Later on that same evening..

My therapist forget to put me in the book so I sat there for 45 minutes waiting for her to show up while Boo had her therapy session. When she finally showed up, we checked her schedule and I wasn't on it!! That was ok..didn't have much to say tonight, anyway...and that's not why I'm angry..

When I got home with Boo, Ray calms tells me that the police picked up my son, who was caught crossing the railroad tracks!! Mind you, we're talking Amtrack and NJ Transit lines at friggin' RUSH HOUR!!! The Big One went and picked him up from police station. So now the police have become aquainted with yet another child of mine!!! Yes, I'm relieved that nothing happened to him (i.e. didn't get electrocuted from the 3rd rail and managed to get across without being hit!) but of all the STUPID things to do!! I didn't even tell Herman til we left the house to go pick up our $750 refund check from the court ...refund for The Big One's bail, that is...::::argggggghhhhhh:: Someone please tell me that it gets better?! Please? Someone?!

I was supposed to go to the wake of a longtime Church member but I can't calm myself down enough to go..That, and there will be a million people there because he was a very well-known man. That, and I HATE wakes..Yes, I know that everyone hates wakes...

Ok...just needed to vent a bit..I think I'm done..If not, I'LL BE BACK..LOL!!

Just another day...

Worked..not very busy. Tomorrow will be, tho. It's buy 2 lunches get the third for free. Always busy on Wednesday.

Dar called me this morning, wanting to know when I'm sending Boo down to her. Told her maybe mid-July. And I'm going with her, at least for a few days!! Yippee! Then she mentions that she may go on a cruise for her 40th birthday and says that it may be a girls only trip!! YIPPEE! I'm SO there!! Let's see...a trip to see Dar, a trip with my father and sister to CA and then the cruise with Dar...I'm willing to bet that this is NOT GONNA fly with Herman..I guess I'll just have to win him over with my winning smile!! Begging and the promise of sexual favors might help, too... :::snort::: Whatever it takes...LOL!!

Have therapy today..but I really don't have much to tell her. Kids are behaving lately. I'm having my son tested for ADD because he ABSOLUTELY cannot concentrate or pay attention and his grades are pretty bad. He alwasy wants to move on to the next thing, and after he's there, he wants to know what's next/ Can't ever stay in the moment. And as far as paying attention, he doesn't. He glances at instructions without ever reading them all the way and then thinks he can do whatever it is...This, I feel, is a "guy thing"...I know that Herman rarely reads instructions...makes me crazy!! Then, when his project is done, he questions why the shelves are crooked and the cabinet is slanted to the right and the knobs are upside down...READ THE DAMN INSTRUCTIONS!!

I've managed to catch up with my laundry but I'm sure that the girls have a ton of laundry waiting for me in the wings...And, again, please don't suggest I make them do it. I'll only wind up having to buy them new clothes to replace the ones that they will surely have ripped/faded/bleached/shrunk/stained..ok??Not to mention the fact that they will probably put too much detergent in the washer and it will run all over my basement..Oh, no...That is not gonna happen! Besides, I'm totally anal about laundry..I'm sure that I've mentioned this before. Maybe I'll just make them fold their laundry...yeah, baby steps! I like that idea..

Hmm..I should go upstairs and think about what I'm going to talk to the therapist about..I need to review the last 2 weeks..Ohhhh..I'll look back on my entries!! That should refresh my memory!!

OK Dar?? I've updated myjournal...and it's boring!! LOL!!

Peace...

Not much to report..

It's been a quiet weekend..and I LOVE QUIET! LOL!! Nothin' wrong with "quiet"!! LOL! Herman and I spent alot of time together this weekend. We all (except The Big One, who had to work) went to our friend's daughter's 1st birthday party! Got to see Kelly, an friend for a long time, whom we haven't seen in over a year. Funny (well..maybe not funny) story...Herman used to work out with Kyle, Kelly's ex-husband. Kyle is 10  years younger that Herman and Kelly is 10 years younger than me. Ironically, they got married on our 10 year wedding anniversary..which also happened to be the night Princess Di was (murdered) killed in Paris. Ruined MY night...more so, ruined HERMAN'S night! (Princess Di and I were the same age, got married [my 1st go-round] the same year and had our 1st child the same year..also, we both subsequently divorced our 1st husbands and fell in love with dark, handsome men!! LOL!!) ANYWAY...I TOTALLY digress...After the divorce, Kelly "kept" the friends that they had "aquired" during their relationship. Kyle has totally disappeared, much to Herman's dismay. It's actually quite upsetting as we were friends with Kyle looonnnggg before he met Kelly. We love Kelly, but Kyle just totally blew us off. To this day, we're not sure why. Yes, he left Kelly for another woman...maybe he's embarassed?! Kelly wanted children, Kyle did not. But he wound up with a woman who had children from her husband, whom she left for Kyle!! Very, VERY strange...

