Highlights of the Day 1.14.2008

*Woke up expecting to see an inch or two of snow on the ground (as per the weather forecasts last night).

* Was surprised (and relieved) to see nothing but a slight dusting on the ground.

* For the 8-billionth time in a row, waited until 7:30 to get Grace dressed and ready for school, when the bus arrives at 7:45.

* Realized I'll continue to do this every day my children have school and I've finally surrendered to the madness of those 15 minutes.

* Started searching online for jobs or projects with anything having to do with writing, editing, proofreading, or documentation.

* Laughed to myself that my "official" title can be anything from Technical Writer to Documentation Specialist to Document Analyst. People, I write stupid computer manuals that say "Enter your user name and password and click OK." There's nothing "special" or technical about that, my friends.

* Decided today was a good day to take Hannah back to the hospital to get her stitches removed.

* Showered and grudgingly flat-ironed my hair. (I LOVE my new haircut, but sometimes the whole straightening thing is a royal pain in the ass.)

* Convinced Hannah NOT to wear the T-shirt she had on. One weekend at my parents' house, my mom unearthed an old T-shirt I had as a kid with MY picture screen printed on the front. Remember those old kiosks in the mall where they'd take your picture and print that overly pixely photo of you on a shirt? Yeah. One of those. Hannah was wearing it. Not in public my sweet baby girl.

* Sat in the ER waiting to get ushered back to "Express Care" to get Hannah's stitches taken out.

* Was once again reminded of why I went 30 miles away to give birth to my children. Our local hospital sucks some serious ass.

* Was amused (and yet not surprised) by the family in the ER waiting room. Two teenage boys who were very "typical" teenage boys.

* Couldn't stop laughing when one of those boys proudly stood up and announced to the entire ER (actually, just the woman there he knew, but the waiting room's small) that the jeans he was wearing are girls' jeans -- size 1.

* My friends, this dude should NOT have been wearing a size 1. Sausage anyone?

* Thought to myself how his long hair and facial piercings kicked some serious ass, but how those jeans seriously had to go.

* FINALLY got called back to get Hannah's stitches out 2 hours after arriving, where she (once again) was a champ.

* Drove myself insane trying to figure out WHERE I know the doctor from. She's a young girl, about my age that also put her stitches in, and I KNOW I know her from somewhere, but can't pinpoint where.

* Got back home where I continued to search for jobs for the next 5 hours while Hannah watched TV, changed her clothing 25 times, changed her doll's clothing 26 times, and just chilled.

* Contacted every single ex-coworker/project manager/contact I know telling them I'm looking for work and urging them to keep me in mind if they hear of any open positions.

* Got Grace off the bus.

* Took Hannah to dance class (which is today's Project 365 photo).

* Arrived back home and made the girls some soup for dinner.

* Waited for Steve to finish his business paperwork before starting our dinner of chicken fajitas.

* Watched "Prison Break" with Steve. (YAHOO for Prison Break. LOVE that show!)

* Checked Tink's blog for the Golden Spork Awards announcements.

* Was thrilled to receive a "Savory" award.

* Proudly added my Spork Award to my sidebar over there on the left. (That's right folks... I'm a winner for 2 years running now. WOOHOO!)

* Remembered "October Road" was on tonight and got all sorts of giddy.

* Watched "October Road" while ingesting my nightly snack of Pringles and beer.

And here we are. Nothing very exciting or humorous for today's highlights. But I'd like to say that there are some new Planet Alien readers who have been commenting which RULES! I welcome each and every one of you and am thrilled you found me here. Keep it comin'!

I didn't forget about the template I promised for Project 365. I PROMISE I'll have a download link tomorrow. :)

Oh, and here's yesterday's Project 365 photo. I only posted it on my other blog, so I wanted to post it here too. :)

And here is this week's scrapbook layout:

Some Project 365 Comments...

Hey gang. So, I've been reading a lot of comments from those of you who decided to participate. I've seen them here, on other blogs, on message boards, in emails to me, etc. about how some of you are already having a hard time thinking of what to take photos of everyday. I'm here to urge you to think about it in some different ways.

* Take photos of your favorite things. The other day, I wasn't sure what to take a picture of. I was cooking dinner and picked up the pewter salt and pepper mills my FIL gave us for Christmas and came to the realization that probably in the next year, those suckers will be one of my photos. I LOVE those things.

* Don't try to get too caught up in the photography aspect of it. Think of it as more of a journaling of year of your life. For example, today Grace had her first day of her indoor soccer league. I ended up not using one of those photos for my project today. But, if I was stuck on a what to take a picture of today and I had forgotten to take my camera to her soccer practice, I would've taken a picture of a soccer ball, so next year, when I saw that photo, I'd remember that today was the day that the league started.

* Try to think of it in your children's eyes. Now all kidding aside, how COOL would it be as adults, if OUR parents had done something like this. I'd LOVE to have a year of our lives documented in photos. If my kids start drawing on any particular day, I take pictures. If one of the girls helps me cook dinner, I take pictures. If Hannah is particularly proud of one of her infamous "outfits" she's put together while getting dressed that day, I take pictures. Try to look at it through the eyes of your kid(s) and ask yourself the type of things they'd want to remember years from now. Is there something you do every night before bed with them that they'll remember (i.e., read a bedtime story, say a prayer, etc.)? If so, take a picture that represents that.

