Anyone want to join me for a margarita??

I am on my second though, so you may have to work to catch up.

Mine are going fast...

It was a rough day....I can't quite put my finger on *why*, but my current buzz sure is nice in comparison.

The kids are in bed, and the hubby is at a meeting. I should be working out, but the call of the treadmill was a little less convincing than the tequila.

I know this is a pretty lame post, but I thought I would at least write something to let you all know that I'm still around....buzzed (hehe), but still around.

I hope everyone had a great fourth!

Thanks for the birthday wishes and dealing with my pity party!

I especially liked the thought of going out and getting wasted...which I haven't done in a LOOOONG while. You know, just let go and let loose. Something to plan for huh? lol.

That's how life changes when you have a family. You have to "plan" to have fun. Kinda sucks, but it's just the way it goes when you're an adult.

I'm over my little pity party now, which is a good thing because those just bite. I did some self evaluation, and I think I've figured out the problem.

I need to go ahead and go to school.

I love my kids, I love being a stay at home Mom (most days!), but it's also time to invest a little into Lori.

I've always wanted to be a counselor, and I'm feeling the itch to make it happen. I visited a local school that is set up for us "adults" that are in the real world. They have a masters program for Licensed professional counselors/Marriage and Family therapists...and I'm going to go for it.

You're allowed 6 years to complete the program...hopefully I can do it in the time allotted!! With all of my other responsibilities, it's a valid worry at this point in time.

So....I want to be a shrink. I never really thought that would happen, but I'm looking forward to it!

I'll update later on the program and everything.

I must now go clean up my dirty children and restock the fridge...you know, those "other" responsibilities that I mentioned?

Happy Birthday To Me

Yeah right.

Just another day in my life where I feel pretty much forgotten.

I talked to my father last night when we got home from Fort Lauderdale and he had already forgotten about it. I guess he sent a card some time last week (I only know this b/c he had to call and get my address) and that's fulfilled any obligation to recognize the day. Pretty typical of my Father.

My Mom called this morning and made no mention of it until I asked her if she remembered what day it was. This, after spending a LOT of time and money on her surprise 60th party 2 weeks ago.

Did I mention that my birthday is only 3 days after her's? As a Mother, I think that would be pretty hard to forget...but she did.

Kelly did cook me breakfast in bed, which was sweet, but nothing else is going on. He's napping and we still don't know what we're doing for dinner, but one thing is for damn sure...I'm not cooking.

It sucks that *I* have to plan my own birthday dinner.

Oh..to top it off, my lovely "friend" came today.

That would probably explain why I've been quite bitchy lately...and my excuse for today as well.

Hopefully the rest of my 34th year shapes up to be a little better than today.

Sushi and compassion...an interesting mix

To sum up tonight....and excellent meal followed by a heart-heavy moment.

Dinner was good tonight, we went to an amazing restaurant that serves Japanese and Thai food. I had the BEST Tom Yum soup and the freshest sushi I've had in a while. Landon scarfed down some shrimp wonton soup ( YUMMMM!), veggies, wontons and all, and then almost another full plate of terriyaki chicken and rice. Colin was content with his broth and rice...UGH! If only the child would *try* something! He talks about how good things smell, but still refuses to try them...how frustrating is that? That's beside the point though.

After dinner, we headed down to Carvel to get some ice-cream, just a short walk away from where we had dinner. As we walked up, I noticed an older man standing right by the door in tattered, dirty, clothes. He wore glasses and had a full beard on his noticably dirty face. He was eating an ice-cream cone and silently watching the tv through the front window of the store. He stood next to a grocery cart full of plastic bottles and aluminum cans, and there was a tattered comforter folded neatly on top of it.

For some reason, my heart immediately went out to him. He never extended his hand to ask for anything or even looked my way, but my heart broke when I tried to imagine the circumstances that brought him to this place in his life.

