Friday, July 29, 2011

No matter who says it, It's a smack in the face...and more domestic enemies of the Step Mom

So, Tuesday night Bee and the bee-lets got a letter from the ex. In the beginning, Bee would hold their letters until he could screen them. Then, he finally decided, they are old enough to know the truth. Their mom will say mean and nasty things about everyone. They need to learn to deal with fact and sour grapes fiction.
However, this letter was addressed to all three of them. I knew instantly, something was up. She never does that. Addressing it to all three would ensure it got opened...by someone.

I pulled it and set it aside. When Bee got home, I took him aside and handed him the letter. He sighed angrily because like me, he wants her to just get over it and leave him alone. This has been the first letter to him though, in awhile. He opened it up and read it, chuckled bitterly, and handed it to me to read. It was not a very nice letter indeed.

Here's the thing. The kids? They share everything about their mom with J. Sometimes, J just reads their letters. Then, when something pisses her off long enough, she seeks me out and spills the beans. I in turn, funnel the knowledge to Bee. Through this process, I deduced that the egg-donor had a boyfriend. Apparently, she had told the kids in one of her letters that when she gets out she will be living with a guy named John. He has a house where her dog can stay and he will be handling her money. I put two and two together (because no "friend" of mine, male or otherwise would handle my money unless he was my "special friend).

I had oftened wondered what John felt about the fact he was coming to see her and no doubt, paying for her (putting money on her account for stamps. paper, envelopes, treats, movies, candy, soap, shampoo etc) because her parents weren't and Bee sure as hell wasn't, and she was still swooning over Bee. Writing him. All. The. Time (sometimes twice a week), trying to get him to come see her, break up with me, take her back and so on. She would write these letters and tee-hee in them like it was not one sided. Which was the creepy thing, because she was living her life and writing as if it was all being reciprocated. I would have thought something was going on behind my back if it weren't for her writing on the outside of her letters to please answer this one, or at least open it, or you are probably not writing me back because SHE isn't giving you the letters. This went on even after the divorce was final....a year and a half ago...and he hasn't spoken to her, not even a WORD, in over 2 years. I guess John finally put his foot down.

The letter, which mind you, was included in the same envelope, folded up with the kid's letter (as in, if THEY opened it, THEY would have been able to read it) started off by saying that she had FINALLY given up hope of him being the man she knows he could be (let me stop here. YOU are in PRISON for stealing $160K, from Katrina Victims, and it's your THIRD offense, and you are going to preach on ethics and how one should live their life? Pah-lease!) and THANK GOD, she doesn't have to sugar coat things anymore. She is going to tell him the truth on how she really feels, which will thankfully slam the door on them getting back together...ever (like it was HIM chasing HER).

Then she proceeded to tear him down in 3+ pages...front and back. From how she NEVER wanted to marry him because she HATED him, but their finances were so tied together that she didn't know how to survive without him. To his performance in the bedroom and size of his...well...(which, never fear ladies...it's PERFECTLY fine for me ;) ) She told him he was stupid for still trying to play football. He looked stupid and fat too out there trying to play a boys game. However, he was too dumb to know it, and so she praised him for in essence, being like a mentally challenged kid and beating his head against the wall until he fell down, and getting up and keep doing it because he doesn't know any better. The list went on and on....noting that she "stole all that money for YOUR motorcycle. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it". The thing is? His bike cost MAYBE $2000.00. Where did the other $166K go? Oh yeah. That's right. Tanning-clothes-purses-shoes-cellphone-cruises-Disney-toys-more clothes-furniture-cooking classes-cooking utensils. And so on and so forth. She also, then mentioned how she has found true love, and she hopes he finds it too someday (um..Helloo?!) and that she thanks him for the laughter and good memories that will ONE day resurface over the bitterness (bitterness is the operative word, here). She also thanked him for her two beautiful children (that make me puke. They ARE beautiful, but she doesn't deserve them.) Then asked if now that THIS was all out of the way and he knows she doesn't want to reconcile anymore, can he PLEASE bring the kids? <3 Mel. (the last sentence is sooooo telling..)

The thing is, you know someone long enough, get them to trust you well enough, and you see them with all their walls down. You know what things about themselves they are really self conscious about. If you want to hurt them, devastate them really, saaaay....like they did to you when the divorced your ass and refused/ignored all communication from you, and feel that you are so low that you don't even deserve to see the kids you have Fu*ked over so hard core in ways we haven't even seen come to light yet, then you know exactly which...nerves....to...hit... and ya'll?

