Broomes Island Housewife

U Survived Another Summer By Doc

2010-08-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yes Doc, you are absolutely right. Here I was posting on Facebook about how happy I was that the kids were finally back in school, when a get a text from you, one of my very best friends in the whole world, Doc(strictly said for his benefit since he may read this). " U survived another summer. Can't wait to read the blog" is what the text said. Of course he is not being sincere when he says this. If you know Doc, you know its meant to be funny. He really believes that I am a lady of leisure. Even though I am to some degree, I still have a crappy job, and if you are a mother, you know what I mean. I am not going to start listing my jobs because that is just ridiculous. I am not even going to justify what I do. You just won't understand this if you have a penis. Even though you may be stressed out, it is a different kind of stress, like where are my underwear, or I'm out of antiperspirant, can you pick some up or where are my shoes, have you seen them or what are you making for dinner, which is the most annoying question you can ask me! It's not that I don't want to make dinner, it's just that it really bugs me that it always has to be me. I know! Blah, Blah, blah..........

Anyway, I will say that I had a very easy first day of school. Connor started back a Calvert this year, so there is no drama getting to the bus in the mornings anymore. All the kids ride the same bus to school. So far there has been no drama in the morning regarding showers. It all seems to be working out so far. Thank god for that! I can't stand yelling and fighting but yelling and fighting in the morning would most likely push me over the edge. Speaking of getting pushed over the edge...........

Every year I take a picture of the kids at the bus stop while they wait for the bus and every year they are a complete pain in the ass about it. You think they would learn it would be over faster if they didn't fight it. This year on the way to the bus stop they saw me pull the camera out. "OH MY GOD MOM! ARE YOU SERIOUS. WELL YOU NOT TAKING A PICTURE OF ME" Then Regan and Ian chime in, "ME EITHER". To this I say "THING 1, THING 2, AND THING 3 HAVE TWO CHOICES, YOU CAN EITHER TAKE A NICE PICTURE TOGETHER AT THE BUS STOP BEFORE THE BUS COMES OR WHEN THE BUS PULLS UP, I CAN PUT ON MY FLASH AND LIGHT THE SKY UP TAKING PICTURES AS YOU WALK TO GET ON THE BUS!" Thing 3(Ian) responded very quickly with an OK, OK, I vote for before the bus comes. Connor and Regan followed suit. So I got my pretty little picture. They were actually smiling and let me also take a group photo with the other kids.

We are Moving!

2010-08-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Imagine having older, unappreciative, spoiled, non-conforming, lazy-azz kids. You have the picture in your head? Well, that is my life. On a good note, my kids aren't drug addicts, sex addicts, dangerous to others, misbehaved around others, or dumb-azzes as far as school goes. That I guess I can be grateful for, but the other 50% is annoying as hell. Furthermore, I know this is typical of their ages. Even though this is true, it's old. NO MORE EXCUSES!

I hate, hate, hate, telling my kids more than once to do something or to stop doing something. My favorite line in the house that all three of the kids use is "NOT ME. I DIDN'T DO IT." That's funny because you and I are the only ones here and I sure as hell didn't do it. To this they just smile and realize I am no dummy. Seriously, do they really think I fell off of some turnip truck? Some of my favorite lines I use are "I AM NOT YOUR DAMN MAID. ----"AM I SPEAKING CHINESE BECAUSE I SWEAR I JUST TOLD YOU TO DO SOMETHING AND I AM PRETTY SURE I WAS SPEAKING IN ENGLISH?-----HERE, LET ME PULL IT OUT OF MY ASS FOR YOU, HOW THE HELL DO I KNOW WHERE YOU PUT YOUR THINGS.-----and my favorite "OH MY GOD, EVEN STEVIE WONDER CAN SEE THAT."

As much as I yell, you have to have some comic relief in there for everyone. And even thought the kids find me annoying as much as I find them annoying, they do find something funny in these lines. But, the last line I used on them, they didn't find funny at all. After a while you have to find new tactics to get what you want done. "WE ARE MOVING". They didn't like this one little bit. " If you want to treat a million dollar home like this, I will sell it to someone who will appreciate it." They saw me looking at homes the other day and asked what I was doing. I said I was just looking, I always look to see what is out there. Do you think they could have put two and two together. I am a real estate agent you know, and I do have a few clients right now. They thought I was looking for me. LOL! So I used it against them later. I told them I was running errands and I would be back in a couple of hours. I wanted everything in tip top shape when I got back. They have been so lazy over the summer. To get them to anything is a struggle. The house has gone to shit since they have been home. I can't keep up so I finally had it out with them. I guess they didn't like the idea of changing schools and meeting new friends. So when I got home, It was spic and span. Its only been two days but they are definitely on their toes more so than before.

Happy Birthday to you Ian!

2010-07-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

Some parents give their children a Birthday Party every year, and I think its ridiculous. We don't do that. I'm sure some people think that is ridiculous. I actually had a girlfriend judge me on not giving my kids a birthday party every year on their birthday. I think she was a little shocked when I told her to "KISS MY ASS! At least when I have a party for my kids I don't complain about doing it! Unlike you, I actually am genuinely excited for them and excited to plan it for them." Planning parties every year would get old and even more difficult to do it better then next year. We have birthday parties on big birthdays such as 10, 13, 16 and 18 etc. Parties are expensive and I refuse to do it every year. After a while it means nothing to these kids. They expect it. Don't get me wrong, we still have a little family get together and celebrate their birthday but we don't have a big friend party.

This year Ian had his first friend birthday party ever. He was so excited! I was excited for him because he actually waited an extra year to have it. He wanted a pool party and being that his birthday is in November, a pool party just wouldn't work out. He also finished 5th grade so we could also do it graduation style. You can invite as many people as you want and get to get whatever party favors you want and the list goes on and on. I take care of everything. Well, I thought my wrist was going to fall off writing these invites out.

I think in the end, Ian had about 30 or so kids. He made out like a bandit. I don't think he was even thinking of gifts until they started to hand them to him. He was just happy to be having his party that he waited 11 years for. He actually went and spent his money finally. He was so excited. He still has some gift cards left. It's crazy. Maybe I should have a party for me. Oh wait, we actually did that last year. I did clean up. I wasn't even expecting anything either. I was just excited to have everyone celebrate my 40th with me.

The moral of the story, good things come to those who wait.

Deep Creek cont.......

2010-07-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

There has been a little break in my entry of Deep Creek because I wasn't actually sure what to write. I like to write a story as it is, but I have been forced to sweep this story under the rug. But, luckily I can tell you that the rest of the trip was successful. Ian and his buddy went fishing with Pat early one morning and caught a few fish. I did think it was weird they came back that morning and Pat said that they caught no fish.

Later I asked Ian and his buddy, Ty, why were they out so long if they weren't catching anything. They said they were catching fish, but dad kept throwing them back. Pat did that the first night we were there too. We caught a few fish on the pier and he tossed them back. I was even annoyed when he did that, so I can imagine how the boys felt. They wanted to eat them!

In the afternoon we dropped Connor off to play golf. It was pouring down rain, but he didn't care. He ended up shooting a 32 on nine. I'm glad I didn't play. When Connor is on, he is on. He has a pretty damn good short game. Of course, that is the part he practices the most. I hate praticing, especially right now while its so hot. It's all I can do to muster up the energy to go work out or ride my bike on the off days of the gym. Maybe that's why I have become such a fat ass.

Later that evening, we had a little family arguement...................

This is where the story ends.

Deep Creek Journal - Day 1- boat drop

2010-07-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

Within an hour of being at the cabin, Pat and Sean decided they wanted to drop the boat. This was a lot of firsts for Sean, towing our boat to Deep Creek, and now, launching the boat. Both are not easy things to do. And, when you are in the mountains on small roads, it becomes a little trickier. Pat and Sean go to move the trailer and spend about 45 minutes getting it out of the driveway. Sean parked the boat in a very odd spot. How he even got it in this spot in the first place is a small miracle. Anyway, we finally head out. Sean set his GPS for a gas station so we could fill up before launching on the lake. We drive and drive. According to the GPS, we have about 500 yards to go. As we get closer, I am thinking, "There is no way there is a gas station up ahead. We are in the middle of nowhere." I don't say anything, because I already have a bad rap for being opinionated and always right. When I start asking questions that question the situation, I am looked at as bitchy. So, I just bite my tongue. Biting my tongue is not an easy thing to do. We come to the end of the 500 yards and all there is is grass. So we turn around and just decide to go to the park and drop the boat.

At the park, Sean goes to back up the boat. This is not an easy task your first time. Pat and I actually have two separate ways to back up a trailer. I believe my way is the best way obviously and Pat thinks that I'm an idiot and the best way is his way. Whatever, I really don't give a damn as long as the job gets done. So there is a lot of maneuvering on Sean's part, but he finally gets the boat launched and we get in and take off. As Pat and I leave for the dock, I ask him if he knows where he is going and he says yes. Well that makes me feel better because this is a pretty big lake. You can't really see a lot of houses from the shore and everything looks the same.

The more we drive, the more I realize that Pat really doesn't have a clue. He just said he did, so I didn't start riding his ass hard about asking someone. Of course, I get annoyed and start questioning Pat for his lousy choices. I know this is probably annoying for him, but he annoys me as well. We are both first borns. This horn locking is going to happen. Sometimes you wish it didn't happen so often as it does. Oh well. "Oh my god, isn't that the neighbor's flag Pat?" How I saw that needle in a haystack, I have no clue. Pat can live to see another day. Crises averted.

Deep Creek Journal - Day 1 -entry 2

2010-07-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

So the kids took off in Walmart and took off straight for a section they weren't suppose to be going to. I chased them. "We are not buying electronics! I said to grab a 12 pack of soda you want to drink." I hate it when the kids look at you like you have two heads. I'm not speaking chinese, I swear. So we all take off to grab the soda's. Three hundred dollars later, we are back on the road. We really didn't have that much further to go. The kids were really starting to get on my nerves though. I found myself saying to myself over and over in my head. "Are we flipping there yet?" As I am quietly freaking out in my mind, thinking about how I much I wanted to freak out outloud for the whole world to hear, I actually did freak out. "OH MY GOD! PAT, I TOTALLY FORGOT CLAIR'S GIFT!" This was seriously, the whole reason for the stop in the first place. Then the kids distracted me from the true task at hand. Pat was pissed. I was pissed. What the hell do we do now. It is her birthday. As we go closer to the cabin Pat saw this little po dunk store in the middle of nowhere. I just rolled my eyes and thought "yeah right", what a waste of time. When we walked in, I couldn't believe what I saw.
A whole isle of things for little girls! Score! We loaded up with everything we could find and we were on our way.
Finally at the cabin, we unloaded and settled in. The kids gave tours to all there friends and hung out. The kids went fishing and Pat settled in with his booz. I was glad to finally be at our destination.