* Realize that even the things that seem insignificant now may be fun to look back at later on. Have a favorite pair of shoes? A favorite purse? A favorite place to eat? A favorite brand of coffee? Take a picture of it. Twenty years from now, you may look at the picture and either laugh about how dorky it was, look at it and get sentimental, or both.

* Have a favorite band you listen to or CD you play on repeat non-stop? Take a picture of it.

* Do you have a habit or addiction? Snap a picture one day of something that represents that habit or addiction. Even if it's something as "silly" as that favorite brand of ice cream that you eat every night.

* Try to think outside the box a bit. The other day, I used one of my Christmas gifts (an Aeropostale giftcard) to order a bunch of stuff online. I snapped a photo of my computer screen with my shopping cart full. That was the night that Hannah needed stitches, so I ended up using that photo instead, but my point is that I had taken a picture of what I had ordered online that day. Your photo doesn't always have to be something "deep" or meaningful. It just has to be something you did/ate/tried/drank/laughed about/etc. that day.

* Your pictures don't have to be deep or meaningful or artsy or anything even remotely close to that. Just TAKE the picture. Are your nails painted that day? Take a picture of them. Are you feeling particularly cranky? Take a picture of that bigass cup of Starbucks coffee that helped lift you out of your funk. Did you just organize your closet? Take a picture of it after you're done.

Do y'all see what I'm trying to say. I know a lot of you are already grasping what to photograph every day, but I find myself trying to decide between 5 or 6 things everyday to use for that day. Try not to think too much about it is my point. And at the same time, think about it a lot. LOL! Since starting 11 days ago, I've started to look at my daily life in a totally different way. I wake up and start wondering what that day's photo is going to be. I look at things in totally different ways (like the salt and pepper mills I mentioned earlier). I think about the things I want myself or my kids to remember next year and then try to think of something I can photograph to represent it.

It's NOT about what other people think or the quality of the photos. It's about YOU. You and the people in your life. You and the things that make you who you are. You and the things that make you tick.

I'm sure there will be days over the next year where I don't think about it much. Or days when it seems like a chore to try to photograph something. But I know that next year, I'm going to have a BLAST looking back everyday to see what we did/saw/thought/experienced exactly one year earlier. Don't think of it as much about the photos, but instead look at it as the journey of your life over the next year.

I know I often find myself without my camera when something happens one day that I'd like to remember. Now that I've started this project, when something like that happens, I immediately start thinking about what I could take a picture of that would spark that memory years from now. For example, the night Hannah needed stitches, I might not have thought to take pictures when we got home. But beyond taking pictures of her stitches, I also took pictures of the doorknob she bashed her head open on. A few years from now, I can look at the picture, and even if Ididn't have pictures of her actual stitches, I'd see that photo of the doorknob and be able to say, "Remember when Hannah split her head open on that sucker?"

If y'all want, I can try to think of a little "theme" every week that all of you participating can use on one of the days you can't think of something to take a picture of. They'll be simple and easy and won't require much thought. But if it helps some of you in a slump, I'm more than willing to give it a whirl.

What the hell. Let's start now. In the next week, IF you can't think of something for the project one day, take a picture of whatever's in your purse that day. Empty the contents of it onto a table and take a picture of it. Even what's in your purse is a little glimpse into your life this year, and I think that's kind of cool. :)

OK. I've rambled enough. I'm tired and need to head to bed. I just don't want to see anyone discouraged or stressed out over the whole concept. It's supposed to be fun, and I, for one, am having a blast!

I really am worthless...

LOL! After last night's late night guests, I don't have much to blog about today. Grace was exhausted. Hannah was exhausted. I was exhausted. And yet, we managed to plow through the day with no one napping, Grace going to her first day of her winter (indoor) soccer league, Steve hunting all day, and me ready to pass the hell out. LOL!

The girls (like usual) are at my mom's for the night, Steve and I ordered some wings to watch the football games, and as much as I'm tired, I feel the need to stay awake. (Seriously... does anyone know the name of some good counselors? LOL!)

Here's my photo for Project 365 today. Hannah, dressed in a dress-up dress complete with hoopskirt, walking around like it's nothing unusual. God, I love that kid.

Quasi "Highlights of the Day"

OK. So (once again) I had every intention of doing this post in my old school "HOTD" format, but things never seem to work out the way I want them to. So this is going to be a shorter bulleted list. You'll still get the gist of the day, but it won't be nearly as funny as it would be if I wasn't ready to fall asleep. LOL!

* Sat and wondered what it feels like to have an anxiety attack. Because I truly believe I'm on the brink of one.

* Obsessively checked Tink's blog to see which Golden Spork Award I've been given. I'm hoping for the "Most Likely to Have an Anxiety Attack in the Next Week" one. Or perhaps the "Can Drink Most Grown Men Under the Table" one. Or, oooo, I know... maybe the "Girl With the Biggest Boobs" one. (Shut up. I can dream.)

* Got a phone call from Steve around 10:00 AM saying the alternator in his truck had taken a shit and that he wouldn't be home until he had it replaced (the job site was 45 minutes away).

* Was silently relieved he wouldn't be home soon. (I LOVE Steve, but I absolutely relish my days/moments when I'm in our home in the silence alone.)

