If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.

My life seems like one big waiting game.... I am ALWAYS waiting... Waiting for Pyper to stop screaming. Waiting for the person in line to order and get the hell out of my way. Waiting for my allegery med's to kick in - they are taking too damn long. Waiting for New Years Eve - I will be here with my sister http://www.joedirt.net/tourdates.html Waiting for Lance to pick me up for lunch because I am starving......... Perhaps my next post will be Bitchy - Bitchy because I can be. Bitchy because my head hurts Bitchy because I am at work and don't want to be..... Or perhaps I should be less dramatic like - I am so thankful for.... on second thought no. I am sticking with waiting and bitchy today. Screw the sunshine and carebears. I will try for happy thoughts tomorrow.

As I peek out from the covers the morning, I mummer - 'is it over?' Then wham, my face is met by a foot covered in Pj's, it is Pyper restless in my bed. Christmas has hit me like a ton of bricks, between the packing, driving, eating, talking, sleeping in strange beds and battling a 2 yr old, I am SPENT. I am too tired and pissy to write about the weekend and all it entailed. I am too damn lazy to download my photo's today, so they will have to wait. Here is the jist - family, food, fun. Somewhere among it all I left my cheery self behind and picked up the bitchy attitude and allergies. My head is pounding, my nose is running and I cannot remember much about the last 4 days. I wish I could say I drank too much to remember and spent time wrapped around a toilet puking pink from all the cosmos. But that is not the story. My neck is out of whack from sleeping in a strange bed every night and from having Pyper wrapped around my head. My fingers are sore from scissors

Okay, so I suck. Rylan keeps his x-mas list posted on the fridge. It serves two purposes on the fridge, one it is a reminder of his x-mas wishes, two it allows him to keep updating it at a moments notice. It seems like the list gets longer after each commercial. Last night Rylan informs me that I need to mail the list to Santa today. So here I am at work, and no list. The damn thing is still posted on the fridge. Do you think I can tell Rylan that I am going to 'fax' the list to Santa? Or perhaps I can call the list in to Santa's hotline for 'good kids'? ugh. Also last night I am looking thru Rylan's folder from school and I find a letter to Hannah Montana. Rylan sees me pull out the letter and I begin reading it out loud, Rylan turns red and semi-embarrassed. It reads something like this - Hello, Hannah Montana. I like you, and your music. When I grow up I want to be a rock star, maybe some day we could rock-out on stage. ha!! I look across the kitchen to Lance

I am told daily by our ever so smart 6 yr old how many days we have until x-mas. So this morning I was met with 'only 7 days until Santa'. Me - 'what no good morning, how are you, how'd you sleep?' Son ' no, just counting down until Christmas'. Me - 'great.' I keep hoping that it is all a bad dream, that i really have 30 days left until Christmas. I am half-ass done, as usual. I am a last minute kind of girl - I like to stress out, bit every one's head off and get things done. I get in 'go' mode and kick the project out - I am viewing Christmas as a project. And between shopping and wrapping I could die. So I was sorting thru my list and realized I forgot to get crap for the teachers, damn, the list keeps getting longer. So hubby informs me he too has some last minute stuff to get. So I asked 'which night this week are you going to go?' Hubby ' I don't know' Me ' OMG. You go Wed after work and I will go Thursday

Okay so I FINALLY got my tree up and it looks like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. But, hey it is up and it has lights on it and a few hangie things. I normally wait until the last minute, because I am bothered by the fact that I even have to put one up at all. We are not HOME, why do I need a tree? We will be in the country. I don't need a lot of emails telling me that I need one for the KIDS. I KNOW already. So now the kids will have a complete christmas, tree and all. Pyper broke 3 ordinaments last night and two tonight. She took off 4 candy canes, therefore everything had to be moved up higher. This task of moving items higher only fuled my point of ' why bother?'. So this weekend we are planning to leave on Sat to head to the county. Saturday we are having a family affair. YEAH. It has been a long time since I have seen my family, and this will be my WHOLE family. I could not be more excited. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, family, friends, and perhaps even strangers - wh

Well as predicted, our ayre of confidence was diminished rather quickly. Damn, raising kids is HARD. I had Christmas Party last night for an organization I belong to, and felt compelled to go - to network. It was a bunch of people 20+ yrs older than me, standing around telling stories about 1975 events. Clearly, I cannot contribute, I was born around then. Needless to say, I surrounded by executives that look at me as the GenX (er) they read about in the magazines. I am sure they felt my clothes were a bit too loud and my appearance was not stifled by glasses a nd gray hair. A few asked me 'who's assistance are you?' Me ' I work for XXXX and I am the Director of Finance'. They respond with a flat 'oh....welcome.'. I think to myself 'welcome' - duh dickhead, I have been attending these meetings for the last year and 1/2. Welcome to climbing up the invisible latter and feeling as if a gorilla is strapped to your back. Anyway, I network some, becau

