A DAY OF R & R WITH GRETA!!!

so b/c i have the best friggin' hubby around and he knew how much i needed a break, after he got home from his side job on saturday, i headed over to greta's with disc 1 & 2, season 1 of veronica mars from netflix.

ya see, we both have been hearing all this hype about the show and had to see what it was about. greta has seen a couple episodes and i don't have the channel it comes on (damn u directv), so i knew it needed to go into my netlix list.

and can i say awesome!!! we watched both discs and i don't know if we will be able to wait until next weekend for the next batch to roll in.

thanks april for giving me and greta one more tv show to be addicted to ;)

MIKEY'S NEW ELECTRONIC GADGET!!!

when me and michael each got ipods, we knew it was time to give up the portable cd player and we knew just the lil person who would like to have it.

he now listens to it in the car, in bed, while playing his game boy, while on the puter. he loves it.

his current favorite song: heartache tonight by the eagles.

he's evening learning the words (or his interpretation) and he sings out loud (now i know why my mom was always annoyed when i listened to the headphones on my walkman ;)

but what can i say?

my bug has good taste in music.

(50% of the time ;)

A GIRL AFTER MY OWN HEART!!!!

bella and her books.

the two are always together.

they love one another oh, so very much.

you have no idea how much their love & friendship means to me.

THE SHED & SOME CUPCAKE LOVE (FRIDAY)!!!

this will be why i am not going to have a good weigh in this coming tuesday. can you say yummy, yummy, yum?!?! i am addicted to this place. i am constantly wanting to go there for lunch and splurge for the four of us to eat here at dinner. the bbq is to.die.for. so is the baked beans and cole slaw.

my stomach's growling just looking at it.

and for some cupcake love. since i knew that i was going to greta's on saturday and i was itching to make some zodiac cupcakes outta my cupcake book mike bought me last year for my bday, i knew now was as good a time as any. the two signs is gemini (greta) and aries (oneil). i also made some valentine's day cupcakes for the kiddos.

unfortunately, i still haven't made any pisces cupcakes :(





stay tuned sometime this week for a post about my addiction to sprinkles and the like.

A YUMMY LUNCH, A TELEPHONE, AND A BUNCHA "E"'S!!!!

today, greta picked me up from work and we headed over to the best little restaurant in ocean springs called the bayview gourmet. i love the whole atmosphere of this place. all their stuff is pretty much good for ya (veggie burgers, salads, fish, sweet potato fries) and so friggin good.

i had this delish nut crusted grouper over a bed of salad greens, blk. olives, tomatoes, red onions, and a lemon vinegarette dressing.

oh to die for.

on the way back from lunch, we were chatting away and were behind a big ol dump truck. then we noticed something hanging from the back.



a telephone was dangling from the back of the truck. me and greta were rolling.

greta had also completed my part of our intial swap (for those of you clueless about this, i decided to pop greta's swapping cherry by coming up with our first swap. it was an initial swap. meaning, that i bought greta things that had a "g" on it and she got me "e" things..sound like fun? it was) and i dug into the bag the minute i hit my office.


a handmade bookmark which is currently residing on my desk at work.


look at all this "e" lovliness!!! the best thing is that "e" cookie cutter. can't wait to make some cookies with that.

so this then got me thinking. what's our next swap going to be. i thought of a couple of things and thought "why not make this a once a month thing?". i think of six themes, she thinks of six, we have a month to do each one and voila!!

a swappy year.

i already have my six picked out, so as soon as greta gets hers figured out, i'll post a lil more details on this :)

and thanks for all the "hope tomorrow is a better day for ya" comments.

i have just been in a complete state of blah and would love a one or two day vacation with just me. an opportunity to clear my end and get some much needed rest.

THREE.....

three meals i ate today.

three people i pissed off today.

three songs i've listened to over and over today.

three posts i made today.

three phone calls to greta from work today.

three beers i'm drowning my sorrows in today.

SP PT 6!!

self portrait tuesday part 6


oh how i wish that she was still around so we could crochet together and she could teach me different stitches.

note: i think i actually took this picture as a funny (and of course to be a big ol pain in the ass). i think my grandma had fallen asleep while crocheting. i'm so glad that i was such a pain in the ass or i woulda never had a picture of her doing this.

I GOT THIS IN AN EMAIL TODAY....TOO FUNNY!

Subject: YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2006 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is
that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if
anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the
screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have
the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic
and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your
coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile.

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this
message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on
this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself

I'VE FINALLY BEEN TAGGED WITH THIS TAG!!!

yes, i'm a dork and have been waiting to get tagged on this (why i just didn't do it myself is beyond me but we all know how much i love to talk about myself ;)

What were you doing 10 years ago?
i was getting ready to graduate highschool. i couldn't believe that it was over. ya know you always bitch and complain about how you hate going to school and then once the day comes that it is all over, you can't believe how "grown up" you are and that its finally over. i boo-hoo'd like a baby on graduation day. this was the first school that i had gone to longer than 2 years and the only school that i had really made friends at. so graduating from there meant a lot to me.