Deep Creek Journal - Day 1

2010-07-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

Last November, for Thanksgiving, the Healey family went to Deep Creek. Some of us went to a golf tournament and after the tournament bid on a house in Deep Creek in a live auction. Obviously, we won. While we were at this pretty, pretty, nice cabin in Deep Creek, Pat's Brother Sean said that he liked the place so much, he was going to rent it in the summer for a week. The price the family charges for a week at their cabin is pretty cheap. Lets say it's about just a forth of what most places charge and the place is pretty incredible. Well, right when I heard that, I was thinking "Have a good time. I'm going to the beach." I am a beach kind of girl. My idea of vacation is going to the beach, staying at a Hotel, and eating out at night. I also like to wake up in the morning and go for a walk and I love, love, love to sit on the deck and listen to the ocean.
When you go to Deep Creek, you have to pack everything except the kitchen sink. I HATE THAT! My idea of vacation is not taking care of another house. I could stay at home and do that. What? You also have to clean the place up when you leave? This couldn't be further from what I want to do! What? You have to cook your own meals, and clean your own dishes! Where is the vacation in that. We use to do this when the kids were little. We would rent a place in Ocean City and do the same crap. After doing that for a few years. Pat and I finally agreed that it is a lot of work. We said we would never do it again! Now, here we are ten years later doing the same shit all over again.
"Ungrateful! How about realistic!" This was my reply to Pat when he ran the idea past me a few months ago and I flat out said "NO!" without even a thought. He said I was ungrateful. Connor, Regan, and Ian or I like to refer to them as thing one, thing two, and thing three, are very lazy. I know its going to come down to the final day where you have to clean up all your shit and I am going to be holding the bag. It's bullshit! I just think the whole idea is to stressful. It's going to cause a fight with Pat and I and it most certainly did. Why does he think he can just make the decision to go to lake without any care of concern of mine? He knew I was adamant about not going to Deep Creek. He still made the decision the family would go.
So here we are in the driveway ready to leave. The kids are loaded up in the car with their friends and the dog is breathing and drooling heavy on my pillow, which nobody felt was necessary to move while I was packing up THEIR shit! And, why is everyone sitting in the car while we pack it anyway? Typical kids these days. They feel that they are entitled to everything and give nothing in return. Well, I got news for you thing one, two, and three, I am the rock star in the house! You three are my loyal audience. You do what I want you to do and what I want you to do right now is get your three lazy a$$es up and help. Needless to say, the trip was not starting off well.
We dropped the dog off at the kennel, stopped at the daycare center to drop off Pat's mom's bowls, stopped for gas, stopped on the sided of the road to let Thing One Pee, and then had to stop a few miles later to let Thing 2 and her friend pee. Have you ever felt you were never going to get where you were trying to go? This was the never ending journey to the middle of nowhere with no place to go once you got there.
When we got to the rest stop, it was at the kushwa memorial bridge. It was the rest stop at the opening of the mountain right before Cumberland I think. Anyway, the girls run to the restroom and the boys ran up the stairs that go up the side of the mountain. I guess it was just a little place you could walk up and take in the view. I stood by the car and looked down the mountain. Pat walked over a few minutes later to take in the view and smoke a cig. We stood there for a while. While standing there, all I could think of is why are all the tractor trailers honking. It's so annoying! Then I starting thinking that the kids have been gone a while. Wait a minute! Are they on the bridge egging the drivers on to honk? I ran to the car to grab my camera just in case. I ran as fast as I could to the road to look up at the bridge. Of course, It was Thing two and three with their friends pumping their arms at every truck driver coming in both directions. Horns were blowing nonstop. It was a pretty hilarious sight. I let them go at it for another few minutes. What the hell, they couldn't hear me yell for them anyway.
We had one more stop to make before the cabin and that was at the super walmart grocery store. There are really no stores once you get to the cabin. We have been told that there is a grocery store on the water but we haven't been there and are not really sure what is in there. The main purpose of the store was to get Clair a quick present. She will be celebrating her birthday when we get to the cabin.
We get to the Walmart and the kids took off.

The Loss Heard Around The World

2010-04-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

Shock and disbelief over the Capitals loss is overwhelming. I still can't believe it. This team has come so far over the last few years. All the hype would make a person believe that this would be the year we would be hoisting the cup. I know. I wanted to buy into it all. I think since working for the NHL and the Caps being my home team, the loss just felt that much more personal. I have been on the verge of crying all morning. You don't like to see the people you care about, in so much pain and heartbroken. As a fan, I can see where it would be easier to criticise and point fingers. I understand that some fans want to win and when they don't, they bad mouth their own team. I call you a fair-weather fan. Yes, be disappointed, but don't bash a team that came from last place a few years ago to being who they are today. Being much closer to the situation, you know these guys wanted to win just as badly as there fans, coaches, managers, and owners. These guys played all year for one thing, Lord Stanley's Cup. I even feel myself wanting to point fingers, but why rub salt in an open wound. It won't make any difference right now. We lost. It makes no sense, but we lost.

Should some of the guys who make the big bucks have shown up to play? Absolutely! Was Halak just simply amazing? One hundred percent, YES! Montreal had nothing to lose and the Caps had everything to lose. And, lose we did. Will history keep repeating itself? I hope not. I don't want to feel like this ever again. So for now, I will hang up my blazer and put away my heels and hope for great season this fall.

Keep it to Yourself

2010-04-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

My relationship with my kids is very open. Furthermore, if the topic of sex comes up and one of their friends is over, I am open with them too. Sometimes Connor, my oldest son, has said some inappropriate things in front of me and his father has told him to be more respectful. I would actually much rather him say these things in front of me so I can correct him or scold him for it, than say it to his dad and get a laugh out of it.

Anyway, one of Connor's buddies was over for the night and we all went out to dinner. During dinner, Connor's buddies girlfriend came up. And from there, I am not sure how sex came up, but I basically said that I hoped that they would wear condoms to protect not only themselves but their future. If they got a girl pregnant and the girl kept the baby, they would be responsible forever. "Are you two ready for that? Let's face it, you two go to a Catholic school and most of the families are Catholic. I hope to God that you would wear a condom because Catholics don't believe in abortion!" At this point Connor's buddy is choking on his dinner and Connor is looking around to see if any other table heard what I was saying. "Oh come on Connor, what are you looking around for. You two want to talk about women in a somewhat piggish nature and make irresponsible statements that could ruin your life as well as mine. I am going to speak up." The whole time this is going on, Ian, my youngest son, keeps saying "what is an abortion?" Connor yelled at Ian to shut up across the table, still worried someone was listening. You just have to love the innocence of the baby of the family.

Just then one of our neighbors daughters name came up. Connor was telling his friend that when she first moved in, she went to change behind her car. Connor just happened to be coming down the steps and saw her naked through the window. I actually saw it too. He whispered something in his buddies ear, which I could hear much to his horror. "FYI Connor, most girls have black pubic hair unless they are redheads. Then, most likely your pubic hair is red. Yours is probably red. Isn't it? Sometimes pubic hair can be dark blond." Mom stop!

I don't think Connor will be whispering around me anytime soon.

Lets Shake Our Little Tush On the Catwalk

2010-03-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Patty Puss sent out an email asking if any of us were interested in going to a local fashion show. Well, of course I wanted to go. This was going to be either a big flop or a big hit. Either way I wanted to have a front row seat to whatever the outcome was going to be. We decided it would be sort of fun to dress up for the event. We really don't have many occasions to dress up at Calvert County events. We are a simple County. Funny enough there are a lot of wealthy people that live in this County, but the percentage of wealth is very small. So, many events are simple venues that everyone in Calvert County can go out and enjoy. Events are usually an eclectic mix of people which definitely make any event more interesting and exciting. The day of the fashion show was here and our group was emailing to get the scoop on what each other was wearing. It's a typical girl thing to do. You certainly don't want to be the bum of the group. Plus, I feel if you look good, you feel good, and you will give of a confidence that everyone will feel too. Most of the time you won't even know your doing it.

Patty wanted us to meet at her house at 5:30p.m. for cocktails before the show. This is a tough time for me, but the doors to fashion show opened up at 6:30. So 5:30 was an appropriate time before to get together. Two of the P's, Ann and Katie, wanted me to come pick them up on the way to Patty's house. I am usually the designated driver because I don't really drink. On occasion I get a wild hair up my ass and let my hair down for a night. This was not the night though. I had to get home and get up early to go the Vintage Source and then rush to be home by 9am for Ian's first lacrosse game. So, driving wasn't going to be a problem. After picking up Ann and Katie, we headed over to Patty's house. I was running late, so this meant half of the group was arriving late to the cocktail party because I was driving. I don't like to be late for things at all. People set times for a reason. What is being fashionably late anyway? Half of the people that arrive late look as if their alarm never went off. They aren't show stoppers. Most of the time, they are people that were on the bottom of the list anyway. Now, I am not saying that I have never been late to anything. I am saying I don't like to be. Being a few minutes late is OK. A half an hour is pushing it. Anything over a half an hour is flat out rude! Usually your friends understand or you have told the hostess already that you may be running a little late. This is acceptable. Usually the late comers are the late leavers. I can't stand to be the last one to leave, unless I am at a good friends house. My husband Pat has a tendency to be a late leaver. It's so f-----g annoying. What would one of my blogs be if I didn't throw Pat under the bus just once. Once Pat has a few drinks and he is feeling good, he wants to keep that good feeling going all night long. I don't mean in the sac either. We were at one of our good friends house one night and Pat was really overstaying his welcome in my opinion. Even though everyone was having a great time, you could tell everyone was also pooping out. Pat wasn't close to being finished. Since I am usually the sober one, I can pick up on the subtle clues of "Please Leave". Pat usually has a buzz or is drunk, so how can pick up on any cues? How about listening to your wife. How about that? It got to the point were the host starting stripping down to his boxers to get Pat and a couple of others to leave. It took a second for these drunks to realize "Oh, I guess we better leave." Now every time we go over to this friends house, all he has to say is he getting ready to strip down and everyone gets the message.

When we got to Patty's house, she was running around a little crazy looking for the fashion show tickets. The tickets were presold and none would be sold at the door. That started off the evening interesting already. I thought everyone looked great. Missy was actually putting her make-up on when we arrived. We all were actually suppose to do make-up over Patty's. I actually forgot all about that. We just had cocktails over at Patty's house. They were suppose to serve us one drink and appetizers at the fashion show. This was included in your ticket price. We headed to the fashion show and Patty squared the ticket situation with the ladies at the show. It was all good. We were in. It was pretty crowded. They had local vendors there of women owned businesses. That was cool. They also had a backdrop like you would see at the Oscars or Emmy's where the stars would get their picture taken with their award. I got one picture taken with my mother-in-law and one with the "P" crew. When the "P" crew got up to take a picture, all of a sudden a few cameras were snapping shots. They must have taken 10 pictures of our group. I will post a photo if I can get one. "I am starving! Where are all these appetizers?" This was the only shitty thing about the night. The appetizers were good, if you could get one. I finally started camping out at the kitchen door so I could get them as they came out. I still only got like two. They never came out. And, when they did, they had about 10 appetizers on a serving plate that was the size of a salad plate. I finally said to the girl, "What is up with this? Why aren't you using a big serving platter? You can't serve all these people like this." She said, I had a platter but some people knocked it over so I got a smaller plate. Simple answer from a simple girl. What an idiot. Where was the person in charge of food service? I shouldn't have grilled her because she never came back out and I was STARVING!!!! They finally started to let people upstairs for the fashion show. I was close to the front of the line but then moved out of line for a reason I can't remember. I was probably digging through the trash for food I was so hungry. Anyway, our group got up late and got shitty seats. It was still fun though. Some of the models looked nervous and some worked it. Some of the cloths and bags and hats were very cute. I do think they could have set the room up better for everyone to see better.

