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

Okay, so I am moving a bit slow today. NOT super slow, but slow none the less. I left the bar last night around mid-night and got home by 12:20 (not bad). I laughed so hard last night that my face still hurts today. My tummy hurts and I don't know if it is from the drinks or the laughing (perhaps a bit of both). Last night was good for my soul.....it was a great time, up until the band started. My extended family was less than impressed with the band.....they should have stayed a bit longer, the second set was much better. Either that or the drinks started setting in -ha! I would explain the evening and the topics of conversation, but they were a bit rated R or more like triple XXX. Bottom line, keep it lean and clean down-stairs ladies - and as we found out last night, there are some of us that STILL think o'natural is OKAY. um, not so much. Enough said. ********************************************************************* Did I mention that I was not even home 15 minutes and ...

It is not very often I get a FREE night, but tonight is FREE. What does this mean, exactly? Well, I am planning on going out after work - happy hour. Then going out after that.... That means not going home until - um, bar closing time (perhaps?). Why, you may ask....even if not, I will tell you. Tonight the local PD is going to be bus-boys at Tuckers Steak House in West Co., for the Special Olympics. I always attend this event - hence the happy-hour. Well, it just happens to ALSO be Dirty Thursday at the house of Rock (S. County). This means that Joe Dirt and the Dirty Boys Band will be playing. Although they are not my favorite, they have proven to be a good time. What will make this time even better?? FAMILY. My sister, my mother, my two aunts a few friends and we have a PARTY. It seems like they have all made arrangements to attend Dirty Thursday as well. So, Lance decided that it would be best if I didn't come home between work and planned activities. *Don't tell him...

So, Pyper was sick the ENTIRE holiday weekend. I rented 4 movies on Friday and watched all 4 of them (one I actually watched twice). Yesterday, around 3pm she began to actually feel like a 'real' person. We missed out on a graduation party, the river, and a BBQ - because she was sick. Lance and Rylan went to represent the family - who knows what stories will be told? ************************************************************************ Saturday night, I ended up keeping my sisters kids - they came over around 6pm. We ate, went for a short walk, then settled in to watch Charlotte's Web. Pyper was happy to see the kids. It was around 8pm, the little ones were in bed, it was just me, Paige (8) and Payton (6) up watching TV. Paige looks at me and states, 'Why do they call it the Boston Tea Party, a tea party ? Didn't they throw all of the tea over the boat? ' I smiled and not prepared to answer a witty 8 yr old I threw this answer out 'Yeah, they th...

I had high hopes of getting things done today....needless to say, I had to cancel everything. Pyper is really sick today, and I am afraid IF I cannot get her to keep anything down by early evening then I will pack her up and take her to urgent care - just to make sure she is not dehydrated. I kept her with me yesterday, she had a mild fever and a loose stool. I didn't figure any of the other parents at the child care would appreciate any of their kids being around a kid that 'might' be sick. So early yesterday, Rylan had an Ortho appt, so I packed up the two kids and headed down by the Galleria (which is a MESS). Pyper semi-puked before we even hit 270. So I pulled over at the gas-station and changed her clothes, and we moved on. The next 4 hours she seemed okay. I took her to work with me, we went to the pool area, which is to open this week. I met with the managers, trained them on the credit card machine, and walked around the park with Pyper. We made our way bac...

Here are some shots from this weekend in the country... All dressed up and no place to go, but the court house. Rylan getting ready to race in the sack race. The Tractor Parade, and a local kid. My mother. Yes, MY REAL mom. When I tell you she is crazy, you should believe me!! Here are the girls.......getting ready at my mom's to go to the courthouse. My mother has been gathering outfits from local yard sales etc. The girls Luv'd getting dressed up. * During my walk this afternoon with Pyper we see a woman in her yard with her dog. Pyper in her little two year old voice yells 'Hi!! Hi Dog.' The lady looks up and smiles, and waves. Pyper waves back and says 'Hi cow.' I walked a little faster.....and will no longer go that route.

