TFI Friday!

I am sooooooooooo glad it's Friday! Honestly, you wouldn't believe how much! I had ZERO clients today and the most fun I had was painting my OWN finger and toenails in pretty cream, pale pink and chocolate brown squares separated by gold glitter stripes. Maybe I will post a picture when I can be arsed to take one LOL

E's ex (TSS) is under investigation by Child Protection Services apparently. They dragged her out of work today and also dragged J from school. Something fishy going on there methinks. CPS don't get involved unless they have serious reason to believe the kids are at risk. Kinda worrying. She was very cagey when talking to E and was apparently none too happy. She probably thinks WE have got something to do with her failings in life (AGAIN). Ya know, NOTHING is ever HER fault, it's always someone else's. *sigh*

Watched some British stuff off the pc tonight (Bad Girls and Coronation Street) and poor hubs crashed out at 2015 dead to the world. Thought I'd grab the chance to blog quickly.

Not got much else to say really. Still waiting to hear about the mortgage. *bigger sigh*

Gonna go and do the rest of my blog hopping before bed. See ya.

Cool man!

Bored rigid all day today. Cross-stitched until 3pm and then played Super Mario until 3.15pm when I FINALLY got a client. Bloody typical as I am getting ready to pack up to go home. She paid cash and tipped me $5, so I shouldn't moan. More for E's b'day present fund! LOL

The thunderstorm last night cooled it from 102F/38.9C to a cool 73F/22.8C. What a difference! I could drive home with the roof off and NOT get fried like an egg!

We saw gas had risen to $2.99 at our local gas stations and I decided I would fill up near to work as it was $2.79 yesterday. When we got nearer to E's work, the greedy bar steward had upped it to $3.32!!! By the time I got to work, the two gas stations who duel it out on opposite sides of the street were both $2.89. STILL cheaper than at home or Grand Prairie. I should have filled up this morning cause when I came out at 4pm, they were BOTH reading $3.19. *sigh* We decided to hold out on the low fuel light for a while longer and see if we could find somewhere on SH360 that was cheaper. Diamond Shamrock won that battle at $2.99! When I went to get C from daycare, I went by our regular guy on the way back and he was still at $2.69 *doh* Oh well, ya live n learn right?

Watched Absolutely Fabulous, Survivor, The Apprentice and ER (some live, some off Tivo). All round a good evening's viewing. I have a stake on Marcus to win The Apprentice at work. He wasn't my choice by a long shot, but it was luck (or unluck) of the draw!

E's still sick and kept me awake most of last night coughing and spluttering all over me. I know some folk enjoy that kind of crap and pay good money for that kind of treatment, but not his chickaroo. Tonight he sneezed all over my foot. EEEEWWWWW. I wish he would get better soon - he's wearing me out!

Here sharky sharky!

Two manicures today and loads of cross-stitching and gameboy type stuff. Lunch was icky apart from the naughty slice of cherry pie which was G-O-O-D! ;-) (Listen, I had to pad out the nasty stuff with something to fill me up!)

Bailed out of work a bit early today. It hit 102F today and I just wanted to hit the pool so bad. I got C from daycare and sped over there for a quick dip. The number of crickets and other miscellaneous bugs however was a little off-putting and we only stayed half an hour. It was enough to cool us off though.

Poor E is still feeling like poop and left his class early tonight. I watched the Apprentice finally off Tivo and can see a new addiction coming LOL Gawd that Melissa was annoying. I wanted to smack her one across her "I'm Hispanic, I understand Hispanics!" face! Grrr. I also watched a shark program from National Geographic's Shark Week from a couple of months ago. It was about the guy who they based Quint on in Jaws. He went to South Africa and watched the Great Whites leaping out the water after the decoy seals they put out for them. C-O-O-L

Anyway, I'm being nagged to get off here, so will sign off and go tend to sick hubby TTFN

Money, Money, Money....

Today was a more profitible day than most. My "new" client (as of 2 weeks ago) came into today for a $15 manicure and left the same tip as last time - $10. Not too bad methinks... I also had a plastic surgeon whom I have worked on when I started there 4 months ago come in to see me and a gentleman whose late wife had (and still has) her name for a bread brand...no more clues, client confidentiality and all that *wink* It's all more money for the house fund, so don't knock it guys! (No, no feet today K...)

