So ugly it's cute

Say your friend, that you've known for several years and consider yourself pretty close to, has a baby. Her second baby, mind you. The oldest child is 2 1/2 and other than having moments as the queen of bossiness is quite adorable. But lets say you go to visit your friend 15 hours after the birth of second child. And you hold it. I mean him.


And you don't know what to say. You chalk it up to being emotional, that he's just too cute for words, that you're caught up in the moment. You're standing there racking your brain trying to think of something to say to this woman who just labored, intensely, for 10 1/2 hours to give birth to second child.

"He's just precious. What an amazing gift." That's what you finally come up with.

When what you're thinking is "Who let ET and Yoda mate?"

I always knew I was average

75%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

According to this groovy little test ( I love these kind of things) I am 75% addicted to blogging. Whew. I thought for sure i'd be in the top 90%.

Oh what would the world be like...

Only female bees work. Males remain in the hive, their only mission in life being to fertilize the queen bee on her maiden flight. After they have served their function, the males are not allowed back into the hive but are left outside, where they starve to death.

I think we've all had days where we wonder what the world would be like if it worked like this for humans....

New Brad Pitt Movie!

The Inglorious Basterds is the new Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino movie.

I saw this trailer on the morning news. Looks awesome. Bloody, gory and totally Tarantino-ish, but with Brad Pitt? I can't wait.

Wordless Wednesday

A man that will wait patiently while you run to get the camera after splashing paint all over his face while opening a 5 gallon bucket - priceless.

Look what I found

I came home last friday nite to find this in my fridge.

Why is there a biohazard bag in my fridge you ask? Good question. Apparently Carl went to the dermatologist. And this is the medication they gave him. In my fridge. He says it has a longer life if it stays in the fridge. My fridge. Next to my food. Um, yeah. I need a new fridge now.

Presidents Day

I thought for President's Day i'd share some quotes from the First ladies. The things they've seen and done, the places they've been....absolutely inspiring.

I've always felt that a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting points of view he can entertain simultaneously on the same topic. Abigail Adams

At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent. Barbara Bush

Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is. Barbara Bush

The search for human freedom can never be complete without freedom for women. Betty Ford

I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition. Martha Washington

Women are like teabags. We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water! Eleanor Roosevelt

and my absolute favorite: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Eleanor Roosevelt

Happy Valentines Day

These pictures don't have anything at all to do with Valentines day but they're just so darn cute I thought i'd share. I found them all online so no they're not of Sunshine. Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentines Weekend!

All in the 3's

Everything in my life has always happened in 3's. Either something happens three times, or on the 3rd. The third day of the third month of my thirty-third year was pretty significant. So for there to be THREE friday the 13's this year? Yeah, i'm gonna be in bed on November the 13th. Not leaving my house. Unless there's a fire. Or tornado. Which wouldn't surprise me. Altho not everything that has happened has been bad. Just extremely life altering. I told Nicole I wasn't coming into work that day (11-13-09) and she said that that was probably gonna be the day I either get engaged or married.

What's your significant number?

What i've learned this week

Pretty much the entire week has been consumed with rehabbing the house V was living in. It's taken alot of work, but we're almost done. At first it was extremely cathartic. I got a bucket of hot water and a sponge and sat on the floor and washed every baseboard in the entire 2300 sq ft house. After 5 days of cleaning and repairing I am tired of cleaning up after that man. Done. Finished. No futher therapy needed.

But I have learned several things this week that i'm pretty excited about. I've never done this much physical labor or these types of repair before, so i'm looking forward to being able to do them in my own home.

First, Home Depot is now heaven. I had no idea this store was so cool! I think I've spent like 3 hours in there this week, picking up things for V's house and mine. I can't wait til it gets warmer and I can hit their garden section.

We spackled and textured. I had no idea this was so easy. I had to do 3 corners, where it had been chipped off down to the metal and was quite proud of how they turned out. The entire place needed to be spot painted. I think we went through 3 gallons of paint.

This little thing was so much fun! I caulked all the tubs and around the toilets.

Hung up 7 new blinds.

Replaced 4 kitchen tiles. Ken did this actually. Only took him like an hour to get the old ones out and the new ones in, but of course you have to set and treat it over the next 24 hours.

Took out 15 bags of trash, a couch, entertainment center, lawn mower and took home 4 bags of stuff that originally was mine but I had left when we splilt. Overall I feel better than I ever have about the split. And it's been just great having Ken there with me. He's taught me alot, and we've had some amazing discussions, about everything that has happened and everything that we want for in the future. Absolutely beyond exhausted but it's been a good week.

