What to say....

Hmm....Ya know what? I don't have a thing to say. At least, nothing worth typing.

So who's got the drinks for our online New Year's bash?

Thursday Questions

When is Monsty returning from Houston?

Is Augie still mad at us?

Is Coco still pregnut?

What time zone is everyone in?

Has everyone seen Rose? She's back!

Is Carey still less sociable? Or just playing troublemaker?

What about Bob?

Is the sky really falling?

Itchy and Scratchy

Or, me and Rotten2 and my dog. The dog has gawd awful dry skin this winter and so do Rotten2 and I. We've begun bathing the dog (Trouble) every 3-4 days with Head & Shoulders. I'm starting to think this wouldn't be such a bad idea for me, as well. Except it's not my head. Or my shoulders. It's my back and tummy. And Rotten2's also. We're using baby oil in the shower, one of three lotions right after, and at least two or three other lotion applications during the day/evening. I feel like ... like....I should have chicken pox or something. It's enough to make us all insane. Any recommendations? I've got Bath & Body Works lotion. I've got Suave Dry Skin lotion. I've got Johnson & Johnson Baby Lotion. I've got Baby Oil. I've got some other scented body lotion something or other.

And Coco, no parcel yet.

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In other news, as I was about to post, I hear a commercial on ABC for the new season of The Bachelor: Paris. I used to love this show. Now? When they advertise using the slogan "The romance is back" I want to puke.

Merry Christmas!

Wow. What a day. The kids got home around 10 last night...totally exhausted and on the verge on whiny. So we called off going to church. *pout* I really was looking forward to the service, but there was no way I was going to put myself through that with 2 kids that were so sleepy it wasn't funny. Ah well. I watched the major city's church service at midnight on tv. Not quite the same, but...it worked.

Kids woke up around 7 am, totally excited and raring to go. Santa brought the coveted DVD players, 5 DVDs and a DVD rack for each, as well as overflowing stockings. 16 presents for each child from DH and I, a present for me, and a small present for DH. And, since I know you all are wondering, I wrote DH a card with a picture of the car and put it in an envelope in his stocking. "Santa called and said we should know Monday about your present" Hehehehe. He's a bit in shock.

DH ended up having to work today. :( He was not happy. The kids and I took it in stride and called his dad and step mom before they left for our place. Instead of them doing dinner here, we met up and carried it all to the ambulance station with DH and his partner. Spent the better part of 4 hours there doing dinner and opening a few gifts. Definitely a first for all of us....and probably not the last Christmas to be spent waiting for a radio to go off in the midst of dinner.

Hope you all had a wonderful day. Merry Christmas!

Hmrph. It's Christmas Eve.

The kids ended up staying with their dad last night, since he forgot that Wednesday was...well, Wednesday. The kids stay with him every Wednesday. *shakes head* He's a moron. They are doing Christmas with their aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents and the whole fam-damn-ily today. Should be home around 9 tonight.

DH is at work. It appears he may end up working Christmas Day. No one has volunteered to cover the next shift, since they allowed the guy who normally works to take vacation. If no one volunteers, guess who is stuck until they can find someone to come in? Yep. Hopefully it won't happen that way, but if it does...well... the extra $7-8 an hour for up to 24 hours won't be so awful. *half grin* I'm trying to find the bright spot there. Really, its not so bad for me. I just hope the kids won't be disappointed. This is the first year in 5 that they've been with me.

My cat is in heat. I swear to God, Santa, and all that is holy about this season, I will strangle her whiny ass if she doesn't shut up soon. After three days of her moaning and whining and being extremely vocal, I have no pity for the little shit. Note to self: Go get the damned cat spayed or neutered or whatever it's called SOON!

I haven't heard from the dealership. I'm getting worried. Or I was. Until I had talked to the Finance Manager last night. He's swamped, two people quit on him and it's pretty much just him and one other person this week trying to get all of the applications done. So...I'm calling again this morning to see what's going on. He promised he'd move me to the top of the pile and work on it yesterday afternoon. Damn.

Other than that, I have no plans. None. Not one. Today is all about peace and quiet - or at least as peaceful and quiet as it can get with a 16 month old cat in heat. *rolls eyes* Here's hoping the kids get home in time tonight to make it to the midnight candlelight service at church and aren't too worn out.

Happy Holidays!

Be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Soltice, New Years or just the season itself - I want to wish you all a Happy Holiday!! I'll probably be around today and tomorrow but probably not Sunday.

