{in a handbasket}

have you ever heard the saying "its gone to h-e-double toothpicks in a handbasket"? Well, if not, welcome to my world!! Its a saying that I probably picked up from my Mom. Truthfully, I have no idea what it means. I just know that its what I say when my day starts out great and then it just turns ugly and its downhill from there!! But that has been my day, our day!! It actually started off really great!! I met a fellow pea that i met online!! She lives right here in ho-bunk and we had a great lunch at Panera. That was really exciting and I look forward to more get togethers. Anyway, onto the "handbasket" part of my day. I got a call from the school on my cell phone from the Principal of Action's school. He is in the office for disrespecting his teacher and this particular teacher that he disrespected, we have had issues with all year long. I am totally going to back the teacher up with my son, but in the meantime I want a conference with her. I want to find out what the heck is going on, I know for a fact that she doesn't like him. I hate being put in this position, the position of this is MY child and I want the best for him ? And you cannot demand that in public education, "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit" (quote from lea riley). I guess that they do make exceptions if you throw a MONSTER fit. Do I want to be the monster fit throwing kind of parent??? Oh, did I mention that Mark is out of town for the whole handbasket festivities??? Because, there is more!!! When I got home, dealt with Action, I noticed amongst lex's things a letter addressed to mark and I from the school, opened..... Not good, right? Well, actually the letter stated that they wanted to put her in all AP classes and please come meet with them on Feburary 5th (are you looking at your calendar?). She is now telling me as there is smoke coming out of my ears, that she doesn't want to do AP courses, she wants to have a life and she is going to go to New York and become an actress so she doesn't need college. Was I right? double toothpicks and all??? FYI, much more drama ensues and now there is Will Smith rap bellowing out of her room. I hope Mark enjoys his night "off". LOL!!

{imelda marcos lives here!}

i would be imelda marcos if imelda marcos was the flip flop queen!! a few weeks ago, Mark and I went to Lowe's and bought closet shoe storage for Mark to install. Its the same stuff that was installed when the house was built so it matches. But I had so many stinken shoes that in the mornings when I was going to work, I was spending a ton of time hunting thru a pile of shoes because I didn't have enough shoe storage and I was starting to absolutely loose it!!!!! So, he finally got it put up in the closet and believe it or not, its still not enough!! Who would have thunk it!! And what takes up the most room? Those wonderful flip flops, I am lovin' the flippie flops!! I even threw shoes out, donated to Good Will. And the scary thing is, its not even spring yet! New flippy flops are surely going to want to adorn my newly polished and suntanted tootsies? Where to store them? What did Imelda do? What were her shoe storage secrets? I am off to get more hangers today and do some more cleaning and storeage "solutions" in the closet. Its funny because when we built this house, I saw the speck house and though that the master closet was such a "mack daddy" closet and then we moved our stuff in and I think, "wow, i need MORE closet space!!". Its just crazy!!!

{24 hours}

24 hours and no sleep, aaahhh!!! i never went to sleep on Sunday night, no matter what I did i was unable to get that "shut-eye" that you need to function like a normal human being. In my former life of a SAHM, no biggie. Get up with the kids, scootch their happy little hiney's out the door and then hit the sack for a little nap to re-group. But I am a working Mom and even with no sleep and I mean NO sleep (I don't mean that I even got a cap nap!!), I now have to "make the donuts", put "on the taco suit" and head into the bank early on Monday morning to do the credits and the debits, to solve all of the customers "why am I in the negative, by golly how did that happen?" whoa's on zippo sleep!! I started out okay, pretty much my chipper self, but by mid-afternoon and a ton of coffee and a BigGulp of Diet Coke, I was feeling like I had the flu coming on, nauseous, hot and cold flashes, did I mention nauseous and my body was aching. And about a million trips to the bathroom, that was getting a little embarassing!! But I felt like I needed the caffeine to function, I considered a Red Bull, but Lex told me that it had bull urine in it and I just couldn't bring myself to drink bull pee. I can't believe that Demi Moore drinks pull pee... that is just gross.....

By the time, I got home, I was past being able to go to sleep, so my sweet Markie poo made me a margarita to relax me and made me to go bed. This morning I am feeling refreshed and ready to rock n roll!! Nothing like a good night's sleep go to this chick movin' and grovin'!!

