Jobless... broke and some Vampire Wars

Stupid people and stupidity always really get to me you know... ok well, lets move on from that topic and let me tell you alittle about what's been going on! Bobby lost his job last Tuesday! My dryer broke, but thankfully $38 and some change later it's fixed! Of course $38 that we REALLY did not need to spend! We have been eating Ramen noodles for the last week and one night consisted of saltines and mayonaise... but I'll be danged if I have to go with out a dryer. I have a small clothes line in my laundry room that I had to hang my clothes on. Let me just tell you that socks dried on a clothes line are just scratchy and stiff... and it sucks! (sorry) Anyway... Bobby was going to take a truck load of stuff to the dump yesterday... and guess what... he comes home 5 minutes later... I'm like what in the world, "what's wrong?" Yeah well... his brakes decided to go out! How freakin' great is that... The mortgage company keeps sending us letters about foreclosure and I am just totally freaking out!!!

Sorry guys, just thought I would share all of the crap that has been going on in my life... Thank the Lord for Facebook and their games... it has kept me sane for the past week or so! I am horribly addicted to Farmville and Vampire Wars... isn't that sad? I know it is... but you know... when I sit here and play them... I don't think about all of the other things that are going on in my life... I guess it just helps me deal and not have the nervous breakdown that I am so close to having!

Being a parent... advice welcome!

You know I was thinking last night... and maybe some of you other moms can help me out with this one. Do you ever feel like you spend more time fussing at your children or correcting them all the time that they are going to start resenting you... or they won't love you as much? Maybe I just feel more that way because my daughter is here only half of the time? I always have these good intentions of spending some good 'ole quality time together, but it seems like I am constantly having to correct her, ground her, yell at her... So I feel like I spend more time being upset than I do being that "loving mom" that I want to be. Also, I have a tendency to let her get away with a lot because of the fact that she's here only half of the week and I want her to want to come back! Does that make sense? I don't know why she always has such an attitude with me... She's only 9 for goodness sake! Isn't that supposed to come later... like early teens!!! I don't know, maybe I've just screwed up somewhere along the line, or maybe I should blame it on Hannah Montana... hmmm... yeah, that's it... I would absolutely love to pull all of the tv's out of my house, but I doubt it would do any good. She's going to watch it when she's not here, so yeah, that's just another thing that would make me the bad guy... I don't know. Anyway, if anyone has any great parenting advice for me I'd love to hear it.
Here's a picture of her new hair cut... I think it's so cute... Of course though she thinks she knows exactly how she is supposed to fix it, how to blow dry it... style it. All without any of my advice, because of course Mom has NO idea how to fix it! Grrrr..... Yes, yes she just knows it all, my sweet little smarty pants!!!

I'll be back... I promise...

I'm sorry I've kind of disappeared out of the blog world here lately.... I will be back soon I promise! Thanks Jennifer and Cindy for wondering about me! Did my heart good to see your comments tonight! I've been thinking about all you guys, and feel bad for not keeping up with everyone's blogs like I used to :(

I'll be back soon! Hopefully I'll get some sort of update blog put up this week. It's a new year and I hope to do better on my blog postings... I have seriously been slacking the past few months!

Happy New Year to everyone and I hope all you guys had a wonderful Christmas!

My first Black Friday

Ok... so I started out the day without hardly any sleep... This was my first real Black Friday and I guess I was just too excited to sleep! Mom says I went to Walmart with her YEARS ago, but I have no recollection of it whatsoever! Anyway... got up at 4 and headed out to Target, and oh, my goodness was there a line outside! I thought for sure we would be one of the first 250 to get the free tote bag, but nope! We just missed it. It was freezing outside!!! Mom and I stood there in line at 4:45 huddled up together waiting in line to get my Bissell Steam Mop for $49! Yes I was very excited, it being half off and all! Apparently everyone was in line for the tv's so my mad dash to the vacuum cleaner section was pretty much a big waste of energy! I'm telling you, I have been wanting one of those steam mops for so long, and doubting that I would ever be able to justify spending the $100 that they cost, so when I saw they were on sale... yeah, well.... I had to be there at opening, cause I just figured that everyone else in the local area was heading there to get my mop! Got it... headed to KMart, because I "thought" they were supposed to have kids pj's for 3.99. Yeah, I was wrong, so that was a waste of time... It was actually Wal-Mart that had them for $3. Went to the mall because Sears was supposed to have contact lenses for 1/2 price... Got there and found out you HAVE TO BUY 4 BOXES, then you get 4 free. Yeah, the total was going to be over $170!!! So, yeah... forget that! Headed to Belk because they had some really cute boots for $19, and OF COURSE they were out and it wasn't even 7 am yet!!! At this point we were starting to get pretty tired and decided to head back towards home. We thought we would stop off at Ross in McCalla and yeah, they didn't open until 9:30! Who does that on Black Friday!!! Ok, whatever... so then we went to Walmart and OF COURSE they were out of the right size pj's! Well, I got some Iron Bowl game food... wings, cheese sticks... you know.(Roll Tide baby!!!) Then we headed on home. Oh, and my Bissell Steam mop, I guess the heat from it was just too much for my floor because the floor tile started peeling up! Great... just great! Guess I'm going to keep some super glue handy for whenever I use it!

