Take this job and....

One of my favorite things about me is the varied work experience I have had over the years. Other than honoring my commitment to myself to never do fast food, I think I've covered quite a few bases....

1 - Babysitter (duh)

2 - Movie Theater Concession Seller - 11th grade - site of my most embarrassing moment and where I met my first skank skuzzy boyfriend (who ironically was from North Carolina...)

3 - Summer Camp Cook - I can crack 4 eggs at a time and man a griddle with 28 pancakes cooking at one time and have them come out PERFECT. I also know the secret correlation between camp cool-aide and camp jello, but I can't tell you, or I'd have to string your underwear up on a flagpole.

4 - Facilities staff at my college - I cleaned chalkboards and bathrooms after hours. Really, giving 20 college students the keys to the building probably isn't a wise idea.

5 - Nanny - CUSH JOB!!! 9 year old girl whose family had a lake house 10 miles away. Schedule - Get 9-year-old up, feed, pack Barbies & lunch - go to lake house - sit on dock/swim - lunch - sit on dock/swim/play barbies - take child home - go home. And they PAID me.

6 - Front Desk Clerk at Super 8 Motel. I loved this job, but it wasn't easy. Road-weary people tend to be cranky. But being a block away from the county fairgrounds made for some fun conversations... "So, you're here for the rare Poultry show? No sir, I'm sorry, we can't allow chickens in the rooms...."

7 - Special Sanitation - Green Giant - Yes, I worked for the Jolly Green Giant in a Pea/Corn packing plant. Special Sanitation is the group that comes in and cleans the machinery so that your canned and frozen peas don't start growing weird things. I worked in the freezers. A couple times I was sent over to the canning room. I'm not going to say much here cause I don't want to gross people out, just know this - I NEVER EVER EVER eat canned veggies. ONLY frozen. And there's a reason.

8 - Canning Line - Green Giant - 6 day weeks, 12 hour days, stand next to a canning machine and feed it lids... that was it. OH, and I was the only person who spoke English. The fun thing about this job is that you never knew when you were going to work. You had to listen to the radio at a specific time and they would announce who worked. WEIRD.... but I made enough money to buy my first car - an '83 Ford Tempo - Gray with a blood red interior. I know, you're jealous.

9 - Telephone Answering - this was an odd one. I worked for a company called Sports Score. It was me and 6 elderly men, sitting around a table. We each had a phone. People would call in scores from high school sporting events and we would write them on a little piece of paper and hand it to the guy who inputted it into the computer and THAT my friends is how your local TV station GETS the scores... newspapers too... Kind of an interesting job actually, and the old guys were funny as HELL!

10 - Housekeeper - Kings Canyon National Park - best summer of my life. I cleaned 9 cabins. Here's a pic of 4 of them. I had wheelbarrows that held my stuff. I was SO buff by the end of that summer. I will post more about that summer at some point. But in regards to working, my favorite story was that these are government owned buildings that are run by private organizations. But the government still inspects them, supposedly in a "surprise" fashion, but everyone knows they are coming. They inspect using a 5 star scale - 1 sucks, 5 rocks. The bath cabins had never gotten more then a 3. I'm a gal who likes a challenge like that (Just ask Mr. Van Overbeke - ha - I showed HIM), so I was determined to make SURE those cabins got a 4. Now, here's a picture of 4 of the cabins.

Not the fanciest of joints, and COVERED in pine needles and sand. A 4 was going to be hard. But I dug in - I washed, I dusted, I moved furniture, I scrubbed floors, I cleaned out drawers... Finally inspection day came. I watched them go in and out of my cabins, then leave... I couldn't wait to head down to the headquarters and find out the score, but alas I had to go help the flunky boys clean THEIR cabins so I had to wait. Finally the day was over and we headed back to the main building. I walked into my bosses office... he gave me this sad puppy face. "Beth, I'm so sorry... we didn't get a 4." I was CRUSHED! What did these people WANT?? It's the mountains, it's old buildings it's.. it's... NOT FAIR. Then he gets this HUGE sh*t-eating grin and says "We got a 5!!!" HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They bought me a steak dinner that night!

