Next year I will.........

WOW I haven't blogged in 3 weeks! I'm such a bad blogger! Time just seems to get away from me these days. Usually I don't even know what day it is. There was a time when i blogged EVERYDAY, sometimes TWICE. Now I'm lucky if i can squeeze in 2 posts a month. I wish I could say it's because I'm so busy with GOOD stuff in my life I just can't find the time. Alas, that is not the case. I'm so busy with work that I can't find time to breath, let alone blog. Some would say that's a good thing, at least I have a job, I would say I miss the time before SEPTEMBER when I only worked 5 days a week as opposed to know when i work 6. :-(

But I'm back now. And what better time to make my comeback then on Writers Workshop Thursday. Mama Kat (love the new layout, hey I've been gone awhile) posted these new prompts.

1.) Your pet wants to guest post on your blog.
(inspired by Matthew at Child’s Play x2)

2.) You wake up one day with an unusual super power that seems pretty worthless—until you are caught in a situation that requires that specific “talent.”
(inspired by Writer’s Digest)

3.) Write about a speech you gave at a wedding.

4.) Write a letter to someone you received poor customer service from.
(inspired by Lynsey from Sassy & Southern)

5.) This time I really MEAN it! It’s time to list your New Year’s resolutions for 2010.
(inspired by Margaret from Nanny Goats In Panties)

I hate public speaking. HATE it. alas I'm always the Maid of honor never the bride, so I've given my fair share of speech's. However If my BFF ever gets married I REFUSE to give a speech, she doesn't know that yet, but I do. I'll never make it through, can't do it, so No thank you.

5.)So this year I REALLY MEAN IT!

1. This year I will go back to the gym. I love the gym, I love how i feel when i leave. I love working out my stress. But it's just so easy NOT to go, I tend to forget how much i LOVE going.
2. I wont feel bad for eating what I want. I've been going to weight watchers and have lost 15lbs. since October. I'm happy and I wont feel bad for eating a fat juicy cheeseburger on Saturday and using ALL my EXTRA points to cover it.
   
3. I wont let the people that I've trusted this year who hurt me to prevent me from trusting new people.
4. I'll try to believe people when they say nice things about me.
   
5. I WONT watch anymore "HOUSEWIVES" series or spin offs........ok I'll TRY not to at least. But really those people are so hard NOT to watch.
6. I'll stop biting my nails.
7. I'll try to eat more GREEN LEAFY VEGGIES so I'm not so anemic anymore.
8. I'll start looking for a new job, something I might not hate.
9. I'll drink ALL of the TheraFlu in the recommended 10 minute time limit.
10. I['ll wait till the pizza, hot chocolate, cookies...etc., are cooled down before partaking in them.
    
11. I wont spend half the day thinking of ways to fake sick so i can leave work early.
12. I'll blog more
13. I wont refer to Big Brother as "The dumbass I'm related to"

I think that's enough stuff to try and really MEAN this year. wish me luck!

Happy New Year everyone. See you in 2010!

Time flies when you're BUSY

WOWSERS! I haven't blogged in WEEKS! Uhm. One would think I would have so much to say. Tales to tell. Humorous stories to relay.....alas I do not. Aside from work and sleep I don't do much of anything. My time card for the last two weeks had 100 hours on it. I SWEAR to god. 100 hours. I feel like all I do is work. Work. Work. Sleep. Work. I'm completely over IT. And Completely exhausted.

I managed a shopping trip with my friend last night. Our annual Christmas Shopping Extravaganza. I bought 1 gift and a scarf for myself. not a very good start. He bought a CD for himself. It might be we don't fully understand the concept of giving. I did pick up a cute picture frame I'm going to give to Big Brother. It says "The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree" and I have a picture of BB and my nephew to go in it. Funny to me.

Preggers and I took heart breaker out Saturday to enjoy the first snow fall.

Poor kid. Can't tell if he liked it or not. We thought it was FUNNY! He looked less amused and more concerned that we were, oh I don't know losing our minds.

Let's see anything else worth mentioning.........(thinking) I had a date, sort of. It was a come over and watch a movie kind of thing. We'll see what happens. So I guess that's all the excitement of the last few weeks. Not to much to tell. I'll hope for something more exciting to come.

Turkey, How I loath you

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving this year. My family.....well we opted to skip it. Sort of. Look I'm in favor of skipping Thanksgiving every year. I know. I know. I would have made a horrible pilgrim. I know. But I just can't get into the whole THING. We just sit around eating food, I hate turkey that might explain my dislike for thanksgiving, and giving thanks. Doesn't make sense to me. I'm thankful all the time. I don't need one day devoted solely to being thankful. But that's just me. It might also have something to do with the whole "family togetherness thing" it's not well......so fun all the time. I really hate those tense family dinners when you are just waiting for it. Waiting for someone to say something that will set off my Dad or brother and then BAMN! We all have to endure the yelling. AHEM PASS!

Well this year, I worked, Dad Worked and Big Brother worked, so we passed. My mom bought a small turkey (10lbs. doesn't seem small) and made a few things, stuffing, potatoes, rolls, green beans, corn, gravy. Yeah she said she wasn't going to make much. But she lied. She ate alone, while watching tv I'm sure. And my dad and I made ourselves plates when we got off work around 8:30 p.m. Yeah. Happy thanksgiving.

But I hope YOU enjoyed your thanksgiving. And if you would like to see a Pro's and Con's list for Thanksgiving swing by my friends site I will warn you their sense of humor is much like mine....a tad off.

Enjoy your weekend I'll leave you with this little gem. Preggers little boy's first Christmas Photo. I here by declare he will know as heart breaker.

No more showers!

I'm done. NO MORE SHOWERS! No Wedding showers, no BABY SHOWERS, no rain showers! NO MORE. YOU hear that all my fertile friends. NO MORE SHOWERS! FOUR! 4 showers this year. NO MORE! Should have been 5 but I couldn't make the one, so I'm done. No MORE! Don't get me wrong I love me some shower cake, and note pad prizes. But no more....PLEASE. No more this year at least. Maybe we could hold off on anymore till maybe........JUNE! I think I could be ready by June.

Saturday we, meaning ME and my mom, hosted a shower for my Big Brothers girlfriend. She's due in January. It's a girl, Sarah Katharine Macneal. COULD SHE SOUND ANYMORE CATHOLIC. and we aren't even catholic. I told them she's destine to be a nun with a name like that. BB said that sounds great to him.

So back to the shower, it was a lot of work. Made worse by the fact that A LOT of people didn't RSVP! Must have thought it was optional.

WE had a ton of food. Made by my mom and I.

I decorated the place up very girly.

Made some very cute pink and brown chocolates shaped like baby animals and booties. Plus I put together the favor boxes with mints and pink Hershey kisses. and set up the very nice display.We played my favor game. Dirty Diaper. We used 6 different kinds of candy bars and melted one bar in each diaper (in the microwave) and then smashed it together, so it looked like........well poop. And then they had to try and guess what candy bar was in each diaper. It's great.

But here's what I can't figure out. WHY do people insist on doing this to the expecting mother or the bride to be.



I had no part in this. My cousin TAMMY jumped up and was like "Oh we make bow hats in this family". Why? Why do we make them wear these things???? Anyone?

End of somthing great

So today is my first day back to work. 9 WONDERFUL days spent not here at this gloomy cubicle have come to an end, and I find myself back here in my familiar chair staring at the same mind numbing computer screen. Oh GREAT.

My vacation, in a nutshell, was SUPER. I spent 5 and a half days cuddled up to this little girl.

