Nobody got black coal

This year Xmas was mellow and much more simple than in previous years. Normally Xmas Eve all of Todd's family comes to my house for dinner and a game of white elephant. This year I did not invite anyone except my parents. At 5pm we went to a children's mass at our church, which was very entertaining. Paula , along with 11 other children, were chosen by the priest to hold up a pole w/a flag with the number 2 on it. The entire church sang "12 Days of Christmas" but certain sections were only supposed to sing their number. It was fun.

Afterwards we came home and nuked up ham, sweet potatoes and rolls. No veggie was in sight but no one cared. I wrapped up all my gifts that day. I went to bed late only to be literally shaken awake at 8am by my 7 year old saying "MOMMY, wake up, it's CHRISTMAS!".

Santa was good to us this year. Paula got her DS lite, Shawna got her Hannah Montana Glammer Kit that she asked for. He also surprised them with matching skate boards and pogo sticks. Shawna also got a VTech game. Shawna said Nobody got coal this year even though Paula wasn't very nice. LOL

At 9:30am we headed to Todd's parents house to meet up w/his family. We had brunch and opened more gifts. The kids made out like bandits again. Todd's dad goes to Costco and buys up random items to fill our stockings. Each family member has a stocking at his house. You get things like pens, post-it notes, tape, batteries, light bulbs, bars of soap. Bulk items from Costco basically. This year he also poured peanuts in the shells into all of our stockings. Scottie, Todd's nephew, wrote on the post-it's things like Kick Me, I'm Gay, etc and stuck the notes to the children's backs as they walked by. It was pretty funny.

We came home and my brother and his wife were here with their Viszla puppy Ella. She's 40 pounds and 7 months old. Very hyper!! Rosie became very nervous and upset. She literally drooled huge amounts all night. It was so sad. The next day she was fine though.
The turkey dinner was awesome!! Everyone loved it.

That night my mom and I sat up until 1am and talked. I filled her in on Todd and I. She was sad to hear it and also surprised. I just felt she needed a heads up in case we do decide to split. Todd and I have been getting along nicely this week. That can change in a heartbeat, we all know that.

Next week I'm taking the girls up to my parents to visit the snow. That's what we do here, VISIT the snow. LOL As it is I'm not sure I have snow boots that fit Paula. She grows so fast and I know she's bigger than last winter.

I'm loving being on vacation. I'm sleeping in until 9am or longer. Of course once Todd goes back to work I won't be able to sleep that late.

Blogging about nothing or something

I realize my camel post wasn't all it could be. Chalk it up to being lazy and out of ideas. Well, that's not totally true. I have ideas, I'm just too lazy to type them up or choose not to share them. My life is a constant blog idea. With 2 daughters and an idiot husband the ideas are endless. But sometimes putting those ideas into coherent posts is mentally draining.

Right now I'm waiting for my husband to come home from work. I'm off work for 2 weeks due to a work shut-down over the holidays. I'm not a good SAHM. I do much better with adults than I do with children. Even my own children, who I do love and adore and would take a bullet for in a heartbeat, get on my nerves on a regular basis. "Can you" seems to be the foremost thought in their little head. I am asked a zillion times a day "Can you......". I'm to the point where I can't. They need to do more for themselves. And if they can't, then they must not want it very much.

Here is just a few "Can You's I've heard in the last 2 days. Many I've heard more than a dozen times already:
Make me hot chocolate?
Bring me my stuffed animal
Bring me a blanket
Make me something to eat
Help me get dressed
Wipe my butt, I went poo
Wipe my butt, but I didn't go poo
Put Rosie on my lap
Fix me cereal with milk
Fix me cereal without milk
Help me put in my shoes
Tie my shoes
Put some tattoo's on us
Put nail polish on my fingers?
Fix the nail polish, some is coming off
Put on more nail polish again, this one is coming off now
Tell Paula she's in trouble for XYZ
Tell Shawna's she's not allowed to touch my XYZ

Gosh it's fun being at home and not at work where it's quiet!!!

Wise Men's Camels

A couple years ago my company did an event where you were asked to send in pictures you've taken yourself. They had those pictures rotating on our intranet main page. When I saw this one of all these camels I just had to ask the photographer about it. Was it a parking lot for camels? I could not imagine what or why there would be so many camels in one place. He replied that he'd been on vacation in India to witness a camel fair. He sent me a couple others as well. I've posted the two below. I went online and this is what it says:

"An astonishing 50,000 camels converge on the tiny desert town of Pushkar, in India's state of Rajasthan, for the Pushkar Camel Fair. It's a fascinating and peculiar sight, and a great opportunity to witness an old traditional style Indian festival.

The original intention behind the Pushkar Camel Fair was to attract local camel and cattle traders to do business during the holy Kartik Purnima festival, held in Pushkar around the full moon in the Hindu lunar month of Kartika. The fair has now also become a major tourist attraction.

For five days, the camels are dressed up, paraded, shaved, entered into beauty contests, raced, and traded. A huge carnival is held, with an array of musicians, magicians, dancers, acrobats, snake charmers and carousel rides to entertain the crowd.

The sand dunes appear infested with camels as far as the eyes can see and the population of Pushkar swells to over 200,000 people, with an inflow of pilgrims, camel traders, and tourists. It's a fascinating and peculiar sight, and a great opportunity to witness an old traditional style Indian festival. The highlight is definitely the camel races, although the comical beauty contests featuring elaborately adorned and shaved camels are also amusing."







Have you ever seen so many camels at one time???? Amazing. I just wanted to share this since I know most Americans have no idea that this event even exists, and since the camel was the transportation tool used by the 3 Wise Men to visit baby Jesus on Christmas Day so it really is an appropriate topic. :0)

See, you learned something today!!!

Random post

Randon post Tuesday.

1. This weekend Paula was watching a Disney Family channel. There are many Disney channels. Mostly they watch the one that has Hannah Montana on it, but I got them interested in the family channel showing Christmas movies. For a Christmas movie, which should be upbeat, sadly a dog died. Commercials came on asking for money to help save dogs and cats. Paula immediately tells Todd we need to call this number NOW. She was quite concerned. Todd nicely told her it was great she was concerned, but we already gave to animals a couple months ago when we donated a bunch of food for an animal shelter thru the school. Not good enough. She said "Daddy, they take credit cards. Just call them and give them your credit card number." So cute. She would have given them any amount they needed. But damn those commercials.