Whew, I am GLAD this weekend is over. It is a bit of a blurr...I have a TON of photos to share later (I have to find the damn camera cable to go into the computer). Anyway, we packed up and went to the country to attend the Ozark Mountain Music Festival and watch the tractor parade. Yes, it was a parade of tractors (if you can believe that). On top of it all my sister came down with her kids and all of the kids (girls mainly) got gussied up in old time clothes. They wore big dresses, gloves, hats - the whole nine yards. I PROMISE to post photos soon. They had a good time, walking around looking at booths...which included the deer head booth, the cowboy hat booth, the root-beer stand (sold in a wine bottle), the John Deer booth, and of course all the crafts and quilts your little heart could desire. It was a wonderful weekend to spread out some blankets on the court house lawn, and watch the kids play. We ate from the local booths, and my only grip is that they were lacking the funnel c...

Getting ready to head out the door. The kids are ready to go! 'Me and Pyper this morning! SMILE. Photo by Rylan, who loves the camera ************************************************************************************* FLASH......this is Pyper before leaving in the morning. She WAS dressed - and when I turn my back, she is unclothed. Nudist in the making... ******************************************************************************** Yellow is BRIGHT.... My husband has had the last 3 days off work, and he decided to paint. He choose YELLOW and here are the results. It was a nice bathroom blue, very soothing. He is very proud of himself, so I am going to tolerate it. Now, when I get up to get a show, I wear sunglasses. ;O) ********************************************************************************

Okay so this may not really interest Anyone, other than myself. But i got this email today..... Dear Susan: Michelle DePew , Director of Finance for the City of XXXXXXX , Missouri has been selected as the recipient of the 2008 AGFI Scholarship as provided through the Missouri State Chapter of GFOA . It is my understanding that Michelle has already applied and has been accepted to attend this year's AGFI . Please send the AGFI registration invoice to my attention and I will forward it to our MGFOA treasurer for payment. I am sending to you via regular mail a copy of Michelle's scholarship application and award letter. Okay, so this means I am a DORK -but I am an excited dork. First, I had to apply for a national spot to even attend this event - I was accepted last month. That in itself was big news. I had to compete with private and public people. NATIONAL! Then I found out that our state organization funds a scholarship (so I can go for FREE), and I was awarded the s...

Duh, mom is still ringing in my ears from this morning. That was the moment I realized that I am turning into a 'mother' and just not COOL, and I SO don't get it. He is 7, and he is telling me - duh, mom. With this total look of discontent on his face, I giggle at how grown-up he seems, then it dawns on me I am so NOT cool. That is a big blow to my early 30 ego. Here is what prompted this one... There we, are it is 7:15am I am in the drivers seat, the kids are in the back buckled to go to the sitters. I run thru the list of necessary items. Kids buckled - check! Coffee in travel mug - check! Purse / phone - Check! Kids - (just to be sure) - Check! Book bag with folder - check! Folder for school has been signed by parent- check! Sweaters, and umbrellas - check. Whew, we are good to go....... then I hear 'NO! No! ' Lance is home today, and the kids MUST tell him good-bye once again. I honk the horn (this is code for get your butt out in the garage). He pokes his ...

Okay, so I have to go get a root-canal today. I am TERRIFIED!! Luckily, Lance does not have any work today, so he is off. Therefore I have instructed him that he will drive me. He will go back and hold my hand - not joking. I would ask my dad, if I though he would make the drive. The lady in the office said, it should be no big deal - 'you can even go back to work, afterwards'. IS she crazy? I have never had a root-canal. I have had plenty of dental work, pulled teeth, wisdom teeth, 4 yrs of braces etc. I have terrible childhood memories, and wish they would just knock me out. The scraping, the drilling makes my skin crawl. Makes my head spin. Lance thinks it is funny that I get so wound up. I have made my sick most of the morning with the anticipation. And by the way - office staff - it does not help when you share your 'horror' stories with me. It is not comforting. Please, shut your PIE HOLE. It is sort of like talking to a woman about to give birth, and telling her ...

