A year in review

Well, let's see.

During the past year, I have graduated from college, WITH HONORS, I might add, got my braces off, big smile now.

I lost a dear friend and relative, and 25 pounds.

I got on full time at my current job.

I went to New Orleans for a weekend, that was great.

We remodeled our kitchen, dining room and living room, including new laminate wood floors, it looks so beautiful. We started remodeling our basement, including a tool room that will (hopefully) be big enough for all our tools. Big DIY'ers that we are, we have A LOT of tools.

I have spent the last bit of this year trying here and there to find a new job. I will not give up my current job until another comes along. We cannot make it without two paychecks. And with the economy the way it's been BUSHwacked these past couple of years, jobs are very hard to come by.

Our nation as a whole can mark 2008 as a historic year, Barack Obama takes office in just 21 days. I am actually optimistic about the country for the first time in... hell, I can't remember.

That's it. I don't think JP and I have any plans for New Year's, we were thinking of going out but money is pretty tight, and besides I've got booze at home.

Have a great New Year's, those of you who are going out and about, be safe, call a cab, all that stuff. See you next year!

It was a WICKED Christmas

Steve and Mark were here for our Christmas, it was really nice.

The best gift? In January, Steve, Mark, Mom and I are flying to Chicago basically for a day and a half... to see WICKED!!

Don't know what this is? Google it!
I am really excited about it.

Emma got her Twilight books, so she's quietly happy, Eric got the Indiana Jones Lego set that he's been pining for ever since he saw the Crystal Skull movie... he knew there'd be a Lego set to go with it. Alex got the fat Buddha that he wanted. JP got (what I consider to be the perfect gift for him) a Menard's gift card. Now he can finish the tool room, get some shelving and peg board in there!

That's about it for now, I slept like shit last night, anticipation of everything that had to be done today before the guys arrived (and knowing that I would have to be at work, NOT here being in charge... killin' me!!) kept me up and kept waking me up.

I gave Steven another 5 pages or so of the book, whatever I had written since I sent him the first "installment"... It's still not done, but OH SO CLOSE... Next weekend I work at the bar, and will try to finish it then. Still feeling rather uneasy about it... giving it to him, that is. He said he's about half finished reading it... oh, okay.

Before it gets too nuts around here

I'm just popping in to wish y'all a Merry Christmas, before things get wild around here.

I'm using Pot Of Gold chocolates to get the kids to help me with my big list of things to be done before this weekend, and that seems to be going well, they're being pretty good about it.

I made a huge pot of chili this morning, it will be eaten for the next 2 days, easy to reheat and everyone loves it.

Alex is recovering from his tonsillectomy, he's sore, and he has a notepad and pen instead of talking, hurts too much. He is in hopes of being able to eat crackers soaked in chili juice for dinner tonight...

The kids are trying to talk us into opening presents tonight instead of tomorrow morning. We ALWAYS open presents on Christmas morning. NEVER on Christmas Eve. I think JP's family was always Eve, but my family was always Morning. Therefor MY family will be morning.
It just makes sense, Santa doesn't come until the middle of the night, why would you open presents BEFORE he comes???

Now, I know SOME people think that's okay, but it's just not right.

But here's the deal: I'm starting to waver on that issue. One big reason why... sleep. If we make them wait til Christmas Morning, they are up before the ass crack of dawn, waking us up. And we have to be up late, waiting for them to go to sleep so we can... meet the fat bastard and get things... set up.
If they get to open the majority of things on Eve, then they sleep in on Morning, right?

I don't know what we'll do...still debating.

Another weekend, another blizzard

Only on weekends apparently.
I was supposed to work pull tabs tonight, but they closed the bar due to inclement weather.

I got a call from my brother this afternoon. He has given up on having a relationship with our father. It makes my heart ache but I understand his position completely.

By not choosing between his family and his bitch, my father has made a choice. That's how Steven sees it, and I can't say I disagree.

I, however, have children, this man's grandchildren to consider. So I will make another effort to contact him and invite him to grow a pair for the sake of his grand kids.

Sometimes the holidays really suck ass.

