Sorry folks I am on vacation

What are some pre-vacation rituals you do before your vacation?
Do you find yourself in vacation mode and suddenly become more unproductive then normal? Do you stare at your work clock counting the minute until you get to fly the coop? Do you wonder what time you are going to fit in a pedicure? Do you buy a new beach tote for no reason other then it is so darn cute? While discussing inventory numbers does your mind shift to whether or not you packed your son's vitamins? I think I suffer if you answer "yes" to many of these questions then like me, you suffer from vacationitis. I am suffering so bad my brain has checked out yesterday about 4:00. The crazy part is I have so much I need to accomplish, including finishing-up projects here at work. Cooking for a cook-out tomorrow following my son's dance recital. All of that is taking a backseat to having my bushy eyebrows waxed and a nice pedicure! I found a cure for vacationitis...it is called a boat drink and a lounge chair on the ocean.
Besides packing what are some of your rituals?
I am loading my XM player with some of my favorite songs.
Listening to Radio Margaritaville except when they try to sneak some country music in on me.. you can't fool me..Kenny C is not island music XM!!
Obviously getting my toes done
Buying a new pair of flip flops
Stock-up on all my trash magazines so I can find out the truth on Jon &Kate from Us weekly..ha ha.
Inevitably I will forget something, typically it is items such as undergarments (guilty TWICE), razor or deodorant. So basically I am the hairy sleazy girl who stinks...how sexy is that? Let me know if you ever want me to join you on a trip!


You know what the only thing better then vacation? Planning your next vacation?

Unfortunately my next post will be about beach depression and how fat I am...How depressing!

Be back the 27th my dear friends!

Take a Number

Ever feel like the world is totally against you? Have you had one of those days that one thing after another goes wrong. The type of day where you wish you could just head back to bed and hibernate until the next day. You would think those type of days would sincerely make you appreciate the good days, but they don't!
Yesterday was one of those fun days! I woke-up yesterday feeling absolutely horrible. Thanks to the lovely Ohio pollen levels I could barely breath and my stomach was so upset I could barely function. I dreaded my drive with the "idiot patrol" that was what I term my fellow drivers that share my daily commute. I figured a quick stop to McDonalds would either further punish my stomach or make the misery end. I was short exact change by one stinking penny. Why is it you find pennies all over the place but not when you need them. So bought my orange drink and yogurt parfait and headed to work late..well after fielding various phone calls from upset co-workers and vendors I figured that the day could be changed to my day of HELL. In addition of fun, I was able to pick-up my bridesmaid dress that cost me a lovely $84 to get adjusted. On top of that I wonder what other insults to endure from the alteration person. Last week she told me that I had a bootie...lovely, thanks lady! I also had to return a package that cost me $16 to ship via ground..are you kidding me?! It wasn't that heavy!! I pick-up my son from school and he tells me he doesn't want to go and I am no his friend...again? My typically response is "fine you can't come to my birthday party-trust me, I can dumb myself down to a 3-year-old level without any problems boy..do you know who you are messing with"? Today I said.."take a number" and he yells out "3". Who is the Witty one now? One way to turn my frown upside down!

Thanks to post reminder of a dear friend of mine I am going to try to post a little more often then I have before..

Only on Fridays

I am a practicing Catholic. This means I carry so much guilt around in my life I have ulcer scares monthly. It also means I can't have meat on Friday's during Lent-or chocolate as I give it up as my Lenten sacrifice. I am not a huge carnivore to begin with. I quite like vegetables and any sort of red in my meat makes me cringe. I don't like touching raw meat or preparing any dish with meat included. I made bacon a few months back and found there to be pig hairs still on the bacon. I am just starting to eat bacon again after the incident. However, thinking about it makes me gag. The only time I crave meat is Lenten Fridays. The only time I crave chocolate is Lent. Bryon's family informed me Sundays are exceptions for Lenten promises and it all ends Saturdays before Easter at noon. At first I agreed because a peanut butter egg tastes so good (why are those ten times better then the other cups you can get year-round-even the pumpkins and the trees) and I couldn't wait another day. Now I figure I waited this long what is another day? I will wait for the Easter bunny to bring me the eggs (full size one's Mr. Bryon bunny) and I can have 1 or 2 after church! I guarantee the Friday after Easter I will NOT want meat or see any chocolate. Always want what you can't have!!