2. Yesterday Paula came home from school with a letter from an elf named Ariella in Santa's North Pole. Apparently all the 2nd graders received personalized letters mailed by they're special elf's. The elf explained how she's responsible for tracking certain children, she's Paula's elf, how she knows she's been a good girl and to let her know what she wants for Christmas and she'll pass it on to Santa. Paula was thrilled! It was so cute. Even Ariella's picture was on the letter.

3. I get 17 days off work starting Saturday. My work is shutting down for 2 weeks. I know I'm going to go crazy being home all day with my children. Between the fighting, their annoying TV shows, them being bored & my going crazy, I'm hoping we will all surive. Normally we might go camping but given we're trying to save money we're not planning any trips until February. So, send good luck vibes. Better yet, send alcohol and drugs. I'll need them.

4. I weighed myself today for the first time in months. OMG I've gained so much flippin weight. SCARY! I of course knew that I'd gained weight since my pants were no longer fitting and I had to buy larger size pants to go over my larger size butt. But I never had a number for my weight so I was kind of able to stay in a bit of denial as to how bad I might be. Yeah, it's pretty bad. I must must must never open my mouth again and insert food. never ever.

5. It's been raining here the past couple days. We really need rain so I'm fine with it. Yesterday on the way to school the girls and I witnessed a beautiful double rainbow! Sadly, my camera phone doesn't do it justice. The rainbow on the right was much brighter and clearer. As we got closer to school we could see the full arches of both of them. So awesome.

Interesting family members

I have a first cousin, who for almost as long as I can really remember him, has been in prison. He's 49, 9 years older than me. My mom and his mom are sisters. I don't know everything about him, but what I do know is that about 20 years ago he was accused of killing two people over a marijuana issue. According to my cousin, it was a set up. In addition, according to his mother, there was tampering with the jury by other jury members. Apparently some jury members who wanted to vote 'not guilty' were being scared or threatened to vote guilty. Now, you would think this is a no brainer for a mistrial or at least a new trial. Nope. He's done what he can with the system, but at this point I believe only a pardon can set him free. He got life in prison.

I was about in high school when he got arrested. I have vague memories of him at family gatherings. Since I was a girl and he was much older we didn't hang out much. His one sister stayed with us for a week when I was 4 yrs old after my brother was born. He also has another sister and brother.

My cousin had the cutest daughter and son at the time he went in. Rachelle was only 2 yrs old at the time. I was completely in love with her since I was in high school when she was born and prime babysitting age so I'd follow her around while her mom visited everyone. Sean was a couple years older. In 2001 Rachelle and I were both pregnant with our first child together. We were both due in April 2001. She was a young mother. She now has 2 sons. Her brother Sean has a son and daughter. He's also a young father. We're talking 3rd cousins now. I have a big family.

He also has another daughter I didn't even know about until the year 2000 and she was 18 at the time. He remarried while in Folsom prison (because you know how some women totally dig prison men) which I knew, but they had a daughter which I didn't know about. She came to our last family reunion this past April. She's very sweet and beautiful.

In prison you belong to a certain group in order to survive. You have your Hispanic gang, black gang, Asian gang etc. Tommy's father, who died when I was young, was American Indian. His mother is Italian and Irish. Tommy choose to take on his American Indian heritage more strongly and belong to that group. He grew his hair long, totally worked out and got lots of tattoos.

Up until a few years ago he was in Folsom Prison in CA. Then he blew it. He was working in the dentist office of Folsom prison and there was a woman that worked in there too. She would just come for the day and leave. Hanky panky is a big no no. Well, he got caught fucking her in the back room. They wanted him to admit to some things, which I believe would have gotten the lady in bigger trouble, but he refused to comply. You absolutely cannot be a tattle tale in prison or your dead meat. As punishment for not cooperating they sent him to a different prison.

My cousin had been in the new part of Folsom prison almost his entire time, which as far as prisons go was apparently pretty nice. Large cells, and much newer with more modern conveniences. They sent him to Corcoran Prison in King City, CA which was older and not nearly as nice. He hated it. His mom and family tried to get it reversed but no go.

His mom was really upset for many reasons. Mainly, because she and her husband had moved to a nearby city on purpose, because it was only 1 hour from Folsom. She would visit him once a week. His new prison is many hours away and she just couldn't do the visits anymore. Now she lives in Florida, but is visiting this week and staying at my moms house for a couple days. I know she plans to see him while she's here.

At family reunions we each write a note to him that delivered by his mother. She keeps him pretty informed on the family. I've been encouraged by his sister to visit him, especially when my own grandparents lived in Folsom, but since I didn't really remember him well, I felt uncomfortable going. To visit you first must get approved by the prison administration. You have to apply so they can do a background check on you. In addition, when you visit the inmates you can't wear under wire bras, belts or anything that can be used as a weapon. The entire thing seemed too complicated.

Going off topic for a second. I remember once as a teenager, my parents, brother and I were visiting my grandparents for a weekend. They lived in the town of Folsom, CA. On a whim we decided to go check out the prison. We'd been there many times in the parking lot. I know that sounds weird, but my Granddad was a guard there for 22 years and at the end of his employment he worked in the towers with the rifles, overseeing the grounds and the Folsom Dam, which was right next to the prison. Everyday he would pack a peanut butter & jelly sandwich along with other food items into his lunch box and off he'd go in his uniform.

In summers I would stay there by myself for a couple weeks and I was always curious about my Granddads cool job as a prison guard. The prison was ominous. Not only that, but the road that you turned into to drive up to the prison had huge sirons on either side and was very long with nothing around. My Grandma would drive me over there and show me which tower he was in. I thought it was the coolest job ever. They have a barber shop, museum and store on site that you can visit. My granddad only got his haircuts at the prison. They even took my brother there once in the 70's when he was a boy and lopped off his long hair. My mom was pissed.

So that one day we decided to go see the museum and store. At the time I also had a classmate and friend named Carol, whose brother was also in the same prison for murder. She didn't talk about him much. As my parents and I walked past the visitor area where you wait your turn to visit the inmate, there was Carol and her family in line to visit her brother! Talk about awkward. They saw us and were shocked. I know her mom looked embarrassed. Carol wasn't though, she was more surprised so we chatted it up for a few minutes. Talk about coincidence!

Back to my cousin. I decided to look him up online and found the 2 below pictures with corresponding entries. He is on a couple pen-pal prison websites.

