And you are?

Well apparently I took some time off.

I'm here... now... with a whole new set of Sharpies, envisioning American Idol recaps.

December's been crazy. I started my new position with my company. It's a bit of a new position and so I'm having to kind of make it up as I go along. Which is fun, but the constant fear of disappointing people or forgetting to do something important scares me!!

December's also been hell for Essie. She's failing math, and pretty much her school is being a giant bunch of dicks about it. I don't even have the energy to go into it all, but her vice principal called me, bitched about Essie and what a slacker she is for about 45 minutes, THEN revealed that Essie had been sitting in her office the whole time, listening. Bitch. I spent the 45 minutes trying to tell her that I think Essie has a learning disability in Math, and I want her tested, and she spent the 45 minutes trying to talk me out of it.... it was OBVIOUS that her ONLY concern was her schools' test scores, not Essie. She better not meet me in a dark alley.

Christmas was lovely. We went to Kat's church for a lovely service, and then to her house for baked ziti and lots of fun. It was a WONDERFUL way to spend Christmas Eve. Not our "usual" but I think probably even better.

Then we came home and Mr. B came over the gift opening. We all were spoiled. I got a new Snuggie from my mom, which was hysterical because she had JUST opened up the snuggie I gave HER. That was a great laugh. Mr. B totally spoiled me with a new laptop, a Wii Fit, and Margarita glasses that have cactus' for the stems, which the girls have been DYING to have.

My mom is here. It's nice to have her here, but this is a one bedroom apartment with 4 people in it at the moment. It's just too much. And she's been living on her own for 20 years, and just.. honestly she's not good at living with people anymore. So I'm actually looking forward to work tomorrow.

Today is DEFINITELY that "blah" holiday day. So much I just want to snap my fingers and be able to change. Damn, being powerless sucks doesn't it.

I hope you all had wonderful Christmases!

Mi Casa es Su Casa.....

Well friends, I wasn't saying a whole lot, cause of the fiasco of house #1, but Mr. B and I found another house last weekend that we both fell in love with. We put an offer in and just found out that it was accepted!!!

Here's a link to my pictures of it.

It's probably the nicest foreclosure I've ever been in. Unlike the other house, it doesn't need new siding, a new roof, or a driveway. It doesn't have leaking sky lights or broken tile or missing kitchen cabinet doors. There are no broken windows that need to be repaired. There's an actual backyard. All wall sconces face up. It's PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT!!!!!!

We'll be doing a little work on it - updating and such, and looking at all those pictures in a clump I realize it's in desperate need of some COLOR!!!!

So that's the big news for the day.

Oh... and I PROMISE to get my EE post done this weekend. I had to clean the house for Essie's party tonight, so I'll have some time this weekend to get it done.

Oh... and Mike of Mike's Hard Lemonade fame is making a Hard Cider. Does that not sound DEVINE - and they're showing it warmed up. MMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh.... and I'm having lunch with Mr. B this afternoon. That makes me happy.

OH..... and Kat's girls are coming over for Essie's birthday party tonight. Just a small payment on the total amount of child care I owe her :) And if you click on that link and go look at her site, tell her it's time for a new blog post. I mean... really.....

Oh.... and ... IT'S THE WEEKEND!!! Make it a good one!!!!

December 2

Happy Birthday Beautiful Essie. These 11 years have flown, and yet I don't really remember life without you. Your beautiful spirit and loving nature, along with your AMAZING sense of humor and wit make you such a great person to call my daughter. Not that you don't challenge me.... A LOT.
But I wouldn't trade a minute of it if I had to trade you.
Happy Birthday Baby. Thanks for making me a Mommy.

BEST VIDEO EVER

Yeah yeah yeah I'm working on my EE post - my kids stole my sharpies. IN the mean time... BEST VIDEO EVER

Filler

Ok... I PROMISE I'm working on my EE post...

but I just couldn't let this milestone go buy unrecognized.

Miss Gert lost her first tooth yesterday

All kinds of excited are we!!!!!!!

You've Reached The Messaging Service of Lizzy-Beth

Thank you for your call. Lizzy-Beth* is not available right now because she's here:

Most likely sitting in this:


With a bunch of REALLY COOL Ladies!!!!

Please leave a message and she'll get back to you when she returns.

(*Lizzy is Lizzy's web name... Beth is Lizzy's real name.... some of the people on this trip call her Lizzy... some call her Beth. She's decided to Waltonize herself and change her name to Lizzy-Beth)

I've Become An Old Lady

First of all, I want to thank those who have and who are serving our country for fighting for my freedoms. I love this country and I am so grateful for those who have laid down their lives so that I can sit here and say almost anything I want. There are millions of people in the world who do not have that freedom.

