Under Construction

I have been changing my look up a lot.

I know deep down when I changed something that I don't just love, love it; like my previous background. I loved the header, but the flowers were just a little too much for me. Chance liked it, so I went with it.

I didn't mean to actually change it just now, because I didn't tell it to save, but it changed anyway and I'm too tired to change it back. Maybe tomorrow.

I'm thinking maybe I'm having image issues, because I find things that I like, but I feel like they just aren't 'me.'

I will go to another blog and see it, and think, "Man that background totally matches the vibe I am getting from the words, etc." But I don't feel like my personality is quite as bright and flowery, or pink and zebra-y that I've been looking lately.

Then, the ones I really like, (ie, the beach) there isn't a cute little header to match. So, I'm just going to keep looking and try to figure something out!!

When I rule the world

Monday will be an official nothing day.

Everyone will still have to go to work, banks will be open, newspapers will be printed etc, but nothing major will be allowed to happen.

Things cannot be due on Monday.

Let me start this by saying, I love my husband, and I'm super sad that we don't get to spend as much time alone and just enjoy each other's company like we once could.

However, when Monday morning rolls around it's like my weekend from all the crap that happened Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It's my catch-up clean-up day because since he was home all weekend there are clothes and cups and plates and junk left in places that weren't there on Thursday.

My cousin has been spending a lot of time over here, he and Chance have been friends since 1st grade. Every weekend this past month he has been over. I have no problem with that, it's just one more person I have to pick up after. We've also been going to the boyfriend's house every weekend.

So, basically, I need a break from everything that I have going on during the weekend.

Today, I needed to drive to school, instead of just the distance center I go to, for some paperwork. I need to fax in my application for this job I found.

Guess what, it was Monday and I didn't do any of it! : (

Big boy picture!

One of my new favorite pictures!!



I got the idea from my aunt, but when she went on photobucket, she used the paint tool, not the black and white tool.

Props to take?

We are going next week to take Archer's 1 year pics, and some of our family.

There are a few things I know I want to take:

Teddy Bear
Dump Truck
My old tricycle

A few things I'm thinking about:
Wagon

I need some more ideas. The pics will be outside in the evening at the park where we had his bday party.

Scariness update!!

Lots of scary news coming from the murder.

http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=11009040

Party, party!!!

Archer's very first birthday party was great!

We ended up having about 40 people, close friends and family. We had it at an outside pavillion in the park. The weather was perfect, but slightly windy. Archer has several cousins who all spent their time playing happily while the adults visited.

Arch loved when everyone sang Happy Birthday, and he LOVED his cupcake! He just shoved it right into his little face! : ) Daddy gave him some ice cream and cleaned him up while Mommy got all the presents rounded up!

He was so cute with the presents. He tried to pull the paper off my BFF's present when we rode with her in her car, so I knew he wouldn't have a problem opening them! He just ripped right into the first one, and opened them all the way to the end. And, man were there a TON of presents. He got several books and outfits, a hat, a dump truck, a wagon, some little cars and toys and 2 (got that), 2 trains.

One is an alphabet train, that he loves, although he does sit on the attachment and not the actual seat. And the other is a Thomas train. He's not really feeling the Thomas train much, but I think he will once he's a little bigger.

His favorite toy today was a music table my SIL got him.

All in all, it was a great day!

48 cupcakes later, I'm exhausted and going to bed!!

Happy Birthday Archer!!

August 27, 2008

We had been at the hospital the entire night before, we checked in at 10:30pm. They inserted (?) the Cervadil and hooked me up to the fetal monitor. The nurse asked if I wanted a sleeping pill, "No I said." Whew, wish I would have, don't think I slept the whole night. I kept waking up every time I would move because the fetal monitor heartbeat would stop.

About 7 am the Dr came in and started the Pitocin and broke my water. The contractions weren't bad until about 11 am. Then, they started to hurt. (For those of you who didn't have an epidural, I do not envy you. :)

I wasn't dilated enough for the epidural until 1, but they gave me something and I felt much better. People filtered in an out, my sister, God bless her, made sure the nurses were in to check on me and made sure I wasn't in pain.

Once I had the epidural, life was great. I took a nap, and the nurse woke me up to check my dilation around 3:30. I was almost to 10, so she sent everyone out and called for the doctor.

I started pushing a little after 4 and around 4:25, my sweet boy was here!! : )

We had an ABO Incompatibility, so they kept a close eye on his Bilirubin level, and we thought we weren't going to get to go home, but luckily we did!

Best day of my life thus far! : ) Mommy loves you Archer!!

gonna rant a little, need to get it out

We had some rain off and on yesterday, even stormed a little. In Oklahoma, this is normal. The weatherman (Jed Castles or Gary England) said heavy thunderstorms.

Right before bedtime, I noticed a big clump of green and red on the radar online. I decided to stay up and see what was happening with it.

Good thing I did. First, the wind was blowing so hard it woke Archer up from a dead sleep. It was just beating on the walls of our house. I went to get the crying baby and the power went off. That freaked him completely out!

I looked out the front door and it looked like hurriacane footage.

I put Archer in bed with us, which was hell. It was so hot, but we couldn't open a window because there was still torrential rainfall happening outside. After about half an hour Chance got up and went to the couch because Archer was just moaning. A little longer in, the power finally came back on.

