I Confess

I have a confession.

I used to be a shop-a-holic.

Ok wait, I still am. It's just that all of my credit cards are either cut off, closed, or maxed out, so there fore I am a recovering shop-a-holic. Ugh.

Impulse shopping was my worst, especially on make up. I'll admit, I have a closet full of clothes and some are expensive, BUT, I wear them. I love them. With makeup, I have so much sitting brand new (probably expired), that I just had to have because of cute packaging. I'm a sucker. I do wear the clothes though.

Or at least those that..ah-hem... don't seem to have shrunk. What's that about? ;)

Anyhow, I can't impulse shop anymore. Or shop at all for that matter. We're trying to get finances in order and this time I am trying to stay committed. I rarely shop here, mainly because we have no money and I am sure husband would kill me if he knew I used a credit card. Some of them I just refuse to cut up, like Old Navy. It's the only thing that allows me to shop at Gap without having to buy one piece at a time, and without having to apply for their credit card. We have to have it for kids school clothes, summer clothes, etc. But, I still haven't been using it though it kills me to have that available credit.

Well in light of my attempt at not shopping, I have developed a new (bad?) habit.

I am an impulse traveler.

If you recall last week, we planned a Girls Cruise this fall. I already have plans of using my birthday money to pay for it. Then husband finds this. A ferry service on a small cruise ship from Ft Lauderdale to Freeport Bahamas. The poor guy was just trying to research an option for a family vacation that we can actually afford, and showed that to me. I mentioned it to my grandma in passing, just making conversation, and she got so excited about it that I felt like I need to take her. About 6 years ago my grandpa had open heart surgery. He's probably more healthy than anyone else his age (78), but mentally he is just not. He is 100% competent, they drive themselves, etc, but he is just in a funk. I guess it's part of getting old, but he just likes to sit around and sleep. So they never go anywhere, and I feel bad about that. They used to be heavy travelers, they've been so many neat places. Before we moved away, we took my grandma with us everywhere- well, we invited her, she wasn't always able to go. I feel bad because she is SO lively (at 76 years old!) and healthy, but feels like she need to be home with him.

So when I told her about the ferry she went on and on about how she'd LOVE to do it, especially since with good planning it could be done in a 3 day weekend, which is about as long as she will come down for. She doesn't like to leave him alone long, though he is fine.

I got the wheels turning and now my two kids, mother in law, grandma, and myself are headed to Freeport Bahamas at the end of July. I know I sound like I'm complaining, I'm really not. Once you've been to the Bahamas once though, I think most people see no need to go back just because there honestly isn't much there. So we compromised on a one night trip- just so we can say we went to the Bahamas for the weekend. It always makes me feel good to do something for her, to make her smile. I wish, daily, that I could just convince them to move down here and move in with me, so I could take care of them. They can take care of themselves, but you know, I could just be there. I am probably most close to them than anyone else in my family, and my world will be very dark when they are no longer in it.

Ok anyhow, before I upset myself for totally unnecessary reasons, we booked the trip. We are all excited, everything is mapped out and I must say that I think I had some hiden travel agent skills. It took quite the arranging to get them down here, to the bahamas and back within a 4 day 3 night time span, including reserving 5 different hotel nights at 2 separate locations, 5 ferry tickets and 2 airline tickets.. With my birthday money already spent on the girls cruise, my only other thought is

How the hell am I going to pay for this??

I'll get back to you on that one, as ideas are still forthcoming. Actually I have no ideas, so hopefully some will come forth. :)

I could always use that massive tax credit that we will get in paychecks now. A whopping $15 per paycheck. I'm sorry, I realize that over the course of millions of people, this equals a lot of money being pumped back into the economy. But seriously, $15 per paycheck? What does this do for the average family who is struggling and already so far behind? Notta, in my opinion. Something is better than nothing, but $15 isn't going to go far. Especially when you have to air condition a 2 story house in the summer in FL.

OK that's all that I have to say for now. It's another stormy night here, so I won't be sleeping for quite awhile. Ugh. I seriously hate storms, it is my one major turn off about living here. When you move away from mountains, a thunderstorm on flat land is a whole new experience. Lightening lights up for miles, the thunder never seems to end. Why can't it storm during the day when I can keep a better eye on things??

