Oh My GOODNESS!!!

If you want to laugh your head off, go to www.elfyourself.com and pop in a few headshots of yourself, your family and the crabbiest person you know...

I gare-on-tee you will giggle yourself silly. I just spent almost 1-1/2 hours playing with this.

Oh, and share your giggles, you can email it to the person you elf-ed.

bwhaahahahahaa..

Merry Christmas!

If I could have a do-over

Stealing a post idea from a good friend. (thanks Tracy)

I like the idea of no regrets, only things that "maybe I would have done differently".

My list includes:

Getting married younger. Waiting till 30 was hard. Though sometimes I think I am still not ready to be married and we are 7 years into this thing callled life together.

I would have had children younger and more of them. That harkens back to the first issue. If you "wait" till you are married, as I did, you have to "wait" for the little blessings. I would like to have had more kiddos of my own and been younger to get around with them more.

Study something differen in school. Yeah. You're right momma. I should be a teacher, but really, how do I jump to that track now with the whole family/house/car/dogs/cats etc. Or maybe I should be a doctor, or a nurse...but definately not this claim stuff. I'm bored.

NO dogs in the house...ever. Seriously. If a dog is over 10 pounds, it belongs outside, with it's fleas.

well, really, that's it for now...seriously, I think.

Christmas

Christmastime can be a strange time of year. I grew up in the cold North with promises of way too much snow and no school and sledding. Now I live in the "South" and it's hot, not just warm, but down right hot today.

"What, today is not Christmas". Yep, I hear ya. Yesterday was. At our house at least. It sounded something like this from my bedroom.

MB to older brother: "my alarm went off, but the front is dark still. There is NOBODY out there."
(Unfortunately I could not hear which brother he was talking to so I missed half of the converstaion, but my vivid imagination fills it in because then I hear MB say, "But nobody else is awake". (mommy was smart enough to set MB's alarm so he would get me up and I could give him his meds and I would not have to reset my alarm clock, yet I could get an extra hour of sleep).

Finally I hear the patter of MB feet down the hall into the living room where I hear him exclaim:
(insert big sucking sound here and then a REALLY REALLY LOUD VOICE) "SANTA CAME ALREADY!!!!!"

and he had. We have my stepsons for a week, and rather than letting them open stuff and then leave, I figured I'd give them something to play with (other than the Xbox) for the time they were here.

So we had Christmas yesterday. I did inform MB if he is very very good, maybe we can sprinkle the "reindeer food" out front and Santa will come back on Christmas day.

Am I worried about Santa? Not at all. Ask MB why we celebrate Christmas and he will tell you it's when we celebrate the birth of Jesus (and then he will follow that with "my mommy needs to have another baby. I swear, I didn't bait that. The kid wants somebody to play with all the time).

The kids gleefully opened their gifts. Searched for their names on little tags. Grinned in delight as things they had NO expectation of were received. Each gift joyfully received and joyfully given. (Mommy likes finding the right thing, even when she is not sure what that is). Daddy basking in the moment and the discovery of what was chosen for each child.

No, I'm not worried about Santa. The kids in our house know what the season is all about. Giving and recieving. Ask MB about Santa and he will tell you of St. Nicholas. He understands that the star on the top of our tree is a reminder of a star over a town called Bethlehem over a baby in a barn sleeping in a feeding trough. That is how our Saviour, the love of our life, the one true Prince of Peace started his life. MB knows that this is a miracle. He LOVES the story and, thanks to a nifty product I saw last year called "What God Wants for Christmas" he knows that the gift we can give is ourselves, completely and without hesitation, to God. God WANTS us. There are people who feel unwanted and unloved or unlovable. That is not true. God WANTS you, deeply and truely and completely.

This Christmas, whether you celebrate early, late, or multiple times, remember the true gift is yourself given with the enthusiasm of a child finding the presents on Christmas; not concerned with brushing his teeth, combing his hair or even taking off the nasty pull-up until the last gift is received and the "afterglow" of Christmas is in the room. Not worried about "cleaning up" to come and recieve a gift. Just coming to the moment and making the choice to give into it. When you find yourself in that moment, I urge you to give in to the One who has wanted you from the beginning of time..