Five snacks you enjoy:

jujy fruits/dots
cheeze its
olives
cheese n crackers
gardettos

Five songs to which you KNOW all the lyrics:

oh, i def. know more than five songs lyrics. i am a nerd. i almost listen to a song over and over again until i know most of the lyrics.

raven-dave matthews
piano man-billy joel (sorry julia)
breakdown-tom petty
addicted-kelly clarkson
lets stay together-al green
under my thumb-rolling stones

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

pay both dave matthews and damien rice to give me my own private concert
pay all debt
pay for kiddos college
go to alaska, ireland, italy, greece, etc. with the hubbers
be a stay at home mommy

Five bad habits:

cuss too much
open my mouth and spout out shit without thinking
biting peoples heads off that don't deserve
being a candy whore
and my own private bad habit that i prefer to keep to myself

Five things you like doing:

baking
crafting
playing board games
reading
screaming my lungs out to music in the car when i am by myself

Five things you would never wear, buy, or get again:

strech pants (you know the ones with that elastic that goes on the bottom of your
feet)
teased bangs
2 pairs of socks at the same time
tight rolled jeans
those things like a shirt buckle. you would grab the corner of your shirt and pull
it thru one part and then out the other. what were those called?


Five favorite toys:

my new camera
my ipod
my computer
my printer
and i am going to say. my bullet. the best damn vibrator around ;)


i don't know if these gals have been tagged or not, but i am tagging:

pink rocket
mary over at her cute lil house
julia who is anything but tickytacky

i am tagging these girls b/c i have become recently obessed with their lives :)

AND THE MOTHER OF THE YEAR AWARD GOES TO...!!!

ME!!!

of course this is said with the utmost sarcasm.

when i go pick up the kiddos from daycare/afterschool (same place btw), bella does her usual running up to me saying "maaamaaa!". except something is a lil different today.

isabella looks like this ('cept she had on white socks and white tennis shoes):



ya see, these damn new pullups that she is wearing sometimes gape open and if she potties in them she goes all over the place. well last week, she had an accident at school and they put her in her extra pair of clothes and sent the icky ones home.

well, i failed to send in a new pair of extra clothes (SHAME ON ME!!) which resulted in her not having a change of pants when she had an accident today.

now her teacher didn't want to call me to bring some pants (since i work 30 or more minutes away) and i really don't have a problem with that. just felt bad that my bug-a-boo looked a lil trailer-trashy.

SO.I.HAVE.GOT.TO.REMEMBER.TO.BRING.AN.EXTRA.CHANGE.
OF.CLOTHES.TO.DAY.CARE.TOMORROW.

VENT!!!!

i just needed to take a minute from putting an ass load of laundry away to vent.

I AM SO FRIGGIN' TIRED OF BEING UNORGANIZED!!!!!

i know i've said plenty of times before that being organized was going to be a top priority from now on. but it hasn't. shit is everywhere. every place i look there are papers, clothes, toys, craft supplies, etc. just all over the place.

how do i get all of this organized and then stay motivated to keep it organized?

i've already decided that i am going to go thru the kids' closets next weekend and make a trip to my local thrift store to dump all the stuff off. tonight i am going to file all this paperwork that i have let build up again.

its just so time consuming. i'm a busy gal. i don't get home until almost six o'clock on any given week night. then its time to cook dinner, clean the kitchen, get the kids bathed, get em ready for bed, and then off to bed. by then, i'm so damn tired that i don't feel like doing anything but sitting on the couch and then go to bed.

when the weekend roll around, i feel like simply relaxing. which i then feel guilty about.

folks, i have to start packing stuff up and getting it in the storage unit so we can put this place up for sale in a month. i know my main strategy is going to be getting rid of things (i am def. not taking a buncha this stuff with me) but what else can i do?

if you guys have any tips of how YOU stay organized and keep it up, i'd love to hear it, but this post is mostly a rant for my own sake. i was hoping that taking a break from that and writing about it would keep me from snapping at my kids every ten seconds and then to keep me from yelling at mike for something not worthy of a yell once he gets home.

sigh....a lil bit better, but i feel a snap towards the kids coming.

A GIRL AND HER PURSE!!!

my bella-boo is a girl after my own heart.

she loves: shoes, purses, & hats

this purse we bought at the dollar tree yesterday. she is the one who noticed it and pointed it out. she has been carrying it ever since.

