Almost Time

Check out my countdown on my sidebar! Tomorrow we leave. I am already anxious. I've been up since 4:30 AM. Didn't sleep at all. I have a doctor appointment today, hopefully I won't forget to ask for a script for Ativan. My nerves are already on high alert!

We leave tomorrow for LA. Then 2 days later, I get on another plane to Hawaii. For a person who HATES to fly, who just only got on a plane for the first time EVER 2 years ago, this trip is going to take the cake! I will get on 6 planes (one of which might be a prop. plane) and then quite possibly unless I chicken out a freakin' helicopter! I'm definitely going to need an entire bottle of Ativan!

Have I mentioned that Danny is worse than a girl??? He has just emptied his entire closet into his suitcase! He won't even wear 1/4 of the stuff he's taking. Freak! Me on the other hand, I have one small section of my suitcase with my clothes and the rest is full of crap! Lotions, sunscreen, shampoo, conditioner, etc. I need to learn to simplify that part of my packing.

Better get ready to go to the doctor. I hate going there! Just a bunch of blah, blah, blah!

What a Nice Surprise!

Remember this??





Well, I got home today and found a package on my front steps. This is what it contained.......

Thank You Ryka!!!!!

Just thought I'd share. I think there is still time to enter the giveaway, so head on over to Ryka if you haven't already done so!

Now back to my packing.

Indian Giver?

As you all know, Kat started college this year. She got the Fl. Medallion scholarship through Bright Futures, which covers 75% of her tuition. This is funded through the FL. Lottery & is available to all Fl. Students as long as their GPA & Test scores meet the requirements. Kat met the requirements. She graduated cum laude with a Superintendent's Certificate of Distinction. She received her award letter for Bright Futures in April & she accepted it.

She has now received a letter from the University stating that her award had been cancelled because she is not on the Master Eligibility List. So she calls the Director of Bright Futures and they basically tell her "Too Bad, So Sad". They say that she applied too early!! A month too early. That there is nothing that can be done & she will not be receiving her scholarship. They insist that letters were sent out. Do they actually believe that if we received something stating that her scholarship, her lifeline to her education, was in jeapardy, we would not have done something about it? I am absolutely livid! If she did apply too early then why would she receive the award in the 1st place?

Kat is in tears. Her stress level is going through the roof. She doesn't want to speak to that lady because she was basically rude to her and would not let her speak. So now she will be writing letters. To the Governor of the State of FL, to the State Reps, and to whoever else she can think of. She has worked her entire High School years for this and it is just not fair.

Sad Day

Yes, that's my brand new car. I was at Home Depot, I never go to Home Depot, because I HATE Home Depot. Anyhoo, I decided to stop in since I was in the area and Danny had been looking for something, so I figured that I would go check at HD. So I go in and grab what I was looking for, but then I got distracted by the kitchen displays and then the orchids outside caught my attention. So, I was in there for about 1/2 hour or so. I go out to the parking lot and walk to my car. Oh, that's not my car. Sure looks like it. But mine is brand new. I click my keychain, and THAT car honks & lights blink. OMG! It's my freakin' car! Someone hit my car in the parking lot. Quite hard. It looks worse in person. I remember, when I was a kid, that my mom once hit a car in a parking lot just a slight dent, yet she waited there for about an hour till the owner came out. She also once drove over 30 miles to return a purse that she found in a public restroom. She was offered some $$, but she did not accept. God knows that she really needed it, as my dad had just passed away recently and she was alone with the 3 of us. But that's just the type of person that she is. And I am happy to have learned from her example. Problem is, I expect others t be the same. Wrong!

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but like I've mentioned before, I just type what I'm thinking! Back to what I was saying, I had to call the police to get a police report in case I had to go through my insurance.

While sitting there waiting, I hear units racing by with lights & sirens. I mean lots of units. I even hear alot more in the distance. I call Danny and they had just received a call for officers down. A man had just shot at 4 police officers with an AK47. One of the officers unfortunately lost his life.