Went to Taco Bell for dinner as E was craving it (and obviously didn't fancy what I had planned). He's not well bless him and seems to be coming down with a nasty head cold which I am sure to catch sooner rather than later. Ahh, true love is sharing EVERYTHING don't cha think? LOL

Watched Prison Break, House and Absolutely Fabulous on Tivo. It's been years since I have seen the pilot for Ab Fab. In fact, to be truthful, I'm not sure if I even DID see the pilot. I think I jumped in a few episodes down the line. Oh well, I digress. Hubs is not well, so going to try to make him feel better....*drags hubs to bedroom* TTFN

Blue Monday

Today is actually one of my days off and I normally get to lie in, but my head is just spinning. The brown stuff has hit the fan in more ways than one. Sorry too personal to discuss here...

Trying desperately to keep a straight head here (I am so angry); onto what else has been happening around here:

We drove over to Ft Worth yesterday to take a look at the house again. We figured out where the kitty litter tray could go and where we could install a doggy door for our future furbaby (Staffie of course guys). Apart from the doggy door, the guy wasn't too keen to do any other customization. I don't know if he realized that we were willing to PAY for it or expected it for free. *shrugs* I like the house a lot, but am really scared of getting in too deep like last time and then having to walk away again. I don't think I could bear it. *sniff* I keep telling him: "Let's wait and see if they pre-approve us for the mortgage first!" But it falls on deaf ears. *sigh*

We watched some more Bad Lads' Army last night and then the opening episode to the 7th series of Bad Girls that recently played in the UK. That brought back some memories for sure! Gotta love it! *grins*

Went to bed not long after 2100 as Mr Sleepy Head was dozing off on the couch. I couldn't sleep and had a very restless night (I guess another reason why I got up so early today). Hopefully, my head will feel a bit better after this mess has been dealt with. I'm getting one of my migraines *sigh*

I am going to try and get some stuff done for my website and I MAY even get to scrapbook today....over and out

Bye bye Rita!

Hurricane Rita didn't affect us too badly. We got zero inches of rain and a few leaves off the trees. That was IT. So much for it being real windy and us having to take everything inside that might blow away! I shouldn't complain. We had no flooding, no loss of power and most importantly, no loss of life. I hope everyone else survived it ok elsewhere.

My stepdaughter K threw up last night, all over the dinner table and then on the carpeted floor on the way to the bathroom. I called her mom to let her know and what she wanted to do about it and she made a HUGE point of saying she was nowhere near home and couldn't come get her. She was most likely too busy getting laid to care. She makes me so mad! If I was out and whoever was minding C rang to say she'd been sick, I would drop my plans and go get her, but not TSS, oh no. It's her weekend off from being a mom, I forgot.

E is at work today trying to get some overtime in for the house fund. The only down side is that I have to watch three kids instead of just the usual one. I have no clue what time she's picking them up and he neglected to ask her when he called her back last night. *sigh*

I want to try and get some scrapbooking done today, but I don't know if I will get the chance to do so un-interrupted. After doing the make n take yesterday, it has made me want to do some more today. I really need to get to Walmart to print off some more photos.

The temperature has cooled off somewhat with what little wind we did get yesterday and is a mild 82F/27.8C today. I don't really feel like doing too much other than attempting some scrapbooking and maybe bum in front of the TV for a bit. We watched some downloaded British stuff last night: Bad Lads' Army (Office Class). Too funny. LOL We used to like watching that show when we were back in the UK, so it was a nice reminder.

I'm going to go now and see what's going on in the world. TTFN.

My True Talent

I did another test. You can find it HERE. It's a talent test to show your true hidden talents when it comes to employment. The results are in:

Your true talent is numerical ability

You're great with numbers, whether you enjoy math or not. Your results show that you're not only good at calculations, you are much better than most people at understanding how to use numbers to your advantage.

How do we know that's your true talent? While you were taking the test, we calculated your responses to each test question and rated your skills in 5 areas. You scored highest on numerical ability.

People like you manage their personal finances with ease. In the work world, your numeric skill can help you in a variety of ways. Because so many other people have trouble understanding numbers and figures, you really have an opportunity to shine and use this talent to your advantage.

And that's just a small part of what we know about you from your test results. You also have other hidden talents that can have a dramatic effect on your career, your life and how other people see you.

Quite surprising really as I have a hard time with math! LOL But oh well. I did the test and that's what it came back with! *shrugs*

Oh scrappy day!

Well I got my butt in gear, went to the post office to send out my Ebay crap, to the bank to pay some checks and stuff into my savings (house fund) account and to plead poverty with the manager and PLEASE *flutters eyelashes, pout lip* can you refund some of the $124 charges incurred due to daycare taking TWELVE days to cash their damn check and it knocking our books off. It kinda worked and he refunded two of them which I guess is better than a kick up the butt.

