BOO!

Big One as Strawberry 2002


Little One as same Strawberry 2008

Big One this year

Friday Fragments

so last week I missed Friday Fragments....or was that the week before? Oh hell it might have been both weeks but I'm back today on this Friday that happens to also be Halloween and this week lets call it Fuck it Friday!

let's get this party started!

1. It is Halloween and being the lousy unprepared mother that I am I haven't quite finished preparing everything for Big One's costume....I know.....(getting ass in gear).......well yes, I guess the Husband could have helped me out but he's probably busy taking a nap

2. Just found out yesterday that the Husband has new work hours starting Monday.....3pm - 11pm........this means even LESS help than I already get. No Daddy at dinner, No Daddy at bedtime, No afternoon 4-wheeler rides, NO help with homework, NO help for Mommy (not much change there) and the kids get to spend exactly ZERO time with Daddy during the week.....if I'm going to be a single parent I should just make it official.....I'm just sayin

3. I have a bad attitude this week and the Husband is my whipping post......(no shit Sherlock)

4. Why is there no Spiced Pumpkin scent at Bath and Body this year? Those other pumpkin scents they have just don't compare and dammit why can't SOMETHING go right for me??

5. This Christmas is going to be very sparse for everyone but the minis. I'm sad, I love Christmas (usually)

6. Geezus H. Christ I'm ready to be done with this fucking election.......I voted early THANK GOD!~

7. Why is it that when we are outside in the garage waiting for Big One's ride in the morning she is laughing and playing around with me and as soon as the car pulls in the driveway she won't even look at me and tell me goodbye nevermind give me a kiss.......she's only 6 for God's sake.....does it really start this early?

8. Tena boo'd me so I'm going to BOO some bloggy friends too......look for my BOO in your comments.......

9. Today officially ends my pity party so look for happy sappy jovial fun posts next week....don't necessarily look for them here....but look for them nonetheless..........kidding.......I'll be better next week.....maybe......no, I will....pinky swear

10. Thank you for my book suggestions. I am making a download list now. In the meantime I was forced to download and listen to Nights in Rodanthe and now my ears are bleeding.....

This has not been the best week ever for sure but definately I've had worse. Suck.It.Up Mrs. Said So! I'm mostly ready for the weekend and almost ready for tonight. But I've got a couple bottles of good wine and a pack of cigs hidden in the freezer. I've got a fantastic halloween treat bowl full to the brim with candy for dressed up minis tonight. So to the rest of this day and the end of this week I say FUCK IT!

This is where I usually say "for more Friday Fragments please check out Mrs.4444" but today just go over there and give her a virtual hug........she's having a worse week than me and is suffering a loss that is unimaginable....

Thousand Words Thursday

I'm not certain what it is about it, but I just love this photo of Big One (at 3 years old).......I always have. It's the expression in her eyes I think...makes me want to know what's going on in that cute little head

for more Thousand Words Thursday see my girl Jen at Cheaper than Therapy

husband for sale

cheap....bargain basement pricing....hell, I'll even consider a swap

my ad reads:
Husband for sale. He does not cook, he does not clean, he does not do laundry, he helps as little as humanly possible with minis. He does occasionally go to the grocery store......and he's a pro at nap-taking. He does not make beds or clean showers. He does not wash bottles or make bottles. He does NOT get up with babies during the night. All offers considered.......