Waxing and Surviving

I had a new experience today. I decided (rather last minute) to chop my hair off, and while I was in there, I GOT WAXED... eyebrows and upper lip. Never done that before. Hurt a little, eyes watered for a minute, but it wasn't too bad. And now I don't have to worry about it for quite some time now, so that's a perk. Makes me curious about the pain factor in waxing my legs... I hate shaving.

I got an inverted bob, so my hair is longer on the sides than in the back. It's cute, and it's easy to deal with. Both are big requirements for me.

I FINISHED the Christmas shopping today, even got the stocking stuffers done, divided out and in bags ready to be dumped into the stockings. The only thing left to wrap is Eric's birthday present... his 11th birthday is Monday, the 22nd. I don't have any birthday wrapping paper, otherwise I'd be done. I even got a nap in today... it was a great day off. As was yesterday, although yesterday was bigger in the running around and rushing to do stuff.

I went online tonight and printed out the application for Survivor. I don't know if I'll actually send it, but it's fun to answer the goofy questions they have. I just think it would be such an adventure, and honestly, I think I'd be GOOD at it. Manipulation and pretending to give a shit? Hell, I do that every single day, people!!
Besides, if I won (or even if I came in 2nd!) I could probably afford to quit my job, which would make living in filth and dealing with annoying people and almost starving TOTALLY WORTH IT!
Think of this, too (I did): I could lose weight, and quit smoking, too!
So after filling out the 17 page application, I have to make a (max 3 minute) video... and send it in by January 14th.

I have to go to work tomorrow... dammit. But at least it's only a half day. Then I work (ugh!) ALL DAY on Friday and I have to work Saturday morning, too! Oh, poor me, right?
I just want a job that I LOVE. I want a job that I LOVE going to, that I LOVE doing... EVERY day. Doesn't everyone want that? Yes... And how many of them actually HAVE that? Yeah, I know, very few.

Tomorrow is the big day

The day to finish the Christmas shopping.
The day to meet the man who will be cutting into my son's throat one week from tomorrow.

Had an interesting day today, I'm sure several of you have heard of the HUGE storm that blasted us over the weekend. Well, today's HIGH temperature was a whopping -17... Seventeen degrees BELOW ZERO was the WARMEST it got today. Then the wind chill created a -40 feeling to the air. Nice. Remind me again why I live in this godforsaken wasteland???

So the kids didn't have school today, it was called off late yesterday afternoon. JP stayed home with them, he's got vacation days to burn yet, and WOW, did he have a busy day. First off he had to dig out the van, and the entire driveway was a good 3 to 5 foot drift, plus the drift that went up and over the van.

Then he decided to make supper. He made homemade chicken soup. He MADE THE NOODLES people!! It was BY FAR the BEST soup I have ever had. I am amazed at his culinary skills. He also cleaned the house, including sweeping and mopping the kitchen and dining room, even with his mad skills in the kitchen, it was the cleanest room in the house... damn I am one lucky woman.

I bowled tonight, got to see MY NAME on "the wall" and it was such a great feeling. I did pretty good tonight, certainly not wall-worthy, but I beat my average in all 3 games.
Avg:133
Game 1: 147
Game 2: 151
Game 3: 146

So now I am sitting in bed watching crap on TV, blogging, and shortly I will be going to Pogo.com and playing mindless games for as long as I want to, since I don't have to get up in the morning...while JP is beside me, SNORING wildly.

I have to make a list for the shopping tomorrow. I'm getting Alex out of classes at noon, his appointment is at 3:30, and I'd rather be done shopping before the appointment. A list will make it go faster.

And then there's Tiny Sue. Damn cat was hiding under the bed when the dogs and I came in to the bedroom tonight. It's a real pain in the ass to get her out and keep the dogs in, so as long as she doesn't MEOWWWWL in my face, I guess she can stay for the night...

Eat the rich

great song...

so I'm getting a little tired of the double standards.
We are told to treat the man who comes in in an Armani suit the same as we'd treat a man who stinks to high heaven, and looks like he hasn't bathed in a month. Or rather, treat the stinker as well as we treat the Armani man.

But... (there's always one of those, right?)

