Up Up and Away

I have a slew of family coming to inhabit my house at the end of May for daughter's dance recital. This would include my mom, mother in law, 2 grandmas, and now my dad, who originally said he was not "traveling with that many hags" LOL. ;)

We really hadn't made many plans for that weekend that they will visit. Daughter has rehearsal when they get here Friday, and recital on both Saturday and Sunday, then they fly back out on Monday. So the weekend pretty much planned itself for us.

Except, for my dear ole dad.

I think that he has ants in his pants, or something similar, because he's just not content to be still. So he decided that in the mornings while he's here, that he wants to rent a scooter and go through St Augustine one day, and sky dive the other day. Yeah. Dive out of a plane, into the sky. Where the clouds and birds live.

I have to admit that sky diving has always been one of those things on "my list". I also have to admit that I've always lived within a 40min drive to a skydiving facility pretty much my entire life in one state or another, and have never had the balls to do it. So yeah, the opportunity has always been there and I've never taken advantage. Because I'm a sissy.

Dad invites me to go along with him, and I have no clue what to do. I am so NOT going to even try to be funny here and ask what is the worst that can happen, because the worst the can happen, is exactly what you DON'T want to hear is the worst that can happen in any situation. EVER.

Am I afraid of dying? Well, I'm certainly not looking forward to it, nor do I ever like to talk about it. I know that it happens, but still. So the idea of going in a plane (one of my biggest fears- HATE to fly), and then jumping out of it while attached to some stranger, and a backpack with a chute on a rope, it's pretty daunting. Ok, it's downright terrifying. Not only do I have two children and a husband, I am also nowhere near where I want/need to be on a spiritual aspect- which in part contributes to that never ending 20's identity crisis that I loathe. I have to make a decision soon, they only have one appointment left that day, an hour earlier than when dad goes. I don't know what is stopping me from being able to say yes or no, but at any rate I'm crazy for even considering it.

Maybe I'll just stay on the ground and photograph dad as he comes into view...or join in on the scooter trip ;)

Email me~

I was getting ready to do a few changes to my blog, when I realized that I'm not that great about figuring out some things on here. So if you're a regular reader of my blog and would like to continue doing so, will you please email me so that I can email you an invite? This blog is getting ready to go private :)

Thanks!

Shedding

After I finally came out on the other side of a terrible itching spell that made me feel like I was going CRAZY (!!!!the lovely post sunburn itch!!!!), I am finally shedding my poor ruined skin cells, and looking quite the lizard these days. I'm hoping this is my lesson to wear some frickin sunscreen next time, but in all honesty, people like me don't stand a chance in the FL sun. You go from Casper to Mr Crabs in 15 min flat. Ugh. At any rate, I can finally take a not cold shower (those soooo piss me off), and hopefully I won't have disgusting dead skin all over me soon enough ;)

We had a nice Easter, though I feel like a TOTAL loser for not having an Easter Bunny picture this year. Seriously, what is wrong with me? I have never missed one of those- Santa, Easter Bunny, you name it, I have one of the kids with him/her/it. So I'm feeling quit loser-ish for missing out on that. We did get some pictures of the kids outside when we got home though.

We ate a nice Easter brunch at a Marriott here. It was really pretty- it's where they hold The Players golf tournament each year. This doesn't interest me, but it does interest husband. Meh. ;)

I'm still not sure what made husband have the nerve to reserve at a place like this- son is nearly impossible to eat out with. I don't really know what we can do, short of just not eating out (and we are about there). He refuses to sit in his seat, he's loud, he's destructive, neither of us can enjoy our meal, etc etc. I don't know if I can paint you a good mental image of the theme of the day, but I'll try. We walk in to this pretty hotel, with this grand set up of food. There's every meat you can imagine, a very impressive salad spread with sushi and everything, all of the stuff that doesn't interest me since I have the eating habits of an overly picky 5 year old- not joking on that one. They did, however, have a "Create your own macaroni and cheese bar", a DREAM for me. I could have just hung out there all day ;)

Anyhow, we walk in to this place and the first thing I notice is that I see no other kids in the area, at all. Eventually some did come in later. We sit down and son is exhausted already, and in a bad mood, already. He starts to fuss, and proceeds to grab nearly everything on the table- multiple pieces of silver wear, saucers, sugar packets, he got it all. Once I cleared his immediate area, he decides to stand up in his chair (high chairs are a no go), grab a champagne glass, and slam it on the table. Only he really didn't slam it that hard, he just was trying to set it back down and didn't do it easy. How gentle can a 2 year old be anyhow? The champagne glass breaks immediately, at the stem, in his hand. GREAT. He looks at me like he's scared to death, and I quickly grab the broken glass out of his hand and start to pick the smaller pieces of glass out of his hand and off of the table. I think we managed to avoid any of it getting in his hand. From there, husband starts to panic and rather just explain what happened, he feels the need to destroy the evidence, and so he TAKES the freaking broken glass, and sticks it in his coat! This is all literally within the first 5 minutes of arriving at the place, set to a man playing violin in the background, we are all sweating and exhausted.