Taylor Nicole Smith. Isn't she dear. Please excuse the messy hair and glasses. I was on vacation. Taylor takes after her AWESOME Aunt Amy, we both like pink (those are pj's I don't wear crazy pattern tops like that). It was nice to get to spend some much needed time away from work and with my cute little niece. I was concerned that I might not get to see her till spring, since driving to the Snowy City of Buffalo during the winter isn't on my to do list, but lucky for me I could take some time off now. I was sad the day I left. I hugged her told her to be good and that the next time I come back I expect her to be crawling. I'm hoping to be able to go up in March or April, we'll see how things go.

WE spent 90% of the time doing this. Apparently babies sleep a lot. and poop a lot. oh and eat a lot. What a life.

ROAD TRIP

Only a few more hours and I'm OUT OF HERE!

I can't WAIT! Buffalo here I come. In 6-7 hours from 2 p.m. that is. So buffalo HERE I come anywhere from 8 to 9:30ish p.m. Get Excited Buffalo. Amy Mac is on her way........almost.

Baby Smith~ Can't wait to meet you. Here are a few guidelines to help you get on my good side.

1. Please refrain from vomiting on me. That's so unbecoming of a lady. Seeing as how mommy booby feeds you that shouldn't be much of a problem. But when I'm holding you I would appreciate it if you could keep the milk in the tummy.
2. I have no plans of changing your diaper so if Mommy is in the shower, making me dinner, or otherwise disposed I would suggest you don't poop unless you want to lay in it for awhile. Just a heads up.
3. Let's try and keep the crying to a minimum when Aunt McMean is sleeping, watching TV, eating....pretty much the whole time I'm there. That would be swell.

uhm....I think that might be it. If you Can abide by these I think we shall get along swimmingly. Just remember no one loves a cry baby.

xoxo Aunt McMean

p.s. Please let Shelby know there is to be NO jumping on aunt McMean at 6 a.m. in morning. No WET paws, no wet NOSES, no hairy FACE, no LICKING at 6 a.m. in the morning.

Thanks a bunch

I'm here......just not much.

So I've been MIA a lot lately. It's just that EVERYTHING is a bit over whelming right now. I don't even know where to start. hmmm.

1. My body has taken on it's own plan and doesn't seem to care much how i feel about that. I've been really run down and tired lately and Cathy, you were right. My blood tests came back that I'm borderline Anemic. My sugar levels are dangerously high also, but my doctor is confident that my weight loss will help bring that down. GREAT. The Anemic thing wasn't much of a surprise to either of us seeing how I've been bleeding a slow death for awhile now. CAUTION TMI AHEAD. My cycle has never been normal. They always said it was because I was YOUNG and it would fix it's self. Well I'm 27, and while I know that's not OLD it's old enough to have a NORMAL period. I mean, figure I've been having them for more then 15 years now. Seems like normal should have worked it's self out. I've been on and off birth control all my life to help "try" and make them "normal' not much help. 3 months ago my doctor put me on a new pill. The one that gives you one cycle every 3 months. I was so excited. I normaly have it once a month for at least 2 weeks. YES. 2 WEEKS of wonderful fun. The new pills worked.........the first month. The second month not so much and by this month I'm pretty sure I was just taking them for fun. They did nothing. I've had my "cycle" since the end of October. Started the week before Halloween until now. I told my doctor I would rather DIE then keep doing this. So she upped my levels AGAIN. But she also told me to finish the 2.5 weeks i have left on the old pill plus a week of "no pills aka period week" and I said. PLEASE GOD NO. not another 3 weeks of this. I'm so run down and tired, i look like death. It's not pretty. so I'm going slightly rogue. I threw the other pills away, I'm not finishing them. I have cramps really bad and if I'm going to get it I just want to get it and get it over with. And of course I'm going away this weekend and I feel so run down and tired i just want to spend the next 9 days in bed.
   
2. 9 days what a strange number you might be asking yourself. Well I'm off for the next 9 wonderful days. As of Sept 18th I've been working the morning shift here at the dead desk. Since Sept 18th I have NOT had more then one day off a week, with a few 7 day weeks thrown in there for fun. We trained a women to work with us for 8 weeks, the whole time telling our boss that the women wasn't picking anything up. They just let her go this week. So I'm still working 6 days a week. This has been going on since Sept. I'm so tired from work, stressed about everything that's happening here, in my life, and with my body, I'm going insane. They told us they don't plan on hiring anyone until after the holidays. GREAT. Because I LOVE working 6 days a week. Who needs more then one day off a week, exspecially around the holidays. I worked 57 hours the other week and I'm so looking forward to my 9 whole days off and away from this place.
   
3. I'll be heading up to Buffalo tomorrow to see Soccermom and Baby Smith. Our first meeting I'm so excited. I'm staying with them until next Wednesday then it's home to get ready for my Big Brother's girlfriends baby shower, I'm throwing. I just want to relax, kick back and sleep.
4. I've spent the last two weeks trying to fix and straighten out all the damage the "new lady" did in her 8 weeks here. What a mess. After 8 weeks she still didn't know which paper published in the morning and which was the evening paper. Everyday was like a sick joke of RETEACHING her everything I taught her the day before. A Sick Sick Joke. It was extra upsetting to KNOW we had gone to our boss about her in week 2 and she wouldn't even listen to what we had to say. I don't know what they plan on doing the next 9 days. There's only one person to work the obit desk, I feel bad but I haven't had two days off in a row since Early September. I need this vacation. I'm so frazzled all the time. The other night i stared at the page for 5 minutes and told the guy in composing i had no idea if it was ok because I couldn't remember what I should be doing. I NEED some time off. I'm so glad it's finally here.
5. the last week the women was here, I had to come back in every night and help her dig herself out of the whole she was in, and try to prevent her from messing things up to bad. Every morning I was greeted with angry phone calls from customers, funeral directors, the editor, my boss. My answer, She's stupid! then to top off the week my picture card went bad and i lost all the pictures from summer and from the Halloween party. It has not been a good few months here.

So that's my story. I've been reading your blogs. I might not comment but I do read them. I'm hoping to be back to "normal" sometime in the not to distant future.

Adventures in Babysitting.

I love that movie when I was little. I thought it would be so cool to have a babysitter who would lose me in New York City, get us chased by gangsters, and sing the blues in a jazz club. Now that would be cool. Sure would have beat pizza and a movie at my house. Those would have been the days.

I babysat Logan last night. Preggers had an open house at the local community college and needed a sitter. Of course Aunt Amy was more then happy to volunteer, or be drafter.

We played with toys. Well.....I played with his toys. He ate them.

He yelled A LOT! He normal doesn't do that, but I think he was testing me. It wasn't angry crying sad yelling. It was just yelling. I think he was faking. I put him in his jump-a-roo and he yelled......while he played with his toys. FAKER! Then we ate some green beans, which was a MESS. Then finally he fell asleep.

So....there were no tow truck drivers, no kids hanging from buildings, or threats of death, but it was an Adventure in Baby sitting none the less.

Writing prompts

Ok here's Mama Kat's wiriting work for the week

The Prompts:

1.) Describe something you're proud of.(inspired via Twitter by Summer from Le Musings Of Moi)
2.) Tell me your most humorous wedding experience(inspired by Bree from Breezy Butterfly Creations)
3.) 10 reasons why you can't sleep at night(inspired by Roxane from It Really Is All About Me)4.) Describe an experience that you wish you could shake from your memory.
5.) Write a love letter to the object of your affection.

2.) So if there's one thing I'm good at it's being in weddings. Lucky me. Whats the saying, always the bridesmaid never the bride. 2 years ago? My friends Soccermom and Mr. Soccermom tied the note. I being the INSANELY awesome person I am, was of course, maid of honor. On the day of the wedding Soccermom and I showed up to the wedding site before everyone else. We planned to get dressed in the large bathroom area they had in the rear. No problem. We hung our dresses up, checked all the stuff out and then went to hang in the commode room until it was time to get ready. It was at this point that I thought it would be GOOD to mention a thing some people don't think about. That's what I do. I'm an idea person.



