Sandee

For any of you that know, or have followed along with Sandee's battle with cancer, there has been a pretty significant downturn in her condition. Prayers, chants, dances, good thoughts and vibes needed for her and her family. Whatever it is that you do, is appreciated. This woman has fought long and hard. And this news just breaks my heart.

Uhm. WTF?

The hell?


I know it is only one degree, BUT STILL. Colder in Florida this morning than in Massachusetts. Pffft.

Procrastinate much?

I am not sure what my problem is as of late. But I did just about nothing yesterday. How sad. My house is a wreck and I simply just did.not.care.

I cannot be like that today. I have too much that needs to be done. I made a list. And I must get things done.

List?
Finish the laundry
dust
vac and wash floors
clean off my dining table
make two thank you cards
get the bills figured out for the month
make grocery list
remove clutter from living room

I NEED to get all of that done today dammit.

I have been getting up around 4:50ish each morning. My eyes just pop open and I am wide awake, regardless of what time I fall asleep. Instead of letting it get me down as I have in the past, I am embracing it. This is going to be my 'me' time. I made some tea, read the news, read some blogs and have just enjoyed the peace and quiet.

I am about to go get a load of laundry started, fold one basket that needs folding, and then I am gonna bake some banana muffins for breakfast and pack T's lunch.

Then? CLEAN. Seriously this time. LOL

Oh, and I need to find my camera charger so I can show off mah hair.

Random meh.

I am in a weird ass mood today. I am disgruntled, yet thankful. I am motivated, yet procrastinating. I am happy, yet I am not. Meh.

I woke up nice and early this morning and for once, instead of being angry about it, I embraced it. I made a pot of coffee and enjoyed a rather large mug of it. I read the news at my leisure instead of just skimming the headlines. I wandered around my house in the pre-dawn darkness, silently giving thanks that I even HAVE a house.

Our neighbor next door has disappeared. One day, a moving van showed up, loaded up, and we have not seen her since. Yesterday I did a bit of nosing around on google, and found that the house is in foreclosure. She filed Chapter 13, (which allows you to keep your home but you must stay current on the mortgage) but must have not kept up with the payments on the house after consolidation/reorganization. It made me so very sad because this woman seemingly had it together. She was a single mom, and a nurse who worked a LOT. She painted the house, put on a new roof, put in new sod and put up new fencing in the last few years. The sod was just recently. It is all dead now, and looks like shit. She had a sprinkler system installed as well, and never even turned it on.

She had also just bought a new truck. She always had her nails done, her hair done up and she had these funky contacts. They were this orangey color that meshed well with her dark skin. She was beautiful, in truth. Thin and fit, a private woman, but very nice. And her boy seemed like a good kid. I am just so surprised at it all.

There are over 3 THOUSAND homes, just in our little area of Tampa here, that are in foreclosure. Ugh. There is one, a couple of blocks away that was seized as a result of drug charges brought against the owner. It's a 5 bedroom, 2 bath home, on the auction block for $33k. Talk about a steal. I know it is at someone elses expense, but still. That is one of the many reasons why drugs are bad!

The people at the end of our little dead end street are slinging drugs. It is so blatantly obvious. They have been busted before. It is ridiculous the amount of traffic this generates on our street. I was up at 4 the other morning, and watched 3 cars in a 10 minute time period come down my street. They had their lights off. They would pull up, run to the door of the house, knock, get the goods, pay, and drive off up the street, lights still off...

I am tiring of it. I am afraid to call the cops for the simple reason that if these eejits find out that it was me, well, there is no telling what will happen. One of the kids that lives there freaking stole my motorcycle helmut right outta my garage. He is always over here, scoping things out. It makes me crazy. He tells every one that he went to sniper school and that hes joining the army. He was gone for several months but is now back. When T asked him last night what happened the army, he said he was waiting on his medical clearance. HAH! You have to have your med. clearance before the military will even let you go to boot camp. So there is no way this maroon went to freaking sniper school. *eyeroll*

Ok, enough of that. I REALLY need to get off my ass, and clean my house.

Short. And sweet.