My trivial whining about my damage suddenly became more stupid to me. Yes, I am still mad that people destroy my property and just walk away. But this criminal just took another man's life and walked away. HUGE difference. My car will get fixed. The officer's family's hearts will never be fixed. My thoughts & prayers go out to his family.

9/11

I can't believe that it has been 6 years. Seems like only yesterday. Strange how I sometimes do not remember what happened two days ago but I clearly remember what I was doing on 9/11/2001.

I had just gotten home from dropping the girls off at school. I turned on one of the morning news shows while I got ready to go on a daily Target run. There was breaking news reporting that it appeared that a plane had hit the WTC. At first, I figured that it was a small cessna type plane but then they said that it was a commercial aircraft. I called Danny at work and I was already freaking out. First of all, my brother is a flight attendant for American. Second, in my mind, there was no way that this was accident. How could a huge passenger plane be flying low enough to hit a building, head on, so far away from an airport? Not falling from the sky. Then, as I was on the phone with my eyes glued to the TV, I see the second plane it. The first words out of my mouth were "Oh. my God!!!" I actually yelled and Danny was on the road so he was not watching TV. So he was trying to figure out my hysterics.

I decided to go pick up the girls from school. Every other parent must have had the same thought. We all wanted our kids with us at that moment.

It was two days later when we finally heard from my brother. He was safe. Unfortunately, we also heard that a friend of ours who worked at the WTC was missing. Unfortunately, he lost his life that day. May God bless Pete & all those who perished.

Always Remember.

Security Camera

I have been wanting to install security cameras for a while now. Especially after waking up to this one morning about 2 years ago. We think that Danny was followed that day for the stupid rims. Anyhoo, today I watched from upstairs as the UPS guy came up my driveway, stopped short of my front porch and tossed my package! I was livid! This is the same guy who decided to walk all over our freshly poured concrete driveway that had yellow "caution do not cross" tape all around! Idiot! I want it on tape so that I can send it to their corporate office to show how brown delivers! Not that they'd care anyway.

I figured that I am not the only one who has this problem and I was right! Here's another:

Bank Account of Life

This is AWESOME....something we should all remember.

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he manoeuvred his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. "I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait." I said.
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it."

"It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in. "

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories! Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing .

" Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Do you know how hard it is to juice a Key Lime???? HARD! They are sooo tiny! I wanted to may these yummy sounding cupcakes. The recipe was posted at Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. I love to bake and they sounded easy enough. NOT! At least not for me. First, the juicing part then the filling part. So I just decided to frost without filling then serve with a dallop of the filling stuff.

So what has been going on in my oh so exiting life? Well, yesterday, Danny & I went to SUPER Target, Lowes, Costco & Sweet Tomatoes (Yum!). Exciting right?? Then Danny put up shelves in my craft room. Can I get an ooooohhhhh, aaahhhh!

I haven't had much to write about. Been getting last minute stuff for our trip. ELEVEN more days. Seems surreal! This is going to be the longest vacation that we have ever taken. Plus it's the longest time away from the girls. We will be gone for 20 days. I am regretting our decision to go away for so long. I know that they are not babies but I still worry.

Anyhoo, better get back to my list making. Although, inevitably, I will forget something!

One Tequila... Floor!

I know, it's supposed to be one tequila, two tequila, three tequila... Floor! But in my case, it's only one!! Sad but true. Danny & I went to Chevy's for dinner tonight. Excellent food by the way and I don't even like mexican food. The steak in the steak fajita was to die for! Anyhoo, back to the floor. I had one, yes one, Mango Margarita. Just so you know, I don't like tequila either. But the bartender assured me that I would like it and if not, she would make something else for me. I LOVED it. It was delicious. It was also frozen. I have a history with frozen drinks. I guess it numbs up my taste buds so I don't feel the alcohol while I'm drinking it. BUT, ten minutes after I finished it my ears and face felt hot and my eyes felt like they were about to burn right out of the sockets. Not at all impaired though. I can no longer hold my liquor!

This is from the queen of college quarters games! I'll still love my froo froo girly frozen drinks and will deal with the burning eyeballs later.