Here's how my day went yesterday:
I woke up at 4:30am yesterday, got up got ready got minis ready and fed. Made bottles and labeled for Little One's Storage and made lunch and packed book bag for Big One. Waited outside (32degrees and windy this morning) with Big One for her ride, came back in and packed up my shit for work, got Little One in the car, stopped to fill my gas hog with fuel, went through Chick fil A for a Sausage and Cheese Bagel with Hashbrowns and a LARGE Dr. Pepper. Dropped Little One at Storage, went to work, had meetings all day and a photo shoot at lunch, find out Dad has cancer, freak out, stopped at grocery, picked up the minis at Storage, went by my Mom's and got her mail and fed her cats,went to Party City to get an eye patch for Carson (pirate day at school tomorrow) with both minis in tow. Finally got home last night at 6:30- just in time to get in the door and get Big One started on homework and fed. Little One starting nightly bedtime meltdown cause Mommy obviously doesn't move fast enough. Get upstairs and give Little One a bath before meltdown gets out of control, get her out of the bath and pj'd up, give her the antibiotic, sit down in the glider (ahhhh, finally sitting down) to give her the bottle and the antibiotic comes back up onto her, into her hair, the glider, the pillow, me, my hair, my jeans, my shirt (did it multiply in 2 minutes????)......get BACK up, throw her back in the tub, re-pj'd and now we are in full blown meltdown wanting to go to bed so I finally get Little One fed and bedded down, come downstairs and start laundry, washing bottles, making bottles for the next day, do the dishes in the sink, get Big One's homework checked, get her upstairs in bath, come back downstairs and there is my husband......who did not get up at 4:30, who did not work at ALL yesterday, who actually did NOTHING other than recline and watch tv with an occasional nap yesterday....and wants to know what's for dinner....Oh Yes He Did

can you see the circles I am running in? can you see these children of yours (they are always his when they make me crazy) pulling me in two directions? can you see the laundry that needs doing? how about the dishes in the sink? can you see those? can you see the bed that didn't get made this morning because YOU were still in it (this drives me INSANE.....I cannot, cannot, just CANNOT get in a bed that isn't made) when I left for work? can you see ME in a flurry of activity and aggravation all around you? can you see that I got bad news today and can't even sit down long enough to absorb it? can you SEE that I could use a little help?

Cheap......I will sell him very very very cheap

party on

so I've been MIA for the past few days and there are good reasons which are forthcoming, but first.....a couple of (very bad quality, but all I have on this computer....) photos of some of the finished pumpkins from the Pumpkin Carving Party. This is about half of them.

I'll post the rest when I get them off my camera at home. This came from a neighbors camera....the same neighbor that is a little obsessed with Barack Obama and made his pumpkin into O'Bumpkin and has him proudly situated in the front yard on a hay bale with all of his Obama '08 political signage.......he even changed one to read O'Bumpkin '08, it's cute

I can't show all the pictures I have from the party because there are lots of people and lots of minis that don't belong to me and the parents might object to my posting photos of their minis on the interwebz......so I'll share these that the neighbor emailed and give you an outstanding description instead!

As I described before we have this Annual Pumpkin Carving Party at our house every year. This year was the 8th Annual Pumpkin Carving at the Said So House. Every year we make the invitations and Big One and the Husband ride the four wheeler around the neighborhood delivering some of them while the others get mailed to friends that don't live in the hood. In the next couple weeks we start getting out our Carving Party supplies that are stored on large shelves in big plastic containers in my garage. There are books and books and pages and pages and stacks and stacks and tons and tons (you get the idea) of patterns and buckets of carving tools, knives, scrapers, scoopers, big saws, little saws, medium saws, pokers, scissors, markers, hammers, etc. We also have a big container of paints and brushes and kid patterns for the little ones.

We then go on table roundup which involves making trips to several neighbors and my mother's house to get tables. We usually have about eight tables. One for food, one for patterns and tools and the rest to first eat on and then carve on... After we retrieve the tables we fit them with plastic tableclothes and situate them in the offset garage. One roll of paper towels per table. Next we go to the pumpkin farm that always donates our pumpkins (free pumpkins ya'll......it's for the kids......all for the kids) and pick up as many as we need, which is usually around 30 or so, bring them home and set them on the ground lining the back wall of the garage. Next, Big One and I make treat bags for all the small partygoers and put them in my cutesy little treat bag basket, well, it's not actually little, its really pretty damn big. The day of the party we prepare food (and by prepare I mean go to the grocery store and buy potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans and cole slaw premade from the deli and potato chips, dip, drinks, juice boxes, water, buns, hot dogs, hot dog chili and condiments) and roll out the coolers full of ice and drinks into the garage. Usually several of the guests bring cookies and cupcakes so I don't have to do dessert too. Then we go inside and I outfit the minis in their cutest Halloween outfits (not costumes......outfits...you know Halloween tshirts and leggings and denim mini skirts with Halloween bows in the hair and all) and then I put on my own Halloween t-shirt over my long sleeve white Gap Favorite Tee (in size Medium Tall.....and not because I'm tall remember, but because I like them long and they do shorten after washed) and my most favorite Hudson jeans. Then we turn on the music open up the pool room (the Husband has a man-cave complete with pool table, darts, poker table, Direct-TV and surround sound with couches, billiards chairs, fridge and heat/air) above the garage......I'll post a few pictures one day and then grill the dogs and wait for the screaming minis and beer toting parents to arrive.

