coming attractions

(yeah, pun INTENDED)

Tomorrow I will be able to post pictures of the stuff I got at my sex toy party.

JP is sick again, I worry about him. Just another cold, but still, he never really had issues with colds before. I think he's lost his Minnesota Immunity to cold and germs. Hopefully he will get it back after he's been home throughout one winter.

So I am sitting in bed next to him (sleeping) and I am watching Dane Cook on Comedy Central. I have never seen his stand up before, but this weekend I watched "Good Luck Chuck", and it was pretty good. That is one of the DVDs that JP wanted, so I picked it up for him. Have any of you seen this movie? Pretty raunchy... I found this out when I watched it... which was about 4 hours after MY SON was allowed to watch it. Who allowed this, you may ask? Why, my husband, of course. Maybe he was suffering from a delirium brought on by fever. I hope that's what it was. I'd hate to think that JP thought this movie was appropriate for our son, who, as you may recall, recently admitted that he wanted to have sex with his little girlfriend. This movie was practically a position manual for crying out loud! SO inappropriate.

I kind of fell off the "good Nik" bandwagon this weekend. Drank more pop than water, and my eating was not the careful manner that I had previously maintained. My watchful eye was not watching my plate AT ALL this weekend. Fucking Little Debbie. I dread the scale in the morning.

That's all for now, I think I will shut down and fall asleep to the melodic tones of Dane Cook... hehe, yeah, right.

Those checks

It was on the news, most Americans will be getting a check, starting in May, and some may not see theirs until July. Sounds like it will be $600 per single person, $1200 for married couples, plus an extra $300 PER KID for those of us breeders.

Now I 'understand' the reasoning behind it, to kick start the economy. They aren't giving these checks to the wealthy: Wealthy people got wealthy by NOT spending money. They're sending these checks to people most likely to cash that bugger and run like hell to their nearest Walmart and SPEND IT!

I don't think I'm giving away any secrets here by saying that JP and I will be getting $2100. All one has to do is see my profile, says right there that we have 3 kids, and we are married, so duh, do the math. Now, even though JP and I are not "the wealthy" (duh, we are getting a check) we are also not of the Walmart-runner persuasion.

I am not counting on this money, and I am not holding off paying something just waiting for that check to come, but I do have a plan for it. Yes, already. We just heard about it last night, and I already know what I'm going to do with it.

No shopping. No splurges. No silly, unnecessary items. I will be depositing the check and then writing a check for that exact amount and sending it to SOMEONE. Someone that we owe money to. See, not exactly planning, it's just a promise to myself that I will use that money to pay off a debt. Whoever, of the 4, that can be paid off with that amount. Either that, or whoever, of the 4, has the highest interest rate charges. That's one I haven't decided on yet.

So, anybody else got big ideas on their checks?

Horror stories: No 'net for a day

Yesterday our landline phones and our wireless internet were... out. Not working. Dead.

We noticed it actually on Tuesday night, and when JP used his cell to call our provider, they said "We will have someone out there by 5:30 tomorrow".

Now, if it had been me on the phone, the response would have been "Unless that's 5:30 in the MORNING, you better come up with a better answer"

Apparently, they're fine with making us wait but when that bill is due, they recommend we send it 10 days before the due date so it arrives ON TIME.

I was pleasantly surprised when a fat man with a scruffy beard rolled out of the company van at 10:30 this morning. By shortly before noon, we were back in business, and I was happy. Thank you fat scruffy man, whatever your name is. And thank you, also, for wearing coveralls, because I suspect that your sizable ass and subsequent crack would put a plumber to shame.

National Honor Society

Well, I'm back in the Student Senate... enough begging already, gawd, you're embarrassing yourself.
Our school is also getting it's own chapter, or whatever the crap it's called, of the National Honor Society. This is a new thing for us, and it's actually pretty cool. It's a way of showing that we are not 'just' a tech school, we are a nationally accredited 2 year college, the main thing that qualifies us for NHS is that we offer Associates degrees and the like. It's not just a school to learn to fix an engine anymore. Our business programs are finally getting recognized. I find that very cool.

Plus the fact that I will be one of the founding NHS members really pumps my nads, too. Hehe, little John Bender quote there (what movie is it from? Come on, you know it!)

