carseat!!!

Day 3
Well, today is Day 3 of Get the Fat off My Ass. It's going surprisingly well. I have consumed more fruit than the animals at the zoo and I've drank so much water that my bladder is getting worked into tip-top shape. Next week (hopefully) will begin Phase II, the gym phase. I kind of dread that!

Here is a quiz I have saw on numerous blogs lately, so I thought I would try and copy it....
1: Who are you?
2: When and how did we meet?
3: What brings you here?
4: Why do you keep coming back?
5: Give us a nickname and explain why you picked it.
6: Describe us in one word.
7: What was your first impresssion of us?
8: Do you still think that now?
9: What reminds you of us?
10: If you could give us a present, what would it be?
11: Ever wanted to tell us something but couldn't?

Have a great Wednesday! Don't forget that Katie Holmes is on Letterman tonight!
Melissa

2005-07-12T12:17:00.000-05:00

My Future Daughter In Law is going to LOVE me!

Who wouldn't a mother in law who instills this kind of work ethic in a husband? Next week we learn how to dust. Just kidding. He absolutely loves to use the Swiffer and who am I to stop him? (blinks innocently) And look at the joy it brings to his face!

I think we need to work on the cleaning though. He seems to think that removing the diapers from their drawer is being helpful. He would be wrong. But, at least he sweeps...that's one thing more than his daddy does anyway.

Big Brother
I am soooo ready for tonight's episode! I hope that the girl (Ashlea??) gets evicted. What a cry baby! I think she's probably a big whiner and I hear enough of that from LittleMan, I don't want to watch it on TV too. Speaking of TV, I'm thinking about getting the reciever that Dish offers with the Tivo like thing built in. Does anyone have this? Do you like it? That way I could catch up on stuff that I usually miss. Katie Holmes will be on David Letterman Wednesday night and I will probably already be asleep...too bad I don't already have the Tivo thing. LOL!

My Eating Habits Change (sounds better than diet doesn't it!)
I am doing good so far. I have really guzzled water the past couple of days and my little healthy snacks aren't too bad. I even tried some Quaker Soy cakes the other day and they are pretty yummy. I have really tried to start eating more fruit, which isn't bad because I love fruit, I guess it's just the preparation each night that sometimes sucks. Anyway, so far so good.

Running with Scissors
I got about halfway through this book and honestly couldn't read anymore. I thought that the abuse and neglect this boy suffered was terrible and I honestly didn't find that I was gaining a single thing by reading this book, so I took it back to the library. I feel like I missed the point, but I've been known to do that in the past.

Well, that's about all I've got...hope you each have a good day and today is Kari's dr. appointment, so keep her in your thoughts.

Melissa

Another Monday

2005-07-11T10:58:00.000-05:00

Another Monday....
Why on God's earth did we have to come back to work today? I really didn't want to remove my fat butt from the bed this morning. But, I did and here I am. This has already been the morning from hell. Everyone is getting on my nerves. Why can't a project be where it needs to be before someone gives it to me? Why do I have to interpret every damn letter that comes into this office for people who make more money than I do? I could just scream!!!!!!
Okay, my mini Monday morning vent is over...
I have decided that I am sick of being "chunky" and I am going to do something about it. So, today is day one of my attempt at eating healthier than before. I'm not going to make unrealistic goals and say that I'm going to be Ms. SuperHealth everyday, because I will be setting myslef up for failure. I'm just hoping that armed with watermelon, strawberries, water, and wheat thins that I can get rid of my lovehandles (which I despise!!). We'll see. If all goes well then I hope to begin something resembling an attempt at excercising in the next couple of weeks.

Movie weekend went well. I watched everything except for "The Girl Next Door", so I might try to do that tonight. I also found an awesome magazine this weekend and it's only $1.50 an issue! It's called For Me. Check it out if you need a good magazine that isn't full of hideous outfits that no one who isn't getting paid to wear would dare put on and horrible hairstyles that didn't look good on the model and definitely wouldn't look good on you!

Jamie forwarded me this article. Scary...

Little Man fell off a chair yesterday and whacked his head. There is nothing in the world that has ever made me move that fast! If I could somehow work that into an excercise routine, I would be really motivated. LOL!

And now, a rant directed at the pimple-faced spoiled rotten jackass of a teenager that feels the need to drive down the street with pipes that would stir the dead flowers in my garden. You are an ass. You're parents obviously think you are hot crap or else they wouldn't have bought you a truck that costs more than their house probably does. Here's a newsflash. Your aren't...nor is the girlfriend you ride around snuggled up so close next to you that you can't possibly be concentrating on driving. Here's a secret for you...she isn't hot in your truck and wasn't in the other two guys' trucks that she passed by in this weekend. And I think she managed to get her bleach blonde head even closer to them while driving than she does with you. Which brings me to the question, have you been "checked" lately? Judging from what I see that passes by on the way to her house, you might want to get on over to the nearest clinic. But look on the bright side, that gives you a reason to hurry in that truck, thus making the pipes very loud and you will look cool. Maybe then you can find some other chick that's all impressed and begin another vicious cycle of dumbass teenage lust. Oh, and if you drive by and wake my kid up again, I'm calling the cops on your ass.

Sorry about that. Sometimes you just need to get stuff out of your system, ya know?

Oh, and Kari is still needing to hear some encouragement. Please drop by to see her and thanks to all who already have!

Well, I'm off to finish the rest of what has turned out to be quite the eventful day.

Kari

2005-07-10T08:32:00.000-05:00

Stop by and see Kari please! She would appreciate some positive comments.

