Another day in Paradise

I've got a lot going on these days, and man is it awesome! Hubs and I are preparing for our first trip to Hawaii, my first time meeting my in laws and being gone for a while in the middle of winter. This last one has caused much stress for me, as option after option fell through. I am blessed though, as Indy and her man are going to come down, drive hubs and I to the airport then babysit my car for me so it doesn't freeze to death while I'm gone. It's funny, I'm expecting to learn bunches of new stuff about hubs and Hawaii and myself, but before I've even left, I learned something about family. And it's that sometimes you can't count on them. Sure, what a shitty thing to say you're thinking. But deep inside you know that I'm right. There ARE times when your family can't help you out, and that's what I learned. I'm still pretty pissed about this, actually now that I'm thinking about it again, so I'm going to stop, show you a picture then change the subject like a lady.

                                                                    ( I'm really not!!)

I know how much you all love it when I embarrass myself in public, so have I got a story for you. The other night, I was sitting in the car waiting at the train station to pick hubs up from school. It was a little chilly, so I had the heater on low. Suddenly..and I do mean ALL OF A SUDDEN the interior of my car smelled like BO and old socks and funk. My first thought was " Oh shit, what did I just break in the heating system/engine??"....then..the horrible truth came to me. That stench..was me. Oh God..catastrophic deodorant failure. I made sure to crack a window and turn the heat off, trying desperately to get rid of the stink...but just as I almost couldn't smell it anymore....hubs gets in the car. I paste on a grin and ask how his day went, praying that he won't ask about the smell or get too close to me before we get home. As we start rolling through traffic at the train station, he says.." hey, do you smell that? "  Ugh...so busted. Thankfully, he didn't tease me too much..he stopped eventually. The next day.

I was woken up this morning by an odd sound. It was sort of a banging, howling noise, coming from outside.  Like any self respecting person, my initial reaction was zombies. Sadly (?) it wasn't zombies, it was just some crazy storm that rolled through, raining all over the place and knocking down trees. It's still hella windy here too, a sustained wind which is making me nervous. Anyhow, I've got stuff to get done today that I should probably get started on. Oh! I'm packing a notebook so I can write some stories for y'all while I'm gone, I'll start with our arrival at the airport and get as many details down as I can. So, if I don't see y'all before the holidays, enjoy, be safe, and save me some eggnog! xoxoxoxo

Costumed Capers

I LOVE Halloween. Love it love it love it. Some of the best parties I've ever been to were costume parties, and the dressing up is only half the fun. This year, however, my celebrations will be much more subdued. This year there's no party to go to, so instead of this:

                                          Me, G. M. and Jenny as the Three Musketeers

or this:

                                                               Foster and I
I'll be staying home for the most part, doing wifey things and wearing my fangs to remind me of the good ol days. Have a great day everyone, don't eat too much candy, and watch out for zombies!!

OMG October!!!!

So, here's the sitch. This has been one hell of a busy month so far, and it's only half over!! Let me start at the beginning, ok? The first and bestest thing is that my sister got married! Congratulations Hay and 2A12!!!! It was a beautiful day, full of love and laughter. The ceremony was held outdoors, ballsy, I know, especially at this time of year, but my sister is some kind of magical because that day the weather was perfect! Everyone looked amazing, and I haven't seen a couple so in love since the last time hubs and I got our picture taken. Now, I know you're all dying to know about the reception, and I'll tell you. Picture a room full of joy, add some love, now make everyone starving. Just as you think things are going to start getting hectic...along comes Brother Perry, with The Most Delicious Food Ever. Here's a link to his website, go there, drool a bit then come back, cuz I've got pictures!!!!     http://www.perrysgourmet.com/    
The food was amazing. The staff was so friendly and professional, it felt more like having friends help you out. Through the magic of Kenny's kitchen, a joy filled day was made more special, and for that I thank him and urge everyone in the Boston area to book them asap. It's worth it!!

Yes, we ate soul food until we thought we'd burst. After that, hubs and I needed some air, so we returned to the park where the ceremony was held and he took me on a very romantic boat ride around the lake to watch the sun set. * Girly sigh* I just love him!

So wedding stuff took up some time. But I have also been busy expanding my business. You all know about the Etsy shop,( buy my stuff!! ) now I've got a retail space too! I met with the owners of Find a Unique Boutique in Greenfield MA, and the most excellent manager H chose 7 pieces to be in the store. I am totally excited right now and can't wait to see what the next adventure is going to be!
Until then, xoxox

Sleepless in September

Here it is, nearly halfway through the month and I haven't told you anything!! I'm so sorry for neglecting you all, but other than a hurrican't, a house guest, a birthday and some traveling, not much is really going on over here. I've been busy as a bee making new pieces for the shop, still can't figure out why my ipod and camera don't like my new computer and walked for about an hour this morning. The weather was nice for it, slightly cool but not too much, and only a tiny breeze. I'm really hoping that something funny happens soon so I'll have stories to tell you!
Ciao bellas!

What I've been doing

I've been so focused on making jewelery for my latest venture that I haven't had any adventures to tell you about! I did go visit my Nana with Hay last weekend so we could get started on my dress for the wedding, but other than that it's been all work and working out. So, why don't we take this opportunity to check out my work, then you all can tell me how awesome it it, because really, who doesn't like to hear stuff like that? 
http://www.etsy.com/shop/JDTPdesigns?ref=pr_shop

There's my shop. I've only put  a few pieces up, but here are pictures of everything I've got for sale right now. Let me know if you see something you like, I'd be happy to sell any of these. ( Captions are for the picture above)

                                              This one is listed at $25.00 in my little shop :)

                                            This one isn't listed, but I'd sell it for around $20.00

                          This one is listed too, I love how glowy the green flowers are! $20.00

 I had made this one for myself at first, but thought it might make someone else happy too. $30.00

                                 I love this piece. It looks amazing when you put it on . $40.00

                                   My first statement piece. It's weighty, and complex.  $120.00

                             I made this one a while ago, it looks like springtime in necklace form. $ 40.00

Ahhh, shameless self promotion. You're almost better than coffee on a dreary Monday morning.