Sunny Day

Despite 50+mph winds, the loudest thunder ever, and the Arc floating by our house about 4am last night, it's a beautiful ,sunny, and breezy Florida day. For some reason, husband feels the need to be out in the garage pricing yard sale stuff. I seriously HATE yard sales. The pricing, the packing it up, the setting it up, not to mention the droves of strangers at my house- that part bothers me the most. I'm always convinced that there is going to be some creep in there that's just scoping out the house to see if they can break into it, or something sicko like that. The worst part is that that isn't so far fetched that it doesn't ever happen. :( I have to admit that I was royally spoiled in this department by MIL- we used to go through the house about once or twice a year, gather up TONS of yard sale stuff, take it to her and she would sell it. Mainly because they own a business (car garage) and so they had heavy traffic and could sell better. Not to mention that she would usually make us about $1000 that we would use for vacation money. Living in WV, some people live for yard sale season. No, seriously. One of my ever-thrifty family members did her Christmas shopping at them. Yikes. I keep trying to convince husband to just send the yard sale stuff back with MIL when she comes down next month for son's bday. It would be sooo much easier, and she could even just keep half the money.
So anyhow, back to the task at hand. Husband is out there on this glorious day pricing our junk, and I have NO clue how we have so much junk. We just had a HUGE yard sale right before we moved here last May, and yet I have a whole house full of stuff to sell again. Most of it is toys. Given our budget crunch this year, I have no idea how we have so much to sell, when we shopped way less than we ever have before. At least having both kids birthdays early in the year is nice, because I am able to go through old things and have them ready to sell by summer. At any rate, I tried to convince husband to make poster signs with prices for common items rather than price each and every item individually, but he doesn't listen, so, waste his day he shall. At least the house is somewhat quiet since the kids are out there "helping", though someone comes in or out every 2 seconds and really pisses me off. Can I just relax for TWO seconds? Thanks. :)
We've come to learn that once you have more than one kid, or a kid for that matter, vacation seems to take on an entirely new price range.Son is almost 2 and will now require his own airline ticket. Husband used to do a lot of traveling for work, and they always stayed Marriott. So for several years, we have had enough Marriott points to get nearly free vacation stays. It's been sooo nice. This year will be the last year we can do that (or whenever we use the points) because he doesn't travel nearly as much, and we'll be out of points. The good news is that we have points for some really fabulous vacations- namely Mexico, Aruba, St Kitts, etc. Living here in FL, it's kind of hard to plan a vacation. I think most people go to the mountains, but we came from the mountains and we don't ever want to vacation there ;) 26 years was enough for me for awhile. So we kind of want to do something exotic, but it's a hefty price once you have to buy 4 airline tickets instead of 3 or 2. The taxes alone are just ridiculous! We've found tickets for around $600, which are then over $1000 by the time you add taxes. Just ridiculous I tell you! So, we may end up vacationing somewhere here in Florida, which seems weird but it may be our only option this year. Stupid credit and recession and crappy economy and...
Ok I'm off to either a)clean the house, or b) sit here and watch 50 First Dates. I would like to go for the movie option, but SHOULD go for the cleaning house option. We'll see which one wins ;)

Are You A Marilyn?

I'm lacking much to update today, so I saw this on Bridgett's Blog and thought I'd give it a go. Who are you on this quiz? Do you think my result accurately represents me? I have to say I waivered on the choices- I was stuck between 2 of the 3, so I just tried to pick the best one :) Some of the personality things fit me, but the child/parenting things do not. I definitely didn't come from a broken home of any sort, and I definitely don't have a problem setting boundaries for my kids :o)


"

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Marilyn!

You are a Marilyn -- "I am affectionate and skeptical."

Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Be direct and clear


• * Listen to me carefully


• * Don't judge me for my anxiety


• * Work things through with me


• * Reassure me that everything is OK between us


• * Laugh and make jokes with me


• * Gently push me toward new experiences


• * Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a Marilyn

• * being committed and faithful to family and friends


• * being responsible and hardworking


• * being compassionate toward others


• * having intellect and wit


• * being a nonconformist


• * confronting danger bravely


• * being direct and assertive

What's Hard About Being a Marilyn

• * the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind


• * procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself


• * fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of


• * exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger


• * wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right


• * being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations

Marilyns as Children Often

• * are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn


• * are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger


• * form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent


• * look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel


• * are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Marilyns as Parents

• * are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty


• * are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence


• * worry more than most that their children will get hurt


• * sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Another One Bites The Dust

I'm working on recovering from the worst migraine- possibly the worst one ever. It came like a thunderstorm in July, at 5am on my poor defenseless head. Of course I had put off picking up my migraine medicine, and my Excedrin, so I was totally hurtin'. I don't have a clue how I got daughter to school without killing us all, and I was far too in pain to go to the drug store to even get my medicine, so I came home, threw up twice, and had to call husband to come home for the day. Not a fun day at all! At least he did come home with my medicine, and I slept for FIVE hours. What a day. I really don't want to go on preventatives, but I may be heading in that direction. In any event I guess I need to go back to my doctor because headaches waking you up, and vomiting with them aren't really the greatest things.

