Oh yes....there WILL be blood!!

My f*cking nail!!!!

I was in Walmart getting a few bits and pieces and decided to get myself a bottle of flavored water out of the chiller cabinet by the checkout. BAD MOVE! The door was really stiff to slide open and my middle nail on my right hand snapped backwards. Not only that, but it ripped my hyponichium (the thickened layer of epidermis beneath the free end of a nail, mine are higher than most folks and extend beyond the fingertip on quite a few of my fingers) and I had blood dripping down it too. It was still hanging on by a thread. OUCH!!!! I got home and tried to cut it back as best I could, but everything I did hurt more and more. I dunked it in some ice to try to numb it but nothing was helping. I ended up losing patience and just yanked it off, screamed and bled some more. OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! I HAD to start on the box of Toffifay I bought for the movies tonight to console myself. It has helped some *grin*

Going to see Saw 2 tonight and am soooooo looking forward to that! *WEG* Laters.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everybody! Woo hoo!! It's text book Halloween spooky weather here right now as I write this: rain, thunder, lightening, you name it! I have errands to run and the last thing I want to do is go out in this yuckiness!

We carved up the pumpkins yesterday and made lots of mess (outside thankfully). Poor J struggled to do his and wouldn't even let K try to carve at all. I ended up finishing it for them. Still, they had fun which is the main thing. Here's some piccies:


J & K scooping out the pumpkin


C scooping out the pumpkin


C & J carving out the pumpkins


The finished results! C's is on the left and J & K's is on the right!


It's a pity TSS had to spoil things when she strolled over at 1915hrs to collect the kids! She TOLD E to take the bagged up pumpkin to her car as she couldn't carry it. He went to get his shoes on and before he could do or say anything, I'd picked it up thrust it into her hand and said "NO, YOU can carry this, it's not heavy! I think it's the least you can do seeing as I had to go get the damn things!" Boy, was I fired up. I was ready to smack her one. HOW DARE she talk to my husband like that?! Especially after the most she has been doing all weekend is partying when her kids have been crying for her.

Woke up in the night with the urge to throw up. I felt some vomit creeping into the back of my throat and raced to the bathroom. Nothing happened. I got the same thing two more times and then nothing until about 0400hrs. I still never threw up (which would have probably been for the best) but consistently felt rough and dizzy etc. I don't know what that was all about and I still feel shaky and such now. *sigh*

I wish this rain would stop as I have stuff to do. *sigh* Most frustrating. Bye for now.

PMS Alert

Had a stressful couple of days. I am feeling VERY PMSy right now. The kids are being annoying and K has cried at almost everything we tried to give her to eat that was "not what she is used to". It makes me so mad. Those kids live on a diet of McDonald's, Pizzahut, macaroni 'n' cheese and candy. It's really frustrating. Example: yesterday morning, I gave them all Apple Jacks cereal (for my UK readers, that's like an apple flavored Cheerios with cinnamon. They are green and peach colored rings.) K started crying because she didn't like the milk. Well the milk had cinnamon in it from the cereal. She asked if we could get her "favorite" cereal....wait for it..."CINNAMON toast crunch". She then went on to contradict herself by saying she HATED cinnamon. *sigh* SO...
this morning, I gave them "Raisin CINNAMON bread" toasted. I failed to mention the cinnamon part. They ALL ate it without any complaints. I pulled her up on her dislike for cinnamon and she again said she hated it. I asked if she liked the toast she had and said she did. She was silent when I said that it had cinnamon in it! This child is so contrary (like her mother), it's scary.

The kids woke me up at 0500 this morning. The sounds of THREE kids opening and slamming doors at 0500 is NOT nice. Combine that with a PMSy woman, and you have a recipe for disaster. E was getting up anyway, so I pushed him out of bed to go yell at the kids. It went in one ear and out the other because an hour later, it started again! Me is not happy today. Grrrrr.

Yesterday, I took C to get her hair cut. It has been getting out of control lately. She's been having a hard time getting a brush through it and washing it etc. Where her bangs (fringe) has been growing out, it looked messy. So, I got her a "Rachel Cut". For those who haven't watched Friends, Jennifer Aniston had her hair in this pretty style where the sides at the front were graduated (feathered almost). Anyhoo, here is before:


Miss C BEFORE


Miss C after with her new cut and a few blonde highlights


Miss C with the chunk of hair we cut off!

Today, we're going to carve some pumpkins. I will post the results of those tomorrow (or later if I can be assed!) TTFN

Great start to the weekend...NOT!

Okay, so today was as dead as a dodo again. ONE client all day. Admitedly, he was a new one and a very nice one. Tipped well too (and all in cash). Me likey that. I've almost got the money for E's birthday pressie!