She hit every last one. My baby felt *this* big when he was done. Not that ANY thing she said was remotely true (well, except for her stealing the money part), but when you think you are fat/stupid/ugly/have a big nose/ or whatever your neuroses is, and someone, even if it's someone you HATE, says that you in fact, are fat/stupid/ugly/have a big nose/ or whatever, you get all complex-y. My guy felt crappy all night. And the next day...and the day after. Until I told him to snap out of it. He's had his time to wallow and let the sting wear off. Time to suck it up and take it for what it is. SOUR GRAPES. The "you-can't-break-up-with-me-because-*I*-am-breaking-up-with-YOU!" bit that it really is.

Be though we should have a discussion with the kids. Especially since it looks like mom has a boyfriend. She he sits at the table and tells C, and only C, that her mom has a boyfriend, wrote him a REALLY mean letter, and just a reminder, they are NEVER getting back together. Then, I mentioned he should bring in Little Man, and have the conversation with him present too. It's his mom as well and he will be affected too. Bee said "Nah, C will tell him". Then I had to remind him that C is 10, not 45, and HE is the parent. Little Man may be 8, and NO ONE but me thinks he needs to know ANYTHING because he is "young" and doesn't "understand". Here's the thing. He NEEDS to know. DESERVES to know too. AND he is more mature and emotionally stable than C, J, or probably Bee or I. So he called Little Man in and told him the same thing, to which he cried.

You see, she has been telling the kids (and Little Man is still at an age where he soaks in ALL that she says and takes it as FACT. C does to, to a point...but she is starting to get to the point where she can start to see lies and exaggeration in stories) that they needed to be good. Be good, and keep praying every day, and God would reward them by bringing their mom home to their house when she gets out and they would go back to how things used to be. Yeah, I hate people who use religion as a manipulating tool too.

Bee hugged him and told him it would all be ok and that someday when his mom gets out him and C are going to be so lucky because they are going to have three families that love them sooo much. After Little Man went back to watching TV, he started to share little tidbits about the letter with C. I had to stop him and break it down for him, because apparently he doesn't know the domestic enemy called:

Your {insert other parent's name} is a douche.
The ex is a no good whore. She/he has ruined your life. Caused you pain. You hate them and everything they stand for and you want to tie them to a chair and feed them steaming piles of death (or your current squeeze's ex is all that if you are the Step Parent). You would wash your hands of them and hope they die in an oozing pile of chlamydia, except for one small thing. Ya'll created some super adorable wee ones and now you are tied to this person for a sweet forever. Literally. Your ex sucks at life and frustrates you to NO END, and you are always left holding the bag after they cluster the eff up EVERYTHING they do. However, your wee one? Thinks your ex (and you...please know they torture your ex too) hung the moon. As hard as it is to choke back the bile in your throat every time your kid (or your step kid) says "my MOMMY/DADDY took ME to go see Cars 2 3D. It was AWESOME!" or "My MOMMY/DADDY lets me stay up till midnight on Saturdays" you HAVE to do it. Why? Because the more you tear down the ex in front of the kid, the more they resent YOU". BFF Rose taught me a HUGE lesson with this. The nugget of wisdom being, if your ex (or the ex of your lovey) is as bad as you KNOW They are, the kids will grow up and learn that on their OWN, and will have MUCHO respect for YOU and YOUR ability to keep your trap shut.


At the end of the day, the kids are the one that suffer. I also know that if Bee were to call her right this moment and want her back, she would be HIS before the words could finish coming out of his mouth. I hate her and every fiber in her body for what she did and IS doing to those kids, and what she did and said to my Lovey Bee, but I just keep on keeping on because I believe that thing have a way about them. The cream always rises to the top and the rest? Eh, it goes out with the trash, where it belongs.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

More Stalling

Ok, so Today was SUPER busy, and now? Now I am home and want to go brainless in front of the TV. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will post :) Until then, here is another reason I love my Bee. Passing on his love of Football to a young boy at practice...



Then, we got to see the Horses next door!!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

And now, if I can direct your attention over here..

Hmmm. They say God has a sense of humor. I would like to tell God, sometimes I don't really think he is as funny as HE thinks he is.