With the lights on, Archer thought he should play. I let him get in the floor, which he instantly decided was not what he wanted. He got back in my lap and went to sleep.

You think it's over!? Nope.

Chance wakes me up when he leaves, I've been asleep for an hour. Twenty minutes later he is home getting my truck and money from the safe for gas because he is having to drive all the way to work. (He usually rides with my dad.)

Two hours later, he's back. He says, "Babe I'm home, I have to go change, I'll tell you why I'm home in a second."

I can only imagine the worst. The last time he drove to work in one of our vehicles he wrecked my very first car.

I'm fighting to wake up after 4 hours of sleep. He comes back and says it was raining really hard and he turned too sharply out of a gas station and almost turned into an 8 foot drainage ditch. Instead of going into it, one wheel went over the edge and the frame fell onto a concrete barrier.

Now, all of that on my baby's first birthday. Luckily, Daddy stayed awake and let Mommy sleep in.

Then, when I get up Archer is so lovey!

The best part of my day so far? While watching Young and the Restless with Mommy, he smiles a big huge smile when a kitty comes on the screen and says, "Kih Kih. Meaow."

He opens his little mouth so wide and really holds out the 'ow' part. I just love it!!

Getting Ready to Party!!

I have all the supplies I need: plates, cups, napkins, silverware.

I bought the cake mixes, because I'm a cheater. And I have the ingredients for the frosting. I bought a few trays from walmart to put everything on.

There isn't really a theme, but everything I've bought so far is green.

My best friend is coming early Friday to help me set up and I haven't seen her in 3 weeks, so I'm ready!!

Lastly, our backyard is a wreck! We had been saving our old couch to maybe give to my nephew or use in case of an emergency, I don't really know what we were thinking. But, with the prospect of birthday toys, plus the ones we have already bought, the couch is getting trashed.

Chance carried it out Sunday, but has yet to take it to the city dumpsters. We also have a dryer behind the garage that went out last week that needs to go to the dumpsters too.

The entire yard needs mowing, and the front needs weed-eating. My tomato plant is in shambles and needs cleaned up too.

Everything else would be great if the stinking, dying neighbor cat would stop getting it's nastiness on everything. Both of our lawn chairs have been scummed up with nasty hair, and then flies just swarm to where the hair is, it's really gross.

I've been trying to clean a little each day, so that just in case anyone wants to come hang out after my entire house will be nice and clean! Ready for it to be over with!

Grrrr

The toy we ordered for Arch's birthday is supposed to be delivered today.

It is on the UPS truck according to Amazon.

So here I sit, waiting, clothed, while my bath is waiting for me because it's raining and I don't want the stinking UPS guy to leave it on the porch.

Should have used FedEx. I know the FedEx guy, I would trust him to put it between the glass and the other door.

But no, now I have to wait.

ETA:
Toy came at 4:25, now my bath water is cold.

Rumors going around

My mom told me today that the rumor going around town is that the pastor that was murdered wasn't stabbed, but that the wounds were ritualistic.

That is so creepy and scary to me.

On one hand I really hope that isn't true, that someone is specifically targeting a pastor for that matter, that could mean others will be targeted also.

On the other hand, I would feel slightly safer given that I'm not a pastor. I know that's horrible, to put that out there, but knowing that it wasn't just a random person targeted would keep from being scared at every bump in the night.

New Moon Trailer!!!!!!

The Twilight Saga: New Moon 'Meet Jacob Black' Preview in HD

Archer enjoying his NEW TRUCK!

My dad left Archer's present, a tonka dump truck out the other night when we went out, and he just flocked to it. He loved it soo much, he just kept pushing it around the whole time we were in the house!

Operation Toybox Clean-up has Begun

So far, I KNOW that Archer is getting a few large toy items.

We got him a tricycle that he can use until he's big. He loves it, he's already pushing it around and driving it like a big boy. He even tries to use the pedals.


My parents got him a big Tonka dump truck that he fell in love with instantly. The first thing he did was push it around as soon as my dad took it out of the box. My cousins who are 3 and 5 have one each, and all the kids at my Poppy's love them. They even put the little kids, Archer mostly, in the bucket and drive them around.



And we also ordered that Playhut Mega Playland thing, it's like tunnels and a ball pit. It's supposed to be arriving today. It's 10 total feel long, but the good news is that you can use as many or as few of the tunnels that you want.

His mom said she is buying him a rocking bull. We just don't have room for big toys like that, but Chance's mom always buys things that are useless. I registered for a Bouncinette, and they bought this hideous rocker that didn't match anything we had. Chance wouldn't let me take it back, he said they didn't have to match. It's currently in the closet, Archer has never once sat in it.

So, since the birthday is tomorrow and the party is Friday, it's time to start getting rid of baby toys no longer played with and make room for the big boy toys!

ETA:
Chance's parents have changed direction and got Arch a wagon. Thank the lord.

A little entertainment for ya!

While browsing through gadgets, I found one for a playlist. I knew you could add music, but I wasn't sure how to get a playlist of multiple songs. So, I figured it out! YAY!

It's not really as pretty as I would prefer it to be, but for the time being it's what I want.

I have included some of my very favorite songs. I listen to all types of music, really just depends on my mood, but generally mellow sounds like these are my favorites. I can listen to them at any time and just enjoy them.

I hope anyone reading this might enjoy too!

Research and writing

Sorry to innudate everyone with college stories, but it's on my brain thick right now.