11 - Professional gift-wrapper. Anyone from the Midwest? Remember Daytons? I worked at the original Daytons in downtown Minneapolis. One heck of an odd job - feast or famine. Most nights were spent reading books or measuring the walkable distance behind the counter to see how many laps equaled a mile. But then there was Christmas... and Mother's Day.. and Valentines day. I proudly have a scar on my finger from THAT job.

After that I graduated from college (I know - that's a lot of fun for just college) and started working "Big Girl Jobs".... snooze.... If I could go back to any other them... probably the gift wrapper. Though for a SMIDGE more money.

Something fun... Name that Tune

You may not realize this, but I'm an OLD blogger. I've been blogging since February 25th, 2004. I've been at Xanga that whole time, but have recently moved over here (I like it better and I'm getting to "meet" new people, so I LOVE that) But I figured every once-in-a-while I'd grab an old blog or idea from back in the day and bring it new life over here. So I was looking through the archives over there, and found this fun little game - Name that Tune... here's the rules:

Put your iTunes on shuffle and type out the first line(s) of the first twenty songs that come up. Skip instrumentals or foreign language tracks. Post 'em and see who can name the most - name that tune and the artist who performed it. Obviously, whoever goes later will have an advantage from seeing what others post, so if you are going to play type out your answers BEFORE you hit the "comment" link and post them so you don't see what others have already posted. We'll see who can answer the most correctly. If you cheat and use a websearch you miss the point of the game.

Here we go:

1. Emmanuel (HA HA - how funny is THAT... narrow THAT one down kiddos!!!)
2. Everybody's doing it
3. I feel no shame, I'm proud of where I came from, I was born and raised....
4. I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves
5. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
6. Ten pounds too much to the naked eye
7. Like the sky before the dawn, while the night is holding on
8. Suns up, it's a little after twelve, make breakfast for myself
9. Tommy used to work on the docks, union men on strike...
10. I set out on a narrow way, many years ago
11. Rubber ducky you're the one... (oh PLEASE.... LOL)
12. I'm tired of the pressure, so tired of the pace
13. Take time to realize that your warmth is crashing down on in
14. She's got a way about her, I don't know what it is
15. Do you remember back in old LA, when everybody drove a Chevrolet... (bonus points if you get that one)
16. Oh my life, is changing every day, every possible way
17. (lol - I can't believe this one really came up) Beth, I hear you callin', but I can't come home right now.
18. You'll say we've got nothing in common, no common ground to start from
19. Love me or leave me, make your choice but believe me
20. Say goodbye to not knowing when the truth in my whole life began

She's Baaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night at 10:07 pm in the Cracker Barrel parking lot, I got my baby back (insert old Applebee's baby back rib commerical soundtrack here). We had the BEST time chatting on the drive home! At one point I said "I love you little lamb." And she replied with "I love goat!" We got home around midnight and she LOVES her canopy... but it wasn't enough to make her want to sleep in her own bed, and you know what, I was MORE than happy to oblige her sleeping with me - I missed cuddling with her!!

So, since so many of you are new to my life, I thought today I would keep it easy reading, and just let you see pictures of Ka, my youngest, through the years.

First Pic Ever!

Ka - 9 pounds, 9 ounces - pretty much all hair

For a long time we joked that she would think her name was "Look at all that Hair!"

She bounced for HOURS. I attribute her early walking to it.
One of my all time favorites
Cheeks... pure cheeks
First Birthday!
Camping
Seriously... could she BE any cuter???
Riding on MY old horse.
No words neededWhatchyo talkin bout Daddy?

Ka mastered the cross-eyes at a young age.
Home-slice KaJust a sweet girl

Cheesin' at the aquarium.

Holdin' a chicky at Mimi's county fair.On a Beaver at WI Dells (the Beaver is an inside joke)

Pretty girl at Christmas

Ka with Baby Arnold Uno and Baby Arnold Dos

Friday Funny(s)

Just a couple stories from my past. One funny, one... awwww...

Which do you want first? Funny or Awww??

Okay, aww first. If you've ready my treatise on my life, you know that I was raised the only child of a single mom. She was WAY too busy, and I spent way too much time alone. But she SO rocked on making me feel special. I could tell you about a million stories, but I was reminded of this one this morning so I am going to share it with you.