*smoooooooooooooch*

I hope you all get everything you've ever wished for.

Ready or not...it's almost Christmas!

And I'm not. Sort of. I finished the kids stuff tonight. Finally. For the most part. There is one other thing I want to get them, but I'm not sure that time/money will allow. I really want to have satellite installed in their rooms. But I think my Christmas budget is pretty well gone. So that may have to be in a month or two just for shits and grins. Not a big deal since Santa is bringing each a DVD player and 5 movies a piece and a DVD rack for each of their rooms. I should find out tomorrow about the car for DH. I've decided on the 3rd. It's the GT Deluxe model from 03, has 33K miles on it, and the price is right. And so is the engine, transmission, coloring, and all that jazz.

Somehow, I managed to sucker myself into having DH's dad and stepmom here for Christmas morning. I realized that DH wouldn't want to drive an hour and half each way to his Dad's at some point Christmas Day after having worked a 24 hour shift Christmas Eve. And I really have no desire to spend half the day running across North Texas again this year. And his sister and her husband and their 3 kids are staying home (read: the other side of Dallas, an hour from our house) this year. So his dad and stepmom (who I adore) would be all alone with their cows this year. Which sucks. So I called to see if they wanted to come down for the day. Of course, they did. And in the last 12 hours has become a semi-large production for what I had hoped would be a laid back day. They are bringing a ham. And macaroni and veggies and rolls and dessert and.....hell if I know what else. And their Black Lab, of course. Which is fine. But now DH's sister and her family may be coming out to eat lunch/dinner/whatever you want to call that noon meal.

Which brings me to my next problem. I haven't bought my neices and nephew anything for Christmas because I hadn't planned on seeing them. DH's family typically doesn't exchange gifts with each other because their are 4 grown kids and 5 children + his dad, stepmom, mom and step dad. DH's parents do a few things for each of the grandkids, but that's about it. Which is fine. Normally we all get together a day or two after for a meal and hang out. But if I see them on Christmas Day, I'm going to have to do something. I just wouldn't feel right about it otherwise.

Ah well. It will all work out in the next few days, right? It has to. Christmas is almost here. Ready or not.

Out of the mouths of babes....

This morning's car conversation:

Momma, who sings this song?
Kenny Chesney
Who sings Summer Girls?
Jessica Andrews
Kenny Chesney's my boyfriend. 'Cept he's bigger than me.

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In other news, it appears that I have the loan approval for the 3rd car. And the first. I've got to fill out a full credit app in a bit, but the initial paperwork looks good. I really am leaning toward the 3rd car. It's also cheaper :) Unfortunately, it's not a 40th anni, but oh well.

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*HAPPY DANCE FOR CAREY* I hope Mayor Daddy Knockers has a quiet ride home from the hospital, a relaxing week, an enjoyable Christmas and no more trips back to the hospital except for his antibiotics. Give him big hugs for all of us, mkay?

I've lost my mind.

I have. I swear it. I haven't gotten DH anything for Christmas. The reason? His wish list has two things on it. A storage building/work shop that is roughly the size of our house and a newer car. Well, I got to browsing around car dealership websites this morning just for the hell of it. I've now talked to one salesman and filled out a pre-approval loan application. I found a 40th anni Mustang with very low mileage for a pretty decent price. I'm trading in DH's piece of shit car. And so far, DH knows nothing. He'll have to find out soon enough - he's got to sign the loan papers to. I don't make enough to justify having two vehicle loans going at the same time. Wanna see the car I'm working on? He's so going to kill me for this one. *grin*

ETA:2nd picture
ETRemove: 2nd picture. I've decided I don't like that one near as much. Now for the 3rd car:

Is it wrong?

That for dinner tonight, Rotten1 had a peanut butter and jelly sammich and chocolate milk? That Rotten2 had spaghetti noodles and parmesan cheese and chocolate milk? That I had apple crumb cake with Cool Whip?

We did have crackers and cheese and ham and turkey a couple hours ago....