SM~ Ok well I want to get my dress on before the mothers get here and the rest of the girls, can you help me.
Me~ Sure. Look I'm not trying to be gross or anything but you might want to try and go number 2 before you put that thing on. Because well, I love you and all, but I CAN'T hold your dress up for you while you poop later. I'm not that good of a friend.
SM~ (laughing hysterically) Ok. good idea.
Me~Uhm. I'll wait outside.

Fast forward to middle of reception.

SM~ uhm...McMean.
Me~ Yeah.
SM~ Can you help me go to the bathroom. I just have to pee.
Me~ Sure.

Inside the bathroom stool I'm bent over holding my her dress and she's doing what you do on the potty.

Me~ So.... nice wedding. Everything went well, people seem to be having fun.
SM~ I can see right down your dress! LOL
ME~ WOW.
SM~ I'm done.
ME~ You can like......wipe yourself right.
SM~ Yes. can you hand me some TP.
ME~ WOW I must really like you this is real friendship.

Outside the bathroom

Me~ Your wife was just checking out my rack
MR. SM~ Oh yeah.
Me~ yup. Maybe you should hold her dress up next time.

Dear object of my affection,
Love truly can be a tortuous affair. When i see you through the glass my heart starts to flutter, even after all these years. I can't help but think of all the great times we have had and will have. You've been there for so many things. Weddings I was forced to attend, parties, funerals, always there next to me, showing me I wasn't alone. You are truly a great love.

It hasn't always been cherry, we've had our rocky roads. I've left tracks on you and you've left tracks the size of moose prints on my heart. Somehow we always find our way back to each other, it must be fate. I've cried and you've listened. I've laughed and you've listened. You are one in a trillion.

Your soft, kind and sweet by the gallons. or quarts, whatever you prefer. to our endless love, or as long as this tub of french vanilla ice cream lasts. I love you Ice cream.
Love, ME

Party

We had our annual Halloween party Sunday. After getting rained out Saturday we had to scramble to get everything up and ready for the 10+ children that showed up. But you wouldn't have known anything wasn't done by the smiles on their little faces. I was stressed to the max but that all melted away after the pinata broke and a sworm of small children attacked the candy that fell out onto the grown. My favorite costume was this little guy.

gobble gobble!

WWUD? (what would you do)

I woke up pitter patter today. Not the pitter patter of tiny feet, tho that would highly disturbing since I don't have children, but the pitter patter of RAIN. Which made me snuggle down deeper into my blanket and start contemplating what to do next. The obvious things were get up. Get in the shower. Get ready for work...etc.

HOWEVER. That was not what I did. I started to come up with reasons I HAD to stay in bed and not go to work. Good reasons I thought. IMPORTANT reasons. You tell me what you think.

• It's raining. enough said
• My umbrella is in the car and I am in the house, thus i can't go to work because I'll get soaked, and I can't find my rain coat.
• I live on the second floor and my WOOD steps are very slippery when wet.
• I could fall down the stairs, break my leg and arm and be out of work for a long time. That helps NO one. I should stay home.
• My bed is so WARM.
• My apartment is so NOT warm.
• I'm really tired. I worked 5 1/2 Sunday and 10.5 hours yesterday. They should understand.
• I'm sure no one would notice the obits are missing from the evening paper.
• I might kill someone if I go.
• I don't have any bread to make a sandwich.

All sounded good to me. Alas, here I am. At work. doing the "responsible" thing. Oh aren't I super.

Ghost and ghoals, and a crap load of little kids

So we had to move the Halloween party from Saturday to Sunday because it looked like this outside ALL day Saturday.

For some reason the PARENTS didn't think a rain soaked day was the best day for pinatas and hayrides. I say WHY NOT? So the party moved to Sunday, the clouds parted, the sky was brightish and the kids had a BLAST. Or at least they told me they did. As you might remember form my earlier posts I wasn't LOOKING forward to this party at all. But when one of my little monsters (not really my child) looked at me and said "thanks Amy, you always make this so cool for us," and then hurried away to play with the other 10+ plus monsters roaming the yard I nearly cried. And that folks is why I do it. I bid the kids farewell as I loaded them on the hayride, I had to leave for work so i wasn't there to hear about the monsters int he trees and all the spooky stuff, but my mom told me One monster said "This was the best day ever", and another said "I sure wish Amy was here, I didn't get to tell thank you".

Ahhh. I'll post what pictures I have another day. I'm beat. but here's one of Logan in his turkey costume. GOBBLE GOBBLE!

Back in the land of phone owners

So I purchased my new phone yesterday. I'm the proud owner of a Nokia 3150? (I think). It doesn't walk on water or make gold out of straw, but it does make and receive calls. Call me silly but I tend to look for that in a phone. I spent all last night trying to figure out how to turn the phone on vibrate. I thought i had it figured out....however around 10 p.m. I realized I didn't when my friend text me. Thanks for that. But after a few hours of playing with it today I now know how to do it. Now I just have to set everything else back to the ring i want.....what a hassle. If i had a house phone I wouldn't bother at all with a cell. I DO NOT WANT TO BE REACHABLE ALL THE TIME. Somehow for MANY MANY years we all survived without cell phones. I wouldn't have a problem, but I don't have a land line so I don't really have a choice. I need to be reachable sometimes.....shame.

Well the news guy is calling for rain all day tomorrow. GREAT. tomorrow is the Halloween party for the monsters. My mom called me freaking out, "CHANGE IT TO SUNDAY!!!!" Super idea, I work Sunday, but what can i do. I'm "supposed" to be coming in to monitor and help the new lady (my nephew could do this job better then her) so I left her a note saying I'll be in between 6-7 p.m. And then my week of HELL begins. My wonderful co-worker Ruth is off and I'm left with the new lady. Who for a lack of better words, isn't getting the job done very well. So I'll be working at LEAST 7 days next week, with a few extra hours in the evening thrown in there for excitement. Can't WAIT!

Just keep on rolling

Sunday I went with Big Brother to T-Mobile because he needed a new phone. I'm in desperate need of an upgrade. I have one of the original razors. YEAH. It's like 3 1/2 years old. Maybe that doesn't seem old, but I'm rough on it, and it's been acting up a lot lately. So i glanced at some phones and even commented that while i need an upgrade, mine works fine enough for what I need. Well...........not anymore.

As of 12 p.m. today it NO LONGER WORKS AT ALL. I picked up my phone, flipped it open, and found nothing staring back at me. NOTHING! The key pad lights up but the screen is DONZO! I guess I flipped it open one to many times (or dropped it from a high up) :(

So now I need to go get a new phone. GREAT. Thank God I'm just made of money. It makes stuff like this so much easier to deal with (insert eye roll)

DEAR SELF

Dear Moppy Moper.

Buck up! Things aren't so bad. Don't let the small stuff solidify into glacier sized problems. If it helps repeat in your head as needed "I'm doing the best I can, some people just suck". Ahh I feel better already, not really (HEY MOPPER!). Sorry. You have a Halloween party to plan and set up for Saturday and it's going to be really hard to pull off if you don't get your LAZY ass up off the couch. Also try and think about how much fun the parties have been in the past and get in the SPIRIT already. Those candy bags and goody bags wont fill themselves, and wishing them done hasn't worked yet either so just DO IT. If you need motivation thinka bout the 15 kids who will be showing up at 4 p.m. on Saturday regardless if your ready for them or NOT.