My Present!

Let me just say that I'm not a big car fanatic. I'm actually indifferent about the whole car thing actually. My motto is: As long as it gets me from oint A to Point B, I'm happy. But this was one car that I actually liked and mentioned it to Danny in passing. He took me to the dealer for a look see. And I fell in love. Next thing you know he decided to buy it. The kicker is that instead of getting rid of my MDX, he decided to get rid of his beloved truck! He had longed for a truck for a very long time. He finally bought it in 2005, but rarely uses it. Except to haul stuff every once in a while. Or move people's stuff. Because he was "the friend with a truck". But not only did he want me to have this car, I think he secretly likes it too. Maybe not so secretly. :) So now his big ol' Ram 1500 Hemi truck is for sale. Only 11K miles on it. Hopefully it sells soon.

Anyway, back to my present. So without further ado... here it is...

I love it! It's a VW Eos. I have never owned anything other than a Honda or an Acura. So this is a big change for me! I can't wait till the weather cools down a bit and I can leave the top down more often. It's just not gonna happen in this 100 degree weather! Kari calls it my midlife crisis car. Call it whatever you want. I'm a happy camper. I'm so over car seats and being taxi mom. I've spent 20 years w/ a four door sedan or suv. It was time for a change. It's still a 4 seater so we can all fit and go out together. Who knows, maybe the circle of life will have me back in a sedan when the grandkids come. But in the meantime, I will enjoy!

How about an IPod too!

Books and Shuffles & I-Pods! Oh My!

Camy Tang is hosting a terrific contest to win a bunch of cool prizez. Including but not limited to an 8 GB I Pod! Camy is the Author of Sushi for One which will be included in all the prize packs. So go check it out! If you enter, feel free to give me a little sumthin sumthin and use me(Lisseted) as a referral! Shameless plug, I know, but I need all the help I can get!

FREE Shoes!

I Love Shoes! I Love FREE shoes even more! I am hoping to win a pair to use on my "beloved" treadmill!

You too can have a chance to win by visiting both "I Should Be Folding Laundry" and her other blog "Tales from the Scales". The winner can choose ANY pair of shoes from the Ryka website. How cool is that???

But hurry! The giveaway will end on Wednesday, September 5th at 9:00 pm. CST.


If you end up not winning, starting September 5th, Ryka is giving away 30 pairs of shoes a day until October 16th. That's over 1200 pairs of shoes!

Good Luck!

Desperate Times, Call for Desperate Measures

I'm about to make a salad

on my head!

UPDATE:

Since I know that everyone is on the edge of their seats, waiting to find out how my hair did with the mayo, I decided to fill y'all in.

It wasn't as bad as I imagined. It was kind of gross just knowing that it's mayo. I added some vanilla extract to get rid of some of the smell.
Didn't want to walk around smelling like a bologna sandwich ya know??

Anyhoo, it definitely softened up my hair some but the perm is not going anywhere anytime soon. It also washed out quicker than I expected with no lingering smell. I might just have to try it again next week. Sure is cheaper than buying a ton of products!

Oh, and I got a HUGE present. But that deserves it's own special post since I am super excited!!!!!!

I really did it this time!!

my super intelligent self decided that I wanted a perm. Not really a perm, I wanted a body wave, big fat waves. I had visions of bouncy hair. Hair that I did not have to blow dry if I didn't want to . Well, that is not what I got. I got fried that looks horrendous! I should have known better. But I just went into it with blind faith.

I have conditioned my hair more than 3X since yesterday. I am about to pour canola oil on my hair, I am that desperate! People are probably making fun of my google searches for "How to fix a bad perm". I am not brave enough t post pictures right now. So I'll leave you with some images that make me feel waaaay better about my mistake!

Any suggestions for a quick fix aside from more chemicals???

Holy Highway Robbery Batman!

Kat started at the University on Moday. So far so good. Professors seem ok, for now. Today, she went to buy 2 books and a lab coat. Total? $364!!!!! No used books to be had. It's not enough that each semester is roughly about $2K. No wonder these poor kids are in debt way into their careers! Fortunately she decided to stay home and go to school here.

