Wednesday, March 22, 2006

A WALKING LOBSTER?!?!!?

not much to report around here 'cept i have got to be the first walking lobster ever!!!

okay, so i've been hitting the tanning bed (aka cancer booth as the mr. likes to call them). it wouldn't be that big of a deal if didn't plop my naked ass into a bed with new bulbs yesterday at lunch.

well new bulbs have to be the reason that i am currently bright ass red from the neck down to my elbows and knees. of course this also requires the stiff walk. ya know the one....where you can tell my looking at me walk that ever part of me hurts like hell to move.

seriously (grey's style) if i could have went to work nekkid and just stand up straight, i would have been a happy camper (and a lonely camper...no one woulda wanted to see that ;)

hope everyone is having a more comfy hump day.

oh, i almost forget to mention, they are beginning the foundation on the house. whoooooooo-haaaaaaa! hopefully i'll have pictures to share tomorrow (even though there's not much to look at but i've got to be one of "those" people now that talk about nothing other then "our builder this and that", "sheet rock is blah blah per square feet", "they are finally beginning the foundation", "do i want hardwood floors or carpet").

you get the idea.

Monday, March 20, 2006

ST. PADDY'S DAY PARADE!!!

saturday, despite the unseasonably cool weather, we all headed down to the st. patrick's day parade.

of course a few things had to happen first before we got there:

*mike had to get off work
*i had to go to the bank
*went to walmart and ended up cussing out and flippin' off some bitch (yeah, i'm sure people thought "look at that trailer trash mother, cussing in front of her innocent lil kids like that"...oh well, bitch deserved it).
*meet mike at the pd
*eat some burger king which i could barely stomach down (i've been having issues lately with eating out...bring on the o.c.d.)
*meet tom and penny at the pd
*meet greta and the adams' family at the pd
*make sure we could all find a place to park at city hall

we had a load of fun. i love going to the st. paddy's day parade. it is soooo much more family oriented then the mardi gras parades.

here's some pics for your viewing pleasure.


bella having a blast running around.


look at that goodlooking group of folks!


me and the hubbers (love this pic)


another trailer trash moment. lets give our kid an empty beer glass and take a picture and let it look like we let him drink it (and no, he didn't even have a sip).


some of my favorite men in blue. love these guys!


more of my favorite men in blue. in parades past, this woulda been my hubby.


parade shot.


parade shot.


'nother parade shot.


okay, so you may be wondering why i took a pic of this guy. here's the deal. this fine hunka meat (okay, those are his thoughts, not mine) kept walking by us. like every few minutes. wanna know why? well, with that sexy swagger of his, he kept spilling his beer. no shit, by the time he got to where he was supposed to be, he most of only had half a glass of beer. makes you wish the picture could come to life huh?


so that was this past saturday (well not really, after the parade, mike took the kiddos home and me and greta went shopping. since losing weight, i am in dire need of need spring and summer clothes. believe it or not, i didn't even come close to spending my limit...so another trip is in order).

hopefully things around blog land will get a lil bit back to "normal". i absolutely hate not blogging.

hope all is well with all ya'll.

A CASE OF THE BLAHS!!!

no, i didn't fall off the face of the earth, i've just fallen off of the bloggin' bandwagon.

i don't know what has gotten into me lately, but i haven't really been in the mood to be on the net (shocking i know).

things have also been uber busy around here...so i'm hoping that tonight, i may be able to give an update post.

i also haven't been checking blogs either and i feel so outta touch with everyone.

okay, work calls.

hugs and i miss ya'll :)

Thursday, March 09, 2006

WHAT'S YOUR THEME SONG??

no, this isn't one of those online quizes.

this is me asking you: what's your life's theme song??

i remember an episode of ally mcbeal years and years ago when it first came on. she was walking down the street and you could hear her thoughts. she was talking about her theme song. a song that she could sing or hum that would make her feel better. a song that would remind her that life wasn't so bad.

since seeing this episode, there have been times that i have asked myself this. i would listen to the lyrics of songs and wonder "does this song fit me?", "is this my theme song?".

i would have to say that at this moment, my life's theme song is a rolling stone's song (hell yeah!).