"I am a 44 year old Jicarilla/Ute half-breed with close connection to my spiritual nature, and find this in my Native American heritage. I have been in prison for 18 years and will be here as long as it takes to win my freedom. I fight the system to the best of my capability and in so far I have a little luck in these endeavors. If I should be fortunate enough to meet people from all over this world to talk with and share ideas with, then I would consider myself a lucky man.I have had the blessing of being a father, in turn they have made me a grandfather three times over - this is truly a blessing, I only wish I could be a bigger part of their lives. I do a fair share of writing in many forms, and I wish to share with others any and all of my experience. I have contacts in Northern Europe, and I like to expand out to the South-seas and New Zealand. Not to be petulant, but I find that I respond better to women that seek sharing life's gift and experiences
with a man who has an ear for understanding. I do not seek anything from anyone but exchanging letters. I have no needs but company and I enjoy humor and tales of wonder about family and friends, about travels near and far. I can offer the same in return. "

The picture below is him with his daughter and her husband along with their son. I believe this must have been in 2001.

"For me it has been many years of suppression inside the walls of this system, but I fight on to win the freedom desired. While the twenty years have been hard, I have learned to become connected with the Spirits surrounding everything upon this path. I bead and write to pass the time - that is when not being worked - I am now 45 with three grown children and have been blessed with three beautiful grandchildren. In this way I am happy to have lived a life before all of this.I seek correspondence with WOMEN from all over the world who would like to help release the inner spirit, one trapped of loneliness, to travel outside these walls. I like to share your world with me - if you look tothe setting sun and find that you have a curiosity, if you feel you want some kind of connection - PLEASE, allow me the grace of your words, to travel to places only dreamt of. No expectation are placed upon anyone, only friendship and the thanks of a chained man."

I can't imagine what it's like to be him. But he's certainly made a life for himself inside.

Christmas time surprises

Last night Shawna was sitting in my lap naked on the couch. She likes to snuggle with me before bed time, which is an hour after bath but always refuses to put on jammies until the last minute no matter how freezing she feels. She was in a fetal position on my lap under my Grandmothers handmade afghan and I was snuggling against her and kissing her cheek like I usually do while we watch Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking.
She turns and looks at me.

Shawna: Mommy, promise me you won't get mad.

Me: What?

Shawna: Promise you won't get mad.

Me: Saying slowly Okay, what happened?

Shawna: I kinda peed in my underwear at school today.

Me: That's okay sweetie. Your only 5 and I know how you have terrible bladder control. Just a little pee is no big deal while at school.

Shawna: I peed in my underwear in the church.

Me: Confused. Why was she in the church on a Wednesday. Why were you in the church?
Oh, the light goes off in my head were you practicing for the Christmas program?

Shawna: Yes and Mrs. G aid took me to the bathroom.

Me: Why couldn't you go potty before you had the accident?

Shawna: I had to go but we were up next to do our song.

Me: Oh, Okay. Next time remember to go before you get into the church. I'm sure Mrs. D teacher tells all the kids to go beforehand. Make sure you go. This child is notorious for saying she doesn't have to pee when 10 minutes later she has to pee.

Shawna: No she doesn't. She never says it.

Me: Yeah right. I bet she does. Just make sure you go beforehand okay?

Shawna: OK.

The kids go off to bed. I'm in Paula's room braiding her wet hair so it will be curly in the morning when she asks:

Paula: Are you and Daddy going to get divorced?

Me: Shit! Why? Who said that? Todd and I have had some big discussions lately and were even considering having him move out after the new year but now we know we can't afford that unless we sell the house.

Paula: No one

Me: Do you know what divorce means?

Paula: Yes, it means someone leaves and lives somewhere else

Me: Not always honey. Thinking we'll have to sell the house in order to separate so we'll both be leaving.

I quickly change the subject.

I go downstairs.

I make their lunches going through their backpacks. Shawna has a huge bag of clothes in hers. Everything except her shirt was soaked!!! Her jumper, underwear, bike shorts, socks! Pee soaked! She didn't just wet her underwear. She soaked everything! It's like she just stood there and peed while singing. I wonder if any got on the carpet in the church. Crap. I'm sure Miss G just LOVED her job that day.

Now I need to wash it all because her other jumper, which I just had hemmed, is now un-hemmed when one of Shawna's classmates noticed a thread hanging and pulled it, causing the hem to fall. Nice.

Grab all items and toss them in the washing machine. Look around, grab anything else that looks like it can be washed together. Turn it on wondering what Shawna wore home from school.

This morning I threw everything in the dryer. Thankfully the jumpers dry fast. I notice on her floor is a very small jumper she borrowed. I'll need to wash everything and return it back to the school.

Shawna: Did you dry my shoes?

Me: Your shoes?!!! Uh, yes. No, I didn't check the shoes. I hope they're dry! They were.

Dang surprises.

All I want for Christmas.....

Today on the way to school:

Me: So what do you girls want for Christmas?

Paula: I want a DS. Because I'm the ONLY kid in my class that doesn't have one.

Shawna: I want a Hannah Montana kit. (make-up kit like her sisters)

Paula: I also want a laptop but Daddy says I can't have one. I don't know why. I know how to use one and I'm really good on computers.

Me: We have two computers already and laptops are more expensive then desktops.

Shawna: I want a Hannah Montana kit.

Paula: I also want the gift to be able to wake up faster in the morning.

Me: Oh yeah, that would be nice.

Paula: But I really want a laptop and a DS.

Me: Santa is not going to bring you a laptop and a DS. They're way too expensive.

Paula: O.K. Then I want the DS. But Mommy, it's a Christmas present from Santa. We don't have to pay anything.

Me: smiling Uh huh.

Jill Visit

Yesterday I visited with Jill. To update you all, Jill and I have known each other for about 16 years. We met at a previous work place. 11+ years ago her ex-husband helped my husband get the job at the company he still works at today. (Although their doing layoffs as I type this so I'm hoping he still has a job!) She was the matron of honor in my wedding and her daughter was one of my flower girls. We go through long periods where we don't talk, but thankfully we always come back together. I love her.

I was there from 3pm to 10:30pm. I filled her in on my life saga involving my husband, which, most of you usual readers know the basics of, but she and I hadn't really talked in a year and a half so she was way behind. I also told her some stuff about me that went way back to before the Todd days. That kinda surprised her. As much as you might think I'm an open book, I'm really closed lipped when it comes to the aspects of my life I'm not proud of. It's one thing to share with perfect strangers, but telling friends and family causes them to worry, plus I don't want to be judged by my friends or family by what they might consider mistakes I've made or are going to make. At the same time I love them dearly and need their guidance so it's a tough line for me.

