When I got back...

I got back from Indiana on Friday afternoon. Bee and I celebrated by going to a late lunch together before the kids got home from school :) Afterwards, we just hung out as a family.

On Saturday, the kids had basketball as usual. C's team had two wins and Little Man's team lost             :( However, they would have tied, but in the last 2.5 seconds they got the ball and the little boy on his team who had the ball thrown to him (indecently, the best player on the team) got excited, and turned behind him and tore to the hoop and shot it and made the basket!! Unfortunately, it was the opposing teams basket. Since it was good, they points go to the other team. :( Oh well, everyone makes mistakes as the little guy told me. Good news is we got their basketball pictures! :)

Afterwards, we came home and Bee and I got ready for his flag game. After he got done getting his behind handed to him, we went out to dinner with our friends Rob and Amy for Rob's birthday. We went to Hibachi and then out for some drinks afterwards. It was a lot of fun :) Sunday we hung out at the house and I CLEANED my house. Like, REALLY cleaned it,  and then we headed out to Bee's Hockey Game. All in all, it was a great relaxing weekend :)

They had the same hands..

Well, a lot has happened since I updated last.

First, there was a HUGE snow storm...When I say HUGE, I mean HUGE! Quite literally, we got 3 1/2 feet over night. That was Saturday the 14th.  The kids had their basketball games canceled and Bee and I spent the day snow blowing and shoveling.

Then, when we were done, it was time to do it all over again. We came in for the night just in time to see that I had to missed called from my cousin Tony in Indiana, and a missed text message status update from Face Book from my cousin Allison (Tony's sister) that said "pray for him". Instantly, I knew that Tony's call was not good news.

When I called my cousin back, I found out that my uncle had passed away suddenly. This was no bueno. My aunt, who is sick and has dementia, she was supposed to go first! We were prepared for that. I didn't know what my work would give me in the was of time off, but I knew I had to go. Mom didn't have the money to go, sister couldn't get the time from work, and my dad didn't have the money or the means to get from Tucson.

Work made me take all of my own time, but whateves. I shopped for groceries like a mad woman, cleaned and prepared my family as much as possible, then kissed my lovey and my hive good-bye on Tuesday morning around 6am and headed on down 71S. I had an uneventful drive (other than all the rain. My word,  the rain!) and arrived around 1:30pm. My cousin Brian was bummed my dad couldn't make it, and when he heard that my dad was really upset about not making it, he immediately booked him a round trip flight! I got to see my dad! He came in on Tuesday night and hung out with my cousins and I.

Wednesday we had the viewing. We were there from 2pm until almost 10pm. It was a long day. A long day of hundreds of people I didn't know telling me who they were and how they were somehow related in some way. My uncle didn't even look like him, and I kind of found myself feeling sad. However, sad for my cousins and their loss. Sad for my dad. Also, sad because I realized, I didn't even know him that well :( I decided right then and there, that it's Bee's and my duty to make sure our kids see their relatives. I don't want them to be standing at a casket of an uncle 20 years from now not knowing that person. I finally did cry when I saw my dad touching the arm of my uncle and I realized, they had the same hands :( That honestly, was the most profound thing. I will always remember that.

Picture my uncle painted

another one...

Sign The Guestbook..

another painting

Marengo

Marengo

Marengo's one and only street

The Quary

Poppy at the mouth of the Quary

3/4 of my extended family

Thursday was the funeral. We were late. It was nice. My aunt made a fool of herself. She has a painkiller problem and she got into her pills. She was passing out for the whole thing. Thankfully, people just thought she was overcome with emotion...the grave site service was an hour's drive away and my dad said he would rather stay in the little town where he grew up and wait for everyone to come back for the reception dinner. We killed time by grabbing a bite at a small diner, and then he took me around and showed me the town he grew up in I have been there many times before, but it's been awhile) and we visited the house he grew up in. Afterwards, we went to the the church hall that my uncle built and had a very nice dinner with people who knew him well and loved him. Then, I said my goodbyes and went back to Tony's house where I sat with him and did some big time catching up :) Till 2am ;) I left Friday morning at 6am and was home by 1pm. I spent the rest of the night attached to the hip of my Bee. I missed him so much and he missed me :)




This all just reaffirmed to me how important my family is. I need to just spend more time with the extended part of mine and make sure my kids do too!