It is the highlight of Halloween for our neighborhood and always a big turn out. This year we had 30 pumpkins carved. There were probably easily 35 kids there including babies and all the adults that go with said children. There was a lot of adult beverage consumption, a lot of pumpkin carving, a whole lot of hide and seek, trampoline jumping and swingset swinging, a lot of eating, some more adult beverage consumption and a general good time had by all.

We do it every year.....ya'll wanna come next year?

and P.S.

I have been on hiatus because my Little One has ANOTHER ear infection......she sees the ENT next week to talk tubes....ALREADY....she's 8 months this Saturday. Poor baby. My Big One had her first set at 6 months....second set at 1 1/2 with adenoid removal and third and final set at 3....she's now 6 1/2 and has had no ear infections since the last set. I hope we aren't going down the same road with Little One.....I'd like to make a detour and go a different way if we are!

I'm thinking of running away again.......these minis are way more work than they ought to be...can't they just look cute and be happy and not be so damn demanding?

and the award goes to....

(taking the crumpled piece of paper out of her bra and clearing her throat.....) Uh-hem...I would like to thank the Husband and the minis without whom I would have nothing to bitch about and this blog would not be possible. I would like to thank my readers reader for taking pity on me checking my daily sanity level and continually coming back despite the fact that said sanity level is declining rapidly. I would like to thank my mother, without whom I would.............hey.......where's that music coming from........hey wait.......I'm not finished.......let go of my arm........what do you mean my time is up........LET GO...I have to thank AMUSING MOMENTS for this fantabulous award she bestowed upon me......

The Superior Scribbler Award!

Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains The Award.
Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

without further adieu I pass this honor on to:

The McMommy Chronicles

Cheaper than Therapy

Life of a Nguyener

Scary Mommy

Lipstick at the Mailbox

Thanks Amusing Moments!! (((hugs)))

Thousand Words Thursday

This is what pops up on my screen first when my pictures start scrolling on the screen saver......reminds me that Christmas isn't too far away......dammit

See more Thousand Words Thursday with Jen at Cheaper than Therapy!

random facts about me

1. I have had two knee surgeries

2. One of those knee surgeries required a "donated" body part from a cadaver......I see dead people.........(sorry I couldn't resist)......but I seriously do have dead people parts in one of my knees....had to get on a donor list and the whole nine yards

3. I love sweet tea (of course I do, I'm southern right?).....but when I'm getting my own tea at say a fast food joint or restaurant I always do half and half. I fill it half way with unsweet and fill it the rest of the way with sweet...cause I'm weird like that

4. I cannot stand a dirty bathroom. I am so funny about showers and bathtubs especially. It was sheer torture even with flip flops on to be forced to shower in the hospital room shower when I was living in the hospital waiting for Little One (a month of hell)

5. I love to read but I don't have time so instead of downloading MUSIC onto my IPod, it is filled with books that I listen to in the car.....and it's now empty and AGAIN people...HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO BEG FOR BOOK SUGGESTIONS?????? hint hint

6. I cannot stand for my kids to be dirty or messy looking. Hair needs to be brushed and clothes unstained....I have been known to change them several times a day. I also cannot stand a nasty boogery nose on a baby.....pet peeve big time. WIPE YOUR KIDS NOSE ALREADY

7. I used to be a dancer (not THAT kind of dancer.....doesn't the Husband just wish) and I danced competitively for many years from age 3 on up through adulthood until I had done so much damage to my one knee that I finally had to have surgery (see #1 and #2) and now I can't do any of it or a lot of other things I like to do like....

