SNOW DAY!

I'm digging it.

hahahahahaha...whoo boy. The jokes just don't stop around here.

My favorite part of a snow day is when the snow plow comes down my street and puts a a two foot snow drift at the end of the driveway--the driveway I just shovelled.

Good times.

I hear we're supposed to get more tonight in addition to painful subzero wind chill factors.

As I was scooping out the artic shelf at the end of my driveway, I noticed that my neighbor hadn't touched his yet.

Normally this particular neighbor has his shit down to the pavement before I've finished my first cup of coffee.

He's well past retirement age, but in fantastic shape. I see him riding his bike all over the neighborhood all the time and once in the pouring rain. He may be old, but I guarantee he's no slouch.

What does he know that I don't?

I'm not touching the driveway until tomorrow even if the wind fucks up all my hard work. I don't plan on going anywhere until I absolutely have to.

I'm off to go make the requisite snow day hot chocolate and get a fire going in the fireplace.

New and Improved

Hey look! Didya' see it? My new header there?

It must be "Be Nice to Bacon Lady" today because a certain someone sent me my rockin' new blog header up there.

Cool, right?

If he lived closer I would totally make him a big plate of these.

Instead of salad I would fill them with more bacon.

College was way more fun the first time around

I've got Mommy Guilt.

I've always hated that term.

I started my math adventure this morning. After a brief bout of nausea and some cold sweats I've decided that I am going to kick this class's ass. I have to just get over the fact that I haven't taken a math class since my sophomore year in college and I'm way out of practice. It probably doesn't help that that last math class was statistics and I was chemically altered for much of it.

I passed it though. I think I got a C. He must have been grading on one hell of a curve.

Because my class starts at 8am Mondays and Wednesdays, I cannot drive the girls to school those days.

It's not that Jim is incapable of covering that duty either. He pulls his weight around here in spades. I'm lucky that his work schedule allows him to do it too.

I just can't over the fact that I feel like I am shirking my responsibility as a Mom.

I quit my job to stay home with my girls almost 4 years ago. It's a decision I never saw myself making. However, though I want to hide in the bathroom with a bottle of bourbon some days, it's been one of the best choices I've ever made.

I know how lucky I am to have that choice in the first place. I know that going back to school is important and that, again, I am lucky to have the choice to do it. I know all this, but because it is something that is just for me, I feel guilty.

I guess in the big picture, this is not all for me. Once I am done with this degree then (hopefully) the next, I will be in position to have a new career to provide a future for my kids that doesn't include student loans and money worries.

My furthering my education is not only a benefit to me, but to my girls. Also, once I have a real live paycheck with health insurance benefits, I can lighten the load on my husband. I know it doesn't seem like a dude who runs a comic book store would work his ass off, but he does. He might have a great time doing it, but he pours a lot of himself into it.

He doesn't worry about money like I do which is good. He plays the straight man to my neurotic kookoopants around here. I know money shouldn't matter, but it sure seems to when you're not real sure if it's going to be there when you need it.

We have a home, food on the table and the utility bills paid so I shouldn't complain. And I'm not. I just get nervous about the state of the economy right now. People don't put comic books high up on their list of "needs", so I know the bottom could fall out at any moment.

And maybe that all ties with the guilt I am feeling. I'm spending money to go back to school when we should be saving as much as we can in case the well dries up. But I need to go back to school to get a job to have money to save.

Blabbity blah blah.

Just tell me to get over it already.

Maybe I just need a Valium?

I need a fucking vacation.

I feel like I have been in the house for months on end. Part of it is the weather I guess. Part of it is the fact that the girls never stop talking. There is a running commentary on EVERYTHING every second they are here and awake. It's usually them arguing over something really stupid too. I would never tell them that (mostly because "stupid" is a bad word around here...unless we are discussing the current administration), but I do try to explain that they can BOTH be the goddamned sparkly princess dragon fairy ferchrissakes.

I can't send them outside to run off some of this pent up energy either. It's just too damn cold. Even if I did bundle them up and send them out, there isn't even any snow to play in. They'd just want to come back inside after a few minutes anyway. And I wouldn't blame them.

Tomorrow is Sunday and the only day off Jim gets. Ever. I told him that I really need to leave the house BY MYSELF for a couple of hours. Seeing the crazed look in my eye, he wholeheartedly agreed.

Winter is really getting to me this year.

What I'd really really like to do is drop the kids off at Grandma's house and hop a plane to somewhere sunny and warm for a long weekend with Jim...but that costs money we don't have.

I just signed up for the Delta Skymiles American Express credit card. I got the offer in the mail and, even though I dropped a no credit card rule bomb 'round here before Xmas, I might need to use it at the dogs' vet appointment next month.

The bill usually hits around the $600 mark when it's all said and done. I don't have that kind of dough right now and I can't bring myself to skip their annual exams. If I don't get it done they won't get their shots and tags. I can't board them without that which means we can't go out of town overnight.

I got a free "companion ticket" for signing up for the card and I'll get enough miles for a free domestic round trip if I spend $500 on it in the first three months (or something like that).

I haven't read all the fine print on how exactly this deal works, but I'm thinking we might have a couple of plane tickets to burn here in the next couple of months.

Maybe I will actually get this vacation.

Where should we go?

Florida? Vegas? New Orleans? The Gulf Coast?

I can hear the four horsemen on the horizon...

My Mom has a facebook profile.

This afternoon I got a friend request thing from my brother. That's all fine and good. Considering the fact that he made fun of me for having one (his exact words were, "Aren't you a little OLD to have one of those?"), I was a bit suprised he took the plunge.