Awww yeah, here we go

My to do list for today is short. I only have about 5 chores that need to get accomplished before I can sit down and get some work done. "Sweet!" you're thinking, right? I know that's what I was thinking. But my list just got shorter. Why? Some inconsiderate asshat broke the washing machine. AGAIN. In my building, there's just the one washer and dryer to service all 12 apartments. Normally it's not a big deal to wait for an hour or two to get the laundry done, but recently ( and I'm not mentioning any names only because I don't know them) our neighbors have somehow managed to break the washing machine about...oh, I can think of at least 5 instances in the last 2 months where I'll go down with my stuff and find the machine full of dirty water ( like today) or otherwise broke down. Now, the instructions on the machine are easy to follow. Put in your clothes, making sure not to overload the washer. Add your soap, add your money and BOOM, clean shirts for everyone. I think it's the new family that just moved in across the hall from us. We never used to have this issue, the most annoyance I ever ran into was having to wait for someone else to be done. Maybe who ever is breaking the machine is functionally illiterate, but I prefer to be paranoid about it and think that they just don't want me to have clean undies. The bastards.  I honestly wish I could catch someone in the act of douchery that's breaking the shit. Not to yell or cause a scene or anything dramatic like that, but so I know who to avoid just in case stupidity really is contagious. My only options now are to wait for it to get fixed, find another Laundromat (hello extra expense I don't need), call the land lady and bitch or sit here and write about how pissed I am. I think you all can guess what I'm doing first. I want to be a good neighbor, I really do. I'm considerate with my noise (for the most part), don't make gross smelling food that could pollute the hallway with stink, and haven't yet hit any one's car in the parking lot. However, when one is running out of fresh clothes, all bets are off.
There. I feel better now, like I could hold an adult conversation without swearing like a pissed off trucker. Let's see how the rest of the day goes, shall we?

Sleepless in what now?

I awoke this morning at 3 AM to a wet pillow and a desperate need to pee. Yes, that's right..my insomnia's back with a vengeance and some scary new tactics. See, I fell asleep easily enough, at a reasonable hour ( 10 ish I think) comfy and not too warm, even though it's hot as blazes here right now and my room never seems to cool off..so being thrust into awareness was surprising as hell. The peeing thing I can understand, dinner was pretty salty so I drank a bunch of water. The wet pillow? Ahh..it stayed a balmy 85 degrees in my bedroom last night, even with fans, the AC and later on windows open to catch a breeze. To have both of these conditions work together though, to rob me of my much needed rest is just unfair though. Because, like many of you out there.. my day starts when I pee for the first time. It's how I know I'm done sleeping for a while. So, picture this..me, in my apartment, in the dark ( hubs was still blissful in slumber..the lucky bastard!) wondering if it was even worth trying to go back to bed when I KNOW that my alarms just going to go off in a few hours. I considered making some coffee, pushing through until hubs went to school and then just taking a nap, but I always feel like a slacker when I do that. If he's got to up and doing stuff during the day, I should be up doing stuff too. Gah..stupid fair play grumble grumble..

So now it's (later on in the) morning, I'm "awake", sans coffee and man....it feels like..actually, I feel pretty good.
                                                                               What??

The sun's out, it's looking like it's going to be a beautiful day, I'm hoping that Hay comes for a visit today, the baby geese are trying out their wings, and life is pretty freakin good. Huh, what do ya know about that? I hope everyone else has a lovely morning, because whether I want to or not, it looks like I'm going to.

ciao!

Oh yeah, it's summer

It's been a while since I've written to y'all, sorry about that. But you know how it is...life gets in the way and suddenly you realize it's been way too long since you've done what you love...anyhow, how 'bout I tell ya what I've been up to? Heh heh yeah.. story time.
Hubs is off this week, and it was the fourth of July last Monday, so to celebrate both of these happy events, we went on a little trip. Our first stop on the whirlwind tour was dinner with Bams and a few friends of hers. I normally have social anxiety about meeting new people..that's why I sit at my desk and write and make stuff. I used to be able to handle crowds..but not anymore. Hubs is the same way, for different reasons obviously. We both just like to be at home, where it's quiet and we can talk or not talk as we like. We're really quite perfect for each other that way. So I was super pumped to be seeing Bams, nervous about meeting new people and really really hungry for dinner after a long hot day on the road in a car with no stereo. Turns out I had no reason to be nervous at all. Bam's friend from The City was awesome and an amazing chef, and the surprise guests were great too! Conversation and drinks flowed easily, the food was delish, and we all ended up falling asleep watching a french cartoon. Hubs had a good time too, finding it easy to talk to people he'd never met.I even met a fan of my little blog! ( Sorry I won't mention any names...protecting the privacy of the innocent and all that..) The only downside was that the jello shots we brought to the party weren't that good, but they were pre-made, so don't look at me, MY jello shots are awe-inspiring and tasty and get you shwasted fast. Anyhow, as we were sitting around enjoying the evening, fireworks started going off all over the place, some neighbors were having a private show and the town we were in had their show around the same time. It makes me remember where hubs and I were at this time last year...outrunning both a heat wave and a massive storm system across the southwest. We actually watched fireworks for about 3 or 4 hours last year, since the highway we chose ran close to towns all over the place.

When hubs and I woke up the next day, we were still in the chair we'd been sharing to watch the movie..and it was so adorable I wish someone had taken our picture. Anyhow, it was early enough in the day that we decided to get back on the road to beat holiday traffic, and our plan totally worked. After stopping for breakfast foods at the grocery store, and driving through torrential rains..we arrived in Shelbcity. The parents were stoked to see us, and after a hearty breakfast ( I'm talking 18 eggs and nearly a pound of bacon plus coffee! HEAVEN!) we commenced to chatting. All in all it was an excellent visit, Hay and 2A12 came out and we had a BBQ, the only person missing was Little Brother, but he was working that day. We all got a little drunk from the double coco-nana drinks and sleep was very welcome. The trip back to our place was fine too, traffic cooperated with us so hubs didn't have to go postal on anyone. And after all that, we're still on vacation. I wonder where we'll go next?

Girl talk ahead, whoo hoo!

I had a great weekend. There was quality time spent with Momstar and Hay, shopping for dresses for the wedding, and some super catch up snuggle time with hubs when I got back. Also, season 4 of True Blood started on Sunday, so I am super pumped about that too. Bur first..the fashion. I got 2 new party dresses, one is a black mini, with three quarter sleeves and a kind of shiny black pattern along the hem, it looks AWESOME, and the other is magenta ( sexy!) also a mini and has this super cute ruffled neckline..man am I gonna look GOOD..can't wait to be tanner. As far as a dress for the actual wedding goes, Momstar will be making it. I bought the fabric at a fantastic shop in Brattleboro called Delectable Mountain.   (website: www.delectablemountain.com ; phone number 802-257-4456) My selection is a gorgeous antique gold Dupion silk, which I plan to pair with sage green and burgundy. Again, gonna look awesome.
Since Hay and I left on Friday in the early afternoon we thought we'd beat all the weekend traffic, and boy were we wrong. After being on the road for like, 3 hours, we decided to stop in at Bam's house for a quick leg stretch. I'm glad to report that Bam is doing well, after that fiasco a few weeks ago. And we even coined a new phrase.."double dipped hipster: a person who only lives in trendy cities, and is a douche in all of them."  This can also be used for people who suck, no matter where they are.  When Hay and I finally got to the parents house, we were beat, and thank heavens Moms had made us a fab dinner. Then it was movie time and sleep then shop, shop shop all day on Saturday. Saturday night we came back to the eastern edge of the state, and it was good to be home. Snuggles commenced immediately upon my return, and I haven't stopped smiling yet. Maybe I should go away more often..hee hee. I hope everyone else had a great weekend too, see y'all tomorrow!