{i'm a java junkie dude}

a morning without coffee........for anyone that doesn't know me, should know that I need my coffee. So, as soon as my tootsie's hit the floor this morning and I realized that we were fresh out of the free flowing beautiful java of the earth, I woke up Mark with the "crisis" of the day. Hey, who knows maybe this was #3?? Mark being a java junkie too, said, alright, Cracker Barrel, here we come!! I was actually thinking a quick trip to the grocery store, but hey, whatever works. After that, a trip to "the Wal Marts" for the "beans" and we're good for tomorrow. Well, we made it thru Wally World (by the way, just in case you were wondering, just in case the subject ever comes up, I HATE Wal mart, I'm just Sayin') WITHOUT getting the coffee.....

The later of the day, I hit the fine French store more commonly known as Target' south of the border in Florida with my daughter, we had a great time spending time together, but I just have one question, do I look like a dude?? So, why does my daughter keep calling me dude??? Its her new thing, she keeps calling me that, I am her (insert throat clearing) 30something year old mother. The good news is,,,,, this "dude" remembered to get coffee and Dunkin Donuts brand too at the fine french store that is south of the border!!

{hugs}

So, that is all my little surprise, my little card that made my whole day said on the inside was "hugs". Who sent me this card, there was no return address, my only clue was a Hampton Roads post mark. So, it must have been from a peep. But which peep, over analyzing the handwriting and I could not figure it out. Whoever it was, thank you so much, what a sweet thought and a wonderful surprise, but I will tell you something......its going to make me crazy!! I don't do well with not knowing....I have to be "in the know". So, please fess up and then I can give you a "hug" right back!!!

{highlights}

there isn't really much to post, my life has slipped back into the land of snoozerville, which after all the stress of the last few weeks, that's okay. Snoozerville is so much better than "I could really use a few prozacs-ville". We still haven't had the "3rd", you know the 3rd "bad thing". So, what is the time frame for "bad things happen in 3's"? I'm just wondering because I would like to mark the experation date on my calendar. I can then no longer wait for the sky to fall!! LOL!!

The big highlights of our week included the lunar eclipse, Action was quite intrigued by it (I might add that I thought it was quite cool too!) In fact the little booger butt, scared me to death at 5AM yesterday morning. I woke up because I think that I felt someone standing over me, I don't think that he actually touched me. He asked, then begged, if he could go outside to see the moon one more time before the sun came up. He didn't understand that it was a normal moon again and I was too groggy to try to explain it to him. What a nut! Mark got a bike with his birthday money, he plans on biking back and forth to work (7 miles or so). I got my military ID and all of my credit cards etc. replaced finally! Do I hear a Hi-5 on all of that!!!??? I am starting to feel normal again!! I have to admit the other night that Mark and I visited the Coach store and I oogled all of the new Spring stuff. But I am not getting one, the salesperson said that they just sent a ton of purses to the outlet. So, I don't know...... I really am still super mad about my purse. Its still a sore spot with me, partly because there is a good chance it got thrown in a dumpser, the little morons! Okay, back to my happy place!!! We have a good weekend planned if the crazy and insane weather can get it straight, yesterday was freezing cold, a rainfront came in last night and its hot, hot, hot today!!! What tomorrow holds is anyone's guess!! Seriously thinking the beach on Sunday, not kidding!! Keep ya posted! Have a good weekend!!

{just a peach}

Its official!! I'm a peach!! A Georgia peach that is!!! I finally got everything that I needed to get my driver's license here in this peachier than peachy state since the smash-n-grab!! So, if I am a peach here in Georgia, what was I in Virginia?? What are you in Virginia? What is the official anything in Virginia? Is a pineapple the official fruit of Virginia? I guess my ignorance is a reflection that both of my kids managed to escape the curse of the elementary school "Virginia project". If they hadn't I would probably know the official root plant. Anyway, I digress, lts actually been a pretty good day, I hit the local scrapbook store and scoured thru the last of the "bling" before the store closes its doors for good next week. The very best part of this scrapchic's hump day, I had the BEST stinken time chatting (Holy cannelloni, we talked for nearly 2 hours!! She gave me a run for my money, if you can believe that!!) and having lunch with a new friend. Alright, I want to re-visit my mention of six degrees of separation, I found out today who drove the jeep in my previous post regarding the "scrap stalking" at the Cracker Barrel with Mark a few weeks ago and I ended up fessing up to the whole stalking and then blogging (yeah, I told her about blogging about it!) "incident". Yeah, what a hoot! Do I have issues?? I think I may have issues!! aaahhhh!! time will tell if I will need those padded walls!

