Five Things I Have Learned

1. No matter the situation, I will always have at least one person tell me I was wrong or that I have done it the wrong way.  No matter what, my good intentions will always be perceived as selfish to at least one person. I'm ok with that. If someone else has the time and energy to put into critiquing my every move, I feel sorry for them. Get your own life.
2. Hugs can stop temper tantrums 90% of the time. Taylor is smack dab in the middle of the terrible twos and has recently become an expert tantrum thrower. I get down to her level, speak in a soft voice, and hold my arms out. Most of the time she crawls right onto my lap and cuddles the bad stuff away. The times it doesn't work, I just walk away. She comes around eventually. Love her!
3. I will never have had enough sleep. I need to just get used to being tired all the time. It doesn't matter if I go to bed at 9:00 or midnight. I'll still be dragging when my alarm goes off at 5 in the morning.
4. Starbucks espresso HATES me. One heavenly sip is like swallowing 500 tiny daggers. My stomach turns into a solid, heavy bowling ball. I have switched from my non-fat no-whip mocha and my iced non-fat raspberry latte to an equally delicious yet safer iced coffee caramel non-fat. We get along MUCH better!
5. I have some pretty wonderful friends. It's nice to know that I have people that I can count on. I've wasted too much time and energy on high-maintenance friendships. If I have to work to be your friend, it's just not worth it. Don't get me wrong, if those people need me, I will be there because that is the type of person I am. BUT, if I am in need of someone, they will not be my go-to. I've been disappointed far too much.

Seriously.

Yes, I believe this is IN error.

Just so you know, I found this devastating news out only when I tried to access the site for a work-related search.  Love it.

"Oh, crap."

I'm tired.  This week has kicked my butt. 

On Monday evening, Taylor wasn't feeling so hot.  We had just finished dinner and the girls wanted to go outside and play.  I went out with them to do a little yard work between swing pushes.  Taylor started moaning and rubbing her tummy.  I asked her if she was going to throw up... no.  I asked her if she had to go poop... no.  Touched her head... cool.  She's fine, just ate too much, right?  She climbs to the top of the slide.  I have my back to her as I am cursing the squirrels and/or bunnies for yet another half eaten tomato, when suddenly Jaden screams.  I turn around and am flashing back to the days of chillin' on the couch at Mom and Dad's watching Double Dare.  Taylor diarrhea'd down the slide!  I scoop her up and tell her to STAND STILL and don't touch the poop!  I run inside, lay a diaper pad down, and start running a bath.  I go outside and Mike is swatting flies away (why do flies like to eat poop??)  Taylor is upset and feeling a little crappy (hehe!)  I get her all cleaned up and back outside we go!  Now, what on earth do I do with poopy pants?  Teach those darned squirrels a lesson, that's what!  This is where it gets a little disgusting.  I sprayed her pants out right by my tomato plants because guess what Taylor had for dinner the night before... CORN.  Enjoy, my furry friends!  Bwahhaahhhahha (evil laugh)!

Well, apparently T had a little virus.  She was acting fine the next morning but didn't eat much of her breakfast.  Around noon, the babysitter called me.  Taylor was having "loose stools" again and wasn't feeling well.  I went to get the poor baby.  After her nap, she seemed to feel a little better. 

Jaden: "My tummy hurts."

Wednesday morning, I head to Walgreen's to pick up some children's Pepto.  Obviously Jaden wouldn't take it and Taylor cried because she wanted more.  No fevers + no throwing up = to the sitters.  Guess what?  They were fine!  No yucky reports for the day when Mike picked them up!

I went to Michigan for a little shopping trip with my mom that day.  I was literally two minutes away from home and Mike calls me, "You should probably go a different way because there is water coming up out of the street and kids (not ours) are playing in it."  I detoured around the block because the police had already taped off the water and were actually standing guard.  The girls had already eaten supper and were ready for bed.  We got them down and I went to make dinner for Mike and myself.  Spaghetti.  Small problem... the water had been turned off.  We called 311 and we were told, "There is a water main break on your street and because the children in the neighborhood were playing in the water, it needed to be turned off.  We wouldn't want a child to slip and be run over by a vehicle or drown."  So basically because parents have no control over their kids (or just don't care) we don't have water... nice.  They estimated that the water would be turned back on around 1:30 a.m.  We opt for Pizza Hut take-out.