You love this kind of stuff. The crape paper, balloons, cupcakes (I can't believe you aren't baking this year, chump) pinatas, and games. this is right up your alley. You look forward to this just as much if not MORE then the kids. But this year........well you pretty much suck. I know You're working 6 days a week. I know this means your spending your ONLY day off setting up, having, and cleaning up a party, but try to think of how much fun everyone has. Think about that. And BUCK UP!

I know you aren't excited about the Halloween party at work, but just shut up and participate. Make what you need to make, do what you need to do and stop acting like the world is ending. You're really bugging me.

And forget about that lady who said you have rude body language. She was a jerk.

So BUCK up. Moppy Mopper

Rain Rain............BLAH

It rained ALL weekend. ALL weekend. It sucked. Friday all day. Saturday ALL day. Sunday all.....oh wait the sun came out Sunday. So maybe not all weekend but i worked Sunday so that doens't count as weekend for me. I slept in until 10:30 on Saturday. No reason to get up, what was i going to do? Watch it rain. No thanks. It wasn't just a little rain. It was A LOT. I had big plans of clenaing my poor little neglected apartment, but with all the rian I wasn't to motivated to do anything, and clenaing seemed like WORK. So i opted to spend the day at my cousins house gabbin and planning the halloween party for this weekend. Did i mention I'm highly unmotivated to do that also. I have the blahs. I need to pull myself out of this slump. I need to start going to the gym again, get my energy back up. I really wanted to carve pumpkins this weekend but Big Brother didn't get Kanyon, and it didn't seem like as much fun without him. Maybe next weekend. Sunday. After the party stuff is over and cleaned up. As a reward to myself. Since I've decided I wont be working not Sunday. It's time for this new lady ot sink or swim. I need more then one day off a week. I told her I'll come in and check on her around 5 or 6 next sunday. She
better be swimming!

Oh check out my newest photo of Baby Smith
Isn't she to darn cute. Poor kid I feel for her with those Mitten Bunnies on. But she looks SUPER cute!!!!

Cross your fingers

So according to Steelers Gab , yes you read that right, Troy was listed as “Full Participation in Practice” yesterday! And hopefully as long as he's back today without any problems he'll be on the field Sunday against the Clowns....I meant the Browns. No really I did mean the CLOWNS. Hopefully they'll start playing more like the team I love with him back on the field. I have to say every week since the opener you could definitely tell Troy was missing. I've been wearing my jersey proud and toting my purse just waiting to see him take the field again.

I'm crossing my fingers, toes, eyes and all my T's.

Simple Math

I make no claims to be the BRIGHTEST bulb, or SHARPEST crayon in the box. But I think I'm relatively smart.

Well aside form last night when I tripped and fell off my brother's porch steps. And I WASN'T even drinking. I'm not really sure what happen. Well........What happen was my brothers girlfriend and I walked outside on our way to Target, as I came out the door I noticed a few guys standing in the yard across the street. Yup. I was so distracted by GUYS, I wasn't paying attention and walked right off the porch. To be fair. Their steps are very high and the actual step is very narrow. In a nutshell....they suck. They are a danger to all. I, however was the one who fell victim, LITERALLY. I grabbed for the post spun myself around and landed hard on my wrist. Jan screams "OH MY GOD AMY!" Yes let's draw more attention to the fact I just face dove onto the road. I get up brush myself and go "Jan! what the hell" . and off we go. So maybe last night i wasn't to "on my game".

Anywho. Today i bought a bottle of water out of the machine at work. Water is $1.25 (highway robbery). I put in $2. The machine gave me $1.15 in change.........
$2.00
-1.25
does not equal $1.15
Does it?

Hazy toilet

Last night I was bored. Well before Hells Kitchen that is. From the hours of 8-10p.m. I was more then occupied. However, prior to that I was rather bored so after dinner I hoped in the car and drove out to my cousins house. I had Halloween invites to drop off, and nothing better to do with my time. My cousin works 3rd shift so she was sleeping when I got there, but her family was not. Jimmy was working on his boat and the girls were up to their old tricks.

I walked into the house to put the invites on the table when i heard whispering coming form the bathroom. I walked around the corner and there stood two girls staring into the toilet.

Me~ What are you doing?
Both of them~ Hey Amy.
Me~ WHAT are you doing?
Jessica~ Rebecaa dropped something in the toilet, (turns to her sister) You're going to be in so much trouble.
Rebecca~ Shut up.
Me~What was it.
Rebecca~ This thing.
Me~What thing?
Rebecca~ This metal thing.
I walk over to the toilet and look in.
Rebecca~ But now i can't see it because it's all hazy because i peed in it.
Me~Uhm.....Ok then. I turn and leave the house.

Once outside I have this conversation
Me~ Hey FYI Rebecca dropped something metal in the toilet.
Jimmy~ Great. I'll hear all about it when i get inside, they tattle on each other even if it gets them both in trouble.
Me~That doesn't make any sense. George and i would have been like, Nobody say a thing!
Jimmy~ I know right, not them.
Me~ Well, have fun with that.

And again.....

Soccermom has finally returned home from North Carolina with a baby in tow. They were discharged from the hospital on Sunday and made the 700+ mile drive home in two days. She said it wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be, what with just giving birth and all. And little Taylor slept most of the time. She sent me a new picture, which I'm thrilled to share with all of you.


P.S.
Wonderful Aunt Amy bought her that cool blanket. I'm so awesome!

Introducing..........

TAYLOR NICOLE SMITH

Who insisted on being born 700+ miles from home. Nice good Taylor. Aunt Amy is so VERY proud of you for giving MOMMY & DADDY a hard time right out of the gate! I think we'll get along smashingly!

7 lbs. 10 1/2 oz. ~ not bad for 3 weeks early!

20 inches long.

Can't wait to come see you in November. We'll have so much to catch up on by then!!

xoxo

Aunt Amy

A handful already.

My friends the Smith's are in North Carolina for a wedding this week. The wedding was yesterday. It was Mr. Smith's brothers wedding. Soccermom (Mrs. Smith) is 9 months preggers. She's due Oct 25. Well, she WAS due October 25.

This is where it's important to mention the Smith's are my friends from BUFFALO, NY. Not my friends from North Carolina. THEY DO NOT LIVE IN NORTH CAROLINA, however it seems baby Smith will be making her grand entrance into the world in NORTH CAROLINA! I received a text message from soccermom's sister-in-law at 3:30 a.m. alerting me to this news.

WE joked about this happening. Her giving birth in North Carolina, but we REALLY didn't think it would happen, well we really HOPED it wouldn't. I told her to pack some duct tape and tape her self up if thinks started to.......leak. Bet she wishes she would have listened to ME.

Lucky for baby Smith, her moma one smart cookie. She took the car seat, over night bag, and assorted baby stuff, JUST IN CASE. Boy is her doctor going to be surprised when she comes home, she never told her she was going on this trip because she knew the doctor would advise against it. But it's Mr. Smith's brother. He was the best man.

I'll update when i know more. Poor soccermom, I can't imagine giving birth and then getting released from the hospital to drive 13 hours with a newborn you just pushed out of your body a few days ago. That isn't going to be fun.

I just thought to myself yesterday, "Well it's wedding day and i haven't heard any news about the baby coming so i guess she's in the clear". Her sister-in-law informed me the wedding had been over for 4 hours before they left for the hospital.

This little girl is going ot be trouble already........I can see that.