Anyhow, I guess I should have mentioned in my previous post that the wonderfully ultra close concert tickets that I scored were for the Jonas Brother concert for daughter- it's on my list of summer plans. Well, if they were summer plans for me they obviously wouldn't include that, but they aren't my summer plans ;) I got tickets to Disney on Ice too, which is listed in there too. So at least I am being productive in the ticketing/entertainment department. :)

Other than that, not much to report going on around here. I spent all weekend with a friend from nursing school, who was nice enough to take a train down here to visit me (hi Monique!). We had lots of fun, and ate way too much food, and the best part of all is that we planned a girls cruise for this Sept/Oct. I soooo need an adults only vacation, I can't wait! A short jaunt out of town in the fall is just what I need, and we've already made plans to zip line through the jungle in Cozumel, which is sure to be a blast! :o) Yay for girls cruise!

Now I just need to get back to magically dropping weight- at least 20lbs by October. I think to satisfy my curiosity of it's effectiveness, the Acai Berry was front page on Yahoo today. I couldn't decide if they were making sure people know it doesn't cause weight loss, or if they were just warning about the hidden small print, $90 a month charge people are getting after the free trial. Either way, I probably won't be ordering any more. On to the next miracle cure :o/

In closing, we have AGAIN had another credit card close on us. This time, Lowes, with which we have had credit for SIX YEARS and NEVER been late once! We also had a zero balance on the card! Can you believe this!? Given the bank that owns them, I am certain that Old Navy and Sams Club will be next. If that happens, expect to see me on the national news for going ape on someone, because it's getting ridiculous and I'm sick of being penalized for other peoples faults. Ugh.

Back to cleaning house..or at least thinking about it ;)

Mission Accomplished

See that lovely red "X" on the very teeny section labeled A4? That's where I scored daughter tickets to the concert this summer. Yay me!! :)

I'll update more later. :)

Snot and Batteries

Well I am back with good news. Mona Vie tastes much better chilled. Notice that I did not say that it tastes good, I just said it tastes better. I still plug my nose and chug it through a straw, but I am holding my nose for less and less time afterwards- HA!- and I no longer want to gag myself just to see if vomit does in fact taste better than said miracle juice. Baby steps ;) I'm also forcing husband to drink it every night when he comes home from work. I don't think he really appreciates it...one day he will ;)

Tomorrow, I have a friend from nursing school coming to visit (hi Monique!) and I am super excited. So, in honor of that, it's only fitting that I do my typical "company cleaning". I always clean like a mad lady when I am having company, but on top of that my house just REALLY needed it. I honestly am not sure when the last time I cleaned was-and that's pretty bad coming from someone who used to clean every single Friday. The only problem is that this house is too big for our own good, and I am ready to poop out about halfway through, just leaving the rest of the house in ruins. I have managed to get the entire house clean except the never ending laundry, and the floors. Oh, the joy.

I got up today with a plan- I will clean the house like mad (or as much as son will allow), go to the bank, pick up a few things from the store..you get my point, I had plans (for once). So it only makes sense that I get up today and my Jeep won't start when I go to take daughter to school. Great. I still don't know what's wrong with it, it would appear that the battery was dead, but we don't know how this is possible since everything cuts itself off if you leave it on. I had to call husband to come all the way home from downtown, jump my car with a booster that he borrowed from security at work, and then take daughter to school, and go all the way back to work. He also took my car back with him, so hopefully he makes it home ...hehe.

I send daughter off to school an hour late, son is up and he is a face full of snot. The poor guy feels terrible. He is sneezing all over the place, his nose is a mess. I've noticed this afternoon that he does have a low fever, so I hope this isn't anything related to the ear tubes. Trying to give him amoxicillin results in bad things if you recall. Daughter is hacking her head off, and as much as I feel sorry for her, I have to shamefully admit that coughing really pisses me off (hangs head in shame). But, it's not just her coughing- constant coughing from anyone. I know (she) they can't help it, but it just bothers me to no end. Yes, I realize it's not all about me.But this is my blog, so in a sense it is ;) But still, it's annoying. I am assuming it's the pollen, since it's really high right now. Daughter has been allergy tested but that was several years ago. I had allergies something FIERCE when I was a kid- I think I spent my first 13 years of existence with a tissue up my nose- how's that for flattering? The boys loved it. :o/

And so, it's been one of those days. I've spent it cussing at my car, cleaning a dirty house, wiping snotty noses and blessing lots of sneezes. I look forward to some adult time this weekend with my friend. I need one good day of baking in the sun. Well, in reality I need about 20 good minutes because after that, I usually look like Mr Crabs.

