Wednesday, February 25

Valid points and shadowing

My meeting went well, better than expected, really. I was incredibly nervous going in but was put at ease right away. It felt like an equal playing field, I felt like I didn't have to hold anything back for fear of retaliation. I felt like I made valid points, my concerns were treated as real and reasonable problems. Solutions were discussed and will be implemented.

And here I had the nervous poopies all day for nothing!
LOL

Countdown to the end of the world

OK, maybe not THAT dramatic... maybe it's not the ENTIRE world... just mine.

But if you keep doing what you have been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting.
In other words, if you want shit to change, you have to change it!
I'm trying to give myself a pep talk here... it's time to suit up and grow a pair.
Too bad I'm a chick, huh?

Maybe when it's all said and done I will explain myself... for now, just think of me this evening and pray/hope/send good vibes that all goes well for me this evening at my meeting.

I hate to give too many details since my blog address is now part of my FB, and people that I know from ALL walks of life, personal and professional, are friends of mine on FB... so if they get a wild hair and check closer in my FB, they will see my blog address, which is, of course, a link to
RIGHT HERE!

So if YOU really want to know, if you REALLY give a shit, leave me a comment, and I'll email you a short version of a long story, how 'bout that?

In the meantime, the countdown is at one hour twenty four minutes.....

Monday, February 23

Ever just not feel like it?

There's stuff going on, things I'm taking care of, and JP knows nothing of it. Bills and stuff. I could tell him all about it, but I just don't have the energy to go through it all and explain it all.

Suffice it to say that I'm taking care of it...

Comet and Winston "hooked up" last night... visual confirmation!! YES!! She's spending the night over there again tonight, I know we're getting to the end of the 'window of opportunity' here, so we are trying to make the best use of our remaining time.

If all goes well, we should be having puppies by roughly the end of April.

So I bowled like shit tonight, and we lost all 3 games. but I did beat my average, so at least I have that.
At this point I'm just trying to make it til Wednesday... I have the day off... because I have to work on Saturday.

Sunday, February 22

District Hockey Tournament

Just got back from Em's hockey tournament. They needed to place in the top 4 to move on to Districts... They got 5th.

But they have no reason to hang their heads, honestly I have NEVER seen Emma play better. She was skating hard, not giving up, she was setting up passes, going for the assist, and she had so many shots on goal, too. She was just playing excellent!

Plus we had a good time, staying in the hotel with the other parents.

And the best part?
HOCKEY SEASON IS OVER!!

I have to work pull tabs tonight, hoping for some good tips, this was an expensive weekend!

Tuesday, February 17

Comet has a date

This is Comet. She is in heat. We found a gentleman for her, she's with him now. His name is Winston, and he is beautiful. Dark red (whereas Comet is blond) and straight hair (Comet's got the curls) and a shorter snout (Comet's got a beaker) so it is a really good match for the odds of having some great looking puppies. The cool thing is that Winston's owner would want pick of the litter, and a MALE... cuz see, my Mom wants pick of the litter, a female.

So Comet is spending the night at Winston's house tonight. Let's all cross our fingers and pray that our little girl is a big ol' slut tonight!!

Sunday, February 15

Enough with Whiny McWhinerson

OK, so yesterday I was feelin' blue.

GET OVER IT WOMAN! Time to put on my big girl panties and get on with it.

So to drag myself out of the dulldrums (albeit kicking and screaming...er, whining!) I have decided to convince myself how good I've really got it...

Case in point:
I whine that I'm too busy to get things done. Not true. I am busy BUT I get things done. Perhaps not as well, or in as timely a manner as I would prefer, but if I think about it... WHY am I busy? Because I have a job. I have a fairly secure job. My husband has a very secure job. In the world today, THAT alone makes me fortunate.

I made a mortgage payment today. Thanks to being so busy (at WORK) I am able to make those payments, thus keeping our family in a warm and wonderful home. There are people out there who do not have jobs and end up losing their homes. I personally know people who have had this happen to them.