I guess all in all we had fun, but if it weren't for Mom, I would never, ever want to do it again. There were WAY too many people (rude people) and it was just way too early! At least we made us a good memory and who knows... maybe we'll do it again next year.

Our Story

Well, this time 4 years ago I was getting ready to marry my wonderful husband. Our anniversary is tomorrow. We planned the wedding in about two weeks and dated for only about two weeks. Crazy huh? Who'd have thought... I knew him already from being a customer where I used to bartend. Yeah, we met in a bar... Crazy too, I know... We started dating about a week before Halloween 2005, had a few dates that first week. Then he took me to Gatlinburg the next weekend and that's where we fell in love. One of his

friends had been joking about us getting married

in one of those chapels up there, and it kind of became a joke when we would pass by one. Well, once we got home, he heard me on the phone laughing about it to one of my friends. He asked me later, "Well... what's so funny about marrying me." I said "Well, ...nothing" and we pretty much said "Lets do it!" Yeah, real romantic proposal! I'm still waiting for a proper one... :) Maybe one day... (sigh)... Anyway, we started planning the wedding. We decided to get married in a little chapel in Mentone, Alabama... called... yep, The Mentone Wedding Chapel.

Isn't it just the cutest little place! I bought a dress... he bought a suit, and we had the most perfect wedding you could ever imagine. Just the two of us. He actually walked me down the aisle because I thought I might faint or something. It was one of the most wonderful moments of my life when I walked inside the chapel and saw him standing there waiting on me. He looked me in the eyes the whole time during his vows, an

d I could see the sincerity and the love in his eyes. We played "God Blessed the Broken Road" by Rascall Flatts while we lit the unity candle. I'm just getting all teary eyed thinking about it. When we left, it was just beginning to snow outside. It was so beautiful, and such a wonderful day. I wish I could go back and do it again, and I wouldn't change a thing!

Here we are walking down the aisle... you can see that nervous smile on my face...

Happy Anniversary Bobby! I love you more than you'll ever know!

Hubby got layed off... again

Well, it's been a whole week since Bobby lost his job... I'm starting to get nervous again. Union jobs really offer better benefits and the pay is better, but the laying off part really stinks! Keep us in your prayers please...

Here are a few pictures from Halloween... I'll write more about it later maybe, I just don't even really feel like blogging right now. :(

Pumpkin seeds

I'm so exhausted... going on maybe 2 1/2 hours of sleep. For some reason I can't seem to sleep well here lately. Anyway, the house is a total disaster and I have no idea why in the world I am sitting here blogging about basically nothing. I do have pumpkin seeds in the oven though. Hopefully they will turn out good. I've always just thrown out my pumpkin seeds after carving a pumpkin (which Lexie and Bobby did last night... I sat here and watched.) So this time, I decided since pumpkin seeds are supposed to be healthy... I'd try my hand at roasting some... or toasting... whatever you want to call it.

Ok, just taste tested a few, and they're pretty good. I boiled them in salty water first before putting them in the oven. They aren't quite as crunchy as I would like, so I'll keep them in there alittle longer... Hopefully I won't burn them! If they turn out really great I'll be sure to post the really simple recipe for you.

Note to self... make sure new leggings are NOT see through!