She offered great opinions and insight which I really appreciated. She's an awesome friend.

I felt the need to confess to her that I recently tossed out a t-ball baseball card picture I had of her oldest son when he was about 7 (he's 20 now) that just kept popping up in my drawers. She teased me about that! She showed me pics of her daughter now 18. OMG she's gorgeous and so smart. I first met her daughter when she was 2 years old. Her son who is 20. Her youngest son is a mini Jill. It's so wild to see those kids so grown up because when I was hanging around them all the time the older two were in elementary school and the youngest didn't exist yet.

As for the dogs, Fred, her other half, had taken the 2 greyhounds with him on errands so she and I could be alone. Her whippet, Jordy, and her foster dog, Malcolm, stayed with us. I had many noses in my lap or looks that said "please pet me". All the dogs were very sweet. Jordy, however, has a squeaky ball fetish where he squeaked the damn ball non-stop as I was trying to talk. I couldn't think!!!! Finally Jill had to put out of his reach.

There are dog beds everywhere. She has to fill up their two water bowls about 10 times a day. While I was there I filled them up twice. I was told I got the preferred guest treatment as the couch had been uncovered for my visit. The excitement of the night was when one of the greyhounds stole a good chunk of chicken (our dinner) off the counter. Funny stuff.

Below is Jill looking lovely. She's going to hate that I posted this picture but since it's all she gave me it's what I have to show. I'm sending her my blog address after I post this. lol

Random

As follow-up to my Jill post she and I are getting together this Sunday so I can bitch, I mean fill her in all the crap, I mean stuff, in my life this past year. My girls were bummed to know they couldn't join me. They really like Jill. Something to know about Jill is that she takes in strays. Right now she has 4 dogs. 2 are rescued greyhounds, 1 is a whippet and 1 is a stray lab mix that she's fostering. When I met Jill she had a 3 legged cat she'd rescued from the pound, in addition to a rescued greyhound and a 15 year old cat. She also came home one day with a dog she found in the supermarket parking lot. She kept it for weeks until the right family came along to take him. So in my next post about Jill I'll probably have some things to say about life with that many dogs in her small rental house.

Today after school Shawna is going Christmas Caroling with her brownie troop to a senior living place with the 7th grade Girl Scouts. Yesterday they had practice where I was told she didn't look pleased to be there. LOL In fact I think she was bored. Most likely it's because she doesn't know many songs. Plus she doesn't read yet so it's not like she can read the words. I'm hoping she at least smiles at the old folks. Either way the seniors will adore watching the girls.

December is here!

We had a nice Thanksgiving up at my parents house. We saw deer and turkeys in their yard which is always fun. The weather was gorgeous the entire weekend.

On Black Friday I ventured out to Kmart in Grass Valley. I fully expected huge lines but there were NONE. I found some great door buster items on sale for the girls. All Hannah Montana stuff of course. Getting them from Grandma's to home in the minivan was tricky but we used a big blanket to cover the items. They each get a skateboard and pogo stick. I also got Paula some new bedding since she doesn't want Princess stuff anymore. 8 years old is about age when they're tastes change.

Saturday on our way home we stopped by to visit with my grandmother. She'll be 93 in February. She looks great. Her memory is slipping more and more but it's to be expected. She always gets a kick out of Rosie. The kids and dog attract attention with all the seniors living there. She lives in a assisted living place. We left when it was time for her lunch. They all sit in a large eating room. She sits with 2 other ladies at her table. It's cute. Paula and Shawna helped wheel her in (she had a stroke 2 years ago so her right arm doesn't move and she can't really walk well). She's such a great lady. I love her so much.

Sunday Paula was invited to a play date to go ice skating and to the park so she did that. They also took her to church at night. Todd and Shawna hit the grocery store while I put out my Spode Christmas china. I have way too much. I bought a bunch 2 years ago at Marshall's for cheap. I planned to give them away as gifts, then forgot where I put it all. We found it after Xmas last year so now I need to decide what to do with it all. Plus I get Spode items as gifts from people since the know I collect it. I have tons of bake ware. I'm using some as fruit bowls right now.

Sunday is also the day Megan moved in to the in-law suite over our garage. Her bed is gigantic in that small room.

Overall it was a nice long weekend. This week is mellow. I do have a hair appointment but other than that no plans.

Wacky Wednesday

I emailed Jill today. If you read my previous post this will make sense.

I wasn't sure her email was even valid any longer but it was. She emailed me back quickly with xoxo after her name. That made me smile and feel better. I called her and we chatted for a good long time. She filled me on her relationship, her kids and work. I did the same. I sent her Lisa's email so they can get in touch. She and I agreed to get together at her house so I can fill her in on all the crap that's been going on my house. I didn't want to discuss it here at work since I sit in a cubicle.

I always miss her more after we've talked.

Tomorrow we head to my parents house for Turkey Day. My brother is in Oregon hunting geese and duck for the next few days. It's his thing people. Don't ask.

The new tenant moves into our in-law suite this weekend too. That should be interesting.

I probably won't be back online until Monday. Although I'm currently bidding on a Leapster for Shawna on eBay, which ends tomorrow, so I'll need to go on my dads slow as molasses computer to see if I've won.

Happy Thanksgiving

Story about a part of my past

Today while grocery shopping I ran into an old friend who I worked with approx 18 years ago and hadn't seen for 4 years. Her name is Lisa. The funny thing about bumping into Lisa today is that exactly 4 years ago this week we bumped into each other at a different grocery store. What are the odds?

This is also the week we moved into our current house 4 years ago. I looked awful then and I didn't look so great today either. Pre-shower, that kind of thing. Why OH WHY does that always happen? I ask you. Murphy's Law?! What?

Anyway, 4 years ago she was with her new husband of one year. They've now been married 5 years and have a 2 year old daughter.

Lisa and I have some history. Not your normal history either. When Lisa and I worked together she was married to another guy. We'll call him Sherman. Sherman worked as a correction officer for the county jail. He and other jail officers had Tuesday off so in the summer they'd often go to a local lake to jet ski and water ski with a boat. The company Lisa and I worked for was part-time employees only so she and I would leave around 11:30pm and meet up with the guys. It was FUN! I loved that summer.