Merry Christmas, every day, every year.

Bad FORM people

We have a congested coffee area at work (Don't even get me started on the whole ice maker thing...blech)...
we have one of those cool machines that you pick your pouch of coffee and slap it into the machine and wait like 35 seconds (too long sometimes) to get a pippin' hot cup-o-joe or tea or whatever is your fancy from a pouch. Not the best, but when you are desperate for a fix, it'll even brew you an espresso.

But it's in a corner, next to a toaster, a water "purifier" and a regular coffee pot next to the sink and said blechy ice machine is on the bottom.

Flanking coffee station on the right are 3 gross refrigerators that everybody forgets they have food in.

So here's the problem. People who stand directly in front of the blechy ice maker and the coffee station, blocking the water "purifier" and the other coffee pot....FOR NO APPARENT REASON...and don't move when you say "excuse me".

COME ON PEOPLE, when there are 3 people standing there looking at you like "GET out of the WAY!" and one finally says "excuse me, could you move".....

M O V E!!!!!

Don't glare at us
Don't look at me like I'm stupid.

MOVE YOUR BUTT, you're blocking the motivation for work.

It'd be different if you were waiting on a somewhat tasty coffee or even being brave enough to gag your way into the ice machine (It's a scoop thing...and I've seen the scoop hit the floor and the rude dropper just hang it back up like they didn't just drop it on the GROSS floor.....really ppl...and we won't talk about bathroom hands.....blechy!!!!!)

But if you are standing there for attention, I guarantee the attention you are getting is not what you want.

Wanna talk on your cell phone privately, I guarantee that is not the place.
Wanna look important? NOPE.

Just
Move
Out
of the
Way.....and maybe, get yourself some ice so we can have a few days without ya.

The tale of the apple and the tree

I am reminded today of the simple saying "The apple does not fall far from the tree".

That being said, all things that grew with a "stem" need a few more lessons in manners and behavior in my house.

Yeah, read into it all you want, good and bad. It's true.

Oh man the holiday's are upon me and I realized

I'm FAT. Not just Phat or cute oompa loompa fat, but way too big for my britches fat.

It's depressing. I have always been a big girl, but lately.......yeah.

I need to do something. Is it like AA where you admit you are powerless over your fat and bad eating habits and seek your Higher power (In my case God) to help you get rid of the bulge? I am the size of two people. TWO.

Bitterly depressing. I know a lot of the factors in my seeming inability to get rid of the bubbling fat deposits on my body. First there is dissatisfaction with the "state of my life". I am not where I hoped I would be. Not even close. Did I have a lot of plans? Nope, but how do I achieve at least one of them?

Secondly there is the fact that, though I enjoy my job on most days, it is completely sedentary and you are encouraged to NOT leave your cubicle because there is too much to do and only a 30 min lunch to do it in. For me, that's like an extended coffee break, not a work break. Maybe I can get them to change my schedule back to 8 to 5:00, especially since I come in at 7:30 every day anyway after I drop MB off at school.

Thirdly, my house is too small for all the people living here, and all the people, myself included, like to eat crap. That and everybody else is so picky I'm burned out on cooking. I eat because it's there and tastes better than fish and baked chicken.

I need pointers, tips, advice, a chastity belt for my mouth.

Help me dear blogger friend before I blow up like Harry Potter's aunt in The Prisoner of Azcarban. (Don't flame me, I know I probably spelled it wrong. I like Harry Potter).

help

I"m a slacker

forgive me for slacking. I actually had this big giant post and it got deleted....but I'm just not willing to re-write it.

*sigh*

can I get 28 hours in a day so I can get it all done???


I'll be back dear friends.

Of cabbages and kings!!!

This post will probably feel about as crazy as Alice In Wonderland....and it is. I am a bad blogger and really am finding time to blog, read, breath scarce lately.

Here is the general run down on things.

The job: I have just, sort of, been forced into a promotion I didn't really want. I think I will like the position. I still am somewhat resistant to change, which makes it hard, but I'm off the phone (read that as you may be able to call me at home and have me talk for more than 3 seconds before I HAVE to get off the phone.) It's hard to work in a call center, even as a woman, and want to talk on the phone. Your words are just used up by noon and you still have to force yourself to talk all afternoon and then go home and deal with the whole family dynamic. I am now working in a specialty queue, though it is not official yet, but I'm already doing the job. Now I wonder if this job means more money.