This weeks writing assignment

The Prompts:
1.) What's cooking in YOUR crockpot?
2.) Find your one very favorite picture of Summer and write a poem about it.
3.) Pay tribute to a favorite blogger!
4.) When I look in the mirror...
5.) The top ten things I'd rather be doing than having sex with David Letterman

1)Let's see I made BBQ ribs in my slow cooker on Tuesday. They in a nut shell SUCKED. My slow cooker is well, acting a bit bitchy lately. Not sure what her problem is. Maybe she feels neglected, but if she would just understand that if she keeps ruining my dinner I'm going to neglect her more often. I mean. Hello. She sits at home all day, all i ask is that she cook my dinner RIGHT! Geezzzz slow cooker. I thought the point was to have make nice moist ribs, not saw dust. You know better! Don't make me take you on Maury!

2)No teachers no homework no pesky school,
Just fun in the sun and running around like a fool.
Knee deep in mud and soaked to the bones,
What fun is to learn to skip stones.
A day at the creek with my rod and my dad,
what can i say it ain't half bad!

3)I love all my blogger friends but swing by and check out AMY. Her husband is in the Army and they are making some big changes in their lives. so let's show them they have support, even if it is coming from out here in Bloggy land!

4)When i look in the mirror I wonder who this person is. It's not the person I thought I would see staring back at me at 27. I never had the ideal life planned. I didn't think I would be married by a certain age and kids 2.5 years later, or anything like that. But I guess I just figured I'd met someone in college fall madly in love, get married and start a family. I guess I thought that would happen by the time i was 27. But it didn't. Well. It sort of did. I met someone in college fell madly in love and a year later it ended. No marriage, no kids. Just me and some boxes. When i look in the mirror I see a girl who doesn't know what she wants or how to figure it out. But I see a girl who's trying. A girl who's not giving up. I see my mom, my dad, my family, staring back at me wondering what happen to the little girl who knew exactly what she wanted out of life, all those years ago.

5)10 things I would rather do then Mr. Letterman.
10. I'd rather sit through another office meeting about paper usage.
9. I'd rather tar and feather myself.
8. I'd rather watch Cspan all day
7. I'd rather star on Rock of Love
6. I'd rather knit my self a noose
5. I'd rather debate World policy with Brittany Spears.
4. I'd rather vacation with the Bush's
3. I'd rather open mouth kiss my dog.
2. I'd rather take 50 1st graders to the fair, ALONE.
1. I'd rather sleep with the bald band director for Lettermans show.

short and wonderful....like me

I'm tired. DEAD tired.

I can't wait for Saturday, to have a day off. 1 day off before I start my next work week. Ahh. This needs to stop soon. On a happier note, Preggers, Jules and I are having a ladies night Saturday night. Mr. Preggers is going to watch Logan so us ladies can have some much needed girl time. Dinner and drinks with some trivia at the Kilt, maybe. I need to let off some steam, however it would really help if I could locate my debit card. Seems it's MIA. I have no idea where I placed. FANTASTIC.

I'm finally getting the ball rolling on setting up for the Halloween party. Well I did the invitations at least. That's a start.

My mom and I are starting weight watchers this week, I'll let you know how that goes for me.

have a great day everyone!

Where I've been..............

SO. Here's the deal. I'm working 6 to 7 days a week. this week it was 7 days next week it'll be back to 6 days and i see no real end in sight. this has me VERY unmotivated to do anything outside of work. I'm just tired all the time, and when I'm not I'm bummed about something. I haven't blogged much lately. I was doing so well. I was so proud of myself. For awhile I was writing about my feelings, something i don't like to do. But it seems I've turned back inside, and when i should have been writing and talking about what was going on with me I bottled it all up. That's what I do best. I'm a bottler. LOL. I mean i keep things inside, not that I'm a bottle tooting self induced alcohol coma kind of person.

I don't even know for sure where to start anymore. In July I met someone. He seemed nice, I was attracted to him and we started spending time together. He told me i was pretty, not something i hear much from guys. We had fun. Then towards the end of August I found out it was all a lie. He had a girlfriend, and to make matters WORSE she is WITH CHILD. Needless to say I was pretty upset, his defense.....wasn't much of one.

Flash forward to September and the whole Mr. Ship concert thing with his new girlfriend in tow. I passed on that excitement. I prefer to not let anyone make me feel like a complete fool, so twice in a few weeks by different guys wasn't high on my list of things to do. Needless to say I did run into Mr. Ship and the GF at the fair. I was with my cousin and her family (who introduced us) they stopped to talk to him and her and I pushed my sun glasses over my eyes and walked away. She was pretty. I was surprised. He is not. Pretty that is.

My boss is making my life hell. Besides telling me she has SERIOUS reservations about my abilities, she has just been unfriendly to me. Which I'll be honest i could care less about, it's the driving my co-worker insane part that bothers me. Myself and Ruth met with our boss to talk about our concerns about the new women hired to fill my old spot. She isn't picking up the information. Look my job isn't hard. But this lady isn't retaining ANY of the information we give her. The plan is she'll be able to work on her own after 6 weeks. thus meaning I wont have to work 6 days a week. Monday starts week 4 and she has no CLUE. We talked to our boss who was very DEFENSIVE saying she needs to give her 90 days and we need to prove to her that the women is picking anything up. 90 days is Thur Christmas, I can't work 6 days a week until the new year, and then turn around and work 6 days a week until a new person would be hired and trained. I CAN'T. Ruth wants to quit, then what? I'm screwed even more.

Last weekend we had some family stuff to do. a retirement party with my family in Maryland. I wasn't looking forward to it at ALL. Roughly there's about 20 of us first cousins. of those 20 only TWO are single and child free. I am one of those 2. It's myself and my cousin Justin, who wasn't there. So the family focused all their ENERGY on me. GREAT. I field questions all day, "so Amy you dating anyone", "When are you going to settle down?", "When are you going to have a kid", AHHHHHH. My younger cousin popped a kid out in May, another one is due in Jan, and my brother is having another child. A lot of the second cousins are having children. So my Aunts and cousins think it's my turn. When i say I don't have a boyfriend, that I'm not currently dating, and i don't see kids in my future anytime soon. They all exchange looks. I know they've talked about me amongst themselves, questioned why i never bring any boys around, why they've NEVER seen me with a guy. I'm waiting for someone to ask. Ask if I'm gay. LOL. I'm not. but it really wouldn't surprise me if they thought I was. they thought my cousin was until he got married. LOL. So it's only a matter of time. they all try to give me pep talks, "someone will come into your life soon", "You don't want to settle for a low life", (thanks) "Make sure you find a good guy", "girl you're getting old". WOW. Needless to say I'm just pretty much over everything right now.

I go home at 2:30 p.m. put my pj's on and lay on the couch. I'm hardly eating. I have a Halloween party for the kids to get ready for and I'm completely unmotivated. I have a baby shower to plan for my brothers girlfriend, completely unmotivated. Last night i got home at 2:30 laid on the couch, watched tv and went to bed around 9:30. I didn't go see Preggers and Logan. First Friday in a long time, I was just to tired and unmotivated to go see this.

This little guy lifts my spirits, just look at him. you can't be upset after looking at that little face.

I just don't know what to do. I'm bummed about the guy, I'm bummed about work, I'm bummed about never having anytime off to do anything. The only thing I'm not bummed about is Mr. Ship. Finally.

My BFF and ME

I know I'm late. I didn't show up for Thursday writing assignment. I haven't showed up in a VERY long time. I'm just really unmotivated right now. But I'm stealing the "how did you meet your BFF" prompt.

My best friend is Kitty.We met in 7th grade. WE HATED each other. HATED!!! She called me ugly, I called her ugly and there might have been some hair pulling. She was jerk. In 8th grade, something changed. I don't know what, but it was something. Maybe she started being LESS of a jerk. I'm not sure. But we became friends. And it's been down hill since then. DOWN HILL.