After dinner and a little Big Brother, the storms start up.  It is pouring down rain and really windy.  All of a sudden, darkness.  The power went out.  J cries because the storms woke her up and she is scared.  It was really bad out.  We were tempted to go down to the basement, but I didn't want to wake Taylor up if it wasn't necessary.  So, Mike sat with Jaden and we both watched outside and listened for a tornado siren.  Eventually, the storm passed.  We called the electric company and they guessed that power would be restored around 2:30 a.m. 

No water.  No power.  Nice.

Everything was back to normal the next morning!  The shower spit some yellow water at first, but then it was ok!  After work, we came home and had spaghetti.  Mike's mom was on her way over so we could go to a meeting at J's preschool.  I went to do dishes and again, no water.  Luckily, it was turned on by the time we got home so the girls could get a bath. 

It's been a tiring week.

BUT, I did get some good news!  Disney Family Fun saw my post on the Hit The Road badge and loved our road map idea!  They want to feature it in their next issue along with a picture of my girls!  You all will have to go out and buy the October issue when it comes out so you can see these cuties:

Way to go, girls! 

TGIF...

Stephanie Tanner said it best, "How rude!"

Listen up, ladies (and the few guys that read, too)!  When somebody so kindly invites you to a party (or any event that would warrant an invitation), répondez s'il vous plaît!  Seriously, it is just rude to not reply.  Here is your lesson.  Pull up a chair and grab a piece of paper... You'll want to take notes.

If you can not attend, or don't even want to, THAT'S OK!  That is an option!  Just call me, email me, text me, get a hold of me SOMEHOW and tell me, "Sorry! Ain't happenin', sista!"  I don't care what your excuse is.  I just want to know if I should plan for your attendance or not.  Obviously I want you there because I invited you, but if you can't, NO BIGGIE.  I hate the excuse, "Well, I didn't call you because I didn't want you to be mad at me for not coming."  To that, I give you a mental punch to the face, NOT because you didn't come, because you were rude and didn't tell me.  If attendance was REQUIRED, the invite would have said that.  When you see those four letters, that means that I understand that life happens and I may not be your first choice... Just RESPOND!

If you can come, don't assume that I already know that.  If I did, I would not have requested an RSVP from you!  Duh.  When I plan birthday parties for my girls, I usually don't request an RSVP from family.  For one, I'll most likely make the same amount of food whether or not one or two people don't show up.  Secondly, their parties are usually at my house so I don't need to give any sort of facilitator a head count.  BUT, should I happen to request a reply, there is most likely a reason behind it.  Do it!

Now, I get that it's not always black and white (dot blogspot dot com).  You may have an instance of, "Gosh, I already have something going on that day but if I can leave a little early, I may be able to make it..."  Than TELL me that!  I will probably just quickly text you a few days in advance and be like, "So, do you think you might be able to make it?"  To that, RESPOND.  Don't ignore.  Don't say that you never got the text because I will ask you to prove it.  Just reply to my text. 

Lesson learned?  GOOD.  If you are already taking the time to open and look at the invitation I sent you (and marvel in my creativity), take the time to look at your stupid calendar and at least text me!  Trust me, I'll be more ticked off at the fact that I can not read your mind and so therefore I have to call YOU, than I would be if you told me you can't come.  Deal?  Oh, and in case you were wondering, this applies to ALL invitations you receive, not just ones from me ;o)

Oh, and just so you know... I have not recently planned a party and not NOT got a reply.  This is just a general kick in the tush :o)  You're welcome!

Have a great weekend!

Keepin' It Real

Why is it that I alway get so disappointed by reality shows? 

I'm not going to see you for like ever because I'm going to Paris... But when they say "cut," let's go to the club with L.C. and Audrina and Justin Bobby, ok?

When I watched the final episode of The Hills, I seriously had flashbacks of the day I found out that Santa Claus wasn't real.  I was devastated!  It was fimed on a SET?!  Kristin didn't really leave Brody to go to Paris?!  They drove around the BLOCK???  Oh, the agony.  My heart was crushed.  Crushed. 