My freshman year of college, my mom got into the habit of sending me cookies once a month. They were usually themed for whatever holiday was that month, and she always sent enough for me to share with all the girls on my floor. This particular month was one that didn't really have a screamingly obvious "cookie holiday" (which makes me think it must have been January... MLK cookie cutters not being the easier to find in central Minnesota). So she calls and informs me that this time there were chocolate chip cookies, and that because of her needing to take some cookies to work, there would probably only be one left for me after I distributed them to my fellow floor-mates. Now, for a moment I was a little off-put, I mean... jeez mom... one cookie for me?? Then I pondered NOT sharing them but the girls had come to expect their cookies, and one doesn't mess with people who could easily take ones robe from the shower room while one is in the shower. So, the cookies arrived in a nice cookie tin, and being the obedient daughter I am (shut up... I was sometimes...) I went about the hall - room to room - cookie to cookie. I got to the last room, and looked in the tin. 2 girls... 2 cookies. Mom had miscounted, and I was about to get NO cookies. I plastered the smile on my face, handed out the two cookies, and walked, quite dejectedly, back to my room. (Dead cookie walking!!!!) As I plodded along, I gazed into the tin... the few crumbs setting on the wax paper my mom had used to line the tin. Hmmm... something seemed odd. The inside of the tin didn't seem as deep as the outside. Curious, I pulled away the wax paper. There, at the bottom of the tin, was a cookie. The SIZE of the entire cookie tin. LOL - Mom hadn't lied, nor disappointed. She so rocks.

Ok - now the funny.

A couple years after college, my friend Trish and I moved into an apartment. It was an AWESOME apartment. 2 bedroom, 2 bath, top floor, 18 foot vaulted ceiling in the living room. Sweet apartment. Being the metropolitan girls that we were, we decided to subscribe to the Minneapolis Star Tribune so that we could keep up with world events and local politics. Ok, it was for the comics and the Targ*t ad on Sundays... I admit it. So every morning about 5 am there would be a thunk on the door, and I know know the paper had been safely delivered (because my room was about 3 feet from the door). I would usually be the one to bring it in, and peruse it a bit before I got ready for the day. SUNDAY mornings we would bring it in, sit next to each other on the couch and pass the ads back and forth, oohing and ahhing and generally coveting pretty much everything we saw. (At that point Wal-Ma*t had not yet infiltrated the North) Then, one Sunday, I opened the door to begin our newspaper ritual, and the paper wasn't there! I assumed we had been missed, so I contacted the newspaper people and they promised that someone would deliver one in the next few hours. They did. Thank you. Then the following Sunday, it happened again. And the Sunday after that. Finally the fourth Sunday I set my alarm for 4:30, and laid there after awaking. Sure enough, I heard the thump, the paper had been delivered. When I went out around 7 to get it - it was gone. There was a thief in our midst. Suddenly EVERY neighbor was a suspect. Was it the emphysemic elderly man across the hall who still managed to smell like an ash tray? Was it the little family in 305 whose kids rode their big wheels up and down the hallway? I suspiciously eyed each one during the week. And as I eyed, I plotted. Sunday morning, I set my alarm again, awaiting the thump. It came, I opened the door a crack, and slipped the paper inside (Oh - important part here - the paper was always wrapped in a little plastic bag). I removed the Sunday paper from it's casing, then turned to the unread Saturday paper. Strolling to my bathroom, I grabbed a nice big bottle of baby powder, and returned to the papers. I opened up section after section of the Saturday paper, filling each with powder. Front section, Metro, Arts, Auto, Classifieds, Sports... each one filled with powder. I then put the Saturday paper back together, rolled it up, put it in the Sunday wrapped, and placed it back outside the door.

No one Ever.Took.Our.Paper. Again.

Little Bethie Homemaker

Living in an apartment is hard on a wanna-be-decorators soul. There's just only so much you can do. I've been wanting to "Fancy Nancy" the girls' room, and way back when bought some clearance material at Wal-Ma*t (in this case the * is because Wal-Ma*t is actually a nasty, naughty four letter word that I don't want said in my presence... I'll blog about that someday) and last night I decided to make a canopy for Ka's bed (I'll do Kj's too, but I have till August to get that done, Ka is coming home for the weekend tomorrow night) SO... without further ado, here is Ka's canopy.



I'm pretty proud of myself... I didn't have a pattern or anything, and I am by NO MEANS a sewer of ANY kind. But I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out.