Did I mention that she's taking my PF Chang's virginity? Ha! I'll let you know how it works out...

Oh, the Acai..

I am on a never-ending quest for how I can be lazy and skinny at the same time. Don't pop my bubble people, I know it doesn't really work that way, just let me dream ok? ;)

Anyhow, I should first mention that the inventors of *anything* that is "As Seen On TV" must have seen me coming long before my birth. I am such a stickler for infomercials, and all things junk that are far too overpriced, and probably don't work to begin with.

So my latest endeavour has been checking out the Acai Berry (ooh and guess what, I learned to hyperlink, yay me for catching up with the 1990's! LoL).

The Acai Berry is basically a craze right now amongst people trying to lose weight with little to no effort. But, there are supposedly health benefits to it as well, a couple of them being increased energy and lowered cholesterol. You can read all 59 supposed ones here. Upon doing research, you will find that 99.9% of the reviews and information come from people (consumers), not credible companies or sources, other than the ones promoting their product who will obviously not have anything bad to say. Their stories are inspiring, if true. But the good thing is that unlike most products, I have yet to find anything about scary side effects or reactions.

However, the Acai berry is very rich in antioxidants, which we all know are good for you. You have to find it in a form (pill usually) that has been prepared just right- freeze dried immediately, and not with a bunch of added sugars.

You also have to be weary of where you're ordering the product from, because each "free trial" will start billing you around $80-$90 per month if you don't cancel within their time frame (typically 14-30 days from the date they ship your product, not from the time you receive it).

My first endeavour was with Acai Berry 500, or something like that. It came in the mail, and was purple chewable tablets that tasted great. It was a small trial- I'm thinking 7 days, as opposed to some that are 30. I started taking the pills and of course noticed no effects, until about 3 days later, I caught myself skipping down our hall for no apparent reason. I sooooo don't skip, and especially not without reason. In my 7 day trial, I changed no habits at all, and I lost 5 pounds with no side effects. I REALLY wish I would have continued that trial, but I canceled and now I cannot find that company again. Ugh. If I had lost 5lbs per week on that stuff, then I really would have been one of those "-30lbs miracle".

I let it go for a month or so and ordered a different free trial, which gave me NO energy like most advertise they do, and so now I'm trying a different trial, and a version from GNC.

I'm saying all of this mainly because if I am a miracle that drops 30+ pounds by doing nothing like these people claim to have done, then I want to blog about it. Or, I'll be back on here in a month talking about how I haven't lost JACK and it's a scam. Either way, I felt the need to share ;) Feel free to do the research, so far I have not been able to find one bad thing about the Acai Berry itself, and I figure that' good enough reason to keep at it until it's obvious that it will or will not work for me- or in other words, when my two months free trial supply is up ;)

If anyone decides to try it for yourself- of course consult your doctor first because things like that can interfere with some medications. Now, don't blame me because I warned you ;) I am also not a salesperson or representative, nor am I trying to get you to do/be/try/buy anything. I have enough to keep me busy as it is ;)

In addition to my Acai pills, I thought I would supplement with Mona Vie . There's of course the same testimony out there from people who love it, and claim awesome health benefits from it. Quite a few news clips on You Tube. I was sold after I saw it on an episode of The Doctors. Of course, there are no doctors or researchers that will say that acai products contribute to this amazing weight loss that people are having- the verdict is still out, and obviously they encourage you to just continue the change of eating habits and add exercise as opposed to unproven methods. Basically, they just take all of the fun out of it. HA :)

So I bit the bullet and decided to order a bottle of Mona Vie. I should say that my main reason for taking all of this is because I stay COMPLETELY exhausted at all times, and every blood work test that I could have has came back normal, so I'm going a different route to see how it works out. The Acai is supposed to be great for energy. I wait for what seemed like forever to get the bottle (probably more like 2 weeks). It came in yesterday and I was sooo excited. They recommend you drink only 1-2 ounces, 2 times a day. Which is good because it's NOT cheap, and (drum roll please)....it. takes.like.crap.

OMG.

Apparently all of those people in the You Tube clips were either paid actors, or they have lost their taste buds in some unfortunate incident because the stuff tastes like watered down blueberry ass. I will say it was much better today chilled, yesterday I drank it straight after delivery and that was a mistake for sure. I love blueberries, which is the fruit that the Acai is most similar to, but this juice is some NASTY stuff. I can only hope that it's an acquired taste that I will soon acquire, because I don't know that I can handle a lifetime of nose-pinching-straw chugging-watery ass tasting madness. But I am hoping that I see some type of result from this all, or I shall just add it to my "as seen on TV, but does not work" pile.