Lunch was dried up chicken and pasta with cream gravy (not alfredo, but cream gravy) and mixed veggies. I HAD to substitute some of it with coconut cream pie. GIVE ME A BREAK! I have not had PIE/CAKE for THREE weeks! A PMSy girl has needs dammit!

Went to PetsMart on my way to get E from work to get some kitty litter and had a mooch round. Man, they have got some CUTE stuff for dogs in there. They had the cutest reindeer antleers, jackets and hats!! Makes me want a puppy soooo bad. I think I will buy something for somebody I know who is getting a certain cute Staffie puppy soon.... *wink*

TSS dropped off the kids and before she'd even got in her car, K started crying and yelling that she didn't want to stay with us and wanted to go home. I can see this is going to be a very long weekend! :-(

Soup-a-holic

Grrrr. There's me bitching about E falling asleep all the time and I was out like a light at 2005hrs last night! Am I pathetic or what? Or is there something wrong? I am taking lots of supplements and vitamins (in the hope that it will help in the possible event of me becoming pregnant), am eating a much healthier diet and will be starting an exercise regimine soon (I promise). I got 10hrs sleep last night and have been feeling sleepy all day. Maybe I need to hibernate like a squirrel or something *yawn*.

E has his class until 2230hrs tonight, so I won't see him until w-a-y past my bedtime. He will be trashed by the time he gets home anyway, so no chance of any tonight. Maybe in the morning!

Had a horrid letter come through the mail yesterday. Posty tried to deliver it but we weren't here. It left us nervous when it said it was from a law firm. What the firetruck** have we done now?! I collected it today and we were stressing about nothing. Just some legal BS to do with the accident E had back in Feb when his car got too friendly with the one in front.

Am I becoming a soup-a-holic? I have had soup every lunchtime so far this week and am craving some now. I have some hearty tomato or some South West style chicken by Progresso in the pantry and they are both fighting for my attention right now! I think I am going to bake some cheese biscuits and have some!! C is having mac n cheese, but I am sure she will have some soup too. If not, all the more for meeeeeee! *WEG*

Going to watch some stuff off tivo that E doesn't like. That way he cannot moan at me watching "our" stuff without him being here! Laters alligators!! :-)


**you can thank my friend Flutter for the term firetruck to replace the word f***. So, therefore, firetrucker, firetrucking, or for firetruck's sake etc can all follow the same path! Hehehe

Frustrated

I feel frustrated with my life right now. We come home, we eat dinner and E falls asleep on the couch before 2100hrs almost every night. He works most Sundays and our quality time together is minimal. I want my husband back dammit!

Boring day at work today. NO clients. I painted my nails a dark, frosted charcoal grey. I then painted glittery silver cobwebs on them for Halloween. They look pretty cool even if I do say so myself LOL

Dinner was really yummy tonight. I had bought a packet of lemon pepper shrimp and E cooked it up with some spaghetti and peas/sweetcorn in herb butter. I could have eaten more of it, but it was quite pricey and for what we got for our money, it didn't stretch very far! Was a nice change from ground beef or chicken breasts though. Now what's for dinner tomorrow? I have ground beef or chicken breasts! LOL

Gonna see if I can rouse hubs to come to the bedroom for some rude things (don't hold your breath though guys - he's still asleep on the couch!). Maybe tomorrow my life will be more exciting. Bye y'all!!

Boo at the Zoo photo call

I just finished editing the photos from yesterday:


C as "Dorothy" from The Wizard of Oz


J, C & K ready to go to the Boo at the Zoo


Going in at Boo at the Zoo


Cute decorations at Boo at the Zoo


Cute porcupine at Boo at the Zoo


C, J & K on a life size alligator statue at Boo at the Zoo


Tabitha trick or treating this morning

I hope you enjoyed looking at some pf the photos from yesterday (and today). I'm going to eat my caramel apple I made earlier today now...yum!

BOO!

Well Boo at the Zoo ws a great success. Although my wallet is $55 lighter from the experience. The kids got tons of candy and saw some neat animals up close and personal! We even saw a LIVE armadillo (not squished on the road). man those things are C-U-T-E and they love eating worms apparently. He sucked it up like it were spaghetti! LOL The kids played some games and won prizes even if they didn't win. I guess everyone's a winner right?

K had an "ab-dab fit" (no change there then) when we got home. Overtired and miss grumpy, she insisted on stuffing herself with candy right before bed. NO, we're going to eat dinner now. She didn't WANT dinner, she WANTED candy. Dinner or bed? Bed. Ok, off ya go then. So, she went to bed and missed out on dinner.

This morning, the first thing out of her mouth (after Hello T), was "Can we have our candy now?) *sigh* KIDS!!!!

Off to serve breakfast now. Be back later.

Pumpkin time

THIS is pretty neat!