You would think that was enough, but we decided to eat anyhow. Son was of course full of junk since we took him to church, he's cutting teeth and we didn't even ATTEMPT to send him to the nursery. So he filled up on goldfish during the service, and obviously is in no mood to eat- thank goodness the kids were free. Whew. Boys I tell you, a totally opposite world of any baby experiences with daughter. We eventually give up, and husband takes him outside. Once mother in law is finished eating, she goes out there with him and he falls asleep on the couch in the patio area, while we eat a semi peaceful meal with daughter, in a rush. Ahhh family togetherness. Sort of. ;)

Tomorrow son will be 2, and I can't believe that this time 2 years ago, I was hanging out in the hospital, waiting on the start of my dreaded pitocin, for the second time in my life. It's amazing how different my two pregnancies were, but how similar both labors were. I can't believe that my "baby" is going to be 2- and more so, that this may be our last one. It's so crazy how fast time flies, and we don't even realize it. We have his party planned, complete with Blues Clues decorations and cake, and of course presents. I wanted to get him his own ride on battery powered car- like daughters Barbie jeep that he loves. So we got to the store to see if he like the truck, and he picked a red mustang instead ;) He literally went crazy over the thing, wanting it over all the others. I can't wait to see him in it tomorrow!

Ouchhhhhhh

The word Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, was specifically invented for me.
I am one step away from being a char coaled, deep fried, pickled white girl. Seriously.

What made me decide that I was actually going to tan on my first day out in the real spring sun, on an island, in Florida?

I have NO clue.

But I am seriously hurtin' here people.

All pain aside for the moment, our trip to Tampa was nice. It was bitterly cold by FL standards when we got there on Wednesday, and warmer (though not by much) when we ventured out to Caledesi Island on Thursday. I have to say, to have been rated the #1 beach in America at some point by some person, I was not impressed. Maybe I was expected too much? I don't know. It was nice to try something different, but we could have had the same experience by just going to some local public access beach and saving ourselves the wait time and ferry fees. None the less, America's #1 beach scorched my ass and I would pay millions for a suit made completely of Aloe for the next week or so. Ouch.

Thursday night we went to the hockey game, a fun thing to do now and then. It gave me a birds eye view of where I will take daughter to see the Jonas Brothers later this year, and scope out hotels too. I had already reserved one, but found one even closer. The hockey game was fun, loud, and especially cold for someone whose skin temperature has to be at least 115 about now. ;) Yes, I'm whining. I blame myself though..

Mother in law will be here tomorrow to kick off round two of sons birthday festivities. I'm just hoping his Blues Clues decorations get here in time, or else they will be dealing with one red woman (figuratively and literally speaking!) HA!

On The Road Again

We have a few busy days coming up, so I may be scarce. My parents will be here in a couple of hours, and in the morning we're all leaving for Tampa. I am ready to get out of here and do something different,even if only for 2 nights. Thursday, we're taking my dad to his first (in person) professional hockey game, so that will be a blast. :) We're watching Tampa Bay play Washington DC Capitals- which happens to be the team we "root for" (DC). Hopefully Thursday it will warm back up and we can spend a day at one of Tampa's many beautiful beaches! I'm jonesin for some sunshine and crystal clear water. You definitely don't get the clear water on the east coast :)
We'll be home Friday, and mother in law will be here Saturday. I don't know how long she's staying. She's coming down for son's birthday, which is the 14th. I CANNOT believe my baby boy is going to be 2! It seems like just yesterday he was born. Oh, I feel so old! We'll be having a party, complete with Blues Clues decorations since that is what he is soooo into at the moment. It wasn't an easy task to find either, since it doesn't come on TV anymore.

I don't have much else to talk about really. I dyed my hair last night to cover up all of the greys that have snuck up one me- well, it's a LOT darker than I had planned. It's actually probably almost my natural color, but I haven't been this dark in awhile.

Seriously, I have nothing exciting to talk about. ;) Be back in a few days!

Am I A Buzz Kill?

I think I've been given a complex by a 6 year old.

Rewinding- last night daughter had a friend stay over from school. Great times for all of course- except for the mess that is left behind now, but I expected that much. Her friend came over at 7 last night and we let them play outside for awhile until it got dark. Husband helped them play baseball, soccer, etc., and I stayed close by son trying to keep him occupied.

Later that night I came into daughters room to tell her it was time to settle down for the night, and I find them in full dress up gear, rocking out to Hannah Montana. I closed the door and started to walk down the hall and I hear

Daughter: "That was SO embarrassing"

Friend: "What?"

Daughter: "My mom seeing us dance like that"

Friend: "Oh, I know. Hey, your daddy is really nice!"

Daughter: "I know"


What?! I am the uncool mom? Am I going to be the mom that every one of my kids friends hate? You know, the mom that is the total buzz kill who is always grouchy. Sheesh, is that me and I had no clue? Ugh. I surely hope not. I happen to think I am pretty cool, especially considering the age difference between me and daughters friends is about the same as me and most of her friends moms. But maybe I am old and not cool and I just had no idea. Thanks a lot, 6 year olds, for making me feel like the old witch with the wart on my nose.

Leaving that rant and moving on to the next one... I'll spare you all of the details of my dilemmas, but I am reaching a point where I'm utterly fed up with husband. It's a long story with a lot of history that I doubt I will EVER find the time to explain on here, but while we are talking about buzz kills, if ever I had one, he is it. (And I'm not referring to anything abusive or anything like that) So think of me now and then as I constantly battle with myself in my head over what I am doing with my life and myself. I tell you, since we have moved here I have been going through a serious identity crisis. I hear that happens in your 20's. I never believed it before, but I do now. I think growing up so close to family, I've sort of defined who I am by who I was surrounded with and where we were. Now that absolutely everything in my life is different, I have no idea who I am. Seriously. All of this has left with me with lots of stress and feeling like I have no time for myself. I know something has to change, soon, somewhere.

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 ;)