* Visited every job website known to man looking for my next job or freelance project.

* Contemplated becoming a stripper or prostitute to make some cash.

* Realized I wouldn't make any cash doing those things and continued scouring the job websites.

* Realized halfway through the day that I hadn't taken my Project 365 photo for the day yet.

* Had no ideas for the photo.

* Steve arrived home and told me he wanted me to go with him BACK to the job site so he could drop off some pipes that he could have just dropped off before driving all the way home.

* Got Grace off the bus and sent the girls with Grandma to meet Granddad at a local pizza joint for Friday night dinner (like they do every Friday).

* Went with Steve to the job site.

* Saw the house Steve's currently working on for the contractor who gives Steve most of his work.

* Asked Steve if said contractor would be willing to have an affair with me so I could have a house like the one we were looking at. Seriously people, you have NO idea...

* Steve commented that the guy really isn't that bad looking.

* Told Steve I didn't care and that I'd just close my eyes during sex if I could land us a house like that.

* Drove home and ate some leftover pizza while Steve cooked up some venison.

* Answered the phone at 6:15 to have our friends ask if we'd be home so they and their two sons could swing by for a visit around 7:00.

* Said sure!

* Steve and I did a whirlwind "cleaning" of the downstairs, which really involved shoving random shit into random drawers to make the house look less cluttered.

* Jumped in the car to go and retrieve my own children from Grandma's house.

* Arrived back home just in time for the friends and their kids to arrive 5 minutes later.

* Hung out, talked, drank beer, smoked (the girls, not the guys. And only ever outside), watched the kids run around like lunatics, and glanced at the clock every now and then.

* Hoped around 9:30 that they'd leave soon since we were already past my kids' bedtimes.

* Kept hanging out, drinking beer, smoking, etc.

* Hoped around 10:30 that they'd leave soon since were already WAY past my kids' bedtimes.

* Kept hanging out, drinking beer, smoking, etc.

* Really, REALLY hoped around 11:00 that they'd get their asses out of my house so I could get my kids to bed.

* Kept hanging out, drinking beer, smoking, etc.

* Was thrilled at 11:15 when they FINALLY gathered up their sons to leave.

* Had the girls sleeping within 10 minutes after they left, and immediately jumped on the ol' computer to catch up.

* Obsessively checked Tink's blog to see which Golden Spork Award I've been given.

* Was bummed to read we won't know until Monday. I don't blame her at all given the amount of people she has to award. I just like to bitch. ;)

* Decided that tonight is the night that perhaps I should go to bed before 3AM like I've been doing for the past week.

So with that, I'm out of here. Later. And enjoy your weekend!

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I'm back, just to add my photo for Project 365. This is Grace and her friend, Seth, chilling out on the couch last night. I hate this photo (it was really underexposed and grainy), but it's the only one I took yesterday, so here it is. LOL!

Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!

I know I said I was going to do a blog entry for today that talked about yesterday. But I lied. I'm too farkin' tired. I've had insomnia all week (lots on my mind), and so in the past 7 days, I've probably gotten a total of 10 or 11 hours of sleep. Sigh. I seriously need to try to get to bed tonight. This is nuts!

Anyway, so I'm too tired to talk all about yesterday. Truthfully, I'm too tired to talk much about today if you want the truth. LOL! I spent the day trying to stay awake. And now it's 11:39 PM and I'm wide awake. Son of a bitch! [sigh]

Anyway, here's my photo for Project 365. We've been trying to (slowly) live a little bit "greener", so just yesterday, we switched out some of our regular light bulbs with the high-efficiency ones. The truth is, for me, it was more about their kick ass shape than the other benefits. LOL!

Oh, and due to the overwhelming results of my little poll, apparently, my "Highlights of the Day" format is going to be making a comeback. LOL! I have to admit, when I read over my older posts, I even laugh. It was fun blogging that way, so I guess I'll give it a whirl again in the next day or two and see if I can still pull it off. :)

Sorry gang.

I had every intention of doing a post tonight in the old format of "Highlights of the Day." I thought about it all day. Had the bullet points in my head. But around 7:15 tonight, Hannah ran into the doorknob on the bathroom door and put a nasty gash on her forehead, right above her eyebrow. It bled like a bastard, but only for a few minutes. I honestly didn't know if it even warranted a trip to the ER, but it was pretty deep and I was worried about a scar for the rest of her life, so off we went. I'm glad I took her in.

She did, indeed, need stitches. Five of them to be exact. And let me tell you, I have NEVER been as proud of her as I was tonight. She didn't shed a SINGLE tear or make a SINGLE sound as they gave her the Novocain shots or stitched her up. Not a peep. We were all absolutely amazed. She is such a trooper.

And in true Hannah fashion, she could care less about the stitches. She was just excited that she got a bracelet with her name on it at the hospital. LOL!

That, and the fact that tomorrow, the kids are supposed to wear their pajamas to school, and she had gotten blood all over hers. So I had to do a load of laundry when we got home from the hospital, but it's the least I can do for the little sweetie. She was totally good to go by the time we got home.

See?....

She's "lucky" in that it's literally right along the top of her eyebrow, so even if it does scar, it won't be very noticeable at all. Princesses don't have scars, ya know? ;)

And she thinks she's cool because I have a scar on my forehead, an inch or so above her stitches, from when I had some when I was a kid. And Steve has one in his other eyebrow when he needed stitches as a kid. I think we've convinced her it's the mark of a true L-------- (<--insert our last name there).