So there you have it. I am easily swayed by mainstream media who promote things that may or may not work, feel free to heckle me now ;)

Monday, Monday

The weekend was somewhat eventful, and somewhat uneventful if that makes sense. It was HOT here, and while my family spent the weekend freezing in WV, we spent it sweating our parts off here in FL with temps around 86 yesterday. Saturday, daughter and I went swimming. I can definitely say that's the first time I have been swimming in March. And outdoors, at that. She also learned to ride her bike without training wheels over the weekend. Yay! :)

Yesterday husband went into asshole mode, and so we didn't go to the shuttle launch. We drove down to the beach in St Augustine to see it- or tried to, until I hit literally EVERY red light between here and there, and thus we were not parked as it blazed through the sky. A beautiful sight none the less, and I was surprised and just how visible it was from here. There are two launches the same week in May, rest assured I will see at least one of them. I hope that one is a late launch, nothing beats it. It may be the time I finally grow a brain and start adding pictures to my blog too ;) I'm just still trying to figure out how there will be two space shuttles in space at the same time-they launch within 3 days of each other- I mean it isn't as if there is a parking lot up there that they pull into. Having more than one up there at a time kind of seems like a big deal to me. It makes me nervous :) Anyhow, I will be there in May. I'm already counting down ;)

Other than that, there isn't much to report. I could babble on for days about useless random things, but I won't. I will finish with saying, if you haven't been a victim of this: http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106716/How-to-Blow-Your-Cr then be prepared, because you just might be. So far my mom, with her near perfect credit score, has had 3 major credit cards reduce her limits. We have had 1 of our only 2 major credit cards cut our credit limit- in the most dirty way might I add. We just paid them off, quite a sum of money. We were really excited because that left us one big bill, which we were going to transfer to that said card that was just paid off. I kept waiting and waiting on the balance transfer offers to pop up. I was just certain that since they were no longer getting money from us that they would be just itching to get a balance transfer. Boy was I ever wrong on that one. Not only did they not send us any balance transfer offers, they reduced our credit limit seven thousand dollars. $7,200!! Now instead of having a $7900 credit limit, we have $700. I can totally understand that they are trying to keep people from overspending, but to reduce that much, is just wrong in my opinion. Especially after we just freaking paid them off, and some people probably haven't paid them in months!! So now, we basically won't be taking a vacation unless husband works mad overtime, because that was our vacation credit card. The only other card that we had decided to jack our interest rate sky high and we are scraping to make the minimum payment. ((sigh)) Life, I tell you. Sometimes you really just can't win for losing!

1...1 3/4....1 1/2....

I have to say that I have had a very uneventful week, and I find it quite enjoyable! (now knocking on every piece of wood in the house).

They have scrubbed the shuttle launch until at least Sunday, so that's where I'll be at approximately 7:43 EST, provided they don't delay it again. Well obviously we'll be there earlier than that, but yeah. I really admire an astronaut, on many levels. Beyond the major and obvious ones- it's things like the fact that they were probably the little boys (and girls!) who played with shuttles when they were kids, and told everyone they wanted to go into space, and grandma would say "You can be whatever you want to be!", so they did. Ahhh. I love it when people follow their dreams. :) It gives me hope that one day I will follow my own, if I ever figure out what they are. But my 20's induced identity crisis is a whole other post in itself. They were probably geeks in high school, but look at them now. Only a few select people can really say they have been in space for cryin out loud. I cry like a newborn when I have to fly from Florida to Virginia. Sheesh.

But besides that, they take the concept of flying to a whole new level. Unfortunately history has shown that even space shuttles aren't always 100% safe. I personally could not ever get on a plane that has made any kind of emergency landing due to weather or mechanical repair. I don't care where in the world I am, I will find an alternate route home. Truth is, once that thing lands because of a problem, it isn't going back to the sky with my arse in it. So for this shuttle to have been delayed several times- and now more in the past few days- I really admire these people getting in there and proceeding. Well, I admire them, and I pee my pants a little at the thought of it. I'm kidding. Maybe.

3...2...1....

Today is another beautiful day here in sunny Florida- I have no complaints. :)

Tonight is the space shuttle launch, and I have to say that while I am not a big patriotic person, watching a shuttle launch truly brings tears to my eyes. I have yet to figure out why it does that, but it does.