8. Rock Climbing

9. I love football. I don't just kind of like football, I LOVE football. I am like a guy about football...it's bad

10. I smoke sometimes..(I heard that GASP!)......it's my only real vice and I usually only do it when I drink and am with friends. You can leave now if you are totally disgusted......I know it's such a faux pas these days

11. I have my ears pierced 2 times on one side and 3 times on the other (don't ask.....home piercing gone bad as a teenager) but I only wear earrings in the first holes

12. I probably wipe the counters and table in my kitchen down 5 times a night.......I can't deal with crumbs and shmegma on the counter

13. I like to bitch that the Husband doesn't do enough to help me, cause he doesn't, but in reality he can't do it right anyway......I mean even if he did try to do more I'd freak out and do it myself...especially anything having to do with the kids........

(I'm seeing a little OCD pattern in certain cleanliness areas of my random facts list........and while we're at it shouldn't I have just called this post Reasons Why Mrs. Said So Should Seek Professional Guidance....)

you asked for it and Little House hair.....

a better post is coming later on with photos that happen to be at home, but for now.....me and my minis.......you wanted to see me and I really just wanted to show you Big One's hair do.....doesn't she remind you of that mean girl on Little House on the Prairie? What was her name? Ellie or something? (Little One is looking washed out a little and me, well there just isn't any excuse for that hair.....but since you asked.......that's what I look like)

we've been spooked!

so I'm pulling out of my driveway this morning and I see something on my front steps. I don't have time to stop and see what it is because I'm running late (shocking, I know).....so I keep going thinking to myself, "self....what the hell is that purple thing on the front steps"...but just as quickly as these thoughts entered my brain, they were gone (another big shock). I figured the Husband would find it when he saw fit to get out of bed (sinus infection....still sleeping.....do I get to sleep in and do nothing just because I have a sinus infection.....NOOOO I go to WORK and keep living life as usual.....but WHATEVER)...sinus infection my ass......

but anyway so I kept on going, drop Little One at Storage and go on to work, quickly forgetting about the mysterious purple thing on the front steps.

I get home that afternoon (or evening really) in a rush because of the whole Girl Scouts thing (another thing I need to talk about later)....I get home at 5:20 and have to attempt to get both minis fed supper and get Big One's homework done before 5:45....that is 25 minutes.....25, count them 2 - 5....to get these minis ready to scoot back out the door in order to make it to the first Girl Scouts meeting on time. And as if trying to get them fed and homework done in 25 minutes isn't bad enough Little One had a BLOWOUT to beat all blowouts that almost required her being thrown in the shower and hosed down....I DID NOT have time for that in my tight tight schedule yesterday. Then Big One had P.E. at school yesterday so she looked like she'd been rolling around in a dirt pile and hadn't brushed her hair in a week and I cannot have my minis represent me looking like homeless children. So now BOTH minis require costume changes and the time is ticking away...The minis were very high maintenance yesterday and were completely stressing me out. I hate being late and the way things were stacking against me there was no way I wasn't going to be late. How could I be the 'late' mother, the one that can't seem to get her kids anywhere on time.....oh wait, that's me all the time.....but I still don't like it. It stressed me out big time. We made it......but we were 5 minutes late and I'll blame that on the train we had to wait for so it wasn't my mothering ability.....because I totally rocked getting all that shit packed into 25 minutes

and back to the story, WOW I can get distracted sometimes, but so I walk in the house at 5:20 and there is a purple metal bucket with a little Frankenstein painted on the front and it is filled with candy and a ceramic ghost with a candle inside (love me some candles) and the cutest little hand towel with a JackO Lantern embroidered on it and some paper. On the paper is this:

YOU'VE BEEN SPOOKED!

then you have to make 2 copies of the you've been spooked page and 2 copies of the instructions and spook 2 more people (without being seen). Then you hang your sign in your front window so people know you've already been spooked.....make sense?

oh how cute.......right?!!

NOT CUTE!

how I love little neighborhood games and being involved but I have no time for spooking let alone making two cutesy baskets to put on two unsuspecting neighbors front steps undetected....and because I'm so anal retentive I have to make the baskets cuter than the one I got.....I'm funny that way and DAMMIT I don't have the time right now. Bad timing spooker....BAD TIMING....

but of course I will be the good neighbor and keep it rolling........damn spookers

wtf?

happened to last week? I know it happened and I know I was there...at least I think I was there

It was busy busy busy and I packed about 3 weeks of life into a few days. So the blog got little to no attention last week. Let me apologize profusely.....I can't say it will never happen again because, well, Because I Said So!!