Kitty and I at the York Fair before she moved to DENVER, which is REALLY far away

She's my best friend in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. but to be fair, she's earned that title. It's hers fair and square. None of my other friends have ever picked me up off a parking lot, changed my clothes after I'm thrown up ALL over myself, debated with me while I was drunk about "how I CAN'T sleep at the table", or rode the train to Pittsburgh TWICE to see me while i was in college. Yeah maybe I'll put her up for sainthood one day. She is a far better friend then me.

Us at the Rockies game when i visited her

her on the swing at the BAR

us at Dave and Busters in Denver

We talk EVERY day. It's almost sick. Lately I've really missed her. Things have been pretty crappy for me lately and I find myself saying "I need my best friend" an awful lot. I have friends, and they're great, but nothing beats a best friend. I miss her. I haven't seen her since last Christmas and she was only here for a brief amount of time. I'm looking forward to this Christmas so i can see my BFF again.

and if you swing by the cake wreck blog you'll see my BFF sitting front and center in the first photo. She's the girl in the crazy silver shirt.

The end of summer means.........

YORK COUNTY FAIR 2009

there were rides.........

and more rides..........

Animals........

And Tractors................

And food..........

then it got dark.........

and the fair was over for another year. WE celebrated with a sleepover at my house.

And then I PASSED OUT.

Huh......

So if you remember from last week I had a rather crap week. Well I'm glad to report this week has been better. Compared to last week every week of my LIFE has been better. Friday (however ended the crap week in full swing) I had an appointment to get my car inspected. Oh Joy. Here in Pennsylvania we need a new inspection and emissions done every year. GREAT. I'm all for safety but man it tends to hit me hard. My car is a 2003 Saturn Vue. Shouldn't be to bad for inspection, still new(ish) low miles runs like a champ. HUH.

they called me to tell me that it failed the emissions test. APPARENTLY i needed some new hose (?) and a gas cap. But since it failed i would need to drive the car another 100 miles before they can retest the emissions, and since it failed they could not do the inspection either. Oh yeah and "you'll need new tires to pass. So today's charge is $220." GREAT.

Well last night my gas light came on so i did what everyone does when that happens. I stopped for gas. This was the first meeting between myself and the new gas cap. With out further delay meet the new gas cap.
And that my friends is what a $35 gas cap looks like. Needless to say I WAS NOT impressed. this one doesn't have the cord like my old one did and my gas door doesn't have one of those slots to hold the cap while you are pumping. So i just sorta have to hold it while I pump. Worth every penny of that $35. (insert eye roll).

I should have taken a picture of the $620 tires (you can sort of see them in the photo). so needless to say $840 later and the darn thing STILL isn't inspected. but the guy told me i wont have to pay for the emissions test again they will do that at no charge. AHHH thanks, how nice of you.

Vying for Worst Week ever

My boss called me into her office yesterday to “talk”. However, we didn’t talk. She told me that I seem to be a miserable person. And she doesn’t think I’m capable of handling the customer contact that is required on the 7-3 shift. Because from her perspective I’m not a happy friendly person. And that she doesn’t think I have very good customer skills. She went on to say this is just her perspective since she doesn’t know me, has never witnessed me working with a customer, and hasn’t had any complaints about me.

I’m sorry, back up the crazy train for a second. You have nothing to back up this statement, which is REALLY HURT FULL, except it’s your perspective. Great. Thanks. I asked her if she was aware of how rude the morning shift girl is now to the customers, she said he wasn’t. I told her I have customers who will only deal with me because of how they have been treated by her. My boss said there was no reason to get so DEFENSIVE. No reason. You just attacked me on a personal level. You sad I appear to you to be an unhappy, miserable, unfriendly person and you don’t think I’m capable of being the face for the obit desk, but you have NOTHING to base that on. Yeah I think I will get a tad defensive after that. I deal with customers just as much in the afternoon and evening as I will in the morning. She continued to say she has “reservations” about my abilities, but she doesn’t know enough about me to not give me the shift. She said she wasn’t criticizing my work as I’m a great employee who brings in a lot of revenue, is dependable, and hardly ever writes a credit, but she just thinks I might not have the people skills to work with the high volume of customers that come in. I DO IT NOW! How can you say this when you follow it up with “but I have nothing to base this on but MY perspective of you”, how can you say that to someone and not think they’ll put up a fight. I’m not just going to sit there and say nothing while you tell me I can’t do my job, which I’ve been doing for 3 years without any complaints.

You, who were here 5 months before you even, bothered to learn my name. You, who has no idea what I even do. You, who asks me all the time when I work (like it’s fucking rocket science). You, who don’t give a damn about the fact that you, keep giving us more work and no help to do the work. You, who said raises aren’t in the budget for the 3rd year in a row, but you can hire more new people every week for the call center. I get it’s busy back there but we’re busy up here. I told her to ask anyone and they’ll tell you how I handle customers, they will tell you I smile, laugh and have a good time. She said when she comes up front to talk to the morning girl know she’s all smiles and chatty. Yeah, she’s a kiss ass, I’m not. I’m not going to kiss your ass. I don’t think you walk on water, so I wont be treating you that way. That’s what she does. That’s how she’s kept this job as long as she has, because she’s an ass kisser and we clean up all her messes. It’s not because she’s good at her job. So don’t sit there and tell me you don’t think I can handle it. You don’t even know me, you said so yourself. I felt like I needed to go get the file I have of all the THANK YOU’s people have sent me for being so helpful and throw them on her desk with a post-it that says FYI GO FUCK YOURSELF! But It seems kind of petty.

She then informs me I can start 7-3 with her noted concern on October 1st. Ok. The morning shift girl is done on Sept 18th. I asked her who would be working mornings until I start. I received a blank stare. I’m sorry did I miss something? There’s time period that isn’t being accounted for CORRECT? Then she says “well, what REALLY needs to be done before you come in at 12:30?” I said “Everything”. Like sending the page, helping CUSTOMERS (that thing you think I suck at) doing obits, legals, counter work, proof of pubs., checking the neg., memoriams, uhm…..should I continue? Her response, “Well isn’t there anyone else here that can do those things till you would be in at 12:30?” Yup. Ruth and she doesn’t come in til 2 p.m. So she, in her infinite wisdom, decided I’ll start 7-3 on Sept. 21st. GOOD IDEA.

And that was how my day STARTED Monday. GOOD TIMES.

Fast forward to Tuesday.
Back story. Mr. Ship is a jerk (different guy TAB) that I’ve known for 3 years. 3 not so wonderful years. Mr. Ship the kind of guy (or girl depending on your choice) that gets under your skin. The kind that no matter how many times they hurt you, you just keep going back for more. The kind that every time you think you’ve FINALLY become immune to their crap, they suck you back in. I’ve told myself a MILLION times I was NEVER going to talk to him again. But I always did. I’m a dumb girl sometimes, and I do what dumb girls do best. Let dumb guys walk all over them. So needless to say we’ve had this love/hate relationship going for a long time. He liked me, he didn’t like me. It was going to be “different” this time, I was great, he was sorry, blah blah blah…….NOTHING ever changed. NOTHING. I haven’t talked to him since………February or March.

I haven’t seen him since then I haven’t given him much thought. I’m over him. For real. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still piss me off. See, the last time I talked to him he was getting tickets for Trace Adkins for him, myself, and my cousin and her husband. We would all be going together, like we had in the past. Fun times. But, me knowing how things ALWAYS turn out for us, wanted to buy her own ticket. I told him I had the money I would pay my own way, that way there wouldn’t be any problems come concert time. But he wouldn’t let me. “I’ll pay for it, don’t worry about it, I’m sure we can work something out”. Well ladies and gentlemen what he thought we could ‘work out” wasn’t exactly PG-13, more x-rated. I told him I just wanted to pay for my ticket because I’ve been down this path before. But he said things would be different. Long story short. They weren’t. He stood me up…..again. In 3 years he stood me up more times then I can count on 1 hand. Like never called just didn’t show up. And then I wouldn’t hear from him for a long time and he would never mention it when I did. Just a straight JERK.