The boy: He just had a 2 week break due to year-round school here in the Tennessee county we live in, and going back was a wee bit rough. Like the first day of school all over again. We finally got his school pictures. What a cutie. Then, the weather factors in here, he is in our bed EVERY NIGHT again. We had to turn the heat on, and the unit is right outside his bedroom. I wonder if the sounds of the heaters kicking on is his problem, but he's in our bed again today. Read that as less sleep for a tired mommy.

The husband: He's dressing up for work now. Wow...he looks good all dressed up. The secret here, revealed about me, I like to iron. Shhhhhhh. It seems to be paying off at work now because he has been given a mentor position. I hope for good things for him. We are excited because we get to go see the Blue Man Group on Friday. Should be cool. We saw Stomp last year and enjoyed it greatly.

The sister: My sister lives with us and I have to say, it's NICE to have a sister finally. We act like sisters do; we argue, we make up, we tease each other and steal clothes and things. Finally. It only took 40 years for us to get along. Her daughter, who lives with her aunt right now so she could stay in Illinois, finally thinks I'm cool, goofy, but cool.

The Mommaria: I'm tired. I don't have enough hours in a day....and I'm tired of trying to think of what to cook every night for dinner. Is that harsh? I hate that it is my "home job" to figure out what people want to eat and then cook it. But I don't want to complain. Even eating out, it's always the same thing. Is it right that food is boring. I'm also on a cleaning mission, so dirt, get outta my way. I'm on a quest to clean my house totally and make it stay that way. We are enforcing some new rules around the house. The living room is done, including the carpets cleaned. Nobody gets to leave a mess in the living room anymore!!! So when you visit, please stay in the living room. Hahahahaaa. That took me a full day to get it looking that way and there is only 1 Saturday per week.

Well, blogger friend, how are you? I know I'm forgetting a lot more than I'm writing, but I'll be back. I'll try not to make it so long this time too.

Christmas shopping already

Yup. It's that time of the year, you know what I'm talking about...when you start figuring out what those precious people in your life might want or enjoy for Christmas. The only problem is....what....and how to pay for it.

*sigh*.

Ebay has been a blessing this year as I have been able to find the "odd" things the kids will like, gently used or new, and much less expensively than I would find them in a store (not to mention some of the stuff is pretty old!).

I have too many people I want to bless this year....and no where NEAR enough funds to do the blessing.

Little bit is getting a set of 19 Wishbone books. He loves Wishbone. I was able to find a tiny talking Wishbone on Ebay, so he's getting that with his books too.

One of the older boys is getting some books too. I'm afraid he may find this site, so no talking about the older kids stuff.....with the exception of the 11 year old. HELP!!!

I'm totally at a loss as to what to get this kiddo. He is no help either. When he is asked what he may like he says "I don't know". Gee, thanks.

So, any ideas what an 11 year old boy might like for Christmas???? Clues... Anybody....Bueler??

I'm a new momma!

Anybody who KNOWS me knows I want more kids.

Anbody who REALLY knows me knows I have been "fixed" and can not have any more children.

Today, my husband, who obviously loves me, made me a mommy again.

This was a secret that was well hidden. If you thought you knew something I assure you, you did not.

I did not even know till he and Auntie C walked in the house today with the MOST BEAUTIFUL loving pitch black baby kitten! I'm in love. I named him Felix II (anybody who knows me well enough to call me by any of my nicknames knows Felix was the end all be all cat I had when I was a teenager. He is the cat by which all cats are now judged (Boots the standard for all dogs!).

This little guy is awesome.

How did I get a cat from a man who is allergic to cats??

My sister's cat ran away 2 weeks ago and does not appear to be coming back. We all miss girly girl. My husband knows I love black cats. They got me a black cat.

On a funny note, the people who gave us the cat asked my sister why she specifically wanted a black cat. LOL....they even asked if we were going to kill it on Halloween. Silly people, absurd timing I suppose.