To Do before tonight:

Clean kitchen - Done
Sweep and mop - Done
Clean bathrooms - Almost finished (DH is soo good)
Clean Rotten2's hazmat area of a bedroom - This is what I'm supposed to be doing right now. - ETA: Done
Move 2nd refridgerator - WHY did DH pick this morning to do this? Fridge has been living in the same spot for over a year now! But it's done.
Dust - ETA: Done
Vacuum
Finish laundry - ETA: Done
Go to grocery store
Make some kind of food
Make tea (sweet and unsweet)
Find coffee pot
Shower
Dress
Fix hair
Feed animals
Turn on Christmas lights

Letters to Santa

Our annual Letters to Santa were begun last night. So far, Rotten1 would like a laptop, a remote control four wheeler, a real four wheeler (*waves to Coco*), a DVD player, and satellite for his room. Rotten2 would like a toy lion, a toy zebra, a real pony, a bouncy ball, a CD player, a DVD player, cartoons for her room (read: satellite receiver), new boots, and a baby dressed in pink with a bear on it's dress on the front in the middle.

These will probably be added to, deleted from, and generally rearranged 15 times before Christmas Eve by each child. Oh! And did they mention they have been really, really, really good this year? Of course they did. And of course they looked at me like I had 3 heads and a clown wig when I reminded them that Santa knows when they've been lying.

And of course, the all important question came up while writing these letters. Are we leaving Santa birthday cake or cookies? 'Cause Santa might want some of Jesus' birthday cake, ya know.

ACK!

Remember how I told you that somehow, someway, I got suckered into hosting this year's Fire Department Christmas Party? It's this Saturday. Today is Thursday. I have not prepared for this AT ALL. I made it a potluck type supper thing with food, music, and mostly bring your own alcohol. There will be roughly 25 firemen and their wives/girlfriends/significant others in attendence. One couple is bringing a spiral ham. Another is bringing can drinks. A third and fourth are bringing something that I have now forgotten. A fifth is bringing some dessert something or other. One wife sent over a crapload of Christmas napkin wrapped silverware. And I? am at a total loss for what to do. I need to go get plates and napkins and cups. I need to dust and mop and vacuum. I'm thinking of a cheese tray and a veggie tray and some chips and dips. Any other exciting ideas?

Fun Facts

1. The agitator thingie on my washing machine is broken. DH has ordered the new part. It will be in some time next week. Thankfully, DH was pretty much caught up on all our laundry.

2. It is raining outside. It has only rained like twice since September's hurricanes.

3. My dog actually went outside to go potty in the rain. She would hold her business for Noah's 40 day and 40 night flood under normal circumstances. I think she forgot what rain is.

4. The moronic weatherman is predicting flurries for Friday night. That makes twice so far this fall we've had winter weather. WTF is going on in Texas?

5. We've only had snow 2 times on Christmas Day in 80 years. This year? There's a chance of it.

6. My employee number for our new fingerprint time clock at work is 19. 19 is not good. I do not like the number 19.

7. All lists must end with a 7.

Well.

Rotten2 had her Church School Christmas Program tonight. She was an angel. She was adorable. She knew all her lines! She knew all the dance moves. She was great!

Here we have Rotten2 singing "Silent Night"

Rotten2 is on the far left. One of her best friends is right next to her in black and white. Down on the bottom row in the red pajamas are my nephews. The youngest did amazingly well. The older? Well, he stayed on stage.

Oh. And did I mention....Rotten2, my darling sweet lovable adorable angelic child, had the ONLY CROOKED HALO IN THE ENTIRE CHURCH!!!!! We (my ex inlaws and I) all decided that was her daddy coming out in her. *snort*

I could gripe and bitch....

about this horrible, awful, terrible, no-good day. But I won't. Suffice it to say, between a flat tire that can't be fixed and a root canal and going back to the lion's den after 3 days in bed AND our office Christmas party where I couldn't drink because of the meds I'm on, it wasn't pretty.

Except, we got our Christmas bonus - which will probably pay for my root canal - and a good talk with the CEO - who is upping my hourly pay to compensate for the loss of my quarterly bonus and hopes that will help maintain my positive attitude and wonderful contributions to the company. Damn, it's nice to hear a bit of appreciation from him sometimes.

The kids are now camping out on the living room floor. SpongeBob is on the tv. DH is at work. It's Friday night and I should be vegged out with my puter and a glass of wine or rum and coke. But I'm vegged out with my puter and a bottle of water and a Lortab. Life is good. Right?

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In other news, I pose the following question:
MTW, Nookie, Lightsy - may I linkie you?

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Have a great weekend, if I don't see you again before Monday. I hope to address Christmas cards, get a bit of shopping done and take a nap or two. *smoooooch*

ACK!! Iced in....