So that means that when I graduate in May, I will have MAJOR BLING baby!! Senate cords, President's List cords and now, WABAM! NHS medallion.

It's good to be me today.

Shocked

That's all. Just really sad that he is gone.

Highest average

Tonight at bowling, my team started a new 'thing'.We each put a $1 in "the pot" for each game (3 games)Whoever has the score that is the most over their own average wins the pot for that game.

So, each game costs us each $1, and we could walk away with $4 PER GAME profit. No, it's not a ton, but competition is always good, am I right?

My first game was good, a 132, beating my 118 average. Not enough to win the pot, though.My second game was shit... 95.My third game was nothing short of amazing... 174! Yeah, I put in a total of $3 in pots for the night, and walked out with $4... I made a $1 profit tonight! I'm such a goob.

The best thing was that I got my order from Avon tonight though. I got JP some slippers with Memory Foam and he seems pretty happy with them. I also got a cute little babydoll in white and red hearts, very Valentine's Day... I have it on now, and JP needs to get the damn laundry moved into the dryer before he comes up to bed... that annoys me. Hello? Making an effort here?

The Good, the Bad and me

Well, I was good so far today. It's only 9:30 and already I have a good workout in. Now I just need to fold a TON of laundry. I think I will save that for The Young & the Restless and fold clothes on the couch.


So in the meantime, I thought I'd share part of my plan for my New Year's resolution. Of course, it was the water-instead-of-Diet-Pepsi, but also, I would very much like to weigh roughly 10 pounds less on December 31, 2008 than I did on December 31, 2007.


So Here's the GOOD, the helpful, my "good Nik" side...

It's a Gazelle, and I bought it some time ago. I used if for about a week when I first got it, then it got folded up and propped up against the wall. I have decided to use it in the mornings. JP and the kids leave about 7:30, and I don't have class until 8:30. I can get in a good half hour workout and still have time to shower and get to class.

Now, for the BAD... but it's SO good. We all know that alcohol is NOT conducive to losing weight. Especially the stuff that's thick and creamy and yummy. Such as my newest friend here:

Pour it over ice, and it tastes just like a dreamsicle. SO good. I just need to find a good balance of the good and the bad. A balance that is not 50/50. More like 90/10.

There ya go gang, I posted PICTURES! I know I don't do that often, and I should. As soon as I get my toy that had to be shipped from last Friday night, I will post a picture of that...MAYBE.

What to do today?

I don't have class today.
I don't have to work until 2:45 today.

JP and the kids are leaving within a few minutes.
I have the whole house and the whole day
TO MYSELF!!

Hmmm... what can a girl do?
I don't have any homework.
I do have a pile of laundry. That's not a big deal though, it's not like I have to beat it on a rock down by the river.

I have been doing really good on my "More water, less Diet Pepsi" campaign. Plus the girls at school have agreed to join me in using part of our break for walking. We are out of class from 11 to 1 now, since I switched a class, so we had been doing homework during that time. Now we are going to do homework and then WALK for exercise around the inside of the school while it's still colder than a witch's tit... when the weather improves here in the tundra, we can take our walking outside.

Maybe I will start the day with a nap... hehe.

Passing out

I felt pretty awful last night, very suddenly.
We were just finishing up dinner, in fact, I was still sitting at the table. My stomach had started to feel... icky. I pushed away from the table to get up and found myself unable to do so. I broke out into a sweat, and laid my head down on the table (careful to avoid my plate, of course). Mom and JP were both freaking out, and Mom got me to lift my head up. I guess I was all red. I reached down and took off my slippers and socks, I was burning up!
Mom got a cold washcloth and put it on the back of my neck, but when she brought it around to the front of my neck, I thought I was going to throw up just from the slight pressure she was putting on my throat.

Mom and JP helped me into my bedroom, and I took off my sweatshirt and I was literally wet with sweat. I laid back and they got my feet propped up. My hands, and quite a ways up my arms were starting to tingle, like they do just before I faint. (Yes, I have experience with this, I know the warning signs). I laid there for awhile and then started to get chilled. Under the covers and an extra blanket over me wasn't enough. I got my sweatshirt back on and dozed off. I woke up an hour later and was STILL COLD. I got up real slow and went out to the dining room to retrieve my socks and slippers.