As I said earlier, I used to hate hate writing papers. Really, it was the research and the formal formats I hated, but now I think it's rather interesting.

For my lifespan class I have to write two super short papers (3 pages MAX) and they are not to be reports. They are only to be a question, something you want to know the answer to, ie Should ritalin be taken, Should children be vaccinated, Why are divorce rates so high, etc.

Right now, I'm thinking something along the lines of stress and coping strategies for one, and something to do with Early Childhood development for the other.

Any suggestions?

Murder in a little town

As I previously mentioned a pastor was murdered in her church in my town.

Today new details were released, and honestly they aren't any source of comfort or relief for my little town.

The DA released a statement saying it was the most horrific crime of his tenure. That the murderer was evil and souless.

The medical examiner released the cause of death, multiple sharp force injuries. Homicide.

The OSBI has offered a $10k reward for details leading to the prosecution of the murderer.

None of that makes me sleep any easier at night.

The DA's statement could be referring to a pastor being killed in her own church on a Sunday morning, but I'm sure he isn't. The ME's statement is chilling, what does that mean? If they were stab wounds, wouldn't they say that? The reward? That's the worst part, that means they have nothing to go on.

This church is definitely on the edge of the wrong side of town, I would not live there. Even before this obviously, damn sure won't be living there now. There are drug addicts and winos roaming the alleys. It's just a shady place to be after dark.

PS, it's 2 blocks from the police station.

My worries are, it doesn't seem like a random drug murder or burglary gone bad. The door was locked from the inside. It just really freaks me out, I know this kind of thing happens, but man, not in Oklahoma. Definitely not less than a mile from my home.

A little quiet on the homefront

I am really trying to not be my procrastinating undergraduate slacker self, and have really been doing my homework!

The undergrad college I went to was a liberal arts college, meaning everything was interconnected. We learned about the history and philosophy of math and science, not just the principals. And in history and philosophy we learned about great mathmeticians, etc etc.

I loved it, it's a little quirky and so are probably half of the student body. It has a major art department and is a big Art locale. We had people from all over the US and several other countries come for either art or soccer.

But back to the point at hand, what do you think happens when your learning overlaps from class to class? You feel the need to not go to all of them because you learned about this in x class last week. Thus started my horrible habit of going once a week.

I was also only made to write a few papers, less than 5 of that I'm sure. The only really major one was in a psychology class. I loathed writing papers up until last year when I helped a friend with a term paper, and now I get it.

I'm actually pretty sure I had it all along, I was just surpressing my potential.

Now that I'm back in school again, I'm really going to bust it out and work hard and show my old self up. I can make good grades by going to class and reading the book (which I seldom ever bought in the past) and doing the work early instead of the night before.

So, what's all that about? I have already done 2 assigments in my Lifespan class, therefore things have been a little quiet on the homefront! : )

Scary, scary!

I'm feeling extremely insecure in my house recently. It's a really old house, and we have a hard time hearing anything other than the window a/c that's right next to the bed. We heard some bumping the other night, at around 1 am, only to find our new neighbors were pulled into the yard (Which is so stupid in the first place, as our houses are set pretty high up on a hill and we only have front street parking.) and were making all kinds of noise.

Well now this happens:



I'm totally freaked out. Our house is NOT in a bad part of town, it's just on the older side of town. It's the original township area. But that happened about 12 blocks from me.

Now I'm getting all OCD about checking the locks before bed and waking up at any tiny little sound I hear.

First Day!

I just got home from my first class! It seems like it's going to be great!!!

I am doing tele-classes from a regional university at the small liberal arts school I graduated from. It's only about 20 minutes away.

I was able to enroll in 3 of the classes I wanted, and am considering enrolling in a reading class just to have some experience for when I'm teaching.

Sorry so short, have to clean the kitchen, the baby, and then get him to bed so I can relax.

A Good Ending

Read a blog earlier from a woman I've been following. She is a mother of 4 (I think) and one of her children has multiple disabilities.

She was blogging about having "one of those days" and how she was feeling overwhelmed. She was feeling overwhelmed with laundry, her son's physical therapy (pt), a small construction project to repair some electrical work, etc. One of her daughters has been fighting off lice. The other, upon arrival at home after a family vacation with her dad also had nits. She yells at her husband to go to the store and get enough Rid for both girls. The construction stops when her uncle who was helping finds termite and rot damage to the front door frame, which ends up getting ripped out. She goes up to the bathroom to regroup, and finds nits in her own hair.

She sends her husband out to get the Rid, and at the end of the day still has the energy to laugh with her girls.

That is inspiring to me. I've been feeling frustrated a lot lately, and this is really eye opening.

School tomorrow

So, time is long gone for me to get a job teaching, school here started 2 weeks ago with the bigger schools starting last week. I was still holding out hope for a really big district about 45 minutes away, but I still haven't heard anything from them.

I feel a little torn about it. On one hand, it would have been nice to be a little freer with our money, but on the other I'm glad to be home.

So, with all of that said, I am 99% sure that I will be going back to school starting tomorrow. I still have to enroll, and tomorrow is the deadline for enrollment.

I decided to do this super last minute. I talked to my old advisor who said it should take me 4 semesters. I already have 6 hours finished and the total program is 32 hours plus a 150 hour practicum. I'm not sure if she's counting the practicum into that 4 semesters or not, but hopefully not.