(I have more pictures to post, but my phone is being weird and Bee is playing his game and pictures eat the wi-fi..)

An artist!

J made me a new bowl!!!! I love her woodworking :) The following three things mean more to me than any other possesion I own :)



This is the new one! This one has a lid :)

This was the one she made me a few months ago



This is the bookshelf that started it all :)

I would like to go on the record as saying...

I absolutely HATE the new blogger dashboard. I hate it with the power of all the fires of hell. For one, it's confusing. I have no time in my life for confusing. Also, I update from work. This is when I have the time and the patience. Granted, I have been busy as all hell at work the past week and a half, but none the less, even if I hadn't, I can not post from work anymore because the new format doesn't work in the version of browser we have. Ugh! Lamesauce.

Anyway, not that ya'll have missed much of my life. Bee and I were working out like mad people all last week. This week? Meh. Unless you count sexy time ;) Me-OW! We have no intention of giving up, mind you, just this week took the wind out of our sails. We have had a sick kid (C), big projects due that we have totally let slide because we don't want to do them, even though someone (ahem, me) has been nagging them, only to be stuck doing them last minute (Little man), plus all the other things that come with the week in out house (Basketball, football, hockey, school, work, lunches, dinners, homework blah blah blah)

Time is going to  fly around here between basketball, football, hockey, and now flag football. We have dinner plans on Friday with an old school friend of mine and her new boyfriend! Then, we have the 2012 signing party for the Rams on Sunday. The weather has been mild around here lately (40's and 50's) which totally as me thinking about Spring, and Easter. I love Spring ;)

Anyway, things should be slowing down at work soon. When that happens, I can at least type up a post and email it to myself and just copy and paste when I get home :) In the mean time, here are a few pictures from the last week :)

HAPPY 9th Birthday, LITTLE MAN!!!

Monday, January 2, 2012

My sweet, sweet boy turned 9! What an interesting, funny, thoughtful, SMART (oh Lord, the smarts on this child), popular, shy, loving, kind, generous, little MAN he is becoming ;)

- I woke up, showered, got dressed, and came out to greet my family. Little man had a friend over that spent the night. I fed them and the animals and kissed my Bee Hello.

- I set to the task before me of making the cake for my little guy. He specifically requested a cake made from scratch. I had to oblige! He LOVES chocolate, so I made a dark chocolate Hershey's cake with homemade buttercream frosting (holy butter, ya'll)

- Meanwhile, mama packed her things in a whirlwind. She wasn't supposed to leave until Tuesday. Mainly because Little Man had wanted her to be here for his birthday. When I asked if she was leaving, I got a very cert, very cold "YES.  I have THINGS to do and can't afford to get snowed in HERE" I said "Fine" and walked away. I wasn't going to let her ruin little man's day like her attitude ruined Christmas Eve. Bee plowed the driveway and they left immediately (they didn;t even wait until he was completely finished) I told her to please let me know she made it home, and then when she made it back to Detroit. (She had my sister text me both times..she wouldn't do it...she also left a bag on my floor that had her stuff in it with her picture of us...not really sure what THAT means. Also, leftmost of her Christmas presents...but she left other things that i *know* she didn't mean to leave, so I think that was an accident)

- ANYWAY, back to the important things..

- I cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned while the kids played outside in the snow. We they got tired, I had them bring in the boxes that hold Christmas stuff and we packed it all away for another year. They went back ooutside with their friends and I went back to laundry and cleaning. Then Bee and I rearranged the livingrom so we can use the kinect we got for Christmas.

- The kids all came in and we had cake and ice cream and little man opened his presents (two DSI games for his DSI he got for Christmas from Bee and I, and Cars and a $20 from Grandma and Grandpa)

- Then they all went upstairs to play DSI, while Bee and I played the kinect. At one point I had them take their baths. Little Man was finished with his, but upstairs still playing DSI with J, and C was watching me on the Kinect. The phone rang and it was their mom. I figured as much. I wasn't going to let C let it come through (it wasn't Sunday. She is allowed on Sunday...) but I figured since it was little man's birthday and she couldn't have been bothered to call the day before....