My cousin reassured me he got me a ticket and that I was still going, but then in April I got wind of the fact he was dating someone (lucky girl) and assumed I was no longer going to the concert. And I didn’t want to go, I didn’t want to be around him anymore. Fast forward to today.

Cousin~ “Hey are you going tonight?”
Me~ No
Cousin~ “I told Mr. Ship you weren’t, that you had to work”
Me~ Fuck him I think getting stiffed for a ticket after the way he treated me for the last 3 years is fair
Cousin~ “Yeah, I know”
Me~ Why doesn’t he take his girlfriend?
Cousin~ “Oh, he is. He had 3 tickets, his, yours and an extra, so she’s going anyways”
Me~ WHAT! Then there’s no fucking way I would have gone regardless, why so he can sit there all-smug like he always does. Fuck that. Would anyone have told me she was going, because I would have been pissed. I can’t be the bigger person. Not anymore”
Cousin~ I would have told you
Me~ He would probably get some sick enjoyment out of sitting there with her two seats away from me, with that stupid little smirk that always sucked me in. I hate him! He always did enjoy making a fool out of me.
Cousin~ (laughing) I know. He’s an ass.
Me~ Well have fun at the concert; tell him I said GO FUCK YOURSELF.

So that’s been my week so far. To much excitement for me, way too much. I got off the phone with her and beat the crap out of the ice in my freezer, see I don’t have one of those new self-defrosting freezers, so I have to bust the ice out of mine. It was very helpful for my mood. I would stop every now and then laughing hysterically and say “that son of a bitch, I can’t believe him” I’m so glad he’s not in my life anymore. What a jerk.

Polar bear plunge

Let’s see rain all weekend until TODAY. So what do we do (me and the nephew) go SWIMMING! In my parents icebox of a pool. WOW. I’m the biggest baby when it comes to cold weather or water for that matter. Ask around they will tell you I’m ALWAYS cold. But it’s mid September and the last week and a half hasn’t provided us with good temps for swimming, so this was our last chance (most likely) for a dip. It is after all NOT summer anymore. But it is after all turning into my FAVORITE time of year FALL. My mom wanted to vacuum the pool today, after all the rain in the last couple of days the pool was running over with water and leaves. Kanyon and I stood around watching her when she said, “You guys can get in if you want”. Now, Kanyon and I were both standing there thinking “sure would nice to go swimming”, but both figured Nanny/Mom would say it was to cold. So when she didn’t it didn’t take us to long to throw on our suits and hop in. And that’s how we did it. I put some lotion on him, we walked up to the edge, looked at each other and went 3,2,1, KANYONBALL! And then I thought I would die. It was so cold. Knock the wind out of your cold. So cold I momentarily forgot how to swim and forgot to NOT open my mouth under the water. It was cold. We jumped in over and over, while my mom laughed and laughed each time we came up out of the water screaming bloody murder. I smacked my butt on the bottom of the pool pretty hard which made Kanyon laugh when I came up rubbing my butt.

My nephew is sneaky. I like to say that’s the part of him he got from me…well that and the speech problem. All summer long he would try to get me to jump in with him. Hold hands. Count backwards and JUMP. All summer long I went along with right up to the JUMP part and let go so he was the only one that jumped in. Then he would laugh, call me a baby, and splash me. So today I say, “Kanyon come on let’s jump in together”. We walk up to the edge. Look at each other laugh and start counting. 3,2,1, and I was the only one that jumped in. As I started to jump I felt him let go of my hand. In the split second before I crashed into the ice cold water, I thought “that little shit got me”. When I came up he was running around the deck going “I got you I got you!!! Nanny I tricked AMY for once. HAHAHAAHHAH” Nice job Kanyon. Nice job.

My dad and my brother said we were stupid, that the water was to cold but we just swam and swam. I stayed in for about an hour but then the numb feeling in my toes and shivering got the best of me and I sat out in the sun to warm up. Kanyon was still swimming when I left for work. We had fun. And now we have to close up the pool, as my dad has decided it must be closed and covered before the Halloween party. Yeah I know it should be since it’s OCTOBER then, but closing the pool sucks. I loved going back to college every year because it got me out of closing the pool. TRUST me there is nothing that brings the loveliness that is my family out like working together on a project. And closing the pool is a PROJECT.

My nephew

We went fishing on Sunday. The men of the family and me. The tag-a-long, like always. My brother took my dad, nephew and myself to the spot where his girlfriend caught 2 24 inch catfish the weekend before. We didn't have one bite. My nephew had more fun playing in the mud, what a shock i know. So here are a few pictures of him. Doing what he does best. entertain himself.

Kanyon playing in the mud at the river

playing in the water at the creekI found a bunch of pictures like this on my camera after he was playing with it. And a bunch of pictures of the mud, rocks, trees, bait bucket, and fishing lures. Thanks.

UPDATE!

Thank you to everyone for caring about me and my family. My mom called and the doctor told her while these are things we should be concerned about they aren't nearly as bad as we thought. She said he told her that it's not MS, or early onset of Alzheimer's, and that she will NOT need sugary. He told my parents that the matter and lesions on her brain were most likely caused from mini strokes she's had over the years and that while the cysts could be more troubling he sees no reason to remove them now. She also told me that he said this could all be genetic, which is what her doctors have been telling me for years, basically watch out this could be you in another 30 years. So for now, everything is ok. She's fine. I'm better. and my family is ok.

Thanks so much guys!

I think today could possible be the worst day of my life. Here i sit at work while my mom and dad are at the neurologist finding out about my mom's MRI results. Her doctor sent her in for an MRI on her brain two weeks ago. They called last week to say things "didn't look good" and that she would need to see a brain doctor ASAP. According to the report she has lesions, white matter disease and cysts on her brain. But i don't know what any of that means. and GOOGLE isn't helping. I swear medical information online is the worst thing a person can find. So here i sit waiting for her to call, even though I know she will not call while I'm at work.

When i came home from college (5 years ago) my mom suffered a few minor strokes. However she had surgery to unblock the two main veins in her neck and almost died. Like light at the end of the tunnel saw herself outside of her body DEAD. But she pulled through and I held my dad and my brother together until they told us she would be fine.

I can't do that again. I've never been so scared in my life. What if it's not ok? My dad lost a child I don't know what he would do if he lost my mom. She's only 51. She has a granddaughter on the way.

So here i sit at work, the last place I want to be, waiting for someone to tell me what happens next.

Why I don't gamble

I never win. NEVER. Ok. Wait. I win things. I won that cool apron from Mama Kat's give-a-way, and I just won a purse, which i'll post pictures of when i get a chance. Oh and I won some baseball tickets for our minor league team. But I never win anything else. Oh an a few dollars on some scratch off tickets. hmmm.....Maybe I should amend my statement. I win things SOMETIMES.

Well The final ruling has come in and drum roll please (baddddddddddammmmm) It's a GIRL. BB and his girlfriend are having a GIRL. A little PINK RIBBONS and SUGAR girl. They are not having a puppy. Looks like I'm out $50. I thought for sure it would be a puppy.