Now I know I owe you a Pumpkin Party post and I'm getting to it, pinky swear. I missed Thousand Word Thursday and Friday Fragments last week and I vow to do better and pack it all in this week. Today is catch up day at work because I had to go out of town for my Grandmother's funeral and a couple other things came up.......so I better go before I get my ass in trouble but I'll be back with good stuff the rest of the week.

Damn Mondays.......I wish we could skip Monday.......Monday sucks.......all the way around Mondays suck! and dear Lord we start Girl Scouts tonight.......sheesh I'll let you know how that goes. Little One will not be pleased to have her routine upended...could be bad

Toodles....

Halloween '06

Not the best pictures I have......but the only ones on this computer that semi-show the costume from 2006. She looks so little to me there. Wow the time does fly.....

who didn't know?

THIS makes me want to vomit.........

I simply could not imagine and don't want to know how she did it because the thought of harming one hair on either of the minis makes my skin crawl....

and seriously........who didn't know she did it and if you didn't know she did it.....well....I'm just gonna say it......you are an idiot and you need to crawl back under your rock.

yep, that's right. She makes me sick. Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick

Just look at that little girl............

De ja vu

Remember a couple weeks ago when I posted about the Husband going to the grocery store 2 days IN A ROW....well, brace yourself...are you sitting down? He called me a little bit ago and he had ALREADY gone to the grocery store and picked up everything on my list and was on his way to COSTCO to get the stuff for the Pumpkin Party this weekend....no I'm not asleep and it wasn't a dream and you don't even have to say anything, I will check his head immediately when I get home and if we need to we will make a trip to the Minute Clinic.....or maybe it's aliens? you know, invasion of the Body Snatchers style. Maybe he's not the Husband at all, maybe they've snatched him and left me with a new Husband, a better one. One that does things like go to the grocery store and does laundry and vacuums and does dishes and cleans floors and bathrooms and helps with the minis and changes diapers and makes bottles and gets up in the middle of the night with Little One.......OR he's trying to get some again......

Could go either way, I'm hoping for the alien kidnapping...

Brace yourselves, Pumpkin Party post coming up.......I know you can't wait

Halloween '07

I thought I'd share Halloweens of yore with you all.....starting with last year and working backwards.....don't worry, I'll do a real post later......but for now

Big One Halloween '07- I'm pretty sure you can figure out the costume...

Coming up.....Halloween '06- Little Red Riding Hood

she's on a roll people....

Okay, so I'm trying to make up for last week......but at the same time I just had a few things to share....

THESE are the best baby gifts and are so so so so so cute and wonderful. My Little One has one and it's awesome

THESE are the cutest most adorable baby shoes........if you have a little one you should try them

If you still haven't signed up for MySurvey....what are you waiting for??? It's money for taking surveys and they also send you products to try and give feedback on.....it's so easy and I just got a check for $110 in the mail.......and some diapers to try......

And while we are sharing........have you ever tried this bra? Oh Mah Gah.......no back fat........no lines......nice shape.......no clasp........I have them in every color and I love them all!~~

randomness abounds here at the Said So today.........try these as a treat for yourself......mmmmmmmmmm

I've said it before and I'll say it again and again......until someone says they've read it....READ THIS

cutest photo birth announcements and cards ever are here..........

this sweater from Target drapes beautifully and I bought both colors.....

and that's all I've got for right now..........

weekend reminiscing

she'd absolutely DIE of embarrassment if she knew I showed anyone........but this is what happens when you already have...shall we say.....PLUMP lips and the dentist over-numbs you....

she was such a trooper about the whole thing though. This was after it had gone down a whole bunch........when it was really really bad she wouldn't let me take a picture. Poor Big One, but it's all gone down and back to normal now.