- C called for him. He reluctantly came downstairs, got on the phone, gave her a series of one word answers for about 2 minutes  and then said "I'm gonna go now. Here's C" and handed the phone to his sister (Not before telling her how I made his cake from scratch hahaha!) Then came over to watch me play kinect. Apprently, *I* was more important. Ha!

All in all, he had a GREAT day! He did what HE wanted to do, which included ending the night playing family games on the Kinect :)

Happy Birthday, my sweet, sweet, sweet, Little Man! Hope Nine is Awesome!

2012 thus far

Well, Happy 2012!

It's been a crazy few days (that feel like weeks!). I will sum it up the best I can in the form of a list. Mainly because my arms are sore from my workout yesterday, and also because I have a lot to do today :)

Friday, December 30, 2011

- Came home from work at 2:30. I took my mom to GFS to do some shopping (with her own money. She Insisted)
- Many dollars later, we left, hit up the smaller IGA for the few things I needed and headed home to spend time with our friends, The Jones's.

Saturday December 31, 2011

- Bee and I slept until 9:30am. Saturday was a lazy, lazy day for all of us.

- I didn't get out of my PJ's and shower until 4pm. This was only because friends of ours called and wanted to know if we wanted to grab a steak with them. Seeing as how we were supposed to go out to see BFF Rose, and that sort of fell through, we were down.

- The kids played outside all day, and then came in for Pizza Rolls and shrimp with Noni (my mom. That's what they call her) Then, they all watched a movie while we got ready to leave.

- We had mediocre steak and after two appetizers, two meals, and two drinks, we paid out $81.00 bill (!!!!! It was some hole in the wall local restaurant, too. It's not like it was Ruth Chris or anything...) and came home. Bee had a massive headache and even though it was New Years Eve, Memaw and Pops headed off to bed where we we snoring soundly by 9:45pm. (My 25 year old self just FACEPALMED herself....)

Sunday, January 1, 2012

-We got up by 9am again. The Holidays always stress me out and wear me out. I guess I was getting my rest!

- Bee left and took C to the store. She wanted to spend her gift cards and Bee needed to get Little Man a present because his birthday was on Monday. It was around this time that everything about went to shit.

- Bee left the house and left behind J, Little Man, Me, and Mama. He text me about 8 minutes from the house telling me he had got dinner. Mama had started dinner (spaghetti and meatballs), but since she hadn't cooked the noodles yet, she said it was no big deal. We would just make it Monday.  Two minutes later, she said my sister and her boyfriend were on their way. I panicked a little bit because since bee left, little man had two friends over (one was spending the night), and now my sister and her boyfriend. I was hoping they would show AFTER we had eaten. Here is where I will claim my part of responsibility. I knew my sister and her boyfriend were coming, but to be honest, I really did forget it was Sunday they were coming over instead of Monday. Whateves. I did not learn of this until AFTER Mike had text me about dinner.

- Mama mentioned they (my sister and her boyfriend) wanted wings from the place up the street. Bee came in and started making tacos. I didn't mention my sister because well, I figured we would be sitting down and eating before they got there AND we were busy talking about other things.

- My sister shows up in the MIDDLE of Bee cooking. He panics because OHMYGOD, we will all only get ONE taco and no one will be full! My sister comes in and starts talking about how good it smells, how she wants whatever it is we are cooking, blah blah blah my sister can EAT, ya'll) and she says "should I even order the wings since he is making tacos? I want tacos!" Bee says in a rather panicked tone (He is a man after all, who is not used to cooking for large groups) as he looks around at my mom, my sisters boyfriend (who can also eat), my sister (who can EAT) C, J, Little Man, Tyler, Colton, Me, and him and says "uhhh...I didn't know there was going to be this many people here! I don't know if there is going to be enough, so why don't you go ahead and order wings, too"