 After my post yesterday about step mommies and the domestic enemies they face, we had a "something" last night that made me think of a few more. Details on the "something" and what it spawned, later. I am uber busy today at work and won't have time to type it all out. However, I am trying to stay on a roll, as they say, so I wanted to post something ;)


I love you, my darlings :)

so for now, take a look at my uber sexy man, being man candy!!


This picture just screams "Hey! Don't take my picture!" But you know what? I am glad I did. Cuz he's cute! ;)

and lastly, I leave you with Ms. Kitty. Pissed O-F-F! Little Man asked if I would like to put together his dinosaur puzzle with him. I, of course, agreed, and so we sat down on the floor to get to it. Apparently, we are NOT ALLOWED on HER floor. Secondly, she was NOT ALLOWED to participate in the putting together of the puzzle, so she took it out on the puzzle box (kept swatting it with her paw so we couldn't see it) and kept trying to pick up the pieces and carry them off...


Talk to you soon, my pretty-es ! :)


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Enemies of the Step mommy!

Yesterday C started football. FOOTBALL. Can you believe it? It's going to be fall, and Halloween, and School, and Snow, and Christmas before you know it! While I am kind of excited, because I love me a schedule, I am also already mourning my flip flops and sun dresses. Sigh. At least there is 2 more months of flip flop weather left. Why the hell does winter get to last so long?! Anyway, I have stupid fundraiser crap to sell for it. I say "I", because, let's be honest...

Anyway, I read on the Rants From Mommyland blog today all about domestic enemies of the Step mommy and I was sooo happy to see that! I had been patiently waiting! However, I think there are a few more domestic enemies she missed. Probably because I am a different kind of step mommy...

You see, there is the step mommy. That is when Daddy marries another woman and you see her once every other weekend, and two weeks during the summer. This is hard, because like she stated, you love them 100% but only get to parent them 50%, and you get a say on 0%. If you are lucky, you have a great relationship (as good as one can have for the ex of your now main squeeze) with mommy. At the very least, you can hope for inappropriate things to be kept to ones self, at least when the kids are not around or within earshot and when they ARE, you two can put your big girl panties on and pretend to be civil.

Then there is Mistress Step-mommy. This would be the woman who stole her husband away and broke up a family. I am not a fan of this type of step mommy. But I will say, if you are going to go through all that, it BETTER be for love, and you BETTER be in for the long haul. Also, mistress step mommy needs to understand that if mommy keeps the bitch-face under control and does not stab or shoot you when dropping off/picking up, then there is hope. Someday.

Then there is me. I am kind of in my own category, but I have a lot of the same domestic enemies as the other two. I also have my own! See, I am the girlfriend. Ok, the LIVE IN Girlfriend. Mom is in prison, for a disgusting act of lack of self control and greed. It was her 3rd offense. She knew she would lose her family for a long time should she get caught, yet she still chose to steal $160 grand. She is a low life. A thief. Someone who should consider herself lucky to have gotten what she got for a punishment. She knew after the 2nd time, Bee wasn't going to tolerate it anymore. She did it anyway. When we met, he was still married. She had been found guilty, but not sentenced yet. She was still living at home. I stayed away. In fact, I didn't even get his number. A year later is when we reconnected and started dating. She was in prison by then. He was NOT divorced...yet...but the paperwork was started. He had already had two girlfriends between her and me.

I did not officially move in with him until August of last year. However, I was ALWAYS at his place. We did everything together. He has full, 100% custody of his two wee ones. He has shared custody of the eldest as well, but that has only been since August, and her mom has visitation. We started dating in April of 2009 he was divorced 3/17/2010, but he has had 0 contact with her since October 2009, not from lack of trying though, on her part.

We live together, and one of these days, hopefully soon, when he gets off his ass, we will be married. It is our intention (hence, we LIVE together, have BILLS together) to be married. We also plan to have another child. Together. However, that will take the help of a doctor because SHE had him get snipped. So, what makes me different than other brands of step mommy?

Yesterday I was single, no roommates, no responsibilities, today? "Wife" of one, Mom of three. It is now my job to cook, clean, help with homework, take to practice, soothe boo-boo's and hurt feelings, grocery shop, do the laundry, teach a different set of morals and life skills to an 8 year old, 10 year old, and 18 year old. The 18 year old is on the same page emotionally and maturity wise as the other two..., PLUS spend quality time with my lovey and make him feel special, wanted, and needed, AAANND Word a full time job. I know EVERY mom does this, but ya'll had them since birth to get it right. I am jumping in on the fly here, and it's been awhile since I was 8, 10, and 18.