Ok, so if you remember from my previous post. I was loving my new leggings. I felt good, had on some jewelry, my hair looked good, make-up just right... getting ready for my trip to Walmart. (Yeah, sad... I know) Anyway, the trip got delayed several hours, because of a baby puke accident in the van where I had to remove the car seat, wash the cover, wait for it to dry... Ok, back to the story... I finally make it to the store, and in the bright lights of Walmart I realize my leggings are sort of see through! Oh goodness! My shirt was long, but not quite long enough to cover my bum when I bent over. So, I just kept telling myself "Don't bend over." Well, sometimes that's not so easy when you're grocery shopping. Confidence I kept telling myself... just be confident. Pretend you meant to wear see through pants to Walmart... Yeah and well, the bending over thing was sooo not as easy as I thought it would be! Especially when you have to stick things in the bottom of the buggy... like bottled water, or when you have to load things in the car... So yeah, needless to say I was pretty embarrassed! I'm not quite ready to give up on the leggings yet, but I know I will make sure I have a MUCH longer shirt on or I will be more careful next time and buy ones that aren't see through!!!

I swore I'd never wear leggings again...

So, how do you feel about leggings? Apparently they have made a comeback... I remember wearing these in the early '90's. Oh, my goodness! I saw these were back and about had a fit. I swore I would never ever wear leggings again... much less the kind with lace at the bottom! And would definitely not wear a big huge wide belt... they also seem to be back as well. I remember my mom always wore those big wide elastic belts with the pretty buckles... like a butterfly or something like that. I even used to pull them out of her belt drawer and wear them sometimes... I thought they were so cool. But now! "Nope not me" I've been saying... So guess what i'm wearing right now?... Yep, leggings... (gasp) I know, I know... I just couldn't help myself the other day. I found this super cute top, it was long and had a big wide belt... LOL! and I fell in love with it! I didnt buy it, but after thinking about it for about a week, went back to get it. Of course they didn't have it anymore... Well, they did, but the belt was missing. So what did I do? I bought 2 pair of leggings. One pair with lace at the bottom!!! I bought two long tops and WOW are they comfortable! It's like you're not even wearing pants! I think I'm addicted now! And I even think I look pretty darn cute!

Our weekend with the crud

The kids and I had the crud this weekend. I honestly thought we were getting the swine flu because the symptoms were the same, but thankfully it wasn't. No high fevers and we all seem better. Bobby of course started getting it last night. I half way expect him to come home early from work today... I don't know how he'll be able to stand it staying, because this stuff is just yucky! We missed church, which is terrible because I'm really trying to get back into the habit of going again! We also managed to get all of the Halloween/Fall decorations out of the attic. (mainly because of Lexie's begging and pleading ALL DAY long) I dreaded it so bad, but once we got it all out I pepped up, because I had new stuff I bought on clearance at Target last year. It was like opening up new presents! I just love Halloween decorations! You'd think after all these years of Halloween Target clearance shopping I'd have enough decorations by now, but I don't think I'll ever have enough! Also what's really bad is that I can't put any of them in the living room (now Tad's playroom!) I usually would put my pretty pumpkins and candles on the coffee table, but we had to take the coffee table out. He kept climbing on it and jumping off! I have now almost removed all furniture from the living room... Next will probably have to be the couches! He climbs up and stands on the back of them and sometimes he jumps off them as well... I'm so scared he's going to get hurt. So yeah, no decorations in there... :( it makes me sad... so sad...

monkeys, dogs... and pics of my new hair cut!

Lets start out with a picture from our night at the Alabama State Fair. Here is Lexie holding Bobo the monkey... How cute! This was the smartest little monkey! They were selling photo's of the monkey for a dollar and he would take the money from the people... go put it in the money bucket and then take the picture back to them! I was so impressed! I could so use one of those little guys around here... Just think of all the housework he could help me with! (as long as he wasn't flinging poo... which I've heard they have been known to do!) They also had him and another monkey riding dogs! Yes, riding dogs! It was called the Banana Derby! That was the best part of the fair in my opinion. Who wouldn't love to see a monkey riding a dog?!

Ok, so... Tad and I are not being the most photogenic in these photos. I take terrible pictures most of the time, but these are the best ones I've got of me with the new hair cut. I think I'm going to go shorter next time.... I like it this way, but since I rarely get out to get my hair done, I'm figuring that if I get it shorter, it will take longer to grow out... thus solving that problem, and the problem of the dreaded flip that I keep getting when I wake up in the morning! Maybe, if it's shorter... it won't flip?