I had an awesome day with my Mom and Maya. I was in desperate need of a haircut, and so was Maya. However, we are effing BROKE. So my Mom treated us. I went drastic. Like, REALLY. SHORT. Hilighted to the max. (did I just say that?) Short. Oh and it is SHORT.

LOL

Pics to follow. Maya got hers cut short too. It was just so crazy and damaged from the pool. She looks cute as can be. Her vocabulary is EXPLODING. I love it when she actually answers me when I talk to her. She was real big on just repeating whatever it is that you say to her. Now, she actually answers you and I die each time she does it.
*sigh*

My Mom took us to lunch too. I couldn't eat it all so I got a box for it. And I left it in my Moms fridge. ARGH. I love spending time with my Mom. I love to watch her with Maya. They have such an amazing connection. :O)

Annnnyway, I am freaking BEAT. Going night nights. I wanna take Maya to the playground tomorrow.

Will show off the new Do tomorrow! And hopefully get some pics of M while she is monkeying around!

Random brain dump.

Awhile back, I can remember watching TV with T, and seeing commercials for the show The Dead Zone. The commercials drove me crazy. First off, I was weirded out seeing Anthony Michael Hall as a man. In my mind he is still that dork from the Breakfast Club. Second, they showed the commercials incessantly and it really turned me off from ever watching the show.

I grew up reading Stephen King novels. And this show is based on one of King's books. I had an initial interest in the show. Yet I never watched it until recently.

OMG I am HOOKED. I LOVE IT. If I had the money I would go RIGHT NOW and buy all the seasons on DVD. I TiVo two episodes each week, but they are not shown in order and sometimes they are repeats. Sucks. I would rather watch it in order, but whatever. I will take what I can get.

I was wondering if any of you ever watched it, and if so, what did you think??
I know it is a bit over the top at times, but still. I just love it. And Anthony turned out kinda hot. Which I never expected. LOL

Also, Friday morning I was channel surfing and I came across a deliciously bad movie, that I had not seen in years. The Believers. I HAD to watch it. I had gone to see this movie in the theatre back in 87 with some friends.

There is an actor in the movie named Malick Bowens. Creepiest.man.ever. He was awesome. Every time they showed him, I got the heebs. I wish he had been in more things because he was awesome. The movie is based around the rituals and beliefs of Santeria. Whenever Malick's character would dance, or be in a trance, his eyes would turn this creepy icey-blue. Ah. I am not sure why I felt compelled to tell you that, but well, there you go. :OP

Anyway.. more random posting from yours truly.

:O)

Will you still love me when I'm 64?

Yes. YES YES.
It is currently a glorious 64 degrees outside right now.

I think I hear Angels signing. LOL
Awesome. It is so cool and crispy in my house right now. LOVE.IT.
*sigh*

That is all. Enjoy your Sunday!! I am off to make a pot o' coffee and snuggle with the Pea!

;oD

I emerge unscathed

I am happy to report that we just got in from the playground, and I managed not to run my melon into anything! YAY. Ha.

We did not stay long as the playground is next to a soccer field. As the games ended a lot of the kiddos came over to the play ground. And seven year olds have no patience for 2 year olds. So we called it a day. Next Saturday we will go MUCH earlier. I also plan to take her one day this week. She LOVES the place.

And Mommy knows now where she must duck. :OP

Fiscally responsible or not...

Hah.
No, seriously. We have had some major money issues as of late. I know I have talked about it before. Todd being out of work back when Maya was a baby has really put us in a bind. It is just NOW catching up to us. We cashed out a few IRAs to keep afloat, we borrowed money, we had our tax return and stimulus check, and now, we are out of options. This house payment is killing us. The trucks are killing us. However, we are stuck. The only way out of this mortgage is to walk away. Which is SO NOT happening. People say to me ALL THE TIME, "Why don't you sell a truck?" Uh, because we are so upside down on them that we would NEVER get what we owe. Even voluntarily repo'ing it is useless as we would still be responsible for the loan.