So, My MB is excited because Felix's bed is in his room. He's giddy with joy that Felix will be in his room and responds to toys, and loves to play.

This is so sweet. I love my hubby too.

Thank you for my favorite birthday present 1 month late ever.

One very politically incorrect observation....

Has anybody else realized the biggest problem with Bluetooth technology is not so much that people NEVER get off their cell phones now, but rather that you can not tell if the person walking toward you muttering, seemingly to themselves, is skitzo or talking on their phone.

Seriously people. It's kind of creepy to see you talking to yourselves all the time.

Just an observation. (and let me say here, I am NOT making fun of the mentally ill, that is a serious problem....I'm slamming your silly looking blue tooth technology).

Another year older

I had a birthday on Wednesday. Yup, older. More gray hair (my crowining glory). My family and I went to Red Lobster for dinner .....mmm crab legs!!! The closest we are going to get to real seafood in Tennessee. Nothing like crab legs in Florida though....they were my first.

As I got a little older you would think that I can get over the fact that nobody makes me a birthday cake for my birthday. Why is this. In my mind, it is WRONG to have to make your own birthday cake. RL did give me a cute little scoop of ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate syrup, but dudeee......how bout the yummy looking vanilla cheesecake???? MB enjoyed the ice cream.

I did blow out the candle and make a wish. What did I wish for you may ask. I have always been told if you tell it does not happen, but since I don't believe that, dear blogger friend, let me tell you what I wished for:

I wished for a year of healthy family members. With all that my mom has been through in the last year, she called and told me a few weeks ago that the doctors did mammograms, ultrasounds, bloodwork, sonograms and everything just shy of cracking her in half to see if she is really human and determined that she does not have a recurrent breast cancer, at least not in her breast, but all they could find was a cyst. She is not sure of the lung situation, because she just had pneumonia, but it seems to be better too. God is good!

Then MB started school. He is in a class with 16 other kids. Praying for health and safety for him.

I have my own issues....and who knows what else can be thrown our way.

I also wished for comfort in the lack of peace in the world around us.

Then I find myself THANKFUL that I'm upper 30-something years old and was excited that I can look back and see good and look forward to more good. My father wished me a HB yesterday and said just wait till you're 60. I said I can't wait. That means I got an additional 20+ years to live! He does not understand my acceptance with this concept. He is not a happy man....I AM a thankful, try to be happy woman.

I am thankful that though I was born 2 months early I am alive in a time where that was harder than usual.

I am grateful that in 1996 I survived a blood clot in my lung that almost killed me. ALMOST.

I am grateful that there are people who love me.

I am grateful for my husband and all he does.

I am grateful for my little MB who got up first thing in the morning on my BD and said "mommy, I have to sing Happy Birthday to you" and then proceeded to sing. Warmed my heart!!!

I am grateful that my sister is here with us and celebrated my birthday with me.

I'm just thankful for life on my birthday, today and everyday. It is my favorite birthday gift.

If you are not from Nashville this probably won't mean anything to you.

Today I am happy for an odd kind of reason. A person I never met was murdered, presumbably, 10 years ago. Today her killer was brought to justice. Now I'm not talking about Jon Benette Ramsey, thought I'm glad they found her killer and he confessed. I'm talking about a woman named Janet Levine. Her husband, Perry March, was (thankfully and with long overdue justice) found guilty of murder, tampering with the evidence and abuse of a corpse in her death. Her body has never been found.

The really really really sad part of this is that 2 children now have to live without either of their parents. One because she was threatening divorce and the other because he was callous and cowardly enough to murder her for it. After Mrs. Levine-March went missing 10 years ago a local TV station interviewed one of the children who said he could remember his mom leaving in her car, with her suitcase, and she thought to look up at his window and wave as she left. The problem with this was this was a couple of years after his mom went missing. Shortly AFTER the lawyer picks up his kids and moves to Mexico where he marries another woman and HIDES for 10 years.

The man's father moved to Mexico too. They both had to be extradited back to the US when formal charges were FINALLY made.