Mom's wish was granted

From what my parent's told me, I was a good baby and child. I think my teenage years definitely made him lose his hair and cause many in the house, including the dogs their white hair! I recall my Mom saying someday I hope you have a child just like you (I must have been very bad at the time she said that) because apparently I now have the wild-man at school. In the last week I have been told my son has bit, pushed, kicked and has an odd obsession with scissors and isn't progressing quickly. As a child who rarely was in trouble at school I was defeated, I had tears welling in my eyes after being confronted by the teacher at school. I immediately called Bryon and told him "call the school director and make an appointment and plan on searching out a new school shortly". We spent the weekend shopping for CRAP (how my son says craft) supplies. I am leery about scissors in the first place but found he quite enjoyed cutting paper and gluing. I was surprised. He has an attention span of a flea but managed to sit still for over 10-minutes doing "crap". The meeting with the director went surprisingly well this week. Actually, over-all this week was pretty good for this sophisticated lady. I am sure I jinxed myself but I will take the few days of good luck I have had. Hopefully we will continue doing "crap" at home and my son won't be marked with the scarlet letter for much longer..then we will move to 100% potty trained right? Baby step. If this doesn't work, I need to either enroll him in ultimate fighting classes now or reserve a cell at the county jail!

C'est La Vie

I think the best approach to have on life is c'est la vie. I think if I could be remembered by anything in my life it will be the terms c'est la vie.

Last week was mal (thanks to all those years of French this is the only pieces I remember). When I look back on it it made me laugh how sick to my stomach I was with worry. I truly think my ulcer will be arriving shortly due to the amount of worrying I do (or the diet coke I drink). This week thus far hasn't been so bad, but I don't want to jinx myself as of yet. I think I had my breaking point yesterday and literally hit the last straw and couldn't worry about anything else in my life.
My director here at work is pregnant and has a doctor appointment today and the weigh-in. To me, nothing is WORSE then that weight in. I would wear the lightest close, take off my shoes. I would shed every layer I could before getting on that scale! I was in hysterics laughing about that today. Here I come loony bin!

I decided to add some more important things I want to share with my son someday, a little Mom wisdom:

1) Always hold the door for women and even other men-that is just RUDE!
2) Always get the car door for women
3) You can retake a test but never repeat last night (maybe won't share that with him until after college)
4) Unlike your Mom don't trust everyone in your life because chances are you will get stabbed in the back more times you can count
5) You took FAR too long to potty train
6) Your stubbornness is from your father
7) Your fashion sense is from your mother
8) Please and Thank you for EVERYTHING
9) Don't drive like an idiot like all the other people around me
10) I will be monitoring your facebook and myspace accounts
11) C'est La Vie my dear boy!!

Wow people do like my blogs..no seriously what are you taking?

I have had a few questions about letting my blog lapse (maybe not an army of people but nice to be appreciated). Truth of the matter is, I try to keep this light and but I haven't had anything worth writing about. I don't know if it is an age thing but I don't think I am very funny lately. Ok, granted my company just laid-off 300 people last week in front of our eyes and I lost a few very dear people to me. Maybe it could be the mandatory salary cut I had. I wish I could even place the blame on my winter blues, But enough!!! I need to give my sour puss attitude a kick in the butt and try to get motivated to write again and entertain myself. I do have a topic I want to get off my chest...
This blog I call

Life is a big FAT money pit

Have you heard the saying in 3's. Usually it references people passing away, or pregnancies around the office. Well my 3's have to do with luck and superstition. Those who know me, understand my glass is only 1/2 full. I have always been pessimistic. I make a wonderful friend don't I? I guess 3 can also be considered the number of people I expect attending my funeral based on that information.