We went in and bought our ice-cream cones and decided to go outside to eat them. The man was still there, standing by the window silently. Not one person spoke to him, and it seemed as if everyone just looked right through him. It seemed as if to others, and even to himself, that he wasn't "present".

A few minutes later, he walked into Carvel. I only noticed because a security guard ran past me to go in to the restaurant, obviously he was following the man. The homeless man walked to the counter and ordered a cone. A man outside commented to his wife, chuckling "Watch, this guy is going to be kicked out of here in 10 seconds...10, 9, 8.....". As he said that the homeless fellow walked to the counter and pulled out some money to pay for what he ordered. Then he walked out to the same spot to eat it and watch tv again.

Colin and Kelly finished their cones, and the one that Landon and I were sharing was just a melted mess, so we were done. I headed to the trash can with it, which just so happened to be right behind the homeless man. As I carried it by him, he looked at it like a dog might watch scraps that someone is about to throw away. I asked him, "Would you like this?" and he said, "yes...please." I handed it to him to finish eating it.

Yeah...maybe it's a little gross to some, but my heart broke even more when I handed it over to him. How could he end up here? He had to be sick....lost....something had to have happened that was beyond his control.

Before we left, I walked up to him and asked him if he minded if I gave him something, and I handed him the $5 that I had in my wallet. I said, "God bless you..." and he said the same to me. He seemed shocked beyond belief that someone spoke to him...much less gave him any money. I only wish that I had more.

We walked back to the car and past the security guard who was still watching him very carefully. I asked him if he was a threat to anyone. The security guard went into a tirade about how he was a public nuisance and that he had already gotten 20 calls from people who didn't want him "hanging around" and, what if he had hepatitis and he breathed on me or one of my kids and we "got" it too. I told him that the man seemed sick, and he said, "oh yes...I'm sure he is...he needs to be in a hospital or something". So I said, "Well, then is there someone that we can call that might be able to help him?" "Nah....here's the police, I'm sure that they're here to pick him up".

For what? Buying some ice-cream and trying to enjoy it outside like the rest of us?

What an A$$hole!!

I just don't understand how people can see someone like that who is in NEED...true need, and just pass them by....on top of that...COMPLAIN about him! He has to be someone's son, brother, uncle, or friend. Maybe even someone's FATHER! What if he's lost and he's doing all that he can just to survive day to day? What if he has dementia or alzheimers and has no idea who he is, or where he belongs? What if people are looking for him, missing him, and he has no idea that they are even out there?

It made me sick, and I cried when we left. I wish I could have done so much more to help him.

I don't think that I'll ever forget his crystal blue eyes behind those dirty lenses.

They reminded me so much of Colin's.

God forbid he's ever in that place one day......

I hope that if he ever is that *someone* would extend a helping hand or a gesture of compassion instead of looking down their noses and laughing at his misfortune.

Never thought I'd say this....

....but, I need to work out......regularly.

I hadn't done so in a week and a half due to our traveling, and boy...I was bitchy the last two days.

I guess it could be just plain 'ole pms too.

I decided to take advantage of the treadmill here at the hotel, and I feel SOOOooooo much better.

I'm sure my family will appreciate me taking the time to work out as well. *I* didn't even want to be around me today.

Pools + Footballs = HUH??

WTF is it with kids that want to throw hail marys in the freakin' pool??

I thought this was just an issue at our neighborhood pool and that we would be safe to swim at our leisure here in Fort Lauderdale.

Alas, I was sadly mistaken.

I went through the swimming ritual with the boys yesterday so we could head downstairs and cool off.

Sunscreen on Colin.

Chasing Landon and pinning him down with two handfuls of suncsreen, and then praying that I got most of him covered.

Getting the swimsuits on the boys, and then *finally* getting my suit on and spraying myself down with sunscreen.

It only takes about 45 minutes, so you know I was hoping for at least a *little* longer of an outing after all of that work.

We got downstairs and got Colin's swimmies on. (He thinks that he can swim, by the way, which scares the living hell out of me. He can stand on his tippy toes at our neighborhood pool, and he assumed that he could here. It only took him a few seconds to realize that he *can't* swim after all.)