ANYWAY...Kelly is a doll...When "Boo" was hospitalized long-term for her depression/bi-polar disorder, Kelly would go and see her. Offered Herman and I some relief...one less Saturday that we would have to drive 45 minutes to see our daughter. Took some stress off us.( We felt really badly if we couldn't make it down to see her on both Saturdays and Sundays.) I will go into this period of our life at a better time...Still too vivd in my memory...

Herman went to Church with me this morning!! Yay Herman!! And he actually liked the sermon! The interim head pastor gave the sermon. Nice guy...very funny! He's from Iowa and Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Total mid-westerner! And we love it! Here in the Northeast we are soooo busy, involved and jaded...To hear a minister give a sermin that is totally the oppposite of what we are about is quiet refreshing! A different perspective, if you will...

On a sad note, my mom's 80 year old cousin Buzzy passed away on Friday. My mom and Aunt Bev have gottenclose to him over the past 20 or so years. He lived in Nova Scotia, Canada. My mom's family (The Jewers) were from a small village called Ecum Secum, Nova Scotia. Some of the family was killed during the huge explosion in Halifax in 1917. Fascinating family history...and Buzzy will be greatly missed. My mom and her sister tried to get to the funeral all weekend, to no avail..Burial is tomorrow (Monday) and I'm sure that mom and Aunt Bev will be there in spirit...

The Big One is sick...stomach virus? I made her fresh ginger steeped in boiling water, supposedly great for stomach ailments. She has managed to make it o work all weekend, tho...Good for her!

I'm hoping to get a great deal done tomorrow..gym, laundry, phone calls, etc...I think that I'm forgetting something..hmmmm...Oh well, I'll sleep on it!!

Really hoping to get down to FL and see Dar...Ohhhhh! Did I mention that I have tickets to see "The View" on Wednesday, April 7??!! Soooo excited! I've invited Little Sharon to go..also The Big One and Ray..you have to be 16 years old to attend..Can't wait!

Back to Dar...I'm hoping that I can accompany Boo down there when she goes to help out Dar..Ohhh..maybe I can tie in to the Disneyworld trip??!! LOVE IT!!! Herman's gonna kill me...thank God he loves me so much! He could care less about Disneyworld but he knows how much I love it...I think I can make this happen! Ahhh..we'll see....

My dad, sister and her family are planning to go to CA in late August...I gotta work on that, too! Herman doesn't want any part of that trip (wayyyyy too many "personalities", if you catch my drift) but my dad has told me in the past that if I can pay for myself and the children's meals...I'M IN! But then again, Cheryl (my sister) told me that he's pleading poverty...And I'm not one to push it...

Ok..I'm done...Peace and g'night...

Feelin' blue

Couldn't tell you why, but I'm down this evening. Really sad. "Ray" came to hug and kiss me to make me feel better but she knocked my NEW glasses into my face and BENT them! :::HORRORS::: Now they're all crooked and I can't see straight again. I feel bad because I can't explain why I feel so badly. Maybe I DO need that trip to FL to see Dar? Well...ok..that's a given! (If not just to go and load her dishwasher properly!!)

Have spoken to Gordy the past couple of nights. He has befriended Angel and they have a great chemistry. He really cares about her and how she is doing. I find that SOOO refreshing, in a way. Two PERFECT strangers who reach out to each other for support. They're both benefiting from this relationship...I think it's wonderful! Think of all the good, all the support we offer each other. Why, just recently Kara wasn't feeling well and all her readers begged her to see a doctor. Turns out that she has bronchitis. Now chances are that she PROBABLY would've (in her own time) seen a doctor on her own accord, but just knowing that there were people out there who TRULY cared about her health made all the difference in the world to her! Just knowing that "strangers" were worried about her prompted her to seek medical advice. And she's grateful to her readers.

Me? Lately I'm grateful that I can get outta bed! Bought a new tie for work....an M&M tie, of all things! Very bright, eye-catching..JUST LIKE ME! LOL!! I really like work. It's physical and I get to interact with lots of people thru out my shift. And the staff is great, too. That's what makes it easier to get up in the morning. Not really like going to work...more like going to get some exercise with some friends...and getting paid to do it! LOL..yeah, that's it!!

Well...I gotta go and hit the ol' proverbial hay...Been tired..maybe that's why I'm so blue..Can't be PMS, Dar..you KNOW that I had "my womanhood" ripped from me a year and half ago, you nut! ROTFLMAO!!! :::snort::::

G'night....and peace.

Pet Peeves

PET PEEVES:

1. Children who throw perfectly clean towels on the bathroom floor (see: NOT SO CLEAN)  after drying their face. That's it..clean towel, cleaner face. Now dirty towel. Oh...LAST CLEAN towel. ::sigh:: So now I wait for the towels to be done washing so that I may dry them...at this late hour.