Now a smallish rant.

I'm a pretty patriotic person. My grandpa was in WWII and really instilled a sense of patriotism in all his kids and grandkids. I especially remember helping him raise and lower the flag at his island every morning and evening. The care he took, the way he followed the flag code. He taught me respect for our flag, and respect for our country, and respect for those who serve it.

Last night I was watching tv, and a Macy's ad came on. It said something to the effect of "This Veteran's Day, we want to salute low prices."

Wow. Did that ever hit me WRONG.

SERIOUSLY??? The day we set aside to salute those who have gone through LIVING HELL to protect our freedoms, we're going to say "Nah.... forget the veterans... let's salute low prices"

Am I an 80-year-old crabby lady, or do I have a point? Does that rub anyone else the wrong way?????

(Sorry about the cheesy music, but despite it's corniness, i do love this song)

Close to Perfect

It was BEAUTIFUL this weekend. The Ladies and I went over to Stone Mountain and rode the tram up to the top. It was BEAUTIFUL - a little hazy, but it could be MUCH worse. They climbed and discovered and had a great time. I, of course, took pictures...

(As usual, Essie wasn't interested in getting her picture taken... but I got a couple)

If.....

I have a pet peeve I need to get off my chest.

Apologies that contain the word "If".

You know the ones. When the super athlete mows over 13 people with his SUV while he's autographing the navel of the lady he just picked up. And so he goes in front of the camera's and is all contrite and says "I'm really sorry if I hurt anybody."

If he hurt somebody.

IF????

IF?????????????

Um... dude. There's NO IF. You DID hurt someone.

Another example. Someone said something inappropriate and you call them on it, telling them you were a offended. And they say "I'm sorry if you were offended"

Well... I just told you I was, so again, there's really no IF.

IF makes your apology sound like the only reason you're saying this is because someone is making a stink, and you want it over. You're not REALLY sorry... more along the lines of sorry you got caught.

So when a customer complains and says "I was mislead by your sign" don't come back with "I'm sorry IF you were mislead" How about "I'm sorry that our sign isn't clear. We will take steps to fix that right away."

IF you're sorry - be FULLY sorry.

IF you're not really sorry - don't pretend to be.

1234 5 678 9 10 11 12................

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!!!!!

Thank you for counting and letters and laughter and tears and happy and grumpy and silly and aggravated (that poor blue bald guy who had to deal with Grover).

Thank you for the best memories of Childhood!

(Seriously... I could have posted about a million of these on here... but I managed to stop myself. There are a small sampling of my FAVORITE Sesame Street Bits)

and

my all time Favorite:

What are YOUR best Sesame Memories????

It Was a Lovely Evening

Happy Halloween!!!!

The Ladies' Granny(my ex MIL) had a mastectomy about 6 weeks ago, so they haven't been up to spend the weekend with their dad in a bout 2 months. I knew that seeing the Ladies in their costumes would really perk her up, but I wasn't really willing to not have Halloween with them, so I did the ultimate sacrifice and am spending the weekend with my ex.

This afternoon we carved pumpkins, and here's how they turned out:

And here they are out on the porch tonight:
As usual, the Ladies' costumes were hand sewn by my step-mom. She does such an amazing job. Thank you Gramma!!! Gert was Cinderella, and Essie was Dorothy. I have to say they were both rockin it BIG TIME!!! We went to a lot of "Trunk or Treats" at some churches, and then around the neighborhood their dad lives in.

Here they are together:



Gert as Cinderella:

And Essie as Dorothy (Gramma even included a basket and a Toto dog with her costume!)

All in all it was a lovely evening. They are both running around in a sugar-induced coma, heaven help me. It seems it would be better to eat the candy first and THEN to Trick or Treating!

I hope you all had a lovely, safe, fun Halloween!!! Don't forget to turn your clocks tonight!!!

MISSING

So last night I was pondering my next blog post. See - I'm trying to get back into the swing of it! I thought about either recapping So You Think You Can Dance or telling you about my new job. But I really wanted to draw pictures for both of those. Cause it's been a LONG time since I sharpied, and I DO love doing it. (Are you new to my blog? If you are and are lost about the sharpies - check this out... and this)

So I set out to find my sharpies.

I went to the marker box in my closet, pulled it down and opened it up. Hmmm... no sharpies.

I checked the unpacked box by the computer. No sharpies.