On this point I want to praise the police investigators and all the hard work they did on this case. I can not imagine the roadblocks that were thrown in their way. We have been told some of them, but I'm sure not all of them. In addition to running off to another country, Perry March was found guilty of trying to hire a hitman to kill his in-laws, Janet's parents. He was found guilty of stealing from the clients at the law firm he worked at. Charging thousands of dollars in fees and the billing the clients again for the firm....the clients got stuck paying legal bills twice. I don't care how much money you have, that sucks. Being a lawyer, he knew how to play the game and play he did. He tried to offer up deals on his way back to the U.S. "If I confess can you get me less time or time served" kind of crap. Not the words of an innocent man.

The MOST frustrating thing, aside from OBVIOUSLY feeding his son a lie about the day his mother disappeared for so long that the child really believes it to be true, is the fact that his lawyers actually tried to say because there was no body she was not really dead.

come on.....seriously. WHO did you think was going to buy THAT???

1. They were known to be fighting.
2. Friends and family say Janet was divorcing him and threatening to blow the whistle on his money scheme at work and take EVERYTHING.
3. Suddenly she's gone...while your daddy's construction business is laying a concrete foundation or driveway.
4. Your obviously ailing father confesses on video that HE HELPED YOU bury the body, but he can not recollect exactly where.
5. YOU begged for a deal on an airplane ride back to the U.S. before you stood trial for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, on and on....
6. Your son begs to not be put on the stand. (you think he's not gonna need a little help??)

Come on Perry, the best you deserve is the death sentance. Unfortunately, because it was 2nd degree murder you will get 12 to 25 years. I pray it's closer to 25 in a maximum security prison. You deserve at least that.

Your children deserve the truth.

Your children deserve to live with Janet's parents who can love them, share memories of their mother and help them get the help they need now that they too know you MURDERED THEIR MOTHER.

yeah, 25 years is too easy for you.

You know what I wish right now...?

I wish I could remember my password to pay the phone bill.

Lets see..
I have 5 bill log-in's with different passwords and IDs to remember
My email password and log in.
My Blog password and log in.
the bank log in and password
6 different passwords and log-ins at work, wait, 7 if you count the time card log in.
3 password/log in's to remember for my sister.
the PIN on my ATM card.
The login, password and phone number for the homework hotline we check every night.

is it any wonder my memory is cached out?

The sick part of it all, with all of this password crap, somebody still stole my credit card number.
HAH on them....we were almost at the limit anyway and you are BUSTED!

oh...hey, I forgot the login for my cell phone's voice mail...can't forget that....

now...where did I store that phone bill logon before we get cut off.????

And so it begins

This morning was the second full day of school for MB and you know what I heard.

"I LOVE school mommy, can we go now?"

bwhahahahahhahaha....yeah, right.

no, I heard "Mommy, I don't want to go to school today. I want to stay home with you all day."

Day TWO people!

I looked squarely at my son and said..
"Angel boy, I know you really are tired because you hem and haw at bed time and really have a hard time going to sleep by 8 and getting up for school at 6:15. You go back and lay down and mommy will make you a nice bowl of fresh fruit and yogurt for breakfast. I'll call off work and we can both just play on the computer all day."


man...you are easy to fool aren't you. Maybe not.

You KNOW what I REALLY said???

First I broke into a fit of laughter and then said : "BOY, you have at least 16 more years of school ahead of you. Get your little butt dressed and eat before I have to put wooden spoon to your little butt."

Then I got sassy pans attitude and told him to go back to bed and come out with a better attitude.

It worked.

Got him to school . He had a great day.

You know, life is a lot like my son's attitude. When you really don't want to do something or you don't get enough sleep, I don't know about you kind blog friend, but I get a little grumpy. I pray that I allow God to send me to my room (or at least my knees) till I get my attitude adjustment.

Just another deep though from a common day. Kids. They teach you something every day.

I see you peeking...waiting....wondering

Yes, MB went to Kindergarten on Monday for his first 1/2 day. I was fine. No weeping, puddling or tugging at his little body to come back with me to the safety and security of his own home. I didn't even cry when we (DH and I) walked out of the school after dropping him off. NOPE. None of that. I did well up a bit when I called my mom and said "My baby is in school!" but my mom is not a softie...not at all. She was kind of like "so what" so I sucked it up and went to work. I did get my Dreamer to bring MB and the brothers to work so we could have lunch together and debrief the day.