                                                              I killed it this weekend!

Brain words. Awesome.

Here are some of the thoughts that kept me awake all night. Oh, hello..I didn't sleep again last night. Hope y'all are hungry for some crazy..
    1: Why do birds hate me? Seriously..I've never hurt a bird. ( except for those babies I found when I was really little..I think they got cooked on the radiator. But that wasn't my fault! I was like..6!!)  Is it because I like turkey and chicken? Is that it? I've had more bird attacks on my person than Tippi Hedren.
    2: Why is it so hot in here? I had a fan blowing on me...normally I HATE that..something about the moving air makes me think I have tiny spiders all over me.
   3: Where did all these tiny spiders come from??
   4: Is it funny to make up words? What is funny? Am I funny? Hubs is REALLY funny...Bams and Indy are funny too..clowns..not so funny. I'm thirsty.
(That's an actual quote that worked on me for about 40 minutes. I finally had to write it down so I could move on.)
   5: I wish I was seeing faster results from all my dieting and exercise. I literally hulked out of my favorite bathing suit yesterday, snapping the little hook thing that keeps the top closed. Luckily I was still at the house..because if it had happened at the pool...well, awkward only starts to describe it.
   6: I still can't get my camera and ipod to connect with my new computer. I'm starting to give up. I'm not happy about this. Who do I call about fixing this again? Oh yeah...Apple. Hmm, I hate those guys..who else can I call about this?? Hmmm


So you get the basic idea. Last night I turned into a crazy(er) bitch than usual and kept myself awake with all types of nonsense. This morning I'm clumsy, foggy in the brain and a tiny bit grumpy. Not a lot, just enough so that if I get too frustrated today I'll have a melt down like an overstimulated 4 year old.

Ready for fun?

This has been an interesting week. I feel like I've gotten a lot done, working out, riding my bike and whatnot. I got to spend some quality girl time with Hay, and bought some really sparkly sandals for her wedding. I even tried to cook something new last night, and while it wasn't a spectacular failure, it didn't turn out right either. Although last night's attempt at sleep was mostly unsuccessful, and I owe Bams an apology for pillow dialing her at 5 AM ( must text Bams..don't forget!) I feel pretty good today. My ride back from the station was uneventful, and the weather is just lovely. Hopefully I can spend all afternoon at the pool, getting some much needed sun and putting in a few laps. Hee hee hee...I'm watching one of the loud preteens from the neighborhood miss the bus to school and totally panic..I feel kind of bad, having missed the bus a few times myself when going to school, but her antics are just too funny. She's currently standing in the street, hollering for her mother that she's going to need a ride. I have no idea if mom heard her or not..this will be interesting to watch for a little while I bet.

  Anyways..other than that, really not too much is going on. Hubs is still kicking ass in school, I'm still making necklaces, still can't get my ipod or camera to work with my new machine and am still super frustrated by it. But someday I'll figure it out and then I can finally share the pictures of the geese babies growing up and Little Brother's college graduation and all the super fun adventures we've been on. But until that day, here's a picture of a kittie!
Have a great weekend y'all!

Random Wednesday shenanigans

I have insomnia, again. I think. I know I woke up today, but I don't feel like I got any sleep at all. My body hurts (prolly from the asskicking I've been giving myself..woot exercise!) and my brain is all foggy. For the first time all week it was nice enough to ride bikes, and both hubs and I were too tired to pull them out. Also,my rear tire was still a little soft, even after the patching we (hubs)  did last week. I had been thinking that maybe a nap would help, but I really have got to stop sleeping during the day, it's a terrible habit and one I don't want to develop. I'm wondering how awkward it would be to walk two bikes to the train station for when hubs gets out of school..prolly pretty awkward. Better not try it. So, yup, there it is, my crazy for the morning. All my chores are done, my workout is complete, and it's barely 8 AM. What shall I do now? Suggestions?

I need some mischief to get into..I know! I'll make something! Yeah...make something...*cricket noises*...ummm food related! Yeah! I'll start prep work for supper! Sweet! An idea that won't get me in trouble! Hooray! Have a good day y'all, hopefully something will happen this afternoon so I have an adventure to tell you about tomorrow.

A Warning to all my New England Ladies....

Disclaimer: I am by no means a relationship expert. I do NOT have a doctorate in anything besides being kick ass at doing stuff, with a minor in means spirited humor studies. That being said, I'm going to get up on my little crazy box and warn everyone about the dangers of hipster dating.

                                                       Do Not Date This Man. Ever.
This man will take your money, feed you lies over and over again and once he gets laid, will suddenly be too busy to hang out, or out of town for extended periods of time all while continuing to pile on the lines until you think he's telling the truth. HE IS NOT. He is a liar and a time thief.
   Now for the back story. I got a text from Bambi over the weekend, and she was really upset. She had started dating the man in the above picture after being friends with him for a few years. They had similar musical tastes, both enjoyed the arts and a good glass of wine, and the chemistry was good too. Everything ( on paper anyways) pointed towards this being a good match, with the potential for a long term relationship. So far, so good, right? I'll let Bam's email tell you a bit of the story:
        "Well, I’ll tell you about my recent debacle. I had been seeing someone I’ve been friends with for years, another artist, and even though it was long distance, I thought it was going well. He’d send me little pictures and ask me to send some to him. He’d tell me he missed me all the time. But he has shows at galleries all over the place, so he travels a lot. When he’s not doing a show and is just home working, he’s in Providence . That’s not too far, so I went down to see him after work on Friday, intending to spend the weekend. We had dinner, drinks, more drinks and pretty amazing sex. Even though I paid for EVERYTHING, I wasn’t too concerned because I thought he’d pay the next day. Saturday we woke up to rain. All of our plans for outside- bike riding, drinks on the deck, walking around- were now null and void. So after breakfast- he did actually fork over some cash for that-(*although not really since he took her last $ 10, and gave her a weird look about it*-editor's note) he decided that because it was a lousy rainy day he would rather work on his drawings, and asked what I thought I should do? I told him I didn’t want to get in the way of his work, so it would probably be best if I left. (Now, this is where he’s supposed to go,” No! You just got here, and I’ve missed you- stay!”) He says,” Yeah, sorry…” and shrugged at me. So, I haven’t seen you in a month and basically what you are saying is you don’t want to hang out because it’s raining. Really, that’s what it boils down to. I am so happy I waited a month to see him! (sarcasm font there) I have never spent so much money to get laid in my entire life. I told him I didn’t care what we did, I just wanted to spend time with him and was disappointed. Again, shrugging. I left. I am really upset for falling for all the bullshit lines. I feel like an idiot. He really only misses me when he hasn’t gotten laid in a while, and I have just realized this weekend that I always pay for everything. If he really makes all this money from his work, then why do I always pay, and WHY doesn’t he have a checking account? I am sooooo done. Really upset, but done." 