2. People who do not use the space in the dishwasher efficiently (Cheryl, Mom and Dar...PAY ATTENTION!) Yes, I have been known to go thru people's dishwashers and rearrange the way they loaded it. It's a sickeness, I know..but they have yet to find a cure. Send donations to "ODL (obsessive dishwasher loaders) C/O me@aol.com"  Please help us find a cure.

3. Fold the towels in 3rds, dammit!! They look SOOO sloppy when you fold them in 1/2!! Ugghhhh...

4. If I smile at you, please..no, PLEASE! Smile back at me.

5. If you wear it, turn it right side out when you throw it into the laundry. Please?!

6.When I bag my own groceries, please say, "Thank you for bagging!" or next time I will not give you that opportunity.

7. We have a dishwasher. Could you please learn how to properly install dirty dishes into it? All of them? Oh..plastic drink cups don't count. We own a "garbage can" for those. Please refer to users manual for instructions.

'Nuff said.

Oh...and another thing..

102. I hate liars and thieves

103. I know a little bit about alot of things but not alot about 1 thing!

104. I wish that I had gone to college

105. I could go on and on but..

106. I guess the most important thing about me is that I try to live by the Golden Rule..and sometimes it just isn't that easy to do.

Ta-Da! 100 Things About ME!

Once I started thinking about this list, I just couldn't wait to do it!

1. I'm 42 years old (ok..I'm starting out slowly!)

2. I'm the oldest of 3

3. I have a sister, Cheryl-41

4. And a brother , Don-40

5.I'm close to my sister

6.But not to my brother

7.My sister was born the day before my first birthday!

8.My birthday is Income Tax Day! LOL!

9. I have moved some 22-23 times in my short life

10.When I was a child we moved to San Diego for 4 1/2 months

11. But we moved back because we missed the rest of our family

12. My grandpa cried the day we moved.

13. We drove there

14. And broke down in the desert outside of Carlsbad, NM

15. There was a munitions factory down the road from where we broke down

16. Some rednecks came to help us but my dad had gone down the road to get help already..

17. We were SCARED of these men..my mom honked the horn to get my dad's attention

18.The longest amount of time I've spent in one place is 10 years..

19. It was in my last house, but in the same town I'm in now..

20. We moved 5 blocks from our old house!

21.I was married once before

22. Sometimes I forget that!!

23.I'll be married 17 years in August

24.I ABSOLUTELY adore my husband!

25.I think he's very handsome, smart and funny

26. I crack myself up on a regular basis

27. I snort when I laugh really, really hard

28. I laugh alot

29. I like to cry..sometimes it helps

30. My best friend hates to cry (Dar!)

31. But I made her cry when I showed up at her house by surprise!

32. I went to theatre camp at Hampton Playhouse in Hampton, NH

33. I learned that I can't act

34. But I sure can work a spotlight!

35. I got drunk for the first time while I was there

36. And had to fly home with a hangover from hell

37. And with my mother and grandfather, too!

38. I fall in love easily

39. I love my eyes and my hair

40. They're the same color...Hazel!! LOL, no really..my hair is hazel-colored!!

41. I hate my butt, tho..

42. I got married and had a child in less than one year

43. I got pregnant on my (first) honeymoon.

44. I was sick the entire time on my second honeymoon

45. What did I learn from this? NEVVER FLY WITH A SINUS INFECTION!

46. I was deaf in one ear for a week..in Cancun

47. I'm enjoying this!!

48. My oldest and youngest child are 9 years apart.

49. I have 3 daughters

50. And one son

51. I named him the English version of my husband's Dutch name, Johannes...

52. My husband's full name is Johannes Herman Nico (last name)

53. We he came thru immigration they changed it to Herman John (last name)

54. We NEVER call him Herman Munster!

55. Have I mentioned that I love my husband?

56. I used to be a shy bookworm.

57. I'm not anymore!

58.I like to think of myself as kind of a hippie

59. I still have long hair

60. ANd bangs

61. Everyone wants me to grow my bangs out

62. I think I have a large forehead

63. And there's a sign on it

64. That says "YOUR AD HERE 555-1234"

65. I think that's funny!

66.One of my daughters used to wrestle

67. She was so good that one team was not allowed to wrestle her

68. Because they were afraid of the boys fragile egos.

69.My favorite saying is "Be careful of what you wish for..it just may come true!"

70.I still don't understand how planes fly.

71. Speaking of planes, I hate flying

72. But I'll do it 'cause it gets me places

73.My favorite place for vacation is Atlantis in the Bahamas

74. We spent 5 nights there last summer.

75. I'd live there if I became rich!

76.My favorite beer for special occasions is Boddington's

77. My favorite everyday beer is MGD lite

78.My favorite mixed drink is vodka and tonic

79.My favorite color is yellow

80.I love all music except most country

81. I love the opera

82. And the ballet

83.My dad introduced me to it.