I started to slowly regain my faith in these so-called reality shows because I wanted Leah, Corey, Ali, and Aleeah to live happily ever after in their cute little trailer in the woods... But then even poor Leah started getting for-real salon highlights and fake nails and I new that she really wasn't poor because there was NO WAY in the world that I could have afforded a trailer, two kids, salon highlights AND fake nails when I was a teenager.  Crushed.

I knew I could always count on the REAL reality shows... you know, like American Idol!  That show is for-real reality.  I truly believe that there are normal, average kids (yes, I say kids because I am OK with the fact that each and every finalist on the stupid show was younger than me...) with too-awesome-for-words-make-my-heart-cry (James makes it cry scared tears) voices.  I truly believe that America calls and votes for these people and Idol relys 100% on America's votes.  Totally legit.  Totally real.  But, because I've been burned in the past, my sensors are on full alert for these reality shows.  Tell me that I'm not the only one that caught the set-up last night.  Idol is down to the top 4.  This is big deal stuff!  The producers need to be 100% fair to each and every contestant.  Mike tells me that they (the producers) always put the singer last that they want to win so that singer is fresh in callers' minds.  I didn't believe him.  I trusted Idol.  Idol let me down.  Idol is now on the same level as The Hills.  Each contestant sang two songs last night.  The order STARTED out as 1. James, 2. Haley, 3. Scotty, 4. Lauren.  When it came time for the second songs, Ryan announced that if you are keeping track of numbers, pay attention because there was going to be a change.  Hmmm....?  They changed the ORDER!  James should have sang his secong song first, but they moved him to the END!  The producers want that screaming Adam Lambert-wannabe to win!  I'm sorry, but James is just Adam Lambert's second chance.  He has to scream in every song he sings and it is getting O.L.D.  I admit, he rocked that Journey song, but everyone else did just as good!  Idol is unfair.  Idol cheats.  They may as well hire Kristin Cavallari to judge next season.  Blah.  I'm still holding out that James will be the next one to get the boot because Haley is awesome and Lauren and Scotty are just too cute for words.  I'm sure I'll be disappointed though.

You said it!

Welcome to the longest week EVER.

Here's hoping today and tomorrow fly by.

I don't know if I've ever said this before, but I *LOVE* my job.

Love it.

Not.

Especially when six stupid hours are spent trying to get royal blue bluer than blue.  Love it.

How do you measure self-worth?

  

That is what I look at each and every day that I sit in my crap hole of a job.  It's not cute.  It's not creative.  It's the truth.  I feel like if I don't remind myself of that 500 bazillion times a day, I may lose it. 

I hate my job.  I went to school in hopes of landing a super awesome graphic design job that I could go to and create super cool things that people look at and say, "Holy crap!  How did you do that?"  Instead, I get my sorry butt out of bed each and every morning and go to a job where I am not using my creative abilities 95% of the time.  I design crap for teachers.  Do you know how many times I am asked to use clip art??  Asking a graphic designer to use clip art is like asking your doctor to use your kid's Fisher Price doctor's kit.  It's an insult and it just doesn't work.  But, I do it because I don't have a choice.  I try to make it my own and not use the crappy clip art and I am told to do it like they want it.  It sucks.  REALLY bad.

I try not to let my butt hole job interfere with my home life.  I try really hard.  Last week alone, I had Mike ask me if "we" were ok because I seemed distant and Jaden asked me if I was happy.  I am so depressed at work and unfortunately it shows at home.  I think of the hours that I am pulled away from my kids to be at a place that sucks the life out of me and I feel so guilty.  This job has ruined me and what I ever thought my future would be.  If I were to lose this job, I would probably never go into graphic design again.  That is how much I despise the work I do.

The economy sucks right now.  I feel like Mike and I are hamsters running on a wheel.  We want to move but we need to save up money first.  We can't seem to save one penny because unexpected expenses always come up.  I hate that I go to work every day to a job I don't like and my check is spent before I even bring it home.  We both try to do things to make some extra money on the side but it still doesn't get us off of that stupid wheel.  Good things come to those who wait, right? 