Sometime later Lisa and Sherman broke up. She and another of our co-workers named Jill became really close. Jill and I were also friends but not as close and Lisa and I. Jill and Lisa became VERY close. Jill and her husband had separated so Lisa moved in with Jill. Neither were truthful to me while it was happening but they'd become romantic with each other. Yep, you read that right. One night I was at my boyfriends house and Lisa paged me 911. I called back to learn Jill had to go to the ER and Lisa needed to stay with her kids. Turns out Jill had to have an ovary removed that had a grapefruit size cyst attached to it. I was actually Lisa's supervisor at that time too.

My feelings were getting hurt. I didn't understand why I'd been ousted out of the group. I would call them or page them (that was the thing back then) and they wouldn't return my calls.

Lisa and Jill started to fall apart. Lisa moved out. I was back in! Lisa and I started roller blading again and hanging out. Lisa said that Jill was getting obsessed with her. (me not knowing about the sex part) and I was confused because that didn't seem like Jill. Lisa changed jobs and eventually she and I lost touch.

I continued to work with Jill. She and I eventually became best friends. She needed help with her kids when she worked nights. I helped with laundry. I was there A.LOT. Especially when my boyfriend (mentioned above) and I broke up. She was even in my wedding in 1999. Jill is who explained everything to me about Lisa, putting all the pieces together. I was upset at Lisa for leading me to believe that Jill was crazy, when in fact, she was truthfully behaving like a girlfriend would in the same situation. I never got a chance to tell her that.

Jill and Lisa have not spoken since that time. I've forgiven Lisa and so has Jill.

Lisa and her family live near me and I'm exciting to have her over with her daughter. My girls will fawn over a 2 year old girl. My biggest worry, if you know my stupid husband's history, is that Lisa is very pretty & half Asian, (like Susan was). I'm not so worried about Lisa as I am about Todd and having history repeat itself at.all. Lisa is living in a 2 bedroom apartment having sold their house in Livermore and trapped in a lease. They went from a large house to a tiny apartment until February when they buy a house. Hence why I want them to come to my house, not the other way around. I'm going to have to lay the law down for Todd. It's not possible for me only to have ugly or lesbian women over!!!!

Forgetfulness

I'm such a dork. Today I forgot to bring the turkey we specifically purchased for the food bank. My work collected the frozen poultry and drove them down to the food bank.
I remembered that I'd forgotten to put it in the car when I saw a homeless man walking with all his bags of stuff. Doh! Forgetfulness is common for me if I don't write myself a sticky note by the door.

Also, yesterday I thought my kids had hot lunch, but really it was for today. The office called me to see if anyone could bring them a lunch. Nope. Apparently 2 teachers had to give up their lunches for my children. Another Doh!

I'm on a roll.

One day, long, long ago.....

One day, long, long ago.......
there lived a woman who did not whine, nag or bitch.

But this was a long time ago.......and it was just that one day.

The End

Quick update

I know I haven't been posting like my usual self. I come on here but have nothing to say so I leave. LOL Life at home is fine. We're gearing up for the holiday season so the weekends are all booked as usual. We're going to parties & planning parties.

I'm helping the schools crab feed & auction committee which is new for me. I'm trying to come up with new and exciting ideas to raise money for our school.

Work is okay. They laid off people in my group but now need to hire people. They have me totally working retail ALONE. Not do-able. I'm good but not THAT good. LOL Accounts are going on hold that I have no idea what their issues are because they aren't my account. It's frustrating.

This weekend Todd's sister and her family are coming from Puyallup, WA. We're having Thanksgiving with his side of the family on Saturday. Then, for Thanksgiving weekend we're going up to my parents house for a few days.

That's my exciting life people.

PICTURES! Better late than never

I know I owe some pictures. I finally remembered to bring the camera to work. It's the only time I'm on the computer. I hate being on a computer once I get home.

Last night Shawna's school had a sight word event. She had fun. Here she is writing sight words in shaving cream.

She's learned how to make a star the way I do. She practices it all the time right now.

They opened eggs that had letters in them. You had to make the sight word from the letters.


A couple weeks ago I took care of two girls from school. School was closed. There is a girl in 1st grade who people say is Shawna's twin. Here they are together.


Halloween! I know, it's been forever now but here they are.


Miley Cyrus and the Cheetah girl

She was originally going to be Hannah Montana but since she choose not to wear the blond wig, she called herself Miley instead. I'm just glad she wore the outfit I bought her!


Jack Sparrow


The Fam



This was the Trunk Or Treat event at their school. I'm a tarrot card reader. I won COOLEST.



That's it! Until next time. Tahta!

Whew!

Yesterday was very stressful. My company laid off approx 450 people. In all the layoffs we've had over my 9 years of being here, this is the only one where I was seriously worried. Thankfully I made it. The image I have in my head for this layoff is a chopping block where a knife is going up and down repeatedly and employees have to pass through. My turn happened as the knife was in the up position.

In home news, Todd's overtime has been eliminated completely which affects our income heavily. I had to cancel our cleaning lady. This KILLS me. I work full-time and hate on my only 2 days home to clean bathrooms and the like. My house is fairly huge. I can guarantee you that there will be lots of dust in my home from now on.

Has anyone ever thrown a cleaning party??? You know, similar to a tree trimming party. Maybe I can start one up. I'm happy to provide wine to anyone who cleans my toilets.
If interested apply here.

It's begun

My company is laying off a large number of employees this week. Today they did the first layoff in my group. The gal they laid off was leaving for vacation tomorrow so they did her early. We expect more to be done Wed or Thursday.

Todd and I think we found someone we like to rent the in-law suite over our garage. We've had many many people interested. No one has good credit. It's tough but we're going with our gut.

We camped this past weekend. It was fun but I've acquired a cold and I'm not feeling my chipper self.

yard duty

Today I was extremely parental. I took off work to do yard duty at my girls school. Who takes off work for that?! Not many people I'm sure. I don't work near the school. I'm 14 miles from it to be exact. So after I left work, I swung into a Burger King and ordered a whopper, 86 the onions and a chocolate shake. The shake is so I won't have to pee during yard duty. A diet soda, my usual choice, will go right thru me. I ate and drove to the school. Parked and located the yard duty sign-in table. I'm a newbie to this yard duty stuff so I was greeted by a parent who knew the ropes.

Sign here, wear this lovely orange net cover over your body so you'll glow in the dark in case the sun goes out, put this heavy plastic zipper pouch over your head with this thin lanyard so it cuts into the back of your neck. In your heavy plastic zipper pouch are 2 laminated, front and back ,instructions in case of emergencies. Read all sides. There are tissues, band-aids, rubber gloves for oozing blood or fluid, and a few other things in your pouch. Also, hold this radio. It's already set on the correct channel.