84. When I was a teen my mom worked for Eastern Airline

85. We used to fly for $15!!

86. I still don't know what I wanna be when (IF) I grow up

87. I used to want to be a nurse

88. I met my husband while I was working for FedEx

89.I quit FedEx shortly after we got married to take care of my growing family.

90.I've always worked

91.I've babysat, done data entry, worked for a HVAC guy in the office

92. Currently I'm waiting tables and I like it!

93. I'm a real people person

94. And a team player

95. My husband hates that I keep a journal online

96.He doesn't like that I give out personal info.

97. Sometimes he just doesn't understand me...and that's OK

98. I am a Christian

99.I love my family

100.And I love God

and 1 more..

101. I love my AOL journaling friends and I enjoy reading all their journals!

YAY!! I DID IT!!

::::snort::::: Peace!

Do you hear that sound??

Hear it?? :::splat::: There it goes again! :::splat:::: Why, it's the sound of my children dropping like flies!! Yes, ladies and gentleman, I have a houseful of stomach-virus sufferin' children at home today. Can you say "happy- happy, joy- joy"?! Ugh..doesn't get much worse than this! Poor kids! My son seems to have it the worst. He's a very lanky child, weighs about 75 pounds. He's extremely thin and really can't afford this. The girls are just feeling nauseous at this point. The fun is sure to begin soon, tho.

Everyone is doing "100 Things About Me" in their journals. I'm gonna give it a try...just as soon as the kids start to feel better. Actually, some of those 100 things you MAY NOT wanna know! LOL!! And some of them I'm trying to forget!

I have about a million things that I need to get done today, so I'm going to end for now..

Peace! Have a great day!!

I've been SICK!

No...I haven't died, altho early Thursday morning I THOUGHT I was going to! Woke up at 2am early Thursday morning with the WORST stomach virus I have ever had. I'm still not right. Have only eaten 2 baked potatoes, soup and crackers in the past 48 hours. (More or less, anyway..Oh, yeah..I ate a pickle in hopes that it would miraculously cure me! LOL!) Sure fire way to lose weight I suppose!

Spoke to Dar today. She's not doing too well. She has MAJOR problems with her back and neck. She's in incredible pain and has to deal with 3 boys, her husband included! LOL!! The one doctor wants her to see a spinal surgeon but she's not real happy with that. She'll be out of work for awhile, I'm sure.

Herman is in Philadelphia for the weekend. He was asked to judge a powerlifting meet. His friend Wayne went with him. Wayne will be a "spotter" for the meet. (A spotter stands either alongside or in back of a lifter and grabs the weight should the lifter have to dump it. Spotters have saved many a lifter severe injury.)

Got my new glasses on Wednesday. Can't get used to them. They're a bit smaller than my old ones so I keep catching the frame in my field of vision. I guess I have to be patient and give 'em a bit of time.

I'm headed back to bed, where I have spent the majority of these past 3 days. Please..let me feel better tomorrow and let me get my appetite back! (Do you know how odd it is to walk into a food store and not have ANYTHING appeal to you?!) No Church for this girl again. I feel badly but there's just no way my achin' belly is going to allow it.

G'night and peace...

Blah....

Yep, that's about it..Blah. Feeling down today, no real reason to. Had a slight anxiety "attack" yesterday because I started to get really overwhelmed by everything that I needed to accomplish. Went to the therapist today. I told E'beth that my therapist is the only who actually listens to me and agrees that I'm 100% right! LOL! (Everyone needs someone like that!!) Once, while food shopping, I was talking to myself. An older woman came over to me and pointed out that I was doing this. I turned to her and said, "I have 4 children..I talk to myself because they don't listen!" She laughed and then agreed with me.

The kids are making me feel like a horrible parent lately. Ray tells me that I yell too much. (Personally, I don't yell nearly enough...a matter of opinion.) I tell/ask them to get something done and it's just not getting done. Saturday I assigned everyone a room and told them that they couldn't leave the house til the room and their bedroom were spotless. Worked for 3 of them. My son has his own standards, which allows for garbage and laundry on his bedroom floor. I know that I've griped about this before and people always say (no one in j-land, just other people), "You're the parent..JUST make them do it!" Well, you know, sometimes it too damn tiring to constantly explain to my kids why the have to do something, how they should do do something and no, I will not give you money to clean your own damn room!!

God, I'm sooo tired. I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday to see what he can do for my poor sleeping. I sleep, I just don't relax ..so I wake up every morning feeling as though every muscle in my body has been tensed all night long. ::sigh::: Sorry, I'm in "woe is me" mode..And I really don't mean to be..

Dar called me this morning! She hurt her neck so she's out of work for the next week or so.

Anyone watch "Average Joe: Adam Returns" last night? I just love Adam and I'm so glad that he got this chance. (Again, another "guilty pleasure".)

The snow: We've received about 3" of the stuff today. It should disappear by Saturday as it will be in the 50's by then. Driving was very dangerous because it mixed with sleet/hail/freezing rain earlier in the day. Deadly combo.