We saw our first daytime shuttle launch out of sheer luck, two years ago when we were vacationing in New Smyrna Beach .We heard about it on the radio, and decided that it was worth the drive (90 min or so) and headed that way. We saw our second one in passing, they launched it the day we moved down here last May, and we saw it from our apartment parking lot in Jacksonville. It is ALWAYS packed at NASA with people watching- some you can tell have made a day out of it, with coolers and food and radio, etc. There are news crews everywhere, and there is just such an excitement in the air. I feel like a school girl all over again ;)

The last launch that we watched was this past November.It was at night. My parents had decided to come and visit one weekend, when I checked and realized that there was a launch that following weekend. I knew it was something that my dad would LOVE, and for those that don't live near by, it truly is a once in a life time opportunity. It also happened to be the last night time launch ever, as the space program funding is set to expire soon. We met my parents down there, about an hour and 45min drive, and got a prime spot right near the countdown clock, across the water from the launch pad.

I have to say that when that crowd started counting down, I had no clue what to expect at night, until the entire sky literally lit up, as if it were daylight again. It was beautiful. The crowd cheers, and then it gets really quiet except for the absolute roar of the shuttle.

The shuttle that is launching tonight is now a night time launch, due to it being canceled and rescheduled several times because of technical issues. I so wish we could go to see it, but I don't want to keep daughter out until midnight on a school night. BOOOO. Last time we hit traffic like nothing I have ever seen, otherwise it wouldn't be too bad of a drive and I would take her.
So we're going to settle for driving down to the beach tonight and watch it. While we are about 1hr 45min from there, you have NO problems seeing it, and the forecast tonight is supposed to be fabulous for viewing. Of course it's nothing like being right there in person, but there are several launches this year and I will be there. Nothing beats a night time launch though ;)

****Whoops! Looks like the launch has been scrubbed until tomorrow night. I am shuttle bound! ;)

Hope you're all having a nice day :)

Sunny Day

It's been unseasonally warm here in the Sunshine State--or maybe it's seasonally warm, just normal. Don't know, I wasn't here this time last year, I was freezing my arse off in WV ;) Anyhow, we took advantage of the beautiful not-a-cloud-in-the-sky-80-degrees-day, by heading to the beach. Daughter got in the still quite cold water, and son dug up pretty much the whole beach ;) We weren't there maybe an hour, but it was a nice time and made me excited for this summer when I don't have to work around daughters school and extreme amount of extra curricular activity schedule, and can spend many hours baking in the sun :)

Yes, I will wear sunscreen. ;)

Summertime, and the livin is.....

I am again, lacking anything important to say. Sometimes no news is good news though, right? Or silence is golden, or whatever would be a fitting term for the fact that I have nothing of substance to say. I am going to ramble some more instead though. Please, please, hold the applause ;)

The rental house was nice, very nice in fact. There were a few key things that I really enjoyed, and a few that I certainly did not. The house itself is much smaller than the one we have, however it's still very roomy in all the right places, which genuinely surprised me because it looks so small from the outside. That, I enjoy. I don't enjoy the fact that the entire house is painted the same color inside, because I think that makes it less likely that we could repaint any rooms, or be able to match that color again to paint them back. Master bedroom/bath/closet are big like we have here, but other bedrooms are smaller, and it has a dining room that seems far too large for it's own good. One of my main turn offs is that it's in the curve of a cul-de-sac and I felt very claustrophobic and cut off, I have NO clue why. I myself prefer a "straight" street, with houses on each side. Our street has a cul-de-sac, but we are on the straight part. I like being able to see people. Ok, now I'm just sounding weird, so moving along... It also has NO backyard, just preserve. Which is nice in a way because right now we have a "lake" (us WV girls would call it a pond LoL) view, and while I thought that wouldn't matter, I have grown quite fond of looking out at the water instead of directly at someone else's house. Especially given the close proximity that they build houses within each other here. So it would be nice to still have privacy in the back. But at the same time, I don't want the kids to have to play on the street, though sometimes that is the only choice since I seem to see red ants no matter where I go. Not to mention, we have the worst, most stiff, and most annoying grass ever. I wonder if that's everywhere here.....Damn. I should have checked the grass...

The main point was that the house was much overpriced for rent, and we put in an offer for a lot less. If they don't take it, we won't counter because it isn't that important. We couldn't figure out why the rent was so high, and found the house online for sale for $420K ????! Seriously people I promise you it is NOT worth that. Even the realtor told us she thought it was probably listed for about $200K or mid $200K at most. I don't know if that price was a typo or if they were delusional or what, but that's not happening. At all. Not ever, and especially not in this market. The house we are in now is much bigger than that, and priced way less. We'll see what comes of it. We should hear from her tomorrow, if not then on Monday we will just tell our landlord that we will stay here another year. He's breathing down our necks for an answer and so far we've avoided him for about 4 days now. Eek.

The warm FL weather is back in full swing, and I met it today with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was tired of the freezing temps, and our entire neighborhood looks like a desert because everything is dead and brown. I was ready for a warm up.