He did fine. He even liked it.

Now today was the first full day of Kindergarten. I dropped him off. Told the PALS committee I was intersted in joining (the PTA here is PALS) and walked out of the school. Got in my van and started off to work.....and

wait for it......

wait for it...

cried my freaking eyes out! It's a good thing I don't wear much makeup or I would have looked like my face melted.

I left my baby...excuse me....big boy, little man, sweet kiddo in the care of a capable Christian lady (in a public school, but when a teacher gets happy when you tell her you pray for her every day, you know where she stands). I know he will love her. She loves the kids so much. There are new friends...etc.

MY BABY IS ALL GROWN UP!! (well not all grown up. I still pick his clothes so he will match and make sure he drinks some milk).

Ok, I'm over it for now. Why does my mind go all kinds of crazy places when I step away from my boy? I know I'm over protective and God is in charge of this kid, but man....my imagination is over active.......very very overactive.

So we have our new teacher, new school, new routine (which I abhore, but we will discuss the craziness of that later) and now, let the fundraisers begin. We ALREADY have a fundraiser...yeah, first full day, I've been indoctrinated.

anybody want to buy some school junk??

happy Anniversary

My hunny bunny and I recently celebrated our 7th anniversary. (Lets see how many pet names I can call my precious during this post. Love you schmookins). Since we are trying to get the financial thing together in a better way we decided we would not spend a lot of money on gifts for each other. BUT we did decide on one gift we both wanted and share it.

We discovered our ideal gift while watching television one evening. No, it was not a housekeeper from the Brady Bunch (but if anybody wants to send one over we'd take the housekeeper), it was not a new and improved shampoo or new diet plan. It has to do with a band. My favorite band of all time to be exact. We happened upon a video of Pink Floyd live in concert. I don't know why I love their music so much, but I always have. Since I was like 10 or maybe even younger. I dreamed of seeing Pink Floyd live in concert. Never happened. Then the band broke up when Roger Waters and David Gilmore had some kind of artistic disagreement and that was the end of the Pink.

I was bummed. Then I found out they toured in 1999 and I MISSED IT???? what was wrong with me in 1999. So I missed my opportunity to see my fav band live. Then I MISSED the reunion on MTV for psunami relief (which I heard was annoying at best since MTV thought it best to TALK all over the performace of a lifetime. Punks.

So we spied with our little eyes the PULSE dvd. I looked at my sugar bits, who I have exposed to the viral quality of Pink Floyd's music, and he said "order it". To which I said..."it can be our anniversary gift" knowing he loves it too. We never did order it. Nope.

But you see, my sweetie works with other music lovers and caught sight of the DVD in the hands of one of his co-workers and asked "Hey man where did you get that?" The reply.....Best Buy (shameless plug of Best Buy). My darling then, on his way home from work, stopped and got the DVD for our anniversary...

wait, it gets better.

He not only got it, but about at 1/2 of what we would have paid if we got it from the TV ad (there, now go save money yourselves if you love Pink Floyd).

So my soul mate and I watched Pink Floyd in all it's 2 disk concerted glory (and it is FANTASTIC!!!) over the course of 2 nights. Oh goodness, LOVED IT. It made me really feel like a jerk for missing the show. The little bass player, though a cutie, can NOT sing. Thank goodness he only attempts it once. I LOVED it. So did the daddy. but he fell asleep 1/2 through the 2nd disc. That's ok. I rocked enough for us both.

So, Babe, thank you for getting this for us for our anniversary. I love you pookie.

Oh soo very HOT

Ok, it's just barely August now and it is HOT.......HOT.

No, not just summer hot but wicked disgusting "do I have to step outside?" hot. I write this at 6:30 in the morning and it is already 82 degrees outside. Yeah, 82 is not bad, but add the humidity and it already feels oppressively hot at 6:30 in the morning.

We have 2 auto manufacturing plants near here and they actually SUSPEND PRODUCTION during the day so we commoners can have AC in our houses.