So, once Colin has on his flotation devices, Landon and I plopped in the pool as well. We like to stay by the stairs so that Landon can walk around and splash at will.

Within a matter of 20 minutes, 5 or 6 boys showed up.....with their damn football.

Within 5 minutes of *that*, they had taken over either end of the pool and were tossing it back and forth.

Now...have any of you been *hit* with a football? They are not soft. Do these kids give a shit about that? Not in the least. Are there any parents around that might remind them of that fact? Nope.

So...me being the kind, nice, lady that I am (snort!), I stepped up and asked them to please be careful. I tagged that phrase with, " I will be very upset if me or one of my boys gets hit."

Within 10 minutes of that statement, I felt a huge ***SPLASH*** right by my head. I turned slowly to see all of the boys pointing to one kid at the far end of the pool.

I calmly stated to all of them, " I don't really care who threw it, you guys are monopolizing the pool. Everyone who would like to swim cannot because they are scared they are going get hit in the head!"

Needless to say, the throwing stopped...for at least the next 15 minutes.

As we walked back up to our room, I watched as a 20'something walked into the pool area.

Towel and, you guessed it, football in arm

WTF???

Knock, knock, knock....HellooooOOOOoooooo??

Anyone there??

Probably not.

Well, I did fall off the face of the earth for a while there. Sorry about that to anyone who may still be reading/checking.

I haven't had much to write about, so I figure it wasn't worth taking the time to start something that I knew I wouldn't finish.

Currently....life is pretty good. We are vacationing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida as we speak. It's quite interesting. I can tell that this town is geared for the younger/drinking crowd. There are loads of families, don't get me wrong, but the restaurants are hysterical. Three for one drink specials were on the menu where we ate last night. Your choice of a long list of martinis, house liquors, and wine. I felt like a little drinky-poo after our long day of travel, so I decided to go for it. Of course, we read the fine print later and found that there was no "sharing"....that meant it was SIX drinks for the two adults at the table. Hmmmmmm. Have I mentioned before that I'm a lightweight?

Needless to say, I was relaxed and loads of fun after dinner. The boys all went swimming in the ocean while the thunder and lighting acted up in the distance. I'm sure the sober Mommy would have put up more of a fight upon seeing that, but drunk Mommy just let the boys have their fun.

Luckily...no one was electrocuted.

Don't get me started on some of the people here...my GOSH!!! Loads of PDA goin' on and it's not necessarily of the hetero variety. Not that I care or mind what other people do, but with two small children, one of which is VERY observant and extremely curious, I will have some "splainin" to do soon.

Won't that be fun.

This morning, Kelly left for a CPE class around 8:15. Guess who had some quality alone time for one full hour PLUS fifteen minutes??!! MEEEEE!!!

Colin woke up around 9:30, and Landon, well, THAT boy slept until 10:00!!!!!!

WHOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOO!!!

The boy has discovered the luxury of sleeping in. I think my life is taking a positive turn from here on out.

We're in a hotel that overlooks the ocean and the intracoastal waterway. The boys and I had a great time eating breakfast and watching all of the boats. I now need to head to the shower and get ready for dinner.

Hey, a week of no cooking, sleeping late, and lounging at the beach??

I can handle that!

Maybe in my new-found relaxed state, I will be able to post more.

We can only hope!

Andria....

Email me where to send the Hotsling to at: another_sweet_day@yahoo.com

I'll get it out some time this week. Probably not tomorrow b/c I have strep throat and I need to do a little more recovering.

Hope you guys are doing well!!!

To my blogosphere friends...

I'm really sick of blogger right now.

Every time I try to comment on one of your blogs, I get booted off for some reason.

I'm still here, trying to *finish* a post, but having difficulty. Can you tell the last one was supposed to be about my allergies. I have no idea how I managed to get the ONE sentence up on the blog!