No Big Plans

2005-07-10T07:44:00.000-05:00

I had no real plans for this weekend and decided to just do whatever we came across to do. So, Friday night, we went to eat Chinese with my mom (mmmm) and as always I cracked open my fortune cookie ready to plan my life by the tiny piece of white paper. (Not really, but how funny would it be if people really did?) So, I crack it open and I'm stunned. One side has numbers (lotto) and my Learn Chinese word of the day, but the other side is blank. BLANK!! Now, a more superstitious person than myself would probably flip out at the prospect that they have no future, I on the other hand, decided that went along with my weekend of do whatever I feel like, so I thought it was perfect!!
So, I rented some movies...
o Spanglish
o Freaky Friday
o Raising Helen
o Phantom of the Opera (saw in the theater)
o The Girl Next Door
o Without a Paddle

So far I have sucessfully finished Spanglish (it was okay...not my favorite) and Raising Helen (really good in that you-already-knew-how-it-would-turn-out way), and 1/2 of Freaky Friday. Maybe I'll get through a little more today. If not, oh well then!

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As I walked through Wal Mart waiting on my photos from the photo center to print out, I noticed that my absolute most favorite time of year Wal-Mart-wise had arrived! The shelving of back to school supplies!!! There is nothing better than looking at and buying back to school supplies. All of the cute colored folders, fresh clean 5 subject notebooks, boxes of crayons, and bags of ink pens were all lined up waiting for some kid to take them home and write their name in a giant Sharpie on the front. I really miss back to school shopping!!

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Three things:
What were your 3 favorite school supplies to purchase?
1. Notebooks
2. Crayons
3. Mechanical pencils

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Well, LittleMan just dumped out an entire drawer of pens and pencils, so I'd better go. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Melissa

2005-07-08T15:27:00.000-05:00

Big Brother Recap

Well, last night began what will become my 3 times a week obsession, Big Brother. I really don't think I will like this cast as much as the previous years that I have watched, but hopefully they will prove me wrong. I do think that April and Howie are both people I will be pulling for, but it's hard to say when you really haven't had a chance to "get to know" them. Here are the things that I feel the need to comment on in no particular order:
1. The twist sounds cool, but how in the world are they going to keep it a secret?
2. I can't wait to see who is a secret buddy with someone else!
3. Why did the guy from Iraq automatically assume everyone in the house would be against him due to his nationality and religion?
4. PB&J really doesn't sound all that bad to me.
5. That April chick is TINY
6. Why did the loss prevention guy feel the need to lie and say he was a teacher?
7. Why not pick a profession no one else there had? What if they ask you questions about teaching. I would think that would be easy to slip up and show that you are a liar.
8. Why would you want to be HOH first off if you knew you wouldn't be up for nomination? Do you like making enemies? (That SUCKS stragety-wise I think b/c one of the nominees will be staying)
9. The HOH room is awesome!! I loved the bathroom. This is the first year that they have a bathroom in the HOH room.
10. They are all built nicely. Give us some real-world people please!!!

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
The book club selections

Well, I joined...I didn't see the message about it being a scam until after I joined :(
But, you can decline selections up to 3 months in advance on their website, so maybe it won't be too bad. I'll get all the benefits and then just cancel my membership. Not all the books suggested were on there. I think it has to be slightly newly released to get on there. Who knows. Anyway, I ordered:
o The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
o A Mary Higgins Clark book (the newest one)
o A book by the same author of P.S. I love you
o The Best Advice I Ever Received by Parents or Parenting magazine (couldn't remember which one)
o Sarah (Can't remember the author...Marie suggested it)
o A Janet Evanovich (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) book

So, maybe there will be some good reading material in all of that mess!

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Movies and Three Things
I had so much fun renting movies last weekend that I think I might do it again...so, tell me 3 movies you recently rented that you enjoyed. I like comedy and chick flicks mostly.

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Hooker's blog
I finally fixed Hooker's blog!! I'm so excited. I don't want to give out the link in case she doesn't want the whole world looking, but here's a pic of my screen showing her new skin:

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Convenience
I love convenience. So, yesterday I took my car to have the oil changed at a place that gives a free car wash with every oil change. When I say car wash, I mean the works...vacuuming carpet, cleaning windows, wiping down the inside, and even emptying out my trash!! They also noticed a ding in my windsheild and fixed that and did my insurance claim. All in my lunch break. I love stuff like that!! Of course it started raining when I pulled out of the parking lot...seriously...

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What the...????

Today I went to lunch with 2 of my favorite co-workers (who read this blog..which is why they are my favorite!!) and I noticed something really disturbing as we exited. A child who looked to be aobut 3 years old at a table with 2 maybe 3 adults (after looking at the kid, I didn't really take in the rest of the table). He had on headphones and a portable DVD player sat on the table for him to watch. I mean really, are we THAT put off by our children that we want to keep them out of our conversations at lunch? Or maybe that's the only way to get the kid to behave? I don't know, but if the kid is constantly entertained everywhere, the real world is going to be a huge let-down for this kid. For the cost of the DVD player, surely she could have hired a babysitter if she needed a "quiet" adult meal.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I'll update after Big Brother on Saturday!
Here are a few pics for ya!

Melissa

2005-07-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

Today's the day....

Well, for all you Big Brother fans, today's the day! The newbies do look more doll-like than previous years. I agree with others, why do they have to use only people with hot bodies or the token gay people? I think that's crazy! This year's people do look a little more like attention whores as well. Grrr.... I guess we'll just have to wait and see tonight!

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Calendar Girls and Trace

On Wednesday, I finished the book Trace by Patricia Cornwell. I really liked it (as usual with her books) but thought that it lacked the element of fear and tension that the end of her books usually yeild. But, still overall a very good book. I also watched Calendar Girls last night. That was such a cute movie. I'm assuming this is based on a true story, correct? Either way, I loved it. The lady who played the blonde character (Chris?) was so beautiful. I even liked the clothes she wore. God knows I won't look anything like that at her age. Hell, I don't look like that now. LOL! It was nice to see that older ladies with imperfect bodies were still viewed as sexy though. I wonder how many of us who think our bodies are less than perfect would pose in a calendar of that nature if given the opportunity. Would you? I think I might...if the picture was as discreet as the ones in the movie.