Tired as hell

Got home from work last night and literally fell asleep on the couch the minute I walked through the door. I don't know why I have been so tired of late, I just KNOW that something is wrong. I am going to bed at a reasonable time, going to work, coming home etc. Nothing is different to my usual routine. I couldn't move for at least an hour. I still went to bed and slept through until 0700hrs this morning (an extra hour and a half on top of my normal sleep pattern). And guess what, me is STILL sleepy snoozy. *sigh*

Got a few errands to run today and the kids are over. Boo at the Zoo tonight too. I hope they like it after all the secrecy!!

One of my customers who owns a tanning salon brought me a gift yesterday. Some Bronze Bondage tanning bed cream. It retails for around $50 a bottle, so not too shabby!

I managed to snare a new client yesterday too. Not sure if he wants to be a regular every two weeker, or a once in a whiler. Even so, he paid cash and was very pleased with the results, so you never know! :-))

I feel like doing a dance class or something today. I'm feeling energetic all of a sudden. Maybe that is what is lacking in my life - some decent exercise. I am so used to working out, dancing, swimming etc. Maybe that is the root of me feeling so lethargic of late. I HAVE lost 3lbs and it has stayed off even after going back to work. But then I have been good this week and have been having a light lunch and NO PIES/CAKES!!! It's made a difference.

Better go, things to do, places to go, people to see....blah.

Brought tears to my eyes

Just got back from C's little do at her school. A bunch of 3rd graders dressed in red, white and blue shirts lined up to look like Old Glory. They then sang the star spangled banner and did it in sign language too. It was awsome. GREAT JOB C!!!! E will be sorry he missed it. An American citizen in the making! :-)

Hubs on the way back from class (they let them out early tonight as it was the first one). Maybe tonight I can pounce him...hehehe

Thank F***!!!

Hubs has been hired as a permanant employee. That means paid vacations, medical benefits (with NO contributions deducted, just 10% of whatever is used), bonuses and finally some respect around the place! I am so pissed with his supervisor for being such an a-hole over the whole deal. Why didn't he just say that they were going to hire him instead of messing with his head?! Makes me so mad!

Hubs and I went to Saltgrass to celebrate his victory! ;-)

Hubs has hurt his back somehow at work and has been dosed up with pain killers the past two days. Any chance of a "pouncing" seems unlikely now. Dammit! :-( Mind you, we were both so exhausted last night, we both fell asleep on the couch huddled under the blankie watching Footballers' Wives. It wasn't even 2100hrs! LOL *shakes head in shame*

Had a busy-ish day yesterday with 3 clients. One of them has booked in to have a pedicure next month as well as a manicure. He's a clean kind of old man, so hopefully no icky stuff under his toenails (are ya shuddering yet Kel?) It's all extra money for the house fund at the end of the day, so I should grin and bear it! Today was quiet - not one single client. *sniff*

Picked up C's "ruby slippers" today from Target on I-30. I finally found somewhere that had her size and it happened to be on my way home.

Filled up with gas tonight. Went to our usual guy and realized just as I was about to start pumping it, that he was $2.65. Uh uh, I'd already seen it down the street for $2.49. BIG difference!! I then saw him changing the price on the sign and asked him how much it was going to be....$2.59. LOSER. I told him "Dude you lost a sale! Why should I pay $2.59 when I can get it down the street for $2.49?!" Well I got C from daycare and paid $2.47 in the end. I was filling up from an almost empty tank, so he lost out on a healthy transaction because of greed.

Anyhoo, better get some dinner going for the munchkin and I (E is at his new class tonight in Ft Worth). C has some "do" on that she is in at her school and we have to be there at 1845hrs. Bye y'all!

Back to work

First day back to work after a week off. Weighed in 3lbs lighter. I guess there is something to be said for NOT having a free lunch at work (WITH dessert). SO, today, I opted for soup, some bread and some canned fruit for dessert. The pies looked longingly at me to sample them, but I ignored there cries of "Eat me!"

Had my $10 tipper today and a walk in too. Not an uneventful day I guess.

Hubs is being given the runaround at work and that pisses me off BIG time. His 90 day trial got extended 2 weeks and now his supervisor is being a prize A-HOLE and telling him he has an appointment with HR on Friday and to bring a box. Earlier he was being asked if he could work Sunday as overtime. STOP WITH THE F****** MIND GAMES!! More on that tomorrow. I got a date with a hot guy...yeppers, hubs is on a promise! Hehehee

She passes, she scores!

Yesterday was a fun day in the end:

E worked until just before noon and then came home for some lunch. Left over Red Lobster from the night before washed down with some Progresso South Western Chicken Soup. Mm-mm-mm.