Honestly though. I will have a good day and I am certain the next day will be a bad day or the next week. I am the person who says to myself (usually in my head), if I make this shot into the trashcan xx will happen, if I miss the opposite. Well my 3's usually center around luck. If anyone gives us an estimate for a doctor bill or for repair service I can expect to pay the HIGH and most of the time beyond that. I managed to break my tooth on a conversation heart a few weeks back. The $.01 cent heart cost me $200 plus dollars for a partial crown. On top of paying that co-pay I got the agony of 2 dentist visits and Novocaine, Yippee paying for pain! Car repairs are the same for us. I expect to pay around $500 for a service and it is typically much more then that. My poor little cabrio is screaming for brakes and tires and I get to pick one. I figure one keeps me moving will probably win and hopefully the tree or the bumper of the car in front of me will help me stop. I rarely can go one day without spending a dime on something that we need for the car, the house, or a bill of some sorts. I still have a love for shopping but I have to be honest with my shopping mates, I have not bought any article of clothing or purse for my son or myself in quite a while. Unless you count pull-up's which we need to put a stop to real quick. Potty training since October and still no "big boy robot panties (yes that is what he calls them)" full-time.
So my bad luck tends to fall in my category of 3's and if I am on a hot luck streak I am always looking for the shoe to fall. Anyway, if you still want to be my friend I promise to add some more blogs but I can't promise funny or delightful, because well that isn't me or at least until the sun is shining and it is above 60-degrees. Or I am holding a the larger half of a wishbone and a rabbits foot in my hand.

Thanks for caring enough to let me know you missed me.

I am selfish when it comes to one thing at Christmas

I can honestly say it is better to give then receive at Christmas. I love giving that perfect gift at Christmas or that gift card that will go to good use. I like providing my parents with a gadget they would NEVER buy themselves or a night out they deserve. Although I have learned NEVER to go astray with my Mom...

However there is one thing I absolutely am selfish about at Christmas. I love my Christmas cards. I send out about 65- 70 cards per year. Many of them are not reciprocated (although I am tracking you) but I love finding cards that are unique and fun and trying to figure out the best way to highlight my son's year. Many of my cards I purchase on vacations or trips to add to the uniqueness. Unfortunately I remembered after I bought my cards in the UK, the square ones are double postage and you don't want to remind your friends yearly that they have to accept a card upon postage due. Not good form! I think that is one thing my generation lacks, correspondance through snail mail. I miss the days of unsolicitated mail like my Grandparents sent. I loved getting letters or cards from family and friends in college (unless you were like the guy I was dating from Harvard and corrected all my grammar and his letters would start "grammar be darned." What a loser, he is probably teaching some place like Brown now-poor guy- and is still declaring himself the grammar police!)

Yesterday we took a ride on the Polar Express with my train crazy son! He loves choo-choo trains. We sat next to this really great couple from Columbus and talked a bit on our journey to the North Pole. She said the funniest thing that just sticks in my head about selfish behavior. When we received our hot chocolate and cookies (just like the movie-without dancing though-very disappointed), she said "I don't share my cookies with anyone". This is after the Dad offered his cookie to the two boys we were provided with them.

There is a few things in my life I don't share with anyone other then emotions. I guess one of them is Christmas cards. I proudly display each of them on my door and a few of the photos of kids remain on my fridge year-round.

My family may disagree, but there isn't too much I am selfish about in my life. I figured if I am not let inside the Pearly Gates because of my Christmas Cards right away, it will be well-worth the wait!

Next post will be why I intend to be a better person in 2009 and some of my New Year's Resolutions.

Christmas Nostalgia

Yesterday I took my son to see the lights at the zoo and it really set me in the mood for Christmas. See, I have always really loved Christmas!! My goal is to really find great gifts for everyone and add a smile to their face. I want to surprise at least one person with a really great gift!
My fondest childhood memories are of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Christmas Eve we would come home from church, have meatballs (no spaghetti for me, I don't touch the pasta stuff), light the luminaries in the drive way, beg my dad to go out for a drive looking at Christmas lights, tear the last chain my my construction paper Christmas count-down link, and tuck into bed as my Mom read The Night before Christmas. My sister and I would wake-up ridiculously early and open all our presents and spend extended family time wearing new clothes and spending time with our cousins (who we didn't see often.. to catch-up on their lives). We would end the day with a trip to the movies! I was even excited to make the trip out the next day to buy those post-Christmas bargains.

My Mom did such a good job making sure our tree was filled and the room looked amazing. I don't think my Mom has yet to tell us Santa doesn't exist and I don't think I have ever asked!

Working in retail over the past 10-years you would think Christmas would be my LEAST favorite time of year. We are always under-the-gun to get customers their product and tensions are HIGH. For some reason I continue to fight through that anger and enjoy the season.