Now that you're all dressed, go stand around the lunch tables and help children until they're let go for play. Head out to the fields when you see them being released from the tables.

I gave spoons to children who needed them, undid thermos lids which were too tight, helped some boys who were being bugged by Sal. Sal said he wasn't Sal. Nice.
Told Shawna to eat her lunch several times. Told Paula it was okay if she didn't finish all her sandwich. Answered Paula that maybe we'll have a sleepover with her friend K.K, who is sitting next to her. Watched a boy gargle ferociously with orange juice.

When is this eating thing over? I need to get out of here.

Opened up my pouch to read the instructions. Basically call 911 for everything unless your trained in CPR. In case of a stranger the code word is Flash. Yell Flash and the kids will know what to do because they've been trained. In case of an earthquake squat down and cover your head. Watch for debris from trees and wires from poles. Head the children to area 1 after this and that event. Okay. Got it.

Now I'm at the fields. Watch the 8th graders play nicely. Saw two older boys rolling around the grass like they were on fire. Avoided the ball in the head a few times during kick ball and throw the ball anywhere. Listened on my radio for any hot topics like stranger danger. Instead someone wanted to know where the blankety blank was. Someone else said they'd find it after lunch. Watched a girl sitting alone quietly pulling grass. Saw a lot of chaos.

We can't hear the bell out on the fields so over the radio comes "The bell rang, again, the bell rang. Start coming in from the fields".
Yell to the kids who can't hear me anyway. Thankfully the principal had a whistle she blew, only the 8th graders ignored it. That pissed her off.

Watched the kids slowly make their way back to the campus at a snails pace.

Headed to the office to turn in my gear. Walked away from the office forgetting to take off my lovely orange vest. She didn't even notice. Scary.

Election Day tomorrow

Well, we have TONS of candy. The girls got candy at school AND trick-or-treating so needless to say we have more than we'll ever eat, which means Todd and I will bring bags full to work to share in the caloric intake.

The girls did well this weekend as far as not being really excessive with how much they ate. I did let them indulge more than I'd usually do on a regular weekend. I was prepared to tie them to their beds if they got out of hand but that didn't happen.

I do have pictures from the Big Day but not with me. My bad. I'll have to upload those later. I won the COOLEST Trunk-Or-Treat for my tarrot card reader theme. :0)

Tomorrow is election day. Yikes! Is everyone else freaking out like me?

Family Portraits

I decided this year, rather than let Todd take our family picture, I'd set up a JC Penny portrait session. They're reasonably priced and I've liked what we've had in the past from them. The girls did great. Todd insists that when he smiles his eyes get "squinty". Whatever. The girls got on his case for not smiling. Still he didn't put out.

Needs Sleep

Paula who is my oldest, age 7.5, does not want to sleep in her room. She hasn't for many months. She'll start out in there, most times, then end up on our floor in a sleeping bag. It's gotten to the point where we're irritated and want her to sleep in her own room the entire night. She hasn't done that in months.

Her reasons:
1. She sees shadows - Well of course you do! You have enough night lights to compete with the Vegas strip! No Mommy, not those shadows, other shadows. Paula, if you close your eyes you won't see anything. I know but I'm scared.
2. She hears noises - Honey, the world makes noise. But they scare me. What if a burglar is trying to come in. We live in a safe neighborhood. You're fine. But I'm scared.
3. She's afraid of burglars - Runs down stairs because the dog is barking - Why is Rosie barking? Because she heard a noise (probably the raccoon trying to get into my house). It's fine, go back to sleep. I can't. I'm scared.
4. Worried about the burglar again - Mommy, did you lock ALL the doors? Are you sure? Yes, I'm sure. But I'm still scared.

Really it's never ending. We'll toss her back in her room after explaining all the reasons why she should feel safe but in the end she'll literally start crying A LOT, not just a little. It will be past 10pm by the time we finally decide we too need to go to bed. Her lights are out by 8:30pm if that gives you any idea of how long this goes on. On rare occasions she'll fall asleep, then wake up in the middle of the night and need to come in our room. Sending her back does not work. She cries and is adamant that she can't be in her room.

When she was 3 years old she had a fear of Tigers. Yep, tigers. IN.Her.Room. Todd came up with a brilliant idea (someone maybe helped us on this...I'm not sure). He took a plain spray bottle, printed and taped a friendly cartoon tiger on it and it became the Tiger Spray. Paula could spray her room before bed to prevent tigers from entering. Sometimes the floor and bed got pretty wet. There is no tiger spray that is going to help us out now.

She's a worrier. If someone told to describe Paula in 5 words or less I'd say worrier as one of those top 5. She worries about so much for a child her age. Will it hurt? What will it feel like? What will happen?

She was a complete wreck on her first plane ride to Disneyland at age 5 to the point she was actually throwing up. We were walking through first class and I'm saying "it's not the flu, she's just scared". Yeah, like they believed me. She was almost just as scared as we waited to go on the monorail. Now of course both riding in planes and the monorail are her 2 FAVORITE THINGS EVER. It took her 2 years to agree to go on the Matterhorn because she was scared of what it would feel like. Now it's her FAVORITE THING EVER.

She threw up on a dentist from crying so hard just because he wanted to look in her mouth. Just look. Nothing else. I changed dentists. She goes to mine now who I must say is much better for Paula. Now she likes getting her teeth scraped but for a long time that metal tool was her total enemy because it might hurt. When she sees a little blood on the pad as they're scraping her teeth near her gums we have to lie and say it's not blood because she starts to panic.

Even if she's in our room she doesn't always sleep well. There are some nights she lays awake a long time. Getting her up in the morning is rough on those days.

She'll be the first one to tell you she wants to be able to sleep in her room, she just can't. She doesn't like being different. She recognizes she doesn't like many foods, can't sleep in her room, is afraid of many things. She knows she's different from her sister and other kids at school. We try to boost her ego up and brag on all the things she's great at which sometimes works but not always.

We're at loss. I am going to send a letter to her counselor at school so that they can discuss this topic. Maybe someone else can reach her.

If anyone has any ideas or has experienced this I'd love to hear from you.

National Household Travel Survey

I'm a sucker sometimes. I know what your thinking. YOU?! A sucker? No way.