{Homey's?]

Okay, so last night I went to crop with a bunch of ladies that I didn't know and I was sssooooooo nervous. A few weeks ago I had taken a scrapbook page to a new salon to show him how I wanted to get my hair done and it was laying on a table, another hairdresser walked by and commented on the page and that I was a scrapbooker, we got to talking and she invited me to a standing Tuesday crop night with her and a bunch of her "buds," or whatever she calls them. So, I went last night and had so much fun!! A really positive, funny bunch of ladies that had me cracking up! They get together once a week and I am super excited. I am having lunch with one of the ladies today. One thing that you may have noticed about me is that I have been accused by many of having "Darleen-isms", I have always had these quirky little sayings or whatever you want to call them. Sometimes there is just no telling either what will come out of my mouth or how I will put what will come out of my mouth. Its been like that since I was a child, so its nothing new. Trust me, my parents have stories...... Its not like I am crude or use wordy dirds, but I call my friends "peeps", ask my kids if I look like I just fell off the turnip truck, every morning say good morning to my new co-workers by calling them Banker babes. So, what to call the new group of scrapper's? I have been told that I am not allowed to call them peeps under any circumstances(this by my Virginia "peeps"), no way! no how! So, what then, homey's? home-slices? dogs? pussycats? buds?(that one is kind of a snoozer). I don't know, time will tell. We'll see what fits their personalities..............what pops into my head and hopefully I will think about before it pops out of my mouth.

{No Alibi}

L-A-Z-Y and I ain't got no alibi.......Today was so lazy, the kids were out of school, Mark had the day off, the bank was closed. Lex spent the day with Gabs and Mark and Action played video games and a little golf when the weather cleared up, clearing the way for me to be lazy and guilt free. I cleaned the house yesterday and did laundry. So, after I drank my coffee this morning, I decided I would shower, skip the make-up (its not like anyone is coming over that's over 4 feet tall, Action's friends ring the door bell a million times a day!!) and scrapbook!! I got one LO done and I am in the middle of another. Wether it will get done today, I'm not sure, its getting late and I do need to feed the fam. Mark is already starting to dig in the pantry and when he does that, he starts to bring out the "snacks". So, I should run, but the pages I added are in the slide. I hope that everyone had a great President's Day and were able to enjoy it being just as lazy!!!

{Laptop-Less}

Well, my laptop-less days are over!!! Mark got the hard drive in and our "puter" is up and running! Woo-Hoo!! It took what seemed like forever because Mark forgot the password for the wireless router (he has all these passwords and none of them are the same and none of them are written down) and so he ended up on the phone with tech support for about an hour after trying everything under the sun to do it himself. But its neither here nor there and now I know the password so we are good, at least until I forget it!!! Our weekend has been quite relaxing, we actually, I still can't believe we did it again, but we had dinner with our neighbor's at Maggiano's. Her husband was in just for the weekend (he's a Navy guy) and they had never been and really wanted to go. I should have worn my stretchy/ waist band spandex pants because they always have so much food. But I paced myself and did very well. I nibbled until desert and then it was all out war!!! We came home with 6 or 7 bags of leftovers, so, our peachy pals from down the street are coming over for leftovers for dinner tomorrow night (after the Daytona 500 OF COURSE) and I'm going to throw together a killer salad and maybe a few margaritas and we are good to go for round 2!!