On a quick other note - thank you to all you ladies who commented on my blog yesterday. Gosh you sure made me feel good. Big hugs to you all.

Real Raggin' Wednesday

Staci has this idea for Real Raggin' Wednesday. Here's the idea straight from her:

Heres the deal. On Wednesdays you can rag on whomever or whatever you please.......go on rag on sistas........But here's the catch or the rules per say:
1. ONLY ON WEDNESDAYS this gives us an entire week to stew over the things in which we rag thus creating rule number two.
2. Never under ANY circumstances may you rag on this person or object again
3. You absolutely then must offer or extend forgiveness to this person and or object (i can totally picture steph forgiving her laundry "laundry I forgive you for being the mountain you are" lol
4. If you do not believe you could ever forgive this person....or object then you simply cannot participate or the blog monster will hunt you down.....okay so there is no such thing as a blog monster but there should be :)
5. And Finally, you must be REAL, you don't have to reveal the person or object in which your raggin, but you cant hold back....let it out, carefully....i don't want to be held responsible for someone getting the tar beat outta them :)

So - with all those rules laid out, here I go... look out, this one's been burning me for a while

Because of my impending divorce and a house that won't sell and an unemployed ex-husband, I'm struggling financially... badly... REALLY badly. Badly enough that I had to suck it up and take my girls and I down to Social Services and sign up for food stamps. I hated EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of it. I was embarrassed and ashamed and just... I hated it. But I need to feed my girls... so it had to be done.

So the other day I was on a blog (I don't think it was anyone in this circle of bloggers) and the woman was ranting about someone in the grocery store line checking out with her items and one of the items was a pack of gum, and she had the NERVE to pay for that with her food stamps. She went on and on and her commenters went on and on about how horrible that was, and that that was what the whole problem with the welfare system is and on and on.

And quite honestly, a few years ago I might have joined in - perhaps not quite so vehemently, but I would have at least been nodding my head.

But let me tell you a possibility. MAYBE the lady was just like me. Maybe she had two daughters that she LOVED SO MUCH, and maybe she was SO TIRED of having to say "no, we can't afford that" to everything her daughters asked for. And I bet they weren't greedy girls, just normal kids who would like a new toy now and then. But she just didn't have the money to do it. And maybe her girls think gum is a pretty freaking cool treat. And maybe she saw that gum, and thought "Oh WOW! I can finally get them one thing... I can say yes to something. They are going to be SO EXCITED." And so she bought the $1.19 pack of gum, with her foodstamps.

Maybe.. just maybe... we have NO right to judge ANYONE because we NEVER know the whole story, do we?

I'm not a size 4, and I wear a thong...

In the last year I've lost about 80 pounds. Prior to my weight loss I wore the most Granniest of Panties... they were actually Great-Grannie Panties. As I lost weight, they got saggy, so I went to Targ*t (you know how certain religions won't print out the whole name of a Deity because it's disrespectful to the Deity - that's me and Targ*t) to get more Granny panties. Well, on my way, I passed by the "fancy panties"... in the past I had scoffed.. especially at thongs - why would you purposefully want to put your underthings somewhere that you spent 90% of your time trying to get your underthings OUT of. But with my new body (oh, and let me tell you it is FAR from a skinny body - I still have like 80 pounds to lose) I was feeling... sexy (by this time I had not only lost 80 pounds of my weight, but I'd lost 300 pounds of soon-to-be-ex-husband, and I was finally learning to feel pretty). So... I grabbed A thong, and bought it. The next morning, I had a 30 minute internal conversation with myself regarding the thong. Wear it? Don't? Yes? No? Well, after that whole trauma of the saddle shoes in Kindergarten, I know better than to buy something and not wear it. So... I put it on. Put my jeans on... went to work. And you know what - I LOVED IT!!!!!! It was SO comfortable!!! And I felt so damn sexy!!!!!! Oh my GOSH I can't even tell you how much I adored that day. So that night, I went back to Targ*t and bought more... and I have since bought many more... and I LOVE them.... and I know it's probably not the prettiest sight, but I don't care. I like it... I like me.

And you expected something else??

I performed the miniscule exam which evaluates the literally level of ones blog. The returned results informed that the blog belonging to me was of an elementary level. I ponder, how would one think otherwise, when taking into consideration that my existence is solely with offspring who are of an elementary age?