Anyway, I'm really excited to feel like I'm doing something with my life again, but I'm also really anxious. I will only be gone on Monday from 5-11 and Tuesday from 5-8 (assuming I get to enroll in the classes I want) so it's not the time away, I think I'll enjoy having some time to myself.

How important should something be?

I have the tendency to blog about the most mundane unimportant things, and I'm truly sorry about that. This comes from the thought that I would tell everyone just how much I love Buttery Salt and Cracked Pepper popcorn. It's my favorite. However, that would just be ridiculous. I'm not an advertising firm.

So that thought got me thinking, what do you include in a blog? When something is random, yet slightly boring should you go ahead and write it anyway and hope one of your readers will get something from it?

I'm thinking I sometimes end up saying stupid things, like Baby in Dirty Dancing, "I carried a watermelon." Makes you want to say, "Really? That's nice." And then ignore everything else they say.

I also tend write more about my thoughts and my previous experiences. I love reading witty and informative blogs, they have so much going on in their life that I don't. I also follow blogs about people I don't even know, just as long as they have something I like to read. : )

So, what I would like to know is, when do you blog? When you have something specific to say about an occurence in your life (wedding, birthday, party, etc) or do you just keep us up with your day to day life.

Hehe, Halloween Costume

So my cousin's little boy is going as a werewolf, so I'm thinking vampire??

Birthday Party Invite!

This is the electronic version of Archer's birthday party invitation. I'm not one to spend a lot of money on invites. I've called everyone and sent this via email to everyone who has email. This will just have to do. I'd rather spend our small budget on presents for my sweet boy! : )

What a morning!

We are up! We orginally woke up at 630. Chance (who is off on Fridays) woke me up to tell me Archer was crying. I run to his room to check on him, and there are little tiny poop balls all over. His diaper is laying outside his crib and he's bawling. At this point, it's still dark, so I run him to the playpen and go back to the crib ripping the sheets off to put in the washer.

Chance gets up to see what's going on and starts wiping Archer down. Archer of course hates this and is still crying. He just wanted to be picked up and snuggled, and his daddy wasn't doing that. I got finished tossing the sheets and his bear in the washer and gathered him up. I wiped him down, head to toe. I washed his hands because he had poo all over them and then I gathered him up on the couch and we snuggled until he fell back to sleep.

Now we are up for the day! And my whole right side hurts from holding him, but it was worth it.

Quick House History Lesson

I have shared my blog and pictures of my house, but how about a quick lesson?

My tiny little 1100 square feet house was built in 1952. It has had 3 families, including mine, occupying it. The first, built the house and stayed in it until 1954. After that, my great grandparents, Willie and Bernice bought it.

My Nanny (their daughter) lived here from the time she was 12 until she married my grandpa. Something I didn't learn until after I already lived here was that they were married in my living room, just a few feet from where I am sitting. It was not a shotgun wedding, my mom was a honeymoon baby born 10 months later.

Willie and Bernice died in 1972 and 1973, respectively. All of their belongings, the house, the land, etc went into a trust between my Nanny and her 4 brothers.

My Nanny's oldest brother took care of the house then. He actually came to town to take showers and use the phone because the extremely small house/shanty he lived in didn't really have those accomodations. His son and daughter in law lived here for a brief stint in the later 70's or some time in the early 80's.

In the 90's my great uncle built a new house and no longer had a need for the town phone and shower.

After that, it sat empty. My Poppy (My Nanny's husband) was paid for upkeep and maintenance. He mowed the yard twice weekly in the summers, and checked every Friday on his way to the grocery store.

When I graduated from college, I talked with my family about buying it cheaply so we could fix it up. Everyone said we would not buy it, they would just deed it over. Well, all but one of my great uncles children, he passed away a few years before.

The cousin who lived here with his wife in the 70/80's was offered, by the great uncle's children who didn't want us to have the house for nothing, to buy their share of the family land. He agreed, but also wanted their share of the house.

Once that happened, he deeded it right over to Chance and I. I repeated the same process with the other brothers kids and here we are now.

While this 2 bedroom house is nothing like the house my great grandparents lived in, it still has some great history. My only hope is that they can see all the work we have done and are pleased. I know my Nanny would love the turquoise paint in the kitchen, it was one of her favorite colors.

My other blog

My other blog is all about the progress on our house. I haven't blogged much about it lately, but we have made some progress on it in the past few months.

Anyway, we made a big change in the kitchen today, so go check it out!!

Classes I'm thinking about taking

THEORIES OF COUNSELING 6002 COUN -5543 W 3 Welch GL 20 20 08/19/2009 - 12/18/2009 ARR PSY117 (Web-Based Course)

MULTICULTURAL CONCEPTS 6009 COUN -5423 V 3 Ray S 20 5 08/19/2009 - 12/18/2009 W 05:15PM 07:45PM EDU213 (Interactive Video Course)

ETH/LEG/PROF STANDARDS 6008 COUN -5893 V 3 Neasbitt SK 30 10 08/19/2009 - 12/18/2009 M 08:00PM 10:30PM EDU203 (Interactive Video Course)

ADV PSYCH OF LEARNING 6687 EDPSY-5723 V 3 Barnett JR 25 22 08/19/2009 - 12/18/2009 M 05:15PM 07:45PM EDU201 (Interactive Video Course)

ADV ABNORMAL PSYCH6634 PSYCH-5633 V 3 Edwards JH 30 12 08/19/2009 - 12/18/2009 T 05:15PM 07:45PM EDU213 (Interactive Video Course)

Sorry for the jumbled mess, but I needed to save this information, but would also like to share my thoughts with the world.