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DoubleDay book club

I got a think on the Doubleday book club where you get 6 books for 99 cents or something like that and considered joining. I'm afraid that there are strings attached that I don't notice and I will soon have a massive collection of books arriving in my mailbox and a bill twice as large. Anyone out there done this? Was it as straightforward as it seems? Anyway, I've been racking my brain for what 6 books to get. I'm probably going to order Undomestic Goddess but other than that I have no clue. I am currently reading (and enjoying) Running With Scissors that one of you suggested, so since you have all given such wonderful suggestions then.....

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Three Things
Name three books that you think I should order myself from the bookclub!
Since I have no idea, I'll let you all answer!

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My son, the one man demolition crew

Yesterday evening started day one of LuckyHusband working his week of evenings. I usually enjoy this week because I get to eat what I want, I usually let LittleMan take me out to eat one night, go hang out with Hooker, and I can watch whatever I want on TV! Last night, LittleMan decided to celebrate in his own manner....by destructing what small bit of order was in our home. He began by trying a new acrobatic trick that would surely impress the world if his mommy didn't worry about him breaking his neck. He climed onto the couch, laid down on his belly with his head off the couch, then lunged forward to turn a flip and land on the floor on his back. I think my heart stopped for a few seconds, until I heard the peals of laughter coming from the tiny smiling mouth on the floor. How in the world can a child whose mother is terrified of heights and anything else remotely dangerous be so captivated by climbing and his own version of baby gymnastics?

That was only the beginning....throughout the evening, he climbed onto the bar, got a whole cup of pens, took off the tops, and flung pens and tops one by one into the floor. I think this was a game of match up designed for his mommy's entertainment after he went to bed. This apparently wasn't as fun as he had hoped, so the evening then turned into mommy being his personal pony. He climbed onto my lap or my back and began to rock. While he was on my back I decided to humor him and got on all fours and walked him around the living room, until he grabbed my ponytail and started pulling and leaning backwards. My head and back are both feeling it this morning.

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Coke Zero

This stuff is awesome! I highly recommend it. I have never ever found a diet drink I like, but for some reason this is good. YUMMY!

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Have a great day! One more day until the weekend!

Melissa

Dork alert!

2005-07-06T13:38:00.000-05:00

Oh, yeah, I forgot to add this to my last post.
First of all, I am a dork. Secondly, I am a dork addicted to Big Brother (see Tuesday's post). I was wondering what I was going to do on the off-chance that I missed an episode and I was thinking...why don't some of us fellow addicts have our own Big Brother blog (to spare everyone else of the mindless discussion on here) with 4 or 5 contributors, so that no one will miss anything. If interested, let me know!
Melissa

2005-07-06T13:24:00.000-05:00

Well, after yesterday's comments, I'm definitely going to *try* to watch Calendar Girls tonight. I hope the LittleMan doesn't object to my plan!

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Blog design

I need serious help with some blog design. Hooker is gone for a week and as a birthday surprise, I am giving her blog a facelift before she gets home. But, I really suck at the whole programming language. It doesn't help that her blog is in Xanga either, so it isn't as easy as using blogskins, b/c there are very few cute ones out there and I want to be original. I'd like to somehow get a banner on the top, but I have no idea how. GRRR! So, if anyone has any advice, let me know!

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Funny Work Crap

I know a guy who works for a company that sent out an e-mail warning employees about getting too many personal calls because it puts a strain on clerical staff. So, he took the e-mail and made his own e-mail. He's hilarious....
"It has come to our attention that some office managers are using an excessive number of work hours to harass lower level staff about the number of phone calls they receive, the amount of time spent on the internet, the volume of ink used from company-supplied pens each day, the net mass of new paper clips used as compared with the net mass of old staples thrown away, as well as the number of toilet paper squares used per week and the frictional heat generated by rolling office chairs over their plastic floor protectors. Please try to minimize the criticism that you provide during the day. Excess "analysis" puts an unnecessary strain on the office staff and takes them away from productive work that they could be doing.

Thanks for your help,

The Bobs
Productivity Consultants

His talents are totally wasted in his current job. Hey Letterman, can you give this kid a job?

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Site of the day

Well, I'm at a loss to remember who I have used and who I haven't, so, just pick a blog from my sidebar today and visit!

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Blogroll

How often is it customary to clean out your blogroll? Would you get offended if someone took your name off even if you hadn't posted in a while?

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Three Things

Name your three favorite things about summer
1. Watermelon
2. Swimming
3. The smell of fresh-cut grass

Melissa

The lazy days of summer

2005-07-05T09:27:00.000-05:00

The lazy days of summer

When the summer gets to a certain point where it's too hot to do much of anything, I tend to get really lazy. So, Saturday, I rented 6 movies and decided to settle in for a quiet and relaxed weekend. I really would have rather been shopping, or doing anything but sitting at home, but I really didn't have many decent offers for anything to do and people that I had asked to accompany me to anywhere but home, turned me down. So, I was stuck, inside a tiny living area with a toddler.

See, LuckyHusband worked the graveyard shift this weekend, so he was sleeping during the day, which meant that we didn't have the whole area to roam throughout and I had to keep LittleMan quiet so his daddy could sleep. I don't think Super Nanny could have completed that task without incident!

Anyway, back to the movies. I rented:
*Fat Albert Cartoons
*Bridget Jones's Diary
*Bridget Jones-Edge of Reason
*Mean Girls
*Hitch
*Calendar Girls

I watched all but the last one and I'm not so sure I'm going to watch it at all. It looks cute, but I'm tired of watching movies. So bored in fact that yesterday morning, I woke up, ate breakfast, and cleaned carpet! I must admit that the carpet feels so much better now. Softer I guess. I only cleaned my living room and the hallway. LittleMan's room is next and then after the garage sale (whenever that happens) the computer room (currently storing garage sale crap) and my room (which should be presentable by then) will be next. I think I have become OCD (which runs in my family) about cleanliness. Nothing can ever be too clean. That's why I love getting out of the house, because I don't think about it while I'm there.