That's it for now...gonna go cuddle up with Herman and watch a movie....if I don't fall asleep, that is! LOL

Peace...

Got our new TV!!

Sears delivered our new 60" High Definition television this afternoon! Woo-hoo!! Now Herman's up there playing with it, hooking up our surround sound, DVD player and whatever the hell else gets hooked up to it! LOL!! (TV is an experience in our house..you don't JUST watch it, you LIVE it..except me. I lock myself in my bedroom with my ol' 27" TV that only comes in green, blue and black,..and I like it that way!)

Sorry ...got called away earlier...I'll have to update later as we have 2 couples, The Big One and her boyfriend and our friend Wayne (his wife is home with their baby) over for dinner. We had take-out Thai, Chinese and Italian..eclectic menu, eh?! (ChiThaItalianese..LOL!!) Now I hear my son entertaining everyone by playing his guitar..Jimi, System of a Down, Beatles..you name it, this kid will atttempt it. Right now he's butchering a Zepplin tune...I'd better go and save everyone!!

I suppose we're in for a night of carousing in the hot tub, which I WILL NOT partake in!! Sorry, but this 42 year old body DOES NOT share hot tub space with the sculpted ab's of the 20-somethings that are here now!! One of the guys girlfriends is a professional body builder/fitness model. YIKES!! Trust me..I'm not ashamed of my body..I just don't feel like sucking my tummy in for the next 1/2 hour or so! LOL! At least I fell slim tonight....all the guys here (except for Herman, who weighs about 205) weigh over 275...some are close to 350!! The girl pro body builder goes about 175, I suppose...She could totally kick my ass! She actually a very sweet girl. She is training The Big One and Ray at Herman's gym. She and her boyfriend (the guy who is close to 350) are getting married in June. What a wedding that should be! Woo-hoo!

Guess I've hidden from the crowd long enough...Everyone have a great night...and don't look for me in Church tomorrow morning...I'm sleepin' in!!

Peace...

 

Crazy week..

Well, I've almost made it thru this crazy week! I had my Deacon's meeting on Tuesday and that went well. We are in the planning stages of our annual Deacon's barbeque- we sell barbeque chicken dinners as a fundraiser. We usually sell about 200! (It really is a pain in the ass, tho..takes up all weekend and is exhausting.)

Spoke to Dar last night...it was good to vent to her! I really DO need to get down there (sans children) for a little "girls weekend"! Oh, and yes, my sister is OK with me but she never talks to Dar, which is a shame...they used to be best friends. In the words of Rodney King, " We can't we all just get along?!" I can't even MENTION Dar's name because she gets an attitude. Basically, that how I sum up my sister..one big attitude. I love her, but she's not easy to get along with. We're 2 very different people. ( God, I sure hope she doesn't figure out how to use her computer any time soon! LOL!!)

Work has been VERY busy, which is good. Beeen making decent money, enough to make it worthwhile, at least! We hired a new waitress for lunch today. My sister used to work with her and claims that she is really very good and alot of fun to work with. Can't wait!

Broke the temple to my eyeglasses...unrepairable, of course. So off the the Eye Dr to get new glasses..They should be in by Monday, I HOPE. Right now my kids say that I look like Harry Potter, what with the tape holding my glasses together!!

Spoke to Little Sharon today..so great to talk to her, too! She's having issues with her boyfriend and an old girlfriend of his. I just sat and listened, offering whatever little advice I had. Nothing major, he's just being played by an old girlfriend and Sharon HATES this girl.

These are my little dramas.....Peace!

The "I Stole My Sister's Best Friend" Story..

Ok..This is the story where I will tell you about how my sister believes that I "stole" her best friend, Dar. (You know who you are,LOL!)

My sister and Dar worked at Kid's R Us together for a few years. I met Dar on several occasions but we just exchanged pleasantries, you.."Hi. How are you? How are this kids" sort of thing.

Well, my sister told Dar that she could call on my 2 daughters, Ray and Boo, to babysit on occasion for her 2 young boys. First Ray took the job. This job afforded Ray a trip to Disney World, because Dar's husband was unable to make it and Dar decided that she'd leave her youngest son (who was maybe 1 year old at the time) with my sister and take her older son (about 3-4 at the time), Ray and herself to D'World. They had a great time.

Well, over the course of time, I would stay for a cup of tea whilst picking up Ray or Boo from her house after a babysitting gig. We'd joke around and found out that we really "clicked"...she thinks I'm crazy, I think she's a control-freak...You know the old story about how opposites attract.