So now, I shall remove myself from my soapbox and move on to something else.

I think that I may have just converted Danny into a "shopper"! We went to JC Penney today and a bunch of stuff was green tagged 75% or more. He actually walked out with 3 freakin' huge bags full of clothes! Yea! This is from a man who literally lives in T-shirts. It drives me nuts. I have threatened to throw them all away. T-shirts and caps. Anyhoo, he paid less than $200 for it all. I ended up w/3 dresses and a bathing suit for $30! Of course the Men's dept. was loaded with stuff whereas the pickins were very slim for the ladies. So lets see about $800 worth of stuff for $200 and 2 books for $340. What's wrong with this picture????

Foot Frustration

I got this in my email and of course I did it, because I'm goofy like that. But... I must admit that I tried to fight it!


Try this... It's SO freaky.....

How smart is Your Right Foot?? It will amaze you! Just try this. This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot,
but, you can't. It's preprogrammed in your brain!

1. WITHOUT anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction, but this doesn't happen if you do it with your LEFT side!

I told you so!!! And there's nothing you can do about it!
You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so.

More Giveaways

Jenny at Mommin'It Up is celebrating her 30th Birthday in grand style! Reverse presents! Visit her blog for a chance to win presents at her virtual birthday party! Now if I could figure out a way to get a piece of birthday cake. I LOVE birthday cake!

And for all you mommies of little girl, Pinks & Blues Girls is also hosting a fab giveaway specifically geared towards little girls. Cuteness with a capital C!! Makes me want to shrink my big girls down to wee ones again! I'm not joining in on the fun here because of the aforementioned big girls :(

Don't forget that it's Flybaby's birthday too. More presents to be had there!

Presents!

Flybaby is turning one and he is giving away presents for each day of his birthday week! If you have little ones, there are really cute outfits to be won. Even if you don't have kids or have big kids like I do, there are a couple of prizes for you too! So head on over to his mommy's blog and help them celebrate the big 01!

Wanted: Motivation

I seem to have lost my motivation. Anyone seen it?
Lately I have been feeling blah! Tired all the time. I prefer to stay home instead of going out. Sometimes, I even forgo a trip to my beloved Target. I don't feel like blow drying my hair or even shaving my legs!

At least I do get up and get on the treadmill. But only for about 1/2 hour because I get bored. In high school, we used to have to run the mile every day. We were allowed to run the stretch and walk the curves. My lazy butt now runs curves and walks the stretches.

I need to get my act together. Pronto!

Road Rage

I hate driving, period. I have always said that if I ever win the lottery, the first thing I get will be a driver. I hate driving with all the idiots out there who wholeheartedly believe that they own the road!

I went shopping with Kat yeaterday. We hit rush hour traffic on the way home and were stopped at a light behind a line of cars. Kat was showing me something when I hear constant honking. I look to my left and this lady is passing by me makin all sorts of facial and manual gestures. Apparently she was upset that I was not close enough to the car ahead of me. She wanted to get into the turning lane so she rode on the median past several other cars before she got to me. The turning lane was backed up to my car actualy, but there was about a good 5ft b/w me and the car in front of me. Apparently she believed that if I got bumper to bumper with the car ahead of me she would be able to squeeze her car into an already full turn lane. I glanced at my mirror and I noticed that she actually passed people that were waiting their turn to get into the turning lane with their indicators on.

Sorry lady, but I don't ride on peoples bumpers. Obviously, you do and that is why your car is all crashed up. In any case, she was not able to turn on the light anyway. So when we drove by her I happily waved. I know, fuel to the fire. One day I'll probably get in trouble for it. But I couldn't help myself. The other day, this guy was passing cars, weaving in and out of traffic and it looked like he was about to smash into my rear so I merged right to try & get out of his way. Well, he happened to merge right at the same time and he got royally ticked. Quickly went back to the left and passed me, while giving me the finger. All of a sudden, I hear a siren and he is pulled over. You would not believe how happy that made me! I drove past him and waved!