{love was in the air}

I have been so "out of the loop" with my blogging as of late. With our laptop out of commission getting to the kids little corner of their world is not so easy. I found it so easy to jump on the laptop from the kitchen counter, download a few pics, and blog and be done with it. Wow!! I sound so lazy, yeah?? I am actually blogging from work today (sshhh!!). Our Valentine's Day was actually quite fun. Mark took half a day off and he and I went to lunch and saw a movie because he had to go back to work and work until midnight. We all had a quick change of Valentine's before he went in, we never do anything too big for Valentine's, Mark and Action usually get Old Navy boxer's and Lex usually gets some cute jommie bottoms and some candy. This year I requested a Starbucks travel mug that was mine and no one else mooched off of, now that I am working and grabbing coffee to hit the road with I can never find a coffee mug and so I thought if I had one that was just mine then I would always know where to find it!! Right,?? We'll see!! Have I mentioned that I love Valentine's Day, why do I love Valentine's Day??? I love the colors in all of the decorations, I love the hearts, I love the cupcake pattern paper plates and gift baggies. Its all just so yummy and delicious. Its also a holiday where you do fun little things for people, so Lex and I made the cutest cupcakes and put them on plates and put conversation hearts and delivered them to neighbors, our realtor (who I love!), and the girls that I work with at the bank. This is my thing, i just love it!!! Its right up there with scrapbooking!!! I will post pictures when I get home. The new hard drive for the computer came and Mark is going to install it today, so hopefully we should be up and running tonight. So, stay tuned for the cutest cupcakes ever!!

{HGTV}

Did I say HGTV? I am making myself nutty as a fruitcake!! For Markie Poo's 40th, he has been wanting.....let's see if I can get it right the first time.....HDTV....there ya go!! I keep calling it HGTV, I don't know why. When I called to order it, that is what I asked for, she told me , Mrs. , "you are already receiving HGTV" and then it took me a second to realize my error, but I keep making it. Maybe I just watch too much HGTV, maybe the HGTV always has that little thing at the bottom that says its available in HD. Just a thought! Hi Def, maybe that is what I should be calling it. I ordered it awhile ago, but they couldn't get it installed before his birthday, so, the guy came out today and it was an all day extravaganza, but he was the best Direct TV guy that we have ever had!!! I did get a page done, but due to my computer being on the fritz I didn't get really any pea-ing done. So, maybe that was a plus for me in the laundry department!!

{In 3's}

drama, drama, drama!! they say bad things happen in 3's, well waiting for the other shoe to drop. I wish that it would just drop already!! The robbery was the first thing, kinda hoping that all the drama that followed was #2 and #3, but oh no, that would have been wayyyyyy tooo easy. Last night, must have been #2 because it seems our brand spanken new, not more than 2 month old Dell laptop crashed and cannot recover, it seems thatit might be the mother board (does that sound right??), whatever that is.......I just know that it doesn't sound good and the few people that I've talked with today have said that it sounds like we'll need a new computer, Yeah, right! If that's the case, I feel a fight with Dell coming on......In the meantime, I say bring on #3 baby because I am ready, I am ready and waiting!! In the meantime, I'm considering eating a huge peice of leftover chocolate cake or its got to be 5 o'clock somewhere!!! (UPDATE: Mark just gone done with the whole computer fiasco, the hard drive is not good, they are sending us a new one! No fuss! Hopefully, we will be up and running again by the end of the week, bad news...I lost all of my pics that I hadn't saved to disc and everything is going to have to be re-downloaded)

{full as a tick & 40}

Dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy

that is something that my husband says whenever he is full, stuffed, eaten WAY too much. Well, this weekend, as we celebrated his 40th birthday, I think that we were all full as ticks!! My in-laws flew in from Frankfort, Kentucky on Friday evening (this was supposed to be a surprise, but didn't quite work out that way....no thanks to the guy at the car rental place) Any-who, they arrived and we had a wonderful evening enjoying the family style meal at Maggiano's in Jax. If you have never been to a Maggiano's and have one in your near vacinity and like Italian......get in your cars right now, do not pass GO, do not collect 200 dollars, you cannot go wrong!). Today, was "do whatever Mark wanted to do day" because it WAS HIS birthday. He wasn't getting an Over the Hill party, no big "to do", its just not his style. So, taking a day to do what he wanted because he so often does a lot of things that WE want to do just seemed to be the most fitting way to celebrate his big day. He has been wanting to go to this place near St. Augustine called the PGA World Golf Village and it was beautiful. We got there really late because we took our time this morning, eating a big breakfast and just visiting, while taking a tour of the downtown area.After arriving, Mark shopped and we all had lunch/dinner at the Caddy Shack and then Mark shopped some more. They actually have a really fun "hands on" World Golf Hall of Fame that is gigantic there too. We didn't make it there, that is saved for another day, because we didn't have time. Then home for some "oh my goodness" chocolate on chocolate cake from a local bakery. I feel like I have not stopped eating today. I hope that Mark had a good 40th, it was without a lot of pomp and circumstance, but he's not really a party kind of guy. FYI, I AM a party kind of girl. I've already started planning........................