Wow, They look JUST like you! This is usually said right in front of them. Wow, thanks Jackhole. Here are two kids traumatized by their mom being in prison, and while they are extremely polite and never say anything mean/hateful/"you're not my mommy!"like to my face, I am sure you just poured salt in their wounds. And no, we really don't look anything a like. But thanks for playing...

Is that your mommy?/Where is your mommy? This is said by other kids, or the latter by adults. Either way, being that the kids and I are together at this point, we kind of look at each other and say with our eyes "do we go with it, or explain who I am/what I am" either way, it's mucho uncomfortable

The guilt. ya'll had em since birth. I came in late in the game. I don't want to insult them by trying to teach/show them something that is obvious to them, but I don't want to NOT do something assuming they get it or know it. I always worry if I was too harsh. Or not hard enough.

The Fear. I worry. It's what I do. But really worry when it comes to them. Am I doing a good job? Will they be messed up individuals because of me? Do they hate me? When their mom gets out, will I lose all rights to them? Will they want to live with her (I don't even think they can...but I still worry). Do they know they are loved? By me and my family too? I know as a parent, you love all of your kids equally, but does that unconditional love thing count for step kids too? Like, I don't want to love one more than the other. Do they think I show favoritism? Do they think they won't count when I have a baby of my own?

And Finally, my personal favorite..

When you become a REAL mom...I seriously get this statement. A lot. From friends, but also from acquaintances as well. Usually, we will be in a group, discussing kids and their shenanigans and their accomplishments, and I will make a statement, and I will get the "Just wait until you become a REAL mom!" or "You'll understand it more when you become a REAL mom". Um, hello? I AM a real mom. They might not have poked of out my vag, but I stay with them when they are sick, pay for their food, clothes, discipline them, love them, teach them, provide for them, and protect them. Isn't that what mom's do? If not, then I guess I don't have a "real" mom either...

I love these kids. I am the only mom two of them have known for the last 2 and a half years. In fact, by the time their biological mom sees the light of day, I will have mothered them LONGER than she has. Who becomes the "real mom" then?

Monday, July 25, 2011

I blinked and then..

A whole freaking MONTH went by! Good God! :)

I am ok. We are all well :) I did not mean to leave my little bloggity blog for this long!

What had happened was, I was going to go home and upload the pictures from the longest parade in the history of forever the evening of my last blog post. However, I live in the sticks, and even though I PAY for the fastest DSL/Cable Internet, it is not guaranteed I will get it, being that it's the country and all. And Bee likes to play his shoot em up bang, bang, game at night and yell things at the tv like "THAT's HORSE SHIT!", "THEY'RE SO CHEATING!" and my personal favorite, "THEY HAVE A LAG SWITCH!" because playing xbox for him is relaxing and therapeutic. Ahem. I will never understand boys..

Anyway, because of that, if I try to upload pictures while he is playing, it pretty much makes it so that he can shoot at guys non stop and won't hit them, leaving him defenseless and to be picked off by random goons because I am bogging down our bandwidth. So, I figured, I would wait until he was at practice, and I could have our Internet connection to myself. However, I had 87 other things like playing with my new phone, and shopping because I got my summer bonus the afternoon I wrote my last post.

Then, it was July 4th weekend. Friday night Bee and I had date night where I treated him to Red Lobster and one of the two times in the year we can afford to let me eat Steak and him have a whole Lobster tail. I know, we live on the edge! Then, we headed over to East Coast Custard for a sugary frozen treat. Saturday, we were up at the break of early because we had to shop for J's 18th birthday party/BBQ for our friends too. We ended up getting her a cell phone (we won the award for best parents...EVER...that day) and buying Bee a grill because, well...he doesn't have one and I like when my food gets cooked outside sometimes :) After that, we started waiting on her friends to arrive. She invited 8 people (that's a stretch for poor J. She doesn't have a lot of friends :(  ) One of which was her boyfriend. She had been up since the break of early too, getting herself and the house ready. Her people were supposed to be there around noon. This included her friends, her boyfriend, my family, and Grandma Bee. The only person who showed? Grandma Bee :(  That was only because J text her begging her to come since no one was there. That was at 2pm. By the time Grandma got there, a car showed up and three kids got out. J was ecstatic! However, they were all on Weight Watchers, so, they all had a diet coke, and then left after the finished it. They had other parties to hit, but wanted to stop in and wish her a happy birthday. Eventually, her friend Tiff showed up and she sulked while Tiff tried to cheer her up.