Later in the afternoon, about 2pm, wew drove to Justin, TX to visit with an old school friend of E's who happened to be in town from N Carolina. His parents have just built a new house over in Justin, so we got an invite for dinner. It was the first time I'd met them all, and we got on like a house on fire. C was automatically made honorary grand daughter by Ron's wife Susie and we were told flat outright that if we EVER need a baby sitter for the night or weekend, we only have to call them! We had grilled chicken, rice, stir fry veggies and apple and pineapple cobbler. Man it was good. We also tried out some Pumpkin Ale. It was strong stuff, but real nice! We headed on out of there at about 7.45pm and made a promise that we would be regular visitors in future!

Tried to get a somewhat early night as today I had my......DRIVING TEST!

I got up at a little after 0400hrs. Took my shower, poked my eyes out (put my lenses in),put on some warpaint so as not to look too scary for my photo and TRIED to eat some waffles. I ate one but couldn't deal with the second one - my stomach was churning.

At 0535hrs, I pulled up outside the Texas Dept of Public Safety office to find that I was the ONLY person there. Not another soul arrived until 0600hrs. By the time they let us in at 0750hrs, there WAS a line just like she told me there was. Good job I turned up when I did, because only the first 4-5 people were given test appointments. The rest were told to come back tomorrow!! Yikes!

Well, I passed with flying colors despite the fact that my heart was pounding the whole time and I made a couple of silly slip ups. NERVES dammit! They get the better of me every time!! My new Texas license should be here in 3-4weeks time. What a HUGE weight off my mind!!

Anyhoo, I have to drive to Irving now to take back our TIVO box to Comcast. I am NOT happy:

Tivo crashed. Not only do we not know what is ON the tv, but it wiped out ALL of our saved programming and movies!! LUCKILY, we'd watched our "regular" viewing stuff, but even so. That box is only SIX months old! GRR GRR and GRR again!

I also have to go to the bank and the UPS store to mail back a book for E. Don't ya just love being the one having a day off and you get stuck running all the damn errands?!

Bye for now!!

Monster-in-Law & B*stard-in-Law

The Monster In Law is at it again. *sigh* She just cannot write to E about anything without dragging my name through the mud each time. I am getting sick and tired of it. She says that I am filled with spoiled hatefullness because of me sh*tting on her constantly. I AM NOT DOING ANYTHING BUT MINDING MY OWN DAMN BUSINESS. Now HOW can that be construde as sh*tting on her? Ohhhhh, I get it, because I won't be bullied into doing what SHE wants me to do, I must be sh*tting on her. I see. Well. GET THE F*CK OVER IT LADY!

I guess she cannot see she is adding more fuel to the fire with every nasty word that comes out of her mouth (or is that fingertips as she is emailing it). Why she cannot just back off and let the dust settle is beyond me. She is making it worse with every day that comes. She will keep on pushing until it comes to the point where I will just slap a restraining order on her or something. This is almost as bad as when I had my wonderful stalker.

WTF is she going to do when E and I have a baby?? Is she still going to bitch and whine about me, or is she going to sort her life out and calm the f*ck down? Quite honestly, I don't care if I never see her or her husband again. They are BOTH control freaks and need to get a life that doesn't involve mine!

Is it bad of me to wish someone dead? Yeah I guess that DOES sound bad, but it would stop all of this BS. She isn't going to change and neither is he....

Wanna play house? Oh ok then.

Got to sign the contracts on the house today and choose our colors for carpet, floor coverings, counter tops, units, brick and paint etc. Our plot is nicely situated away from those awful green electrical boxes that look so ugly and we had the choice of 6 plots on the street of our choosing. I feel a bit happier now, but am still real cagey after the heartbreak of this time last year. Watch this space.

Oh yeah, you can have a look at the progress HERE. I will update each time we have new pictures.

Yay me!

Having been trying to build up the courage (and ignore my pride) for the past year, I have finally gotten off my ass and taken the first step in getting my Texas Driving License. I would have gone earlier in the week, but so much BS was going on, that I was in no fit state to do anything or see anyone.

Well, I did the written portion today and filled out all the forms. I passed. The grade wasn't as good as I had hoped for, but a pass is a pass. The ones I failed on were not on signs, stopping distances or how to drive in certain incidents, but on crappy things like:

What is the maximum fine a person under 21 with ANY amount of alcohol in their bloodstream can be fined? $500, $1000, $1500, $200 (or whatever)

At what amount of claim, does public liability come into force? $25, $1000, $50, $100 (or near as damn it)

What can cause your license to be revoked? One minor accident, one serious accident, one near miss, two near misses (or some BS like that)

Now ask me the stopping distance in dry conditions for a car (with good brakes) at 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 or 70 miles an hour and I know them all by heart!! Good job too, as I got asked TWO stopping distance questions LOL Or ask me what this, that or the other sign means and I know them all. Or you can even ask me when it is safe to return to your lane after overtaking. But don't ask stupid BS that doesn't prove whether I can drive or not!