We finally left and headed to Neptunes Bar where the first order of business for me was FOOD! I was also excited to me Ann's new man. The last guys name should have been Spider Man. I won't get into that but it was scary. Chuck was losing points when it looked like he was trying to be fashionably late. I will say that it was the bar clock that was fast because when I checked my watch and phone time, he was only a few minutes late. I was pleasantly surprised. They seemed to be a good fit. Have you heard of getting "jumped in"? Well its a term gangs use when they initiate a member into the gang. The gang actually beats the crap out of the person wanting to join in. If they can stand being beat up badly by the group than they are worthy to be a member of the gang. We won't make Chuck "jump in" just yet. We have to give him time to see if he is worth even being part of this exclusive club. Actually Ann has to say he is the one. My short little interview with him was really good. He told me exactly what I wanted to hear. So, either he was very genuine or very clever. I will say genuine. I've been around and it's not easy to con me. At one point before Chuck showed up, Pussy Pussy asked me if she had drunk hair. Funny enough she didn't . She was good to go when her new man showed up. After observing them for a while she seemed really happy. That makes me happy. Hopefully this one will be a keeper. If he doesn't work out, I guy named Marc Goodman(Guppy) at the fashion show had his sights on Ann. Picture this; A Wispy,White-haired guy in a suit, Navy blue jacket, buttoned down collared shirt to show his hairy white chest, dress slacks, and penny loafers. He told me to let him know if it didn't work out for Ann. Ann is the last really single girl in the group. Hopefully this isn't pressuring her into finding someone to settle down with. I really don't think this is the case though. I wish her all the best. She deserves it.

Just Say No!

2010-03-10T05:03:00.000-08:00

It really amazes me when people can't say no to things and then they have the nerve to complain about it. I have seen this happen time and time again. These people are just really nice or really stupid. I would like to opt for nice, because most of these people ARE my friends. I don't do stupid. Then again, I don't think these people are nice either. If they were just nice, they wouldn't complain about doing the nice things they get credit for. I am just flat out going to say no if I feel I am getting taken advantage of.

The first time this happened to me when I really recognized this happening was when I was a volunteer at the kids elementary school. I tried to be a volunteer in my kids class, but got stuck in some other teachers class. I didn't know any better. I took them at their word that my son's class was full. This teachers class was across the hall from Connor's class, so I figured I could just peek in on him when I was there. This teacher worked my ass off the two days that I volunteered during the week. I might as well have taught the class for her. I thought to myself, "Does she even do anything until I come in?" I did this ladies bulletin boards, copying, grading, and tutoring. I didn't just hang up things she gave me for her bulletin boards, I had to create it from scratch. She told me the theme and I came up with the idea and design. That was a shit load of work, but my bulletin boards were always the best in the school. I actually had teachers begging me to work in their class. I was thinking "Of course you do! You lazy bunch of bitches. Not only do I do great work, but I am doing all your work and I am doing it FOR FREE!!!!!". I wasn't even in the classroom with my son. That was the point in the first place. One day I overheard the teacher whose class I worked in talking to another teacher. The other teacher was telling her how lucky she was to have an aide like me a few days a week. Teacher I worked for commented back something like go find your own slave labor and keep your hands off mine. "Bullshit!!!! I am not your slave labor. Find some other sucker to do your homework for you because this girl is done!!!!". I know what your thinking. Did you say that? Hell no I didn't say that. I was thinking it. If I would have said that, Connor would have had to suffer the consequences of that. I just walked out and never came back. I haven't volunteered for the school system since that. Pat and I only do field trips. He takes one a year and I take one a year.

The incident that just happened recently happened to a friend of mine. This girl is a Saint! Well probably just a goodie to shoes. That is what I call her. My girlfriends daughter was going to her good friends birthday party. Her daughters friend asked my friend to make her birthday cake. She asked right in front of her own mother. Well my friend was caught off guard. This wasn't just an ordinary cake, it was a cake that was on the COVER of Martha Stewart Living Magazine. This little girl is only in third grade. Little kids say and ask for things all the time. They don't know that this cake is going to take a couple of days to make. My girlfriend should have said something like. " Oh that is a really pretty cake, I'm sure your mom would want to do that for you." or something like that. What worse is that the little girls mother didn't say anything when her daughter asked my girlfriend to make this magazine cover cake. So, my girlfriend said OK. When she told me the story, I couldn't believe it. I was infuriated for her. She was pretty pissed about it herself. She complained about doing it the whole day she had to take making it. The little girls mother even had the nerve to text my girlfriend to find out when she was going to have the cake done so she could get it over to her house before the party started. I'm sorry but that is NERVY!! I would have cussed that mother out by now. Actually I would have said NO!!!!!!! in the first place.

After all that bitching and complaining by my girlfriend and me lecturing her on how to tell people NO, she just made excuses for the other mother. "Well, she's poor, or she's just a sorry little nice redneck, and my daughter is really good friends with her." WHO CARES!! SHE IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOUR KINDNESS!!! I think she was just making excuses for herself for letting someone take advantage of her. Furthermore, you can't claim to be a Saint if you complain about doing an act of kindness. Your not being kind then. I won't canonize her just yet. She does everything! She will make you and me look bad. It's almost annoying sometimes. If her husband wants sex, she gives it to him. If her kids ask her to do something, she will drop what she is doing to do it, even though her kids are more than capable. If she wants to take a trip, god forbid, she will be made to feel bad about it. It's bullshit. This is a strong, smart, and capable women. It's time she start to stand up for herself, but she won't.

First of all, if I ever just gave Pat sex when he wanted it, he would probably have a heart attack on the spot. My kids are self sufficient because I don't wait on them hand and foot. Nobody puts this baby in the corner. I will always be out front and straight forward with you about how I feel.and I will never let anyone take advantage of me or someone I care about. Once you learn that is OK to say "NO" when people ask you to do something, it gets easier. Why are you saying yes to doing things that make you uncomfortable in the first place?

You Are All Wrong! / Recipe poll

2010-03-03T11:06:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it! No one guessed the correct answer to my weight poll. That's right. I really did gain 10 pounds when I quit the old cancer sticks. My weight almost drove me back to smoking again. On top of that, the damn snow storm ruined me! I was trapped inside with no place to go. I just sat around and ate and ate and ate. I still catch myself eating and eating and eating. When I leave for the gym in the morning or afternoon, whenever my classes are, I try to run around as much as I can to stay away from the house. I run around because if I go home, all I want to do is eat.

I will say that food tastes so much better. My fat butt must have really been enjoying the flavors of being smoke free. Of course, it didn't help that I bought a couple things that I shouldn't have. Those of you that know me well, know what I am talking about. I don't even want to say their devilish little names(hint, hint). I feel like a conehead when I eat those little suckers. I just gobbled those suckers right down in just a few seconds. Trust me when I tell you the saying is true. "Good on the lips means 10 on the hips!" This is no joke to me. This is serious business. I will say that I used to be much heavier than this my freshman year in High School, but I won't let that happen again.

Since I got back on a work out schedule, I am down 3 pounds. I have 7 more to go. It is getting very frustrating because I still treat myself quite often. I might have to just fast for a few days and hit me where it hurts, my voracious appetite. I can't believe how much I just want to eat. I am thinking about food right now. It's f------ horrible! I am not cutting out bread! I love bread. When Pat went on his low carb diet, we were all losing weight. Finally the kids said "Hey we're not on a diet. We want some french bread." I agree! Pat will just have to get over it. But, now I may have to rethink the whole carb thing for ME. I haven't diet'd in forever.

I think I have a great recipe to share with you and you can make it low calorie. At least once a week in the house, I have a use what you have already night. I go in the pantry and the fridge and try to use what I already have. On this particular night, I had a whole rotisserie chicken, half of a large onion, and fresh garlic I wanted to use up. What am I going to do with this? I couldn't have my signature hot chicken with gravy sandwiches because Pat couldn't have the mash potatoes or the bread and my big ass could do without it as well. So, I went to the pantry and found ton's of chicken stock. Why do I have so much damn chicken stock? I still have no clue. I always have tons of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes in a can. A girlfriend of mine had told me about a recipe she made once. I couldn't remember the recipe but I thought I could probably build on what I remembered. So I made a chicken tortilla soup. I also remember eating a great chicken tortilla soup when I worked at Smokey Joes. That one was spicy. The one I made wasn't spicy, but it was absolutely delicious! I am going to share the recipe with you. You will be a huge hit with this soup. It is also super quick and easy and for the most part you will probably have these things in your pantry already. I did.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

_________________________________________________________

1 medium onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic minced

3tablespoons of corn oil
(cook these ingredients in a dutch oven until onions are translucent)

add one regular size can of diced tomato

1 large container of chicken stock(32 ounces)

2 teaspoons of Cumin(or more if you like)

add diced, chopped, or shredded chicken

(add as much as you like)

For the piece De resistance' add 1 cup of your favorite salsa. I used Safeway's 3 bean salsa(medium heat) this really spiced up the soup

NOTE:You can add black beans or corn to the soup for interest(or add both). Also to make it easy for me, I bought the pre-cooked chicken and put that in. It saves time to have the chicken pre-cooked. I have made the soup twice now and used the rotisserie chicken once and the pre-cooked perdue strips once and cubed them.

Now you want sides. You add these on the top if you like and they add so much to the soup. WARNING: Some of these toppers aren't low fat or low carb. Toppers are sour cream, Tortilla chips crumbled up, Mexican cheese, and hot sauce if you like. Add one or none. It's up to you. I think the chips are a must(at least a few) If your having a party, use the blue corn chips because they look cool!

This soup is the bomb! I couldn't stop eating it and neither could my family. I can't wait till you try it and let me know what you think. I will have another poll about the soup. Click on to vote.

Mary Must Be Scary!

2010-02-19T05:06:00.000-08:00

I am a lot older than my brothers and so is Pat. We had Connor while our siblings were still in High School. Unfortunately, our kids won't have any cousins their age to grow up with. That's too bad since our whole family lives close together. Now that our brothers and sisters are older, they are starting families but their kids are much younger than our kids. Surprisingly our kids really like the little ones. They are always very patient with their little cousins and their little cousins really like their big cousins a lot.

That is not the case when it comes to their Aunt Mary. It has taken me twice as long to connect with my neices and nephews. I must look like Medusa to little kids or something. I know I can act like Medusa and stare you down like Medusa, but I don't do that to my neices and nephew, just my own kids. For a long time I blamed the kids freaking out on me on my visor. I usually always have a visor on. Sometimes when I took the visor off, the kids didn't react so badly. So, of course it had to be the visors fault. I still have no clue to this day what it is. My friends tell me that I have a look that just doesn't look approachable. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN?!!! Maybe that is why I got stuck with Pat. He was probably so tanked up with the Captain, he was to oblivious to see that I was unaproachable.