Stuck. We have cut back in every way that we can. We don't go out and do anything that costs money. Occasionally we buy a bottle o' Captain, but only once the bills are paid. That is it. We do nothing else.

One thing that we LOVE to do, and almost feel is a necessity to do once in awhile, is to camp. I cannot explain what camping does for us. If you don't enjoy camping, you would not understand. But both T and I feel at peace when out and about with Mother Nature. And camping is rejuvenating for us. We used to go a lot. We have been once in the last 3 years.

I just booked 2 nights at a local campground for mid-November. We are both itching to camp. It cost us $40 bucks. We take whatever food we have on hand at the time, so there is not really an extra cost there. And we have camping equipment like you wouldn't believe. I have had that stuff for years, as I have always been a camper.

My parents used to take me camping all the time as a kid. I have such great memories from that. And I think that is a lot of the reason why I still love to do so to this day.

I love sitting outside amongst the stars, with drink in hand, and fire roaring. I like being around people who love to camp, even if we have no interaction. I love staying up, long past the time when most of the other campers have retired for the night, just enjoying the silence and the stars. It is renewing for my soul, and for T's as well.

So we decided that we are tired of NOT LIVING. It is the one thing that we REALLY love and enjoy and so I am not going to feel guilty about taking some time FOR US. Because to be honest, and without getting into too much detail? There quite recently was almost no more US. Things had gotten THAT bad. To the point where we were both ready to call it a day. We were saying and doing things that were extremely destructive to our relationship. (and for those that know, no, it didn't go THERE.)
But things got good and ugly. However, I do love him. And he loves me. So we have decided to give this relationship what it deserves and that is time, patience, respect and love. And some camping. :O)

My Mom will come and stay with Maya, and then drop her off with the in-laws until we get back. The next time that we go camping, Maya will come with us. We are first going to set up the tent in the yard and do a trial run with her before we attempt to actually take her. She is a trooper and seems to just go with the flow. But in this instance, we want to be sure. And we want just one more time where it is just the two of us.

I feel better already just having the reservation. I cannot wait.

P.S. My skull still effing HURTS man.
*giggles*

Taking my lumps

We met up with Kris and Evan today at a local park. There was not anyone else there and I am very thankful for that. See, the last time I took Maya to the park, she would NOT go on the slide. So when we got there today, and she headed right for the slide, I was amazed. She LOVED it. I could not get her to STOP this time, to you know, maybe do other things.

Well, she was on her way to the slide yet again, when she made a pit stop at an area that had a pole that you could slide down, you know, like a fire man? There was no way she was big enough to even reach. So I yelled "MAYA NO!!" and went running for her.

Next thing I know, I am flat on my ass with tweety birds circling my head. I ran smack into a monkey bar pole. WHAM! I have a huge lump on my forehead. It hurts like a mofo. I was dizzy for about 15 minutes or so. I sat down and Kris watched Maya for me for a few. I put ice on it right away. I cannot believe that I do not have a bruise. I nailed it man. Hard.

I ended up with one whopper of a headache earlier. And now it hurts like hell if I even THINK about moving my eyebrow in any way. I never realized before just how much I actually 'use' my damned eyebrows. This would have been classic if someone had it on video and youtubed it. Seriously. But, as I said, there was no one else there.

So, aside from me running into playground equipment, the morning went awesome. I have never seen my little girl get so into it as she was today. I admit, I have not taken her to a playground in awhile because she just didn't seem interested. Not so today.

We will be going at LEAST twice a week now, with the nicer weather. She had SO much fun. We took a break and had some tuna sammies and some grapes and lotsa water. It really was a wonderful morning with her, even if my head hurt like hell.


BANG. Classic, I tell you. I didn't even know what the hell happened. LMAO!

Wrath of Grapes

That is all I can get Maya to eat these days. Red grapes. Purple grapes. Green grapes. She asks for them at every snack time, every meal, all the time. And if she doesn't get her grapes? All hell breaks loose!

Oh and Cheerios. She has to have those with the grapes. I am sure that there are worse things that she could be eating. It is frustrating though as she has always been a champion eater.