One day, she invited my family for a seafood dinner. Well, she invited us and not my sister because she thought my sister was at a shower. A little while into this dinner, I asked her if she had invited my sister. She told me that she knew that my sister was at a bridal shower so she wasn't around. Now I feel badly because I had just returned from SAME shower. We all kind of said, "oops! DAMN!" and decided that we wouldn't mention it so as not to hurt her feelings. Of course, my son says to my sister "Oh! We just had lobster at Aunt Dar's!" the very next time he see my sister!! So my sister is pissed at the both of us and thinks that we are excluding her. Quite to the contrary...Had Dar realized that my sister was around she would have invited her! So...

Several months later, Dar's son decides that drinking the family sized bottle of Dimetap sounds like a fun evening! She calls me and cryptically asks, "Do you have ipecac in your house?" When I answer "no" she hangs up. Well...I know that ipecac is used to treat poisonous overdoses so I rush to her house, which was literally 1/2 mile away. (My sister lives at least 5 miles from Dar.) I get there to find out that her 2 year old son has downed a bottle of Dimetap and now it's too late to induce vomitting. Great. Dar's husband is going to sleep soon (he works from 11pm til 6am delivering bread in NYC) so he tells me to go with Dar- he'll watch the 4 year old and get him to bed. Dar and I take off to the hospital where we convince the 2 year old to drink charcoal by acting like total idiots!! Dancing around. "forbidding" him to drink this wonnnnnderfulllll drink that turns your mouth black!! The attending physician was in total awe of our "act"!! But, he drank it. So it was getting near the time when Dar's husband had to leave for his bread route so I had Herman pick me up at the hospital and bring me to Dar's to watch her 4 year old.

I get a phone call from Boo stating that she had mentioned to my sister that no, I was not home...I was at the hospital with Dar and her 2 year old!! So I call my sister to tell her what had transpired during that evening and she says to me (and I'll never forget this) , "Well...it's a good thing that Dar has such a good friend..Glad he's ok.." CLICK. She hung up on me!!

Anyway..turns out that Dar and I are much better friends than she and my sister ever were..But to this day I feel badly that my sister thinks that I "stole" Dar from her...Dar wasn't "stealable"...she was only looking for a good friend.

Well...Dar and I are the best of friends. She moved to FL a couple of years ago but we keep in touch. Boo has been down there 2 summers in a row, helping Dar out with the boys and such. She has such a great time down there! (We've let her go for a month at a time for 2 summers!) This past summer I surprised Dar by showing up at her house 5 days before she was to put Boo on a plane back home. We had a BLAST! What a water gun fight we had with her boys!!I made Dar cry when I showed up! (This girl NEVER cries!!)

Anyway...thanks for allowing me to share this story about one of the "bestest friends" I've ever had...and I did not steal her. She wasn't up for stealing. We just wound up this way.

Thanks Dar! ( Is this how you remember it?!)

Mystic River

Since several of you have asked (Amy and Julie!!), here is my review of Mystic River.

The movie had a great story line. The actors were great, Sean Penn and Tim Robbins in particular. The story leads you one way in the most obvious of ways but, like most movies, there is a twist at the end. Only problem is, Herman and I still can't figure out the reason behind why the real killer did it. Cinematically, it was very dark and gritty, which totally fit in with the feel of the movie. Parts of this movie were disturbing but they were necessary to the plot. Laura Linney was wonderful also, in a part that is contrary to most parts she has played before. Kevin Bacon, welll...he was in a Kevin Bacon type of roll..good, but not like Sean Penn or Tim Robbin's performances. Parts of his story line were unclear but nothing that makes you question the plot. His role didn't really mesh with the rest of the story.

All in all, an excellent movie. Not one my all time favorites but up there. Worth watching.

Ok..on to my day. Both Ray and Boo were home from school today. Ray complained of sore throat and other miscellaneous ailments while Boo had a urinary tract infection. So off to the covering pediatrician to get medicine for her. Ray and The big One were giving me grief allllll day today, accusing me of never feeding them. Sorry, but there's food in the house and too damn bad if you don't like it. Life is not one big McDonalds's/Wendy's/Taco Bell/ (fill in the name of any other fast food restaurant here)food run. So I made a roast chicken dinner this evening...whole chicken, baked potatoes, baby peas, stuffing and gravy. Herman's still cleaning up after it..I suppose I should go and help him out..

Yay!! Real World/Road Rules "The Inferno" is on tonight..hey! A girl's gotta have her guilty pleasures!! LOL!!

Peace! (I hope you liked my review..I enjoyed writing it! Thanks for the opportunity!)

 

NOTE TO DEBI: I tried to email you but your account won't accept email from me. Let me know if you change the mail controls..I'll send you the email then!

Sunday and all is well!

So, it's Sunday already and I'm just not ready for the coming week. JUST started to do the mega-tons of laundry and haven't dusted a damn thing all weekend! LOL!! Oh, but I DID clean the hot tub so it's all heated up for tonight. Yippee! Herman and I decided to spend some much needed quality time together. We went out to dinner last night to our favorite Portuguese restaurant, Seabra's Armory. I had grilled swordfish and Herman has their twin lobster special. Yeah, that and a large pitcher of sangria!! Then we went up the street to our local bar where I had an L.A. Martini (dirty Skyy vodka martini..lots of olives, please!!) and he had a rum & coke. All in all, a nice night.