J's boyfriend sucks. Every time she wants him to come over, first he "can't get a ride", then I offer to go get him, and all of a sudden, he can not be reached by phone or by Internet, because you know, his phone is broken. The thing that pissed me off the most was he spent weeks building her up. Telling her he was going to be the first one there, and the last one to leave. He was going to shower her with presents and they were all going to be personal, meaningful gifts (I'm assuming like a mixed tape?), and he was going to be by her side the whole time. She was so excited, she could barely sleep (if she slept at all..) Then, he blew her off. Ugh...a big bowl of suck. She ended up spending the night at Tiff's house, and the next several days. Apparently, he contacted her that night around 10pm (you know, when it's too late to offer to come get him) and said his phone was broke, but it's fixed now. In the time since this weekend, he called her up and told her he was actually at ANOTHER party that day with ANOTHER girl that he has decided he likes better. So sorry, but I am going to have to break up with you now....for only the 4th time since I've known you....Bee and I say "Good Riddance" but at the same time...poor J. She's over it now though...and in fact, I think she has a new love...Ah Teenagers...

Then Sunday, we went to a birthday party for our friend's 3 year old, and then later attended a bar-b-que at a friends' house, which we have recently started hanging out with more because another couple we were friends with decided THEY weren't going to be our friends anymore and started monopolizing our other friends (we all have the same group of friends) and it was like a divorce...it was between "us", but everyone else felt torn because when it came time to hang out they only would invite one of the couples because they didn't want everyone to feel awkward. Well, this couple that decided they didn't want to associate with us anymore, has since done the same thing to two other couples in our group...so, we've all started hanging out waiting to add the other couples in when they get the boot too...Anyway, we had a GREAT time, went home and watched some fireworks through the rain on our street and went to bed.

Monday (the 4th), We hung out at home. Then grabbed dinner out, and then saw fireworks. I was off Tuesday and Wednesday because I went to see Katy Perry Tuesday and I knew I was going to be out late
, so I took Wednesday off too. Meanwhile, I spent the day with my sister on Tuesday taking her to get her first ever tattoo for her belated birthday present. By the time I got back to work, I was so tired. And I had so many pictures now I wanted to upload from all the fun we had had over the past few days, but then I also had all of the football pictures I got from our team photographer (all 1,400 of them!) to upload and categorize and oh em gee! It's summer! There's Football! and kids activities! And trying to spend time doing fun stuff while I have the extra money! Plus working full time. It was a whirlwind. In the last 25 days:

1. J turned 18
2. I got my bonus
3. I spent my bonus...and really aside from my new phone, new tires, and some new clothes..I don't really have much to show for it :(
4. A friend of Bee's and mine (and one of the coaches for the team) passed away suddenly. On game day...
5. We had my parents surprise 40th wedding anniversary party. We pulled it off. They were Surprised! Even if it was 294584896 degrees in the non-air conditioned church hall, everyone had fun.
6. Bee, Reggie, The two wee ones, and myself got banned from a football game we didn't even get inside the gate for.
7. My dad got laid off from his job
8. My dad is 99.9% sure that 4 days after being laid off, he has a NEW job...making more money, and with more perks.
9. That job is in Tucson, AZ. Looks like they may be going after all
10. It's almost time for school to start up again...*sigh*
11. C starts football...TODAY.
12. My friend, Mrs. T, who's husband is C's head coach, just had her baby...so now I get baby cheeks to squish at practice!
13. Bee has decided to NOT force Little man to play football, and let him play soccer (which he REALLY wants to do) He even got him a soccer ball and little man is Over.The.Moon!
14. So over the moon, he SLEPT with his soccer ball last night. :)



15: I had a wedding shower yesterday and I stopped at Target on my way to get a gift. I NEVER shop there. Mainly because I think it's a store that sells Wal-mart quality stuff at yuppie prices because they know bored housewives will buy it, thinking they got a huge deal! Anyway, I was there because my friend was registered there. I passed by a clock they had for sale and actually had to do a double take because, hello! Mucho Cool! I snapped a picture of it with my phone and sent it to Bee telling him how cute I thought it was. He replied with something along the lines of "sweet!" and I shrugged it off and said "It's only $15. Maybe I'll come get it next pay... When I got home at 8pm last night, I walked in to this on my wall...