- That is what he SAID. What he MEANT by that was "you will ALL get SOME, but it might not be enough to make a meal out of like I had planned, so lets order the wings too". Mama TOOK it as "I don't want YOU here. I don't want your other daughter here or her boyfriend. We are better than you and you can't have any for it will take from the mouths of me and my kids" She promptly said in a tone that meant business that NOT TO WORRY, SHEEEEE and my sister would order wings. Then got up and left the room. I came in 5 minutes later after we plated the kids plates and saw there would be PLENTY for all to fill up on, to let them know. She nastily told me no. Later, I went to tell my sister I would take her now to go get the wings and she (SHE didn't have an issue, she was fine, it was my mom) told me they canceled the order. My mom said "Yeah, *I've* got plenty of food here we can eat." I said, "And there are plenty of tacos too", to which she replied "oooohhh no. I wouldn't want to take from any ones mouth". And then I said "Fine" and walked away as she said "FINE!" and that was it. She didn't say a word to me or Bee the rest of the night.

- She stayed in the dining room until we went to bed. Even past her usual bedtime of 7:30pm! I was so done at that point, I just let it go. Whateves. I have spent my life walking on eggshells to make her happy. Lived my life the way I thought she wanted me to live it and as the older I get, the more I realize that is not ME. I don't HAVE to do those things. I am 31 goddamn years old. This is MY house, and I can do what I want. You don't want to talk to me? Fine. Your loss. The older I get the more I realize that she needs some serious medication and some serious Therapy. It is not normal to sleep all damn day, or take Benadryl or Nyquil like it's candy.Or have some new injury or ache or pain when you think someone just might have a percocet or a vicodin near by. Just sayin...

- In the mean time, Bee and I watched the Steelers Game. They Won!!! Woot Woot! It was a close game though. Only because a lot of our key players were hurt :( But, I do have to say, I think THIS may have helped them....just sayin ;)

- I went to the store afterwards to get stuff for Little Man's cake. He specifically requested a cake made from scratch with homemade frosting :) We went to bed shortly after that. I said goodnight to my mother, who only responded with silence. So much for the whole "God won't forgive you if you can't forgive" lecture she used to give me when I refused my sisters (or any ones for that matter) apology when I was younger (hell, she'd probably give that same lecture to me now...)

I'll Finish the rest tomorrow....Little Man's Birthday deserves it's own post and not to get lost at the bottom of this rant ;)





Peace Out, 2011

It seems like yesterday we were saying goodbye to 2010, and here we are saying goodbye to 2011. Honestly, this year was kind of sub par for me. I'll be happy to see it go. There were ups, no doubt, but it seems the downs were WAY down.

Anyway, I have a lot of hope for 2012. I hope it will bring me a husband officially, and perhaps even a baby. Or at least the growing of a baby ;) I also hope it will bring J some independence as she starts College/training/a job as an adult. I hope that it brings my mom and dad a sale on their current house, a job for my dad, and a new home in Arizona. I will miss them, but it will make them happy, and it gives me a place to visit :) I mostly hope it brings happiness for everyone I love and care for. I know there will be bad times in 2012 too, but I hope the good ones way outshine the bad :)

Happy New Year Everyone, see you in 2012!!!

If I could Freeze Time...

Sharing a chair, quietly playing a game...not fighting... :)

Christmas is over..

And for the first time ever, I am kinda happy about it. Christmas had it's up and downs this year, and over all came out on the good side, but not good enough that I want to relive it or anything. Honestly, 2011 has kind of been a big let down and I will be looking forward to 2012.

Let me start by saying, I LOVE my mom and my sister. I would do anything for them. However, if I am being honest, anything about this Christmas that was a low point, it involved them. That sounds terrible, I know. I feel terrible for saying it. But, it's sorta true. Poppy is in Arizona and has been for the last 4 months trying to find work and living with my Aunt. My mom and sister had been living in their house, but once it went on the market, and they had their first showing which involved them taking the dogs and leaving for 4 hours, my mom thought it best to go stay with her sister in Michigan. My Aunt in Michigan then convinced her to live there until the house sells. They also convinced her she can't live in her house because she has no money to live on. That was 4 months ago. My Aunt and my mom didn't allow the thought that maybe my parents house wouldn't sell...for awhile.