How hot (and humid) is it where you are? We are due for another 105 degree day with the humidity factored in. This is about the 3rd week of this now. With this heat, ask yourselves this:

If you create a HUGE parking lot, why not concrete instead of blacktop or why not paint the blacktop white with black lines??? The walk across the parking lot at work is enough to dehydrate a girl.

Why does lake water get so warm so fast? Going to the lake to cool off is like swimming in a warm tub. It's just not worth the walk across the blacktop again.

and finally

how do you keep a kitchen cool when you need to cook dinner? There are only so many salads a family like mine is willing to eat before they want FOOOOOOD and that means an oven. I can not eat another egg sanndwich in an attempt to keep the oven/stove off.

Share your coping tips here!

I wish I were still a stay-at-home mom...

I got sick on Friday... It was nasty and very uncomfortable. I even called off work because of me...something I NEVER do. Not only that, but it was an incentive meeting day...the day they hand out certificates, balloons, donuts and (my motivation at work) money. But I missed it. I will still get my balloons, certificates and money, but no donuts (who needs those anyway), but I kind of like the excitement of the incentive meetings. But I was HURTING BIG TIME sick...so I stayed home.

Now that I feel somewhat human again (though still queezy and tummy still hurts) MB is puking all over the house. What was lower intestine for me (Thankfully really, I hate puking) MB has upper GI. He started puking while sleeping in my sister's bed (with her permission while she was at work) at 2am. So though I was barely over my tortuous problem, now I have to take care of MB because DH can not handle puke. MB has been vomiting off and on all day, but if you ask him, he feels fine. And he does not have a temperature. This fits me out into torturing myself worrying about rejection as it always does when he gets sick out of nowhere, but I can get him to drink a little and he has eaten a bit without throwing up.

We see his nephrologist on Tuesday. Pray for us that this is just a tummy bug and I got it and because he will never leave me alone, even when I'm sick, probably gave it to him. I pray that is all it is.

The big problem for me is that I have to go to work tomorrow. I know his aunt and daddy will be home with him, but when you are sick you want your ....... mommy.

Man, I wish I could still be a stay-at-home or even work-from-home mom again.

WHAT THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW.

I read the book called "Chew on This"....yup I did. It caught my eye at the library last week and I read the whole thing...no, devoured it would be the correct term, like a Big Mac Meal with fresh hot fries and large diet coke......

but I have to say, this book GROSSED me out so badly that I can no longer eat fast food. period.

I now have problems grocery shopping in general.

The book is a good read. The beginning is all about the birth of the interstate and with it the drive thru window. Sad really. Wonderous apple orchards turned to concrete jungles. But that, my friends, is just progress in our day and age; the progression of order to chaos.

Then it got to the cool stuff. How McDonald's got the french fry and the very cool sounding potato gun cutter. Seriously, how could anybody who likes gadets pass this one up. It sucks up the potato, strips the skin off while pressure "blowing" the potato through a wicked sharp blade that cuts every potato perfectly. Sweeeeeeeet.

Then the horror of the fast food industry seeps into the warm sesame seed bun heaven. I was so disheartened at how the beef is raised and consumed that I am wondering how we can find out if we are eating free range beef at every turn. The chicken chapter made me cry...seriously. How on EARTH are we eating chickens that are so fat and kept in spaces where they can't move that they are having friggin heart attacks...CHICKEN>>> having HEART ATTACKS! If you are what you eat we are in some serious trouble my friends.

Then the whole soda thing, which has caused me to limit my kids consumption of soda to one or 2 per week, a change they are none to happy about. I myself only drink diet soda and then not very often. Too much carbonation...heartburn you know.

Then the obvious abuse of kids in the system of the fast food mega giants. Yeah, I know somebody has to do it, but when it affects the kids, not cool. I remember working long LOOOOOOONNNNNNG hours at my parents pizza place, but it was not to the detriment of school. And they still make the kids pay for their food, if they want to eat that stuff.

The whole book broke my heart. I have sworn off the stuff. I just can't do it. If one, yes, ONE fast food mega giant with a clown and golden arches can control the way chickens are killed for food and the price of eggs and beef....i'm truly saddened.

So, MB, get over it, mommy is no longer shopping in the arches, with the king or any of them really. I'm just disguested.