Anyhoo, I passed. Now to the driving test on Monday:

I have to BE there at 0530hrs. The place doesn't even OPEN until 0800hrs and they don't start the testing until 0830hrs. A test that takes 15mins. I think I can do this. My UK test took about 45-60mins. Of course now in the UK you have to do a written test as well as the practical and they FINALLY added parallel parking which freaked me out for YEARS after I passed. I was never "trained up" in the fine art of PP, and never tested (obviously), so it became a phobia. If I could drive into the space, I wouldn't park there! Now there's now stopping me. I can get in and out of the tightest spaces and prefer reversing into a space at a parking lot so I don't have to deal with the horrible blindspots from the soft-top roof on my convertible when coming back out again! (Plus I always seem to get some huge ass SUV or truck park up on BOTH sides so I can't see FA anyhow!) LOL

One milestone down, two more to go...

Calm after the storm

Things have died down a little since yesterday. After a lot of crying, screaming, yelling (mostly on my part), I feel a tiny bit calmer than yesterday. Don't get me wrong, he's not off the hook by a long shot. He knows he is in the wrong and is scurrying around with his tail between his legs right now...BAD DOGGY.

The good news is: I ain't going anywhere (for now). He's trying to make it up to me, and I think the MIL issue is on the back burner again.

Threw myself into some web design stuff to take me mind off things and it's worked (a bit). Now if I can get the rest of my sh*t together, it will turn into a reasonable day.

Is there life after dog?

I found this poem today and it brought a tear to my eye...not sure if I was inspired by the poor dead puppy I saw limp and lifeless in the road on the way back from taking C to school, or by my sadness over missing Ruby...nevertheless, here it is, enjoy:

God Made Dog
When God made the earth and sky,
The flowers and the trees,
He then made all the animals
And all the birds and bees,
And When his work was finished
Not one was quite the same.
He said, "I'll walk this earth of mine
And give each a name."

And so he traveled land and sea
And everywhere he went
A little creature followed Him
Until its strength was spent.
When all were named upon the earth
And in the sky and sea,
The little creature said,
"Dear Lord,There is not one left for me."
The Father smiled and softly said
"I've left you to the end.
I've turned my own name back to front
And call you Dog, my friend."

Author Unknown

Can't breathe, need some air..

Things just seem to go from bad to worse. Just had a huge fight on the phone with E about some stuff (including his damn mother). Starting to wonder if it's worth sticking around in all honesty. I need to get outside and get some air. I can't breathe in here.

A bad night....

Had a bad night last night with hubs. Saw an email from his mother and it started a fight between us. She has this knack of getting on my last nerve and it works every time. Apparently although SHE was the instigator in writing a very nasty 3 page email to my husband about me back in April, I am the one who needs to make amends!! Well EXCUSE me, but I don't think so!! His dad is just as bad and has threatened to cut E off if this mess isn't worked out by Thanksgiving. Sorry but I cannot be nice to two people that think such bad things about me. I am not two-faced. It will end in a fight if I go there, so best to just avoid the issue. I'm happier without them in my life to be honest. Her overbearing ways and constant need to push us about in our very important life decisions (that we need to make for OURSELVES) is ongoing (even though I am not on speaking terms with her). She is still trying to manipulate us even now after everything that has been said, she has learnt NOTHING. She cannot be happy for us that we have found a house that WE want and that WE like. She has been looking at houses FOR US online and says we could get one of those. WHY WON'T SHE JUST BUTT OUT FOR ONCE?! We are NOT kids, we are grown adults and she needs to wake up to that fact!

Wanna play house? Maybe....

We got approved for the mortgage. Ok, I guess I am a "little bit" excited now. Still trying to show some restraint just in case it goes tits up.

We're off to see the Wizard...

This year will be a little different for Halloween: I am taking all three kids to Ft Worth Zoo for their "Boo in the Zoo" deal on October 22nd. They get to dress up in their costumes and do some spooky (and safe) trick or treat stuff and more!

Also, we will take C trick or treating around the complex on Halloween itself for a couple of hours, then drop her off at daycare for their party there. We will then go to see "Saw 2" for OUR Halloween scary deal!! ;-)

Her character will be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz! I've already got the costume winging its way here from Ebay. You can see it HERE and I will take her out after school to get her shoes. You can see those HERE. Her hair is just PERFECT already for Judy Garland, and my parents even commented on her last year's Xmas photo looking like her! LOL

It's R's birthday today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY matey!!!! *mwah*