Things short people do not notice

How low the washer and dryer are - apparently people taller than 5'4" have issues with the front loaders. Personally I think they're perfect. My friend Nicole, who is 5'11", had a platform built for hers to stand on to make doing laundry easier. I, being only 5'1", would have never considered this a problem. I guess sometimes being short has it's advantages.

True Love

Ken and I were laying in bed the other night, and I had had the new muppets christmas movie in the dvd player (just for background noise, I hadn't taken it out since Christmas). After a bit I started massaging his back and the conversation went something like this :

"I'm not sure how romantic the muppets are."
I leaned up and whispered in his ear "Whisper sweet nothings in my ear. Motorcycle cop. Motorcycle cop is a sweet nothing? No, a motorcycle cop is following us."

At this point he popped his head up and was like what the hell was that? I busted out laughing.

This wonderful quote is from the first Muppet movie (like there was any doubt where I was going with this).Ken and I are movie quote nuts. We're constantly throwing out new quotes to see if the other person can identify them.

What's your favorite movie quote?

5 reasons getting older sucks

In honor of my un-birthday (34 years and one month) I thought I would share some of my observations on aging.

5. What do you mean it's acne? I thought I paid my dues when I was 15! (remember, I was called pizza face for 2 years???) But for some reason, my face has decided it's going through puberty..again. I've heard every reason there could be...stress, diet, GETTING OLDER, even AS YOU GET OLDER your skin changes, so the same skin care products you've been using for the last oh say five years DON'T WORK ANYMORE. Are you kidding me? So now i'm faced with the even more stressful task of finding NEW skin care products, on the off chance that the first 10 I try are going to make said acne WORSE!

4. Achy joints. Achy muscles. Let's face it, i'm just achy. When you're on the floor and have to announce that you're getting up, just to warn anyone who might be within grabbing distance, you're headed down that hill.

3. Your body changes. Everyone always warned me this would happen. 'Oh, just wait til you're 30, you won't be able to eat like that and not gain any weight'. I'm actually okay with that, but I just lost 5 lbs and I swear my jeans got TIGHTER. My hips and butt must have shifted to compensate for the weight loss. Yeah, that must be it.

2. Hearing goes. I've always had bad hearing. Not really bad, just not the kind of hearing that can pick up a direction of a sound. (You don't want to be in a car with me and have me hear a siren, I start freaking out until I can SEE the friggin thing). But as I've gotten older, I have found that I have a hard time hearing with alot of ambient sound. "Be quiet i'm on the phone", "Turn that music down, I can't hear what you're saying", " I couldn't hear you the fan in the bathroom was on". These phrases have all taken on new meanings. (Meaning, they could all be at a whisper and they would all be too loud).

1. And the number 1 observation on getting older, what in the friggin crap do I wear? "I'm too young to be old and too old to be young". I have gotten to where I almost HATE shopping. Everything either makes me feel like i'm trying to look like i'm in my early twenties and still have the body to show off (which I don't) or i feel like a frumpy old school marm from the 19th century (thing Little House on the Prairie). I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks, but I can't seem to find a sense of style anymore. Shoes, no problem. Purses, I got it goin on. Clothes? Can't I just wear jeans and a Pearl Jam t-shirt and call it good?

Betcha didn't know

The biggest pig ever recorded in history was Big Boy of Black Mountain, North Carolina weighing in at 1,904 lbs in 1939.

Does anyone know..

How to make a button? I mean one of those cute little button's that's on the side of everyone's blog that links to somewhere. I'm totally lost.

Interview with a Blonde

A Sassy Engineer was doing this cool interview thing, and I thought it would be a cool way to let ya'll get to know me a little better.

If you would like to play along here are the directions:
1. Leave me a comment & your e-mail address saying, "Interview me." If you dare.
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. (You get to choose the questions.)
The first five 'askers' get the interview!

1. What did you think you wanted to be when you grew up? Growing up my main goals were to be a mom and a teacher. For a short period in my early teens I was convinced I wanted to be a runway model, but then I found out most of them were taller than 5'1". Canceled that idea out. I went to college for 6 years (still haven't gotten a degree yet, kept changing my major too many times) and actually went for my degree in elementary education. Changed my mind half way thru. Still working on the mommy thing tho. We're hoping to start trying later this year if the economy gets a little better.
2. If you could buy any car in the world, what would it be and why? I don't have a dream car. Car's arent that big of a deal to me. There are some 'cheaper' cars that I would like. I saw the cutest VW Beetle (the newer model) driving down the street yesterday. It was this pearly iridescent purple/lavender. Just gorgeous. That i'd like to have. A Camero. A Mustang. Ya know, cars that make ya go ooooohhhh. But I guess my dream car would have a lifetime full coverage warranty on it. That's the car I would want.
3. Coffee or Tea? Tea, hands down. Just the smell of coffee makes me nauseaus. Yuck.
4. What do you still want to accomplish or do in life? Have a kid or two, Finish a degree in something, Run a successful business, Retire at 60, Visit Europe, Be happy. There are a few bigger things I want to accomplish, like make sure that after I retire I don't have to worry about finances, but my list of little things i'd like to accomplish is quite long. I'll save that for another post.
5. What is the best gift you have ever received? Oh, this is a tough one. I guess my birthday present from Ken this year is this best. It was the most helpful and thoughtful.