I am lucky to now have my son. I get to live Christmas through his eyes. I am going to appreciate the fact that he is obsessed with Santa (ho ho) and not what ho ho brings him. The only thing he asked Santa for thus far is cookies and a baby brother. Cookies we can do and (unless we are left some small fortune to afford adoption or insurance uncovered fertility treatments) baby no! When he sees lights or trees he becomes ecstatic! I wish I could go back to that age where the sign of lights or a Christmas tree would make my face light-up with excitement. As parents we are thought to teach or children so many things. In this instance my son is teaching me to really appreciate the little things in life. I will treasure the fact he isn't going crazy for the hard-to-get toy this year. I am thankful he appreciates the little things such as lights or watching Polar Express and can recite every line (even if Mommy can't stand another minute of that movie). I guess I can plan on many more evenings watching the Polar Express (with plenty of spiked eggnog-minus the eggnog!) and try to appreciate the little things in life!

Oh yes...GO Bucks!!!!

I really did marry my father

I have tried to fight the theory "girls marry their father" over the past 7-years. I am ready to give-in. I thinks things really clicked for me this weekend. Sure my Dad, like my husband would literally give the shirt off their back to anyone. but this weekend I received another "Come to Jesus lecture" regarding spending precisely as my Dad had done when I grew up. Although this time, my husband literally had a budget printed out to show my spending habits. I tried to defend it with "not going out to eat as much" but unfortunately SURVEY SAYS X! I felt like hanging my head in shame and immediately dove into a piece of fantastic ho ho cake my Mom had made. Luckily the filling and homemade icing took the pain away from the embarrassment and shame. I told my husband the bulls eye boutique has a sign when you enter that stated "Can not spend under $50 in this store regardless if you need a simple card". There is always something in the dollar bins that catch your eye. My son has so much of that stuff he has received as potty training rewards the toy box is over-flowing. Back to the conversation, my husband informs me we have some PRETTY BIG expenses coming next year with a possible new car needed and my sister's wedding. I also found out you can't claim Gymboree clothing expenses for son as absolute necessities as the boy has enough outfits to dress John & Kate's plus eight! So enough with the excuses, enough with the frivolous spending..cutting back. Santa is on a tight budget this year kids..don't send the elves hate emails or threatening letters (as I recall in my past pranks this is a federal offense). To all you budget crunchers out there, I feel your pain...try ho ho cake!

Watch for flying scales

I am about to go 12-rounds with my scale. I had taken on a few lbs since my aerobics class ended. Call it depression, sheer hunger, or tape worms as I like to say I came-up with any excuse that would allow french fries in my diet. The last two weeks I have been pretty good about my cardio routine looking and smelling like a pig when I leave the gym. I haven't stepped on the scale for about 1-week now. I figured I would have lost 2 or so lbs. Unfortunately, I did not lose any weight what-so-ever! Honestly I was about to go monkey nuts in the bathroom this morning. I literally made some adjustments to the scale (as I have added 3lbs to match the evil doctor office scales) dial pushing the +4-lbs back to +3lbs. Even without my PJ's I weigh the same. I had to take every will power of restraint to not throw my scale out the window. My husband, think he is helping said "maybe you are putting on muscle". I know he was trying to help but I almost went ninja on him as well.

I start my ultra water program this next week. I haven't swam since high school and I don't think 1-power hour is going to get me into Michael Phelps type shape. In fact I foresee many visits to he doctor for ear infections in the next few months. Regardless I need a break from Buffy the backside slayer. Never fails, every first week of aerobics my husband has to travel or in this case has a customer in town. Since he gets to miss tomorrow's lovely potty training festivities to go to the game, I have reminded him kindly that he is in charge of pick-up with our son on Tuesday as I have had this class booked now for 3-months. Maybe not so kindly, but there was no blood shed. I agreed to do the other two-days but I need to be there on Tuesday. Lord help him if he screws this one up!

In celebration of the scale results and the fact I this is the first Friday I have to work in September, I celebrated with a medium hot Cocoa (avec whipped cream) from Caribou. Take that scale! I have very little to do today other then a few measly projects. I will enjoy my Yo! on E radio show for all my celeb gossip and pray the day goes quickly. I will also take on much restraint to prevent online shopping or sleeping in my chair.

So in other news. I have to giggle, USC lost yesterday. I hope that nice fan on sports center kept that over rated sign he held-up at the OSU game..chuckle chuckle. Hopefully their fans can feel the next-day hangover pain or the walk-of-shame with that loss. Grand satisfaction kids!

Happy weekend to all! Except my scale, that piece of equipment can bite my big butt. Boy I wish I could afford liposuction and a trip to Aruba to celebrate!

