Could you just scream?!

Well, folks..here in the northeast we are expecting yet another snow storm. <ugh> The weather people cannot agree on totals yet..some say 1"-3", yet others say 6 "-12"...right now it's sleet/freezing rain, ALWAYS a fun couple! <yeah, right...>

I'm in total pain..On Sunday while I was walking to my car I noticed an older woman had slid on ice while she was getting out of her car. She slid right underneath her car! (Partially) I ran over and grabbed her under her arms, trying to pull her up. The parking lot was so icy that she fell down again, pulling me with her! Not wanting to fall on my injured knee, I grabbed her and pulled her up, thus turning my OTHER knee and twisting my back. Her husband came from the other side of the car, not knowing what was happening, and gave me a strange look. In hindsight, he must have thought that I was mugging his wife!! Anyway, I put my leg on a non-icy area and the woman pulled herself up by pulling on my pants leg! I felt so badly for her...she was moaning in pain the whole time. I sure hope that she reported her injury/accident to the store manager..

Work has been slow..I had a whopping 3 tables today. No one wants to be out in this brutal cold. And when they DO come out, all they want is soup and hot coffee/tea!! Wow...BIG money! LOL!! Me, I'll take an L.A. Martini to warm me up! (L.A. Martini= Dirty Skyy Vodka Martini straight up with lotsa olives, thank you very much! I made this one up myself! Get it?)

Well..I'm sure the kids are off from school yet tomorrow YET AGAIN...and me, I'll crawl to work if necessary. Spend the day in the house with 4 children? No thanks..I'll pass.

Stay warm, keep dry and don't let the bed bugs bite! (Threw the last on in for good measure!)

"The Girl in the White Dress"..you decide!

The paranormal research team sent me this picture that they caught last night at about 1020pm. You can see me at the computer and if you look to the right of me, over towards the green striped couch, you can see a strange anomoly. I was by myself in the basement so we're not sure what it is. Boo looked at the picture and says that it looks like "the girl in the white dress", the ghost that she sees down here every once in awhile. I know, I know...you think we're crazy but this picture was taken a short while after the girls had a strange experience in the house.

We (husband, big one and I) were out to dinner. Boo and Ray were home alone. Boo was in the kitchen when she heard someone trying to get in the back door. (She had just spoken to us so she knew that we weren't home yet.) SHe ran into the family room, told Ray what was going on and Ray ran into the kitchen. The locked back door was opened! ANd the motion sensor lights in the back yard were not on!! They immediately called the next door neighbor and checked the entire house out. The only strange thing they found was that doors that had been closed earlier were now open!

The picture of me was taken while I was emailing the paranormal researchers to see if they had perhaps caught anything on the tape. Funnily, they caught this while I was emailing them!

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

My freak cutting board accident..

Don't worry..it's not what you think..all my parts are intact! LOL!!

Today at work I was filling the salad station up when I leaned against the cutting board that is semi-secured into it. Well, I must have freed it from it's location because it popped up and slammed me smack in my knee! I was laughing from embarassment but when everything settled down, I realized that I REALLY did hurt myself. I pulled my pants leg up to find a completely blue and swollen knee! I was shocked! I began limping around (thank God this was at the end of my shift!) and moaning in pain. (Ok, ok...I threw the "moaning in pain" thing in for dramatic effect...SOR-RY!!)..Decided to go to hospital to get it checked out..the dr. said he was concerned that I might have broken my knee cap (doesn't that only happen in mob movies?!) and sends me for Xrays...To make a long story short, no...not broken...just very badly bruised. Can't work for a few days..so I'll take tomorrow off...I hate to, but I really should. I do alot of running up and down stairs.

Anyway..it's been a long day so I'm gonna go for now...I'm off tomorrow so I'll be catchingup on all my journal reading...just don't tell my boss that I have to go up and down stairs to do so!! LOL!!! So long and g'night!!

Sorry....

Yikes! I've been terrible at updating! Let's see...where was I?!

OK..paranormal investigators were here Saturday night. Turns out my "ghost in the picture" is actually a deformed picture! Oh, well...They brought infra-red video baby monitors....That was cool! They had "Boo" (isn't her name appropriate?!) sit in her bedroom in the dark under surveillance of the video monitor. Well....the orbs were flying around her room!! (Orba are supposed spirit energy.) All in all we had a great time with the investigators. Right now there is a webcam pointed at me to monitor our basement for "visitors". This is another reason why I haven't updated...I don't have access to MY computer and I have to use the kids slower computer. Yuck.

Busy busy day at work. But fun! After work I had "Deacon Duty"...delivery and serving of baked ziti at a local battered women's shelter. Came home to discover that no one had made dinner...Soooooo, I made dinner so that I wouldn't have to throw away the pork chops. Arghhhh!