Friday Weekly Recap

I've decided that since during the week I either post random things, respond to meme's or awards, or babble incoherently, i'm going to start posting Friday Weekly Recap, so that I can keep up with all everything. So here it goes.

Monday: The day must have been pretty uneventful because the highlight of the day was my facial at 4. Lately i've broken out like i'm 14 again, and it's driving me nuts. So I called up my esthetician, Darlene, and begged and pleaded til she made me an appointment. Feel better, altho now I look more like 16. Is anyone else breaking out like crazy? I don't know what to do. I've been using Clinique for 7 years now, so I guess it's time for a change? Nicole recommended Bare Minerals? Any recommendations?

Tuesday: The day was pretty quiet, no real drama. Ken and I started rehabing V's house. At first it was a little weird. We walked the house, assessed what needed to be done, and started bagging trash. At first Ken was ranting the whole time. I just let him go. I figured it was the perfect time and place for him to vent and get it all out. After about 2 hours he sat down and told me to take a break. I was in that space where if I stopped I was done and I just wanted to get everything done. So he just sat and watched me for a few minutes, then got up and just wrapped himself around me and told me he loved me. I almost started crying. His support, and help, with this means so much to me. He even said he thought I needed this because it was cathartic for me, but it think it is for both of us.

Wednesday: Had an eviction at 10, which went relatively well, considering when we walked in there were new born puppies on the floor. They paid, we handed them the keys back, all was good. Wish they all went that easy. Went to walk thru two more vacancies (this was the point where I lost a set of keys. In a parked car. We tore the car apart for 20 minutes only to find that they had slid inside the folder that was sitting at my feet. Yeah, not gonna live that one down for a while). Lunch at Roberto's (yummy nachos). Ken came over and we got started on bagging up trash and cleaning the second house we're gonna rehab. He's really into this rehabing thing, and especially us working together. I'm still a bit in shock I guess, i'm not used to having this much help. I love it tho.

Thursday: It was one of those day's that started with me laying in bed cursing my uterus. I am so thankful that I have a job where I can pretty much come and go whenever I want because I didn't' get out of bed til 9. No appointments, other than lunch with Emily, which was nice. Very quiet productive day. Ken met me at my house after work and he took a short nap before we went over to house #2 to finish bagging trash and start cleaning. I am so loving having him here every night. I am even getting to the point where I don't mind waking up at 3 in the morning.

Friday: Only 8 o'clock in the morning, but no real plans for today. Have to go to the office and get a few invoices out, do some filing, maybe lunch with Nicole. After that, NADA. YAY! Ken and I decided not only were we taking tonight off from cleaning houses, but we're taking the night off from each other and just staying home and cleaning our prospective houses. That's the only thing that really sucks about rehabing homes, i'm so flippin exhausted by the time I get home nothing gets done in MY house.

Weekend plans: Finish up all maintenance and cleaning on V's house and get it back on the rental market. That should take about a day. Hopefully, anyways. After that I want to just take a little time to relax, maybe go catch a movie.

Writers Assignment

Mama Kat's writing assignment this week is:
Choose a prompt, post it on your blog.
The Prompts:
1.) Tell us about a lie you told that you later regretted.
2.) Choose a task you'd like someone to complete and write a poem asking them to do it.
3.) Describe a talent you have.
4.) Write a list of ten things on your mind this week.

Seeing as how it's 5 oclock in the flippin morning and i'm awake (Ken has to wake up at 3 to be at work by 5) and i'm still not fully functional I thought i'd tackle #4. Sounds simple enough.

1. Why does the check engine light in my car keep coming on and off?
2. Have to find a good vet and see if I can get a discount if I get both girls 'fixed' at the same time.
3. Organize ebay stuff.... need to buy some more rubbermade storage bins
4. Make room in garage for extra fridge
5. 5 days into february and haven't gone to gym once... totally ruining my habit for feb.
6. Second time reading 'Twilight', can't believe all of the things that I missed the first time through.
7. My best friend's birthday on the 3rd (i'm sorry i was a day late calling hun!!! i know, i suck)
8. How long is it going to take me to rehab (get ready to rent again) the house that V lived in. (I decided to do the work myself, mostly cuz I feel this wierd sense of pride/honor/humility that the reason it's dirty is cuz of me, I can't ask someone else to clean up after that)
9. When is Beth going to have her baby? (my boss's daughter)
10. How do I keep Bella from digging up the garden bed? She's dug so deep in one spot she's hit concrete and keeps breaking it off in chunks to bring in the house for me to step on.