Did you hear that? Dinosaurs has to go potty again?

I never thought I would see the day where I would take a stuffed animal, de-pants them and sit them on a training potty. The time is coming where I have dreaded before I had a child of my own. Potty training. Honestly, I do not know how to start or what to do. I am WINGING IT BIG TIME!! This week we are introducing the potty a bit harder then normal by undressing his favorite stuffed animal "Dinosaurs" and sitting him on the potty. If Dinosaurs goes potty he gets a sticker. This has resulted in a few potty attempts but nothing successful at this point. I honestly believe he may be the oldest kid in diapers. My son is a bit "head-strong" and really has his own agenda in life. Definitely not easy working with someone like that and when you put three of those personalities in the house it is chaos (and that doesn't include my alpha dog). So this weekend when you are out, having a few drinks, eating a nice dinner think of me. If I am not over checking in on my father who is mending after deciding falling from a neighbor's roof is much easier of an exit then using a ladder (I can joke now because he is on the mend pending an MRI tomorrow), I will be using a lot of carpet cleaner on messes or spending much more time in the bathroom then one should allow.

I am no longer funny..or I have misplaced my laughing juice.

So I am pondering what to blog about today and honestly, I have started about 3-different blogs to all be deleted with a sigh. I have a really great circle of friends that I draw-on from every aspect of my life. If I need someone to cheer me-up I email or call Mendie. If I need a visit from a friend who can just talk and is learning parenting skills along with me, I call Jackie. I need a dose of trends and talk something other then children I email Dawn. If I need a Mom motivation I read my fried Kristen's blog. The list goes on-and on.
But thinking about my dismal state right now I can't remember the last time I had a really good laugh... A laugh where you wipe tears out of your eyes and leaves you giggling for time to come. I can't remember a time lately I had one of those laughs. I have to tell you I have a few BFW (best-friends-at-work as we call ourselves) that I can count-on to make me laugh. One is brutally honest and she also has these off-the-wall comments. You combine her and another great friend at work who seems shy and turns out she is about the least-shy person of all...and it provides a balance to my mundane work life. I need a refill of my laughing potion and one of my two gals is out of town and the other is in a meeting. Alas, makes you thankful for the time you actually have together.

A true huricane hits Ohio?

I live a few miles from the ocean. In fact for me to drive to the ocean it is about a 14-hour drive (not including potty breaks and essential food stops). However, what I lived through yesterday was a bit of an illusion. 70 mph wind gusts, watching trees crack in 1/2 and hit the ground. Seeing our street lights crashing to the pavement. I felt like a storm chaser. I would tell my husband "turn down this street to see what happened to their property". See my life is a bit like a hurricane. I honestly can't sit still to save my life and it drives my husband crazy. We returned from our nice vacation on Friday night. Had a wonderful time but the minute I stepped into the house I kept thinking "what is next..". I didn't want to live with the let-down vacation is over so I try to keep my mind preoccupied. I literally woke-up at 6am planned my meals for the week, booked tickets to see Thomas the Train on Sunday, and started my errands. I can't tell you the last time I watched a full movie or something that wasn't on DVR. The term stop and smell the roses is lost on me. Yesterday when we lost power I went brain dead. I wasn't sure what I could do. The new recipe for lasagna I had made for a nice family dinner was out..the research I needed to do on the computer-forget it. I sat on the couch and thought there had to be something the prehistoric cavemen did without electricity. I then proceeded to pluck my eyebrows and then was able to do a few sewing repairs. After being tired of my Martha Stewart moments, I called my parents to bring dinner to share with them. Right before I left they lost their power. I carted around this useless 9x13 pan of lasagna and pouted all the way to my parents house. Luckily my son was spending some much needed bonding time with his grandparents. I truly believe Kaden was tired of us after 1-week full week of bonding. I swore he was taking his crayons and trying to write a parents-for-sale add to take out on us Saturday after my whirlwind of a day and Bryon's depression after another Buckeye heart breaker. All works out in the end I guess. The lasagna may satisfy our appetites another day, Kaden didn't pack his bags and leave, Parents took us out for a really great meal, Bryon gets a "free day" off from work and I, well I am working...hmm maybe in my next life I will have better luck and a more laid-back personality.