It sucks to type 280 words only to lose what you've done.

ANDRIA....you're little girl is absolutely ADORABLE, and, I have a hotsling that I would be glad to send you if you'd like it. You just need to go to the website: www.hotslings.com and see what you're size would be. Mine is a 4, and if that's what you need...it's yours.

I'm still reading everyone, I just can't comment for some reason. SORRY!

My eyes are on FIRE!

Hobby Lobby

Have any of you ever been to this place?

Oh. My. Gosh!

Being in a new house that is in DESPERATE need of decorating and finding Hobby Lobby is pretty much the definition of bankruptcy!

This place has everything you could imagine to decorate your home. From mirrors to artwork, fake plants to furniture. To top it off, it feels like you're in the bargain basement because everything is marked 30% off!! 50% off!! It makes you feel like you're saving a TON even though you might not be. (It's all about how it makes you feel right?).

Every type of crafty neccesity is in the back from crayola to proffessional paints to markers and crayons.

The boys and I were all in HEAVEN!

So, about $100 lighter, we're home after our shopping spree. Colin is painting MONSTER trucks and I am about to break out my paints to create some "buggy" masterpieces for the boys' bathroom.

I'll have to post some pics when we're done.

Too bad Kelly came across a 40% off coupon TODAY.

I guess we'll just have to use it next time.

BWA ha ha ha ha!!!

Nope, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth

Sorry, to those few, few people who may still visit!

I'm still here...only a little sick myself these days. Whatever amazing Mommy immunity I managed to build up has failed me with the most recent wave of germs in our home. It's just a cold, but enough to make me feel like crap.

Landon is a runny-nosed mess, albeit a VERY CUTE one, and Colin is now following suit as well. My home now smells of vicks as I have every available outlet taken up with a Sudacare vapor plug. These, folks, are a miracle of modern medicine. If you've never tried them, do. Sleeping while congested is miserable, and these make it bearable.

I'm just sayin'.

**********************************

I haven't walked on the treadmill for two days now, and I'm starting to feel like a slug. Being sick is my excuse, but that's over with as of tomorrow. I'm not giving up on myself just yet. This just means that I don't get the weekend off from working out, but I can handle it.

I've been consistently working out 5-6 days a week for a month now, and I'm really starting to notice a difference in my body. The scale says that I've lost about 4 pounds, but my clothes are fitting a LOT looser. I've even had a few people comment that they can see a difference. It's so nice to finally be seeing results!! I don't know if I'll get back to 109 pounds, but I'm definitely giving it my best shot!

**********************************

So...that's the hole that I've been in lately.

My next post will probably involve my crazy ass idea of going to grad school some time in the near future. As if I don't have enough going on in my life. I'm still in the research stages of it, but I'm really hoping that it might become a reality. I'm ready to start investing some time and energy into Lori.....

Novel idea huh??

Strep

as in strep throat.

It seems like it never ends.

Weren't the boys sick just last week??

Colin is on his third antibiotic in about 3 weeks.

Nice.

Luckily, we caught this early. I thought it was his ears because he had an infection at the beginning of April and maybe it just didn't get cleared up.

I just pray that no one else in the house gets it. That would be best case scenario, but it's not usually how things play out in this household.

I'm going to go buy some stock in Lysol tomorrow morning.

Catch you guys on the flip side!

No, no, NO!

Ahhhh....the terrible two's.

Has anyone told you that they don't wait until exactly 24 months to begin?

My littlest man. He's officially 20 months today. That's T-W-E-N-T-Y months.

That would be a mere FOUR months away from the big TWO.

His baby-ness is slipping away. The little boy who used to only want Mamma, now chases after his Daddy with his own lawn mower and adores his brother so much that he's Colin's little shadow. *I* feel lost in the shadows a bit.

I know, in the utlimate scheme of things, this is really what I want. I want him to grow up...but it doesn't stop me from missing that little fella who used to be my mommy's boy.