Yesterday I had a "day off" from work. Sooo...what did I do? I'm gonna tell you! Sunday we had rain/sleet/snow...basically what you'd call "a MESS"..My husband kept up with the shoveling all damn day. At 10pm the DPW came down the street with the snow plow and threw all the slush from the road onto MY SIDEWALK!!! I have about 60 feet of sidewalk in front of my house..so it was a mess. We were going to leave it until the police came down our street and haned out "reminders" that according to local laws, we were in violation of snow removal.  <sigh> I broke my back removing all of it. Threw some salt down and started chipping away. Oh well...it's done. My husband coldn't do it because by the time he would have gotten home, the temperature would have been 10 degrees...nothing's melting in that!

Anyway..I'm here and I've been reading your journals..can't wait to get my computer back!

Have a great one!

Look what I found!!

I took this picture the day we put up our Christmas tree. If you look to the left of the tree, you'll see a speaker. If you notice, there is an orb on top of it! Now, look at the picture of the rose to the left of the tree. Can you see the face that is in it? It is to the right of the vase. To my eyes it appears to be a man but Boo thinks that it's "Catherine". Can't wait to show the paranormal investigators tonight! BTW...I took other pictures of the tree that night but this is the only one that had an orb or a face. Cool, huh?

Of ginseng, "Inga" and a fishy couch..

I recently started taking ginseng to pick up my energy. I thought that it would take a few weeks for it to reach it's full effect. Apparently, it doesn't. Not for me, anyway. Friday, I decided to wear my new shirt to work. It's a little snug so I decided to capitalize on it. I pulled my hair into a braid and danced around the restaurant declaring, (in a Swedish accent) " Hello! My name is Inga!". Well...the sight of this 42 year old woman prancing around is not pretty. But do I care? NO! Did people tip me extra? NO! Most importantly...did I have fun? DAMN STRAIGHT! I crack myself up on a regular basis. I keep me sane!

As for the fishy couch...is leather supposed to smell of fish oil?! Didn't think so. My husband tells me, "Oh, hon..it's only the leather couch! It's supposed to smell like that." Um...no, it's NOT. I have plenty of leather in my house (shoes, purses, whips..ooops! too much info! LOL) and not one of them smells of fish oil. So, YUCK...no snuggling on THAT couch.

On a more somber note: We here in the Northeast are expecting 4-6 inches of the white stuff (sorry...can't bring myself to say it) and windchills in the minus degrees. Anyone for blackberry brandy shots?

Funniest thing I've heard today: Child# 2 and I were watching the rose ceremony of "The Bachelorette" (a guilty pleasure) when, upon the giving of the last rose, she asked, "Mommy, is that a dead frog?!" I LMAO!! It was a white rose and she thought it looked like an upside down dead frog! Ah, from the mouths of babes!

Out with the old, in with the new!

The Christmas tree came down today..Hmmm..looks kinda bare there. So...what should we do about it?! The couch that was in front of the tree was broken a year or so ago by 1 or 2 of the children. (They took a flying leap at it and broke the back spine of it..I have the bruises to prove it!!) Ok, yes..it matched the rest of the furniture but it was BROKEN, dammit! My husband took children #'s 3& 4 to the mall and checked out a furniture store while he was there. He saw a nice saddle-colored leather couch. Came home and told me about it. "Do you think it will match the dark brown ottoman we saw in Costco yesterday?", he asks me. "Hmmm...why don't we go to Costco, buy the ottoman and THEN decide?!", I reply. Ok....ottoman in hand (truck,really), we take off to the mall in search of a matching couch. And we found it! Yes, the saddle colored leather couch matched PERFECTLY! (In my world, yes, it does!)

Got hurt carrying (ok..helping..) the couch in. Couldn't make dinner. Besides, color co-ordinating is SOOO tiring. Took children #'s 3 & 4 out to dinner. Really..would it have been fair to them if their suffering mom had to make dinner for them? I knew that you'd agree!

Looking forward to cuddling up on the new couch and ottoman with husband tonight. Leather needs to be "broken in", right? ::devilish smile::

G'night and see you in the 'morrow! LOL!!!

Hold me back...!!! ( AKA "The In Laws Are Here")

(This story told to you as I hide in my basement whilst they all watch a movie..)

Ok, soooo..This is pretty much the only thing that I DO NOT like about my in-laws..They are total NEAT FREAKS. True story: When I decided to take this past summer off so that I could babysit my teen aged children, my mother in-laws reply was, "Oh good..now maybe you can do something around the house." <Gritting my teeth as I tell this story.>

So, tonight we hosted my sister in-law, my mother and father in-law, my niece and my nephew. (My sister in-law's husband and my other nephew couldn't make it due to a hockey game that my nephew had to play.) We were sitting at the dinner table after finishing a lovely dinner that included garlic shrimp in rice, ribeye steak, pasta, king crab legs, etc...My sister in-law says to me, "Have you seen your daughter's room?" to which I reply, "Now why the hell would I wanna go and upset myself like that?!" "Well, I don't know what your standards are but it's a disaster up there!" I just laugh it off, but go upstairs to see what she meant by "disaster area". Apparently "disaster area" is a relative term and subject to interpretation! Mind you, I've owned this house for 4 years and have only ventured upstairs MAYBE 10 times. My husband can't understand why. "Self preservation and the distinct probability that some child may die if I DO go up there", I tell him on occasion. So, the room is not in all that great of shape, but hey! They're 14 1/2 and 16 years old. I do not expect to walk into a showplace, for pete's sake!