Cheerio from Jolly ole' WET England

Do we have luck when we travel or do we have luck? Before vacation 2-hours to be exact. Bryon was in the doctor's office for a bacteria infection from bad Mexican food..I am totally serious here. We eat at Max & Erma's in the airport and I get very sick in our layover destination. We arrive at destination and Kaden catches a bad cold on the plane. Now, he seems to be improving and I have it 10-full. Today I am laid-up resting. I don't mind as our intent in coming over to visit our "family" was to allow them time with the wild child. I am honestly enjoying the peace and quiet. We have been rather busy and the rain hasn't stopped us one bit. Definitely much chillier then they even anticipated. We went to their seaside boardwalk yesterday. We also have visited the see and a lovely park where Kaden rode an electric train and we even tagged along. We have spent less time at manors and castles and more time in playgrounds. Hopefully our trip back doesn't land us in hospital. Having a lovely time, enjoying the company and definitely enjoying the wine!

UH OH, I jinxed myself

You know that feeling you have in the pit of your stomach when a police car pulls behind you when you know you just aren't driving the speed limit? That is exactly how I feel today. Having a great week, enjoying some freedom. I also have been hitting the gym HARD this week and last night I decide to skip dinner and just eat popcorn at the movies..bleh! Bad idea. I don't necessarily think it is the popcorn but I feel yucky today. I my allergies aren't helping nor the summer heat revenge that I so desperately asked for. I would go home but of course I have a bum chewing, I mean a meeting scheduled at 3:00 today so I can't even duck out. To make matters worse my chic side has a double date tonight at some local Italian place where Mafia hang out. I so hope they would want to adopt me into their Soprano clan even if I don't eat pasta or carry any weapons! Anyway, I am sure I will be fine. I still think it is lack of sleep that is causing all these issues. Darn Olympics! Sure the bolt can run fast, but is it absolutely necessary to celebrate like a chimpanzee? I am quite certain he is the road runner just disguised as a human. I have never seen anyone run so fast in my life. I mean if someone were chasing me with a gun or if there were bargains on Burberry purses I would probably do it.
Anyway, the boy returns tomorrow night. Although I have enjoyed reliving my married without children days, I am ready to see him. I also have a fun evening Saturday planned with a few close girlfriends that will involve good conversation, laughing, drinking, and did I mention a lot of drinking. I have noticed it isn't about the food this time, but the drinks. I think with the amount of alcohol these girls are talking about having I could open a bar. I think we have all had a really rough week and a few drinks will do us good! I am sure my next post will be about being too old to drink so much and hangovers. No matter how many times I remind myself that before I drink my deviant side gets in the way? Where is that deviant devil when I am laying on the bathroom floor or hoping there are a few more aspirin left in the bottle...Have a good weekend.

Smell of notebooks and fresh pencils fill the air

I am sure parents all over the country are rejoicing "Back to school time". To me I feel it is about time those teacher friends' of mine earn their pay checks (only kidding-you have one of the toughest jobs of all-you remind me of that all the time from the pool chair in the summer). Every time I see my cousin, I remind him of his problem child Regina and all the problems she caused him. I am certain he will remember her the rest of his life. Don't feel bad for him, he has since relocated and has a lovely wife, 1 (plus another on-the-way), and of course a great extended family and relocated from NY to Hilliard schools and I am certain gang related violence is less of an issue there. However, if it weren't for Regina and old stories growing-up, we wouldn't know what we would laugh about every time we meet.
Today I get to hear all the stories about friends' kids getting on the bus, or headed to Kindergarten on their first day. I am simply in denial I guess. I know I will be a WRECK when my son starts school. I am certain if he had a choice now he would jump on the bus and drive away. Sometimes I think he would also do that permanently if someone offered him a dum-dum sucker but we will work on that..
For now, I find back-to-school to be a pain. I dread nothing more then seeing the yellow twinkie two cars in front of me stopping at every driveway during my long commute to work. One day a kid dropped his notebook and papers and I found myself thinking, just leave them, if your aren't coordinated enough to walk and hold your notebook or store your papers properly then obviously you probably didn't work real hard on that homework. I felt pretty bad after thinking that, but I was already 20-minutes late and I had a vendor call that day! I am pretty sure karma got the best of me for thinking that anyway. So welcome back kids. I want to ask you that you don't dilly-dally getting on the bus because it holds us commuters up for work. Heaven forbid I actually get out of bed on-time!

I am sans child and hubby and what am I doing to celebrate?