As for the movies, I LOVED Bridget Jones. I've never watched either one and other than the constant boyfriend search, I could totally relate to poor Bridget. I'm a klutz and half the time my clothes, makeup, or hair are screwed up, so I could totally empathize. Mean Girls was cute and sadly reminded me of my high school class. And I thought Hitch was awesome. I love Eva Mendes. What a gorgeous woman!

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Big Brother

I am so excited that one of my favorite shows is back on for another season. It starts Thursday and promises to have a big shock on the first episode. I don't know how they are going to beat last year's twist, but I can't wait for them to try! I almost hate to get caught up in the whole thing again, but I can't help myself. It's too hot outside to do much else but watch TV anyway.

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Vacation

I am going on vacation toward the end of August, and I can't wait. We are leaving on a Thursday afternoon and coming back on Sunday, so it's just a short little trip, but I'm sooo ready. We are going to New Orleans since it isn't that far away. I have tons of stuff I want to do and I hope I can fit it all in. I am definitely going to:
*The D-Day Museum
*The New Orleans Mint Museum
*The Aquarium
*The Zoo
*French Quarter
*Riverwalk Mall (Body Shop here I come!)and a few other things have caught my interest!
On Sunday, on our way home, we are going to detour to Avery Island to the Tabasco plant. I'm really excited about that. I love factories! I went to a wine factory in Tennessee once. That was awesome!

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Site of the day

This site is really awesome and this guy is very, very talented. Check him out!

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Three things

Name 3 TV shows you wish that you could star in:
1. Unwrapped - I would love the behind the scenes stuff and the factory tours!
2. Big Brother - Just looks like fun!
3. Even though it's off the air...90210. I really wanted to live there. LOL!

Melissa

another day...another blog

2005-07-01T10:48:00.000-05:00

Another day...another blog....

Well, Friday finally made it. This has been the longest week ever! I'm so glad that I have a 3 day weekend to relax! I also have only one more room to clean out and I will have everything that will be garage sale material. Now if I can just score some cash with the garage sale. LOL!

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I can't believe the number of blog entries I read yesterday concerning the Tom/Kate disaster. I hope he surfs blogs and runs across them. I also had a thought on the way to work this morning. How ironic would it be if a raging hormonal post-partum woman quit her meds becaause Tom said so and then hunted him down and tried to kill him? Think he would believe in depression meds then? Probably not, he'd probably think her inner alien told her to do it.

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Feeding the dog

LittleMan has made a new game out of feeding my Nana's dog, Bruno. He asks my aunt for food (usually Cheerios), tells her thank you, and feeds it to Bruno. The cycle continues on endlessly.

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Site of the day

Today's site of the day is Raising Liam. Stop by and say hi!

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Three things

Today I will have a different twist on three things....How about you find three things, pack them up, go here, and find someone to send them to.

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Celebrities

Why does anyone really care what celebrities do? Why are they set to a higher status than say, your neighbor across the street? They aren't known for being overly intelligent or even being able to think outside of the box which is Hollywood, so why do we really care? Why does the fact that Tom made the comments about medications get us in an uproar? I think if my next-door neighbor told me that he thought that the foundation for life had something to do with aliens and that he didn't believe in medication, I'd laugh to myself and probably refer to him as the "Crazy neighbor". But for some reason we are disappointed in Tom. At what point do we grant them "all-knowing" status and then at what point to we begin to "expect" them to do stupid things? I don't think anyone was disappointed in Madonna when she presented her daughter with a credit card with a $10,000 limit a few weeks ago. We rolled our eyes with a "Here she goes again" and it was forgotten 5 minutes later. I seriously dobut there were droves of people blogging about her stupidity. Had he really gained that much confidence in the public's eyes before this incident?

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I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!!
Melissa

2005-06-30T09:40:00.000-05:00

I guess my mind is totally making up for yesterday. I was thinking about what I wanted to blog about today and so many ideas popped into my head that I had to write them down!!

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Laina talked about this yesterday and I totally agreed with everything she said. This morning on my way to work, the Kidd Kraddick in the morning show had the same subject going on, so I thought I'd share my comments. The subject was the train wreck which is Tom Cruise. You know, they say that no publicity is bad publicity and I think to a degree that is true. But, when it continues and continues, you will eventually piss off the public and they will tire of your meaningless little existence and you will no longer be the "Golden Boy" that you once were.
I must admit, after Oprah, I was really thinking, "If that was a publicity stunt, he did the right thing" because all you heard about was Tom, Tom on Oprah, Tom and Katie, blah, blah, blah. But now, weeks later, I think the public is sick of his crap.
I could make a long list of his many mistakes, and I honestly think that I'll do that now....
1) Acting like a monkey who just escaped his cage on Oprah
2) Gushing like a raging hormonal teenager on Oprah
3) Bashing Brooke Sheilds (this is where I started to take offense to his stupid comments)
4) Becoming engaged to Katie, or should I say Kate, after their short-lived courtship (especially after the rumors that she was interviewed for the part of girlfriend)
5) Referring to people who do not believe in aliens as "arrogant"
6) Dragging poor Kate around by the neck
7) The endless PDAs
8) SCIENTOLOGY- and why is it called that. The name leads you to believe it's science based which couldn't be farther from the truth
I am so sick of this guy, and he's dragging his poor girlfriend/fiance down the tubes with him in my book. I think Laina had a great idea. We all need to get FUTC shirts. If you see one, let me know. I want to place an order.