I was feeling a bit better, although still just physically exhausted. I laid in bed for a bit longer and then went to sleep.
This morning, I was still feeling like I could sleep for another 8 to 10 hours. But I had to get up and get to class. I don't know what happened, or why, but I think Mom thinks it's stress-related. I find that odd. If that was the case, this should have happened in the fall. My spring semester is NOT stressful.

Well, there was the crap with Marcus yesterday. The Senate stuff was concerning me, too. And the business with my internship was still up in the air. It's all done and resolved now though.

I have pretty low blood pressure. It doesn't take much for me to fall over. Such a wuss, I hate that.

First day of the LAST semester

It was a pretty good day. I have classes Monday through Thursday, from 8:30 am to 11, then an hour break, and another little 1 hour class from noon to 1pm. THEN I AM DONE.

Except on Tuesdays and Thursdays when, at 1, I go to Marcus' Intro to Computer class and 'babysit' his two idiots who are taking the class for the second time. They both failed it the first time, and it's required for their degrees, so they MUST get through it. It's an INTRO class, as in INTRODUCTION to computers... freaking morons... so even though I said last December that I was NOT going to be Marcus' bitch this semester, I find myself doing it anyway. UGH.

I also had a bit of FUN news on Friday, but with the sex toy party, I forgot to mention it. I got a raise at work. .30 per hour more. And it became effective on the last pay period, so, my BIG paycheck that comes tomorrow? Yeah, it's on there... Now, I don't know (or care) about the pay rates of other tellers, I don't get their paychecks... I care about MINE... and I like MINE. Besides, the way I see it, it's not bad for a part time student position in rural Minnesota.

I had bowling tonight. My before average was 118. Tonight I had a 109 (ick) a 118 and a 142. So my average for tonight was 123. My season average should go up, but just a bit.

Well, that's all for now, time to cuddle up with the hubby.

Alex's request

So here it is... my worst day as a parent. And, if I'm thinking optimistically, my best as well.

Alex came knocking at my door last night. I was chillin' in bed, playing free cell on my laptop. He is standing in the doorway and... well, here's the beginning of the conversation, as best as I can remember it:

Alex: Um, Mom, can I ask you a favor, kind of a big one?
Me: You can ASK, I can't guarantee anything (a bit of sarcastic truth here)
Alex: Could everyone be gone, like out of the house next weekend, (girlfriend's name) is coming over.
Me: That depends on what you mean by 'everyone'... if you're talking your brother and sister gone, yeah, I can probably arrange that. If you mean adults, too, then I'd have to say no.
Alex: But why?
Me: Because I KNOW what 14 year olds think they want to do if they're allowed to be alone.
Alex: Ugh, what?
Me: well, ahhhm, sex, basically.
Alex: Well, yeah, duh, I just didn't want to come out and SAY it.
(Yes, at this point, if I hadn't been lounging in my bed, I would have fallen over. Yes, you read it right, my son just asked me to vacate the house so he could BONE his girlfriend! I was speechless for a bit here... sit back and "feel" the stun with me, won't you?)

Let me preface the rest of the conversation with this: I swear. Quite a bit. And yes, I swear in front of, and on occasion AT my children. Sue me. They're my kids, if you don't approve, don't swear at YOUR kids. Now, let's rejoin the conversation, shall we? LOL

Me: Are ya kidding me? Really? Alex, you're serious? Then, gee, I guess my answer would have to be NO FUCKING WAY!!

I then asked him a few questions, and he told me that he HAD protection (this does not bother me, when I had "the talk" with him, I told him that I would always be available to get them for him... he never took me up on it) he had gotten condoms from his friends' older brother. Well, THAT kid isn't allowed in my home ever again!

I gave him the whole "You're too young" speech, and conceded that 16 would be the youngest that I would consider "ok" without me being very upset. I told him that I was 18 when I lost my virginity (and yes, that IS the truth) and he answered with this: Yeah, but you're a girl." UM, DUMBASS, SO IS your girlfriend!!
I told him that his father was 16 when he first had sex (guessing here, because Mr Romance doesn't exactly remember, but 16 helps my point, so I went with that) and Alex's response to that was this: He was probably teased about it though"

Which made me wonder about Alex's friends... I asked him. He refused to tell me the WHO, but he said that studs were the majority, while pussies were the minority. Now, I am not that far removed from teenagers, I remember the lies we told each other to make ourselves look better. So I don't know how much I believe that, but still, he is in the 8th grade... just the fact that sex is a topic, and 'gettin' some' is something they are currently working on... and MY SON HAS A CONDOM IN HIS WALLET...