Saturday was fun and games at the Pediatrician's office. Yes......I said pediatricians office on a Saturday. Both minis were scheduled for flu vaccinations and Little One was getting a Synegis vaccine too (RSV vaccine for preemies and high risk babies). We get there at our scheduled 10:00am appointment time. Nothing like taking two kids that just got over being sick into the Germ Capital of the State on a Saturday morning during the Flu Clinic, when not only are all the flu vaccine kids there, but so are the sickest of the sick......the ones so sick that their mommies make them go to the doctor on a Saturday because they are so sick they can't possibly wait until Monday to be seen. You should have seen me huddled in the corner of the well waiting area (which by the way was FILLED to the rim with coughing sniffling snotty kids...WELL my ass!) with my minis. I practically had Little One in solitary confinement with her Peg Perego zipped up and all around her like some kind of Boy in the Bubble sanitary germ tent....

Big One opted for the FluMist instead of the Flu Shot...and what 6 year old in their right mind wouldn't be lured by the 'mist' and the thought of no poke in the arm with a needle. She didn't know that what they meant my 'mist' was not actual MIST like what came out of Little One's nebulizer.......no, what THEY meant was 'mist' as in a skinny plastic syringe filled with watery medicine that they shoot up your nose, one syringe per nostril..........yeah. That was just a tad different than what she'd imagined....a little more like breathing in through your nose when you put your head under water than an actual 'mist' like it was so pleasantly described.....but in the end still better than a needle in the arm she decided. The worst part was we get there and they didn't get in the baby doses of the flu vaccine, so now I get to make ANOTHER trip to the pediatrician for Little One for that, but she did get to get her Synegis shot, which is very important, she has to get that one once a month through March. That was drama.....she screamed bloody murder like they cut her arm completely off for 10 solid minutes. I think I have a budding drama queen on my hands for real.

Okay, the rest of the weekend ROCKED. Big One went with one grandmother to a carnival and fireworks and spent the night with her. Little One went to the other grandmother's house to spend the night AND the Husband went 2 hours up into the mountains to go 4-wheeling....... which meant No Big One, No Little One, No Husband.......THE TRIFECTA!!!! It happened. I'm sure it will never happen again as long as we both shall live..........but it happened. I had the house and myself all to myself!!! I was me for almost 24 hours......not Mommy, not the Wife, not the maid or the cook or the nanny or the butler or the chauffeur or the landscaper........none of them. I was me! and me and my BFF went out and partied like it was 1999 Saturday night........and the next morning I woke up with a hangover that reminded me of my real age........Let's just say I'm nowhere close to being able to do that anymore without dire consequences. I felt like the ass end of a goat all damn day long

My Panthers looked like a high school football team yesterday, and not even a good high school football team, which was fine cause I didn't feel like watching anyway, I felt like laying in bed and nothing else. I did make a miraculous recovery when I looked at the clock and realized that I only had a few precious hours of mini-less, husbandless free time and made the most of it. All in all it was a night and day of well deserved time just being me for a minute.

SO........I have some interesting stuff this week........party prep for Pumpkin Carving 2008, a FaceCrack story, actually two FaceCrack stories and a good Thousand Word Thursday and I'm sure there will be many random Friday Fragments this week....it's looking like it's going to be an interesting week.

How was your weekend?

more later but......

for right now.......could you just EAT those cheeks???????

Little One...........7mths old 18.5 lbs............a LONG way from the 4lbs. I posted Thursday.........

For Real? Friday

Wow, it's Friday again already..........I'm glad though for sure....so last week we had Fight About it Friday....so lets make this For Real? Friday......


okay......seat belt on? check.....both hands on the wheel? check........here.we.go......

1. It hasn't hit me yet about my Grandmother. It may never hit me like I think it should. I just can't.get.there..........for real

2. I had a wedding to shoot tomorrow and the maid of honor just called me........wedding is off.....for real


3. Our annual Pumpkin Carving Party is next Saturday (and I'll post the prep work this week) and the father in law of a guy I work with is donating the pumpkins this year.........like 30 of them....how awesome is he?!! for real........