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4th of July
I want to hear what all of you are doing for the 4th. I will probaby take LittleMan to check out the bass tournament at the lake on Saturday and Sunday we are visiting Jimmie Davis State Park, but I have no real plans for the 4th. I'm sure there will be some form of celebration at Vetran's Park, and I heard rumors of a parade in a nearby town, so I guess I need to figure all of that out.

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Military
I was listening to Paul Harvey this morning and was shocked to hear that in the past 3 years the divorce rate for military couples has doubled. I know that the war has got to be really hard on a marriage and I can't imagine what these families are going through, but that was still shocking. I wonder if the same marriages would have failed if there hadn't been a war? I wonder what the divorce rate of the general population has done in the last 3 years. I have the feeling that this statistic was slightly taken out of context. I don't think it's untrue, but I think that other statistical trends would probably put that into a better context.

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Hooker
Hooker bought LittleMan a book for his birthday and he loves to play with it. When he shows it to me I tell him that Hooker bought him that book and so last night, it seemed that he thinks the book is called Hooker because he looks at it, looks at me, and says "Hooker" with a little smile. We tried to call and leave Hooker a message on her cell but of course he refused to say "Hooker" after the beep. Kids...they love to make you look crazy.

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Extreme Home Makeover
I was watching Extreme Home Makeover Sunday. It was a re-run that I had watched before with a little girl who wants a hospital children's cancer ward redecorated. The little girl mentioned selling necklaces and bracelets that benefit cancer in some way. Anyway, my sister in law was wondering where they could be bought and I found the website, Love Comes First and thought I'd share it with all of you.

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Site of the Day
I have a hard time remembering who I have bestowed with this honor and who I have not. If you want to be site of the day, please let me know!! Anyway, today the honor goes to Kari. She is a newly pregnant first time mom. Stop by and tell her hi!

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Three Things
If you could download any 3 songs what would they be?
1) Keith Urban-You'll Think of Me
2) Oak Ridge Boys-come on In (makes me remember being a little kid)
3) Jim Croce-Time in a Bottle (my all time most favorite song!)

Here's a pic of our prize winning photograph!

Melissa

tired

2005-06-29T10:28:00.000-05:00

I'm tired, so today will just be some pics. Click to see the pics in more detail (the green tomato is cool when viewed larger)
First off, a co-worker and I were discussing blog pics and he suggested posting pics of my eyes. So, here goes

So, for fun, I tried my lips...

Here are some garden pics:

Enjoy!!

Things that go bump in the night

2005-06-28T16:04:00.000-05:00

Things that go bump in the night......
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Well, it was bound to happen, and this morning it did. I was sleeping peacefully and all of the sudden heard a loud thump followed by whimpering and crying. My LittleMan had fell out of the bed. He sleeps with me and usually is a very sound sleeper, but last night LuckyHusband was at work, so there was no barrier on the other side, and he wormed his way to the edge and fell off. The funny thing is that it scared me more than it did him. It didn't even wake him up. He was whimpering and crying in his sleep. As soon as I picked him up, he cuddled with a pillow and was out again. WHEW!
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Here's a picture courtesy of the idiot driving in front of me last week and will be followed promptly by a rant.
Picture:

Edited to add-It says "At Least I can Still Smoke in My Car"
Rant:
Who the hell cares? I mean really...if you smoke, congratulations on sparing me from paying Medicare and Social Security on you until you are 100, but as long as you don't blow in my direction, I couldn't give a shit less. I don't really understand why smokers feel that not being able to smoke in public places infringes on their rights. I don't want their damn smoke in my lungs. If that's a problem, maybe they should stay home more often. I don't get why people feel entitled to ruin my lung capacity in the pursuit of their early grave. I don't have a problem with smokers honestly, LuckyHusband is one of them (unfortuately). I respect your right to smoke. I know that I don't look especially flattering with my fat rolls, but I think I have the right to inhale Ding Dongs and McDonald's fries whenever I want. I don't however, feel the right to shove them down your throat and clog your arteries in the process. I guess it's a matter of respect, who knows. But, honestly, smoke in your car all you want. I don't give a damn.
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Another Picture:
This picture proves that yes, I live in redneck world. How tacky do you get?

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Site of the Day
Go visit Lainie and tell her hi for me!!
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Three Things
Name the three books you most recently read
1. Nighttime is my time-Mary Higgins Clark
2. Shopaholic and Sister-Sophie Kinsella
3. Shopaholic Ties the Knot-Sophie Kinsella

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Edited to add:
This is the site that I will be contributing to in the future. My first post should be in July.

Have a great Monday!! Check out my additions to my sidebar!
~Melissa~

What a weekend!!

2005-06-27T10:31:00.000-05:00

I am really far behind on visiting everyone's blog and updating my own (obviously). So, bear with me and I hope to catch up in the next few days!

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My weekend
My weekend was really awesome. I got plenty of relaxation and got a few things done! Little Man was in the Diaper Derby for the Peach Festival and that was fun. We didn't win, in fact we didn't even come close. He was disqualified for leaving the mat. Oh, well, we had fun watching anyway. I wanted to go to the Southern Living Idea Home, but we didn't go because we were hot and tired after the Peach Festival.

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LittleMan's new girlfriend
Little Man has a new girlfriend that he met at the local Chinese restaraunt (since I am totally addicted!). She's a waitress and they both get really excited when they see each other. It's really kinda sweet. She comes over inbetween customers and visits with him and brings him food. I'm waiting for a discount because he's just so cute, but so far, nothing.

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Site of the day
Go visit Linda and tell her hi!

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Three things
Name three things you are glad you did this weekend
1. Read two books I got from the library
2. Went to the Peach Fest
3. Cleaned off my kitchen countertops (Sounds easier than it was)

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Books I read this weekend
I read some great books this weekend. I finished off the Shopaholic series with Shopaholic and Sister. I can't wait for a new Shopaholic book. I think a book focusing on Becky's pregnancy will be great! If anyone has scoop on whether or not this is a reality, let me know! Secondly, I read Nightime is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark. It was good. My only criticism is that there were too many characters which were underdeveloped making for a confusing read trying to figure out who was who. But maybe that's just me. Either way, it was good, but I've always liked Mary Higgins Clark books anyway.