I'm only 26 hours away from my masters in school counseling, but I just don't know if it's worth it. I don't really have a quiet place (As I type this, Chance is singing like a little gay girl, in a pitch only dogs can hear. It's a stupid nothing that he made up only to annoy me because I'm not to him.) to study or to keep up with my work.

The classes are night classes, so I wouldn't need a baby sitter, but I know Chance will hate having to keep Archer that late after working a long day.

I emailed my old graduate advisor, and I would only need to call the registrar to enroll, so my only obstacle right now is money! If only the world were fair.

100th Post!

Nothing much going on in my life today, but I did notice something first thing this morning.

Archer looks different. His little face looks different today than it did last night when I put him to bed. I'm not sure that I'm ok with that. I'm not sure that I am ok with my baby going to bed and waking up looking like a little boy.

I'm waiting to see if my mom notices it when she comes for lunch.

Anyway, nothing much else to say, so I'll see ya later! : )

Baked Potato Soup

It was a nice rainy day, and the temps hit about 85 instead of the 105 we'd been having, so I decided it would be a good day for crock pot potato soup.

4 large or 6 medium potatoes
1 can chicken broth
1 can condensed milk
1/2 package bacon
1 package instant potatoes

Cook potatoes in microwave until soft, put in freezer to cool. Cook bacon over medium high heat. I like mine chewy, cook yours to whatever texture you like. Empty can of milk into crock pot. Once cool, remove pulp from two potatoes and discard skin. Quarter and chop remaing potatoes, skin on and add to milk. Add chicken broth to desired thickness. Salt and pepper to taste.

This time that I made it, I added too much liquid and instead of baking another potato, I just added some instant mashed potatoes.

Top with your favorite cheese and green onions if you like em!!

Image from KitchenScoop.com (but mine looks like this)

Archer's birthday bike!!!

He loved it. He climbed right up to it, swung his leg over, scooted his little butt center on the seat, and took off pushing it with his feet. Then, he started trying to push with the pedals, but his little legs aren't long enough.

Sorry guys, have been trying for an hour and a half to upload a video, but it's just not happening! : ( Guess I'll have to send it to YouTube tomorrow.

Present Idea?

Since Archer could crawl he has been crawling under anything that looks like a hole. You can't prop you head on your hand without him trying to crawl through the nook that is made by your arm and head. Chance suggested he needs a tunnel of some kind, so, after searching, I found this.

It suggests that you can add balls, so I'm sure Archer will love that too! : )

Time Traveler's Wife, The movie

Went to see this Saturday night. I really enjoyed it more than the book. There were some things that were different, but overall I liked the movie different.

With movies like Twilight and Harry Potter, there were so many details that were left unattended. Well, with Twilight, only a few details were actually taken from the book, the rest were made up. This movie was different. I was left with a sense of, "Ok, that's not quite how it worked in the book, but it still works."








**Spoiler**

The ending of this movie is the reason I liked it. I could tell from the previews which clip was the ending, so it was why I was excited to see the movie after reading.

Clare doesn't spend her life in turmoil and being miserable waiting for Henry like she does in the book. She is still sad, and she still waits, but she gets to see him again before she's 82. I like that, and I like that the casual watcher doesn't know that Clare had sex with her best friend's husband while desperately trying to imagine it's her own dead husband. That whole story piece didn't sit well with me.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

So, this is a fun, make you smile silly movie.

I wasn't really sure if I would be able to stomach some of the silliness (the mannequins come alive and entice her to shop, really?) but it has a cute story. That's the perfect description, it's cutesy.

I kind of regret paying $5 to see it, I probably should have just waited for it to come out on HBO or something.

**Spoiler**
I knew she was going to sell her clothes when she found the note from the friend calling it all crap. But, before that, for a second, I actually thought her parents were going to bail her out.

Life note:
I have a really good friend who got into credit card trouble in college. She was given 2 credits cards at 18. I think that is absurd, she is paying off her debt and has been out of college for a while. I am super proud of the accomplishments she's achieved in getting that debt under control, but I think it's insane that credit card companies are allowed to target people who have no reliable source of income. Credit cards make it too easy to spend money and not feel as responsible for it. Thus the reason I have an emergency card and no debit/check card. You spend less money when you have physical reminders of how much money you really have and need to live on.

Movie Night

After my self-ful day, Chance and I are going to see the Traveler's Wife. This will be the second time we have been out to the movies since Archer was born. I just finished the book last week, and I liked the idea, I just didn't like everything that happened. (Which you can read about here if you just want my thoughts. Or here if you have already read it and really want to know what I think.)

Archer will be staying at Chance's parents until we get back. He doesn't really get to stay over there for very long on his own, so this will be a new one for him too. I'm looking forward to our evening out.

Mmmm, Saturday

Here we are once again, my beautiful Saturday off! It's so nice to just sit on the couch and not have to worry if Archer's eating crap off the floor or making supper or cleaning something.

Did you know I hate cleaning? Like seriously, even if God himself had told me 10 years ago this was where I would be, a housewife with a degree not working, a husband and a baby that I take care of daily, I wouldn't have believed him. I used to despised the idea of June Cleaver and Aunt Bea. That wasn't me.