Kitchen drawer? No.

Ummm... bedroom closet??? No....

Have I mentioned we live in a REALLY small apartment? Well... we do... and the above listed search places pretty much totals a complete home investigation.

I sat down on my couch... thinking thinking thinking....

(crickets chirp)

It would seem that in The Great Move of 09, my sharpies have been.....

Misplaced.

Lost.

Kidnapped.

Okay... I don't have proof of the last one, but it doesn't SEEM that far out of reach.

So now I must replace the sharpies... there are too many exciting things coming up that MUST be captured in sharpie. (Right EE ladies??????)

So the question is... do I buy the pack?

Or... do I go to the alter?

(My heart is starting to flutter just LOOKING at that picture)(Does Office Depot have a wedding registry??? Cause if they do, when the time comes, I'm going for one of everything)

Who Does He Remind You Of?

Yesterday, my dear, sweet friend Angie posted her regular Monday Morning Eye Candy, and one of the gentlemen she featured was Madison from the show Million Dollar Listing. (Are you watching this show? I am... I have to admit. I love houses and in my next life I would LOVE to be a Real Estate Agent) It's about 3 young (and COCKY) real estate agents in LA. Oh my GOSH do they have EGOS!!!! But it's fun to watch them try to navigate the world of real estate, especially in the major downturn of the housing market (like they're having to slum it by listing houses that are "only" one or two million dollars).

Now, probably the most egotistical of the 3 is Chad Rogers. Constantly fixing his hair... they've shown his bathroom at home and he has more beauty products than ANY woman I've ever known. Here's a shot of Chad:

The first time I watched the show I just sat thinking WHERE have I seen him before??? He looks SO familiar.... then it hit me:

He's Albert Ingalls long lost son.

Ladies Day

If any of you follow my Facebook, you know that my beautiful Essie became a WOMAN this week. Her body has been showing signs of it coming for AGES now, so I was prepared. And given Essie's... um... dramatic nature, I was ready for the torrent of anger and emotion that would come with this unwelcome visitor (like as she's developed breasts - she hates them and plans to have them removed when she moves out of the house... wanna take bets on her changing her mind?) SO... as she told me that she'd gotten her period, she was so calm and matter of fact about it! No drama, no nothing. Totally, typical Essie. She's freaks about the stuff I DON'T expect freaking over... and she's totally cool with the stuff I think will bring on the drama.

Mr. B suggested that perhaps Essie and I should have a bit of a "Welcome to Womanhood" day to celebrate. The lovely Kat agreed to watch Gert for a few hours, and Essie and I made plans. I suggested pedicures, or hairdos, (clothes shopping was out - Essie HATES shopping for clothes)... she didn't care for any of those ideas. Then I suggested we go to the top of Stone Mountain -something she's been wanting to do for ages. While not exactly along the vein I had in mind, it was her day, so away we went.

As we were driving towards Stone Mountain, I was watching for the trams, just to point out and say "Look Essie - that's where we'll be a in a little bit"... but I wasn't seeing them. I thought perhaps I was just not looking at the right times. Pulling up to the tram entrance, we see the sign... "The Sky Lift is Closed Today".

Crap.

There were tears. We tried to think of plan B... Big Target... Ikea... Haircuts...... then I hit on it - World of Coca Cola!!!! My trusty cheap, no frills phone managed to give me directions to the place. We found it and headed in.

After checking out these cool bottles, we were let into this REAL cool area with all this neat Coke memorabilia. It was the last place we could take pictures, so I snapped a couple. I DIDN'T get one of the thing I REALLY wanted - a Norman Rockwell original painting!!!! Have I ever expressed my love for Norman?

I LOVED all the retro stuff!!!!

This is where I vent for a moment. They said at least 5 different times that this was the LAST place you can take pictures until the tasting room. And as we're walking through all these exhibits there are people snapping pictures left and right. The same thing happens at The Biltmore. Ok... I understand that it seems silly, and that in general they don't want you to take pictures because of copyrights and wanting to sell you pictures for WAY MORE in the gift shop. Yeah, that sucks. But it still just annoys me that people feel it's okay to just go ahead then and take pictures. Ok... rant off.

So our favorite area by FAR was the tasting room. They have drinks from all over the world. Our favorites were from Asia and Africa - lots of different fun flavored Fantas. Our least favorite was Beverly from Italy. Essie said it tasted like barf.

But by far, our VERY favorite was good old CocaCola from the U S of A. Here's Essie happy to try a sample
And hamming it up for the camera... in Coke Camo.

And a little proof we were there!