Since I'm being honest, I'm going to tell you what I really want to do.  I want to stay home with my girls and run a home day care.  I think I would be great at it.  I would get the chance to be there for my kids as well as a few other kids too.  I could use my creativity by doing projects with the kids.  I would be my own boss and get paid for doing what I love.  So why am I not doing that?  It's because of the darn hamster wheel again.  We want to move in the next couple of years.  What would you do if the home you were taking your kids to everyday suddenly put a "For Sale" sign in the front yard?  You would look elsewhere because you don't want to be left without childcare, right?  Then, I could potentially be left with a house that won't sell and no income.  I need to wait until we move and are in a permanent location.  BUT, like I said, we aren't in a place to save a whole lot right now so that is kind of hard to even think about.

Someday...

Someday we'll save enough money...

Someday we'll be able to move...

Someday I'll quit my job...

Someday...

We've Been Hit...

with SILLY BANDZ!!! 

The babysitter was on vacation last week and when she returned, she brought a truckload of these crazy bracelets for all of the kids.  You know, there has been a lot of talk about these bracelets lately and I never understood the problem.  Teachers were wanting the banned from the classroom!  In my mind, I compared them to the Lip Smackers necklaces that were all the rage when I was in junior high.

I remember my friends and I had probably 20 of these little lip balms hanging from a shoe string around our necks. We were SO COOL.

So what is the big deal with Silly Bandz?  The are basically rubber bands that come in various shapes and colors.

Why all of the controversy?  WELL, I understand and am backing them with full support!  Last night, instead of eating dinner, Jaden looked at her Silly Bandz.  She played with her Silly Bandz.  She completely, 100% tuned us out.  She was not hearing a word we were saying.  She was mesmerized by her Silly Bandz.  We tried taking them away but then she went into a pre-meltdown and we figured it wasn't worth it.  So, Mike and I ate our dinner and Jaden played with her Silly Bandz... and ate probably 3 bites of her hot dog.  We have a new rule now.  Silly Bandz are for wearing to the babysitter's ONLY.  Before dinner, they go into a baggie.

She is then allowed to play with them after dinner if she wants to but they stay in the bag, on the kitchen counter at night.  Then, in the morning after breakfast, she can load her arms with her precious bandz.

Are they cool or what?  Have any of you run into problems with these pesky things?

The Rant

It's been a while since I've had a good rant and a few things have been boiling my blood lately!  First, and I can't stop thinking about this, are the idiot kids that run around my neighborhood.  Yes, I am calling them idiots because that is what they are.  Some probably can't help it because their parents are King and Queen Idiot, but still.  Anyway, these kids range in age from (I'm guessing) 4-12.  They run around the neighborhood and yell, fight, use bad language, you name it!  Last night after dinner, J wanted to go on a walk so we got the wagon out and were getting ready to go (all 4 of us).  There was a group of boys sitting on the curb across the street talking about Jaden!  These boys are probably 4, 5, 6... somewhere in that age group.  They said, "She's hot!"  Seriously?  A three-year-old hot?  THEN, if that wasn't bad enough, the youngest one (I KNOW he is 4 years old) said, "How about when she falls asleep YOU take her clothes off!"  Then they all start laughing.  Jaden, of course, sees kids laughing and wants to play with them... OVER MY DEAD BODY!  I told her those boys were mean and she wasn't to talk to them or play with them. 

More about the neighbor kids... If you've seen my house, you know that I have a very steep driveway.  There are a few other houses in my neighborhood like that too.  The other day, I was driving and saw a kid about Jaden's age get into his wagon and fly down the driveway INTO THE STREET without a care in the world!  Where are these kids' parents?  HELLO??  Do you realize that your kid could've been killed??  Do you even care?  It's bad enough that they ride their bikes down the middle of the roads...

OH!  This story is actually a little humorous :o)  We were walking back home last night and we hear a car coming up behind us with really loud bass.  It passes us and pulls into the house diagonal from us across the street... CREEPY OLD GUY :o)  Have I ever blogged about Creepy Old Guy?  He is old and creepy.  He is a gray-haired plump (not in a cute, old man way) man that likes to listen to 98.9 and HOT 107.9 super loud and occasionally sings along super loud.  It was funny at first, but when it is 2 a.m. yeah, not so funny.  Also, he lights the front of his house with flood lights!  The two things that moved him to the top of the creepy list was when our association was having their garage sale weekend.  I went to his house and he had BOXES of porn that he was selling (no, I didn't buy any!) AND had a poster of the Jonas Brothers hanging on his garage fridge!!  You tell me one old man that has porn AND teen boy pop star posters that ISN'T creepy!