Think this will help?

(ha - it did - I'm junior high now)

Something happier

Mr. B (that would be the man-friend) and I talk every day at lunch. It's my favorite time of day - we talk about the future and our thoughts and... gosh... anything and everything. Today we were talking about how little things mean so much - like my Dad will ALWAYS call my step-mom on his way home and ask if he can pick up anything from the store. She's a pretty organized gal so most times the answer is no, but he does it anyways... just to show he cares. So I was telling Mr. B about that, and then said it's a lot like someone texting you "PS - I love you" in the middle of the afternoon... just because they can. At this point he was back at his office so he had to go, so just as we're saying goodbye, my phone beeps. I hang up with him and check the message? "PS - I love you" :-X

Go ahead... knock this smile off my face - I dare ya.

About me.....

I've found some blog-friends who are pretty new to my story, so I thought I'd do a brief recap of my 36 years (ha - first I typed 26... not hardly)

It was a dark and stormy night... no... it was a cold and snowy day in Minnesota - I was born.. 5 weeks LATE...

My parents divorced when I was 4. Dad remarried, mom didn't. I am an only child with my mom, the oldest of 3 with my dad.

I met a man online when I was 25. I thought I was in love. What I was was scared that he was my only chance to get what I wanted (be married and have kids) so I married him. Bad idea. We got married in October of 1997.

The best things to come out of that marriage were Kj (Dec 98) and Ka(May 03). He's a good person. He's not a good dad or husband. He and Kj have had a very difficult relationship, and I finally decided for the best interests of my girls' futures, and mine for that matter, that we needed to be done. So last fall he moved from Minnesota back to Tennessee. Now, having grown up with divorced parents, I know what it's like to only see your dad a few weeks out of the year. That just wasn't acceptable to me, plus I knew that he would be a better dad for a couple days (weekends) than over a long period of time (summer vacation), plus... I just needed to get out of where I was. Everyone knew me - everyone knew what had happened. I wanted a fresh start. So, in March I packed up my girls and moved to North Carolina. My house is still for sale in Minnesota, and most likely going to end up in foreclosure. Which bites... And we're having fairly substantial financial issues... which REALLY bite... but I don't know if I've ever been HAPPIER in my whole life.

Right now Ka is staying with her dad till August (they get along much better - and I can't afford daycare and if he's not going to work, then he can take care of her) I'm SUPER excited because I get her this weekend.... YEAH!!!

Kj is with my dad and step-mom in San Diego. She did this last summer too (to get her out of the house and away from her dad, and get her some positive male attention). She's have a tough time right now... she called 4 times this weekend upset and not feeling well. I talked her down each time, but it hurts. This fall when she gets home I need to find some counseling for her. Her relationship with her dad (and I'll be honest, I've screwed some things up too) has really affected how she sees the world, and I don't want her carrying that burden forever.

The good news - I have a wonderful guy in my life... who's helping me to find me, to get my life in order, to learn things about myself I never ever knew...

Okay - so that's a little background. Kind of depressing. Sorry about that. I promise that won't happen often.

80 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Killing Time...

I went to the Biltmore Estate today and took some pics... hope you like them...

I know, good bloggers don't say "Random" but.. this one is....

Sometimes my fingers forget which keyboard I'm on, and try to use the mouse-button-in-the-middle-of-the-keyboard that is on my laptop when I'm on my desktop. It usually take a couple seconds for my brain to register that nothing is happening.

Kj, if she weren't so tender and sweet, has the tools to be the WORLDS greatest con. I know no ADULTS who are able to read people so well... able to find exactly what buttons to push... know what makes someone tick... and it's not just me who sees it in her. She may not get math, but if there was a class in people reading, that child would ACE it every time. It's her greatest strength, but she needs to learn to use her powers for good.

Ka is at her dad's right now. The neighbors across the street ADORE her. If Ka sees them out on their porch, she'll ask her dad if she can go over and see them. And she does, and just sits and talks. I would LOVE to know about what, but she's over there for hours! Well, yesterday the people across the street bought Ka a bike, a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads - and today are going back to get her a basket and tassels for her handlebars and decorations for the wheels. Oh my WORD they spoil her - and part of my heart breaks because I can't - and part of me is just SO grateful that someone can, and does.