And note that in the second photo, she's wearing her sequined dress-up shirt. Because the second we got home and walked in, she stipped off her bloody pajama top and declared that she was going to play dress up. LMAO!

So I'll post my Highlights for today, but I'll post them tomorrow. It was one hell of a day, lemme tell ya (beyond the stitches). Words cannot describe how glad I am that tomorrow is a new day....

Take My Poll...

Over there in the margin. Can y'all answer that poll and tell me if you'd like to see the return of the "Highlights of the Day". For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about, click here and read a few. It's how all of my blog posts used to be formatted. I'm thinking of going back to it, but decided to ask you all instead. LOL! So take it, will ya?

Update: So far it looks like y'all like that format, huh? Hmmm... maybe I'll post that way today and see if I can get my groove on again. LOL!

Another hot day...

OK. So "hot" is pushing it. But in these parts, the 60-degrees that it was today is INSANE for January. Just absolutely insane. So Hannah and I once again, spent most of the day outside. We walked down the street and around the corner to the gas station to  grab some candy. Then we walked back home (stopping to admire the creek) and had a little "candy picnic" on the bench in our backyard. So that leads us to my Project 365 photo for today...

 

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Hmmm... what else? Oh! Got an email from my sister today saying her work email address has now been switched back to her maiden name. I had no idea she was even going to switch back, but good for her. If you're going to make a break, you may as well make a clean one. Her husband was also served with his divorce papers while at work today. Lovely. LOL! I have to say, I really admire her. It was a VERY hard decision for her to make. Her life has completely changed since deciding to leave him. She had to sell their house and now lives with my parents. That alone would make me think long and hard about the decision. But she has shown a great strength and I'm really proud of her. And one HUGE benefit of her now living with my parents is that now, every Saturday when the girls sleep at my parents' house, they're spending a lot of time with Aunt Kristin. My sister's starting to learn that all children aren't the spawn of the devil. And her and Grace in particular have become extremely close, which I think is awesome. So that's cool.

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I just want to say here that I think that my fellow blogger and friend, Tink, looks AMAZING in her newly purchased wedding gown. She doesn't have it posted anymore because her fiance shouldn't see the dress before the wedding. But trust me when I say that she's going to be one of the most beautiful brides I've ever seen. Now as long as I see a picture of her on her wedding day in that dress while also chugging a beer, I'll be a happy camper. ;)

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I'm on a Daughtry kick the past few days. I'm not sure if that makes me cool or lame, but whatever. Hell, it may prompt another couch-jumping session, so it's all good.

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I've decided I've got a bleeding heart. (Not literally.) But over the past few weeks, I've found myself wanting to help out as many people as I can... wanting to settle some differences I've had with people in the past... somewhat longing for some old friendships that have faded over the past few years... etc. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. But it does make one think a little "deeper" than one would sometimes like to. I feel like I've been told I have 2 months to live and I need to do all of those things I need to do to make peace with myself. I'm NOT dying (that I know of), but that's how I'm acting. As much as I like being a bit more compassionate lately, it's also taking a lot more energy and I'm not sure I've got it in me. LOL!

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I have a friend, Kelly, who has entered a photo contest. If y'all could click on over to http://www.merakohblog.com/ vote for her (Photo #1), that would kick ass and I'd really appreciate it. :)

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Uhhh... I think that's it. More tomorrow. The girls both have "school" and Steve's working, so I'll be home alone. Last week, that prompted the couch jumping session. Who the hell knows what could happen tomorrow. LOL! ;)

Another long one...

So tell me... how does one go from blogging once a week, to rambling on a daily basis. Weird.

Anyway, today was crazy warm. And I use the term "warm" relatively. It was all of 12-degrees last week. Today, it was almost 60. To people who live in warmer states, 60-degrees would have them all bundled up in winter coats and scarves. For us Northeasterners, 60-degrees has some of us outside in short sleeves, or (in my case) in just a hoodie. It was too warm not to take advantage of it, so while Steve was at work and Grace was at school, Hannah & I spent the entire day outside playing. It was awesome! And it prompted my photo for Project 365.

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Speaking of Project 365, I've been working on something for the past week. I decided that it would be really cool for me to put together a scrapbook of all of my photos for the project. I just think it will be awesome to look back next year (or any year after that), and on any given day, know what I did exactly one year earlier just by looking at my photo for the Project that day. Like, next year on January 5th, I'll know that one year before, I watched the Steelers lose the playoff game by one point (which totally sucked). And on January 6th, I'll know that one year earlier, it was fairly warm for us around here and Steve pegged Grace with a snowball. LOL! I also think it would be the kind of thing that my kids would think was pretty cool when they're grown up and I'm like, dead or something. LOL!

So anyway, I've decided to have 12 pages that have all of the photos from each month, and then 52 pages that have a week's worth of photos on them, complete with short blurbs that explain why I took the photo, or what the photo is, etc. This is what I've come up with.

This will be the monthly pages. Nothing fancy. Just each photo from each day on one page. (It will look much cooler once all of the squares are filled in. LOL!)