"you can't always get what you want"

and the funny thing is, this song has been coming on the radio almost every time that i have been in the car in the past few weeks. maybe its b/c at this moment in time, this song has reminded me that i can't always get what i want. but if i try sometimes, i just might find, i get what i need.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

A REAL RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS!!!

you wanna know one of the things that i love about life?

surprise.

i love when people do or say the smallest thing and it comes from out of no where but that lil action makes my heart swell a million times over.

lemme tell you what happened to me today.

last week, one of our lieutenants called my office and asked if i could do him a favor. sure i said. he simply asked me to go to another office and get some pamphlets and place in them in an envelope for his son. his son (college student i believe) had a paper to write and needed them for research. both the lieutenant and his son where changing his son's flat tire and probably weren't going to make to the pd in time before the office that had the information closed.

okay, no biggie. i go to the next office, grab the pamphlets, stuff em in an envy, and bring em downstairs to the front desk.

done.

well, today as i am sitting at my desk, in walks this guy with a box of chocolates and asked if i was elizabeth. my first thought was this was the flower shop that mike had the flowers sent from for valentine's day (mike had ordered the flowers with a box of chocolates, but they were out so they sent balloons).

then this guy explains that he is said lieutenant's son and he wanted to thank me for all my help. can you believe this? i was so shocked i didn't know what to say. of course i told him that he didn't have to do this, but he wanted to show his gratitude. the information was very helpful and got him a B on the paper.

still sitting here in shock saying my "thank you's" over and over again he explains that he had stopped by twice (yes, i said twice) yesterday and i was outta the office. so he made sure to tell me that he put the chocolates in the fridge over night and they should be fine.

isn't this amazing? i think this is a post that i am going to refer when i am feeling shitty with the world. this is a reminder that there are kind and generous people out there that go out of their way to do something for a stranger. this will also make me think about going out of my way a little bit more.

i don't think that i could have thanked him enough. quite frankly i am still in shock over it, but shocked in a good way.

happy hump day!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!



this was not done on purpose. its mike's fudgesicle after all.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

WHEW!!!

okay, so i mentioned yesterday that bella had a stomach bug and that i was going to stay home with her today. i wasn't going to just lay around and do nothing, i had plans baby. big plans.

so its only noon and i have done the following:

*got the kids up and took mikey to daycare
*came back and gave bella a bubble bath due to her waking up covered in shit.
*have done three loads of laundry
*cooked me a yummy breakfast
*did a load of dishes
*cleaned bella's room
*cleaned bella's drawers out
*cleaned bella's closet out

whew!! and now i have a shit load of stuff to take to the thrift store up the street.


this picture doesn't even show it all. how can one home have this much crap in it? whats a shame is that this isn't even everything. i have more cabinets and mike's closet to clean out...oy vay!

okay, off to fix bella and me lunch and tackle a few more projects.

oh how i wish i was a stay at home mom.

Monday, March 06, 2006

JUST ANOTHER MANIC MONDAY!!!

well, at least that is what i thought my post was mostly going to be about when i got home today. i had planned on telling ya'll about the lil things that have been going on around here.

such as:

*bella has a pretty bad stomach virus which means shit is coming out of openings in her body. not fun! esp. when a two year old really doesn't comprehend the use of a toilet for these type of things. mike had to stay home with her today. we thought that she was doing a whole lot better and planned on sending her back to school tomorrow, but so far this evening has been a lot of the same thing (plenty of pull changin' around here folks) so i am going to stay at home with her tomorrow.

*now that i'm staying home tomorrow, i plan on getting more organization/cleaning out done.

*mikey has his first tee-ball practice this friday. i'm so excited.

*work was a big bore today but i know the next few days are going to be biiiizzzzzeeee (payroll just ended).

*found a $25 lowes gc in my purse so i headed there to get a full length mirror (i haven't been able to see my legs in an outfit for years...always forget to get on at the store), picked up the "good things kids" issue, country living, and another country-style magazine. oh, and some packing tape.

so that was pretty much the boring things that i was going to tell ya. but then, i came home to the greatest mail day a girl could ever have. not only did my three movies finally make their way to my mailbox (amelie...never seen it, shame on me, 40 year old virgin, and then the final disc for season 1 of veronica mars..booooo hooo!), but a surprise bday package came from my bloggin' buddy veronica and my vintage vixen swap arrived.

i was friggin' spoiled.


the beautiful outside box containing the goodies that v sent me. love the elastic that wraps around to close the box.


the goodies inside. this is that photo organizer box that hallmark had/has. it is filled with stickers, labels, all sorts of goodies. can't wait to play with it. i'll prolly do that tomorrow.




all the goodies from amy. this girl friggin' spoiled me. and boy does she have me down to a tee!

she sent:

*two plates (i'll get to those in a minute)
*two boxes of vintage recipe cards
*a beautiful brown/orange scarf
*2 vintage cookbooks
*some vintage inspired goodies from kelloggs (magnets, magnetic notepad)
*beautiful daisy pin
*another beautiful pin that has lil daisy like flowers in this disks that are kinda shaped like a flower...hard to explain
*cute metal snowflake
*pisces earrings
*great vintage pisces stickers
*a vintage children's book
*a vintage knitting/crochet book (which has a granny square afghan in it like the one on roseanne's couch that i would really like to crochet one day)
*a brown heart shaped dish
*this great 70's looking zipped pouch (luv it)
*great cards from fred flare with vintage halloween images on em
*vintage inspired halloween tablecloth
*janet evanovich book (which i already have...actually have the whole series, but that's okay b/c i have been given permission to pass the "holster sniffer" love to someone else which i plan to do. this series is the fuckin' best and i highly recommend them. hope she comes out with the next one soon).
*jello alphabet molds
*a book of vintage inspired postcards (luv)
*a lilac calendar (i mean she is the vintage lilac after all. the box smlled good b/c i even opened it).

i think thats it. hope i didn't forget anything.

okay on to the plate. when i saw the plates wrapped, i couldn't even possibly imagine what greatness was inside. when i tore the paper off, i about cried.






see why???? this amazing, amazing girl, sent me the last two pieces that she had out of her collection b/c she knew how much i would love them and how much they would look so good with my bar set. and boy do they!!!

when i emailed amy a huge ass thank you, she emailed me back with a lil history on the plates which i was eager to hear.

hope you don't mind me posting this amy :)

About 15 years ago I found a box of those zodiac dishes at a thrift store in Gadsden, Alabama. (I was visiting my grandparents there.) There were a few dinner plates, salad plates, saucers and bowls but no complete set of anything. It actually took me a few seconds to realize they were zodiac but when I did I had to have them. I did as much research as I could- they were made in Mt. Clemens, MI at a pottery factory that burned down in the 1960's. The pattern doesn't even have a name, it has a number that I could never find. From what I could gather, they were a diner-type dishware that was sold at the Kresge dime stores, later becoming Kmart.

i love this story for many reasons.

1. amy found the plates in my neighboring state.

2. i love how old they are and despite that the factory no longer is with us, the burning of the factory makes the plates all the more interesting.

3. these plates were sold at a dime store??? can you imagine?


amy thanks again for sending me these wonderful goodies. i'm so glad that everyone is having so much fun putting together and sending your goodies. i can't wait to do another one (and believe you me, there will be another one :)

Sunday, March 05, 2006

A BIT OF ORGANIZATION!!!

slowly but surely, i have been trying to get things cleaned up and out of this house. i don't plan on taking everything with me to the new house, so i'm getting rid of things.

i have cleaned out my closet and got rid of all the clothes that no longer fit, there is not one wire hanger or those annoying plastic hangers from the store on my side of the closet, my clothes are organized in catagories in my closet (vintage, sweaters, long sleeved shirt, tshirts, dressy work tops, tank tops, skirts, and pants). i'm hoping that this makes getting ready for work in the a.m. a lil easier. next i'll tackle shoes.

then i did something that i have been wanting to do for some time....organize our dvd collection. we didn't have the best/biggest place to keep the movies so they were all over the place. i decided to buy one of those huge cd organizer cases and put all the dvds in there and get rid of all the cases. i have only done michael's and my dvds, i have to get another organizer for the kiddos movies.

before:









after:




all the cases and crap barely fit into a lawn sized garbage bags (ya know, one of those huge black ones).

if you are dealing with the same problem, i highly suggest doing this. it takes a lil time and the case i got (which holds 256 cds/dvd) was $19.99 at walmart, but it is so worth it. it is going to be so much easier looking for the dvds and our storage problem is gone.

i will probably do this with or cd collection too (esp. since we hardly listen to em anymore now that we have ipods...lol).

has anyone else been bitten by the organization bug or do you have any tips to share. especially when it comes to paperwork on the computer desk ;)

A BASEBALL PLAYER AND A FLOWER GIRL!!!



yesterday was mikey's tee-ball tryouts. when they called his name to come to the field, he had to catch a ground ball (is that what its called?), hit a ball off the tee, and then run to first base. he did really good and i got all teary eyed when he walked on the field.

he'll find out one day this week what team he is on and then i guess the practices and games begin. i'm so excited for him to play. my brothers played tee-ball and even though i complained about going to the games, there was something about being on a ballfield. the consession stands, the sound of the bat hitting the ball, the cheers from happy parents.

i can't wait.

i will however remember to bring sunblock with me. we were out there for about an hour, but it was cool and breezy so you didn't really feel the sun. well, i'm feeling it now. my back is burnt where my shirt hung down.




after the tryouts, we headed home for some lunch and then met amy at a bridal place to find a dress for bella (she is going to be the flower girl in amy's wedding and i am one of the bridesmaids).

bella didn't want to try the dress on at first but once the shoes with a lil heel came on, she was in hog heaven. i'm glad that we found a dress that we all loved and i could leave with it. the whole ordering thing prolly woulda stressed me out.

one day i'm going to pull this picture out and compare it to a picture that she takes on her wedding day.