The good news is...he's growing. You may remember that at one of his last well-baby checks, he was only in the fifth percentile for his weight. Well...I think/hope, that he's been putting on a good bit since then. I have a hard time picking him up lately. I'm thinking he's packing on the pounds. Of course, it could be that he wiggles and squiggles like a crazed animal each time I reach for him now.

He has another check-up on Wednesday, so I'll be happy to report back the results then.

He's still talking up a storm. LOADS of words. The most amazing thing is that he's so polite. "taint-too" (thank you), "pees" (please), and "cooz meee" (excuse me) are some of the words he uses most often. NOT as often, however, as "NO!"

That's what I mean by the terrible two's hitting early. Even if he really means "yes"...the answer is currently a strong "no" at first.



That streak of independence. I love it and hate it all at the same time.

Bye-bye my baby, and get ready world!! This guy is going to be one tough cookie...but a heck of a lot of fun!




Is that not one of the cutest little tushies you've ever seen??

Where oh where....

Where oh where is my contact lens,

Where oh where could it be????

I went to sleep and left it in,

woke up and now I can't see!

.................................................................


I know what you're thinking. Shut up.

The fact that I had two beers last night and I'm a lightweight have absolutely nothing to do with this.

I have been wearing contacts for 19 years and this has never happened. Yes, I've lost one when I was rubbing my eye or something, but go to sleep with it in and then wake up and it's gone....never.

I keep rubbing my eye to see if it rolled back somewhere, and it's still not appearing.

I guess it's lost for good.

Oh well.

That's an interesting way to start the day.

Snakebite...mmmmm

Anyone ever had one?

The drink, not the actual experience.

It's a mixture of a draft lager (Harp) and cider (woodchuck)...and it's heavenly!!!

Kelly and I got a babysitter tonight (2nd time this week....this is getting expensive!) and went out. There's a new pub called "Sixpence" and it's such a nice place to go. Roof-top seating in the 65 degree weather...a nice breeze blowing and a snake-bite in hand.

This, is my new favorite place.

Ahhhhh....I'm lost in the haze of two of them, and about ready to lay my head on my soft pillow for the night.

I just had to share with the blogosphere...go out and try a snakebite tonight...you won't regret it!

These....are the days of our lives

All of the sudden, life seems a hell of a lot better. Why is that?

Maybe it's the fact that we're all relatively healthy, maybe my walking/running 2 miles a day is really paying off as far as my mood and energy level. I'm sure a large part of it is the fact that Kelly's work has eased up a bit and he's actually "here".

What do I mean by "here"? Well, when he's home...he's actually participating in the family, talking to us, enjoying us. I wonder if he even knows how removed he becomes when work is weighing on him like it has been?

We went out sans children Saturday night. It was nice. We discussed how difficult the last few months have been for both of us, and I think we're on the same page for now. We both realize how close things came to falling apart...and that's pretty damn scary.

My biggest issue is that 20 years from now, I don't want to look back and wish I had done things differently. Of course, I'm sure there will be things that I wish I could change, but I want us to *live* our life...not just wish it away.

I want to create memories for our boys. Happy, fun, times that they can look back on and and talk about long after we're gone.

I want to create memories for Kelly and me. I mean, shit, we got married first because we loved each other, and had fun together. We didn't say, "yeah, let's get married, have kids and work our asses off so that we can grow apart and never see each other." I can't imagine anyone that wants that.

Part of making those things happen, is planning. This may sound stupid, but we are going to create a family calendar. We're going to plan our days, weeks, months...even YEARS ahead just like Kelly plans at work. THAT way, when it's on the calendar...time is made for that event, and it's a priority.

This is really more for Kelly's benefit than for mine. He's a planning/calendar type of guy. I've realized that, for him to make us part of his, well life...he's got to actually see us there on paper (or the computer screen), scheduled and blocked as something that happens at a certain time and a certain place.