What a sweet guy I have ;)



Yeah. I am sure there is TONS I am missing, but for now, that's the update :) I really DO plan on posting all the pictures from the exciting times we have had this month...as well as daily updates again. If anything, a paragraph or two on something interesting from the day :) I miss my blog! I miss my two readers! ;)


Friday, July 1, 2011

The Longest Parade in the History of Forever!

Every year for the last 70 years, the little city of Fairport has been having it's little festival called "Mardi Gras". They kick off every year with a parade on opening night! I only know they've been doing it for 70 years because their website said so. Also, the theme this year was "70th Birthday party!". I put two and two together. I am deducive like that. :) Afterwards, everyone either goes home or heads to the beach where the carnival is.

Two years ago, we walked in the parade with Bee's football team. It was roughly a mile and a half to two miles (being a marching band vet, I know parades are measured by mileage. I'm fancy that way). Not the BIGGEST parade I have ever been in, but more middle of the road. When you walk or, march, as the case may be, it doesn't take as long as watching the parade....

I got home last night and I knew two things. I wanted to change my shoes, and I had to pee. I was trying to hurry because Bee had practice and he left his stuff in my car. He's like a 15 year old boy like that...anyway, I hadn't decided what I was going to do for the evening, but I had a few ideas. I needed kitty food. I needed laundry soap. I figured a trip to the store. Then I was thinking about what to make for dinner...chicken? Left over Chili, again? Chicken and dumplin's? In the back of my mind I knew the parade was tonight. I thought maybe after dinner, I'd surprise the kiddos with a trip down there.

I stepped out of the car, and like a creepy ninja that Little Man sometimes is, almost tripped over him. He was RIGHT THERE! And before I could even elicit a gasp, he was on me. "Can we go to the parade tonight?" Then, before I could answer, Bee was running out the door, stuff in hand, opening up my car doors and asking me, "You're gonna come with me, right?" "Do you want to come with me?" "Can I use your car"? and then, C walks up on all of this and says "Do you think, we could perhaps go to the parade tonight?" Needless to say,  I felt a bit bombarded.

Bee felt sad that I didn't want to go to practice with him. Here's the thing. I love football. I love him. I love hanging at practice with everyone and last year, I don't think I missed a single practice. However, I have a house to take care of now. Things that need to be done, and as much as I enjoy going with him, I sit there and think about how I am doing  nothing, when there are 17 zillion things at home being neglected. I wouldn't even mind putting those things off if it was watching him play a game, or doing something one-on-one, but I am not even spending quality time with him. In fact, I don't even exist, while we are there because he is busy doing football stuff. It's perfectly fine with me too, but I'm going to pass on being there if I have other things that need my attention.

In the end, he conceded, saying "Nah, baby, you go. Take the kids to the parade and have a good time. Here's $20, put gas in my truck and you can take that (wow, thanks...I prefer my car thank-you)" Also, he said it in front  of the kids, who then cheered and high fived each other like they had just won a basketball game or something. So, I guess my plans had been made. I kissed my man goodbye and ran inside to use the rest room. The parade started at 7pm and it was already 6pm, so we had to go (I remembered waiting in line 2 years prior for over an hour...) I grabbed the kids and ran.

We got there, parked, and found our spots. It was packed! Apparently, they Mayor owned the house who's tree lawn we were on. He had a nice little BBQ set up and was entertaining people. They were all TRASHED. Even the mayor. Who, by the way, was handing out beer and liquor to the DRIVERS of the floats as they passed by (because he knew all of them. Small community) Ya'll, there were probably 17 thousand kids lining the streets (ok, more like 200) and you are going to give alcohol to the drivers? And, it wasn't like that was the only spot, these guys got beer and whatnot all the way down the parade route. I saw a lady run out with a shot for the one driver and they did it there in front of everyone! Good God people!

Other than that, the parade was a success. Lots of candy was passed out. The kids spent the whole time ooing and aahing all the different trucks and floats and sights to see. It was sooo loooong though. It started at 7pm and ended at 9:45! Towards the end, we were all just waiting for it to be over. We left, grabbed some McDonald's drive thru and the kids went home and went to bed. I WANTED to go to bed, but instead went to walmart to make sure Ms. Kitty had food...and we can have clean laundry, and pop to drink.

And all of God's children said AMEN! :)