I guess that is about it... Pretty much, I'm just ready to move!  We are hoping to put our house up for sale next spring and get the heck out of dodge.

One more thing... a little driving lesson from yours truly:

1. Green means GO.
2. Stop is spelled S-T-O-P, not Y-I-E-L-D.
3. That thing that sticks out of the left side of your steering wheel?  Yeah, it is called a TURN SIGNAL.  You use it to signal your turn!
4. Those construction warning signs that say thing like LEFT LANE ENDS AHEAD are not placed 100 yards before the lane ends for the heck of it.  Don't wait until the last minute and then expect to be let in front of everyone else that is trying to get to work on time too.

Just thought I'd throw these things out there since all of Fort Wayne has forgotten what they are.

A Funk...

Yeah.  I have blogger's block.  Really BAD!  I don't know if it is the fact that life is going on turbo rapid speed or if it is because I'm just not interesting anymore?  Or maybe it's because lately I've been feeling like I've been stabbed repeatedly in my neck... which by the way is FINALLY starting to feel better!  Don't get me wrong, I've had lots of things I could blog about... Girl's Night at Flat Top, Mother's Day, Taylor's weekly updates... I'm just not in the mood :o(  Wah Waaaaahh...

I'll tell you what though, here is a kid that is totally NOT in a funk!  This is Greyson Michael Chance and he is AMAZING.  He is on Ellen today... hurry, set the DVR!  Oh yeah, he's ONLY 12!!

"One of these days Alice, straight to the Moon!"

And when Alice gets there, Jaden will be waiting!  What on earth am I going to do with this child?  Last night, she woke up around 1-1:30 and decided that it was the perfect time to throw one of her glorious temper tantrums for NO REASON WHATSOEVER!!!  This is starting to get old.  Any advice?  I'm betting the house that she has another one tonight because as result of last night's performance, she doesn't get to watch ANY T.V. when she gets home tonight.  I'm told that this is just a phase and it will pass, but how do we avoid it in the dead of night when her baby sister is fast asleep in the next room?

On a completely unrelated note, I feel like I need to apologize for something I said in a post last week.  I'm not going to repeat it because I don't want to offend anyone else (the original post has been removed as well as comments refering to it).  Basically, I referenced an inside joke when I shouldn't have.  Assuming that my readers have a feel of who I am, I didn't think anything of it.  I was then called a racist.  I am not.  I am pretty much the farthest thing from it.  I should have explained the story behind the joke but I failed to do so.  I sincerely apologize.  I hope you forgive me and continue to enjoy my blog.

Did you know that there is a group on Facebook that people are actually becomming fans of that is against America helping out the victims of the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile?  How selfish!?  It's one thing to think (which I do not) it is stupid, but to actually become a fan and let all of your friends and family know that you are a selfish person that doesn't care about anyone but yourself... seriously?  Unfortunately, I do not make loads of money and the only way I have been able to assist is by downloading a few songs in which the proceeds go to the victims.  Even so, I feel like that has helped a tiny bit or else they wouldn't be doing it.  (See the links below if you would like to do the same.)  I hear people say, "I didn't see Haiti helping the US when Katrina hit."  Maybe not because they were already poor and couldn't help.  We can!  It's like Joe Blo that gets hit by a car crossing the street and is rushed to the ER and the doctor says, "I'm not helping him because he didn't help me when I got hit by a car."  Sometimes we have to just help because we are nice people and not because we expect something in return.  Yes, we are still working our way out of a recession and could probably benefit by keeping all of the money that we donated, but when someone reaches out to you and needs a little help, you do what you can.  You don't go on Facebook and click a button to tell people you think it's stupid because that makes you stupid and selfish and if you are one of those people that I am talking about and this offended you, good.

MusicForRelief.org  Download to Donate for Haiti
http://www.cmt.com/haiti/ Hope For Haiti Now Album