Tonight I'm meeting my confirmation partner, her friend and the other co-president of the Deacon's to do some much needed studying so that the girls can make confirmation. After that, to the movies..just me and Herman. Going to see Mystic River, finally. He's going to make dinner while I'm out. I won't get to eat it but at least the kids will have eaten. He's such a doll...I really am soooo lucky. I always say that my grandpa (who passed away shortly before I met Herman) and God pushed him my way. And he's handsome, to boot! LOL!!

On that note, I'm off to fold yet another load of laundry and to get ready to meet the girls...oh, and YAY! I'm off of work tomorrow! Woo-hoo!!!

Peace...

She's Baaa-aaack..

Quick update: They released the Big One this morning. They psychiatrist (whom she has seen many times before) was so impressed by how well she was doing (other than her relapse) that he was actually annoyed that the hospital wanted to commit her. He called me and said that her prgnosis is excellent and he is so happy to see that she is doing so much better. He told her that he thought she'd be dead by now.

Now on to do our taxes..will the fun ever end?! LOL!!

Peace! :)

Doesn't get better than this....LOL!!

I'll bet you're asking yourselves right now, "Why is her mood saying "surprised"?" Well, the story I'm about to tell you is just PRECIOUS....NOT.

Ok, we went to see the Big One earlier (you just knew that this had to do with her, right?! C'mon..admit it..you did..) and then came home to take a nap. Decided that we really needed to get a bite to eat so off we go: me, Herman and The Boy. Nice dinner at Steak and Ale. Came home around 9pm or so. Herman took The Boy to Blockbuster and I came down here to check my email. About 10 minutes later, my doorbell rang. Well, since it's a little too late for the kids friends to come a callin', I look out my front window to see who's there. Lo and behold, it's 3 police officers!! I think that they're here because we saw a suspicious character walking around the neighborhood ealier, looking inside everyone's cars. No, that's not it. "Where is The Big One? Who are you? Is she here?" I explained that I was her mother, she was out and I had no idea where she was. I told them that she had left a note on my kitchen table stating that she had been released from the hospital and that she was out with her boyfriend and her girlfriend. They made me call her and tell her to come home immediately abut not to tell her that they were here. Apparently she left AMA (against medical advice) and was supposed to have a psych conslut before they released her. Unfortunately, no one at the hospital explained this to her so she though that it was ok to leave. When she came home to change, a doctor from the hospital called and told her that she would need to come back for a psych consult. The Big On e said ok but when. The doctor said she'd call her right back but never did. So The Big One left the house to go and get something to eat.

So here she comes up the front walk, suspicious that something's up. She isn't in the door 30 seconds before the police run in the front door! 3 squad cars!! 3 officers!! They made her sit down and they explained what was going to happen. Fortunately they allowed us to take her back to the hospital with a squad car escort.

So, there she sits..totally pissed off...at me, at the police and especially at the hospital. And they're not going to release her tonight, contrary to what the police told her. Me? I'm happily looking forward to what tomorrow will bring me.

If you don't laugh, you cry......I'm a giggling fool right about now....

:::::::SIGH:::::::::

Whew..He's gonna LIVE!!!

You'll all be happy to know that Herman does not have colon cancer! Not even a frickin' hemmorhoid!!LOL!! Doctor's advice? "Eat more fiber!" LOL!! (I'm sorry to make fun but c'mon already...I TOLD HIM SO!!!!)

So now Herman advises me that has 5 more good years in him!! He used to tell me that he'd be dead by 40 so the fact that he's almost 45 is reason to celebrate!! Now we'll have to endure the fatty cyst drama until a doctor tells him that yes, indeed, it IS a fatty cysyt and not cancerous. (The poor guy has many, many of these..if they had to remove every one, no more Herman!!)

Went to see this Big One today. We didn't offer sympathy, just told her that she could come home one last time and that we love her, no matter what. The doctor that's taking care of her while she's there has been very kind to her. Usually when they learn that she's a heroin addict, they treat her like a second-rate citizen. Not fair, but since it's their job to save lives, they hate to see someone destroying their life. She once had an ER nurse tell her that she was worthless and no good. I think that's part of the reason she got clean for 6 months..kind of like, "Well..I'll show him!!" Funnily enough, she'd like to become a nurse one day. I hope she gets her wish...

 

And again..

I allowed Ray to go and visit The Big One this evening. BIG MISTAKE. Ray is the  thinker of my crowd. Very intelligent. Unfortunately when it comes to The Big One, her senses are skewed. Apparently The Big One's friend did indeed know what happened and was, in part, shall we say, a catalyst for the events of the past few days.