So my mom will be thrilled, she's getting what she wanted a little granddaughter. all is right in her world now. And BB and Jan will be have a little girl to complete their family. Poor Kanyon, he was really hoping for a brother. He has a little sister at his mom's house and she bites him, and he SAYS she doesn't get in trouble. My mom told him that this baby would be different. That since Kanyon doesn't live with BB and is only there on the weekend THIS (at that time) brother or sister would be so HAPPY to see him when he was there. Kanyon seemed happy with that news. I however, told Nanny she really needs to work on these HALF TRUTHS she tells this kid. He's 6. Not 2. What happens those first 3 months when the baby cries ALL the time. So didn't look pleased.neither did Kanyon.

Hoping for a puppy

My Big Brother (BB) and his girlfriend are having a baby. Well the girlfriend is, BB will be more then likely stand around looking stupid while she pushes a CHILD out of her You. Know. Where. If BB had to birth a child it would be a HUGE deal. He thinks he'll die every time he gets sick. And that's just the common cold.

Well tomorrow is Pre-D-Day. Maybe that sounds to dramatic. To Devastating. Tomorrow is the day they go to find out what IT is. I'm hoping for a puppy. One with floppy brown ears and white spots on it's back, OH and those huge doggy paws on a little tiny puppy. to cute. Everyone else is hoping for a boy or a girl. But let's be honest. A puppy would make a better story don't you think?

My mom hopes it's a girl. I'm not sure if anyone else has any strong feelings one way or the other. Well my nephew is hoping for a little brother. Mainly because he already has boy toys to give the kid. I'm hoping for a puppy.

They picked their names. Since Kanyon is well Kanyon and not named after BB, who was named after my dad, who was named after his dad, who was named after.... well I think you get the point. Kanyon SHOULD have been George Herbert Macneal, V. However his GEM of a mother said no. and What Mommy says goes. So he ended up Kanyon Reigns McCandless Macneal. I'm not sure which was a worse fate.

So if it's a boy it'll be George Herbert Macneal, V. I think my dad is hoping for a boy. If it's a girl it'll be Sarah Catherine Macneal which sounds WAY to HOLY CATHOLIC for me. and we aren't even holy catholic. or catholic at all. I said WOW why don't you just drop her with some nuns right away. Oh maybe I'll make her a little nun outfit. That would be so funny...well to me at least. and let's be honest, that's all that matters.

My mom wants a girl because she already has a grandson so she would like a granddaughter. This was decided at dinner a few weeks ago. Here is the conversation i had with my parents.
Mom~ I hope it's a girl then I'll have a grandson and a granddaughter.
Me~ Wow mom. how very PC of you.
Dad~Well who knows if you'll ever have children this could be our last shot.
Mom~ Yeah. by the time you ever have children, if you ever do, we'll be too old to even recognize them.
Me~Wow. I'm not that old.
Mom~ Yeah well you aren't that young either.
Me~check please!

I think i might never have kids just to spite her! Thanks for the vote of confidence mom and dad. Christ. I like how they have changed they ton from "when" you get married, "when" you have children, to "If". Makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.

G-O T-E-A-M!!!

I love football. LOVE IT. The suspense. The unruly crowds. The face paint. The jersey's. the cold beer and warm hot dogs. I LOVE FOOTBALL. Oh did I mention those nice tight pants, and big honking bulging....arms. Hey I'm still a girl you know. Sometimes the game isn't all that interesting. So needless to say I can't WAIT till September 10th!! Thursday night football with the Steelers front and center. It's been a long 8 months. I can't wait to throw on my jersey, throw back some cold beers and yell at the TV. It'll be great! But enough about me. There is another aspect of football that can't be denied. CHEER LEADING. Hey whatever. To each their own. I like cheerleaders. They have some cute little skirts and do some pretty crazy jumps and throws. I can respect that. Although, did you see those chicks cheering during the Eagles game last week. What was that. I thought to myself "I guess the have a second string cheer leading squad for preseason also." anywho.

My two angelic (HAHAHA) twin cousins, Monster 1 and Monster 2, have joined the ranks for Spring Grove PeeWee Football cheerleaders. Just what 2 boy crazy 3rd graders need. But they do look super cute in their little uniforms.

Really the JETS? Well we can't have everything. I can't wait to go to a game and see them cheer. I told Jessica to pick out a cute linemen and cheer for him. she asked what that was? OH MY.

Buffalo part 1

Sorry I've been a bit....M.I.A. lately. You know me, easily distracted by shiny things. It's a long story, my MIA-ness, and I honestly don't want to get into it. Not today. Maybe not every.

Instead, let's talk Buffalo. I went up Thursday and came home Sunday, just long enough for a nice little vacation. Soccermoms baby shower was the main draw, the Smith Klan was the second draw, and the food....welll, maybe the food was second. Shhh. don't tell anyone.

It rained off and on which made doing things rather difficult. But thankfully rain has no effect on food. We hit up Ted's for so yummy grilled dogs. Duffs for wings. Wings that were 'supposed" to not burnt he hell out of my lips. HOWEVER, they did. And finally Vizzies. home of the MONSTER burger. Home of the "heart attack giver". I opted to try something else on the menu and went with Beef on Weck. If you don't know what Beef on Weck is, it's sliced beef on a roll that's topped with SALT. I've had it before but never from Vizzies. I was so excited. And then this came out.

I've never felt DEFEATED by my food before. It was HUGE! I knew it would be huge. It's kind of the theme of the place. but CHRIST. I had to pull half, more then half, of the meat off just so I could make it small enough to fit in my mouth. The next picture is STAGED. It was after I took meat out, but not enough.

Steve took the picture for me. You can see the beef hanging down from the back. It was CRAZY. and NO my dear friends. I did NOT eat the whole thing. NOT even close. I took a huge pile of meat off and cut the sandwich in half and only consumed one half of the sandwich. There was still half left over and enough meat for two more NORMAL sized sandwiches. I HEART Vizzies!

JACKPOT

I'm leaving any moment now for my vacation to Buffalo! Look for pictures next week.


Life is good. Look what I found. coconut M&M's AND dark chocolate Peanut Butter Cups!
Yes. life is good.

Same kid different day

Maybe my theme this week (yesterday and today) should have been MY NEPHEW. Because I'm going to delight everyone with some fun photos from the weekend. YES. PHOTOS. of people you don't really know. What could be better then that?

When Big Brother and i were younger, 10 or so, my dad bought a go-cart. Well to be honest we had a few go-carts and four wheelers in our day, but this particular one was "for us" but not really at the same time. We wanted something fast! Something that would run in the field or the parking lot. Did i mention we wanted something FAST. So my dad buys a "go-cart" that looks like a model T. Yup. A Model T. Now this "go-cart" as it was billed was built for 1. and there was always more then 1 of us. So we converted the back part to more riding space. Someone drove and someone rode int he back, conveniently sitting right over top the DO NOT RIDE WITH PEOPLE IN THE BACK sign. And we were rough on it. So rough. But hey, we were kids and we were rough on EVERYTHING. BB would drive while Myself, or one of our friends would hold on for dear life on the back. Sometimes when we were feeling daring we would lace up our Rollerblades and let BB pull us around behind the "go-cart". Looking back possibly not our brightest moment. Alas we were kids.

What does this have to do With Kanyon? Well BB got the "go-cart" out two weekends ago (yes my dad still has it) and started tinkering with it. it ran. So on we threw Kanyon. And here is the conversation from that.
BB~ You can ride it now, get on
Kanyon~ Wheres my helmet?
BB~ (looks at me) ahhh...
Me~ We don't have your helmet here but it'll be ok
Kanyon~ Daddy you really should have brought my helmet if I was going to be riding this go-cart.
BB and Me~ (blank stares) ahhhhh
BB~ GET ON! and don't go to fast.
Kanyon~ (takes off way to fast)
Me~ Helmet huh? We should have thought about that...right?
BB~ I guess so.
US~ Oh well.