4. I have emptied my Ipod of books and I need new books to listen to.........what book are you reading........I NEED NEW BOOKS.......STAT.......FOR REAL.........don't make me download Nights in Rodanthe...I'm not that desperate yet.......FOR REAL

5. Have you read 'I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids'...............if you have kids and you like my blog......FOR REAL you need to read it........it's perfect

6. I just had THE BEST cupcake EVER for lunch.........yes, I had a cupcake for lunch........for real....

7. The Real Housewives of Atlanta is TOO DAMN FUNNY and if you didn't watch it you need
to.......for real

8. I'm also in need of a new good (really good) body lotion/cream.......FOR REAL

9. Me thinks me needs a glass of wine shortly......for real.....is it close to 5:00????

Looks like I should have called this post "what I need from YOU Friday!!"
What's going on with YOUR Friday?

Don't forget to check out HalfPastKissinTime for more Friday Fragments!

something good...

My week has been hellish........could you sense a bit of bitterness in the air over here this week....I'll be back to normal next week. Pinky Swear.....but for now I'm joining Jen at Cheaper than Therapy for:

Little One at 17 days old........4lbs. 6oz. of tiny little preciousness held by the Husband in the NICU

I'm decorating my Handbasket.......

Have you ever heard the expression "going to Hell in a Handbasket"? This is touchy and you might decide I don't deserve you because I am evil and terrible and have a one way ticket to Hell in my back pocket.......but here goes.....

Have you ever lost anyone? Not lost as in misplaced.....but lost as in they died? I have. In fact I just did.....last night. Namely my Grandmother.

It's okay......really.....I'm okay. I'm fine in fact......perfectly fine. I don't feel any different than I felt yesterday or the day before actually. I'm still tired from lack of sleep with sick minis.....but other than that I'm fine.

I think that's what is bothering me. I'm feeling guilty about not being more upset....or upset at all. See 3 years ago last Friday I lost my other Grandmother and it was devastating in a way I have never felt before and hope to never feel again. I still miss her every day. I wear her necklace every day and I will never stop missing her. I cried for weeks.....months probably and still cry every now and then. There is a hole in my heart that is missing her.....

I only saw her a couple times a year, but I was close to her....so very close. My Grandmother that passed last night lived a few miles from me almost my entire life.....yet it seemed like she lived on another planet. I only saw her on holidays at that side of the family's somewhat forced gatherings. That side is the 'fake' side. The side where no one likes each other but fakes it on the holidays and stuff. No one is close.....everyone is kept at arms length. There is no hugging, there are no I love you's. She was like that to the extreme. She had no friends and liked it that way. She had no social life, she didn't want one. She was a loner. In fact I still wonder how she ended up with three children being like she was..granted they grew up in that environment and it's so obvious in all three boys. They are a cold standoffish bunch. They will never have warm hearts, enveloping hugs that your whole body sort of folds into and a smile on their face when you walk into the room. She was different. Polar opposite of my other Grandmother. She played favorites and had a stinging personality. I was never close to her no matter how hard I tried. Some time in my early twenties I had some deep 'need' to try to be close to her while I still had a chance.....but that fizzled out after a while.

I felt sorry for her because her last years weren't kind to her......she was miserable. She had a degenerative nerve disorder and by the time she died, she was done. Done with life.....done with us......done with everything. She was miserable and wanted out. Now she's out. I'm almost happy for her.....she's not miserable anymore and it's what she wanted. She had no use for this life.

So I'm not sad. I'm not anything. I'm sad for my Dad because he lost his Mom today. I'm sad that he's sad.......but I couldn't muster even a tear.....and I know it's awful. I know. I will not miss her, I probably won't think of her often and I probably won't talk about her much.

All I can think of is that she's in me. I have her genes. How can that be......which ones did I get and which ones did my children get and can I ever tell them enough that I love them......will they ever feel that way about me? Am I like her and would anyone tell me if I was......

And that's why I'm busy decorating my Handbasket today........

Calgon.......

Take me far far far far far away.....................

Little One has had this recurring sinus/ear infection that responds to antibiotics, but as soon as the medicine runs out.....it comes back....with a vengeance and this time brought it's friend upper respiratory infection. This has been going on over a month. As of yesterday I have........NO EXAGGERATION....pinky promise...........5 hours and 15 minutes of sleep over the past 3 nights and I am runnin on FUMES today for sure. That is my excuse for sporadic crappy posting.....