When Hannah(my youngest brothers daughter) was born, I really didn't get to see her that much. I think because we had just moved into our new house and I was really busy getting the house in shape. When I would actually get to see Hannah, she wouldn't even look at me. She would cling to either my mom or dad not giving me a wreck. It took a lot of effort on my part to bond with Hannah. The only time she would let me hold her is when she was Baptized. I was chosen to be her God-Mother. So as an infant you don't have much choice and you really can't put up a fight. But as soon as she was old enough, she gave me the cold sholder. I didn't have it nearly as bad as Pat though. As soon as he would even walk in room, she would scream bloody murder. We couldn't go anywhere if Hannah was going to be there, especially if Pat was going. He blamed her not liking him on his voice being deep. I'm thinking, "No, she's just smart." Plain and simple, she just didn't like us. Who the hell knows to this day why. Today, Hannah is 5 and she thinks I'm the bomb. Of course she should think that. I try to make her feel special when I am around her. Spoiling her with cotton candy doesn't hurt either.
Olivia, Hannahs baby sister, doesn't like me right now. She is not even two yet. She actually gives me dirty looks. Olivia will actually warm up to me if I am around her for a while though. It will still take some more time with Olivia. Olivia is really funny. I can't wait to see how her sense of humor develops.

Aidan, Pat's brothers son, is my only nephew. He is quite a character. I told myself before he was born "He will know his Aunt Mary". It was easy to get to know Aidan because he went to the childcare right down the road. I would stop in at least once a week to go visit Aidan. I can just stop in because I happen to know the owners. The owners happen to be my in-laws. I think Aidan just tolerated me. He probably wondered "Who is this girl who always stops in and bugs me? Doesn't she know I really don't give a rat's ass. I just want to play with my truck in peace." Aidan is Pat's godson. So I think it's important that he know us. Last time I was at Aidan's house, I was teasing him a little bit as I always do and he called me the "annoying one". That was so hillarious! I will say that it reminded me on a time when Connor was really little,he was maybe 4. He was laying in bed with me and it was really late. I was watching T.V. and I was flipping through channels. I must have passed by a channel he wanted to watch and when I told him "No, you are suppose to be going to sleep.", I heard Connor mumble "biiitch" under his breath. I immediately flipped on the light and grabbed his little shoulders and said "who told you that, where did you hear that?" I'm thinking he always hangs out in the garage with Pat and I constantly open the door to the garage and bark out orders to Pat. Was Pat calling me a bitch when I shut the door and Connor picked up on it? Totally waiting for Connor to rat out his dad. I waited as Connor trying to catch his breath from crying said "Cheheheheheyanne". Cheyanne was a little trailer park trash girl in his cub class at daycare. I guess Pat was off the hook, this time. So, with Aidan I was thinking the same thing. Maybe he heard his mom and dad talking about me. I can't start thinking of another conspiricy against me. That little twit of a nephew. I will just tease him more. I will really show him annoying. And, I did. Last weekend he came over my house. V-day fell on a Sunday this year so we had a nice breakfast instead of dinner. Since Aidan and Clare(aidan's younger sister) were there, we had farm animal waffles, sausage, fresh fruit, and juice. Regan and I had also made up candy goody bags for the kids as well. I figured this could score me some points. So after breakfast everyone got their goody bags and as I handed Aidan his bag, I said "Do I get a kiss for the candy Aidan?" He looked at me and sort of shrugged. I know he really wanted the candy but it looked like he was almost willing to give it up if he had to kiss the Medusa Head. He then thought for a second and said "Can we just hug or something?" Of course we all went into hysterics. Kudos to Aidan for coming up with a compromise.

Clare is a whole other demon. I did the same thing with her but she was getting brainwashed. I stopped by to see clare way more than Aidan because she was stubborn. The more I stopped by, the more she cozied up to her Aunt Patra, Pat and Sean's sister. Patra was the teacher in Clare's infant room at the daycare. I bet Patra was telling her that I was Medusa. As soon as Clare saw me walking toward her classroom, she would quickly look around to find a teacher she could run to. I use to love it when I would catch her off guard. She would really freak out then. Now Clare is in a different class and not under the influence of her god- mother, Patra. Things are a little better. But, I had a break through. When we were over Erin and Seans house, I hung out with Clare in her room and talked about her toys. Ever since I did that, our relationship is 180 out. I walked into her class last week and she actually yelled MAAAARY, like she was actually excited that I was there. That was a first. Persistance may have paid off.

My brothers both have babies on the way within the next few months. I guess I will have to start all over again to create a bond. Medusa will be rearing her ugly head again.

SNOW over it!

2010-02-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

I am so over all this snow. We have had enough family bonding to last us through the next decade. Ok, well not bonding really. We all hid in our little corners in the house. But, when we did have to hang together, it could get really ugly. I swear the kids minds were turning into jello. Having over a week off from school was making them stupid.
Connor slept in until 12 noon pretty much everyday. I'm not even sure he bothered to take a shower that often. HELLO!!!!!!! "It's just a little snow.....Ok a lot of snow, but it will go away, your B.O. won't!" Connor would come down just about everyday after he woke up wondering why he didn't get any breakfast. Again....HELLO!!!!!! It's lunch time you dork! Since when am I his personal servant? He has lived with me for 14 years. You think he would know by now that he is on his own. Furthermore, when I make breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you need to come down and eat it when its there. You will get no other meal 3 hours later when the kitchen has been cleaned up.
I have a routine. Don't screw with it because it's not going to change. It's just like when I do the laundry, have it in the laundry room on Wednesday. If it's not there, it doesn't get washed. I hate doing laundry. Don't come and ask me to wash something when it's all done, unless you want a serious tongue lashing. I might even make you fold all the laundry if you ask me to wash something for you when I just spent 3 hours cleaning the crap off all your clothes. In short, the kids don't ask me anymore because they know better now. When I say get your stuff together, they get it together. When I say it's breakfast, you come and eat. Connor seems to think I am going to turn into this mother of the year and make him a hot breakfast 3 hours later. NOT!!!!!
Regan, bless her little heart, is not going to miss any meal. She knows the consequences. She likes to be waited on. If I am going to make a meal, she is going to take advantage of it. She's smart. She knows that while I am cooking she may get me to make something a little different for her. She actually stayed the most busy during this whole snow break. She would go over friends houses to go sledding and not come back for a few days. Smart girl. Who would want to be cooped up with me and Pat? That has "Lets do some work around the house written all over it".
I barely even saw Ian. He only came down to eat when I called him down. He is addicted to X-Box live. I had to go see him to make sure he was showering and brushing his teeth. I still ask myself "Why do I have to tell these kids to brush their teeth?"
Toward the end of the snow break. Pat and his brother decided they were going to get together. We were all getting a little cabin fever. Sean and Erin and their two kids were going to come and stay the night. This is always a fun time. Although Pat and Sean can get loud and crazy, not to mention annoying. They also tend to do some stupid things. Make no mistake, they are very smart boys, but alcohol does crazy things to those two and turns them into a couple of dumb-asses. This weekend was no exception. It started out as it normally does. We had a long cocktail hour, followed by a nice dinner. After dinner, we continued to drink and hang out. Around 11:30 p.m. I started to fade, as well as the kids and Erin. We all decided we were going to bed. Pat and Sean were not to happy about that idea at all. They were getting there second wind. Pat decided it would be a great idea if he and Sean went to the local dive down the road to finish off the evening with drinks there. NOT!!! I told Pat that he better not drive. "And under no circumstance was he to drive the suburban. It is the only car I have." Not to mention, that car will kill someone. He said he wouldn't drive the suburban, so I went to sleep.
When I woke up the next morning, it was early. I went to look out the window and noticed that Erin's new SUV was in the middle of our driveway. NOT GOOD! We weren't even using our driveway during the Blizzard because the snow drift was about 4 feet high. We were using our neighbors driveway because the trees blocked the snow drifts from covering their driveway. Just as I was discovering the car stuck, Pat was getting up. I went to ask him about the car and he said Sean wanted to show him how good his 4 wheel drive was last night. He was laughing pretty good while he told me the story. I guess even 4 wheel drives have their limits. The limit must be 4 feet of snow and ice. Then he proceeded to tell me the suburban was stuck too. WHAT!!!!!!!! Pat said after Sean got stuck he was going to give him a little nudge to get him out. NUDGE!!????? I'm thinking " What are you thinking you dumb-ass?" The suburban is not the type of car you want to nudge another car with. The Hoopty is a tank! It would go right through the back end of Sean's car. Luckily he did get it stuck.
After we got through with breakfast, our neighbor and good friend Tom came over with his toys to get the cars out. Ours shouldn't be a problem, because it didn't even make it into the driveway. That got me thinking. How did Sean make it in so far. His SUV is much smaller than the surburban. Come to find out he hit the beginning of the driveway in his drunken stupor at about 35-40 miles an hour. He basically launched himself 1/4 of the way down the driveway. You may be thinking "Launch?" Well, a few days before they came over we had to reshovel the neighbors drive at the end because of the snow drifts by the wind. I told Pat we should probably shovel the end of our driveway so the plows know its a driveway and not a place to pile the snow. Well, he didn't want to do it and guess what? You got it. The plows piled the snow at the end of our driveway. I say the pile was about 15ft high. I really thought I was going to kill Pat when I saw that. Luckily that night we caught the snow plow on our street and told him and he cleared it out pretty good because this shit wouldn't have melted until June! So this is where the launch thing comes into play. Even though he cleared the end of the driveway, there was still about a foot and a half of built up snow and ice at the bottom that the plow didn't get up. Sean must have hit that little ice ramp and he and Pat(now known as the Duke boys) flew half was down the drive. What a couple of idiots. The real Duke boys never got stuck. But Pat and Sean being only and imitation of the real thing, got stuck pretty good. So now Posey was here to pull them out. They were out there for a while. When they made there way in, I grabbed my camera to take those two knuckle-heads picture with their snow shovels. They were both acting pretty weird. I started to walk back in when Pat said he need to tell me something. Well, actually he need to show me something. He walked me to the back of the suburban and pointed to the back door. "What in the hell did you do?!!!!!!!" My back window was gone. The chain Tom was using snapped and flew through the window. "Thanks a lot Pat! You better warm your right hand up, because you are going to be writing a really big check!" I only have one car and it's in a fragile state. It is 12 years old and probably hanging on for dear life. This is precisely why Pat was forbidden to drive it last night. He doesn't have very good judgement when he consumes the captain. It could have been much worse. He could have driven through the back of Erins new truck with his, "We will just give it a little nudge", idea.

The only bonus to the whole situation was that Tom had to plow out part of our driveway to get to Seans car. Too bad he didn't launch in deeper. Oh, and I most likely will get a brand new car out of it. Sometimes you have to just love it when Pat gets together with the Captain and does his stupid little tricks. Doesn't he know by now that the captain is a bad influence and makes him do things he wouldn't do otherwise. Wait, let me think about that again. Ok, I will give him a break here. He probably wouldn't do stupid things to the degree the captain would make him do it. Maybe I should sign Pat and Sean up for Letterman's Stupid pet tricks segment. I'm sure those two have many more dumb-ass tricks up their sleeves.