I've been feeling ill since yesterday. I started getting a migraine towards the end of the State Fair and by the time I sat down to eat dinner, I felt physically sick. After forcing myself to eat, I DID actually feel somewhat better and the migraine subsided. However, I woke up at 0130 this morning with bad stomach cramps and the overwhelming desire to throw up. I got a big bowl from the kitchen and sat on the toilet expecting eruptions at both ends. Sorry if that sounds gross guys, but I felt dog rough. Without being TOO graphic, I think I shed a couple of pounds during the night, but thankfully wasn't sick in the end. I took some Immodium this morning, but feel very fragile right now. I don't know if it's something I had to eat yesterday or a bug. Nobody else is sick, so maybe it's just me. I don't often get sick like this - the last time was New Year's Eve 2003 when I had food poisoning from a dodgy prawn (shrimp) mayonnaise sandwich from a well known Bakery chain back in the UK...Instead of seeing the New Year in with style, I was ill in bed :-(

I took Courts to school this morning as I am off work all week except for one client tomorrow morning. The barber is off on vacation and only one of "our" customers wanted to come see me without getting a haircut too. Oh well. I just hope I feel better tomorrow.

We should find out about whether our mortgage will be approved or not tonight. *fingers crossed* I know E didn't sleep well worrying about it. I'm trying not to get too excited in case it doesn't happen. That way the come down won't be too bad to cope with.

Tabitha our cute fuzzy kitten is in heat *groan*. She is rubbing around anything living or otherwise doing a half purr, half meow thing and when you stroke her back, she presents her "bits" to you. How pleasant!! Right now, we don't have the spare cash to get her spayed, so we will just have to put up with it. At least she's an indoor girl so cannot get preggers!

Make n Take Cards

Here are the cards that C and I made at Scrapbook Warehouse on Saturday. C's is on the left, mine on the right (obviously duh) Pic's a bit blurry - sorry, I can't be assed to take it again!

A Texas State Affair

Spoke to my best mates from the UK R and L today *waves* on yahpoo messenger. Both seem to be doing ok which is good. R is still planning on coming over, so that's all good.

Went to the State Fair with C today. Same crap as last year only not so hot and sticky. We ate the famous deep fried Oreo cookies and C had a deep fried Snickers bar which she let me try...OMG! It took us ages to get there as the traffic was bumper to bumper. I don't like the drive there or back as a passenger, and have never "done Dallas" on my own. It was scary, but I lived to drive another day! SIX lane freeway coming back in rush hour is NOT my idea of fun, seriously! Having said that, it took less time to get home than it did to get there!

Made some more of Paula Deen's Chocolate Bundles tonight but added some raspberries inside too. I didn't think you could improve on the recipe, but this made them better than ever!! LOL I'm figuring that the amount of walking about I did to the fair from the parking lot, all round the fair and then the hike back to the car again made up for the naughty food I munched today! ;-)

Watched Footballer's Wives just now with hubs and am going back for some soaps now I think. TTFN.

Not much to tell

Took the kids to the park this morning before taking them back to TSS. Went via McDonald's as we were all half starved. Persuaded the kids to have apple slices with caramel dip instead of French Fries. (Am I a good mommy/step mommy?)

Finally got around to scrapbooking some for Ruby. I only did the one page so far, the next one will be along the same theme and papers etc.



C is off school tomorrow (Columbus Day) and the State Fair is on. So, I think I am driving to Dallas tomorrow *groan* I HATE that drive. I just know I am going to get lost or something!

Gonna go watch some TV with hubs. Night.

Wanna play house? Not really....

Went to see the mortgage guy this morning. He seems confident that we can get this worked out. We will know by Tuesday.

Had another bad day today. Was going through my photos and found a box with some of Ruby's old things in it. I found two of her puppy harnesses, dog tags, leash and her tooth and I just burst into floods of tears. I soooo wanted to scrapbook today and start off her own section. I bought papers, fibers, doodads, ribbons and cardstock. The first two pages of the layout will be in brown and denim blue. When I can go for more than five mintues without sniffling and crying that is. *sniff*

Feel like crap. E's kids are here and I just wanna be left alone. It's not their fault I feel like crap, but right now, I am so down. I'm no use to man nor beast today. Maybe tomorrow will be better....

Reminiscing

Did one manicure and some pretty nail art on my colleague's, niece's (CLEAN) toes for her prom tomorrow night. Whilst doing her toesies, she described the HORRIBLE service she got at the Vietnamese nail salon in Saginaw earlier today with her set of tips with acrylic overlays). I would love to have been accurate in telling her "I told you so", but as I didn't get the chance to forewarn her, it wouldn't have worked too well! The nails were too long, despite her constantly telling her that she needed them to be workable and shorter. They also had extremely sharp corners on ONE side of every nail only (the others were rounded off corners the way I would do them), some were much thicker than others and some were paper thin and looked very fragile, they had visible air bubbles in the acrylic and she CUT her when filing them (BIG no no which CAN lead to an infection, but almost definitely to a very sore finger especially when trying to bathe/shower and wash hair etc.) SO, me being me, I offered to try and make them look a bit more presentable for her. I am not allowed to do acrylics at work due to lack of ventilation and such, but a quick file down and tidy up didn't hurt, nor create too much dust. So I did it and I didn't charge her for it either. I figured I may win some loyalty from her and she WAS really pleased with the pretty little artwork I did for her (and the polish was the PERFECT match for her gorgeous dress!) She tipped me $7 so must have liked it!! Made me feel kind of good as my last client of the day.