{a new do}

well, whatcha think?? I kinda like it. I love the color. The last time I had color done, she did a low light, hi light (which was the first time) and I think it came out too dark. I went to a new guy this time and a new place and I absolutely, positively fell in love with this salon!! I didn't know that this place, this awesome little slice of "oooh la la" actually exsisted right here in ho-bunk! They had a meditation and message room that was beautiful and they do botox!! Hey, I watch those Orange County Housewives, I'm almost 40, they say I need to start considering it. I see those little scowl lines in my foreheard and in between my eyes. Its frightening to think how I got those lines in the first place, but my guess is my children think they can tell you how!!! Back to my "new do", I really like it, but I think that I may have him put a few more layers in, I want it a bit more choppy. I was a little busy gabbing with another stylist who, now get this!!!.......is considering opening a scrapbooking store here. She talked with me about getting together. How fun is that? Small world,,,,,oops small town! And to think it was going to be another crappy day, I started off my day getting pulled over by one of our finest, and me with no license, no ID, no anything but a sob story and a pay stub. He felt sorry for me, that never happens to me, and he told me to slow down....I was only going 6 miles over the speed limit. Truthfully, I just wasn't paying attention until I saw him and then I slowed down. Its a stupid 35mph speed trap anyway, its a road I hate to take. Anyway, should I start a poll on my new "do"? No, I'm just kidding.....(P.S. 5 more days until BB9, get yourselves prepared!!) here's a link to a sneak BB9 peek, its going to be a wild ride:http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-News-Blog/Todays-News/Big-Brother-9/800032616

{its only $}

Okay, I am doing better. I know my blog buddies are tired of hearing my "whoa is me!", but truly I cannot help it. So, I am trying to be a bit more positive today. Even though, I feel these fits of rage come over me (I have actually seen RED) at the oddest moments, straightening my hair, driving my car, realizing that I only have one yucky colored lipstick (because they stole my 2 others) you know all of a sudden i just want to choke the life out of someone. We are at around $1300 in loss (that is not including what they took). That is just in fixing our van, and replacing keys and miscellaneous stuff. Anyway, back to the jar if half full.........my husband says its only money and that no one got hurt and we can't change things. He's right, I know that he's right! But we are healthy, its a beautiful day, things could be so much worse. I have seen and lived thru so much worse. This is a lesson to live by and I have to learn from this lesson and apparently some of you have learned from my bad decision to leave my purse in my car, even though it was hidden under the seat. Unfortunately, my 15 year old didn't heed the same warning. Things are looking up....I get a day off tomorrow from work, I am finally getting my hair done, and my husband celebrates his 40th this weekend and my in-laws are flying in to help celebrate with us. I think this weekend is going to be fun!!! See............that glass is half full!!! You see that smile on my face!! Just don't look at that pinky pink lipstick that I'm wearing, yucky!! Just kidding!! Have a good day!! (p.s. my friend Lorrie's surgery yesterday was a raging success!! thanks for the prayers!!)

{Karma}

Its super tuesday, and i am still not feeling so super. Not only is it super Tuesday, but its my son's "actual" birthday. We have spent the last day or so trying to get our "ducks in a row" regarding the robbery. And we haven't gotten very far. I had to work yesterday and today and the rest of this week, except Thursday. Mark and I spent most of the day on the phone. We did find out that our smashed windows can't just be replaced, apparently they had a little trouble getting the crowbars in and bent the door frame on the passenger side, so add that to something else that has to be fixed. We did get the alarms re-done yesterday, but that was another big buck fiasco!! Mark is going to re-do the locks on the house today and its going to cost $200 to re-key the van (they have the keys to both of our vehicles, so they could just come and steal them whenever they get the whim!) They know about the van, but when they see the Dodge key on my keychain, they may get excited and think that they are getting a Dodge truck or something great, won't they be disappointed in Mark's little Neon. Anyway, I am really trying not to feel so angry, but its very hard. The fact that I know that people saw what was happening and no one did or reported it, or stayed around for the police makes my stomach do flips. And then to find out that what they did with my credit cards was go to a gas station and offer people to fill their tanks for $20 or so and people did it, you know that these people knew in their hearts that these cards were stolen and did it anyway. What is happening to people? How do they sleep at night? I am not a big believer in "karma" per se', but I believe you get what you give and right now my anger is winning and I believe that these people have a little karma coming their way, I'm just sorry that I won't be there to see it. If that makes me a hateful person, and I know in my heart that it really does, I am working on that. Give me time...........I would like to say that one of my best "peeps" is having surgery today and I am really praying for her today, keep her in your thoughts and prayers, Lorrie is having a outpatient surgery, but they don't know for sure if they can get the massive polyp in her cervix. Have a good day everyone. Shout out to my Action....he'll be 11 years old in 2 hours!!!!