Poor me, my husband didn't get me anything for Valentine's Day... christ, what a baby. I have been married to him for almost 16 years. He loves me. Every.single.day. He is my best friend, I can tell by the way he melts my heart one minute then drives me crazy the next. If he wasn't my best friend, I'd have killed him by now.

So I'm going to stop whining.
For now. haha

Saturday, February 14

Why I hate Valentines Day

Ok, so all the feminists can put a hit out on me, I don’t care. Here’s my true feelings about valentine’s day… I WANT the roses, I WANT the romantic candlelit dinner…I want a man who WANTS to woo me. So I am this mean, control freaky, sarcasm loving, gruff bitch, but I want the romance. I need shit like that to remind me that I am still a girl. I want my husband to feel like he needs to work at this. It hurts my heart that he doesn't seem to think he does.

I know, the road goes both ways. If anyone is grabbing anyone’s ass in this house, giving little gropes and cuddles, a kiss in the middle of nowhere, IT’S ME… and I’m getting tired of it. Eventually when you get nothing in return, you start to think it’s not worth it. What’s the point? And so I stop doing even that. Along with stopping the shaving of my legs… again, what’s the point?

I try to portray us as this wonderfully happy couple. Not so. It’s the oddest couple I have ever known of. We get along beautifully. We never fight, we really are good friends. But the romance, hell, even the sex, needs work. And every once in a while, we both get to a point in the rut where we both stop working. And for awhile, it’s ok, but after a couple of weeks, it starts to get to me… does he not want me? What’s wrong with me?

So I hate Valentines Day because I am tired of being disappointed. I used to like it, I used to look forward to it. But I have learned not to get my hopes up... but it still sucks.

Wednesday, February 11

Taxes and NYC

We got our taxes done today. Not NEARLY as good as the past 2 years (9500 one year, and just over 10K the next) but still workable. We get money from Fed, but pay in to State, but we end up ahead. Enough to pay off one bill... the one with the highest interest rate... so I'm happy.

Mom and I are looking into taking a trip, just us, not with Steven. We can do that. We don't NEED him to have a quick weekend trip to say... New York City. It's fun going with him, he knows his way around, and he can take us to see and do fun stuff (not to mention that the two previous trips, New Orleans and Chicago, were on HIS dime) but we are capable of going by ourselves. I spent part of the afternoon looking into priceline.com and travelocity.com and expedia.com (and all the other travel sites) to find a rough estimate on prices. Just to get an idea of how much we would need. I want to book the flights and the hotel all at once. If anyone has suggestions on which site they found the best deals on, please feel free to comment! We can fly out of Fargo ND, it's the closest, and we'd rather not drive down to Minneapolis and park at the airport.

We are thinking of doing this during the summer, give us time to get the money together, and give us time to schedule time off work. But we are looking into it.... something to look forward to!

Tuesday, February 10

Oh! Did I tell you?

I cannot count how many conversations have begun between Mom and I with those words.

It's one of my favorite things in my day.

That, and the sound the computers at work make when I shut them down at the end of the day.

Maybe I'll jot down some of those things.

I have the day off tomorrow. I am taking Mom out to drop off her truck at the mechanic, then I'm taking my friend Gina to the college I went to... she wants to check into it, see if she can get enrolled. She was a victim of the economy today, and she gets the chance to make a fresh start. I'm very excited for her.

Then tomorrow afternoon, JP and I have an appointment to have our taxes done. This makes me nervous. The past two years were nothing short of incredible, wonderful tax refunds... this time it could get ugly.

Sunday, February 8

Pull Tabs 101

(This lesson is just for you, Amanda!)

This is the view from inside the booth I work in. There are 5 "jars" full of pull tabs. They're little tickets. You pull them open to see if you win. I took a pic (below) of a pulled tab. This one is not a winner. But it shows that there are 3 little strips to pull open, and it's sort of like a slot machine picture inside, if you get a line of symbols, then you win.