And, I have to admit, it still isn't me. When Chance gets home, there are a few dishes from lunch in the sink, there are toys from one corner of the living room to the other. There is still laundry in a pile in the bathroom. I'm just not big on cleaning my life away, not that I ever would or could by the way, but I just would rather spend my days playing with Archer and blogging during nap time rather than picking up toys. Just not my thing.

My Barbie's had house cleaners and jobs. And nannys. : ) Guess life's not as predictable as we think.

Have I ever told you guys

About my addiction to tattoos? I, myself, only have 2, but I have big dreams about others. My husband, also only has the two, but that's just because he doesn't have big plans. I would love to come up with awesome designs and just cover his body in ink so I could stare at it daily.

I saw an idea the other day, just little tiny wings, black and white ( I think ) on either side of my achilles heel. The thing is, I want them to stand for different things, so I want 4, one on each side of each foot.

For instance, my Nanny, my mom's mom, was an angel sent to Earth from God himself. Don't get me wrong she had a few faults, but mostly she was a deeply religious woman who did whatever she could to help whoever might need anything. I want one wing to be angelic, as a reference to her.

I think I want one to be sort of broken, to represent my Poppy's MS and my dad's alcoholism.

I'm not sure about the other two, but I can start with those, and decide later!! : )

Here is some idea of what I want:

Just the wing though, not the rest.

I would also eventually like to get a cross composed of the lyrics to 'I'll fly away." I saw this idea on LA Ink, my 3rd favorite show. I loved it, it was super cool! I would love for it to be on my upper back, between my shoulders, but my back is so ticklish, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it or not!

Arrgh!

So, bitching about Chance earlier right? I had some of his change leftover in my billfold, he asked yesterday if he could have 10 of it for lunch today. I said, that's fine leave the rest.

I just checked my billfold, nothing. Apparently he needed all $17 for lunch.

To get up quietly, help your wife, and shut the back door?

Chance has to get up at 430 for work. Archer did not go to sleep last night until 1.

When Chance got up to go to work, he bangs drawers around in the bedroom looking for something to wear. First off, all of his work clothes, except socks are in one drawer, therefore no need to open and shut drawers repeatedly. Oh, and he turned on the overhead light instead of the small lamp right near the dresser. How hard is it just get up quietly and dress yourself without waking up your sleeping wife (who has only been asleep 3.5 hours) 3 times?

About 10 minutes (can't ever really tell time when I'm asleep you know) after he gets up and gets dressed, he comes back to the bedroom to tell me I should get a bottle ready for Archer because he is awake. I should get a bottle? Because it's too hard for him to do it? How hard is it to make the damn bottle yourself?

And, a while ago, when I woke up: I came to the living room, sat Archer down, went to the porch to check the mail, came back and sat down. I notice there is a fly swarming around me. I look into the kitchen and see a few more flies swarming around. I look a little further into the kitchen only to see the back door is wide open and the a/c is on. There are flies all around the back yard because it's August in Oklahoma and that's how it is.

Growing up is hard to do

Archer is growing up. I'm just not ok with this, I don't want him to grow up! : ( I'm sure these pictures seem silly, but I need them for myself, to look at when this boy is 18.



I'm trying to wean him from his bottle. That makes me sad.

I love the bear he is holding. He has been using that bear as a pillow for months. Like, before he could crawl. He's a pillow fanatic and I love that bear, so I would hold him and prop his head on the bear.

I haven't thought of a name for the bear yet. I'm going to have a few in the wings and suggest them to him, because I would hate for it to have a really dumb name, like Chance's bear Big Bear. He got it from one of my favorite cousins at the baby shower, and I have decided he will love it too. I've been planning it since then, I sneak it in and play with it with him.

Anyway, sorry for the over obsessive blogging today, had some free time! : )

Awesome food blog!

The blog I found the birthday cake recipe has some really great ones that I really think should be tried out, I'm just not sure if I'm good enough to do it.

Smitten Kitchen it is called. There are desserts, salads, meats. Simple and difficult. All kinds of things. She even posts pictures all along the way.

This neopolitan cake looks really good, but it's way above my difficulty level.

These lemon mint granitas make me want to go make them right now!

And this is my recipe!!!! Not really, but I've been dreaming these up since we had apple stuffing for Thanksgiving years ago!
Anyway, shamelessly promoting here. I love food blogs, have any suggestions for me?

Troops are home!

Last year about this time, troops from my local National Gaurd Armory shipped out. I remember being pregnant, was babysitting my neice Neiley, we went outside and watched them ship out.

They just came home, all safe and sound. Makes me feel a little patriotic.

I just found out a cousin that was my idol as a kid is shipping out to Afghanistan in the near future. It's scary. I can only hope to see pictures of the parade of his homecoming!

Sorry, the pic is kind of lame, my 16 year old nephew was more interested in taking pics of his friends than the parade, this was the best one. (He's the one in the top hat.)

To school or not to school?

Chance asked last night if I wanted to go back to school.

I wanted to say, yeah! But instead we just talked about funding, etc.

Looking online today, I'm wondering if it's even feasible. It's there a good enough reason to spend money on furthering my education when it hasn't gotten me anywhere thus far.