Ladies, if you find yourself paying for more than half of the dates, RUN, don't walk away. When Bams was telling me more details on the phone last night, I was literally speechless. What balls this guy has to think he could get away with such douchbaggery. Now, maybe I'm old fashioned, but I don't think I know any dudes who would be comfortable taking their women's money. Oh wait...yes I do. I lived with one for about 10 years. ( It's a whole different blog post, and one I'm not quite ready to write yet..short version- he didn't work for a long time, and bitched about the size of my paycheck. AWESOME) Have to say I'm super lucky with hubs, he's old fashioned like me, and believes that while the woman is an equal member of the team, he should still be taking care of her. 
  What I do not understand is WHY my awesome friends can't find equally awesome dudes to make them happy. Is it that all the "good" ones are taken? Are they looking in the wrong places? Are all the men blind? What is going on? If any super cool bros out there read this, leave me a comment and we'll start a discussion. Seriously, I want to know where the good men are, hubs and I need more couple friends to do dinner with.

Well shit on toast.

So, a while ago I decided to start taking fitness more seriously. I started walking, and riding my bike more ( thank you weather for cooperating finally!) and was doing pretty good I thought. Until this morning, where, during my ride with hubs to the train station this morning, my bike's rear tire was suddenly flat. And I mean flat, flat as a pancake or Ukrainian supermodel. Undaunted, I walked my bike home, brought it inside, filled the tire and waited a few minutes, then took it out again. Thank God and all my amazing psychic powers I remembered to bring the tire pump with me, because within just about two blocks, I had to fill the rear tire again. Two blocks later, my front tire was getting soft and the rear was flat again too. Now, this can mean only two things, either I ran over some glass somewhere and have a hole in my tires, or my ass is so fucking gigantic that I popped two bike tires. Either way, I'm not really having the best of mornings, and the cardio I chose to replace my ride didn't make me feel better either. And now it's getting cloudy out, so even though it's nice and warm, I can't even go outside to tan a bit, so I get to stay plump and pale for the next little while, since it's supposed to rain all weekend. I can't even think of any curse-words to accurately describe how frustrated I am. Maybe I'll go for a nice walk and enjoy the fresh air, and the challenge of not stepping in goose poop. Yeah, that's it. I'll make it like an obstacle course.. plus, since I had intended on making my morning all about exercise, I'm trapped in my science bra until hubs gets home and can help me take it off. No really..I can't get this bra off. Anyhow, since I hadn't written anything for a while and haven't had a good rant for even longer, just thought I'd share this *fantastic* morning I'm having. Hey, at least I don't have my period, that would just be the best icing ever on this crapcake. Cheers!

Psst...over here.

I'm not really sure what I wanted to write about this morning. I haven't posted in a while, as hubs had spring break last week, and I'm having a few technical difficulties with the new computer. It's nothing too serious, I just can't get my camera or Ipod to work...you know, the two things that I always use and that I carry around in my giant purse. So I've been too annoyed to write if I can't add the pictures, and I REALLY wanted to add some new music...

Anyway, a few funny things have happened, and we have a ton of baby geese now, they're so adorable it's ridiculous. I have pictures, but...well, you know.
While hubs was home last week, we spent lots of time together and it was awesome. Tickle fights? Check. High volumes of video games played? Double check...including one 24 hour marathon. *Sigh* I felt like I was 18 again.. The weather has been crap lately, so we haven't gotten out on the bikes as much as we wanted to. Locals assure me that summer will be hot and dry, and honestly I'm not sure I believe them. We watched a lot of movies too, which often leads to snuggling and I just love that.

Oh, and there's also this thing..some Doomsday thing supposed to happen this weekend. I'm not terribly religious so I don't really understand the whole calender aspect of it, but there's this group out there saying that the end of the world is this Saturday.  I've got a link to a tract for ya :                                                         http://www.ebiblefellowship.com/outreach/tracts/may21/
Hope that worked.It's pretty scary stuff, not really convincing to me personally but.. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the world isn't going to end. But just in case it does, good luck to everyone.

Stupid modern technology

So this morning, I go into my wallet to pay a bill online, and what don't I find? My VISA card. Totally gone. It's not at the bottom of my purse, in my old purse or in any of the two jackets I've been wearing lately. Trying really hard not to panic, I think about the last place I remember seeing the card...and it's in my wallet. Yesterday while I was out grocery shopping. So that means I either dropped it at the store (not likely, since we had no money and I knew it, so I hadn't planned on even pulling it out) or some one with lightening fast fingers reached into my wallet while I was grabbing eggs and took it. Either way, I just spent some lovely time on the phone with my bank, cancelling the old card and getting a new one. Luckily there were no new charges attempted since yesterday ( Blizz tried to pay themselves and got denied....ouch!! ) so I didn't have to file a fraud report. The strangest part? The card with my bank access number and PIN on it was also gone. That card was in a completely different section of my wallet, and not easily identifiable as being associated with a bank. I also had a couple hundred dollars in cash in there, all of which is still accounted for. So what happened to my card? Any ideas? I've never lost anything like this before, and I don't want to again either. I'm due to get my new card in about a week, and with my luck, as soon as the new one arrives and is activated, I'll find the old one in the bathroom or freezer or something like that. Sometimes I'm so awesome I give myself a headache. Sadly, the lack of card means I can't do some of the things I wanted to today, like get the truck washed..although I might still be able to do that if I can find one that takes cash. That shouldn't be too hard, right? Enjoy the weekend y'all! OH....btw, Little Brother graduates from college this weekend, be sure to wish him good luck on Facebook!! Hearts and shit to everyone!

Blech.