Now...let me just say, this probably makes him sound like a total and complete ass, and that's not what I mean. Kelly is a really good guy, who just has an AMAZING work ethic...almost too good. I know that he loves me, and that he loves the boys. He just gets so totally and completely focused on work during his busy season, that we tend to fall by the wayside. In fact, he's just like his father. He's a much better Dad than his father was...but, he works just as hard as his Dad did.

SOOooooo....hopefully things are on the upswing here. Thanks for bearing with the pity party for a while. I was getting pretty tired of the whiny me too.

So. On the agenda to write about in the next few days:

• T-ball is FUN!! There is nothing like watching 20 little guys running around that ball field. Half of them have no idea what they are doing, but they have a damn good time doing it. Pictures to come as well.
• My littlest fella is really growing up. Landon's new favorite word is, "no-no!". "Can Mommy have a kiss?" "NO!" "Can Mommy have a hug?"...."No-NOOOO!" Sigh. I can see how people move on to have more babies, even though that first year is hell. I think my days of hugs and snuggles are dwindling, and I miss my snuggly little guy. OH...and have you SEEN Andria's BEAUTIFUL little girl??? Oh. My. Gosh. It makes my ovaries ache!
• What is it with my boy and shoes? One of Landon's favorite past-times is going through all of my shoes and wearing them around the house. His favorite pair are blue, pointy-toed heels. Should I be worried??

I'm back, and feeling a little better

Thanks to those of you who posted after my pitiful little rant the other day.

I'm feeling a little better. Nothing like a stomach virus to *really* knock you on your a$$ so you can truly see how awful life can be.

Wednesday morning, I started puking around 12:30 am, and I was out for the count the rest of the day. Kelly had absolutely no choice but to stay home and take care of the kids because I was totally worthless. All I could do was lie in bed and moan and every now and again pray to the porcelain goddess.

ICK.

I wasn't able to eat anything until around 9:00 pm last night, so hey, on the bright side...this has at least helped to jump-start my weight loss program right?

I feel ONE THOUSAND times better today and my outlook is MUCH brighter after having survived the previous night's puke-fest.

Isn't life funny that way?

CONGRATULATIONS ANDRIA!!!!

My "Boy Crazy" friend, is now the proud Momma of a precious little GIRL!!!!

I can only imagine the shock she is feeling as her walls of Hotwheel cars come tumbling down and their "blue" world is slowly inundated with pink.

Enjoy every moment of it! She's going to steal your heart, just like she's going to steal the heart of those big brothers of hers!

I'm so happy for you dear friend!

I can't wait to see pictures and hear her NAME!

If you're in a good mood, you probably want to skip this post

Life sucks.

I hate to be a downer, but this is where I've been for a little while now and just getting it out has to be better than trying to act like everything is okay.

My Husband has been working non-stop for what feels like months now. I feel like a single parent to two wonderful boys...the only good thing in my life as it stands right now.

Eventually, they are going to hate me, because I have been just a raging bitch for the last few weeks. I'm just praying that I don't screw them up too badly because they really are some of the sweetest kids that you'll ever meet.

Kelly and I have gone through this every year of our marriage, but for some reason this year feels so much worse. I don't see him anymore. A "goodbye" in the morning is pretty much all we have anymore. We're not even roommates...roommates see each other more than we do.

I still love him, but I just don't know him anymore. I've tried to be supportive, but all I feel is anger, resentment, and overwhelmingly.....lonely.

It's 10:37pm, and he's still at work. At least I figure he is. I haven't talked to him since around 4:30 when he informed me that he couldn't make it to Colin's t-ball game. Just another let-down in a long list of let-downs.

My effing toe is hurting again, badly. I think I re-injured it the other day when I stubbed it on something. Forget having some time off to take care of myself though...all I do is take care of everyone else.

Yeah. My life sucks.

I guess it'll bounce back eventually. Normally it does, but God knows it sure doesn't feel like it will right now.

I'm off to take a vicodin and drink a beer. At least I can forget about everything for a little while that way.