I would love to be a principal or a counselor or a special ed director. But, do I want to spend a ton of money on going to school and chance not ever finding a job? We're pretty stationary, we own this house, it's paid for. I don't really want to move to a new town or area, and I know Chance doesn't. If we're gonna move it's gonna be out of state. : )

Man being a grownup is hard work.

Why I refuse to grill on my own

Every time I have ever lit the grill and cooked on my own, something super scary has happened. We use propane, and it just scares the shit out of me to have fire blazing, hooked up to a giant container of gas that's feeding it. It just seems rampantly unsafe.

1st incident: 9 months pregnant, grilling steaks. Go out side, push the light button, flames blow out the sides, a little fire is burning on top of the propane take. On the handle. I called the fire department, they tell me to turn it off. I say, I can't, the handle is on fire. 15 minutes later they come, full gear and spray it down with giant fire hoses.

2nd incident: 5 months or so ago, the packs of hickory wood in tin foil chance incorporated to give the food flavor caught on fire. It's like flaming up to the top of the lid. Freaking me completely out! I throw it out on the ground (we have a little cement step area that I tossed it to) and ran for the hose.

3rd incident: 1 Month ago, I was grilling steaks, the grill hasn't been cleaned apparently, by my husband who does 99% of the grilling. The middle drip plate thing catches on FIRE.

4th and final incident: Last week, I go out, light the grill. The flames shoot out like incident 1, and burn all the hairs 5 inches up my arm. They are all curled up and mangled. : (

Medicine for my mood

I went and woke Chance up last night and told him I was sick of him sitting around and moping. I told him all kinds of things he needed to hear.

He said he was being all shitty because the house was messy when he came home from work, he was tired, and I was bugging him about doing things.

Reality: I did 2 loads of laudry, all but the skillet and pots in the sink from my and Arch's lunch, and I asked him to start the grill as soon as he came in because I knew he would be hungry and wanted to get supper started. (I don't grill)

He came to the living room where I was watching TV and asked me to come to bed. I said no I was still mad. He said he was sorry.

I didn't really believe him. I told him I was going to bed, and when he went back to the bedroom, I started cleaning. At 1 am. Twenty minutes later, he comes in and starts cleaning too. Says he can't go back to sleep for work (He gets up at 430).

So between the two of us and cleaning and talking mildly, we worked everything out.

Then we went outside and watched for meteors. Only saw 2.

Facelift

There ya go folks, the old blog has a pretty new face!

I'm not generally a pink kind of person, but I really love this. It's classic, it's simple, it's elegant.

Children say the darndest things

While I'm grumbling and fighting with blogger to find a new background and banner that I am truly in love with, Archer is sitting next to me on the couch watching photos of himself from the flash drive. There are like 200 and he just sits and watches like a little Narcissus incarnate.

What made me literally laugh out loud was when he reached over, touched my leg, looked me in the eye as I turned and says, "Ma" and then looks back at the TV to tell me the picture show has ended.

Gotta love him.

Ps, I really don't think he's vain. I think it's past midnight and he's worn out tired. He's been zoning in the same spot for 20 minutes but refuses to go to sleep.

So frustrated

Ok, so it's mid August, and I have no job. I have spent months scrambling trying to get my certification finished before August, got it done last week of July and have no job to show for it.

I'm crestfallen. We don't "need" the money, but honestly it's gonna be a long hard winter otherwise.

When I say we don't need, I mean it in the way like: we don't need internet and unlimited long distance, so that's $80 we could be saving and we don't need 200 channels, so that's another $60. We don't need a motorcycle that I have been trying to sell for months, so there's $200.

Chance is so stressed and hasn't been in a good mood in days. He just mopes around the house whining about how we don't have money to go and do things, but he just bought a $200 stereo system with some extra money he made on a side job. Did we go out on a date? No, he bought a stereo. Whatever. I could hear the tv fine before. It's nice, I won't say it isn't, but it's so far from unneccessary, it's almost ubsurd.

It's bittersweet for me. Do I want a job that causes me to be away from my baby, hell no. Do I want to live paycheck to paycheck and never see an improvement in our savings accounts? Hell NO.

I'm so frustrated though because stressing about it isn't going to get him anywhere. We've been arguing and ignoring each other so much lately and I hate it.

My HS biology teacher had the balls to stand up in front of our entire class and say he believes stress is something that has been made up by psychiatrists. That stress is just a failure to cope with situations.

His example, a big test and you didn't study. What do you do the night before? Study as hard as you can and do as well as you can? Or get all worked up and stressed about it? Either you deal with the situation or you don't. Failure to deal is just stress.

I thought he was insane. I thought he was trying to piss people off. I know think he was on to something. I think there are true situations that people get worked up, but never is it needed. Either you deal or you don't.

I'm sick of being the one who has to deal.

Something funny to start with

Chance got home kind of late from work. He came in, I asked him to start the grill. He changed his clothes, grabbed something to drink and headed outside.

I go out, put the food on; but before I went out, I put some water on to boil for mac and cheese. We sit outside a while longer, and I ask him to put some noodles in the water. I didn't say macaroni because he bought the shells and cheese kind, but I was having a word finding issue and couldn't think of shells.

He goes to take a bath while I finish cooking. I stir the noodles a few times and when they are done I drain them. I go to the bathroom to ask where the cheese is, and he looks at me like I'm insane.

Then he laughs. Oh, for macaroni and cheese he says. My turn for the why are you so dumb look.