13th win brings bad luck anyway

2010-02-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

It was a very interesting weekend to say the least. The energy started to build on Thursday when the threat of a blizzard Friday evening was eminent. I was due in for a hockey game. My Dad must have called me a million times to change the time we were going to leave on Friday to head into the game. The game was going to happen and we had to make sure we would be there in time.
The first call "Hey Mary is your hoopty working? Because we may need it." Oh, now all of a sudden you need the hoopty. Isn't that special. "We are going to play it by ear. When the snow starts coming we will make the call as to what time we will leave for the game. Be ready somewhere close to noon." NOON? That sucks because usually we leave for the game around 3:30 for a 7:08 puck drop. That really messes me up because that is when I usually try to get a power nap in before the game. Normally I start to fade around 8:30p.m. So to stay alert for a game, I NEED a nap. I guess it wasn't going to happen today. The NHL told us Thursday they would put the officials up in the Marriott in town if we wanted to stay. Their reasoning for this is because we had a big NBC game against the Penquins on Sunday. They wanted the NHL staff to be there and not trapped at home. I didn't have to work Sunday but my dad did and he was riding in with me. I know he really didn't want to stay and I definately didn't, but I packed a full bag anyway. The Hoopty has 4 wheel drive but she is all I got. If it was bad by the end of the game on Friday, I didn't want to take any chances.
On my way to pick up dad, all I could think about was stocking up the Hoopty with some goodies. I know my dad doesn't want to stay over in D.C. He is going to want to try to make a run for it home. If he does, and we get stuck, I want to be prepared. I am going to eat all that stuff right in front of him. He would deserve it for being selfish and putting our lives in danger. Ok, I may give him a water if I'm not to mad at him for putting us in a bad situation. I stopped at WaWa and got a huge sub, bags of chips, and plenty of water and drinks. Even if we ended up staying in D.C., I would have some snacks for my room.
During the game, the officials kept getting reports of all the accidents and all the roads that were shut down. It wasn't looking good for going home. Although, dad was still debating. Missing my nap was not a good idea. I was yawning through the whole game. One time the official saw me and banged on the glass. That woke me up for a while. The next time, I was staring across at the players bench and started to yawn and whoever I was looking towards, they must have been looking at me because they started to yawn. I woke myself up right away. I saw the player grab a smelling salt and wake his ass up. You can't be half asleep during this game. It moves to fast. Now I certainly didn't want to drive home. I don't think I could have stayed alert.
Dad made the right decision at the end of the game. We were staying. Fine with me. I was packed for the weekend. (to be Cont.........)

So Much To Do In So Little Time

2010-02-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

I really thought Pat was joking when he came home and said Thursday was the day. At least I think it was Thursday. It may have been Friday. Who knows. Anyway, I remember laughing like "Yeah, right." He wasn't joking. I started to figure this out after I said, "Fine, I will call your mom and my mom and let them know. I am sure they want to be there." Pat said, "I already called my mom, but go ahead and call yours." Oh Shit! He really did plan it. I guess I have to get on the ball. It was crazy! You think he could have asked me if Thursday was cool? What if I had a test or something.
We had actually been engaged for a while. I guess the wedding was well overdue. I will never forget when Pat asked me to marry him. I'm sure he hasn't forgotten either. Actually I know he hasn't forgotten because he still brings up how mean he thought I was. I really don't think I was mean at all. I will tell you I was embarrassed and annoyed at how it all happened. Every girl envisions how she will get proposed to. What great things will her guy say to her? What will her ring look like? How will she react? What happened to me was completely 180 out from what I expected.
We were at the wedding reception of a couple we would always hang out with. We were having a great time. Pat and I went outside to get a breather. He lured me down to this little place in front of the chapel where Tommy and Michelle had just gotten married. The water from the river filled up this area in front of the Chapel creating like this little pond atmosphere. There were a few picnic tables by this little pond where we went to go sit. I went to sit down and Pat ended up kneeling in front of me. At that moment you feel your face getting flush at what is about to happen as well as your heart starts to race a little. I remember Pat looked so excited as he was proposing. Then he opened up the ring box for me to see the ring. After he got done proposing I saw him glance up to the top of the hill where the reception hall was. Naturally I looked up too. Well, there were a zillion people standing there watching. He was still on his knee with the ring box open. It would serve him right, If I said no. I was thinking, "Why couldn't this be in private? This was suppose to be my moment! Not everyone at this weddings moment." Not to mention we were at someone else's wedding. This is their day. Now it's our day because everyone that should be in celebrating their wedding is outside watching me get proposed to. So yes, I said something to Pat that I maybe shouldn't have said. It probably was hurtful. But hey, we all know that I can be a bea-atch sometimes and this was one of those moments. Pat was kneeling and smiling. I took the ring box. I looked at the ring, which by the way wasn't anywhere close to the ring I had asked for. I looked at Pat and said "I guess you want a hug now?" I really am surprised he still wanted to marry me after saying that. I totally took all the happiness away from him when I said that. I was definitely being selfish about it because I felt he was doing it for show and not for me or him. The embarrassment didn't stop there. We walked into the reception and I think they announced our engagement. Then, they played a song for us. ENOUGH ALREADY! I AM PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW. I DON'T WANT TO PUT ON THIS HAPPY FACE AND HAVE THE SPOTLIGHT! This went on all night. Thank God Tommy and Michelle were the ones putting the DJ up to doing these things or this would have probably ruined their wedding reception and their day all together.
Nine months later, here I was with the marriage ultimatum. I had three days to get a dress. That's about it. My mom and Pat's mom were very excited. They came with me to get my dress. It was a very simple dress, long, white, and fitted. It worked in a pinch. The only regret I have is not really taking very many pictures of me and Pat the day of the wedding. My second regret is not doing something better with my hair. "What was I thinking?" After our 3 minute wedding at the courthouse, we had a small, small, small, reception at this cute little restaurant down the road from us. It was an old house, so the room we were in was very cozy. My mom even got a small wedding cake. How could she get a wedding cake done in two days? Well, she begged the lady at Safeway to give her the top part of someone else's cake for my wedding reception. I think she even shed a few tears to get it because this girls wedding was the day after mine. It was a stressful 3 days. I am glad its over.
It's been 15 years that Pat and I have been together. We have had some very rough times. However, the good times have always outweighed the bad times. I have enjoyed being married for the most part. It's been fun watching Pat lose his hair over the years.

Usually a Bridesmaid, Finally a Bride

2010-01-30T19:17:00.000-08:00

It's really been a crazy month. At the end of December, one of my dearest and oldest girlfriends announced her engagement. But, instead of doing it how most girls plan their dream wedding to be, she told us she was headed to Vegas. I was very happy about this because she had told me a while back that if she got pregnant, they would just run off to Vegas and get married. So I am half thinking baby, but the smarter side of me said no baby just wedding. Wedding is just fine with me anyway. We were also told that we couldn't go. This was to be private, just for the two of them, but we would get to watch the wedding on the web by a camera in the church at the Chapel. On the one hand I was very upset, but on the other hand I was relieved of wedding duties, such as being a bridesmaid. I have done this Three times and it wasn't all I thought is was cracked up to be. It is so much easier to be a guest.
I remember the first wedding I was in. It was my husband's brothers wedding. I was never in a wedding before and thought it would be a lot of fun. So when Pat's brother Sean told me the girl he was dating,Erin, was the one, I started working on Erin to make sure I would have a spot in the wedding. This was going to be tough because Erin had about a zillion sisters. Not to mention that Patra, Pat's sister, was a definate shoe in because she was the only sister Pat and Sean had. I was going to have to work for my spot. Work I did. I would make little comments to Erin in a Joking but serious way "You know if you and Sean decide to get married I will be available to be a bridesmaid" She always thought it was funny. I continued to make my comments for about a year. Guess what? I got a spot! I was the last one in the line-up, but I didn't really care. I did it. I deserved it after all the effort I put into it.
The next wedding I was in was my brother Patrick's wedding. I didn't have to work hard at that one because I was the only sister. Thank God because I don't think I would have had the same energy to needle Devon about being a bridesmaid as I did for Erin. Why am I saying thank God? Its a lot of work being a bridesmaid. Quite frankly, I don't think I am the bridesmaid type. At this point too, I am getting older and it just looks stupid. After it was over, I was happy to have been given the honor to be in the wedding. I was also happy it was over.
The last wedding I was in was my youngest Brother Michael's wedding. Again, I am the only sister. Now that I'm thinking about it, I am glad I only have two brothers because this could have gone on forever! Michael and Michelle had a beautiful wedding also. Regan was in this wedding too. I remember Michelle told Regan she could wear whatever bridesmaid dress she wanted, but the only stipulation was the color had to match her dress. Regan went nuts. She tryed on at least 10 dresses. The one she really wanted, I said no to. Not only was the price very high, it was fancier than the brides dress. Michelle is very simple. Regan is not. The more hoochy and glamarous and sparkly, the better the outfit in Regan's eyes. It's funny because Regan is more about comfort and active wear, but when it comes to dressing up, she is all about the hooch. Needless to say, we got the simple dress for Regan.
My 3 sister-in-laws had these fancy weddings and receptions and my girlfriend Missy had a very simple wedding. You know what? I think I lean toward the simple myself. My wedding should have been an indication of that. Although I didn't really have a choice. Pat and I did everything sort of backwards. We lived in sin for quite a while before both families put the pressure on to get married. I was too busy to plan a wedding. I was in school for Radiology and my schedule was horrible. I didn't have time to plan a wedding. I was immune to the parental pressure. Pat wasn't. He kept pushing me to plan this big wedding. I really wanted no part of it. Honestly, I wasn't even really sure if we should get married. This went on for a few months and finally Pat came home and said "If you don't plan it, I'm going to." I thought to myself "Yeah, right." Of course, planning a wedding was the last thing on my mind. A few weeks later, Pat walked through the door and said "We are getting married on Thursday at the courthouse. If your not there, it's over." It went something like that. I guess I was in a little bit of shock. Now I have to get a damn dress withing 3 days. (To be cont..........)

Speaking of Dogs......

2010-01-26T05:18:00.000-08:00

About two years ago our beloved family dog passed away. He was a black lab named Sullivan. We called him Sully for short. He was just like the lab you may have watched in the movie "Marley and Me". From the start, Sully was a good dog. He was easily trainable and very good with Connor. We got Sully a few months before Connor was born, so they would grow up together. And grow up together they did. Everywhere Connor went, Sully would go. We lived on a small street with a cul-de-sac while Connor was growing up. I knew exactly what house Connor was at because Sully would be laying on the front porch waiting for him to come out so he could follow him to the next place. When Regan came along, Sully did the same thing with her. Lucky for Sully that Regan's friend's was the sister of the boy Connor hung out with. Otherwise, I don't think he would know what to do if they were in seperate places. Then Ian came along. I was curious to see the dilema that Sullivan would be in when Ian started going over a friends house. Ian's Buddy lived across the street from the house Connor and Regan would hang out at.