And finally... I will leave you with a video of the monkeys riding dogs! (sorry I couldn't seem to get it centered on the page) You can hear me and Lexie cheering on Bobo!

I'm going shopping!!!

I'm so excited... I'm going shopping today! It's been forever, and I mean seriously forever since I've been out actually shopping! (other than Walmart, Publix or the Thrift Store) We're going to the mall! My friend Jasmin and I have planned a day out at Starbucks this morning, some shopping and then lunch! I've been so excited since we planned this yesterday and of course I wanted Tad to get a good night's rest so he'd be in a "happy" mood today. He's never really happy when we go out somewhere... So of course he wouldn't go to sleep until after midnight last night for some reason, and then decided to wake up at 4am crying and wouldn't go back to sleep. He is now resting peacfully on the living room floor! I have a feeling he's not going to be in a "happy" mood today! Wish me luck...

Update:

All went well... he was fussy at times, especially while in the dressing rooms. But all in all he did ok considering not having much sleep! I had a great time and bought a new bra... The bra I have been wearing, I bought about 7 or 8 years ago... so yeah it was time! Actually, after I picked Lexie up from school.. I was really brave, and went back out shopping! Bought new jeans and a shirt at Ross. I love that store!!! I also got a new hairdryer to hopefully help me style my new hair do a little better... It's not going to be as easy to manage as I thought. I guess shorter is not always easier! The back keeps flipping up no matter how many times I flat iron it! I'm thinking about getting it all chopped off now!

Bloggers block...

Yeah, I think I have it... Bloggers block, as well as crafter's block. I have been thinking for days now of a good blog post, and can not come up with anything. As far as the crafter's block... I just don't feel inspired anymore. I don't know why I don't want to go in there and make anything. You'd think especially since things actually started selling in the Etsy shop here lately, that would spur me on... But no... I've got to get my butt in gear! I've been so busy cleaning house. (I started Flylady.com) and I have been so absorbed in that, that I don't even want to think about making something. Hopefully inspiration will come to me soon!!! My little Esty shop is starting to get bare! As far as the Bloggers block. I've had several good recipes that I would have shared, but do people really want to read recipes?... My mom says no. She told me yesterday that I needed to get back to blogging because I was going to lose all my followers. That they were going to forget about me... Don't leave me guys! I'll get back with it soon!

The Hawaiian dolls on the cake!

Here's my little Hawaiian dolls... well not mine, but you know what I mean. The super sweet lady I made these for was so thoughtful to send me a picture of them on the cake. Aren't they cute? It just made my day when she sent this to me!

Just thought I'd share my excitement with you!

she will eat it... dangit!!!

Breakfast casserole

4-1/2 baking potatoes
3/4 pound ground pork sausage
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons butter
3/4 onion, sliced
1-1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
9 eggs, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1 seeded jalapeno pepper
1 chopped tomato

Tears... thats what I'm getting right now... as I sit here and type this! Tears! This meal is NOT HOT! She says the red things (tomatoes) are hot! I'm telling you guys... It IS NOT HOT! I was so careful to remove all of the seeds from the pepper. This is not a spicy meal! It is 10:40 and I am about at my wits end with this child. I even smothered it in sour cream for her!!! I am about to lose it. She is crying and dangit... she will eat this food. I worked for I don't know how long on this meal while she sat there and sneaked herself goldfish and vanilla wafers! I will sit here at this table until her plate is empty!!! Mark my words! ..... grrrrrrrr

~EDIT
* After several hours of thinking about this post and how bad it made me look... I though about coming in here and deleting it... but you guys, seriously... It was bad... I was ticked off and the computer was sitting right here at the kitchen table. What was I to do? I of course had to blog about it! I suppose it was one of my bad Mommy moments. I hope you don't think badly of me for it. I guess I just had to vent. (It really was bad... I promise it was!)

My little lady... HA!

You've got to love my precious daughter, who after I had to roll down the window and angrily look in the back seat asking, "Ok! Who did that?" ...thought she was so funny... first there was a very proud "I did!" ... a giggle, then "Beans, Beans... good for your heart, the more you eat them, the more you fart." (repeated over and over) How lovely is that! What a little lady I have...

Spider???