This will be the weekly pages. On each page, I'll switch out the backgrounds and move the frames around a bit. And I might vary the things I list like "Favorite Photo This Week", "Most Memorable Moment" etc. to be other things. And I'll add some more other scrapbooking stuff here and there, but for the most part, here's what they'll look like. I'm excited to see it when it's all done. :)

If any digital scrapbookers out there want that first template (the monthly one), let me know. I created that from scratch and even made the numbered stickers, so I can send it to you if you want it. Just comment or email me (if you have my email) and I'll send it off. I'd offer up the weekly one too, but I made that using stuff I purchased from designers, so I'm afraid you're on your own on that one.

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Let's see... what else? Oh, does ANYONE else that reads this blog watch "October Roads?" If not, you should. Best. Show. Ever. Like, for real. OK. So maybe not ever, but close. It's a REALLY good show and I need someone else who watches it to discuss it with me on Tuesday mornings after they watched it the night before. Please? Pretty please? Tonight, I cried (when Ikey pleaded his case) and then LMAO (when the guys karaoked to "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" by Meatloaf). And as hot as Catalda is, I want to punch his effing face in every week. [sigh] PLEASE tell me someone else watches it. Please?

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I have a 6-year-old up for adoption if anyone wants her. Just for a few days/weeks/months/or years. It depends on when she loses the attitude, starts listening to me when I tell her to do/not do something, and doesn't purposely try to get me so pissed off I'm ready to escape to an exotic island and not tell anyone where I am. If interested, contact me please. Once she returns to her normal sweet, sensitive self, I'd like her back. Thanks.

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I'm giving a shout-out to Kelly, who was awarded Pink Ink Studio's "Photo of the Day" honor for one of her Project 365 photos. Kelly and I love Pink Ink Studios, and I know she's too humble to tell the world about it, so I am. Leave her some love AND check out Pink Ink. Their Flickr group is amazing to browse though and gives me tons of inspiration for my photographs. :)

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I guess that's it for now. More tomorrow, my friends. :)

Just a Layout

Here's a layout I just finished up using some of the pictures I took of Hannah outside the other day.

Uhhh...

I don't really have much to say, surprisingly enough. LOL!  Steve and I were bummed (OK... pissed) that the Steelers lost their playoff game last night, but I will say that it was a kickass game! I LOVE games that have you glued to the TV until the final seconds because it could go either way.

Today was kind of a lazy day. The girls were at my mom's house until almost 2:00. And then as soon as they got home, we all went outside to get some fresh air. It's been around 12-degrees here the past week or so, so today when it hit 46, it felt like spring to us. So Steve took the girls for a walk/hike up in the field behind our house, where they both found "treasures" which consisted of some rocks, an old bike wheel, about 20 golf balls (hit into the field by Steve... Shhhh!), and they each found an animal bone. Lovely. LOL!

Then we just sort of ate dinner, sat around, and went to bed. LOL! I LOVE days like that.

Anyway, here's my photo for Day 6 of Project 365. Grace kept telling Steve she wanted to have a snowball fight (with what little snow is still on the ground), so Steve obliged. It was TOTAL luck that I snapped this photo right as the snowball hit her and exploded. Thankfully, she thought it was hilarious and kept asking for him to throw more. (Freak.)

I'll be back tomorrow with a few layouts I've been working on. :)

Just popping in...

...to share my photo for Project 365 from yesterday. I have to go shower and pick up the girls from my mom's house. But I'll post later. :)

DAY # 5

What our kitchen countertop looks like after a Pittsburgh Steelers game.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.... (And some eyebrows for Emma).

Yeah. I changed my blog template again. I've had about 8 different ones over the past 48 hours, but finally settled on this one. Nothing fancy. Nothing extravagant. Just me, my family, my words, and my photos. Sweet.

Soooo... I don't really have much to say today. LOL! I was ready to give both children up for adoption early this evening. Sure I'd miss them. But I would've asked for them back after they got rid of their damn attitudes, disrespect and horrible tempers. I'll tell you what... nothing makes you feel like Mother of the Year more than having an all out screaming match with your 6-year-old. Yup. Some proud moments this evening in our home. [sigh] Perhaps next time when she ticks me off, I'll just slam my MP3 player headphones into my ears, crank up "Crazy Bitch" and start jumping on the couch. And then when she tries to start jumping too, I'll yell at her and tell her only adults are allowed to do it. That'll teach her.

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So let's talk about eyebrows. I notice people's eyebrows. I'm not really sure why since I have no other weird obsession with them. I've never plucked, waxed, shaved, or did anything else to my eyebrows in my life. I don't need to. They're thin, very light in color, and practically non-existent. I guess I'm lucky? I dunno. Steve, on the other hand, has an abundance of eyebrow hair. I once told him it looked like he had two squirrel tails taped on his forehead. We laughed for (literally) hours over that one. I guess guys can get away with it though. I don't think the poor guy ever thought about it until I pointed it out to him. His dad has them. His brother has them. And I think Grace is going to have them too. ((((Grace)))) About a year ago, I opened up a photo of him in Photoshop and showed him what he'd look like if he had them waxed. The transformation was amazing. LOL! He says all the time he wants to go get them waxed. But it hasn't happened yet. Now before y'all go getting all "Love him for who he is..." on me, I'd like to make it very clear that I honestly don't give a rat's ass about the man's facial hair. He's hot regardless. It's more of a joke between us than anything. So no need to comment on my insensitivity, OK?