It's true. Usually when telemarketers call (or anyone I don't know really) I quickly hang up. I can't even bother to be nice. I just say "Not Interested". Clank.
However, if they're good and doing a survey I can usually be convinced to stay on the phone.

Last week a lady called from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Anything with a title like U.S. Department in it I hesitate to hang up on them. She was asking me questions about our cars, age, simple stuff. Then she suckered me into agreeing to do a National Household Travel Survey where my family and I (yes, even Shawna and Paula must track their travels for a day) recording every where we go & how long it takes.

Yesterday was the day.

There was $2.00 for each of us in the envelopes provided. (I kept all the money. I'm evil like that).

I'm basically calculating it all up today. Thank goodness for Mapquest who can give me the miles per locations. I realize I'm not doing this survey the exact way they want but they're getting their info. Except for times. I'm not sure on exact times but I'm fairly close.

I feel I'm going a good service for my country. Yep, when our transportation departement tells you it takes 45 minutes to go from X to Y you can thank me for that information. (give or take a few minutes).

Bad idea

On Friday the girls didn't have school. I was watching two girls from their school along with my own. Later in the day they took out the skateboard. For some unknown reason I thought it would be a good idea to show the new girls how to do it. You know, because I used to skateboard when I was a kid. Yeah. While trying to lift the front up and turn the bloody thing, I proceeded to fall back right on my rump, and hands. My entire body is achy even today...3 days later.

Mental note: Do not attempt to skateboard when you're 40 and it's been 30 years since you've practiced.

Note passing

My oldest Paula got busted in class for passing notes to a boy. According to her the boy started it. He would write "write something" and she would pass back a note that said "no". The teacher caught them and gave them a warning. Boy passes a note again saying "Write something" and Paula passed it back writing "No!". Busted again! Now a note comes home to the parents where we must speak to child, sign off on note and give punishment.

Note passing isn't a huge deal, compared to pinching a boy which she did last week. Mental Note: I'll have to ask if this is the same boy. I told her she was losing 30 minutes of TV last night. Her anguish over that punishment was equalled to me pulling out her finger nails one by one. She cried, she begged, NO MOMMY!!!!! Bawling, begging me to stay in the bedroom so we can discuss this more. In the end we forgot and she barely missed 5 minutes.

However, this morning Shawna was being a pest, breathing on her sister. You know how that goes. MOMMY!!! SHAWNA WON'T STOP BREATHING ON ME!!!! I ignored them. I was having major hair issues and couldn't be bothered.

I get downstairs finally where Shawna is crying because Paula threw a brush at her head which whacked her with the hard part. Now I'm pissed. You can yell in our house but you are not allowed to hurt, hit, push, pinch, spit, etc. Now she's lost TV for the entire night. She's barely upset because tonight is hours away right? Wait until tonight. That's when the crying and begging will start. Can't wait.

Hectic Life

You know how some days you just can't pull it together? Like an outfit that you just can't get to look right? Like most people, my life is hectic. I always have a few balls in the air at a time. Below are the things going on lately.

1. Work:
a. I have a new director, PMS, who is changing the way we do things. I'm fine with change as long as it works. She spouts she's not a micro manager but in truth, she is. She's the type of manager who after you have a conversation with her she takes her notebook (or computer) and types out the conversation. Yeah, I had a controller like her at my last job who in the end I called The Devil. To this day, the only person I continue to hate is The Devil. She completely mistreated me and gave me a bad rap. I've tried to forgive but it isn't happening. I'm really hoping PMS does not become The Devil Jr.

b. We're having a major layoff at work coming up. So major that roughly 74o people worldwide will be affected. I've been at my job 9 years. I love this company. Love it. I'm very involved in many aspects of the company. As much as I'd like 9 months or so of severance, I'd hate to lose my job. The job market sucks right now. We can't afford for me not to work. I'm praying I get to keep my job.

c. Take in account A and B and I have no idea what my chances of survival are at work. I'm generally an optimistic person. I know that whatever happens is part of a larger plan.

2. My daughter Paula:
a. She requires ortho work. She's 7.5 yrs old, which is when you should have your children evaluated in that area according to the ortho folks. She requires a Stage 1 plan which will include a palate expander among some other work. $3500 worth to be exact. We have a good benefits plan (although I was just told my company may be trying to save money by changing our benefits package come June) where $1500 for ortho is covered. Still, not a good time for spending money. Yesterday she had the Xrays necessary. All this will be happening in the next month or so. As much as she's asking for ortho, when it comes to actually wearing the device and dealing with the pain and discomfort, I'm not looking forward to that battle. Since she only has one side of her mouth that needs expanding, her retainer expander is removable. Why they can't make a permanent one for one side is beyond me.

b. Paula also has tongue thrust. When she swallows she pushes her tongue up against her front teeth. This act has caused her front teeth to move forward. We have an appointment on Saturday with an Orofacial Myofunctrional Therapist (say that fast 3 times) to evaluate her. How she eats, swallows and speaks will be analyzed. How much will this cost? I have no idea. The first meeting is free.

3. School:
a. I volunteered to the Box Tops coordinator. I have hundreds of tiny itty bitty box tops in my house that I need to bundle into counts of 50 and mail by October 31st at the latest. I haven't even begun to bundle.

b. I'm on a grass committee at school where we meet every Monday night. In the next coming weeks we're having a trial period to get our kids playing on our baseball fields. (long story). In order for this to work we need 5 more parent volunteers for yard duty. May not happen. I have to cover one of those lunch periods since I'm on the committee. That will be a 2 hour lunch including driving time. (See 1 a & B to know this isn't a great idea)

c. I'm on the Grants Committee at school. We're meeting tonight at 7pm. I have to write at least one grant in November.

d. There is no school on Friday. I have to take a PTO day to watch my kids. I'm also watching 3 other kids.

e. For Halloween our kids get to dress up for Halloween for the first time in years at school. Parents were asked to participate in Trunk or Treat. You decorate your trunk and park in the parking lot and the kids come around and collect candy. I have to take a PTO day for that as well. (See 1. A & B to know that taking PTO days right now is not a great idea).

4. Home
1. Sunday I scheduled family portraits at JC Penny for our holiday cards. I still don't know what we're wearing.

2. I received a call from the department of transportation to do a survey next week and record everywhere we drive for a day. They paid me $8.00. Todd is supposed to do it too but I doubt he will.

I'm sure there are more balls in the air but I have to go work and earn my keep.