Mom holding Pyper at the hospital. At the pumpkin patch - my mother in the back in the green shirt! My sister is also in the photo. Well in lieu of Mothers Day, I decided to dedicate this post to my mother...imagine that. First, let me start of saying, to those of you who have lost your mother - I extend my deepest sympathy. (Jen, you continue to be in our thoughts and prayers). My mother is alot of things alot of the times, but mostly she is emotionally complicated (aka - crackhead!). I love her to pieces, and at the same time she drives me completely NUTS, I mean bonkers. She taught me my love for Pasty Cline, Elvis, family tradition, friends and how to notice the small things. When I was a child, I thought she was the prettiest woman I had ever seen, and even today, she can get gussied up with the best of them. I hope my features hold up as well as her's have. As a child we would travel to up-state New York to visit her grandparents, my great-grandparents. They came over on ...

I am stressed - as usual. It seems to be a state-of-mind for me. But today here is why - where is the relief? I don't know about the rest of you but DAMN prices everywhere are out of control. Milk, break, milk products, meat, chicken, gas etc. I am about to lose my mind. We shop, and we shop cheap, I buy off brands (for most things) and use coupons. How did a bag of chicken get up to 8.00 a bag - it is not even 'real' chicken (I think it says rib-meat). We go thru 4 to 5 gallons of milk a week at approx. $4.00 a pop. The diapers, the babysitter, the gas - we are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet. This does not include any extra activities. Plus, my husband works construction and the summer is his slow time - which translates into less money, because he will not work full weeks. If, he works at all. Normally, we have a good 3 weeks during the summer with out a paycheck. Normally, I have enough foresight to plan for this - but this year, I have h...

So my son keeps asking for an animal....we have had a dog and a cat (years ago). When my son was born we had a cat - Samson. He was awsome! Him and Rylan connected from the start. When Rylan would come home from surgery, Samson would lay at his feet, keeping close eye on him at all times. When Rylan learned to crawl, he would make his way to Samsons bowl and par-take in the cat food. Samson shared, and even let Rylan feed him - no problem. When we moved from our apt to our home 5 years ago, Samson wanted to be outside, and two weeks later he never came home. I have been heartbroken ever sense, so I won't go get another cat. When Rylan was almost three I demanded a dog. I told Lance, either you pick one out - and go get it; or I will show up one day with one. Lance, knowing me oohh to well - knew I was not joking. He was afraid of what I might actually bring home, therefore he got off his butt and found Henry in the local paper. Him and Rylan took a day and drove to BFE to look at H...

He didn't like the casserole And he didn't like my cake. He said my biscuits were too hard... Not like his mother used to make. I didn't perk the coffee right He didn't like the stew, I didn't mend his socks The way his mother used to do. I pondered for an answer I was looking for a clue. Then I turned around and smacked the shit out of him... Like his mother used to do.

Rylan, yesterday getting ready for school.......at first he is rockn' out - to the voices in h is head (no music was playing). Second, he is checking his folder to make sure his papers have been signed off on by mom and/or dad. Luckily, we do our job and we do homework every night for approx an hour, and we sign off that we read a book, did math and practiced spelling words. A side view of Pyper's belly. I couldn't help myself. Last night, as usual the kid took her clothes off and she was standing beside the fridge, playing hide-n-seek with her dad. You could not see her face from the side of the fridge, but her belly stuck out past the side. It makes me giggle, it is soft, round and full - just the way we like'em. Nice and Happy. Here she is trying to give me a kiss, before leaving for the babysitters. This is one of our better mornings. Hugs-n-Snugs. ******************************************************************************* This Saturday I am going to accompany ...