So my son is down with his grandparents in Greenville enjoying all the fried food and sugar he can handle. For now he is due to return on Friday evening. I placed bets with my husband they could call on Wednesday and want us to get him Thursday night (just a hunch). My husband decided to meet some old co-workers at a baseball game! BONUS! NO DINNER COOKING!! I can have my cereal and toast tonight!! So to celebrate, what have I done since I have been home from a LOVELY (sarcasm big time) day at work:
With a nice glass of wine dancing in my pink pj's? Am I playing with my guitar hero game my sister-in-laws got me for my birthday....NOPE!
1) Went to the gym and sweat out 1/4 of the calories I ate at the fair this weekend. Did look and smell very attractive when I crawled to my car.
2) Watered my flowers as I have become the angel of death in the floral department
3) Cleaned my car...note to self need to add shop vac to Christmas list-makes odd sounds and smell like it is on fire
4) Cleaned son's closet-don't think he can fit into 6-month clothing any longer, not sure why it continues to hang there? Found more clothes he may never wear due to sizing variance..need to rethink any shopping I need to do to enhance his wardrobe and maybe refocus on mine ;)
5) Gathered clothes for upcoming trip for son-no worries, he is covered on clothing for the next two-weeks (even if he wears 5-outfits a-day)
6) Finally can't stand my stench and shower
7) Watch Olympics yet again...
8) I am worse then Martha Stewart, in fact she would thunk me in the head and tell me to get out and enjoy. I am not even The Brady Mom (name slips my mind), I am Alice from the Brady's. I clean...pretty soon I will get a visit from Sam the butcher. Hey, at least it gives me something to look forward to later tonight!
I am pathetic...tomorrow, I am going out if it kills me.

Quick Survey: Is anyone else having a hard time getting up in the morning when it is dark out?

Oh summer where have you gone?

'Tis a brisk August morning with my coat on shivering my way into work. Back-up..August..I say? Yes, it is Freezing in August. Unlike many people, I like summer. I like the activities that go with summer, picnics, bike rides, amusement parks, pool visits, vacations, love it all! I like fall now that I don't have to go back to school myself but during my days as a student fall=dooms day. On top of being cold, can you believe it is already mid-August? Where did this summer go? Everyone warned me when I have a child time flies by but they are right not only has this summer flown by, over 2 1/2 years of my son's life have flown by. There are days I wish I could just take the hour glass that is my life and just turn it sideways. There are other days I just wish I could hit fast-forward and get through the day, crawl into bed and pretend it never happened. Ever-so-often I may even have a day that I will treasure living over-and-over again in my mind. Maybe it is me, but usually those days revolve around vacations or holidays. In fact all of them neither involve work or working out.
Back to my point- come back summer, I miss you. Pretty soon I will be fighting the snow and getting estimates to get my car repaired from sliding on ice. Summer I adore you! Snow and Ice-I would like to fast-forward those times.

U-S-A U-S-A! Viva Olympic Coverage

If I seem tired and distracted I apologize. I have Olympic fever! I had some really great stuff to blog about lately (despite a desperate plea from some "stranger" on my voice mail begging me not to blog about the 3 different messages she left on my phone as it continued to time out on her-that is all I will write about that promise!!). I get oddly patriotic and so disappointed for our country men such as the synchronized dive team as they fall to 5th after knocking on a door to bronze.. I get angry when I see teams such as China nailing every single twist and turn in gymnastics. I also am disappointed to see other teams such as Australia or the "Red Coats" get beat in a close match as well. The one sport I have enjoyed thus far is swimming. I love to hear the trash talking by other nations and then being swept under the rug. I love hearing how much Michael Phelps eats for breakfast every day. I am obsessed! My dream is to attend an Olympic event, I have HUGE aspirations to attend a few events some point in my life. If I (heaven forbid) were diagnosed with a fatal illness, I would want to travel to an Olympic event. I know the UK is hosting the Olympics next correct? I asked my husband if we could maybe go to those games and also visit our gracious hosts (we intend to see in a few weeks). Unfortunately with our "wild child" in tow on this trip, my husbands doubt we will ever been invited back (any thoughts on good apology gifts to bring is appreciated). So I will continue to dream....Unless shopping ever became an Olympic event, I will never have the ability to compete. I watch those nations march in the opening ceremonies thinking just how lucky they are. I picture myself on the medal stand crying when they play the national anthem (and hugging the other nations as if I didn't just beat them 15-minutes prior). In my post medal ceremony I would say to the reporters "I am so proud to be an American, I had my eye on this purse now for 3-months waiting for it to go on sale, when it did, I fended off vixen after vixen for it and it is mine. I have trained practically all my life and owe this to my bargain shopping Mom. I would like to thank my sponsor Master Card who is also very glad to share this honor and earn interest on my payments over the rest of my life"...