A very dear friend is at the beginning of the end of a realtionship. It needs to happen, but I hate seeing them have to go through it. I wish there was more I could do.

Sometimes I am so selfish I can't even stand myself. The last couple days I have been... well... I've been a bitch. And it's got to stop - NOW. I've been reading a lot of blogs (I literaly have NOTHING to do at work today) and compared to the loss of a loved one, my problems aren't ANYTHING. So, attitude adjustment here I am. Though... it does bring up the internal debate about being honest about ones feelings. I get tempted to just put on that "happy face" but putting it on sometimes makes me more unhappy because I'm not being real. But then there's the whole "fake it till you make it" school of thought... Oh crud.. I'm just gonna be me - and focus on the positives.

I'm wearing one of my favorite jackets today - it's linen and it has red and pink and orange floral/paisley design. I got it for $1.98 last summer. At a real store - not goodwill or anything. I love this jacket.

My boss at work sells Mary Kay. Since the girls are gone, she wanted to know if I want to do a facial. I figured heck, all I do is go home and hang out by myself so yeah, I'll get a facial. We had a BLAST... oh my gosh we laughed so hard. She of course gave me the shpeil (how DO you spell that?) about selling Mary Kay. So... here's my thoughts. #1 - I NEED to make some extra money, but any full time job I would find now I would have to stop once the girls are home. Doing Mary Kay would be much more flexible. #2 - As opposed to other things one might sell (candles, stamps, scrapbook supplies) even in a downturning economy, women are STILL going to buy makeup. #3 - This would be a great way to get to meet some people and make some friends. And #4 - now this one is a little weird. Back before I lost weight, I didn't really ever wear makeup... I didn't wear jewelry... I wore mostly navy blue or black and did pretty much anything to just blend in. Now that I'm feeling better about myself, I have started wearing makeup and all those aforementioned things... and I feel like maybe this is a good fit... that maybe I can help some other people like me start to feel good about themselves? Am I whacked?? Any thoughts or opinions????

That's all the rambling for now... there may be more later.. I'm really bored.

Stupidity in Corporate America

Update - So, I post this in the morning. I get home in the afternoon and there's a bill in my mailbox from my old cable company in Minnesota. I was a little miffed, since I know I paid them the final amount due. I open the envelope - there's a 3 page bill, and a return envelope, and a message on the bill that says "Your account is currently past due, please remit payment as soon as possible to avoid further action." And what's the amount due? -.53 THAT'S NEGATIVE 53 CENTS!!! They owe ME money, and yet they spent the money for 3 pages of bills, a return envelope and postage. THAT'S REDICULOUS!!! And then it really chaps my hide when I think of the letter I got from the President of the cable company last fall that said they were sorry but because of rising costs, they were going to have to raise the rates. WELL IF YOU DIDN'T DO STUFF LIKE THIS MAYBE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**********************************************************************************

I get to watch Fox News all day at work (Unless there's a playoff in a certain golf tournament and then I get to watch a golf)... so I hear about the economy and businesses having short falls and bad quarters. Well you know what, I've been around enough of corporate America these days to tell you that at least some of their trouble seems to come from plain, old fashioned stupid money and expense management. Examples I have seen:

A SINGLE peice of paper sent from a corproate office to a branch office. In a large envelope. The postage cost .88... for ONE piece of paper. This company has thousands of branches, so start doing some math... for just this one instance. Hmmmm

Checks sent for .22, .19, .12. And not just a few... LOTS of checks. With .42 cent postage on them. Printed on check stock. Yeah... there's NO WAY that makes sense.

Paying for utilities for years at a location that is no longer occupied by the company. One company I worked for I found places where we had been out of the location for close to 5 years, and had never had the utilities taken out of our name. In one case the total amount we had paid was well over $24,000. That's CRAZY.

When you just catch a glance of this kind of stuff, you think "eh, it's not that much money" but when to start to look deeply and start to do the math, these can be serious issues. And signs of stupidity that drive me NUTS

Stuff...

1. What achievement are you most proud of? Hmm - giving birth to two amazing young ladies.

2. Do you like your spouse’s/significant other’s name? Of course! It's classic, just like Elizabeth, and shortens down into 4 letters starting with B ;)

3. What is the most unique name you’ve ever heard a person have? Well Kj isn't one you get REAL often

4. Which would you rather be: divinely beautiful, dazzlingly clever, or angelically good? (From Anne of Green Gables!) Dazzingly clever - beauty is fleeting and good is no fun.