Long story short, my mom and my sister are getting on their nerves. My Aunt and her family are getting my my mom and my sister's nerves. They are miserable up there. Not to mention, it's Christmas. My mom has not seen my dad since September. She misses him, my sister misses him, they are both depressed (clinically...so this makes it worse), they both are even more upset that they couldn't buy for anyone. They have spent the last week they have been at my house in severe mood swings. Which causes the mood in my house to be swinging from one extreme to the other. My sister got offended when I was having a "heated discussion" with Bee, and I snapped at her. She cried to my mom, who then came and yelled at me, and then wanted to leave. Instead, they drugged themselves up on benadryl at 6:45pm and went to bed for the night. Then next day, it was awfully "chilly" in my house....which just reminded me of why I was so happy when I moved out almost 8 years ago. I cried to bee that night that I just wanted to cancel Christmas and that if it weren't for him and the kids, I would do just that. They both got over it though and by Christmas Eve, all was well.

Then, my mom was feeling down on Christmas Eve when everyone was over celebrating. She snapped at little man, and then at my sister in front of everyone , then went into the living room by herself. Christmas day, she was fine. Festive mood, even. Then, my sister took her turn. She got upset watching my kids play with all their presents (editor's note: as kids...and even as adults, my parents always spoil us at Christmas. I am one of the few adults I know who was still getting 20-25 presents at Christmas. However, unlike my sister, I never have cared about the number of presents. I would have been just as happy with one or two)...and got upset. Started crying to my mom about how she was so depressed she wanted to die. She was feeling like she did when she went to the Lauralwood (mental hospital). She took three Xanax back to back and wanted to call her doctor to see if he would admit her. I just rolled my eyes. Drama. Not to take lightly people with mental illness, but I know my sister. 50% is real issues. The other is for attention. If she REALLY felt that way, she wouldn't tell anyone...if she wanted to die as bad as she said she would, she wouldn't have said anything, or worried about taking that many xanx. Le Sigh....she slept most of the day, but was fine later on..

Now, apparently, she is great. She is moving in with her boyfriend today. My mom is going to drop the price on the house, and hopefully, it will entice a buyer. I love them to death. I will also do my best to accommodate them, but I need for my life to go back to normal. I can't afford to feed 7 people much longer...and I clean up more after them than my kids...:/ I feel awful saying that, but it's true. I can't stand the moping and the constant sleeping...

In other news though, As far as my hive goes, we had a great Christmas. I was e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d though and took nary a photo. Ok, I took three...but that's it. My kids were spoiled. Bee was a little hesitant because of all the presents for them (especially little man...holy Christ. I started out my shopping and had a cart full of stuff for the girls, but was on my lunch break, so I had to cut it short. I then had the idea in my head they had tons of stuff, so I tried to compensate for that and concentrated on him. It wasn't until I was wrapping that I realized the stuff was mainly stocking stuff for the girls.) The wee ones also got presents from some church their grandparents go to that puts their mom's name on the gifts..so extra spoiled. :)

Bee got me some nice things too :) I got a sweet new knit hat, gloves that I can wear and are made special so that you can still use your touch screen phone, a Steelers Jersey (#7- Big Ben!), a Leather Jacket, and my precious...

I also got some coffee's to go with it :) Bee's mom got me a lb of coffee from Starbucks, an ornament with my name, and a "J" candle Charm :) BFF Rose got Bee and I margarita glasses, tequila, and margarita mix :) My dad even sent a little wood lion that was being sold at a church he went to :)

My mom and sister, for as much as I complained before gave me (and my family) a chance to spent time with them. Seriously, that means a whole lot to me, because when my mom does move, it will be few and far in between that I get to see her, or on days when I really miss her, taste her beef barely soup (which she made me a bunch of and is in containers in my freezer :)  ) :) With my sister taken care of, and the Holidays over, I think my mom's mood will greatly improve. 

I surely hope so...or else I will kill off that bottle of Tequila by myself ;)

Double Rainbow!!!

Ya'll....This rainbow was SOOOO Big, and SOOO Bright, it took my breath away when I first saw it!
God keeps his promises...