OK, that's it, I don't want to be a Mom anymore, can I just quit now? It was hard when they were babies, and then it got a little easier during those middle years, and now they're turning into teens and it's going to get worse again.
I think it was the Tin Man who said "I could be wrong, but I think it's going to get worse before it gets better"
Shit...
Oh, the "best day" part of it? HE TALKED TO ME ABOUT IT. I should think about how happy it makes me that he trusts me enough to come to me. But can I get a "HOLY SHIT" from the crowd regarding the balls this kid has? I refuse to HELP him to get laid. Yes, I want him to think of me as a friend, as well as a parent... but I'm not THAT good of a friend!

christ, my head hurts....

Wait til you hear what my son asked me!

I have to run to the arena for Emma's hockey game right now, but when I get back, I HAVE to tell y'all what Alex asked me last night...

Just a favor... really... NOT!!

Stay tuned...

Good Party last night

I have to go to bed, but I wanted to say that HOLY CRAP, I got me some FUN stuff last night!

I may have to snap a pic of some of the 'tame' stuff I got, and post that, but I'm not posting a picture of the one thing... oh,yeah, or the other one... but I can show you the two bottles of "stuff" I got. I have two things that are being mailed to me, she didn't have them in stock. So about a week before the best toy and the yummy lube show up.

Yeah, I will post some pictures in the next couple of days.

I can't scuba dive

We have this running joke at work about scuba diving. Kim told me one day that you shouldn't scuba dive when you're dehydrated. Best way to tell if you are dehydrated is by the color of your urine.

In a perfect and healthy person, urine is darn near clear. Basically, if all you drink is water, you will have clear pee, and TaaDaa, you are cleared for scuba. So every time someone goes to the bathroom, the first question they get when they get back is "So? Are you scuba-worthy?" or something to that effect.

I drink too much Diet Pepsi. I don't drink enough water. My kidneys bother me when I do that... and now I find out that I can't scuba dive either...

Wow, talk about a shitty day! LOL

Tomorrow is my last chance to clean the house before my sex-toy party, things are moving along nicely for that. Mom and I went to the liquor store tonight and picked up a few things. I have found that a few drinks helps loosen people up, especially people who don't know each other in a room full of vibrators and other sex paraphernalia... hehehe.
time for bed

Marajuana and speed DO NOT mix

Today in the bookstore a woman came in to pick up textbooks for her daughter.

Poster child for "Say NO to drugs"
She was all druggy-eyed, and lethargic... except her mouth. It never stopped running.
She was giving Donna and I TMI about everything... Donna is the bookstore manager.

I found out WAY too much about this woman, and her poor daughter who is starting at the school this semester. I really feel for this girl... with a mother like that, I'm sure this is not the only time people have wondered about her.

No wonder the girl did not come along to pick up her books. I'm sure she's no stranger to embarrassment.

My first quickie of the new year

I just got done working 6 hours at the school bookstore, and have about 10 minutes before I need to start getting ready to work at the bank... so rather than doing something productive, like straightening up the house, I decided to pop in here!

As for my last post, things are looking up, you know what they say, the first step is admitting you have a problem... and we did that. We decided that nothing is more important than US. We have both been busy with other things, and have put our relationship on the back burner, and we know that it just won't work that way. So we have both made efforts to concentrate on keeping US important to each of us individually.

I have bowling tonight, too, first time in awhile! We didn't bowl for 2 weeks because of Christmas and New Year's eves...

And of course, I have a busy week, ending with a SEX TOY PARTY on Friday night! I'm pretty excited about that... but I also worry that nobody will show up... but it's SEX TOYS... come on people, it's FUN!!
Ok, time to get changed for work, have a great day y'all!

The better half

You know that saying "My better half" that a married person uses when talking about their spouse... in the majority of the couples I know, or have known, there really is a BETTER half.