I am having a hard time this morning. Not just because it's a dark, dreary Monday either The weather isn't helping though. On the way to bring Hubs to the train station this morning, I almost pulled out in front of another car at an intersection. If I had, I wouldn't be writing this right now, as the other driver was going way to fast, and I totally didn't see them until Hubs shouted WATCH OUT. Normally I hate it when he comments on my driving..I'm a very good driver. Safe. Responsible. But today, I just straight up didn't see this other car. Maybe I was distracted. Maybe I wasn't paying full attention. Maybe the other driver is an asshat douchknocker that needs to slow down. I don't know. The moral of the story here kids is don't drive distracted. Also, slow down.

I sure hope everyone had a good weekend. Getting to enjoy time with the family, eating a huge meal...awesome. Hubs and I stayed home and ate Ramen. I really dislike running out of money. Normally we're OCD about our finances...neither one of us liking to be broke for more than an hour. But we had an unexpected bill come up *thanks Taxachusettes*  and it ate up all our moolah. I think I have maybe a quarter to my name right now, and I'm not sure how I'm going to get to the gas station to put more food in my car's belly. Let alone my own belly..which is rumbling like a Pooh Bear's right about now. Sigh. I'm sure that this little spell won't last..eventually we'll either starve to death or get paid again.

Holy cow..I just re-read that last bit...I'm not feeling depressed or anything, but damn. That was dark..even for me. I almost went back and took it out..fearing that you all would be like "D-R-A-M-A!! Get a grip girl, jeez you act like your the ONLY one with no money! Selfish much??" But I promised to offer up my crazy for everyone to see in this journal, so here it is.  in all it's freaky glory. Awesome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go boil some water for tea..it's all I have left in my kitchen that isn't a condiment.

Well...ya see...

It's Friday. Finally. It seems like this week took for-EVER to go by. I'm currently writing to you from my brand new spankin fast computer. I would be sharing specs and pictures with you, but I haven't figured out what program I need for my camera yet. (It's a little embarrassing, actually.) I did, however manage to transfer all of my files, music and photos from my old hard drive to my new one, and even managed to install the graphics card all by myself. Wheeeeeee! And right now, I have itunes 10 syncing up all my songs. It should only take just a little while longer, I'm hoping.

Picture break!

                                    AAAAGGHHH my hamburger is trying to get me!! LOL!!

Anyhow..there's these 2 guys on a ladder outside my window , fixing (?) something, and I bet they're wondering why that girl is laughing like a looney person, all by herself.  Whatevs. I'm in a pretty good mood today, even if I didn't sleep well and I think I'm coming down with a cold. The speed of my new machine will keep me well, lol. For crying out loud, what is that BANGING outside? Jeeze! It sounds like they are breaking everything! Hey, how's this for random...does anyone know how to fix one of those rolly type shades? The big one in my bedroom came all undone and I can't get the spring to work anymore...I hope I didn't kill it..that would suck.
Anywhooooo, I think I'm going to go be random outside for a while. Maybe a walk around the neighborhood or something fun like that. Have a lovely day.

It's not what it looks like, I swear!

Oh boy, check this out. Hubs and I went to file our taxes last week ( I KNOW..procrastinate much? LOL!) and while our accountant was filling our the forms, we got to the section where you list your occupation and ages and shit. Well, there is an 8 year age difference between hubs and myself (I'm older..*insert cougar noise here*) and last year our occupations were...get ready for it....student (him) and teacher (me). The accountant didn't notice it, but when I saw it, my face exploded into the fiercest blush ever. Hubs saw my face before he noticed what was on the screen, when he saw what I was blushing at, he couldn't stop laughing. When the accountant finally looked at us and asked what was going on, hubs pointed at the screen, and I stammered "It's not what it looks like...really!" She laughed too..making me want to just melt down into the floor. A lot of the time, I don't notice the age difference between us, but every once and a while it gets a little awkward.

                                                  Like having a backyard full of badgers.

Here's something that JUST happened to me...the house phone rang, caller ID says "800 service". Thinking it might be Hub's school or the VA, I answer. An electronic voice says "This in *garbled something * 80 Interstate" and hangs up. I am now creeped out and going to hide in my bathroom for a while.

Oh me oh my

I had mentioned on FB a while ago that I was making jewelery again, and thinking about an Etsy shop. Since then, I've added a new daily goal for myself..get one piece finished every day. Of course, some projects take longer if the design is more complex, but so far I've been able to stick to my plan. I've got some pictures of recently finished stuff..if you'd like to see them. (Warning: the quality isn't that super, only because I couldn't think of a suitable background..)

I made this one for myself, but I can certainly make another if anyone loves it.

This one looks like sunshine on a string.

Hmmm, this picture isn't doing the design justice. Trust me, it looks much cooler in person.

Ahh, I made this one for Hay. I hope she likes it!!

Now all I need is a clever name for my shop and I'll be all set. I was thinking " Eye,Me, Mine" with the "Eye" being a stylized eye graphic..I don't know though. Any suggestions?

Aside from straining my eyes with tiny tiny beads, I've also been trying to fine tune my workouts for maximum results. So far, what I've come up with for a schedule is something like 30 minutes of cardio 5 days a week, and strength training immediately following, with one or tow days of rest, depending on my mood. I feel pretty awesome about it, and am starting to notice small changes in my body already. Hooray!!
 Oh..remember that picture I posted on Valentine's Day of the outdoor bed? I was speaking to my landlady the other day, and she asked me if I had seen it. I said yeah, and how it looked like someone wasn't gonna get any lovins that day and we both laughed. Then she mentioned that other residents in our building had thought a homeless person was maybe taking shelter for the night on our steps, or that someone  (mainly Little Brother) came home too late and just slept outside. That made me laugh too, because Little Bro would sleep in his car before choosing hard concrete steps, and if he was locked out, he'd call the house phone or ring the buzzer and wake us up. I wonder what else our neighbors think of us? ( Not that I really care, I AM curious though..since we're so quiet and all, lmao!)

Something else exciting? Sure! Hubs recently upgraded his computer to a beast of a machine..all sleek and super fast. I'll post some pics of it soon, because....I'll be upgrading too! He is really too good for me, I swear! My new computer will be built and up and running as soon as all the parts get in, the case and new speakers arrived yesterday, so the rest can't be far behind. Which reminds me...must find transfer cable, so I can move all my shit off my old hard drive and onto the smokin hot new one. Squee!! So excited!!