We took the kids to the zoo today, and by the time we left it was 81. It felt HOT. It really wasn't, in comparison to what it will be here in about 2 months. Of course I was in jeans because I am SO not a shorts person, and aside from that my legs are stark white, more blindingly so than usual. I will bust out the shorts, or capris, when it hits 90. But for the most part I would rather wear some sort of dress, at least I feel more covered up.

I had multiple flashbacks to last summer when we moved here, mid JUNE and it was hot as two mice in a wool sock. It rained literally everyday for like 3 months straight and I was sure that it was all our fault for coming here and leaving the family, the grey clouds would follow us wherever we would go, to punish us for what we had done. Though I have since regained some of my sanity and I realize that it does in fact rain here a lot in the summer. I will be prepared this year. We just came into the "sunshine state" at the wrong time, as it was more of the rainy state. ;)

In any event, today had me thinking of how freaking INSANE it is in the summer, when you get into your car and it's like 103 in there and the kids are ready to pass out, and you're dehydrated just from walking to the mailbox. Or you're dumb enough to go out not once, but multiple times, without an umbrella, and the heavens open up, you're sure the Arc will float by at any minute, if you aren't struck dead by a giant lightening bolt before then (I did this in case you're wondering).

Ah yes, today made me realize that it might be ok if it doesn't get too hot, for just a little bit longer ;) But, at least once daughter is out of school , I fully intend to spend the summer in the pool and at the beach :)



Aside from that, I felt like doing something different with my blog tonight. I just spent far too long straightening up the house, so rather than do something that is actually going to cause me to have to get up and put forth a lot of effort, such as take pictures, etc., I came up with a different idea. I guess today also had me thinking about tourist season, because I haven't ever lived anywhere that is a huge tourist destination, and I know that that will be a pain this summer as well. So in the spirit of travel, I ask:

How long would it take you to get to where I live (zip code 32092)?

Would you drive or fly?

What is your favorite thing about summer?

Your least favorite thing?

What is your most favorite summer memory?


Feel free to answer me in the comments. I don't know why those came to me, but I will answer about the longest destination that I would have to travel, which would be Karla at To Alaska and Beyond-
* 76 HOURS according to Mapquest. Wowza! I think I would find that to be a bit of a daunting trip, and I can imagine that it would take even longer in the winter, given what I have read in her blog. However, I think that I would drive it, and alone. Maybe a cross country alone trip would be good for me, as long as I didn't make the national news for one reason or another.

*My most favorite thing about summer is the feeling in the air, if that makes any sense. If it doesn't, then you're just not as weird as I am ;)

*My least favorite are the bees, because I hate them!

*And by far, my best summer memories are the yearly trips that I took to Myrtle Beach with my dads parents. My grandma took midnight walks on the beach with me, we spent way too much money on junk, and we ate pizza at 1am every night. I spent all of my days in the pool, and evenings at the Pavillion which is no longer there. Those are definite things that I sometimes worry that I may forget, but I know I never will :)

Random stuff

I don't have anything exciting to report, so I'm going to do some rambling. I've spent the past few days planning a few fun things for daughter and I this summer. Most of which are purely for her enjoyment, but obviously she can't get there without a driver, or money ;) A few of those things being

*Disney on Ice (April)
* Circque de Soleil ( mainly for me, and this I am still debating on- I'm very interested, but trying to decide if it would be better to go to the "stationary" one in Orlando, vs a traveling tour. Somebody clue me in on this)
* A Jonas Brothers concert (insert your shrieks of horror here. I do it for the kid.)
*a possible weekend trip somewhere

Yes, I realize I have two offspring, but son is not old enough to do stuff like that and it's rare that I get some alone time with daughter. So there's that recap of some upcoming plans.

In other news, we're going to look at a rental house today. Our landlord is wanting us to stay here, but trying to up the rent on us- which is already at the top of what we can afford. So we're checking out something today that is the next exit up. We live in a beautiful neighborhood right now, with a lot of amenities for the kids, but it is just too far out. A move to the next exit up will take about 20min off of husbands commute time, and there are acutally things on that exit like banks and post offices and stuff. We've got none of that here, seriously. This house is in a gated community too, safer for us and the kids. Anyhow, there's that recap too.