Just look at this creepy thing that was waiting for me underneath the handle on my trash can this morning! I'm sooo glad I checked before I grabbed it to pull it to the road! I looked and noticed something moving and then I saw this guy. What is it? I think it's some sort of spider? Isn't he scary looking? Oh my goodness... I was terrified! It took me probably 15 minutes to get the can to the road! I didn't want to knock him off. I guess I was scared he would jump at me or something. I didn't really want to kill him. He seemed so intently busy working on this weird looking blob of green fuzz he's sitting on here. So yeah, I grabbed one of Bobby's work gloves. I could only find one, so I one handed the trash can, that is overly full, and walked backwards to the road keeping my eye on this little guy stopping every few seconds to make sure he wasn't crawling up my arm. I believe I would have had a heart attack right then and there if he did that! Ewwwww!!! If you recognize this little creature I would love to know what he is...

(Pay no attention to my dirty trash can please)

Fisherman's Pie

Ok, so here's the recipe for the fisherman's pie I made the other night that ended up in the trash because "someone" left it in the microwave over night... This recipe was good but it needs some tweaking!

Fisherman's Pie

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 cup heavy cream or single cream

3 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 (8 ounce) package Cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 (6 ounce) fillets cod or other white fish fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 teaspoon hot chili powder

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon butter

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Place potatoes into a pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and mash with milk and butter until smooth.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry onion and carrots in the oil until starting to soften. Season with salt, pepper and chili powder. Stir in the cream and parsley, and remove from the heat.
4. Place fish in an even layer in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Pour the cream and vegetable mixture over the fish, then cover with a layer of mashed potatoes. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top.
5. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until piping hot throughout.
   

Ok, first of all... I suggest you use more carrot. One is definitely not enough! The one carrot just kind of dissappeared! Also when I make this again I will probably throw in some other vegetable as well... maybe broccoli? or peas? not sure yet. I used half and half. That worked just fine. I did not use hot chili powder because I just had regular and I might suggest that you use a little more than the 1/4 tsp. that is calls for. Also it could use more fish. I used 3 peices of whiting fish and next time I will use 4 or 5. The mashed potatoes... I threw in a little sour cream and more butter... also a little more milk than what it called for. I found that they were quite dry when made as directed.

I thought this turned out pretty well other than the fact that it needed more stuff... You might think it's horribly gross, please don't blame me if you make it and think it's nasty! I got it from Allrecipes.com I absolutely love that web site! I use it all the time!

No leftovers for me today

I worked so hard last night on dinner... I made a fisherman's pie. Not that it's the hardest recipe to make or anything but it just seemed to wear me out for some reason. Chopping onion, carrot... peeling potatoes. You make homemade mashed potatoes to go on top, which is something I rarely do. I usually just make instant. Cut up raw peices of fish into inch size bites... stripped off the skin... yuck...yuck...yuck. Made mexican cornbread to go with it. There was plenty left over, more than half of the meal... It was pretty big, enough to feed six. I was so looking forward to having it for lunch today. While cleaning the kitchen, Bobby actually helped me last night! But he said it was too hot to put in the fridge so he just put it in the microwave. Well, guess what!? I woke up this morning... popped open the microwave and there it was, my beautiful fisherman's pie... I immediately ran to the internet to do a search hoping that cooked fish was safe to eat after leaving out for over 12 hours (knowing better, but really hoping!) Well, yeah... it's not safe apparently. Grrrrr.... So sad... I'm so sad...

On a more cheerful note. I sold two items from my Etsy shop over the weekend. Yay!!!

My two heroes

I should have posted an update on my parents the other day, but just haven't gotten around to it. The night of the electrical fire, Bobby went over there and worked on it all night. He got home around 4:30 am! He got their power back up and running!!! I'm so proud of him and proud of my daddy for saving the house in the first place! If he hadn't have been so calm and handled the situation the way he did, there's no telling what would have happened. If it had been me in his shoes, I probably would have just grabbed the kids and whatever I could on the way out the door, while screaming like a banshee! So yeah, I'm pretty proud of him! I know what he did wasn't easy. There was so much smoke in that little laundry room when he went in, and he actually managed to get that hot metal cover off and save the house. Good job Daddy! And Bobby of course is a hero in my parents eyes now too. That's always good when your parents like your hubby even more than they did in the first place. Thank the Lord it didn't end up being as expensive as we thought it would be as well. So yeah, it all turned out pretty good thanks to my two heroes that saved the day!