At first Sully was unsure what to do, but after 10 minutes of confusion and pacing back and forth from house to house, Sully decided to lay in the middle. I figured out at that moment we not only had a smart dog, he was a great dog. He was the only dog on our street for a while and considered everyones dog. He watched out over the whole neighborhood. He enjoyed doing it too. The neighbors make him dog biscuits. I think when we moved, the neighbors were more upset about the dog leaving than us. Sully seemed to like our new house. We moved on the water. What's not to like about that? This was a Lab's paradise. When the kids were away at school, Sully was at my side all day long as I landscaped and did things around the new house. We sort of got into a routine. Everyday we did the same things. It could be so annoying at times that he wouldn't leave my side. I would do anything now to have him back annoying me all over again.
I didn't get over his passing for about a year and still to this day haven't really gotten over it. Pat wanted to get a dog right away. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! I AM NOT READY AND IT WILL HAVE TO BE ON MY TERMS!" Everyone was angry with me, but I didn't really give a damn. I was going to be the one to feed the dog, take it for walks, take it to the vet, brush it, give it medicine if it needed it, and replace and clean up anything the puppy decided to tear up. I wasn't emotionally ready for that. About a year later I started to look around. Pat and the kids wanted another black lab. I said abosouletly not. My biggest fear is that we would get the same dog and all you would do was compare it to Sully. That dog would have some big shoes to fill. I'm not so sure it would be possible. So, the same dog was out of the question.
I finally settled on a dog. We got an English Bulldog. I always wanted either an English Bulldog or a French Bulldog. One day during football practice, I happened to be reading the penny saver and came across an add for English bulldog puppies. I called the lady right away and she said she only had one left. She was practically giving it away. I told her I would be right over to look. When I got to the house, the puppy was out in the driveway with her mother and brother. She was so cute! Up until know, I didn't think any puppy was cute. I bought her right away. She was the last one and she was 180 out from Sully. Thats for sure. I had never had a female dog, let alone a full breed of any sort. We named her Fiona. She was ugly in a cute sort of way like shreks girlfriend. So we named Fiona after her.
For the most part, everyone has been helpful when it comes to Fiona and all the attention we have to give her. Everyone has to chip in and walk and feed her. Our schedules are very busy. If the family didn't chip in and help, she would live in her crate most of the time. I decided that I am not doing it all alone with this dog. Everyone is going to bear the responsibility. Everything has been going great up until about a day ago. "FIONA GOT HER PERIOD?! THAT'S GROSS!" Nobody was really thrilled about that event. Ian was very curious about the whole thing. Pat wasn't to thrilled about the whole thing either. He has a very weak stomach. He dry heaves at just about anything. When Fiona dragged her puffy puss across his theatre room carpet and left a skid mark, I thought he was going to lose it.
I called the vet and told her what was going on and she said she started her heat cycle. I really thought I had more time to make my decision on whether to get her fixed or not. Then I asked the Vet "HOW LONG WILL SHE BE IN HEAT? ABOUT A WEEK?" The vet just laughed and said "TRY ABOUT 4-6 WEEKS" Why didn't anyone tell me this before? THIS SUCKS! I ran out to Pet Smart and had to buy a doggie diaper. The lady at Pet Smart gave me the low down on dogs in Heat. YIKES!!!!!!! Why me? Why is this happening to me? Fiona would barely wear her lobster halloween costume. How is she going to keep this dumb ass diaper on. Great! Next stop, Safeway. Now I had to buy maxi-pads. Do you believe this? The lady at Pet Smart said to put a maxi-pad in the diaper so you don't have to keep cleaning the diaper. Plus it will keep the smell down. SMELL?????? She told me that her boyfriend will buy pads for his dogs but not her if she needed them. I'm thinking"DO I REALLY LOOK LIKE A THERAPIST LADY? I GOT MY OWN PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW!" Sorry to hear that, but I really have to get going. My dog is dripping all over the damn place. I finally get home and rig up this doggie diaper. It worked. Lucky for me Fiona can't reach her butt to pull off the diaper. Bulldogs can't do that because of their build. You could tell she was embarrassed. She hid most of the time she had it on. I told her to join the club. I was wondering how Regan was going to take it when she got home. Fiona is her buddy. When Regan walked through the door Fiona didn't greet her as she normally does. She was sulking in her crate. She was being a moody Bitch. Well, I guess I can see her point. Anyway, Regan says where is Fiona? I said, "Fiona is embarrassed because she has to wear a diaper." Regan say's "Why?" "Well, Fiona got her period." Regan got wide-eyed and stomped her foot and said. "Oh my god. She got her period before me. Thats not fair!" Oh great, I have another moody bitch to deal with. I said get over it. You want to put off what Fiona got for as long as you can.

The Dog Days of Vacation

2010-01-24T17:40:00.000-08:00

Months ago when this getaway was getting planned, My girlfriend Shannon came across this place in Deep Creek that would take you dogsledding. We both thought that would be a cool thing for the kids to experience. When we went to make reservations, the only day they had available was Monday. That was the only hang-up. Monday was the day to travel back home. Well, no big deal. The reservation was for 10a.m. How long could it possible take. There were 9 of us and two people at a time got to go on the sled. Really it went by weight. Two people on a sled up to a certain weight.
We woke up Monday morning and really didn't have that much to do. We packed most of our things the night before since we had to leave early the next morning to get to the dogsledding place. The place wasn't that far from the cabin. It was actually right down the road from the ski resort but as you know from my previous tale, it took about 40 minutes to get to the ski resort because of our road. Shannon and I both agreed that we would leave together in case one of us got stuck in the driveway. The day before we both got stuck. For Breakfast, we let the kids eat and drink up anything they could find or wanted to eat. It made it less to pack.
We packed up both cars and got ready to head out. Shannon and Lenny were the first to leave the driveway. They made it out with no problem. After they made it out, I was thinking, "Oh my god, Its our turn." Pat put the car in gear and started to move. We came to the sharp turn in the drive on to the road and barely made the turn. My face must have been beet red from holding my breath, but we made the turn. We started to go up the icy hill and I noticed Shannon and Lenny were stopped. "WHO STOPS ON AN ICY HILL?" So Pat stops. Lenny gets out of the car smiling because everyone made it out of the drive. I'm thinking to myself "Smile as your moving up the road mister. You two cavemen can pat each other on the back when we are out safely". Well, we made it out.
We finally get to the dogsledding place and get greeted by the owner. Very nice man, but sort of one of those finatics about his dogs. I guess he should be since its his business but sometimes it was a little much for me. We go into his compound and he hands us off to his wife. When we walk up onto this covered porch area, there is another family there. So now the total is up to 15. Well, no big deal. It still shouldn't take that long. The woman goes on and on about the dogs and where they came from. It was interesting. Ok, it was interesting for about 15 minutes. Thirty five minutes later, I am ready to go sledding. Not to mention, IT IS FREEZING OUTSIDE! "Can we please just have our cool dog sledding experience and go already?" Another 35 minutes go by and we are still talking. Now I feel just like I'm one of the kids. I'm here but I don't really hear you. Maybe because my eardrum is frozen. The guide then points out all the dogs in the enclosure. They had about 18 dogs I guess. She said"The dogs are getting really excited, they know what your here for. Watch them for a second. Maybe we can catch them doing the dance. I watched and all I saw was the doggy style dirty dance. Nothing like to male dogs going at it. I kept thinking maybe the moutain we were on was called brokeback. The guide then asked "Can anyone think of a name we could call the dance they do?" Without even a thought, I said "Dirty". Oh my god! Did I really just say that out loud. YES! Well, thank god the woman laughed. It was now time to get the dogs hitched up. Again, very interesting, but very intense. We had very precise instructions for safety while the guides did this. We did nothing but watch but had to stay aware of what was going on. The dogs are very strong and get excited on the way to get hitched up. The dogs are made to walk on their two hind legs to the hitch. This gives the handler more control over them. Well, my girlfriend Shannon gets a cell phone call during this and decides to answer it. Well she got in huge trouble. She wasn't paying attention and had her back turned to the handler and the dog and she was sort of in the way. She got yelled at pretty good and made to look careless and uncaring for the handlers situation. I am so glad my "Dirty" comment went over well. The funny thing about Shannon is about a month ago, you couldn't even get her to carry her cell phone let alone answer it. She gets a new droid and she's texting, emailing, and taking pictures. Shannon's jaw was on the ground. She is such a goody two shoes, I had to laugh at the whole incident. " I whispered in her ear, "Hey thanks for putting all our lives in danger Puss" We walked away and started to laugh. It's almost 12 oclock now. Can we please get this show on the road! I am starving! I didn't eat any breakfast before we left.
We all went on our rides. It was very fun. It was really cool to see how the dogs worked together and how disciplined they were. We got to yell the commands out too. We all got done with the ride and the guides were putting the dogs away. Of course the kids all wanted to pet the dogs and the owner said we are going to meet all the dogs later. I'm thinking "Later?! How much later? Aren't we done? We have a 4 hour drive home Lady! I'm starving! Unless your getting ready to cook up one of those huskies, I am leaving!" Just then I looked over at Pat. Remember when I told you about how wide his eyes got when he found out Garrett County was a dry county on Sunday. Well his eyes were pretty wide after he heard the guide say later. So the guide talks for about 15 minutes more and then we get led into the dog pen. I actually whispered to the kids not to ask any more questions. The guide would just go on and on. When we walked into the pen, I looked around. There were to many dogs to count. Are we actually going to meet every single one of these dogs? We did. That took about 30 minutes. We got led out of the pen and I was so happy to be done. Little did I know we were about to learn about all the types of sleds. While we were meeting each Husky, the other guides were pulling out all the different types of dogsleds. Oh my god. I think I may cry. Oh, wait a minute, my tear ducts are frozen!
It finally ended. Thank god. The Gilligan island tour was shorter than this tour. The kids really enjoyed themselves and I guess that is what counts in the end. NOT!