Moving on to other things, I am going to take this time to shout out 5 blogs of interest for you. I have NO clue how to hyperlink or whatever, so if anyone wants to clue me in on that then feel free, otherwise, just click on the extremely long links ;)

*This first blog of interest is my www friend Karla. I met her through Ivillage a loooong time ago. She and her husband just recently packed up and moved from MN to Alaska. I love reading her blog because I relive some of my quirky moments from our moving experience as well. Enjoy!
http://karla-alaskaandbeyond.blogspot.com/

*Persnickety Ticker- this blog is hilarious, and one of those that I have no clue how I found. She has the best sense of humor, and a sense of sarcasm a lot like my own. So go check it out!
http://persnicketyticker.blogspot.com/


*This next blog of interest is from a fellow WV girl, Bridgett. I honestly have no clue how I came across her blog, I think it was one of my many days where I just went from "followers" to followers and ended up there. She has two beautiful children, Parker and Autumn. She also has lost 80+lbs on Weight Watchers! and posts yummy recipies from time to time too. You can find her blog here: http://booplustwo.blogspot.com/

*When Bridgett's son Parker was diagnosed with Autism, she started seeking out more natural alternative methods of treatment, and she keeps an absolutely amazing blog on the Holistic approach. Each entry continues to amaze me, the girl is so smart!! You can find that blog here:
http://allnaturalboo.blogspot.com/

*This blog is written by a mommy who was pregnant with identical twins, who mirrored each other. One twin sadly passed on, and the other has endured countless procedures for her heart. I don't know this family personally, and I found the blog through a link in Bridgett's blog. I caught up on it and I love to read it daily and hear of the progress their little "V" is making. They truly are example of the power of prayer! You kind find their blog here: http://kargfamilyupdates.blogspot.com/



Ok, I'm finished with my very scattered post for the day. I have other blogs that I will link to next time, as I follow some that are sooo fun to read- most of which are from people I have never met, but still can feel like I know on a certain level :) I hope you all have a nice weekend!

There's More To A Cell Phone Than You Think

Boy did I ever get myself into a pickle today! Son always plays with my Blackberry, and after many beats and slams on the floor, the "ball" fell out of it- basically the only way to make the entire phone function, other than dialing. It goes to the menu, it selects, it does everything. It takes the place of arrows on a regular phone. Without the ball, you might as well not have a Blackberry.

I was actually "rednecking" it, and still using the phone. Any time you pick it up the ball falls out, but I was determined to not have to take it to be repaired, because well, AT&T has assholes for customer service. Excuse that remark, if you read my blog and do or have worked for AT &T. I'm only calling it like I've seen it in my experiences ;)

Last week when mother in law was visiting, I was using the phone and daughter was in the back getting on my nerves, and son was wild and I just wanted twofrickinsecondsofpeace and turned around to tell her such, lo and behold the ball fell into the abyss that is mother in law's passenger side floor. Only people who want to lose a limb would dare dig down there. I started to, until I saw the chewed up fingernail and that was it, the abyss can keep my ball.

In the meantime I had already ordered a replacement ball, and figured while I am at it, I might as well order a new casing because I want my Blackberry to be pink. It FINALLY comes in the mail today, from Hong Kong. Damnit. And no, I am not prejudiced against anyone of that descent, I just don't trust overseas products what with the lead paint and all. Ugh.

Anyhow, I open up the tiny and long awaited box, and there is my beautiful pink casing, and he even sent me the tool-like things. 3 of em. Hmmm..tools? Cute. It is at this moment that I realize that I may be getting into more than I bargained for, but with careless abandon, I dismantle my phone, paying NO mind whatsoever to how it was assembled in the first place.

What an idiot.

I have to say, that I was doing really well, until I was down to the bare minimum of parts that were still assembled, only to realize that there are several small micro-chip-ish things that my phone has to have to function, and they are not removable, not replaceable. UGH!! At this point, I had already snapped the two sides in half- totally broke them- because they were hard as crap to get off and I had two brand new ones sitting there, so why bother to preserve those? UGHHH again!

I spend about 30 minutes alternating between working really hard to repair my beloved phone that I just had to have, that I whined to dh about, and walked around for what seemed like months singing that song by Bryan Adams (it's only going to make you love me more) to him, until he finally caved and "surprised" me with it, to throwing the stupid thing out and getting that new purple LG that I've been eyeing for months now. Blame dh, he pointed it out to me.

Eventually I have repaired my phone. I, yes I, have "built" a Blackberry from almost scratch, aside from all of that programming and other geeky stuff, only the STUPID top of it (which was the hardest part to get un-done) will not snap completely into place. The phone is fully functional, I just think that this needs to be fixed or else it's bound to get really dirty in there and eventually ruin. Did I mention you can't get insurance on those stupid things? No, they want you to ruin them and have to buy a totally new one, out of contract for a ridiculous price. I am, however, triumphant because I managed to fix the whole thing myself with NO man and NO technician. Except for that pesky top that won't snap shut.

On to the Gorilla Glue..