Called into my local Scrapbook Warehouse store to get a few bits and pieces for a Valentine's layout I have planned on. They had 20% off on their papers today so thought I would make the most of the spare $'s I had. When I got there, I realized they had made a big booboo on their newsletter and instead of last week them having their free make n takes (like the email said), but no, it was this week. It turned out to be a pretty cool one and we made a whole layout!! It was supposed to be for a boy, but I adapted mine to be a cheerleading type theme for C when she was with Upward earlier this year. I put one of the starts of her cheers on there to try and tie it in. I like it. I also got some pretty nice papers for the Valentine's theme I want to work on. I will get some more stuff for that when money permits. The colors are dusky pink, a dark brown that the card I got to match calls "Raisin", forest green and almost black/grey. When I get it finished, I may post some piccies. (Or not) LOL

Home now and it's very quiet in C's room which is odd as my stepkids are here and usually there is SOME noise coming out of there....

K said something cute whilst I was gone...."There's a tomato coming" (tornado). She's only 4 bless her. How cute was that?! LOL

The winds are picking up here: my hair got stuck to my lip gloss coming out of Scrapbook Warehouse! In fact, by the time I got back in the car, I looked like the wild woman of Borneo! LMAO I've moved my car to be away from the trees as I really don't fancy one coming down on my convertible! Hopefully, it won't get to be that bad and we'll just have a few strong gusts and some rain. Watch this space for further reports.

I need some food....LUNCH!

Look at the pretty picture!

Well I did the inkblot test too out of morbid curiosity and guess what it unearthed?

Your subconscious mind is driven most by Curiosity
This means you are full of questions about life, people, and the potential of your future. You spend more time than others envisioning the possibilities of your life — things that others are too afraid to consider.

Your curiosity burns with an almost physical need to know and do more. It's only through new experiences that you feel a greater understanding of yourself or the world — which ultimately is the greatest way for you to feel satisfied.

It is possible that the underlying reason for your drive towards curiosity is a deeply rooted fear of boredom. That means that you are probably more susceptible than others to feel like you're falling into a rut when life slows down into a comfortable routine.

You need to make sure you have stimulation in your life — that makes you feel like you're innovating or being exposed to the ideas and experiences that truly inspire you.

With such a strong orientation towards curiosity, you're also prone to a rebellious quality that shows up when you feel you are just going through the motions, and are unable to really influence the world around you. But interestingly enough, your drive towards novel experiences also indicates an openness others don't have, but wish they did.

Unconsciously, your curiosity presses you to learn more, experience more, and get the most out of life. Though your unconscious mind is driven most strongly by Curiosity, there is much more to who you are at your core.

Spooky stuff huh? It's so me. If you'd like to do your own inkblot test, you can find it HERE. Now I really AM going to bed...to do curious things to my hubby! LMAO nanite!

Smart Arse!

Not one to blow my own trumpet normally...on this occasion, I'm going to!! I just did my IQ test on this website HERE and I scored 133. I checked out on Google what the average is, and this was the result:


IQ Description % of Population
130+ Very superior 2.2%
120-129 Superior 6.7%
110-119 High average 16.1%
90-109 Average 50%
80-89 Low average 16.1%
70-79 Borderline 6.7%
Below 70 Extremely low 2.2%

I was pretty impressed with myself. Try it for yourself and see. (I gave a false email address otherwise expect to be bombarded with spam!)

Night all! :-)

Whether the weather be hot...

It was 98F today and breezier than normal. The news is full of Hurricane Rita and we're not sure how bad it will affect us until it hits or gets closer. There's talk of high winds still (up to 75mph) and rainfall of anything from 3inches to 10. So take your pick! Walmart's shelves have been cleared of coffee, most tinned stuff and bottled water. We are some 280miles from Houston, so I think there may be a slight over-reaction there! Oh well, I guess time will tell.

Did three manicures today and only one of them tipped me. One is a new guy who didn't tip the barber either and the other one is an ok kind of guy, but is not the cleanest of people. You don't want to see the filth that I scrape out from beneath his nails. (You shuddering K? LMAO). And for that, I don't EVER get a damn tip! Kinda pees me off to be honest, but I guess I should be grateful that I have clients; tippers or not.

I have my stepkids coming over tomorrow and am not sure what we'll do with them due to the storm coming. They get bored as it is, so who knows. Can't go to the pool as it may rain us out, can't really go anywhere as it may be too windy on the roads and stuff. *sigh* Maybe I will just tie them all up and cage them (JOKING). I'm making them some black cherry jello with mixed fruit in. J liked that when he came last time (K was sick and didn't get to eat it).