Sunday Fun Day

2010-01-21T03:57:00.000-08:00

What was suppose to be a fun day may not be so fun. When I woke up Sunday morning, it was raining. I could hear it loudly as I laid in the cabins full size bed made of just springs and no padding. I wanted to get up and look outside but my back was saying, if you move, I will hurt you even more. I took a few minutes and then got up slowly. Thank God I am still semi-young and in half way decent shape. My mother would have been crippled up all day if she had to sleep in the bed I was sleeping in. When I looked out the window, it was just as I thought, we had rain all night long. Freezing temperatures and Rain don't mix very well. It wasn't just misting out, it was in a full downpour. The road in front of our cabin was very glassy looking. Not good at all. We have to go uphill to get out. That's not good at all when down hill from the driveway about 30 yards was a cliff. I made some tea and thought I would let everyone sleep in a little. I was certainly in no rush to get back out on our road after the whole bridge incident the day before.
After a while, everyone was up and we were eating a great breakfast, even though the cabin's nonstick pans made everything stick. Working in this little kitchen made me miss my kitchen even more. The cabins stove was electric. It's hard to regulate the heat on an electric stove. Especially hard when the coils that plug in to make the heat are sitting on a severe angle. The burner sloped in the direction of the hill in front of our cabin. Oh my God, was this place sliding slowly toward the cliff. Hopefully it can hold out for another day until we leave. That is, if we can get out of here alive or better yet out of the driveway. Oh that's right, the real estate Co. dropped off some complimentary gravel. Wasn't that so thoughtful of those rat bastards. By the way, I am having a good time. It was just these few things that really chapped my ass. For Goodness sake, shovel out a decent walk way to the door for us and plow out our damn driveway. I can live with crooked burners on the stove, a bed not fit for humans, a fireplace that was the heat pump(you turn the heat up and the fireplace would come on), a dishwasher that could barely fit a place setting for four in a house that slept 8-10 people, cookie sheets that wouldn't fit in the oven, and a hot tub with the wrong key(that is a whole other story). We could make all this work, but we couldn't fix the outside problem, a driveway with about a foot of unplowed icy snow on it and a road in front that was hanging on for dear life. In the meantime, the kids thought this was the greatest thing. Oh to be to carefree and unworried about things in life. The kids ran and got dressed and grabbed their sleds and took off for the icy hill in front of the cabin. We hadn't seen any traffic on the road in front of us the whole time. GO FIGURE!!! The kids probably sled for about an hour. They had a great time. The whole time I was out there watching, I was just thinking about getting out. I could not and did not want to be cooped up in the cabin all day. It was still raining pretty good outside. Snowboarding and Skiing would really be yucky today. Oh well, Pat and I would give them a few choices.
We asked the kids if they wanted to go to the slopes and they didn't look too enthused. Who could blame them. It was pouring! Then Shannon said something and they realized they could go bowling at home, or play x-box, but they couldn't snowboard or ski. As they got ready to ski, I made some sandwiches and packed tons of snacks and drinks. This would be our last night here and we still had tons of food to eat up so we didn't have to pack it up to bring it home. Everyone was ready and we got in the suburban and started to back up. We moved to the top of the driveway seemingly easy but stopped at the top. I yelled at Pat to KEEP GOING! He said "I AM! WE ARE SPINNING!" So Pat pulled forward to try again. This time we slid into a rut on the side of the driveway. Now we were going nowhere. I got out of the car to look. As I watched Pat spinning and spinning, I looked back behind me. The big ugly pile of black complimentary gravel. This isn't going to look good on my white ski bunny outfit. THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!! As I grabbed our half cracked snow shovel to scoop out some gravel, I was thinking "you leave us gravel, but no real shovel to scoop it with. Rat bastards." It took about a half an hour, but we finally got the Hoopty out. Although, we had to drive out of our road backwards for about 200 yards. Once we got going, we were afraid to stop. The road in front of the cabin was to narrow to turn the Hoopty bus around. The ride out to the main road was a little hair raising but we made it.
When we got to the ski resort, we outfitted the kids in there equipment and they were off. I watched them for a long while and then headed into the bar to hang out with Pat. He wanted to watch the football games. When I walked into the bar, I was pretty pissed to see Pat had ordered some chicken wings. He said "These are for you." and I said"WHAT?, I just packed all that food to bring and you buy chicken wings. Not to mentioned it felt like breakfast was still sitting in my throat!" He leans over and whispers in my ear, "I had to order something" He then pointed to a huge piece of paper on the bar that basically said that Garrett County was dry on Sundays and the restaurant/bartender had to use their discretion in serving alcohol. Unless you order food when you are in a restaurant, you can't drink alcohol. I could care less because I don't really drink, but Pat's eyes were as wide a saucers when he showed it to me. I thought it was hysterical. The kids finished skiing and we headed home. Pat of course was feeling no pain. I wish the bartender would have used better discretion when serving him. We drove back to the cabin at about 85 miles and hour(way to fast considering the roads were freezing), and when we got to the entrance of our community and Pat hit the four wheel drive and started fishtailing, I was about at a mental breakdown. "SLOW DOWN!!!!" He didn't like my comment one bit. He slammed on the breaks and we went at it. The kids went silent for the rest of the roller coaster ride back to the cabin. I was white-knuckling it all the way. Pat thought he was the best driver in the world that night. I thought he was a wreckless, arrogant, jerk. I wonder if he thought he was a total idiot the next day. I wonder if he realized he could have killed his whole family. I wonder if he had any regrets of how he treated me. After all, I was still traumatized from a near death experience the day before when we almost went off the bridge into the rushing river. Tomorrow we would be going home, but we would be taking the kids on one last adventure. It was going to be a surprise for them. TO BE CONT...............

Lessons Learned

2010-01-20T12:49:00.000-08:00

I love to get away for a long weekend when the kids are off. Things I don't love about getting away for a long weekend is the long road trip with the kids in the car, packing, packing things you have to pack to stay in a house v.s a hotel, the dreded unpacking when you get there, and then starting the routine all over again a few days later when you have to go home. I have argued this point with my husband over and over again. He finally agrees with me. No more house rental! Give me a hotel where someone brings me dinner, makes my bed, cleans my room, cleans my dishes, brings me nice fresh towels, cleans the refridge out(I barely do this at home), and empties my garbage. This may sound like I am high maintenence to you, but to me it sounds like a vacation. Isn't that what I am suppose to be on? You may want to be a slave when you get away, but I sure don't. Why go away and spend money to do that when I can stay home and do all that crap for free.
Well, here I am doing it again, renting a house with some friends in Deep Creek Lake. I learned a lot of lessons when we did this over Thanksgiving with Pat's family. Don't pack sheets for the kids. Make them sleep in there sleeping bags on the bed. Each family member pick a night to do dinner. Makes it easier to shop. Don't over do it on the groceries! Packing that stuff up at the end of the week sucks!
Only a couple of lessons stuck obviously because at the end of the trip we were cleaning the fridge out. A lesson I learned on this trip was know the type of road your house is located on. We were in the boondocks on ice and snow covered roads. The ski resort was aproximately 16 miles from our cabin but it took about 40 minutes to get there because the road to our house was worse than trecherous! Another lesson I learned was demand better service from the real estate company you are renting through. We drove 4 hours to get to Deep Creek Lake. When we show up at the Real Estate Co. to get the key, I asked a few questions and flood gates opened up. The agent says, matter-of-factly, that the directions have changed on the sheet(well I'm glad we asked tootsie). Also, when you ask someone how far and they say just down the road, I take it to mean less than a mile. In Deep Creek it means about 15-20 miles. We finally get to our cabin and the driveway is barely cleared off. It wouldn't have been so bad if we weren't on a hill. Shannon slid right passed the driveway. Now it finally hit me why the complimentary gravel the real estated agent mentioned back at the agency was probably going to be important. We have to spread it for traction in case we get stuck. WAIT A MINUTE. WE HAVE TO SPREAD IT? We finally get in the driveway and walk to the front door to get in and there is a lock box holding the key. If you have ever worked with a lock box, you know its a fairly simple thing. Well, not here because you could barely get the screen door open to access the box. The real estate Co. cleared a little tiny path on the porch so we could walk foot in front of foot to get to the door and then cleared out an area in front of the door so the screen door could open about 12 inches. When you quit smoking you eat in place of smoking. Luckily I had only quit for 3 days before the trip, otherwise my ass may have been to big to get through that door. Our bags barely fit through the door unless you shoved them through. All this while you are trying to keep from falling. I would have just shoveled more out if it wasn't 6 inch thick ice in front of the door. Oh, thats why the agent said there was Ice Melt in a bag by the door. How nice of her. We wouldn't want her to break a nail calling the person to clear an area for the paying renters! I NEED A SMOKE!! Lucky for me, I was stranded in the middle of nowhere with a girlfriend who didn't smoke. These were lessons learned that won't be forgotten.
Once we were all settled into the cabin, it was great! We had a good time. That is until it was time to go to sleep. The first night was fine because the boys weren't there yet. They stayed back for a wrestling tournament. The problem was going to be that Pat and I would have to share a full size bed. Pat and I aren't very good about sharing anything. Well Pat sort of is but me, not so much. What's his is mine and what's mine is mine. You know how it goes. When I got in bed it was like laying on a bunch of springs that didn't have much spring to them. Oh God is Shannon's bed like this too? I was thinking that it wouldn't suck so bad if all the beds were like this, but if I got the only shity bed, that would suck! In the morning I found out hers sucked too. Yay!!! I know that sounds bad, but this means I don't have a black cloud over my head.
Saturday we took Regan to the Ski Resort for some snowboarding lessons. She wanted to snowboard with the boys when they got to the cabin. Shannon and her daughter Mia came too. Well she had to because she drove us up to Deep Creek. Pat and her husband Lenny and the boys were coming up later that night and Pat was driving our car. So Shannon and Mia were stuck with me while Regan took her lesson for 4 hours. Mia was fine for a while and then you could tell she was getting bored. She started to throw ice balls at me. I gave her a few face plants in the snow to show her whose boss but that didn't work. She wanted more. Time for Hot Chocolate. Mia was all about that. I think Shannon was too. Regan's lesson was finally over and we headed back to the Cabin. We get to our community and pull in. I know I took a deep breath when Shannon pushed in the four wheel drive button. Up and down the mountain we went for quite a while. Our Cabin was 2 miles into the boondocks. Two miles takes about twenty minutes when you have to drive on ice and snow up and down a mountain. I really would have loved to been smoking at this point. Shannon kept me strong. We came to a point in the road where you go down a pretty steep part and have to cross a bridge of rushing water that comes from a waterfall not to far away. As we aproach the bridge, I notice that my feet are pressed against the floor so hard that they are about to go through the floor board. Before I can even think it out load, Shannon says OH MY GOD!! WE ARE SLIDING! Of course we would be sliding into the rushing river on my side of the car. Regan starting getting louder. I was still pressing hard on the floor getting ready to brace for impact and the rush of freezing cold water, with my finger on the electric window to roll down to get out, when the car griped something on the road at the last possible second and turned away from going off the bridge. I'm thinking give me a smoke right now. Oh wait, we are in the middle of nowhere! We finally made it home.
The boys finally showed up to the cabin. When Pat walked in, he asked where our room was. I showed him and he gave me a look. He said,"You and I have to share this?" We both just sort of laughed. Everyone was settled in. We ate and drank and watched T.V. in front of the fireplace. It was suppose to rain that evening creating more ice on the roads. That won't be good. We are suppose to leave in the morning to go skiing all day. TO BE CONTINUED......

Breathing New Life

2010-01-20T06:55:00.000-08:00

Addiction is no fun! I have been smoking for many years now. The only time I quit was when I was pregnant. So technically I can subtract 3 years. This has been one of the biggest challenges of my life lately. When you have 3 kids that stress you out to no end, not smoking isn't easy. Smoking is my stress reliever and what I like to do when I sneak away for some quiet time or a break. I really enjoyed it. What I didn't enjoy was being out of breath at every spin class or freaking out if Pat was smoking cigs out of my pack, or being yelled at for taking Pat's lighter, or paying between $8-10 for a stupid pack of cancer sticks. Why am I paying for lung cancer, emphyzema, or COPD! I WANT TO LIVE! This has been no easy challenge for me, but I am up for a challenge. It really hasn't been long. It's only been about a week.
I was at a friends house for New Years Eve and one of the guest was sucking on an inhaler all night. Every step he took, he was gasping for air. I know what it's like to gasp for air and try to catch your breath but you can't. It's not a good feeling. It's pretty damn scary! I said to myself "I don't want to live like that." So for the mean time I have chosen not to. I catch myself thinking less and less about smoking. When it does cross my mind I just keep telling myself "Its my body that wants it, NOT ME." It helps me to have a little chant to keep repeating to myself. I am more determined this time than I have ever been in the past. You have to be determined when you are around it everyday. Most of my friends smoke as well as my husband Pat. That is the toughest challenge to date, living with a smoker. Although I have to say it's not that tough anymore. When I quit, I quit when Pat left for a business trip. He left, I threw out all the cigs, emptied all the ashtrays(for fear I would look for a butt I could take a hit off of) and said "It's Over between us! You are no good for me and things that are no good for me have no room in my life!" It's not over though and I have a feeling my relationship with smoking will not be over for a long time. I will always be a smoker at heart. As much as I say no, there is that side of me that will always want to say yes. Lets be honest and realistic too. It's only been a week.