She WILL eat other stuff, she just has to have grapes FIRST. So, I had a roast in the crock today. I gave her some of it, with the taters, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and celery and she would have nothing to do with it. She just about tossed it on the floor. Luckily I was there to catch it. I had to give her grapes first, now she is eating the roast. LOL. Weirdo.

Tomorrow we are doing a picnic outing with our friends Kris and Evan. Evan is a week older than Maya. He calls her 'Baby', and he is just the cutest little man. He is a total love muffin. He will come right up to you and hug you. He has these adorable dimples and it makes me want a little boy. Even if he DOES scream bloody murder when he doesn't get what he wants.

So I am packing us up a lunch, and we are headed to a park to let the monkeys loose for a bit while the Mommas hang out. :O)
The days have been gorgeous here as of late. This is my favorite time of year here in Florida. It is wonderful. I am looking forward to it muchly.

Brain dump

I have a meatloaf in the oven. I wish this was smell-o-vision, because it would totally make you hungry.

The Tampa Bay Rays won last night and are going to the World Series. I need to say, I am a Red Sox fan, and have been since I was a kid. Not like a rabid fan or anything, but I watched, I rooted etc. I have red sox and my hat. I wore my hat all this week. I took a lot of heat for it. However, I rooted for the Rays, and I have been all season.

I have been to see the Rays on numerous occasions (usually against the Sox, LOL, but still. :OP) and man did they SUCK. Like, painfully so. When they started doing good this year, I was REALLY happy. For the team, and for the fans in this area who have stood by their team NO MATTER WHAT. The Trop was usually empty, and I found that quite sad. It has got to be hard to be motivated when you see the seats empty. Anyway, T and I have been thrilled with their winnings this season. When they won and moved on to the Championship series, we COULD NOT believe it.

We watched. They won. I cried. LOL I was SO HAPPY for them.

Now, had the Sox won, I'd have been just as elated. This was a total and complete win-win situation for me. Seeing the Sox sad and disappointed was no fun. But no matter how much you dislike the Rays, you GOTTA hand it to them. They went from last to first. They played some damned good ball. AND? They did it on a meager payroll in comparison to some other teams in the MLB. Good coaching, good ball playing, dedicated and focused, they DID IT. Way to go, guys. Congrats! (LOL Like anyone that has ANTHING to do with the Rays will ever read this. HAHAHAA.)

The meatloaf. Good LORD. I am hungries.

Obamamamaa was here today. I wanted to go. I did not. I am bummed about that.

I never talk politics here, but I have a post brewing. *brews*

My Maya is so cute that I can barely stand it. I randomly grab her and smoosh on her and shower her with kisses. She squeals and squeaks and laughs these big belly laughs. She grabs my face and kisses me. *sigh*

And to think that I never really wanted kids. I could totally do without the whole poopy butt thing. Other than that, she is so awesome and I am so blessed to be her Momma.

:O)

That is all for now I guess. I need to go check the meatloaf. LOL

BEST LOLCAT EVER.

OMG. I nearly peed. How awesome is this? HAHAHAA!

Extra Strength

I just saw this over at Kat's, and it is SO worth a re-post.



That, in case you do not know, is a pressure washer.
And I am sure it would work just fine for what it SAYS it is. Although it may kill you, your cooch would clean as a whistle!

My beautiful girl

Is this not the cutest thing EVER?
Ok, so I am biased, but still. CUTE.

What the HELL

I had just taken a sleeping pill. I remembered that my Mom hit the casino tonight with a friend of hers and the friends daughter. I have known these people ALL my life...
So I text Mom with "Didja win?" Before she could text me back I was asleep.

Every night before I go to bed, I put T's phone on silent because he forgets. Tonight, I didn't. I woke up to his phone ringing loudly from the living room. I grabbed my cell and headed out to put his on silent. Then I looked and saw that it was my Mom calling. And I looked at my phone and she had called me as well. All my guts sank. I knew something was wrong. I called her back right away...

They were in an accident. Some jackhole ran a red light, hit them, rolled the car, and then HE KEPT ON GOING. The fucker TOOK OFF. To say I am furiously pissed off is an understatement, and if they find this asshole, GOD HELP HIM.