THE YEAR OF THE DOG!!!

i signed up for a post card swap over at my little mochi. the theme was chinese new year and you had to incorporate a dog on the picture part of your postcard.

i had a really hard time with this and my mind was at a blank. last weekend i finally came up with an idea. so now that i had what i wanted the front of the postcard down, i needed the back to be done. i found this website that has great postcard templates on them. this site is def. a keeper.

so i did one postcard, scanned it, and adhered the picture onto the back of the post card template that i printed out from that site.

voila!

luckily i got them in the mail on time and hope that everyone that receives them enjoys them. i've also had fun checking out all the blogs of who i am sending them too!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!!!

mikey's first love letter from a lil classmate named clara. it says "clara i love you"

mikey walked up to me and said "i didn't ask for this but she gave it to me anyway".

look how cute the lil mikey and clara are :)

JUST ANOTHER 10 MORE POUNDS!!!!

click picture for link.

whew!!! i'm finally up and running. unfortunately i don't have any posts yet, i've already devoted two hours to trying to get the banner figured out (yes, i have got to learn ps).

i do hope to have a very interesting post about why i started this blog and what i hope to gain out of it tomorrow.

lemme know what you think so far :)

SELF PORTRAIT TUESDAY PART 6!!!

sp tuesday

this week i chose a picture of my grandparents (with a splash of me) at their 50th anniversary party. i haven't seen this picture in quite some time. i discovered it again tonight when i was looking for the perfect picture for this weeks spt.

both of my grandparents have passed, and since then they both enter my mind at least once a day. the strange thing is i dream about their house at least once a week. sometimes they are there, sometimes, it has nothing to even do with them, but the house is present.

i often wonder why i dream of their house and try to think of what their house means to me. i really can't put my finger on it. i did love that house and loved being there. their house represented loads of fun (a ton of people, a pinball machine, air hockey, atari, a pool table. talk about a good time).

i love my grandparents dearly and in the past year (esp. since the dreams) i think of all the things i missed out on while they were still living and the things we could share together if they were still around today:

*having my grandma show me how to cook all of her favorite recipes.

*learning more about my grandpa's side of the family (i was always obsessed with my grandma's italian heritage).

*letting my grandma teach me how to crochet.

*really, really listening to the things they were saying.

*saying "i love you" more (they were not the type to express this type of emotion in words).

*them meeting their first great-granddaughter.

*sending my grandma handmade goodies by me and the kiddos.

but maybe i really shouldn't dwell on these type of things and think of the memories that i do have with them of the things we did share together:

*they did get to meet their first great-grandson and they were overwhelmed with joy and happiness.

*my grandma writing me little letters in italian when i was trying to teach myself in highschool.

*knowing that whenever i see a coke product i will immediately think of my grandpa.

*feeling as if i was really my grandma's favorite grandchild and had a special bond with her even though i never really lived close enough to be physically by her all the time.

*every 4th of july i think of my grandpa and his love of fireworks.


my grandparents will always be with me and that is something that makes me very happy. i'm glad that i have these memories of them and hope that my children will be interested in hearing about them one day.

MUSIC ME FOLKS!!!

i present to each of you a challenge...

MUSIC ME!!!

i am sitting here staring at lime wire without a clue as to what to dload (aside from "she will be loved"-maroon five {thanks alexandra for the reminder} and "on the road again"-bob seger.

so i need all of my usual posters and all those lurkers to come out of lurkdom and give me some good music suggestions.

i will post the type of music that i like to listen to and hopefully that will help with the suggestions:

*classic rock
*80's music
*anything like dmb, damien rice, etc.
*postal service-type music
*sarah mclaughlin, natalie merchant, etc.
*i love sappy lovey-dovey music
*al green, otis redding


okay, that should help a little!!!

i expect to see a lot of comments here girls!

help a sista out!!!

okay, back to the bachelor :)

A FEW SIGNS YOU ARE.....!!!

....a holster sniffer (aka cop lover)

*you don't mind the handcuffs making an appearance.

*officers running code sends chills up your spine and gives ya a good kinda shiver.

*a shoulder holster is the best friggin accessory for a man.

*the "crime unit" look is hot, hot, hot greta knows what i'm talking about.

*him putting on his uniform and gun belt is well worth watching.

*listening to him talk in codes and signals is the best kind of dirty talk.

*watching him in cop action is the best type of fore play.

these are just a few signs that you are a holster-sniffer.

and yes, these all apply to me.

BWAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

edited to add for all those newbies out there reading: not only am i married to a cop, i work with a buncha them too! so this type of stuff is in my face all.of.the.time!!

MIKEY'S FIRST REAL HOMEWORK!!!!

today mikey came home with his first real homework. he had some key words "to", "a", "and", "the", "of" which were also spelling words.

he had a list of things that he could do with the words and we choose finding the words in a newspaper article.

he did a very good job both spelling the words (without looking at the words) and finding them.

thank goodness we are not at a point where i have to do a lot of the homework...lol.

IT WAS A GOOD DAY BECAUSE.....!!!!

*my best guy friend ever, tommy, brought to work a bag full of fresh cherries just for me b/c he knows how much i love em. i love em so much, these are the only few that remain.

*i got a major case of the giggles during a meeting that consisted of the director of the police department, the assistant chief, my boss ("the major"), and a buncha captains, lieutenants, sergeants, & patrolmen. i seriously thought i was going to have to get up and leave. it was completely the major's fault though.

*i didn't mind doing any work today...BWAHAHAHAAA!!!

*i went to lunch with the major, best guy friend, and another coworker.

*work went by fast today.

*the kiddos are behaving for the most part.

*the bachelor is on for two hours again tonight.

*i've mentally figured out how i am going to do my weightloss blog (stay tuned).


ahhh...it was a good friggin' monday :)