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Changes to my blog

As you may have noticed, I started referring to my child as Little Man. I am going to go through my posts and change them to reflect this and also the name of my husband (haven't decided on what yet). This is because I have been asked to join a blog as a regular contributing blogger, and since this site has received national attention, I've decided to change their names in case anyone I know stumbles across this.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!
Melissa

Busy, busy, busy

2005-06-24T08:42:00.000-05:00

I have been so busy lately, so I haven't had time until now to update (and I'm rushed right now!)
I went to Shreveport for work yesterday and did a little shopping. I found a purse I really wanted and a wallet I really wanted, but couldn't see spending that kind of $$, so I didn't get them. I did make a few clothing purchases though! :) And, most importantly, I made a stop by Cold Stone Creamery...yummy!!

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Announcement
I entered LittleMan in the Peach Festival Most Photogenic Contest. For his age group there were 30 something entrants and they gave 1st through 3rd place and an honorable mention and he got the honorable mention. I didn't think that was too bad. The first 3 places went to some really cute little girls. How can you compete with little girls in cute frilly dresses? I was proud.
He'll be competing in the Diaper Derby tomorrow, so hopefully we'll bring home the gold with that. LOL!

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Ask and ye shall receive!
Site of the day
Today, go by and visit Diana!

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Three Things

Name three things you plan to do this weekend:
Mine:
1. Go to the Peach Festival
2. Wash clothes
3. Clean up a little

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Balance

2005-06-22T07:41:00.000-05:00

As most of you working moms know, the most difficult challenge of introducing a child into your dialy routine is getting everything done. I find that I have a huge problem getting everything done that I need to do.
For some strange reason, LittleMan freaks out if I wash dishes. He screams and whines. I have no earthly idea what the problem is. I try to occupy him so that he doesn't notice that I'm washing dishes, but he still throws a fit. I wonder if it's because I'm doing something that he can't see. Sometimes that aggravates him.
While I was cooking last night (a rare occurrence), I thought I'd occupy him with a few animal crackers. Unfortunately, he got the box and quickly dumped the entire contents into the floor. So, trying to occupy him so that I could get something done actually turned into more work for me! I really need a Dustbuster. If I get a bonus at work next month, I'm getting a Dustbuster. (What a sad thought)
Anyway, I find that when I don't accomplish all the things I want to get done, I get really grumpy and angry. I'm not sure who exactly I'm angry at. Not LittleMan, and really not Lucky Husband, but I'm just mad. It sucks that I have to stay up late to wash dishes, pack Garrison's bag for the next day, and then try to rush in a bath before bed. I used to really enjoy lounging in a hot bath for what seemed like hours. I'd soak in a bubble bath, read a book, listen to music...just whatever. Now, if I'm in there just long enough to get clean and get out. I feel like a Nascar pit crew member trying to complete the chore in the least amount of time possible.
I guess I need to quit obsessing about the things I need to get done and just be happy to get anything done.

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Site of the day

Go visit Laina and tell her hi!!

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Three Things

Look at your desk and tell me the first 3 items you see. (don't include the computer)
1. Chick Fil A cup with Dr. Pepper
2. Picture frame that says I Love my Mom with a picture of LittleMan
3. CD case

Here are some cool sites that are mentioned in this month's Parenting magazine. Check them out for some interesting reading material!
Dot Moms
Working Moms
Milk Factory
The Mommy Blog
Corporate Mommy

Back to the Daily Grind

2005-06-20T16:29:00.000-05:00

Well, It's Monday again. Why does a perfectly good weekend have to be ruined by the realization that the alarm clock has went off yet again and that it's time to get back to the daily grind. Grrr....weekends should be longer!

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Stylish Grandfathers

I was reminded this morning of a conversation that my aunt and I had about my great-grandfather a few weeks ago. We were shopping and saw a display of Dickies coveralls and I commented on how I couldn't believe they were stylish. I told her that if he was still alive he'd be all pimped out. She almost spit out her drink. LOL!

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Infomercials

Last night, LittleMan fell asleep and I started paying attention to the TV because he was asleep on my arm and I couldn't move. If I move during the first 10-15 minutes of his sleep, he'll be up again and I'm screwed. So, I was stuck with what was on TV, which was an infomercial. This has got to be the lowest of all infomercial lows. It was an infomercial on the PickADilly Cafeteria. Can you believe it? Are they that hard up for people to graze in the pasture of cafeteria food?
There were these lovely couples talking about how it was a balanced meal and they ate take out nearly 3 times a week! Please! Then the Barker's Beauties reject hostess starts motioning with her ungodly hot pink manicured nails toward plates of artery clogging goodness. She starts interveiwing a manager who tells how everything is fresh, blah, blah, and then describes a bowl of fruit salad as looking "delectible". I can totally see the producers prepping him for this.... "de-lect-i-ble". No, no...say it like this "de-lect-i-ble". He looked stiffer than the starched jeans one of my college chemistry professors wore every day to school. It was horrible!
Then, the chef comes on and talks about how he is a third generation chef and is always trying new recipes for the company. Yeah, right...the first step of these recipes reads...(1) Thaw out the processed chicken patty....
Anyway, I'm apalled that the world which formerly belonged to the AbRoller, the Thighmaster, and timeshares has reverted to this. And if they think the bleached blond chick with day-glo nails sold me on PickADilly, they can think again!

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Site of the Day

A shout out to Emily's Mommy for site of the day! Go by and say hi...tell her that you are the one who put the rusty tool at her shed...it will freak her out! :) And, she just got a COOL new look!