So go USA! As a Phelps "Phan" I hope Michael continues to sweep all those medals and the girls softball team proves they deserve an Olympic sport. I will continue to ask why I don't see American judges in sports and why CHZ always gives China perfect "10's" on every event. I will continue to cheer for the UK and Australia (unless they get close in the medal count or go against the US athletes). I will continue my sleepless nights watching ping-pong and badminton in hopes for a glimpse of beach volleyball or a medal ceremony (I have yet to see).

Luckily once these games are over, I will have OSU football to look forward to watching. Otherwise I would definitely put me on suicide watch, mind you, poke me a few times before you throw me into the ground, I could just be exhausted from 24-hour Olympic coverage.

Just as a side note my future swimming Olympian (ha ha) did 1/2-way decent in class yesterday. I think we only had to tell him 4-times to listen to the teacher and go back to the wall with the other kids. We still lap the water but he did do ice cream scoop arms (swim stroke)! Much to the dismay of my husband, (being football Saturdays and crushing his 100% tailgating hopes *for every game* hello, you have an off-spring now, not going to happen!!!) , he is repeating the class in the fall on Saturday mornings. He also is going to start taking a dance class 8/27! The boy just gives me so much material to write about already be prepared for a GREAT fall BLOG unless I get distracted by OSU football coverage!

Off to check the medal count!

Do onto others as you would want done onto you..

I have just about had it with customer service lately. I work in retail, I know at my company we literally (no seriously I have seen this done in meetings) bend over backwards to appease our customers. However it frustrates me to no-end that not every company takes this approach. For instance in June we purchased an Archos video unit that stores DVD's into a base unit and you can watch or jump onto the Internet about any place. Concept is easy, think, DVD player without the DVD's. Well, we received the unit in June and the battery power only lasted about 5-hours on the first use. Upon calling CS (crud service as I call it) they ask us to return the unit. 1-month later we receive a poorly packaged unit that was also damaged by UPS. The unit was received back on 7/24 and since such date we have been arguing with a confrontational customer service agent manager Yolanda (who I affectionately term Satan's wife) about sending us a call-tag for the unit so we can get a new replacement unit. We have spoke to UPS about the claim and I turned it over to my passive husband. I filed a complaint last week with the BBB after we were made promises the unit would ship, or the call tag will come via email, or basically telling us we were WRONG. Yesterday I saw a side of my passive husband I hope to never see again. Once again the call tag was not issued again yesterday. As I spoke with my manager on the phone last evening about that day's events, I see my husbands "hair on-fire" staring at me to get off the phone. When I did I found that he took the information from the BBB page and called the SVP directly (on his MOBILE) and asked this be taken care of PROMPTLY. Of course the SVP asked him to call some other guy (who I know will forever regret being thrown under the bus by Mr. SVP) . My husband (whom I wish he would use such determination to clean or do some laundry) called Mr. Scape Goat today and stated he would call every 1/2 hour to try to reach him. Soon after his 2-3rd call a CS agent called and told him a re manufactured unit (don't get me started brand new=re manufactured??) would be shipped to us today (I will believe it when I see it..don't get excited-3rd time I heard that), and he would check on it before he left for vacation (hm mm imagine that-leaves for vacation today). We leave for our much anticipated vacation in 3-weeks, if we don't have the unit by then I have a feeling Mr. Scapegoat and Mrs. Satan will live to regret crossing my passive husband. Keep your fingers crossed (or pray this does not end in me asking for bail money for Mr. passive).
Bottom line- we are pretty reasonable honest people here. We know we are the underdog in the situation but I feel cooperation is key. If you work in the CS field, the customer is always right (not until proven otherwise like the court-of-law). Also, be sure to check out the BBB before making large purchases, if we would have done our research we would have found out the company had an "F" rating. From what I remember from elementary school (which is not much besides when the bell rings you go to the next class, and chewing gum isn't allowed) "F" means fail and you have to repeat the class. Apparently it also means "F" ailure to respond to customer service issues and customer should be warned!