To prove that I am not walking around just judging others, I will admit that in my marriage, JP is definitely the better half. I cannot believe the shit he puts up with...mostly from me. I doubt very much I would stand for that kind of crap.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's perfect... he's just less not perfect than me. (Yes, I KNOW that is a double negative, just shows how not perfect I am)

Things are weird around here, and not in a good way. I thought we were moving nicely back into the norm, but now I just don't think so. Part of me knows what to do about it, but part of me is not sure how to fix it.
But for now, it just really sucks around here.

One on one conversation

I had my first quarterly meeting with my supervisor today. It all went well, plus I got some answers to questions I've had lately.

I think I might be interested in applying for a personal banker position when one opens, and Barb gave me some info on that. Being an employee already helps, foot in the door, ya know. Plus, I was worried that it would require me to have a 4 year degree, not so... a 2 year degree plus banking experience is enough. PLUS... if I want to move up, they will also help pay for me to get my bachelor's degree. I don't know (and Barb didn't know) if they pay for all of the tuition, or part of it, or what, but any help is great, better than most companies!

I had a pretty good day at work, and came home to a cleaned up house and supper going on the table, so it was a pretty good day all together.

But it's time for me to go to bed now, since I have to work in the morning.

More travel, BETTER travel!!

I just have a quick minute before I have to get ready for work, but I found out last night that I will be needing my passport in '08 as well!!

Steven is taking Alex (my oldest, he's 14 now) and me to LONDON in October, just before Alex's 15th birthday... THAT is my kid's birthday present from his uncle! Holy Crap, why didn't I ever have an uncle like that? Oh well, at least I've got a brother like that!

So, February in New Orleans and October in London... hehehe...makes me happy.

Travel Plans

I mentioned last week that I had some cool traveling coming up in '08... then I promptly forgot to finish my thought... such is life, I guess.

Here's the story though:
For Christmas, my brother Steven gave my mom a trip to New Orleans. All expenses paid, all she had to do was pick a weekend. It's a long weekend type trip. He also said that if anyone else wanted to go, he could book the flights and rooms and we'd have to pay our own way, but we were welcome to come along. Mainly he was talking to me and/or JP.

She chose the weekend of the 22nd or so of February. JP is not on call then, he does not have Guards that weekend, and Emma's hockey games are both at home. So I am going along! Mom asked me to figure out when I could go along, because she wanted me to go, too.

Steven is actually going to get my flight, he gets all sorts of frequent flier miles, so my ticket is actually free for him. I will still have too pitch in on the hotel and food stuff, but it won't be too much, especially since it's only a long weekend. But I really need to get away from the house and the kids. I won't have to miss any classes, either, since I don't have classes on Fridays, and we leave Thursday night and come home Sunday night.

Now I just have to Google New Orleans and figure out what there is to do there, what there is to see... this trip is something Mom has wanted to do for years, in fact, the last time we planned it, actually had the flights and hotel booked, and a month before we were going to go... Hello Katrina, you bitch... so we cancelled that trip and went to South Beach instead. That was a nice trip, but it wasn't what Mom has wanted for so long... finally, she gets to see New Orleans, and YIPPEE, I get to go with her!

Maybe this will be better...

I have alot of things to talk about, and I'm thinking I may just break them up into different posts... but still post them all tonight, I FINALLY have time.

Last night we didn't plan to go out, JP was on call, I worked all day and was tired. Plus JP and I are both sick with icky snotty colds. But we went anyway. JP got one of the guys to take the on-call phone for him, and we went out with the other 'city boys' and their wives, etc. We spent about an hour in a bar, then we moved it over to one of the city boy's brothers place. JP and I rang in the New Year completely unaware... we were busy trying to beat each other at ping-pong... yeah, what wonderful romantics we are, huh?

Shit, I just realized something... hang on, I'll be right back.

I just leaned over and gave JP a kiss... yeah, 8 pm on January 1st, and that's as close as we get. Sad, truly, but also, comfortable and it's what works for us... for the most part.

Today I went over to the liquor store with mom, helped her do inventory and prep for their new computer system which goes live tomorrow. It was about 4 hours of keying booze into the new system, and double checking other people's work. It was actually kind of fun.

The kids go back to school tomorrow (YIPPEE!!) so they're taking turns in the shower and JP and I are sitting in bed, each with a laptop and the sniffles, a box of kleenex between us.
Enough for this post, there's more to tell, and I want to separate them...