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Three Things
Today I want to hear you admit three things that you do that you thought you'd never ever do...
Mine:
(1) Use off brand diapers
(2) Go to town without washing my hair and putting on makeup
(3) Have a blog

Have a good day!

Happy Father's Day!!

2005-06-19T21:09:00.000-05:00

First of all, I giant Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there.

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Our Father's Day

Our Father's Day was relatively quiet. LuckyHusband worked until 3 which left plenty of time for me to sleep late, lounge around in my pajamas, and read. My perfect day. I did so much cleaning yesterday in preparation for my dad coming over for supper that I didn't have that much to catch up on today with the exception of laundry. I washed and dried (notice I didn't say fold and put up though) 5 loads of clothes! How do we mess up that much stuff? It's amazing! Then we went to LuckyHusband's dad's to take him his present and hang out for a while. I like visiting with LuckyHusband's sisters (11 and 18) they make me feel young!

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Weekend Meet and Greet

Thanks to all who stopped in this weekend from Michele's. I love her weekend meet and greet. It totally rocks! I've found some cool blogs that way! So, if it hasn't ended yet, go stop by and meet some new friends!

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Site of the day

I think Mrs. Mogul's site is pretty cool, so stop by and tell her hi!!

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Three Things

Imagine that you have to eat only three foods for an entire week. What will they be? (drinks don't count)
Mine...
(1) pasta
(2) rice
(3) peanut butter

I'm such a carb-addict!!

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I added some pictures. I hope you enjoy!!

Melissa

2005-06-19T20:29:00.000-05:00

Let's Party!!

2005-06-19T20:28:00.001-05:00

Happy Father's Day!!

2005-06-19T20:28:00.000-05:00

I'll help you with that gift!!

2005-06-19T20:27:00.000-05:00

Flowers at the park

2005-06-19T20:26:00.001-05:00

Flag display at Vetran's Park

2005-06-19T20:26:00.000-05:00

Breakfast at McDonald's

Ahhhhh....the weekend

2005-06-18T22:34:00.000-05:00

Today was a wonderful day. I slept until the extremely late hour of 8 am (really late for me) and LittleMan didn't wake up until 9 am, which left me a precious hour of "me" time. It was awesome!
After he woke up, we got dressed and headed into town. That is where the fun began....

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The Breakfast Club

Every Saturday morning, an elite group of elderly men can be found at McDonald's from around 7 am until about 11 am. This is a ritual. They hang out, drink coffee, and solve the world's problems. All the while sipping coffee and enjoying the company of anyone who happens to walk in.
This morning, I decided to stop by and have breakfast and listen in to the conversations that were going on. The topics discussed this morning were (in random order)
o Edwin Edwards and gambling
o Governor Jimmy Davis and a book he published
o The recent surge of oil wells in our parish and people getting rich quick!
o One woman who had never had a bank account because she was so poor is getting $60K per month checks from the oil wells
o Michael Jackson

After all this invigorating conversation, a man about my parents' age stopped by with a cake plate in hand. Turns out that his father who passed on a while ago would have been 84 today. Since his father enjoyed the Breakfast Club so much, the man had baked a coconut layer cake to take to his fathers' friends to celebrate the occasion. I thought that was sweet. So did LittleMan, one of the men shared his piece with him :)

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Vetran's Memorial Park

After breakfast, I decided to stop by the newly constructed Vetran's Memorial Park in town. It is really beautiful. There were supposed to be bricks purchased in memory or in honor of vetrans used to construct the park, but I guess they haven't made it to completion yet. There was a brick purchased for Landon's grandfather and I thought it would be nice to have a picture of LittleMan beside the brick, but maybe later.

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The Library

Our trip was then taken to the Parish Library. Yippee! I honestly never considered checking out books instead of buying them and was shocked that they had some on my "Next To Buy" list. I'll be using them more often. How stupid of me not to think of that sooner.

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Father's Day

This afternoon, we grilled hamburgers and sausage and my dad came over to eat. Kind of a little Father's Day celebration. It was fun. LittleMan had a blast!
The older I get, I find that I am so much like my daddy that it's scary. I hope I'm half as good to my kid as he is to me.

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Pretty Girls

LittleMan is learning early that pretty girls are fun to look at. So, we watched the Miss Louisiana pageant tonight. It was pretty good. I'm proud to say that I picked the winner within the first 10 minutes. Damn I'm good! LittleMan liked her too.

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The Nanny Diaries

I finished this book tonight and found it disturbing. Are there really people who are like this in real life? Scary! But it was an interesting read.

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Site of the Day

Today's site of the day belongs to Peanutt. Stop by and tell her Hi and that I sent you of course!!

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Three Things

Post your answers in the comments section!
List three words that your five year old self would have used to describe your father. List three words you would use now:
5 year old:
(1) Strong
(2) Smart
(3) Brave

Now:
(1) Caring
(2) Childlike
(3) Loving

Happy Father's Day to all of you out there!

Melissa

Thank God It's Friday!!!

2005-06-17T11:28:00.000-05:00

If you think you have horrible in-laws, check this out....

My neighbor (let's call her Jane) isn't really fond of her sister-in-law (We'll call her Cruella). This is because Jane's husband spent one year trying to catch Cruella with her "other man" and finally did. Jane's husband told Cruella's husband (they are brothers) and in rare fashion, Cruella convinced her husband that he drove her to cheating and he even sent her roses the next day. Dear Lord!

Well, Cruella's at it again (not cheating this time though). She has a fairly new baby, probably about 3-4 months old. And yes, it belongs to her husband. (First thing I asked) So, she calls another sister in law to see if her 9 year old daughter could accompany her on some errands and help with the baby. Her SIL agrees and the daugher is sooo excited! On the way to the errands, Cruella picks up her mother. When they get to Wal Mart, Cruella tells the girl to go play in the toys while she, her mother, and the baby buy groceries. So, after an hour, the child gets worried and starts panicking and goes to customer service to page her Aunt Cruella. She acts like the child is crazy when he comes to collect her.