Last night I get home a tad bit late, I am staying later than usual in an effort to get out my 2008 budget document. I get home, drag my butt thru the garage, into the kitchen. I am met by Pyper who is squealing with joy, because she is happy to see me. Lance is tooling around the kitchen, looking busy. I make my way into the living room, Pyper in tow and find Rylan on the couch. He is whimpering and appears to be eating a twinkie. I round the corner back into the kitchen and ask Lance 'what is wrong'? Lance - 'Ask Rylan'. I back track into the living room and by now Rylan is crying and mumbling ' it burns, it burns.' I am alarmed. I look closer and realize that the yellow twinkie in his mouth, is not a twinkie at all it a bar of yellow-dial soap. Now the situation has peeked my interest. Clearly Rylan cannot answer any of my questions, because he is foaming at the mouth, and on the verge of hysterics. I look at Lance once again to inquire - what happened. He r

Winter is here and I am miserable. I HATE winter. I hate snow, ice, cold, wind, boots, coats, sweaters, gloves etc. So what the hell am I doing in STL Mo - freezing my *arse off? Every year I beg my husband to move us some place warm, breezy with a cabana boy and a drink with an umbrella. I would (in theory), get a tan, stay tone and enjoy going outside. Instead he settles for me being pasty white, flabby (after two kids), and stirr-crazy between the walls of my work / home. Normally I range between bitch and bitchier - I have layers :). But in Winter, I am Miserable, so you can guess where that places everyone else. I have thought about tanning during these bleak months, where the official color is gray. But given my Irish blood, tanning beds are my enemy..... I walk out with a red splotchy face, and burnt all over. I look like a walking candy cane, becuase you can see the lines from the tanning beds burnt into my skin. Not pretty. Not much of a reprieve. So damn you winter for casti

Christmas is just around the corner and I can barely breath. Spending money makes me hold my breath. Whether or not it is a little money or ALOT , I get stressed. I worried when we upgraded our car, in order to fit our whole family. I worried when we bought our house. I have a love/ hate relationship with money. I hate to cut things close, even though we live pay-check to paycheck. So you can imagine how emotional I get when unforeseen events happen - Lance's truck needing fixed, my dryer going out, and Christmas. I KNOW Christmas is not unforeseen - it happens every year, and every year I stress over trying to get it all done. Trying to get gifts and not go broke. Christmas seems to cost more each year, therefore I consider it unforeseen . The list of people gets longer, once again unforeseen . *Does it really cost more, or am I just trying to 'please' everyone. Perhaps a bit of both. The older my children get the more expensive gifts they want. In addition, my husband

Random thoughts and facts: Fact - I hear that the fastest way to get drunk is by funneling the stuff thru your butt. You might want to stop there, today's post does not get much better. Fact - As a child in grade school I could write with both hands, hence using both sides of my brain. I choose to be left handed (which might explain ALot about me). Fact - I can touch my tounge to the bottom of my chin, but not the tip of my nose. um. Fact - I can put my whole fist in my mouth (boredom can make you act like an idiot). The trick is getting it out. Fact - I have one tatoo (big toe) and 6 piercings. 5 in my ears and one in my stomach. Fact - last night Rylan asked if he could get his ears pierced. We acted as if we did not hear him. Fact - I can hit a baseball with my left or right side (switch batter), but I cannot use right handed scissors. Fact - my toe next to my big toe is my longest toe. Thought - I think my son will be smarter than me by the time he is in the third grade. Fact -

Back in November one of my friends had a wedding reception and it was the first time in YEARS that all of my college roommates had gotten together. In college I lived in a house with 4 other girls, we were a collection mismatched personalities that on an off day seemed to work well. In the house we had Laurie the tall blond from West Co, Phoong the Asian from GA, Tina the Mexican from TX, Me the farm girl from MO, and Trisha the flat lander from IL. These girls are so much more than being blond , Asian and Mexican, but if you saw us walking down the street or shopping in the grocery store together you saw a melting pot of personalities. The college we went to did not have frats , so the house was the closest experience we had to being in a soirety . We had to petition for our house, and we named it the 'community service house' * I know how gay . Our house was surrounded by the jocks, the art house, and the dance house. We attended a liberal arts school, so dance and drama

So this weekend was pretty much how I expected. On Saturday I went to work to help support the local shop with a cop program. I work for a city and decided to contribute money and time to a local family. I brought Pyper along for the adventure, while hubby and bubby stayed at home. We were given one child to help shop for Christmas at the local Walmart . Our child was 6 yr old girl, she was a delight. It was a bit difficult to shop and not let Pyper get any thing, but she did well. Our child's name was Lydia, she was one of four siblings and she spent her money on everyone but herself. I spent approx 4 hours with Lydia and enjoyed every moment of it. As a rule of thumb I don't shop Wal -Mart. My husband is union and VERY anti- walmart . I KNOW Walmart would save me money, and i have tried until I was blue in the face to get my husband to come over to the otherside , but he refuses. Now, I do make my own money, but out of respect for what he is trying to stand up for I do