I've also noticed my SIL's eyebrows. Emma will be thrilled to see I'm finally posting a photo of the infamous "comma brows." I've been a little paranoid up until now to post it. Right around the time I first mentioned it on the blog, we gave her and my BIL our old computer. I had deleted things, rechecked things, etc., and the girl didn't even know how to turn the damn thing on when I gave it to her. But I had nagging thoughts that she'd become a computer genius and somehow pull up an old link to this blog and see what I had said about her. I had nightmares about it because the family feud that would ensue would not be pretty. But I'm pretty sure that at this point, I'm safe. I figure I've said stuff about her since then and nothing's come out of it, so I'm guessing if she would've found me here, she would've done it by now. (Side note: If anyone in my family ever finds this blog, I'm afraid Planet Alien will be permanently laid to rest. This girl needs a place to vent without anyone who shares my last name or who gave birth to me or grew up with me knowing about it. But I digress...)

I first noticed her eyebrows about a year ago. I'm not sure if they always looked the way they did that night and I hadn't noticed it, or if it was a new little experiment she was conducting on her face. Regardless, she's still doing it. Not every time I see her, but more often than not. It's kind of weird. I have no problem with chicks wearing makeup, waxing various body parts, etc. But isn't the key for it to look as natural as possible so people don't know you're faking it? I dunno. Maybe my thinking is twisted. But for real. Tell me what exactly she's doing when she does this to her eyebrows... (This is the only picture I have that really shows them. Sorry about that.)

 

I can totally see filling in your brows with a little makeup to make them appear fuller/better shaped/etc. But what's with the weird shape? And the perfectness. I tried to look closely (inconspicuously of course) that day to try to figure out exactly what she's doing. At the conclusion of my super secret spy mission, I've decided there's only one explanation. She has a stencil. There has to be an eyebrow stencil somewhere in her home. I'm convinced. She tapes the little stencil on her forehead in the correct position. Then she dips some sort of brush into some sort of goopy makeup with the consistency of brown lipstick and applies the makeup onto the stencil. I just don't get it. Eyebrows are made up of hair right? They aren't perfectly symmetrical shapes that end in a perfectly straight horizontal line, right? Shit. Maybe I'm the freak and I've looked like an idiot for the past 20+ years. Am I?

Anyway, I could go on and on, but I'm already afraid she has some sort of automatic Google search set up to scan the Internet every 4 minutes that will alert her if anything online contains the words "Jen" and "eyebrows."

So with that, I'm out of here. I'm having another beer, possibly another cigarette or two, and then I'm heading to bed. It's a busy day tomorrow my friends.

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I posted today's photo over on my Project 365 blog, but I'll post it here again too. It's pretty boring today in comparison's to yesterday's, but here is the Student Profile we had to fill out and send back to school so everyone knows a little bit about their Student of the Month." :)

OK. I'm back.

The kids still aren't in bed yet, but they're occupied for the moment, so here I am. Let's get talking...

1) Steve worked yesterday for the first time in months (concrete work isn't always possible in the dead of winter), and called in his two employees. One of them is a total freak. Good guy. Served in the war for a few months, etc. But a freak. He takes pictures of the ODDEST things with his cell phone (you seriously don't want details), and is basically a male whore. Sleeps with strippers on a regular basis, has a lot of one-night stands, etc. So anyway, Steve gets home yesterday and tells me that the guy screwed some chick and the chick wanted to film it. So he whipped out his cell phone and proceeded to record their entire um, "session". Complete with close-ups. Of their "parts". Ewwwww! The Ew Factor mostly applies to the fact that he came to work and showed his boss and co-worker. Would you show your boss your um,"parts"? I think not. Truthfully, the whole thing totally cracks me up. More power to him, I guess. But every time I hear the song "Crazy Bitch" now, I think of Steve's employee. Having sex. Ick.

2) So it's been cold here the past few days. REALLY cold. Last night, around 10:00, I grabbed another beer from the back porch (we're rednecks like that who keep their alcohol cold outside in the winter), and it was half-frozen. Beer slushees really aren't very enjoyable. Anyway, someone in my family brought a 2-liter bottle of diet soda on Christmas. Steve and I don't drink diet soda, so it must've been either my sister or my mom. Since we don't drink it, we just had it sitting on the back porch to give to my sister the next time she swung by. Well, when it's 12 degrees outside, liquids tend to freeze. And when liquid freezes, it expands. Yeah. So around 8:00 this morning, I walked outside to smoke a cigarette and was greeted by an exploded bottle of soda all over the back patio and on part of the house. Sweet. Soda slushees anyone? LOL!

3) Grace got off the bus this afternoon all smiles. She proceeded to tell me she was chosen as "Student of the Month" this month in her class. She's so stinking proud of herself, and we're proud of her too. See? Even freaks like me can raise somewhat decent kids. And you all doubted me. ;)

4) Couch jumping! WOOHOO! I had to take my photo for Project 365 today. Last night, after everyone else was sleeping, I was on the computer and listening to my MP3 player. I was jamming out (quietly), and half dancing around whenever I had to stand up for some reason (like to pee or grab another beer slushee). I knew if it hadn't been 2:00 in the morning, and the other people in the house weren't sleeping, I would've done a whole "Risky Business" thing and just danced around the living room, jumping on things, playing air guitar, etc. (fully clothed however). So today, after everyone else left the house, I did just that and took my photo for the Project. I must say, it was kind of fun. LOL! It's always nice when as a mom, you can do the things you tell your own kids not to. WOOHOO! So here it is -- my photo for January 3, 2008. WHHEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Lots to share again...