{smash-n-grab birthday}

Does that sound like a birthday party theme that you would like to throw for your little tike? I didn't think so, but apparently that was the big theme of our 11 year old's birthday. Apparently, that is what we were paying the big bucks for! We took 13 kids to a laser tag party place in Jacksonville for Action's birthday, the kids were having a great time. This is my kids party, it should be something that has great memories, but no some person who thought it was his "right" because he is who he is ruined so much of today and so much more. Right now I am just very, very angry. I probably should not be blogging. It was announced over the intercom that the owner of our type of van should come out to the parking lot, keep in mind that it is in the middle of a beautiful Sunday afternoon, we are 20 feet from the front door of a family entertainment park with people constantly coming and going place. We came out to our windows being smashed into a million peices by people who cannot be bothered to get off their sorry lazy butts and go get a job, so intead they broke into and stole a bag that I carry back and forth to the bank that had bank keys, my w-2, my daughter's purse (Abercrombie gift card from Christmas & new driver's license) ,my new little Coach purse that Mark got me for Christmas & my new MAC makeup and my military ID, my driver's license, and credit cards. We cancelled the credit cards. All that they got was a tank of gas, there was no cash in my wallet (they should have known me better!) Replacing all of that is the hard part, how do you ID when you have no ID!! They also got keys to my house and the keypad to my alarm system to my keypad. Don't I feel safe and cozy tonight in my home? I am finding that replacing the keypad and recoding it to the alarm is going to cost quite a bit, I don't even know how much for the locks, my insurance isn't going to touch the stolen items, and its going to cost $100 for the window replacement. All this for a tank of gas and maybe a pawn of a Coach purse. Are you kidding me??? What a bunch of pathetic morons, their energy is much better used on something much more productive. It makes me so very angry because while we are living comfortable, not rich, not well, but my husband has worked his butt off for what we do have and this jerk thinks he has some kind of right to it, because why? Because he is who he is? Which is what? A loser that steals little girls purses? Well, that is the story of my son's 11th birthday, nice, huh? can't wait to scrapbook this one, NOT!

{McCain-ine?}

Just an ordinary Saturday here in Snoozerville.............it started out with a joint family effort in making egg, cheese, and bacon panini's for breakfast and ended with Action and I cleaning up a dog "barfest" from all over the house. It should have clued us in when only one dog was hanging out in the middle of the kitchen and we weren't tripping over the other. He was quitely in the den throwing up in not one, not two, not three, but 5 different spots. And I don't want to sound like I am bragging here because I am in no way doing that, we've been married nearly 17 years and have lived in Navy housing, crappy rental houses, and apartments before we finally bought our first house less than a year ago. But we have finally bought our first house and it has top of the line everything from cabinets, granite to ceramic tile, but the carpet is crap!! I can clean it and the stain comes out, but then you can still always see where it was. So, I have 5 fresh new "used to be a barf spot here" stains on my carpet. What to do???

You may ask yourself, why the picture of your "senior basset"? Is he the culprit of the barfest? I have to answer, why No, because even when he doesn't feel well he has a hissy to be let out. The "other" dog appartly doesn't.... I have included a picture of Roscoe, who after much discussion today, we decided had a resemblence to John McCain. What do you think? So, we've been calling him Roscoe McCain today. I would also like to notate this disclaimer: I actually like John McCain, so this in no way implies that he is a dog, it is just us being silly!! And if any offense is taken to this, please get your panties out of a wad!