I came back downstairs and asked her if she'd like to see MY room. She passed. She knows better.

What pisses me off is that of course her house is ALWAYS clean. She and her husband own their own business and she works in her own home. Oh, yeah...and the little fact that she has a cleaning person that comes 5 days a week.  I think that explains a bit, doesn't it?!

Trust me...my house is no sty..But I do worry about more important things in my life other than "is my house clean enough for my in-laws approval?". For me, enjoying life and living it in a messy home is more fun than stressing out over getting the bathroom floor clean enough to eat off of.

'Nuff said..

Feeling oh! so efficient today!

Well...I am NOT a morning person but I find myslef at 843am this morning already typing away! Have already made my bed (usually make it right before bed!), had 1 of my 2 cups o' tea, sent numerous emails to people at Church re: Blood drive in May, Womens's Luncheon, our next Deacon meeting...whew! Should I just head on back to bed and forget about work today?! LOL!!

Received an email from the paranormal researchers..they'd like to come back on Jan 17 and do a follow up investigation! They'll also install a webcam for a few days to monitor the basement for "activity"... Unfortunately, the public is unable to view this webcam site because it's for THEIR research purposes only.

This weekend is looking to be rather busy as I will be hosting my in-laws (all 7 of them) for a belated Christmas celebration/ mother in-law's 74th birthday party. My sister-in-law and her family were in Floirida for the holidays so we haven't seen them yet. Should be nice...but when the hell is someone gonna invite US to THEIR house so THEY can cook and clean up after US?! LOL!!Seems like every weekend there's a party going on at my house! (Is it because we have a hot tub and everyone eants to use it?)

Anyway...time for cup o' tea #2 so I'd best be heading upstairs..If I don't get back here, have a great weekend!

A pet peeve..

Sorry...I woke up on the wrong side of the bed..and late, to boot!

My husband wakes up at 650am every morning to wake up our 12 year old son. My son is usually pretty good about waking up but once he's downstairs, he can often be found cuddled up under a blanket on top of the heat vent! So begins my morning.."Son! Did you eat? Are you dressed? You're gonna miss the bus!!", my husband yells...several times between 710am and 725am..(The bus comes at 733am). My husband gets out of bed shortly after my son gets on the bus..Now starts the screaming up the stairs for the 2 high school-aged girls to get up...Except they NEVER get up on the first scream. No, it takes a good long time for them to get up. They have to leave at 810am. The next door neighbor drives 3 days and I drive 2 days. Well, JUST yesterday I was saying (complaining) to my husband that he really shouldn't be waking them up, that they should have an alarm clock and we (he) should only be a last bell kinda thing. He totally disagreed, stating that we are their parents and we are ultimately responsible for everything in their lives, including getting up on time. I pursued it further, but he stood firm.

Ok...so today I woke up in time to hear my son leave. My husband "claims" that he set the alarm for 800am as it's my day to drive the kids...I heard him yell up the stairs several times for the girls to get up and even heard him go upstairs to toss their butts out of bed. So why is it that I woke up sans alarm clock at 840am?! I guess the next door neighbor took her kids when I didn't show up at their front door..

Thanks for listening...and BTW...I'm hitting Target right after work to buy 3 alarm clocks..That'll show ALL of them! LOL!

I'm still here!!!

Ahhhh...me and the laundry..a love story that will NEVER end..

When my sister and I were younger, we used to play "Chinese Laundry" (is that racist?)..we used to talk in reallly fake Chinese accents and sort laundry to our hearts content..oh, for those good ol' days....

The paranormal researchers want to come back and set up a webcam in our basement. It's been a hotspot recently..altho the youngest's bedroom has been active, too...Christmas Eve the big one and the youngest were sleeping and were awakened by "someone" strumming the bass guitar! Then a week later, while daughte#3 was home alone, SHE heard the bass guitar being played! The big one felt like someone was tickling her feet in the middle of the night when she was sleeping in the basement....Ahhh, hopefully the webcam will pick up something..

The holidays were great..busy, but fun...Until New Years Day..the big one came home vomitting blood, swearing that someone had put something in her non-alcoholic drink...ROFL..yeah, my 21 (almost 22) year old, heroin addicted daughter had NOTHING to drink on NY Eve..yeah...remind me..exactly WHERE does it say "STUPID" on my forehead?! Long story short: Apparently she snorted cocaine while she was out and she became violently ill...blood from her stomach and her nose.....all the time swearing that she didn't do ANYTHING...some one poisoned her, as per her...

Well...tonight is her 1st night home from hospital..her blood sugar was up to 700 at one point..(she has juvenile diabetes)..Did I visit her? You may think I'm a horrible mother but, NO..I didn't.....But you know what? Walk a mile in my shoes..You'd might have left her in the ER for a few nights (no beds in ICU available) and let her deal with it...I've been thru this TOO many damn times..couldn't deal..

What a way to start the new year...