Every one is ok. Mom has some scratches on her arm and is shaken up, but seems ok. She is staying here with me tonight. She didnt want to go to the ER to get checked out. Stubborn woman.

Gloria's PT Cruiser, a gift from her now deceased husband, is a complete and total loss. But every one is safe and I guess that is all that really matters at this point.

I'm still so mad I could spit tacks. Hope I can sleep. ARGH.

Taking a break

*sigh*
I have some pretty heavy personal shit happening. I need to focus on life and that entails spending a LOT less time on the computer.

I will be back eventually. Take Care and play nice. :O)

Chicken soup N Coffee cake!

I am so sick. I have a whopper of a head cold. My sinuses hurt. My nose runs so much that I just wander around with tissue stuck up my nose. I do that all the time when I am sick. I just call 'em nose tampons. LOL

Maya thinks it is funny, so it's all good. :O) I have sneezed well over 50 times today, swear ta God. It is unreal.

My jaw hinges hurt, it is an awful ache. I hope I am not going to get a damned ear infection or something. My throat hurts pretty bad. It started off scratchy and quickly moved on to sore. I feel like I have been punched in the neck. blah.

Have I ever mentioned how awesome my family is? My Mom came here today with hot, home made chicken soup. Seriously? How cool is that?? It was SO good. She also brought me medicine and cough drops. The soup smelled so good (I could actually breathe at the time, so I could smell and taste!) that I chowed down with no regard to how HOT it was. Now my tongue is all burnt. Fun. Thank You Mom, that was wonderfull awesome of you.

THEN? My niece Emilee and I were chatting the other night and I mentioned how I had been craving Drakes Coffee Cakes. I have not been able to find them here. So today she went grocery shopping and she bought me TWO boxes of them! AWESOME! Weee! I cannot wait to get them!

I am hoping that tomorrow I can get some photos scanned for you all. They are worth the wait I promise. Actually, I need to check with Stace first as to whether I can post or not. And with Tina and Nana (some family friends) who I think check in here..as I am mailing them printed copies. If they don't mind seeing before getting, then I shall post. :)

I am going to go. My effing jaws HURT. UGH. WTF is that about?? I think I need more chicken soup...and Nyquil. And my sleeping pill. Hopefully I will actually SLEEP tonight!

Doom

T just realized that he only has ONE migraine pill left. Insurance only pays for 6 pills a month (he is prescribed 2 a day...) and we go through an mail-in pharmacy where we get 3 months at a time. He thought that he had another box. I just refilled my prescription for my meds, and that is going to take at least a week to get here. UGH.

He is going to call the Doc tomorrow to see if they can call in a refill at W@lgreens tomorrow (that is if they do not have any free samples), and we will have to pay out of pocket for it. Which is over $200. Yay.

This REALLY blows. And according to every doctor he has seen, and all the research we have done, there is nothing we can do about it.

Poor man, he is in absolute agony right now.
(sorry, crappy cell phone pic)

Ants

Pictures, I know I know.
I cannot get into my office at the moment. I mean, I CAN, but, well. Life. You know?
We are having a major ant problem, and I cannot afford the money for the exterminator guy. Sucks. So I just keep vacuuming them up. Fun. NOT.

Todds migraines are really a pain in the ass as well. Talk about a total and complete disruption of life. And the people he works with don't get it. They are all "Whats the deal, they are just headaches." I wish a migraine on each of those people. Seriously.

Pfft. Anyway, as I type this, I have a toddler who demands attention, plus? More ants to suck up.

Wonder if the zoo would lend me an anteater?

Look! A post!!

Jeesh. I all but forgot about this place. *shrugs*
It has been nutty around here. T is working long hours trying to get a report done. Looks like he will be working the next few weekends as well. He is back in his pattern of daily migraines again. Every year, like clockwork they show up at this time, and stay through Christmas. Fun times ahead.

I have some photos that I want to post, but for now I just wanted to knock the dust off around here. I am gonna go play with my kid!