Talking of making stuff, I am going to make Paula Deen's Chocolate Bundles this weekend and my dumb ass forgot to get the damn heavy cream. Grrr. She makes some seriously good-looking food on her show! Not helping my diet any though! *giggle*

Ooh, I lost a whole HALF a pound this week. Y-a-y (said with sarcastic tone). Dieting SUCKS ass! :-(

I'm going to go watch some stuff off Tivo before it fills up! :-/ Catch ya later aligator/s! TTFN

A little bit of Rita's what I need...

Or should that be Rita is what I DON'T need?! Hmmm. Well the talk at work and everywhere else is this sodding Hurricane Rita. Hopefully, we will just get some heavy rains and winds this far north of it and it should have slowed off plenty by the time it hits. Just be thinking of us. I know it's been hard on folk trying to get out of Galveston and Houston as some of the customers who come into the barbers' shop have rescued their family. One guy said it took him 6 hours to go 5 miles. Hell, even I can walk faster than that! Jeeze Louise! Watch this space to see how it affects us. I'm kind of nervous as we have E's kids over for the weekend and we may get to the point where it's not safe for their mom to come get them. We're not equipped to have them here for much longer than a night or two. *sigh*

Was watching Paula Dean do her thang on the Food Network today and she came out with the cutest phrase. "I've been as busy as a cat covering it up" Having two felines, I found this quite amusing....

The other amusing moment at work today, was T who is expecting her first baby in December; at lunch, she was discussing her birthing partners and how she didn't like the idea of anyone seeing her "bits" exposed etc (my terminology, not hers). She exclaimed "I'm not going to have to get like totally naked am I?" To which one of the male directors J who had been quietly listening and soaking the girly talk up like a sponge piped up "No, but ya might just have to take your pants off!" The poor thing blushed bright red whilst we all burst into laughter. LOL It was very funny. I guess ya had to be there :-P

Had McDonald's for dinner tonight. E was too tired to go grocery shopping afterwards, so I guess another day fighting with the bare freezer and ground beef. I think I will take K's advice and pay old Betty Crocker a visit. Thanks for the heads up on that one!

Got craploads of tv to watch on Tivo. We got through Prison Break, House and started to watch Survivor when his friend C rang. PAUSE. WRITE BLOG. It works for me. We still have CSI Las Vegas, ER (both new season premiers tonight) and countless other good viewing. Not to mention folders full of my British soaps and other programs.

Had some gob-smacking news today (jaw-dropping y'all Americans): my best mate R from the UK whom I have been friends with since Summer 1977, yes, I said 1977, that's 28years...may be jumping on a plane and coming to see me in November. I am really shocked: I'd not heard from her in weeks. She forgot my birthday, our anniversary, my daughter's (her god daughter)'s birthday and SO much crap had happened since she last bothered to contact me, that I'd written her a nasty email saying WHY HAVEN'T YOU BEEN IN TOUCH kind of BS. I think it must have hit a nerve and despite being busy at work and leaving her job and having no net access and obviously forgetting how to pick up the phone or to write with a pen and paper, she finally got in touch. I'll believe it when I see it to be honest, but it would be great to see her.

I haven't made many friends since coming over, and apart from the girls at work I have lunch with, I don't know too many folk here. I have my good buddy M over in Burleson whom I have known for years, but she's at least an hour and a half from me. I've tried not to get too close in case something gets messed up and I have to go back to the UK. Am I being too cynical and negative? I was the same when I moved in with E in the UK. I knew we would be leaving about 9months later, so just didn't really bother. That attitude kind of stuck with me. Miserable old cow I hear you muttering....ahhh shuddup.

Ok, I am going to try and drag E off the phone and get back to Survivor. Laters!!

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

Today is supposedly the last day of Summer, but with temperatures soaring to 102F and an expected high of 104F tomorrow, Fall is nowhere near!! I drove home from work with the roof off today. I need some rays on my pastey skin and haven't had time to get to the tanning salon LOL I fried all the way, but it felt kind of good too! Hubby is at his class tonight, so I get some me time again. I will probably finish off where I left off with that program from last night.

Dunno what to make for C and my dinner tonight - got bugger all in. *sigh* I can't wait to go grocery shopping tomorrow with E gets paid, just so I can eat something other than chicken breasts or ground beef. It gets kinda old.

Work was uneventful really other than two clients. Both are really nice and tip ok/very well, so it balanced out. I opened up a savings account so that we can start putting money away for the down payment on the house. E does NOT have access to it in any way, shape or form and it is STRICTLY incoming only until we're ready to pay out on a house! He wasn't happy about it but oh well! He keeps dipping into the joint savings to bail us out every month and it always ends up with a zero balance before payday. It sucks! Hopefully this way, we can try and get started on that project. I will put my paychecks in there directly and any spare tips and cash payments I get. It should start to build up nicely with a bit of luck.