Random babbles

Ugh, I really need to either A) go to bed earlier (hahaha, like THAT'S going to happen) or B) develop a slight sleeping pill habit. I think in the past 2 nights, I've gotten maybe 5 hours of sleep total. I am so tired right now, I'm not even sure if I'm writing in English. It's a good thing I don't have anything more strenuous than laundry to get done today, because I think trying to use my brain while this tired is dangerous.
        Crap, I just looked at my calender, and hubs has a doctor's appointment this afternoon. Shit shit        shit...maybe I can squeeze in an hour's nap while clothes are in the dryer....

In other news, the whole working out and dieting thing seems to be going ok. I don't hurt like I used to, and just started a new thing called "eating breakfast"..so far I really like it. I had Cinnamon Roll yogurt and a granola bar, total calories: 260. I'll be following that up with my usual workout, and here's hoping I don't embarrass myself in a bathing suit this summer. Which reminds me...the pool in our complex opens up this week, so I should be able to add 30 minutes of laps to my routine. I am so so  so happy about that. Umm, what else...oh! I'm making stuff again, and will post picture of finished projects as they appear. Am thinking about an Etsy shop to get rid of some older projects that I'm not wearing, and wondering how this whole going into business for myself thing will work out. (HA..I made a funny)
Well, I'm going to go try cardio without falling over...let's hope my poor tired brain doesn't shut down from the excitement..

Shiny things distract me

So I woke up with a fever the other day..nothing serious or life threatening..just enough to make everything seem unreal. I was at the grocery store and saw a lady wearing a mask of someone who got their ass kicked...then after staring for a second, realized that she had been in an accident of some kind. AWESOME. Nothing like totally breaking social taboos (like staring ) to make one feel awkward. To combat this fever (or perhaps to enhance the hallucinations), I've been drinking Mike's Margaritas (raspberry flavored) since the grocery store incident. I feel pretty good, actually. The combo of booze and seeing things really works for me. Thankfully I haven't had to drive anywhere but the train station today, because I think if I had to go far I'd be in real trouble.
   Hubs made supper last night and we watched Toy Story 3, and it was excellent. We ate fajitas and drank Mike's and laughed out loud to the antics of Woody, Buzz and the whole crew. Although I swear I had a fever spike in there somewhere, cuz there's no way they put a giant flame pit of death for toys in a kids movie. Way to turn the next generation into hoarders, Pixar. I also worked on a piece for myself, and lovely 5 strand necklace. I'll post pictures when it's done, as well as the one I made for Hay. Hers looks like sunshine on a string..I'm really proud of it.
I better stop writing now, if y'all could see some of the typos I'm making, no one would get anything else done today except laughing at the poor fevered girl.

Weather Girls, where are you??

Well holy shit. I'm currently IM'ing with Indy, and boy howdy does she have a asston to tell me. Does anyone else remember the song "It's raining men (hallelujah)" by the Weather Girls? It's an oldie, from the 80's but it perfectly describes what's going on for her right now. It's a mansoon, literally. After her last break up, she joined one of those online dating sites, and has been getting favorable responses on the regular...to the tune of, oh I don't know..3 or 4 guys all interested in taking her out. Which is awesome, if anyone I know deserves some adult fun, it's Indy. She's raising 2 kids on her own, and has been doing a damn fine job for the past 10 years. So I'm glad she's finally putting herself first, she needs a solid partner. Annnnd as if having dudes fluttering around you like moths to a flame isn't enough, her ex sent her an email THIS MORNING telling her that she was right, he misses her and the kids. And that he loves her, and only realizes it now that it's too late.  All I can do from here is put a funny as hell spin on it, make some popcorn and enjoy the show. 

In other news, I've gotten some really great sleep this week..I'm thinkin it's the little peeper frogs in the brook across the street. The sound is just so soothing..listening to it makes me sleepy. Or maybe it was the 2 beers I had before bed..Nah, it's the peepers. I somehow managed to turn off/ignore both my and hub's alarm clocks 2 days in a row..a dangerous precedent. I actually woke up fully after 6 am today! Holy creeping hellfire, I usually only sleep past 6 on the weekend! What is going on here? Then, when we left for the train station, it was warm out. WARM...I thought it was warm out! So it must have been, like 60 or something. It reminded me of mornings in California, and that made me nostalgic, which made me work out harder than I should have (probably) and now I'm sore. All over the place. Which is great, it means that I'm getting to the muscles that need to be tightened up, but damn, that shit hurts like a mofo.

Ooo ouch.

I've decided that I've had enough. Enough of body issues, enough sly and snide comments from well meaning people and enough of feeling shitty about myself. Hubs and I bought bikes, but since then, it's rained a lot and I haven't ridden like I wanted to. Well enough bullshitting myself, rain won't kill me, I need to get outside and be more active. I started my day today (another miserable Monday) with a super workout that I used to do with my friend April back in California. I'm not really sure why I ever stopped. Oh wait, yes I am..we moved across the country into my mom's house for a little while and I got out of the habit. But I think that my fitness break is over. Hay's getting married in the fall and I don't want to embarrass her by being all slovenly in her wedding pictures. I don't want to be the girl at the pool who keeps her shirt on. I used to have abs..I used to be really skinny..unfortunately, to get there I had to be miserable in my relationship and not eat for 6 or 7 months..but this time, I'm going to try to do it the right way. You know..less eating, more exercise. Or better eating and more exercise. Or something. But more important that my sister's wedding, more important than looking good in a bathing suit is the feeling I had when I looked in the mirror. I miss my face the way it used to be, I miss my body the way it used to be. I know I'm awesome on the inside, but I don't feel like my outside matches my inside, if that makes any sense. I took a good hard look at myself over the weekend and didn't like it. To be brutally honest, I grossed myself out a little. How did I let myself go this far?? UGH! So, bring on the pain, it won't last. Bring on the sweating , it'll wash off. Bring on the rain, I can always re-do my hair when I'm done. It's time for a change, and the change starts now. I may even get fired up and work out twice a day..I can't wait to be strong again. Maybe then I can win at wrestling against the hubs..(yeah, probably not, he's a MCMAP instructor..but you know what I mean) The only question I have now is..do I buy a scale? I have never owned one before, and I kind of don't want to know..but I do at the same time. Anyways..I think I'm going now for a ride before the rain starts...wish me luck!

A Quandry...