6 Things I Value and Don't Value

Wow! I received another award from Nanas Box. Thanks Angie!



Here are the RULES for the Award: *Mention the blog that gave you the award and comment on their blog to let them know that you have posted their award. You also have to list 6 things you VALUE and 6 things you Don't VALUE. Lastly, you have to pass the award onto 6 other friends!

Six Things I Value: (In no particular order)
1. My Family: I love my family. My parents, my brother, my daughter's and my husband. Granted, my husband can be an ass, but he's an awesome father. As my girls father I value him a lot.

2. Optimism: Where would we be without optimism? Todd, my husband, is a pessimist which bugs the crap out of me. I prefer to think positively. I like being around positive thinking people.


3. Technology: I value technology. I value all technology, medical and otherwise. If you've ever gone camping where you have to pee in a stinky porta potty, you have no heat and it's freezing out, or no air conditioning and it's blazing hot out & no running water, then your easily reminded about technology and how awesome it is.

4. Wine: I value my nightly wine beverage like nobodies business. Do not get between me and my wine.

5. Chocolate: Nuff said.

6. Friendship: I have lots of acquaintances and a small number of close friends. I value my friends, their opinions, their advice and how they enrich my life.

Things I Don't Value: (In no particular order)
1. Rudeness: To the people who find it okay to be rude to other people get a life or get off my planet.

2. Disease: Thanks to technology we can cure many diseases, but many lose the battle. I personally fear Cancer will be my way out of this world sooner than I'm ready to go.

3. Bad Manners: I do not wish to see or hear your food as you chew, or have you steal my parking spot that I've been waiting patiently for, or cut in front of me in line, or see me walking to the door but don't hold it open for me, or the many other things that you do. Bad manners go together w/with rudeness. Go to etiquette school if that's what it takes!

4. War: Who is it good for? Can't we all just get along.

5: Racism/Bigotry: Again, get off my planet

6: High gas prices: Seriously, WTF?

I pass this award to:
A Renez-Vous with Style
Clipper Girls Savings Spot
Stampin Mom
Braken Cam
Life Just keeps Getting Weirder
Bebes Peaches and Dreams

Great America

I bet you thought this post was going to be about how great America is didn't you? Nope. Here in the Silicon Valley was have an amusement park called California's Great America. It's had other names like Paramount's Great America and I even think one other. We just call it Great America because who can keep track each time someone else runs the darn place.

We went there this past Saturday. I hadn't been there in 10 years but my girls had been many times with their past daycare person. I didn't realize how done up it is in October for Halloween. Some of the kiddos had their costumes on. Very cute.

This is the double decker carousel. We did both levels. This is the top level.

I was planning on going on this ride but the kid running it miscounted and by the time I got my kids strapped in all the cars were filled.

Shawna my roller coaster queen. She actually went on The Demon with me! It goes upside TWICE! She was supposed to go back and tell Paula if it was scary or not. I told her to be honest. She told Paula it was fun, but it made her stomach hurt and she thought she had a bloody nose when it was over. She really knows how to sell something eh? LOL Paula choose not to go on it.

All of us went on this Dora ride where you pumped a lever to make it go up higher. We sucked. We could barely get the thing up.

Same ride w/ Paula and Todd

Below was the COOLEST thing ever. They had a bubble machine and hay surrounded the area. The kids LOVED this place. We brought their swim suits because we weren't sure if the water area would be open or not. It was closed but they came in handy for this area. Check it out!
My girls heads are in there somewhere.

Miss P

The Shawnanator

BUBBLE FUN!


This is a Spongebob ride that you get spun around in this boat. I loved it. So did the girls. Todd doesn't do roller coasters or spinny rides so he took all the pictures.

I hate this ride where your dangling by chains. They loved it.

Below is a total toddler ride. Shawna wanted to go on it so Paula did too. Paula was sooo bored. LOL

Having fun Paula?

Yesterday Todd came home from his dads with his old car race track. They cleaned it up and raced cars. That man gets rid of nothing I swear.

8 Awards of Attention

So this cool gal Pinki left me a comment saying she likes my blog so she’s giving me an award. An award?! Me?! Awe, you shouldn’t have. I’ve never received an award before. Well, not since school. Okay, I did receive a Hot Potato award at work once for organizing a sort night at our local food bank. We sorted and boxed 4500 pounds of potatoes. Seriously. But that was years ago. So of course immediately RAN to Pinki’s blog to see what was up. What could this award be? I quickly learned that Pinki has a really cool blog herself. Check her out!

This is what my award means.

“This blog invests and believes, in ‘proximity’ [meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' - being close through proxy] "They are all charming blogs, and the majority of them aim to show the marvels of friendship; there are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize, and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut, or that they propagate?"

Then let’s try to give more attention to them! So with this prize we must deliver it to eight bloggers that in turn must make the same thing and put this text.



Since this award goes to people who are charming, unselfish, and I want to give them more attention, I pass on this award to these eight bloggers. Some are my fave blogs that I check daily, others are newer that I just discovered.

Twenty Four At Heart
Lynns Life Online
Texas Word Tangle
Fingerprints Left Behind
So Many Smiles
Parenting Pink
Nana's Box
Nanny Goats In Panties

So please visit these cool blogs and of course Pinki since she’s the amazing gal that passed this terrific award on.

Video of Shawna riding without training wheels

I wanted to post this so it doesn't get lost on my computer.

click click

5am this morning I was sleeping. Rosie is laying in my room. She hears something, leaps up, barking and running to the stairs. Before she even makes it to the stairs I hear the dog door magnets clinking together. clink clink


THE RACCOON! That little sucker was trying to get in my house again but Rosie heard him pop his head in. Some of you may remember how we had a similar visitor many months ago, February's Raccoon. The one I saw last night was much bigger.




Rosie is outside barking like crazy. I open the window on top of the stairs, which looks out to the backyard. I tell Rosie to quiet down, then see the Raccoon run away off my fence and over my neighbors storage area roof, next to my fence, to the house behind and kitty corner to ours.




Rosie was sniffing around like crazy. She knew exactly where it had been. I got her inside and locked the dog door. Crap. I hate having to do that because Rosie already can't manage to do her business outside on a regular basis, if the door is locked for sure she won't. I also don't want a raccoon inside my house.

In other news, last night on my way home from getting my roots done I managed to take a picture of the gorgeous sunset.

Here's me driving. My hair appears more red than it really is. Must be the flash.

Yes, I'm a dork