I can't type much right now, but I'll be back later to elaborate. On the agenda for discussion:

1) Steve's employee's "homemade porno" that he recorded on his cell phone and then brought to work to show to Steve and the other employee. (Eh?)

2) The 2-liter bottle of soda that exploded ALL OVER our back patio and back of the house.

3) Grace's honor she received at school today.

4) Couch jumping. WHEEEE!

Anyway, I'll be back later. The kids are here, dinner is soon, etc.

Long one today...

For some reason, it seems like the days I do the least in terms of productive tasks are the days that I have the most to blog about. I don't know if I'll ever figure out how that happens, but hey, we'll roll with it.

First of all, I'm LOVING that so many of you have decided to jump on the Project 365 bandwagon! It's soooo cool looking at everyone's photos everyday! I get excited to see everyone's new entry the next day. I've posted my second day's photo over on my Project 365 blog, and I've linked all of your project blogs in the sidebar too if any of the rest of you want to go browse. :) Today, I took a photo of exactly what $205.05 gets me at the grocery store. It kind of looks like a lot, but it's really not. In the photo, there are only 2 packs of meat (one pack of chicken breasts and one pack of T-bone steaks), so that's only two meals. Then there's veggies, some fruit, and some snack type stuff. And like 8 billion things to drink... milk, chocolate milk, juices, and smoothies. All of that will last us about 5 or 6 days. It's not unusual for us to spend up to $400 a week on groceries. It's because we buy 90-95% organic and all-natural food. Holy inflated grocery bill, Batman! Anyway, it's on my project blog, but I'll post it here too.

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I think I may be going to hell. Not that it was really in question before, but today really sealed the deal. So there are some Jehovah's Witnesses that swing by once a month or so. They're a lovely couple and they really aren't pushy at all. They stop, they chat, they ask about the kids, they hand me literature, and they leave. But sometimes, I just don't feel like talking to them. Not because they're Jehovah's Witnesses. Just because I don't feel like talking to anyone sometimes. So anyway, I happen to glance outside and see them pulling into our driveway this afternoon. It was one of those days I just wanted to be left alone and not smile politely and nod my head. So I ran upstairs before they got out of the car. The thing is, my car was in the driveway, all of the inside lights were on, and I had a Buck Cherry CD BLARING, and had no time to turn any of that stuff off. Um, oops. I have no doubt they could hear the music outside. And as luck would have it (my luck anyway), they happened to be knocking when song #7 was playing. Song #7 is "Crazy Bitch." The uncensored version. For those of you who don't know the lyrics, they go a little something like this...

Hey, you're a crazy bitch but you f*ck so good I'm on top of it...

When I dream of doing you all night, scratches all down my back to keep me right on.

And they continue along that same theme. Oh my. [sigh] Yup. They left when I didn't answer the door and I'm pretty sure they won't be back again. Either that or they will be back to try to save my soul. I'm sorry Jehovah's Witnesses. I didn't mean to subject you to my devil music today. Please forgive me.

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Dear Steve,

I'm so glad you love our children and enjoy having fun with them. But for the love of all things holy, can you PLEASE stop playing "bullfighter/bucking bronco" with them in the living room 5 minutes before bedtime, resulting in two very hyperactive children who have no intention of settling down anytime soon. And if you don't stop doing such things, I'm going to kick you in places daddies don't like to be kicked in.

Love,

Me

PS: If you ever forget it's garbage day again before you leave for work, leaving me to drag 4 big ass garbage cans down our fairly long and currently icy driveway in 20-degree weather with whipping winds, I'm also going to kick your ass.

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My kids' new favorite TV show is "Full House" which comes on Nickelodeon at 8:30. I laugh every time they watch it because I remember watching it when I was a kid and loving it. And when Hannah was little, several people told me she looked like the Olson twins when they were babies on Full House. And the truth is, she really did. LOL! I'll have to post some side-by-side photos tomorrow if I can dig some up. I'm not sure if I hope she grows up and looks like them, or dread it. They're hot, so maybe she could become famous and fund us in our old age. But if she's that hot, she might become a little hussy or something. LOL!

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OK. I think that's it for now. I'll be back tomorrow. :) Don't forget! There's still time to join in Project 365! Hell, it's only day 2. Cheat and take 2 photos today and go from there. We won't tell. LOL!

And so it begins...

I've decided to start a whole separate blog for my 365 Project. I'll still post my photos here too, but I wanted someplace where ALL of my photos for the project are in one place, without other stuff thrown in there too. I'm actually really excited about the whole thing. So if you decided to participate too, I'd love for you to link me up to your photos. If you decide to start a separate blog specifically for the project too, let me know and I'll link you up in my sidebar over there. :)

So without further ado, here's my first photo. I'm sure there will be some days where I just post the photo and don't write anything about it. But there will be days where I "journal" about the photo too, mostly for my own personal reasons. Today's, I think, is self-explanatory. Grace planted one on me, right when I was trying to take a picture of the two of us. Gotta love that kid...