I know, I know, it's Friday night and I should be out being awesome in some V.I.P room somewhere..I KNOW.  But I have no money for things like champagne baths right now, so instead, I thought I'd ask everyone a question. First, some background. On Facebook, I'm sure we all have people listed as "friends" that we aren't sure we know, or how we know them or whatever. Maybe (like in my case) this person is "friends" with a bunch of folks you actually remember from high school, and you're (again, like me) assuming that you MUST know them somehow, otherwise how do all these other people you know, know them? OK, so here's the question..the person I am referring to has the worst grammar ever. I mean EVER. It's painful to read the status updates and I get a headache trying to figure out what the hell they're talking about. ( HA, I almost wrote "aboot"...lol Canadians). I've been putting up with it for a while now, noticing that no one is calling this person out about sounding dumb in public. Until tonight, it was just a sort of shudder and move on kind of thing..but then I wondered..did this person have a stroke and their language areas get scrambled? Did they suffer some kind of catastrophic accident, leaving them unable to make sense in plain English? And how impolite is it to ask that question to the person directly? What I mean is, can I send them a private message (cuz I just can't be THAT bitchy...oh wait, yes I could, but in this case I won't) asking them point blank, "Are you really that dumb? Do you not have spell check? Or grammar check? Come on, you can tell me. What was it, stroke? Hammer to the dome piece? WHAT WAS IT THAT MAKES YOU TALK LIKE THAT??"

Phew. Now I feel better. Hope I didn't scare anyone with my excessive punctuation or random caps..but at least it DoesN't LoOk LikE ThAt.....<----makes me want to hit things. With my car. Anyhow, enjoy your weekend, hopefully it'll be nice out so we can go play.

Big Fancy Words

Just kidding, I'm still too tired to use any of my $12 vocab this morning. I don't know what is going on in the air this week, (oh wait, yes I do..it's the radiation scare from Japan) but I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in almost a week. I feel like this lack is starting to effect my brain. When I do finally nod off, my dreams are weird and unsettling, and I'm having trouble finding funny shit to write about. The only cool things I've done this week are: get an oil change in the truck, go on a bike ride with Kiminakayak, and work on a piece of jewelery for myself. The oil change took about 20 minutes, the bike ride was super fun (even if we did find a pond full of dead fish) and the jewelery piece is nearly done, None of those things are hilarious. Well, the dead fish was kind of funny..I mean, who has a pond full of that grossness? Really! I wish I had my camera so I could have shared it with you. Maybe I'll go down there today and take some pictures..it's too odd not to. Oh, and I still don't have a suitable prank to pull on hubs tomorrow. Nature has one in store for us in the form of a "huge storm", but I wanted to do something funny. *Sigh*, what ever. If things don't perk up around here soon I'm going to have to do something drastic, like speak with a funny accent for a day or make skipping my primary mode of transportation. I just don't know. Any suggestions on how to spice up my week and get good sleep all at the same time? Leave me a suggestion in the comments and I'll try them all. The results should be funny enough to last a couple of posts anyways...xoxo

Are you pissed like me?

  Here's a little gem that was in my inbox this morning. What a way to start your day. My comments will be surrounded by *these guys* (the sarcasm font of choice)

Dear MoveOn member,

Should rape and incest survivors be forced to prove to the IRS that they were assaulted?

What kind of question is that? *I know that's rhetorical, but this makes me want to punch kittens.*

But a bill proposed by anti-choice lawmakers in Congress could force many sexual assault survivors to do just that.¹

The bill would impose tax penalties on small businesses and individuals who buy abortion coverage with their own money—with exceptions only for cases of rape, incest, or when a woman's life is in danger.²

The result? Survivors of rape and incest who seek abortion care could be forced to detail their assaults and provide proof to IRS investigators.³    

^{*REALLY!! Cuz being assaulted isn't traumatizing enough...for fucks sake people*}

Reliving a horrific sexual assault to the police and in court is awful enough. *No shit*    Forcing women to prove that they were assaulted to IRS investigators is simply inhumane. And sadly, this bill is just the latest in a long list of Republican attacks on women this year, from anti-choice legislation to a budget that guts critical programs for women and their families.

So with our friends at EMILY's List, a progressive group dedicated to electing Democratic pro-choice women, we've launched a "Stop the War on Women" campaign. Can you sign the petition today?

Click here to sign the "Stop the War on Women" petition.

Despite campaigning on job creation, Republicans have focused their agenda this year on attacking the rights and well-being of women. From pushing several anti-choice bills to cutting billions from health care, food aid, child care, and education, their attacks constitute nothing less than a full-scale war on women.

That's why MoveOn.org and EMILY's List launched the "Stop the War on Women" campaign—to tell Republicans "no" to taking away the rights and freedoms of American women, "no" to threatening the health of millions of women and their families, and "no" to sneak attacks on women's right to choose.

Republicans clearly have no boundaries when it comes to attacking women's rights. But just like when they attempted to redefine rape, we can stop them from passing this anti-choice bill and subjecting rape survivors to inhumane interrogations—if we all speak out.

Can you sign the "Stop the War on Women" petition today? Just click below—and share this email with your friends, family, and social networks today.

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207138&id=26676-18414111-4aPTQMx&t=3

Thanks for all you do.

–Kat, Wes, Joan, Peter, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "GOP Bill Would Force IRS to Conduct Abortion Audits," Mother Jones, March 18, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207116&id=26676-18414111-4aPTQMx&t=4

2. "H.R. 3: A Dangerous and Misleading Bill that Threatens Women's Health,'" National Women's Law Center, March 2, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207136&id=26676-18414111-4aPTQMx&t=5

3. "GOP Bill Would Force IRS to Conduct Abortion Audits," Mother Jones, March 18, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207116&id=26676-18414111-4aPTQMx&t=6

Another excellent idea, brought to you by American Republicans. There isn't coffee strong enough to make me calm down after this one.  (But I'll try, and then I'll write you a funny story. OO TWO POSTS in one day?? Who's birthday is it?)

Ugh.

Welp, it's Monday again, *hooray* and I didn't sleep last night. I tried to sleep. I went to bed with every intention of going to sleep and waking up rested and refreshed. But no...none of that for me last night. I was tormented instead, by Lucy Lawless reading what sounded like a grocery list, over and over and over and over and over. Thank you subconscious mind, for being so damn weird. So, as a result I am very very tired this morning. I had thought about going back to bed for a short nap. I just know that if I do that though, I won't wake up until around 1 or so and my whole day will just be ruined. I have a lot going on today, between working on my newest project, a couple of errands and taking hubs to a few appointments in the late afternoon, my day is pretty full. BTW, whenever you see words surrounded by *these* asterisks, that's sarcasm. I've decided that since no one has invented the sarcasm font yet, that's how you'll know when I'm being snarky. Feel free to use this idea for all your text based sarcasm needs. Umm, what else...let's see...I don't know. I'm tired. Maybe some hot tea will help. Here's hoping! Everyone enjoy your day, I'll see you tomorrow...hopefully I get some sleep tonight and something funny happens today so I have a story for y'all.