Drove to Grand Prairie to get E with the roof down. It was a chilly 56F/13.3C this morning ( a far cry from the 75F/23.8C of two days ago!) and it warmed up slightly after some morning rain to around 73F/22.8C this afternoon. It was breezy and cool, but very refreshing!

Been reminiscing a lot about Ruby this evening. We went to PetsMart for some kitty litter and I saw the cutest stuff for dogs and Halloween. I so badly want another Staffie, it hurts. *sniff* I had a cry this evening as I remembered our walks to the woods....

I would let C run off whilst I held Ruby back on the leash. I would then take off the leash and tell her to go get C. She would run at break-neck speed to find her best buddy and lick her all over when she caught up.

Or, we would hide behind a bush whilst she was rummaging around in the grass and then call her. We would peer through the leaves of the bush as she looked frantically around for us. She would then suss out where we were and come bounding over chasing us around the bush!

Then there was the time she has found a dessicated frog. I think it'd been cut by the lawn guys with their mover and had dried out in the summer sun. Ruby found it and would run around with it in her mouth! All you could see were its legs sticking out of the side of her mouth! That is probably one of the funniest memories of my furbaby!

The other one I remember most vividly is this: we had been out shopping and came home to find a hole in the plasterboard (sheet rock) wall of my kitchen (where we attempted to enclose her as a juvenile). She has gnawed a hole in it big enough to put your fingers into. I scolded her and she looked at me (with white powder all round her nose and muzzle like she'd been snorting some illegal substance) as if to say "It wasn't me mum". Bless her heart. I think I need to post my favorite picture ever of her. This is the wallpaper on my cellphone (she was 8 weeks old here and asleep on my shoe)



I have made myself a promise to get another pup once we get our house. Whether she be the very expensive blue (lavender/grey color), or maybe a less expensive and more common coloring such as brindle or black and white, she will be loved unconditionally. I will not get another red Staffie as I may spend way too long making comparisons to Ruby and her memory.

Moving on...We watched CSI and ER on Tivo from last night and then I watched NY-LON which was a series that started in the UK last August and finished after we left. BBC America finally got it and I've caught it at around about the time I finished off with it, so pretty good timing. It's about a transatlantic relationship between a London guy and a New York chick. If you haven't seen it, then try it out: you may be pleasantly surprised.

Hubs is asleep on the couch (again) and I am here typing this. I feel all bunged up. Not sure if it's from catching his cold or from my crying earlier. Feels ick though.

Got the kids this weekend, but not before we go and sign the mortgage papers for the house. HOPEFULLY, it will all go through ok. The guy E has been speaking to has spoken to the underwriters and it shouldn't be a problem. I'm trying not to get excited in case it falls through.*takes deep breaths*....in......and out.....p-h-e-w.

Anyway, I am going to do a little blog hopping then dragging my sexy wexy hubby to beddy byes. Night all.

More shrimp anyone?

I had one appointment today at 0830, then nothing for the rest of the day. So I cross-stitched some, Game-Boyed some and then airbrushed my own finger and toenails. I'm not that impressed with it (but never am to be honest). I think I spend so long messing about with it, that by the time I am done, I am bored with it already! LOL Oh well. Anyhoo, it's kind of a caramel brown with a coppery gold French design that is like a plain tree leaf. I then did some gold glitter stripes and a green rhinestone (peridot kind of green). It's ok I guess.

E took us to Red Lobster for dinner tonight and I had the "Shrimp Lovers Combo". Those of you who don't know about Red Lobster: it's a restaurant that mainly does seafood. They do have some non-fishy meals, but as the name suggests, it's mainly seafood. The shrimp lovers' combo lets you choose from a variety of shrimp done in different ways. I LOVE coconut shrimp! It's a recent taste acquisition for me as I have never liked shrimp (prawns for my British chums) served hot. I always preferred them in a nice prawn cocktail! Anyhoo, after doing some market research for a new Lean Cuisine dish they are thinking of bringing out, it has widen my taste buds to include this yummy dish. Well my SLC goes like this: two portions of coconut shrimp bites (this means I don't have to pull off any icky legs, shells, or tails), a loaded baked potato and a house salad with thousand island dressing and loads of their scrummy cheese biscuits (that's not a biscuit really fellow Brits, it's kind of like a savory scone and in this case a very warm, salted, herby, cheesy one that has 9gms of saturated fat in each one LOL). Anyhoo, that was washed down with two glasses of Raspberry Lemonade (now this is really gonna get confusing for ya: Lemonade here is like the old fashioned style lemonade - non-fizzy and made with real lemon juice. I love it). If you want "British Lemonade", then you have to get Sprite or Seven Up as it's about the closest you're gonna find here! LOL

I digress: a nice meal that temporarily took my mind off things. I don't think E has remembered what today is despite me telling him two days ago. I think he thinks I am getting soppy over "just a dog" like most non-doggy people do.