Something to Do in 2008

So I've decided that this year I'm going to take part in Project 365. You take a photo a day. I practically do that anyway, but this project is going to make me pay more attention to exactly what I'm photographing. I'm going to try to take pictures of things that will let me look back at the end of the year and let me remember something I did or someone I met or whatever on any given day of the year. I'd love if some of you joined me in the adventure. It could be fun! :)

I'll be back later today to post my fist photo. :)

And so ends another year...

So there's exactly 54 minutes left in 2007, and I honestly can't say that makes me sad. This year wasn't horrible by any stretch of the imagination. But it sure as hell wasn't stress-free either. Lots of stuff happened. Nothing horribly traumatic, and nothing as bad as some people had to deal with. But it definitely had it's ups and downs. I'm not going to do a recap, because you can just read back over this blog if you're really that interested (and I don't know why you would be... LOL!). And I'm not going to list my new year resolutions, since I don't make them. Sure, there are some things I want to change or improve on in 2008, but I'm not stupid enough to put them in print or honestly expect them to happen. LOL!

I guess the bottom line is that it's the end of another year and I'm still happily married, still have two happy, healthy kids, and I still have a roof over my head and food on my table. One can't really ask for much more than that, now can they?

So here we are on New Year's Eve. The girls are asleep on the living room floor behind me, Steve's asleep on the recliner in the next room, and I'm on the computer, drinking a beer, listening to Dick Clark's New Year's Eve special, and emailing some friends here and there. When the ball drops at midnight, I'll probably smoke a cigarette, finish my beer, and head on upstairs to bed. Because I'm a party animal like that. And I'm cool with that too. My big, bad partying days are over for the most part, I'm afraid.

So as we end yet another year, I'll just leave you with some photos I took today. It snowed overnight last night, so the girls and I spent the day outside getting some fresh air. Not a bad way to end the year if you ask me...

So let's talk Christmas.

Yes, I realize Christmas is over. But I haven't shared some of my photos yet, so I'm afraid you're going to have to deal with it. LOL! I actually didn't take that many, and the ones I did take weren't that exciting. I just had too much going on that day with everyone coming here to our house to celebrate. It's funny how I can take 100+ photos of my kids on a regular day just running around outside and playing, but then a major holiday rolls around and I take like 15, tops. [sigh]

Anyway, here are a few I could salvage. None of them are great, but you get the idea.

First, we have some of our decorations. Our tree, our front windows, and the view of our front yard (standing at the front of the house... not from the street). (The tree photos were taken during the day while the sun was pouring in our front windows, so this is the best I can do.)

Next, we have the girls on Christmas morning. Yes, Hannah really wore that, and no, I didn't dress her. I'd like to think that was obvious, but I wanted to clarify just in case. She donned a leopard-print shirt, a leopard print jacket from her Cheetah Girls dress-up set (tied tightly at the chest), Grace's soccer shorts (yes, she's STILL wearing those damn things on a regular basis), and patent leather shoes with a little heel. Hell, who am I to tell her what to wear. It was Christmas and she was happy, so it's all good. (And when she grows up and becomes a cutting-edge fashion designer/trend setter, we can all say, "I knew her when...")Grace's shirt was opened that morning and had puppies on it so she really wanted to wear it. Knock yourself out, kid. Throw in a huge bear tooth necklace and the look is complete. Other people do that "formal" thing with their kids on Christmas, but I look at it as a day to do (and wear) whatever the hell you want to. ;) Oh, and that's Maya the Bear behind them. Merry Christmas Maya! LOL!

Alrighty. Moving right along, we have Hannah in her new Dora the Explorer fiesta dress-up dress. Lovely.

Next we have Uncle Kyle's contribution to the girls' Christmas loot. Kyle is my older brother. He thrives on buying the most annoying gifts in the world for the girls. Annoying to me anyway. They are always Grace and Hannah's favorite things ever. [sigh] Since the girls always do like his gifts so much, I don't mind. But it's become a sort of running joke. Anyway, when Hannah opened up this doozy on Christmas Day, my jaw dropped. Yup. We live in a mansion so this is no problem, Kyle. Um, NOT! LOL! But Hannah LOVES it and has spent several days since then in it, with her table and cash register outside on the "patio", selling coffee to all of us while using her new princess cash register. How can you be mad when a kid is that freakin' happy? LOL! (Oh, and Kyle has no children (and probably isn't having any), which means I can never get revenge, dammit.)

And finally, the annual Christmas family photo. Lovely, aren't we? LOL! From left to right, we've got my sister (Kristin), my SIL, my mom, my brother (Kyle, the gift buying bastard), my dad, me, my aunt (mom's sister), Steve, my grandmother (mom's mom), my uncle, and my grandfather (mom's dad). Obviously, that's Grace and Hannah in the front, holding their new American Girl dolls. Yup. That's us. Do we bear an uncanny resemblance to the Beverly Hillbillies or what? ;)

And notice how Steve towers above the rest of us. LOL! We're a short family. I think Grace is going to be tall like Steve's side, but obviously, Hannah got the genes on my side. Rock on.

(That odd thing next to Steve's head is the beehive that's part of Maya the bear's mount. I realize it looks odd, but I didn't feel like Photoshopping it out yet. LOL!)