He just poured in regular noodles. Not sure what I thought I was making.

Time Traveler's Wife Book Review, Part Deux (Spoilers!!!!)

Don't continue if you don't want to read my whining words about this book, the plot and why I'm pissed about everything that happens from beginning to end. (Well not really everything, but I need something to get the point across that this is a spoiler disclaimer without really having to use those words)












Ok, the more I have pondered this book, the more I feel as though I really am pissed at it.

Basically, I feel robbed. I hate that ending. Hate it. We know from the letter that they do in fact see each other again. That's amazing. I love it, I HATE that she's freaking 82. WTF?!

That tells me one thing, Clare spent the rest of her life not living, waiting on Henry to come back to her. I HATE that. I hate that for her, for her family watching her meager existance, for her daughter. She was slightly more involved I'm sure than Henry's dad, but there's no way she was much more so. She became Henry's dad. She wallowed.

As a parent, I know, I take that back, I don't know. I can only imagine and I pray that I never know what it's like to loose the man I love with every ounce of my soul. But I can only imagine how hard it must be to go on living, but you must. If Chance were to die, I would fight with every sad, depressed melancholy cell in my body to ensure that Archer didn't loose both parents.

I think Clare was being selfish. And not just in that aspect. She doesn't feel like she can date, but she can let Gomez sex her up on his kitchen table while her BEST friend, Gomez' wife, takes the kids out? Not ok with that. That's so hurtful to so many people. Gomez for one, who's been in love with her since 1990. Her best friend, who in the next scene is having milkshakes with her. She's obviously not oblivious and definitely not faultless. She knew her husband was in love with Clare, yet she had 3 kids with him. That's her own fault, but she deserves more than that from Clare.

I think my least favorite thing is that she doesn't marry current Henry, but future Henry. I just don't like that. She's obviously very partial to him, he's the Henry of her childhood, and it feels like she's choosing him over current Henry.

Henry's selfish too. I mean, My goodness, having sex with Clare from the future with yourself in bed next to her. And, what exactly is he doing with "himself" when his dad catches him? At 15? I mean, I'm gonna think it's weird no matter what, but 15 is pretty old to be doing things like that, no?

Anyway, I liked the book. I liked the story most of the time. I hate the ending. I hate everything that happens from the point that Alba is born and Henry knows he's going to die. Well, I don't hate it, but I'm just not happy with it. I like happily ever afters.

Oh, and I love that Alba gets to spend time and learn from Henry, but I hate that Clare never gets to be there.

Now I'm done!

Time Traveler's Wife

I just finished the book, moments ago.

I'm just not thrilled with it. I don't think it was a bad book, it just kept going to places I'm not ok with, and now I feel let down.

Hoping the movie is better. (How sad is that?)

Bad Neighbor

A few months ago, I had a knock at the door. I opened it to find a very governmental looking man standing there with a clipboard in hand. He was interviewing my neighbor's neighbors. He had been promoted from his job of BIA officer to federal detective. Apparently he had moved to Montana. We didn't really notice they had been gone.

A few weeks after that, she comes back. I see her in the yard and ask when they are leaving, she says in July. They will be renting their house to a friend of her's with no children. Nice people she says.

Well she ended up needing surgery and they just left 2 weeks ago. She told me the first time we talked that they would be leaving behind their tom cat. He just wanders the neighborhood. He's like 15 or something.

When we first moved in I had to ask my grandpa (who took care of the house the 20 years it was vacant) whose cat it was because it was always laying on the porch of my house.

Yesterday Chance and I were sitting out front when here walks this deathly, ghostly looking cat. It's sides are sunk in, it hardly has the energy to walk. It didn't have enough energy to meow.

I ran in and grabbed some left over mashed potatoes and hamburger patties and put them in a bowl for it. Death cat ate some of the meat but seemed to be having a hard time with it so I went back in and got some 1/2 and 1/2. It loved that and drank almost all of what I put out instantly. After that it got up and walked over to it's own yard and laid in the sun.

Makes me want to send them a letter and tell them I think they are bad people for leaving that cat to starve.

Warning: Sugar Coma!!!

Just finished the test cupcakes, and am about to die. I really and truly feel sick.

Oh, did I mention I used HALF the sugar called for in the frosting?

Other than that, I am super impressed with myself. The cake is so soft and moist. The frosting (while sweet as hell) is rich and creamy, and just perfect.
I put one on a plate, and couldn't finish it. I made 24. Luckily, I am going to
weekly family dinner at my grandpa's house. When I was a kid, he would always make a cake every Sunday. He's out of that habit now, so I'll take these to him.

One might think, that with all the cake he had left over and the fact that he ate on it all week he might be slightly over weight. NOPE, he struggles to weigh 125 at 5 feet 10 inches. Sickens me. My only male first cousin is just like this. Punks.

Archer's birthday cake!!

So, I'm totally not a baker, at all. However, Chance's boyfriend had a peanut butter grooms cake. Oh. My. Goodness. It was the best cake ever. It was a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, but still. Awesome. I've been thinking that I wanted to have that same lady make me one, but now I'm thinking I should just make one myself. So, that is the plan.

I found this recipe and a really cool blog and I'm going to try it out this weekend. Here's the cake:

And here is the recipe and blog.

Not around as much.

Sorry all, have been cutting back on internet usage. I'm trying to spend as much time with my baby as I can before I have to go back to work!