It seems as though SOME wealthy benefactors get treated... better. THEY don't want to hear "no"... it could specifically SAY something to that effect on a computer screen..."Do not give negative response"...

excuse me? No matter what they want, no matter that WHAT they want will screw over another customer, we are not allowed to turn THEM down? And will THEY be paying the overdraft fees for those "less important" clients? No? Thought not.

Talk about a double standard. It's not right, and I am sick TO DEATH of it.

eat the rich.

so much going on

and I can't talk about ALL of it.

But I can talk about my bowling scores, because as we all know THAT is the most exciting thing in my life! haha

First off, I have found a replacement for "her", and Anne will start bowling with us during January. I'm very happy about that.

Secondly, HOLY SHIT! The night I had last night was nothing short of AMAZING... honestly, it was a fluke. I sucked ass in my first two games, 115 and 118, with a 131 average, that was bad. But I made up for it in my 3rd game.

Did I mention "the wall"?? You have to score a 215 or higher to get your name on the wall...

I'M ON THE WALL, BABY!!
With a 224. Yeah, I don't know.
(assuming you said "No shit, how'd that happen?")

I had an interesting 'event' tonight, too, but I can't really talk about that JUST YET. Maybe never... Don't worry, if things work out nicely, I'll be shouting from the rooftops... otherwise, I will just whisper "shit" here at home.

I am nothing if not enigmatic, eh?

Oh, and then there's Alex... Alex and his amazing tonsils. They grow, they swell, they get inflamed and infected.
And two weeks from today, they get extracted!
Yeah, on December 23rd, my son will undergo surgery to remove his tonsils. Yes, 2 days before Christmas, I AM THAT mean.
No, honestly, we just needed to get it done before the end of the year, insurance crap changes, and there weren't a ton of options on the surgeon's schedule. The kid will end up having almost 2 weeks to recover before going back to school.

And on the 16th, the consultation for the surgery is also the day that I had set aside to finish my Christmas shopping. Well, shit, I have to buy Alex's presents that day... and he'll be with me! DAMN! I'll have to come up with some interesting ways to get that done...

what is YOUR calling?

well, hell, it's MY blog, so what's MY calling?
I am NOT talking about religious callings, either... anyone who knows me even a little bit knows that much.

One of my favorite quotes is "It's never too late to be what you might have been"

I think I'm even more confused now than I was before I went to college. I am not fully happy in my job. I am currently looking for something else. I actually feel like a failure because I am not happy. I THOUGHT that working in a bank was THE job, the end all, be all of things for me to do. I have in the past 2 months or come to realize what it was in my education that I really liked, what it was that I really want to do.

Bank work IS within the realm of finance, but honestly, I am using virtually NONE of the things I learned. To me, that feels like I wasted my time in college. I DO NOT want that.

I thought working in a bank was the thing for me, and now I know that it is not. I want to do financial statements, accounts payable, accounts receivable, things like that. Being a teller is NOT using an accounting degree.

I worry that JP thinks I'm a flake. He has worked at his current job for 10 years, in the same field since he graduated from college over 17 years ago. Quitting is not an option for that man. I worry that he expects that sort of behavior of me. Not that I want to be a flake, jumping from job to job... it just seems that it's taking me longer to find my calling than it did for him to find his.

So I'm still looking, or rather, LISTENING for my calling.
And we all know how Nik feels about things being 'up in the air'!!

grrrrr.

being unstable and bitchy...

JP and I have been having snippy issues the last week or so.
He's been a dick, and I've been short with him, and crabby.
I don't like it, but I don't know how to fix it.
I'm sure sex would help... help to cover up the real issues, of course.
Cuz, see, THAT hasn't happened in awhile. Reasons?

1. Too tired.
2. Too busy.
3. He comes to bed EVERY night with a plate of food.
4. His nasal spray isn't working... WHEN he uses it.
5. My ears are sore from ear plugs
6. Get the impression that I'm feeling a bit resentful?

Anyway, things are in a funk... here and at work.
I'm tired of being stressed and I'm tired of being reprimanded for things I was never taught.
I'm thinking of looking for another job. Until then, I just have to suck it up, and try not to screw up... fly below the radar and keep my nose clean, any other cliches out there?