Anyway, gonna go sniff out some food. I am starving!

MEN!

What another waste of a day: I spent all day either cross-stitching, or playing super mario on my game boy! Wasn't in the best of moods again today. In fact, that's an understatement; I felt like s***. I got arsey with E this morning as there was nothing to eat for breakfast and I am not allowed to go grocery shopping until Thursday. "Oh well, I guess I will go f****** hungry then!". No sympathy there. Grrrr. So, I went to work on an empty stomach and felt all shaky until lunch. I wolfed lunch down like some starving 3rd world child and then had cake too! Yes, I know, I am bad, but ya know what? I don't care. I MISSED BREAKFAST! I go to pick him up and I am not f****** happy. He has planned to go out to dinner with the outlaws. That's fine. But I am not going (wouldn't even IF they invited me), but this is for his dad's birthday and not even C (who, poor thing, is fond of her estranged step-grandparents) was invited! He then had the NERVE to ask me "Have you got any cash on you so I can get a card for my dad?" I growled back at him "You've got some nerve don't you? Any money I DO have is being used to get dinner for C and myself!!" He sulked the rest of the way to get C from daycare and asked which store I wanted to go to. I denied the offer and said I was taking her OUT to eat! *humph* If he thinks I am going to sit around on my ass whilst he dines out, then he's wrong. Nah, I took C to Cracker Barrel down the street from here. I had a yummy grilled chicken salad with their lovely homestyle raspberry viniagrette. YUM! He never did tell me where they were eating, not that I care/d. He came in about an hour after we got back and got arsey about being tired. "OH WELL". Then wanted ME to turn off the TV from the show I was watching and go to bed too. Not bloody likely matey!! Cor, the nerve of him sometimes. I could swing for him! MEN! Anyway, I am finally off to bed now. TTFN all.

Bored, bored, bored

Ya know, sometimes I look at my life and think WTF?! I have a gorgeous daughter, two great step children, and a wonderful, loving, caring, sexy husband. But in all honesty, life sucks sometimes. Now my husband should not read into that and think "Nice, thanks for that!" 'cause babe, this is NOT a dig at you. I am just re-evaluating my life. I've been through SO much crap to get to where I am now, and am still struggling just to keep afloat.

I feel like I am fighting a losing battle at work and sometimes think we would be better off financially if I just threw in the towels, nail files and polishes right now. Now don't get me wrong; I love the people I work with; my regular clients are very sweet and mostly good tippers and the free lunch ain't bad either. BUT, now here comes the crappy part. It's miles from where we live and the gas each day is draining our bank account. The daycare is affordable, but most weeks, I barely cover it let alone make any money. *sigh* I just wonder if I should keep hanging on in there in CASE it picks up. I mean, what if it doesn't pick up and we ended up losing a crapload of money on this venture. Life experience I guess. Maybe until Christmas. If nothing else, I hear the tips and gifts off the clients are great. Take my first pedicure client this week (yeah, I gave in to doing feet). He bitched and whined about the price and said the Vietnemise salon he usually used were cheaper. Well why the f*** didn't he go to them then?? Cause I was conveniently plonked down in his local fancy golf club which he frequented every day. Dude, you get what you pay for and at the CCC, my time is money! If you want to go to the Vietnemise salons, then f****** well go to them. I don't like the way you groaned and moaned everytime I massaged any of my lotions and potions into your nasty feet anyway. Were you getting hard on it dude or what? Eeewwww. Talk about grossing me out. This guy was in his late 70's AT LEAST!! *blurgh*

I digress. Is this what I want for the rest of my life? To be rubbing cream into old men's feet and legs? Or do I just wannna be a stay at home mommy and run a business from home? So many people make their livings on Ebay and the like, so why not me? *sigh* I dunno. I just feel blah today. Until next time....I'm outta here!

A New Blog In The Making

I guess this is the start of something big(ger). Hmmm, well, I kind of HAD to start another blog cause I have been blog-hopping and had to comment on some sites who don't allow anonymous comments. Well, they wouldn't have been anonymous, just not from another blogger. For now, my REAL blog is hidden from un-wanted viewers. I figured this would be another way for folk to get a small taste of my life but without getting too close and personal ya know? Stalkers are horrible ya know and to have to put one's blog behind a password protected area sucks, but it's just the way it goes I guess.

SO...this is my OTHER blog *sigh*. Not too sure what stuff is going to go in (if any), but time will tell I guess! ;-)