He's been all over the world, did a Peace Corps stint and still travels to exotic places for his job, so it only made sense for him to join the big social experiment in order to keep up with all of his worldly friends.

Apparently he used the email search function to find people he knows because my mother got one too.

I called her this afternoon to tell her my embarrassing story of the day.

I totally wiped out walking to my car after having lunch with Jim and Audrey today. I slipped on some mud or something. Not quite sure exactly how, but I do know that I feel pretty crappy right now and I have a hole in the knee of my new-ish jeans.

"Oh by the way," mi madre says, "Daniel has one of those facebook things. I signed up to see his pictures."

"Uh...cool. A face whatnow?"

"Facebook. You know. You put pictures and stuff up on it."

"Oh, right. Good for him."

"Yeah, good for him."

"Next thing you know, he'll be writing a blog! That would be weird. Only weird people have blogs."

"Take it easy today OK?"

"OK, Mom. I think I'll take a bath when Jim gets home. Just a bath. No facebook stuff or blogging. Blogging is for losers."

"Uh...OK honey. Kiss the girls for me and...think about taking a nap."

Ten Honest Things

1. I cannot stand when people are late, absent any good reason. And even with a good reason I still get irked. This was especially maddening when I was doing hair in a salon.
When I am late for something I just about have a full on panic attack. If I'm not ten minutes early, in my mind, I am late.

2. I also cannot stand when people chew with their mouth open or slurp their drink.

3. I hate when my feet feel dry and scratchy, especially if I have to walk barefoot across cement. BLECH!

4. I love taking baths. It's like a hobby of mine. If I don't feel good either mentally or physically, a super hot bath always fixes me right up.

5. I use sugar and both powdered and liquid creamer in my coffee (all at the same time) when I drink it at home.

6. I am turning 35 in a couple of weeks and I am not happy about it. This is the first birthday that is bumming me out, and I hope it's not a pattern because there's not turning back the clock.

7. I am having a hard time with sending my youngest off to kindergarten in the fall. It's not that she's not mentally ready. She's just so tiny for her age and I'm worried she'll get run over by all the other kids. Hopefully having a big sister will have taught her the proper way to throw an elbow without getting caught.

8. I love love love reading true crime novels (or "murder books" as my husband calls them). I'm also obsessed with the television equivalent. When I found the ID channel I about peed myself with excitement.

9. Ever since I was old enough to read and write I've wanted to be a (paid) writer. It doesn't look like that's happening any time soon so blogging is the next best thing. I'll take what I can get.

10. I love my family. Some days I wonder how the hell I got here, but I am so happy I did. Without them and my wonderful friends, I would most likely be the subject of one of those books or TV shows I love so much. I wish I was kidding.



Big ups to Alice at Mindless Rambling of a 26 Year Old for this prestigious award (seriously, she sent a fruit basket and day spa gift certificates with it. What? You didn't get yours?).

I'm supposed to tag some people to continue the gut spilling. I can only think of two people off the top of my head that would really really get into this.

Earth Muffin and Astroboy.

Get to work, bitches!

And not a single bra in my freezer

Mina hosted her first slumber party last night.

They had fun. I survived.

I took some adorable pictures, but I feel weird posting photos of other people's kids without their permission. Getting their permission would mean letting them read this blog. Letting them read this blog would mean my kid probably wouldn't be invited to any more play dates.

So, no so cute your face will fall off pictures. Sorry.

The two girls Mina invited over arrived promptly at 5pm and immediately made a mad dash for Mina's room to play. Santa brought Mina a kiddie makeup set for Christmas, so they made short work of that right away.

I told Santa I wasn't really down with first graders wearing makeup, but he told me to loosen up a bit. It's only for fun. No one's entering Mina into a beauty contest. No harm. No foul.

Jim had a thing in Chicago so I suggested he take Audrey to my parent's house to avoid any bickering between her and her sister. They get along for the most part, but I know that when one has their friends over, all bets are off. Mina got to have her little party without competing for attention and Audrey got Grandma and Papa all to herself. Everybody wins!

My friend Lauren came over for the first part of the night. She's the art teacher at one of the local elementary schools. It was nice to not only have another adult there to hang with, but an adult who is used to dealing with kids in groups.

I know how to deal with my own kids. They know I do not take whining or bullshit or general dumbfuckery lightly. When you add two other kids I'm not raising into the mix, I'm always afraid of permanently scarring someone.

I fed them dinner, fed them brownies, let them loose on some pre-prepared craft supplies and gave them full reign on pretty much whatever they wanted to do.

This when I realized that having an odd number at a slumber party isn't such a hot idea.

They have such different personalities that it was inevitable that someone was getting left out.

Mina can get along with pretty much anyone, but I could tell she was being pulled back and forth between her two guests.

One is quiet and thoughtful. She would rather sit and color and do crafty stuff and chat. Mina is all about making art. They get along famously.

The other girl is loud and likes to do a million things at once. Mina is all about being loud and raucous. They get along famously.

It's the dynamic between the two guests that didn't go so well.

The loud girl kept snarking at the quiet girl. Not cool.

The loud girl kept trying to tell Mina secrets while leaving the quiet girl out of it. Double not cool.

I could see Mina trying to please both of them, to keep both of them happy and it was killing me not to tell the loud girl to cut the bullshit.

I tried to stay close enough to ward off hurt feelings, but I also thought they needed to work some stuff out on their own.

It got to be 9:30 and I was dropping big ol' hints that they needed to start thinking about going to bed.

Mina usually goes to be at 7:30, even on the weekends. She's 7 years old. She needs her sleep, period.

I finally got them to lay down at 10 pm.

I think I was asleep by 10:05.