Does this help AT ALL?? Gosh, I hope so... I just don't know how else/what else to do or say to make it clear... maybe you just need to visit!


Tiny & Naughty friends

I knew eventually Tiny would give in and accept Naughty... it took less than a week!
Can you guess which one is Tiny and which one is Naughty? Hehehe

Saturday, February 7

Rental reviews

The boys talked me into taking them to the video store, renting a bunch of movies. I have spent the afternoon watching 4 mind-numbing films which I will now review for you.

1. Ghost Town... this one was actually pretty funny. It's got Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni, and it's got some really funny stuff, and it's sweet, too. Worth the rent, but not the buy.

2. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist... It's got the kid from Juno and Superbad, he's adorable in an uncomfortable awkward teenage boy way, and it's funny, although predictable. Another one worth the rental price, but I'd recommend renting THEN deciding if you want to own it... some people will think it's worth the buy to watch it again and again, the running gag with the chewing gum alone is worth the price to rent.

3. Run Fatboy Run... The guy from Shawn of the Dead... predictable, but amusing parts. If I had known, I probably would have passed on this one, and will definitely not be spending the money to own this one.

4. The Rocker... the guy... Raine (last name?) from TV's "The Office"... plays a washed up 80's hairband drummer who gets a second chance. I liked it just because of Dwight Schrute... but I won't be buying this one either. Worth the rent though, funny... especially if you're an 80's hairband fan, such as myself.

So my Saturday was a total vegetable afternoon. Tomorrow I will be building Emma's bed, I finally brought it in from the van, it's been in there for 2 weeks, since I got it at IKEA before we went to Chicago!

I also have to work pull tabs tomorrow, and JP will be home from Guards tomorrow afternoon, too. Seems like I always run out of time on weekends to get everything done. Of course, if I hadn't wasted an entire afternoon watching movies, maybe I'd be better off...

Friday, February 6

A newborn at MY age???

So on FB, I'm finding people I went to school with, and one of them, a real great girl from back in HS, just had a baby this week. Very happy for her, but holy crap it got me to thinking.

Between Jenn and that nutjob with the 8 babies (ok, 14 actually)... babies have been on my mind the last couple of days.

Not to worry, I DO NOT WANT ONE... quite the contrary... all these baby things have gotten me thinking, THANKFUL that I got mine over with at such a young age. I had my first one when I was 21... barely 21. Emma was born when I was 24 (again, barely), and Eric came along shortly after I turned 25.

I will be 42...43 when my house is child-free!! Of course, I know, sometimes they come back. But still, 42!! People, I am 36 now!

I cannot imagine ME having a newborn baby NOW... holy shit.

Sunday, February 1

Sometimes all you have time for is a quickie!

OK, here goes:

Tiny & Naughty are getting along famously now, I even got a picture of them TOGETHER... I will post it when I have a sec.

JP does not read my blog anymore... thank goodness

I told him that I really liked the kitchen, and I DO, sort of. It looks good with the appliances, so if you focus on JUST THAT, it's not bad... but when you widen your focus to include the surrounding walls, THAT'S when it gets... not good.

We have talked since, and he admitted that he thought there was more grey in the walls, he thought it would look better than it does, so even he admits that it didn't turn out exactly as he'd hoped. We are in negotiations to repaint in the ORIGINAL planned colors. See, I get my way... again.

I am in the process of having a laundry marathon Sunday, to hell with the Super Bowl, I'm all about laundry today. Until, that is, I have to leave to run to Fargo, and then I do have to work at the bar tonight... Super Bowl Sunday should be a good day for pull tabs (Yes, I just remembered that I wanted to snap a picture of the set-up and the actual tickets, so some people in Tennessee can understand it! LOL)

Time to move laundry, break is over! More later in the week...