oh i better not even think about it or i'll get all weepy ;)

Friday, March 03, 2006

DR. SEUSS' BIRTHDAY, PINK EYE, & THE THRIFT STORE!!!

well to celebrate dr. seuss' bday, mikey's class has been doing activities since yesterday. yesterday they had special guest readers and an outdoor picnic.

today, some of the parents got to come in, read a dr. seuss book, and then do an activity that went with the book. i was one of the parents (its very important to me that despite the fact that i work full-time, that i participate in as many activities as i can. luckily i have the best boss in the whole wide world).

so anyway, my book was "the foot book". believe it or not, a group of lil kids that i don't know kinda make me nervous. i don't know if its the kids so much as it is a group of people i don't know and have to talk to. i was quite impressed with how i did. the kiddos in mikey's class are friggin' amazing. they are these open and outgoing lil creatures that welcome you in to their classroom with open arms. i luv em.

so anyway, i got to do something that i always wanted to do...story time (despite the fact i was a lil nervous, but i had sat in the class while they finished lunch, so i had warmed up).

i read the book and then we all stood in a circle and counted our feet by 2's. then the kiddos got to take off one shoe and sock, trace it, and then make a person outta their foot drawing.

it was a lot of fun and it made me wanna be a kindergarten teacher again. then the kids got a lil rowdy and then i changed my mind.

the only downfall was when i first got there, i was told that mikey had pink eye and that i needed to take him home with me when i left. that was not in the plan. so after "the foot book" and all the stinky foot projects, me and mikey headed back to the police department so i could shut my office down and let everyone (well okay, my boss) know that i was gone for the day. took care of everything there and then me and mikey headed to a local lil italian place for a slice and some gelato while we waited for his rx to get filled.

since his rx still wasn't filled and i wasn't hanging out in walmart for God knows how long, i decided i was going to head to a thrift store in another town that i haven't been to in a couple of years.

can we say i hit the motherload. i thought the one i went to on a pretty regular basis had an assload of books. boy was i wrong. this place had more books then i knew what to do with.

i scored so many older books for the kiddos, i felt like i had won the lottery. i put a few of em away for bella's bday. i think she is going to end up getting one huge box with vintage children's books in em. i was especially ecstatic to get more of the sesame stree book club books like the ones i used to have.

i've got quite the collection of those and the bobbsey twin books that i have got to make a list and keep it in my purse so i don't buy duplicates (which of course is a lesson that i have already learned since i have about 4 duplicates in the bt series). i also need to find out how many are in that particular set of sesame street book club series so i know how many i'm looking for.

after i get all of those, then its on to: sweet valley high, babysitter's club, nancy drew, and fear street books to complete the sets of what i already had from a tween. i swear, bella is going to have quite the collection and nothing makes me happier (now don't get me wrong, i buy great books for mikey too, but i know he doesn't want all my girlie books).

here's some pics of some of my favorites for your viewing pleasure:





















while i'm purchasing books, one of the first things that i do is look at the copyright date. i love seeing a date from the 50's or something in there. nothing makes me happier. i also like finding books that were originally from a library and the library card (stamped of course) is in there. i'm thinking of making a scrapbook for bella of all these books that i have collected for her. i'm thinking with the picture of the book, i may type a lil info about the book (maybe about the author, why he/she wrote the story, etc).

of course this won't be a project that i work on for some time, but its an idea.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

THRIFTY GOODIES!!!









these are some goodies that i picked up on monday afternoon while picking up some things for my vixen. these are for me though...lol. i am so diggin' the whole 70's look of everything i picked up.

the books are for bella's bday. i'm so happy to find more of the sesame street series (another series of books that i had when i was lil that i want her to also have).

the baby girl's outfit is so cute. i don't know whether or not i should keep it and hope that the next bug-a-boo is a girl or sell it. tough decision.

the pictured fabric is going to be a purse for my bella-boo.

the placemats are too die for. they are this great rounded diamond shape. great for fall.

the flower material you see is nice stiff curtains. i think i am going to turn those into lil zippered pouches.

anyone else having any great thrift finds lately?

how's everyone doing with their vintage vixen items? i've been surfing around and you gals are getting/giving some great things. hope everyone is having fun with it :)

THE TOOTH FAIRY MADE HER FIRST STOP AT THE MANNA HOUSEHOLD!!!





i think i am going to send the tooth fairy a letter and let her know that five dollars is extremely generous for a first tooth (especially one that was swallowed) but that she doesn't need to leave that much every time :)

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

MIKEY LOSES HIS TOOTH!!!



unfortunately he swallowed it with his dinner at o'charley's tonight. which then in turn made him cry and wonder if the tooth fairy was still going to come give him some money.