Why can't I leave a message?

2010-01-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

I have a schedule just like everyone else. I have a planner I go by and that is my bible. It's not just a planner with my personal things on there, it has the whole families schedule as well. So just recently we were scheduled to eat dinner with a couple of friends. We had never really set a time. I tried to call Pat a few times during the day and got no answer. Well when that happens, normal people leave a message. That is what I use to do, until Pat call me up and sounds a little ticked when he says "did you leave me a message?" I'm like, "yeeees(like a little kid would say when they are in trouble)" Then I snap back and say "What else am I suppose to do CHEESE(said with confidence like the real Mary would say)?" Then Pat says, I see that you have called, you don't need to leave a message, I will call you back. I'm sure that may sound ok to you, but that sometimes is no good for me. I don't have time to wait for you to call me back. Furthermore, what if I can't remember what I called you for in the first place? This has happened on occasions. Not often, but it has happened. I mean really? Is that what you say to your customers when they call and leave a message? I would like to see you try it. Damn it! If I need to leave a message, I will!
So the other day I had to call Pat to see what time he could meet everyone for dinner. He is the one who works the furthest away. I called Pat a few times and he never called me back. You know this not leaving a message thing is DUMB!!!!!!! I can't worry myself with this stupid question all day "What time can you meet for dinner?" I have a life too, remember? It didn't stop the day we got married you know. I knew he was probably in meetings. He could check his messages when he was done and get back to me so I left a message. I was a little annoyed at this point so the message sort of went something like this. " Hello, this is your wife. Maybe you think this is your slave, since you have me running around doing YOUR errands for YOU today, but it's not. It would be nice if you thought I was important enough to get back to today. Need to know what time you can meet us for dinner?". Guess what? He called me right back. It's funny, all the times I called that day, he didn't call me back until I left a message, and a nasty one at that. It sort of makes you think, was he ignoring my calls, did he really have a meeting?........
Who cares! I got my answer.

Hurry up and wait!

2010-01-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

While reading a girlfriends status update on Facebook, it infuriated me to find out she waited over an hour for her doctors appointment. What shocked me even more was to hear everyones comments on "Oh they double booked", "It's all about the money", "the doctor must have been busy at the hospital", Blah, Blah, Blah. Sounds like a bunch of lame excuses to me! I was probably just like every person who made those comments years ago when I was younger and didn't know any better.
Years ago, probably about 14 years ago, I was waiting around in the pediatricians office with Connor. He was still a baby. I was taking him in for one of his scheduled visits for shots or boosters or something like that. I remember waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I vividly remember looking at my watch to see how much time I had been waiting to see the doctor. I would see people come in, sit down, then get called back. This went on and on for about 45 min. Needless to say, I was a bit annoyed. When the next patient got called back, I got up and went to the receptionist and politely asked why it was taking so long. The receptionist non chalantly said, "oh the doctor is just a little overbooked today, because of sick kids that we squeezed into the schedule". I leaned over the counter and said, "Well as far as I'm concerned, I had an appointment scheduled for today weeks ago and I have been waiting patiently for over 45 minutes now. So the poor little sick kids you squeezed into to schedule can get squeezed in after my appointment and every other appointment scheduled weeks ago." I will never forget the look on the receptionist face. How dare she look at me like I'm some kind of Criminal. I was absolutely right. They were wrong. When she told me "As soon as the Doctor had time, she would get me back, I said, "I think its funny how you think my time as well as everyone else time out here isn't valuable too. How about this. I will send the doctor a bill for my time that was wasted here waiting for her!" She didn't like that either. I can tell you this, I have never waited again.
That kind of senseless waiting makes me mad, but it occured to me, I wait much more than I thought. It's the mother/wife kind of waiting. Waiting for the kids to do what you tell them too. Waiting for the garbage to be taken out, waiting for the wash to get done, waiting for the clothes in the dryer to dry, waiting for the bathroom, waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for a piece of equipment at the gym, waiting for a friend, waiting for your husband to get home for dinner, waiting for the bus in the morning, waiting for the bus in the afternoon, waiting for sports practice to end and so on and so forth. Believe me when I tell you the list goes on and on. It's not so much the waiting for some of these things because it just sort of goes without saying, its what happens to a person while they have to wait. For instance, when Regan and Ian get off the bus in the afternoon, they can easily walk home. Certain days, if the the weather is bad, I will go to the bus stop to get them. What really ticks me off is when I am waiting and waiting, the bus comes and they are not on it. They got off at another stop!
My favorite story and probably the crowning glory of all waiting stories has to do with my best friend, my husband. I can tell you that for a long time he was not my best friend. He was enemy number 1. He pushed me to the limits one night. Those of you that know me, know that I don't physically attack. I like to verbally attack. I get much more satisfaction out of cutting you to the quick than I ever would of physically hurting you.
When Pat and I were very young and just married, it was a hard adjustment for both of us. Actually it was a hard adjustment for me. Pat was still living the same life he had always lived. Mostly ever night, when I got home from school and from picking up Connor from daycare, I would go home and make dinner before Pat got home from work. Some nights Pat would come home and some nights Connor and I would just sit there at the table and Pat would never show. The first couple of times this happened, I was worried something bad had happened. Then Pat would walk through the door a few hours later and say he was at Neptunes for happy hour. I would be so mad. He would apologize and it would be over. Thinking this would never happen again, next week would come, and Pat would do the same thing. This got old real quick. One night, I called down to the bar, he liked to go to. The bartender said he was there. So, I packed Connor up and headed to the bar. Little did Pat know I was on a mission. When I walked through the door with Connor, Pat gave me the warmest welcome. He was so happy to see me. Little did he know I was cursing him with every profanity I could think of in my head. "You rat bastard, I sit at home, make you dinner, wait around for you to show, take care of your son, and wonder if you are dead or alive!" I handed Connor off to Pat and said I'm done. How about you watch your son for a while. It's pretty sad we have to come and see you in a bar. Hey Rude "Why don't you try to pick up the phone and call next time you won't be home. I don't have time to waste on someone who doesn't appreciate me and what I am doing." I do still have a life you know, but it seemed to stop when I hooked up with you.
Needless to say, this has never happened again. Pat saw the error of his ways. A little embarassment and humiliation in front of your buddies doesn't hurt either.

Is Ian's gentle heart gone forever?

2010-01-09T18:07:00.000-08:00

It snowed Thursday night and when I woke up Friday morning, there was a fresh blanket of snow laying on the ground. I scrambled for the remote to check for school closings. I was praying for school delays. Last thing I wanted to be was stuck at home with all three kids for the day. It may sound horrible to say, but it's every mothers secret fear. I enjoy my alone time during the day. The Kitchen stays clean, there is no screaming or fighting, and I don't have to answer to anyone as to where I'm going. And, most importantly, I don't have to entertain a bunch of kids who don't appreciate it anyway. As I turned on the news, I anxiously awaited our school district to pop up. I had to look for two counties, Calvert for Regan and Ian, and St. Marys for Connor. Calvert pops up and its a 2 hour delay. Thank God! St. Mary's pops up and they are closed. Oh well, two out of three is not bad at all. Connor sleeps for most of the day anyway, and he could really care less if I was even breathing. I guess that is all teenagers.
As I took Regan to the bus stop, she asked me why Connor was still in bed. I had to remind her that Connor's school is in a different county, trying not to tell her school was closed for him. I tried to dance around it, but she just kept probing. "Well if Connor is two hours late he should be up getting ready" I said "If he was two hours late he should be getting ready." Regan is like a mother hen. That's a nice way of putting. Question after question kept coming from her. Finally I said "Regan, enough already, he is off today!" The worst noise you could ever have to hear in the morning filled up the hoopty. Just as she was having a break down, the best site I could ever see came around the corner, the bus. One down, and one to go, Ian.
Ian wasn't very happy about Connor staying home either. I had to hear his ranting and raving about why he should get to stay home too. If I had to hear this isn't fair one more time, I was going to loose it! Trust me, if I was making the decisions, everyone would be in school. Ian really had a breakdown when I reminded him he had wrestling practice when he got home. This has been another issue around the house. Ian is in 5th grade and decided he wanted to try wrestling out. Some of his friends wrestle and So Ian got convinced somehow that he might like it. Plus, he thought the shoes were really cool. When he first told me this, my heart jumped in my throat. I really can't stand wrestling. Pat and his brother wrestled. I remember going to matches and looking around and seeing all the pasty, emaciated looking boys. They were all starving themselves to make weight. I was adamant that my son was never going to do that or wrestle for that matter. Eleven years later, here I am faced with the issue I thought I would never have. Years ago when Ian first saw a singlet, he was appalled. "Dad, that is way to tight! I don't want people to see my privates showing." That's all she wrote. Pat was disappointed but I was overjoyed. How did this all turn around? I still have no clue.
Last weekend, Pat entered Ian in a sort of scrimmage tournament. He said he had to get his feet wet before the real tournaments. I was crushed. I knew Ian was in for it. This is not an easy sport when you are a gentle heart like Ian. For goodness sakes, he picked kids up off the field during football games if he tackled them. And if he hurt them, it was even worse. He would feel so bad. Now he has to purposely go out and hurt someone. Now I walk into the gym right before Ian has to wrestle, and as soon as I walk to the corner of the mat, there are two kids wrestling about 7 or 8 years old. The kid on the bottom is on the bottom begging for the kid on top to stop hurting him. As the tears rolled down this little boys face, I lost it! I started to cry. I just wanted to rip that kid on top off and say stop!!!! I must have cried off and on the whole time we were there. Ian would lose, he would start crying and then I would start crying. Ian would lose again. He would start crying and I would start crying. Just when I was about to cry again, Regan walked up to me and said "jeeze louise, this room is filled with a lot of emotion!" I started to laugh hysterically! I looked aroung the room, and seriously, almost every boy who lost, came off the mat in tears. I didn't know if I could do this all year.
Well, today Ian had his first real tournament. I thought I was going to die when I learned he was wrestling a girl. My heart just sank. If he loses, he would be given a ration of shit from his teammates, not to mention the humiliation of it all. The whistle blew and they went at it. I was videotaping but I was just numb. She put up a good fight. That's for sure. Ian was wrestling with a lot of adrenaline. I knew he probably had the same thoughts I had. Ian was winning in points by the end of the first period. When the second period started, I was just wishing it would end. Luckily Ian put her in a head lock and pinned her for his sake. What boy could have lived that down? The girl got up crying from being practically choked to death and Ian didn't seem to feel bad at all. He was feeling pretty victorious. Where was Mr. Gentle Heart today? I hope he is not gone forever because I will miss him very much. If this is what wrestling does, I dislike it even more.