My face has gone down some. It's now only about 50% swollen. Still quite ugly. The pain is gone - at least, as long as I remember to take my Lortab. *half grin cause I still can't smile for the swelling*

No school for the Rotten's today. We had an 8 hour ice storm last night that resulted in everything being covered in about 1/4 - 1/2" of ice. Yeeps! As it is, us Texans can't drive on ice, let alone LOTS of ice. High temp today? 31 degrees. Low tonight? 19 degrees. Lovely.

And Carey, I didn't put the wine in a box, so no worries, sweetie. And Breezy, that box of books sounds perfect. I have a book to send you...or Glow....or Nookie....whomever wants it. It's an older Janet Evanovich book I found at my bookstore. Cute, quick read.

*smooches* to everyone. I missed you guys too!

I'm alive

Or so the ER doc says. I'm not so sure.

I've been fighting a sinus infection for the last week or so. Woke up Tuesday AM running a low grade fever and generally feeling like smashed shit. Called in to work, took the kids to school and went to my doctor's office without an appointment. They squished me in and confirmed that the minor swelling on my cheek was due to the sinus infection and my 160/100 blood pressure was due to the Nyquil and Sudafed combo and facial pain. She gave me two prescriptions for 875 mg horsepills of Amoxil and 800 mg of some horsepill decongestant and sent me on my merry way. Came home and crashed. I slept off and on from 10am until 4pm, when I finally rose from the dead only to discover that the entire left side of my face was swollen beyond recognition. Called my doc's office and they said to monitor the swelling and my blood pressure closely and go to the ER if it got worse. At this point my bp was hanging in around 140/90, so I wasn't too concerned about that. The pain was killing me, so I took 3 Advil and went back to bed. Dipshit's mom kept the kids because she refused to send them home with me while I was that sick. This morning, I woke up to find the swelling had gotten worse and my left eye was nearly swollen shut. This was not the work of a sinus infection. So I called DH on his way home from work and told him that he was going to be taking me to the ER.

Seven hours, a CT scan, an IV of antibiotics, an IV of Demoral, 4 vials of blood drawn, and a new prescription for Lortab later? I have a very low white blood cell count, a minor sinus infection, and my teeth are causing this massive swelling. I didn't know anything was wrong with my teeth, but apparently I do. So I have found a new dentist and shall be calling in the morning for an emergency appointment.

That? is where I've been.

Dumb question

Can a bottle of wine go bad? I discovered a half bottle of wine in the back of our drinks fridge while cleaning it out. I thought I had finished it off a couple months ago. And it appears that the kids hid it behind the 75 bottles of water they keep in there.

So. Safe? Not so much?

Where's our boxed wine expert when she's needed? Oh yeah. Pennsylvania. Hmph.

Highs and Lows

I am on the emotional merry go round from hell. Yesterday was one of those days where I was at the top of my game at work. Nothing was stopping me. We had a manager's meeting with the President of the company and one of his colleagues. Ideas were rolling, I received a couple of amazing compliments. It was great. I swear, one of these days, I'm going to open my mouth one too many times with a bright idea (read: common sense) and end up responsible for a whole lot more than my little department. I had a good meeting afterwards with my boss. We came to common terms. I'm now waiting to see what he offers me. I haven't had one of those days in a long, long time. And I enjoyed it. And quite a few commented on it.

Then I was on my way home and my ex called. We got into an hour long screaming match. Suffice it to say, the kids' lives will change dramatically due to this. I will not be accused of using anyone to keep my children happy. If his family wants to put the guilt on me for the things their son refuses to do, then I will ensure that they do not have any reason to take out their anger at him on me. Or my children. The classic line though? My ex believes he is a responsible parent.

It was all so totally unbelievable. I went from the top of the world to feeling pretty low. And even now, I'm pretty low. I've gone out of my way many, many times to make sure the kids were with their family on days my ex didn't have the kids for family functions, etc. And now it's being thrown in my face. Well...the divorce decree is out. I will follow it, but there will be nothing else extra. I will contact a family lawyer on Monday to deal with the Attorney General's office for me. The kids will probably switch school districts. And life will go on.

Today, I sit here in my house. DH is at work. The kids are with their dad. I had every intention of going shopping, paying bills and just relaxing. Instead, I'm trying desperately to pull myself out of this funk and enjoy my day while researching the school district out here.

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In other news, I hope Nookie, Carey, Breezy, Jen, and whomever I have forgotten have a wonderful time at Glowbug's reception.

*smooches*