5. What is it about your wardrobe that is your trademark, uniquely you? PLAID!!!! Can you get a wedding dress in plaid?

6. Which is worse: no tv or no music? MUSIC!!!!

7. You’re stranded on a deserted island and you can have with you: 1 friend or family member, 1 item from your kitchen and 1 public figure (politician/actor/author). Who/what would you choose? Mr. B, knife and.... Bill Gates (he must have a GPS chip implanted in him - so hopefully they'd find him (and thusly us) quickly)

My baby leaves for California tomorrow...

Putting a 9-year-old on a plane alone for a 4 hour plane flight is quite disconcerting for a mom. I know she'll be fine, but believe you me my heart will be thumping a little more than usual until I get that phone call from Grandma & Grandpa telling me they've got her!

I got talk to Kj on the webcam last night. She kept doing these "close ups" and it was cracking me up... and you know what else I realized? My girls have AMAZING eyes. Kj's are so beautiful... they aren't brown but they're not hazel and yet not green - I guess they're closest to brown as anything but whatever they are I ADORE. They are so expressive and sweet. She shows so much love with her eyes.... And the freckles on her pretty nose... and her amazing lips. Anglina Jolie WISHES she had Kj's lips. Sigh... I'm gonna miss that girl. (Kj... not Angelina Jolie) But I know she'll have an incredible time in San Diego and get some good time with her Grandma & Grandpa & Aunt Sarah....

Did you feel it?

The girls are at their dad's for 11 days. I'm looking foward to doing some cleaning and organizing and reading and watching what I want on tv and working out in the evening and maybe even hitting the parkway at night... Those are good things. The quiet is kind of a good thing... Not having to wake up Cranky & Grumpy is a VERY good thing. Not getting a kiss goodbye in the morning - NOT a good thing. Kjersten will be home for less then 12 hours between when she gets back from her dad's and when she leaves for California. I'm so glad she gets to go, but I'm going to miss her tremendously.

Now - for the reason behind the title - I called over there this morning to say good morning to the girls (Ka was still asleep). Kj was.... DOING THE DISHES FOR GRANNY!!! Did you feel the earth move?? I just about fell over. WOW!! Good work Kj!!!!

Kjn got her report card yesterday. North Carolina uses letter grades in elementary school, whereas Minnesota uses S, NS, E... and some other stuff I was never very fond of. Well, Kj got 3 C's and 2 B's. The C's were in reading, writing and rithmatic basically :) The b's were in Social Studies and Science. Honestly, I'm VERY proud of her. She switched states, schools, homes etc towards the end of the school year and landed in a school that was MUCH more advanced than the one she came from. She's worked her BUTT off to catch up AND try to fit in. I'm INCREDIBLY proud of her. (Are you getting the idea that I'm proud of her)

Ka... Ka Ka Ka Ka... last night we were looking for something she wanted to take to her dads. I was looking and I said "I KNOW it's around here somewhere! It's gotta be right under my nose and I'm just not seeing it." Ka turns to me and says "Well mommy - you do have yellow hair." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that's right, I was the victim of a 5-year-olds blonde joke... Heaven help me.

We Did It

I grew up a republican. I voted for Bush.. twice... maybe not such a wise move looking back. At this point I'm not fond of ANYONE running for President - other than ME. For one thing, I look GOOD today - Katie even said when I woke her up that I "looked pretty" and then she wondered aloud if perhaps I was going golfing... LOL. For another thing, I know what I'm about, I know if truly did or did not inhale (HA - wouldn't YOU like to know!)... so I encourage you to just go ahead and write my name in come November.

NOW - the whole point of this blog, however, is to convey my complete pride in our country that we finally managed to have a nominated candidate for president who is NOT a white man. Now, I'm not a big fan of Obama, but that doesn't change the fact that perhaps our country is showing that we finally growing up.

Boredom

My new job is BORING... eventually it might not be but right now it is - AND I can't get to Xanga on the computer there but I THINK I can get to blogger SO I'm creating this blog. I'll just copy and paste whatever I write to xanga in the evenings, but feel free to comment or bookmark this blog if you want.....