But anyway, she is now on antibiotics, albuterol, prednisolone AND singulair. She is 7 months old and was a preemie, so she's already at a disadvantage with the lung development and whatnot that preemies generally suffer. I HAD to come to work today so how awful did I feel dropping her in Storage this morning (physically and mentally) when she feels so crappy and only wants her Mommy............I know, I know.....that's what I get for putting my minis in Storage during the day...

Big One is suffering with her allergies so it's a one-two punch at my home these days.........sick minis around every corner. There is nowhere to hide.........trust me, I've tried

So I'll be back with my normal bad attitude and silliness tomorrow........hopefully.......

Just pray for sleep for Mommy tonight, or that I have a good bottle of wine chilling when I get home........OR both........

I have a reader!!

Thank you Monogrammed Teacher for my VERY FIRST AWARD!! I'm touched and honored and can't wait to pass it on!! I can't believe I have a reader.......you must be SUPER BORED!!

Seriously, boy was I shocked and after the day I've had (I'll post that next).....what a great surprise!

The Kreative Blogger Award requires that you list 6 things that make you happy and pass it on to 6 other bloggers.

So here goes:

1. Football........NFL......Carolina Panthers

2. Watching my kids together

3. Having a night off with my friends......or just having a night off for that matter!

4. A clean house...........preferably mine

5. Finding a new (or new to me) author that I like to read

6. New makeup

What a conglomeration of crap........

That's what you get with an hour of sleep here and there sporadically over 3 nights......like I said I'll post all my crap later..

But for now, I bestow this prestigious new award on these blogger friends.....

Multislacking Mamalicious

Barely Keeping it all Together

ClemsonGirl and the Coach

My Therapy

A Belle and Her Beau

More Wine Please

Congratulations friends........and THANKS again Monogrammed Teacher!!

Fight About It Friday

1. I'm a member of a Mom's group that branched out off of BBC because of all the "moderation" and craziness over there. Well, usually it's THE BEST group of women to be involved with and I have so much fun on that board. Today is Fight About it Friday over there.......the drama is flyin left and right........it all stemmed from a post about Sarah Palin and WOW is it getting out of hand


2. Also on Fight About it Friday we need to discuss my argument with Big One over her Picture Day outfit for today.......geez......not that I ever actually purchase the lousy school pictures but seriously, when did she decide to care about her clothes. She's 6 years old and up until this year has pretty much just worn whatever I put out for her to wear. Not anymore......no way......I can't take this for 12 more years

3. Next on Fight About it Friday we have the Husbands sudden desire to clean out my garage....not HIS garage, the one that seriously NEEDS cleaning out.......no, not that one. He wants to clean out MY garage.......while I'm at work........I'm thinking NO on that one

Enough fighting already

4. I'm in the middle of doing my fall planting and I've discovered a new nursery up the street from my office that has the most fabulous plants.....I am spending too much money there.....that will be another Fight About it Friday when I get home today with the back of the gas hog Sequoia filled with plants.........

5. I'm obsessed with makeup 'how to' videos on youtube. I've found this girl and her name is Sandy Gold and she does the best how to videos on eye makeup and stuff. I'm also obsessed with the hair how to videos.........I have long hair and am always looking for new ways to experiment.....not with cutting, just styling. It's a sickness.......not unlike the clothing obsession, only that gets costly and I don't have the money to support my shoe/handbag/clothing obsession......I do a lot of 'Nice'n'.......you know Wow, that's nice and OHHHH that's nice and Ewww, that's nice

6. I stayed up too late drinking wine with my neighbor-friend last night and this morning I looked like I'd been pulled through a bush backwards.......it was bad and so is the afterburn today
7. It's Friday and I'm having a hard time concentrating at work today..........it could be Fight About it Friday between me and the boss if I don't get some work done.......

Let's hear about YOUR Friday Fragments! Thanks Mrs. 4444

Thousand Word Thursday

This is a photo I took of my then 3 year old in my back yard, bad quality.....it's the only copy of the picture I have on this computer

This is a drawing of that photo done by an amazing artist Dusty Scott ..........I know........it is amazing isn't it...........

Happy Thursday! Thanks Jen at Cheaper than Therapy!!