So, Ray left the hospital in a rage after hearing the lies, truths and whatevers from The Big One and her friend. Bad idea. So I raced to the hospital (in my nightgown,robe and slippers) to pick up Ray. Luckily, she was where she was supposed to be when I arrived. (Yeah, that and the hospital is 5 minutes away...Darlene (tmmiles4) will vouch for this. Her son had a Benadryl experience that I will relate at a better time..)

Brought Ray home and then sat all 3 of The Big One's siblings down to discuss the fact that The Big One is responsible (read:IRRESPONSIBLE) for her actions, feelings and thoughts. I don't want them to feel like perhaps they could've averted her actions. That's called "enabling"...not good. They need to realize that hey cannot change their sister, for better or worse. It's all very sad...

I really don not want The Big One to come home. My feeling is that she should pick herself up and get herself better AND then ask to come home. C'mon...do something for yourself already....

Then there is The Friend of The Big One..She is a very mentally ill girl (lovely, she really is..) and she feels like she's a bad influence on The Big One. She told Ray (this evening, after the blow up) that she was going to stay away from The Big One because she (The Friend) was a bad influence. Hmmmm...I think it's the other way around...Anyway, she feels very responsible for The Big One's actions (which she shouldn't) and I have a feeling that she may be suicidal over this. (This girl has tried to commit suicide numerous times.) ::::MAJOR SIGH::::: I'm soooo tired from this experience. Please, just let me get some MAJOR sleep tonight...

Please, let me put this all on the back burner til tomorrow when I might feel more inclined to deal with all this...

G'night Gracie...

Later on that evening...

5:30pm: Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for their kind words and support. It really helps knowing that there are people out there who really care..

To add insult to injury, Herman is prepping for a colonoscopy that he'll have tomorrow morning. Major YUCK. And he's convinced that he has colon cancer. (He doesn't..it's called a hemorrhoid, for Pete's sake!! 2 doctors have told him this but he insists that he's dying. LOL..He's so dramatic sometimes!!)

Just got off the phone with The Big One (who is in the critical care unit at the hospital)..claims it was all a mistake. I told her(screamed at her, really) that what she did transcends "making a mistake"..rather, it was a life-altering wrong decision. That, and it was "stupid" of her to do that. Again, transcends any level of stupidity, in my opinion. I told her that she'd better hand her cell phone over to her girlfriend so that it can be returned to me. Also, I advised her that I took away the keys to the car she's been driving. She's screaming and crying that she needs the phone. I told her that if she didn't hand the phone to her friend that I was goingto personally come and get it and she REALLY does NOT want to deal with me in the mood that I'm in. Oh, "where did she get the money?", you ask...Dancing..yes, dancing. I asked her if she had a daughter, is that the lifestyle she'd like to see her child choose? God, I have raised this child to be so much more than this!!! Why does she constantly go against everything we've taught her?!

Enough.....I've got to go and deal with my poor bathroom-stricken husband who is only allowed to drink clear fluids and eat lime jello. Yuck...

Peace.

ARRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Let me first start off by saying that altho I haven't posted in awhile, I've been reading everyone's journals. Been having a bad week. Monday night I totally lost it ..and I mean TOTALLY lost it. Scared my husband to the point that he was ready to take me to the hospital. Not going to share the details but it was bad. Then, same night, as Herman was explaining something to me, he accidently poked me in the eye and gave me a black eye! (We were laying in the darkness of our bedroom and when I turned towards him I also turned closer to his pointing finger..Damn! That hurt alot!! LOL!) So to top it all off I now have to work with a badly camouflaged black eye! And I have to deal with people who think that he really punched me in the eye and that I'm an abused wife! LOL!! So when they ask what happened, I ask them, "Wanna hear the juicy story or the truth?".

Last night The Big One woke us up at 2am to tell us that she needed to go to the hospital. She has been "sick" with upset stomach and migraine-like headache since Tuesday and she began throwing up last night. Well, since she has juvenile diabetes, whenever she throws up it means a trip to the hospital. As she is throwing her guts up at 2am, Herman asks her if she has done something that she shouldn't have. Yes, she tells him..she did a bag of heroin. I just about jumped out of bed and killed her. This is so upsetting because she had 6 months clean. SHe had her girlfriend pick her up and bring her to the hospital.

This morning I went into her room to see if I could find anything. And I did. 4 empty bags that once held heroin. And $160 in cash. Hmmm...where did she get that money? She's not really working yet..just training at Macaroni Grill and she hasn't been there since Sunday. Now the mystery is where the hell did she get that much money? Unfortunately, having been thru this mannnnny times before, we now have to check all our check books, credit cards, etc..So far, nothing out of the ordinary. But we will find out...oh yes we will.

We'll be taking the car keys and the cell phone away as soon as she gets home from the hospital. Oh..reason why she did this?? "My friends all want me to use heroin again.." Some "friends", huh?

Let's see if I can hold it all together today....