Gonna go watch Survivor off Tivo now. Later alligator!

Plane Spotter?

Yesterday was a fun day! I went with E on his field trip to DFW. Yeah I know that sounds really nerdy and all, but we got to see the new International Terminal, rode the train and then went on to visit the American Airlines Operations Center at The American Airlines Museum. That was pretty neat. We didn't actually go to the museum, but I think I will put it on my todo list. We went and mooched around and spoke to the dispatchers, the operations pilot in command and the weather guy. We saw this really cool screen that showed the lightening strikes across the country. Now that was really cool. We also visited what they call "The War Room" which is where all emergency procedures are handles. It's kind of like EPIC at Heathrow in London. Basically it's the nerve center for any AA major aircraft emergency. Their last major one doesn't need to be reminded of other than the date it happened. Need any more clues?? I had some training on Emergency Procedures when I worked as a dispatcher in the UK. It was quite a scary thought to think I would be called out if a plane crashed in the vicinty of the airport and I would have to help out at the operations unit. We even did a trial run one day (during a normal busy summer shift day). There were folk wandering round the airport dripping with fake blood and all. It looked pretty gruesome.

Four years ago today, my beloved Staffordshire Bull Terrier Ruby was killed in a freak accident. I still miss her lots and wish I could turn the clock back. Hopefully when we get our house, I shall get another dog, but refuse to in an apartment. *sniff*

Anyway, I need to get to work for my ONE appointment today. Talk later.

Another day nearer death....

Had one (new) client today and the news of a possible new one at some point soon. Other than that, today was pretty non-eventful. I have a possible 2 maybe 3 clients tomorrow.

E has been told that his 90 day trial has been extended another two weeks. Just when we thought we would be "safe" and FINALLY get some medical coverage, they pull that BS on him. There are a few issues he needs to work on apparently. That is just SO wrong. We really need that medical coverage and I thought once he hit the 90day mark it was a done deal

Got a "field trip" tomorrow as part of E's Master Class. We're going to DFW airport to have a mooch round the International Terminal and then to visit the American Airlines Operations Center. I'm really looking forward to it as it will bring back fond memories of being a dispatcher back in Luton, UK. More on that tomorrow!

Watched Prison Break & Super Nanny on Tivo tonight, then two episodes of Coronation Street on tv via the pc.

E is fast asleep on the couch and has been since 2045. *sigh* I'm bored....don't wanna go bed yet, dunno what to write about. BORED, BORED, BORED. Somebody leave me a nice comment....PWEASE?

Busy bee

I got that extra photo printed off today and finished the final page in the anniversary layout.



First Anniversary 2005 Layout 4

Been working on some graphics for my website most of the day and feel pooped out.

Not much else to tell today - it's hot and sticky and I feel like melting. (92F/33.3C) We're having lemon pepper fish tonight with french fries and green beans. What an exciting life I lead *sigh*. TTFN all.

Feeling kinda creative...

Today I finally got some scrapbooking done! Here are the completed pages:



This was using the free make n take layout I did last week at Scrapbook Warehouse. C cheerleading.



Ditto



Valentines 2005 Layout 1



Valentines 2005 Layout 2




First Anniversary 2005 Layout 1



First Anniversary 2005 Layout 2




First Anniversary 2005 Layout 3

I've done the bulk of the last page, but I forgot to get ONE picture printed out yesterday. SO, I have done all I can do on it for now and will probably get it finished off tomorrow.

I'm finally baking some of Paula Deen's Chocolate Bundles. They smell DIVINE. Easy to make, but by no means a cheap dessert. I was just in a creative mood today I guess - scrapbooking and then fancy baking. It doesn't happen too often, but I do actually enjoy it when I get my teeth into it (no pun intended).

Well they are almost done, so I am outta here! Later alligator!

Before I sign off.....THEY WERE G-O-O-D! 10/10 Paula!! (And me)

Scrap-aholic

Bought some scrapbook stuff and got some photos printed out at Walmart today and I WILL get to scrapbook tomorrow if it kills me.

No more news from TSS, so not sure WTF is going on with that saga. Dunno if we will ever get the entire truth from her anyway as she is a habitual liar.

Had a marathon of Coronation Street this evening: we watched 4hrs worth (8 episodes) and munched on fried egg sandwiches washed down with raspberry cocoa from Target. Bang goes the diet! LOL

E still feeling like cack so am dragging his butt off to bed. Night y'all.