Random Facts

The Peace sumpol was created in 1958 as a nuclear disarmament symbol by the Direct Action Committee, and it was first shown that year at peace marches in England. The forked symbol is actually a composite of the semaphore signals N and D, representing nuclear disarmament.

Typical Tuesday - Carl's story

I debated with myself alot today over what to write about. Whether to post about my stress in finding a valentines present for Ken, or how I lost a set of house keys while sitting in a parked car and tore the car apart for 20 minutes only to find that they had slid into a folder that was sitting at my feet, or about how V and I got together 6 years ago and why the relationship ended, or even about how I struggle with my inner pack rat and turned down 4 bags of stuff that was left in one of our rentals. If I wrote about all 4 this would be a 2 hour read, and i'm sure most of ya'll arent' into all that. I'm fairly relaxed at the moment, sitting here listening to the dogs wrestle in the hallway (I hope they don't wake Carl up) and drinking my afternoon glass of sweet tea. Ahh... relaxation.

Oh I suppose I could tell the story of Carl. It's a rather interesting one. Well, only from my viewpoint maybe. We met when we were 18, working at Walmart. I was freshly married (and unbelievably naive), and experiencing the world for the first time. I was rather sheltered as a kid, as much as inflicted as by choice. I was always the kid who would rather stay home with a stack of books than go cruising with friends. I did that too, but it was usually forced upon me. But that was the summer of 1993 (God I feel old). A few months after I started working there, my first husband, C, started there too, and struck up a friendship with Carl, R and Ken. I had formed a friendship with all 3 from day one, but once C got into the mix I wasn't "allowed" to socially interact with them. It wasn't appropriate. All they wanted was to get into my pants. (well, that was partially true it turned out). So this went on for about 4 or 5 years. They were all friends and such and I didn't have much to do with anything. In 1999, C and I split, and R and I started dating. This was shortlived, but led to a wierd friendship. The four of us (R, Carl, Ken and myself) started hanging out as a group. I became one of the guys. And I totally loved it. I had 'my boys', as I called them and it was great. We would all go to the movies, concerts, try different restaurants, go on road trips to California, whatever. During this time Ken and I started dating. When Emily moved out of my house in 2001 I needed a roommate. Ken and I decided that we werent' ready for that yet, so Carl moved in. This created a wierd/perfect relationship. He became more than my friend, he became my brother. When I had a bad day at work or was upset with Ken, he'd comfort me, listen to me bitch and cry, and never judge me. That's one of the things I so love about him. He never judges. He may never forget and will constantly tease me but he never judges. So anyways... time went on, I lost my house, he moved out, Ken and I broke up, I moved in with V, and here we are 6 years later, Ken and I are back together, and Carl is living with me again. And it truly feels like home again. I love it. And altho at times it's rather frustrating living with a boy, (why oh why do I have to be that specific when asking him to do something? Does everyone have to give a detailed list of chores instead of simply saying 'Clean the bathroom?") It has it's perks. He's taller than me so he can reach the top shelf. He plays with the girls so I can be online. He takes out the trash. He loves sushi more than I do so I can usually talk him into paying for my meal too. And there's the added security. Friday we did yoga together, and while that may sound odd, it honestly was like having a girl friend here. Wierd, I know. Oh and my favorite part, and I know his, is the looks we get from people when we say "Oh i'm living with my boyfriends best friend/ I'm living with my best friends girlfriend". I swear it's like the look off of friends when Phoebe says 'i'm having my brothers babies'. Priceless.

Closure

Today marked the end of my relationship with Vinnie. Yes, the relationship officially ended December 2007. That was when I moved out. My cell phone remained in his name up until this past december, but now is in only my name. But he still was a tenant of mine, living in the house the he and I rented together for 3 of our 5 years together. As of today, the house is officially back in my management possession and he rents from someone else. No more ties.

I expected some emotions, some feelings or memories, as I walked the house this morning. Surprisingly, there were none. The house was left a little dirty, and any of the smaller things (like fake plants or candles) that I had left were left, discarded with the trash. I didn't even feel sad really. Just made an assessment of the work to be done to get the house back in rentable condition, and went to lunch. It was just like any other house. No feelings, no attatchments. Which made me feel good. It truly is over then.

Lemonade Award

Two Little Lambs has awarded me with this!

For the Lemonade Award, here are the rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Seeing as how it's the Monday Morning Hangover after Superbowl (which was an awesome game) i'm going to tag everyone that reads this post today.