Afternoon delight

Just a quick note today, with a question. My visit with Hay yesterday was awesome! We had so much fun, shopping and making things! Towards the end of the visit though, she said something that struck me. She asked me how I kept my skin so clear, and my pores so small. Surprised, I asked her the same thing.  An innocuous exchange, to be sure. But when I look at myself in the mirror, I see giant blackheads (EWWWW gross! I know!!) and scars and flaws. I played off the question, telling her the face washes I use, and I don't think she knew how bothered I was by it. Now, the question..how much of your reflection is real? If what you see when you look at yourself isn't what you really look like, how can you trust your own eyes? Is it a manifestation of some psychological disorder? Or is it something else? Why don't I know what I look like? Why don't you?

Here's a shot of me and Hay from yesterday, you can see my fab new hair color, and our apparently awesome skin. Enjoy the weekend!

Oh boy!

Oh it's Friday!! Hooray!!! I am totally excited today, because, as I mentioned yesterday, it's Art Camp day at my sister's house! The fire in my belly to get creative is nearly overwhelming. It's all I dreamed about last night, and I may have to stop writing to do a little happy dance. Also, it didn't snow here much, so that makes me happy too. And my hair is NOT orange like I feared, it's more of a soft coppery color with my natural dark brown low lights. I think it looks pretty awesome and I cannot wait to be tan again to see how it looks. The only sour note in my song of today is a stiff neck that I can't seem to get rid of. I'm hoping that Tylenol and a hot shower will help before my drive to Hay's house, otherwise the highway will be awkward to say the least. On the whole though, I feel that both Hubs and I are very lucky to have come through flu season with only minor colds.
       I have a request for you, my dear readers....I recently installed a poll at the bottom of my blog, asking what I should write about next. Please, if you have any suggestions, memories or themes you want me to make hilarious, let me know! Sometimes an entire day will go by with nothing funny happening, and when that occurs, I'm forced to write shit like this, which; let's be honest, is kinda boring. Hopefully I'll be making a special Saturday edition with tales of my day today..but we'll see.

And now, in honor of the weekend and the approach of spring, I give you......FIREWORKS!!! OOOOOO AHHHHHHH

Hooray! Celebrate the weekend! Enjoy the day!!

Art Camp!!

Even though it's snowing right now, I'm still in a pretty good mood. Tomorrow, I"m going to my sister Hay's  house for a full day of Art Camp. That's when you pull out all your coloring books and craft0-type stuff and make projects and messes all day. I really can't wait. I haven't had an Art Camp in years, and I've got a fire in my belly to make some jewelery. Wow, I just realized that none of you knew I had a sister! Totally my bad!! I guess I haven't written about her because she's got a normal life, with a job and a fiance and I don't want to blow up her spot with my crazy all the time. However, since she's getting married in the fall, I'll be mentioning her more and more as we do wedding stuff together. Other than that, and the fact that I nearly ran over 6 pedestrians yesterday afternoon on my way to the grocery store, not much else is happening around here. Little Brother is gone for a few days, hubs is at school, and I'm thinking about dying my hair this morning. After the workout, of course. Here's a picture for you.....

It corresponds with the dream I had last night. Hubs and I were adopting 5 kittens!! They were adorable, and came in all different colors. My favorite was the emerald green one, although the white one had the softest fur. An old friend was in the dream too, doing the limbo surprisingly well. My subconscious is really weird. Oh, and everyone was wearing button down shirts with stripes on them, only I couldn't get my shirt all the way closed. (Damn you fabulous rack!!) Anyhow, as I have no idea how long this hair project is going to take, i should probably go get started. If I am successful in NOT turning my hair bright orange, I'll post a picture, either here or on Facebook.  Til then, tootles!

Make it nice

Last week, on Facebook, I mentioned a strange smell coming from somewhere in my apartment. It was the oddest thing, reeking of dead fish and burned electronics, and it seemed to be coming from the bathroom closet. Now, the only thing we keep in that closet are our linens; towels and sheets and the like. For there to be a dead fish in there meant that I would have to had packed a sardine or something in that stuff back in California, or that something crawled in while we stayed at my parents house in Western Mass. Since neither of these situations are possible, really, the smell was a total mystery. Until yesterday. Hubs gets up early with me, and while he was getting ready for school, he noticed that we didn't have any hot water. I thought "Huh, that's odd. Maybe he just didn't wait for it to get warm before shaving..." But no, when I took a shower later on in the morning, the water never got hot. (Sadly, I didn't realize this until I was already IN the shower, again figuring that it just needed a little time to warm up I had hopped in and gotten all soapy.) Oh how the halls did ring with my shouts of "FML it's cold...Oh god, why..etc" as I rinsed off.  Drying off and getting dressed never felt so good, let me tell you. I called the office and spoke to our awesome landlady Jean, and she sent a maintenance guy right over. Meanwhile, Little Brother and I are dying of this mystery stink. When the nice man finally arrived, he couldn't smell it. ( I really thought I was crazy or having a stroke or something, except that L.B could also smell it) So anyways, Chris, the guy, is looking all around our linen closet, and asks us why we turned the breaker off. We reply honestly that we didn't. Jean had me check it when I first called, and when I noticed it was off, I flipped the switch like you are supposed to and BAM we had hot water again. But the smell had come back too..and the only thing I did between calling Jean and the arrival of Chris was wash the few dishes that we had from over the weekend. Surprisingly, there weren't many, but a fridge full of cheeseburgers means you don't have to cook, therefore no dishes. :) So, somehow me doing the dishes and using the hot water made the breaker trip again. Chris left for a bit, and came back to let us know we'd be getting a new hot water heater the next day. (That's today! Hooray!!) But while we wait, we don't have hot water, which means no showers. Thankfully, none of us smell too bad.

                                                This is what I felt like after a cold shower...

Also, hubs is staying home from school today because he's sick. If' you've ever met hubs, you know he's the toughest SOB around. But he's been laid low by a nasty flu like bout of Yuck that includes coughing, spitting and an ear ache. He must be miserable if he's giving up school. Right now he's sitting next to me at his desk, wheezing and generally feeling awful. I'm gonna baby him so bad today, nothing but tea, toast and something spicy for dinner for my sweetheart! I may even try to convince him to take a nap with me! OO I love taking a nap! If we hadn't just woken up, I'd suggest it right now! His poor voice is all froggy too....awww. So, while I can't take a shower or do any kind of dishes or anything else that requires hot water, I think I'm going to coddle my hubs, write to you all and make some kind of breakfast. I wonder how many cheeseburgers we have left...