After this, the purpose for the child becomes evident. Cruella and her mother go to Curves and since there is a no children policy at Curves, Cruella instructs the child to hold the baby outside on a bench while she and her mother work out. It was 90 degrees outside!!! The baby apparently screamed the ENTIRE time that they were outside and the poor girl didn't know what to do.

After the fun and excitement of Curves, they go home. At this point, Cruella tells the child that she needs to help her clean the house and makes the girl clean for a few hours. When they finally bring the child home at 8 pm that night (they left before 10 am), she was crying and telling her mother what happened. Cruella's husband came home just before they took the child home, so he was there. He informed the child that she shouldn't have separated herself from Cruella if she was scared of being by herself!!! This guy is brainwashed! Anyway, I thought it made horrible in-law stories I have a little less horrible!!

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Site of the day:
Go visit Christie and check out her wonderful new layout. It looks really great!!

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Three Things:
You are stranded on a desert island and can pick any three items of clothing to have with you...name them and tell us why!!
Mine are:
(1) cargo shorts (kinda multifunctional)
(2) Binkini (does that count as one thing? This is my game and I say yes)
(3) Tank top
I didn't pick any shoes because I bet you really wouldn't need them too badly. Leave your three things under comments!!

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Memories....
Petroville had a cool little meme on memories, so I thought I'd try it. I think (not positive) that it said to list five childhood memories, so here goes....
(1) I remember being about 3 years old and our babysitter made cupcakes complete with icing and everything. About the time she got ready to serve them, my daddy came to pick me up to go home. So, I took the cupcake with me and we headed home. About 1/2 way home, we ran out of gas. Daddy came to get me out of the passenger side (you know...I don't think we used car seats for that long back then!) and when he opened the door and picked me up, he made me drop my cupcake. I screamed and cried and was soooo upset.
(2) My friend at school let me wear her fake diamond bracelet home from school. I was washing my hands at my great grandparent's house and it came off and went down the sink. My great grandfather spent most of the afternoon well after I went home trying to get it out and was finally successful. He brought it to me at school the next morning and never told my parents. It was our little secret.
(3) My aunt Lorene made the best divinity known to man every Christmas. It was always so perfect. A few weeks before Christmas, she would bring it to my great grandparents' house and leave it there for my uncle D who loved the stuff. I'd wait for him to get home from work, literally salivating thinking about the candy, and he would come home and he and I would polish off most of the container of divinity until we just couldn't eat another bite!
(4) When Hooker was born, she was re-admitted to the hospital a few days later with bacterial meningitis. She was in ICU and very sick. Mom and Dad told me one day that we would go see her that afternoon. So, I drew her a picture of a carosel horse and wrote my name and I love you on the paper to take to her. When I gave it to my aunt she started crying and it hurt my feelings because I thought that she thought the picture was ugly. LOL! The picture was attached to Hooker's basinette for the rest of her hospital stay. :)
(5) When Scuba Steve was born, my two aunts had filled my head with the thought that he was going to be a girl for the whole 9 months of my mother's pregnancy. The night he was born, the doctor came out and told us that it was a boy and I screamed and cried and told him to take that boy back and bring me a girl.

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Hope you all have a great weekend and a wonderful Father's Day. Leave comments with your Three Things answer and tell us what you bought for Father's Day!!!
Melissa

2005-06-16T13:04:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all who participated in my new "three things" game. I think I'm going to make that a tradition. I really like it! So....post your three things in the comments!!

Three Things

I got this one directly from Michele's site and since I want to see if anyone else's answer is as embarrassing as mine, here goes...
"What 3 celebrities did you have a crush on as a child and did you have posters of them in your room?"
I'm going to totally embarrass myself here and give my answers:
(1) Donnie from NKOTB (gross!) and yes on the poster
(2) Kirk Cameron - had the poster - kissed it every night before I went to sleep
(3) Joey from NKOTB (gross again!) no poster though
I used to beg my parents to buy me those little teen magazines at the grocery store that had pull out posters so that I could make my very own "hot guy wallpaper". How sad is that?

Fellow Blogger of the day:

I really dig Carrie's site. So today's her day! Stop by and say hello and tell her that I sent ya!!

Father's Day

I decided to call my dad and LuckyHuband's dad and invite them over Saturday for burgers and Father's Day festivities. I'm kind of excited, but that means that I'll have to clean. What was I thinking???

Funny News Story

I read a hilarious news story today about a bad guy who really got what he deserved from a group of women. Please, please, read the story. You'll thank me later. This actually happened in a town not that far from here.

Guest Blogging

I am going to be a guest blogger at another site in the next week. When I post, I'll let you all know so that you can check it out!!

My soldier pen-pal

If you want to send a message to a soldier who desperately needs it, type it in the comments and I'll print it out to send to him. I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

Interviews

My offer is still open. I have a few of you who took me up on it, so I'll be getting to those hopefully by tomorrow. It's still not too late, so put Interview Me in the comments and I will!!

Funny Story

My cousin Hooker went to the funeral home for a classmate whose grandfather had suddenly passed away. (Poor kid can't get away from funeral homes!) The classmate's uncle had also passed away within 24 hours of her grandfather. Well, the uncle's visitation was Tuesday and the grandfather's was Wednesday. The classmate wasn't that close to the uncle at all. So, Hooker gets confused (not unusual) and goes to teh funeral home on Tuesday. She walks in and really doesn't recognize anyone and asked where the classmate was. They told her that she had went home and then Hooker asked if her parents were there and they replied that they had gone home too. The family looked at Hooker like she was crazy and she visited with a few people that she knew and then went home. The next day around lunch she realized her mistake. Good thing that it was kind of the same family there and she didn't totally make a fool of herself! Poor kid!

Well, that's all I've got for today! If you are new, sign my guestbook so I can check out your blog too!!!
Melissa