I'm Baaaack

Sorry for the lack of postitudiness. The Evil Twin was off all week for the Thanksgiving holiday and I wanted to spend as much family time as we could and also just chillax. I didn't even have time to read many blogs or post comments.

We watched a few movies, had a few naps on the couches, ate too much on Thursday - and it was ALL good. We had company on Friday evening. The Evil Twin's sister and 3 of his other classmates came for a visit. It was fun.

The thing is, even though I'm 9 years younger than the Evil Twin and didn't even meet him until my early 20s, I've heard so many stories about all the antics of his high school years, I didn't feel left out at all and even chimed in with some things he had mentioned to me about the past.

Monday was "getting back into the groove" day and today, I'm waiting on the electrician. We're having one light and one ceiling fan replaced and 2 lights replaced with new ceiling fans as well.

This is our regular guy and he's only stopping by today to check things out and give us an estimate. I hope he can do the actual work by the end of the week. Buddy's ceiling fan bit the dust a while back. Just the light portion, not the fan portion, so he's had to rely on a lamp for light in his room. I know he can't wait to have a working overhead light again.

I hope all my hooligans are having a good Tuesday - it's been cruddy, rainy and overcast here for at least a week, but otherwise, things have been great. I'll wrap this up and see y'all again soon!! :-)

Love,

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Evil Twin took the week off work, so it's sort of like I'm on vacation, too.

We've had a pretty good week. Miss Bella Della Doodle Bug Pie had more than her fair share of turkey and has been asleep on the couch since about 3pm.

As is my tradition, I did NOT have any turkey or ham (ick!), but still managed to eat too much.

I'll see y'all again on Monday when my life goes back to normaltude. :-) This week is family time and relaxing as much as possible.

Ahhhhhhh. It's good to take a break!

I hope all my hooligans are having a great week and a great holiday as well!

Take care,
Love,

Hello, Friday! Glad You Made It!

I'm sooo glad it's Friday this week. I'll be looking forward to Monday after next week, I'm sure.

The Evil Twin has taken leave time for the week off and the kids only have school on Monday and Tuesday before the Thanksgiving break pops in.

At least, that will lower my laundry duties a tad. And, having the Evil Twin home will help me - I'll have more freedom to get things together for the holiday by myself and he can hang out with the little monsters. :-)

This year will be the same as the last few. I'll pick up some ham and turkey from Heavenly Ham add some veggie sides, rolls, and a pie. That's my whole effort.

The way I see it is: I'm not going to eat much anyway. I hate the Thanksgiving foods, especially the meats. I don't want to cook them, I don't want to smell them. Seriously, do you want me to barf on my plate on a holiday?

I remember one year, my parents and the Evil Twin and I all went to his mother and her husband's house for ....either Thanksgiving or Christmas (I think I was pregnant with Buddy, so it was late 1997). His mom kept offering me some sort of goopy turkey casserole. I said, "No thank you."

But, she pressed. Finally, my mom said, "She won't eat turkey." My mom knew about my food aversions - and it wasn't because I was pregnant. It was because the list of foods I WILL eat is much shorter than the list of foods I WON'T eat.

So, that is why I have never attempted to cook a turkey myself (GAG). My family will just have to deal with whatever I can find to purchase already cooked. And they really love the Heavenly (or Homestyle -whatever it's called now) Ham and Turkey, so there ya go! A win-win for the ETW!

Have a great Friday and a great weekend!:-)
Love,

Opening Up A Can of Whoop Ass

A close friend of ours is an entrepreneur and always comes up with the best ideas. He's fearless - he just goes for it. He's also a pilot and is often flying here or there.

He had an idea about things that could be clipped onto the strings of hoodies - that both advertised a certain image and held the strings in place. (How many times have you had to retrieve a string from a hoodie or shorts that got sucked into the material? I know I've used safety pins many times to get those strings back out.)

So, he came up with the Whoop Ass Can Company.

He has worked with the Evil Twin on many projects, and he hired the Evil Twin again to design a logo and the little cans.

Logo:

Now, the Evil Twin did not draw Chubbs (the bulldog, who is an actual dog owned by a friend of the owner of the company), but he did design the rest of the logo and as I said before, the cans. He also designed the packaging material that the cans will be placed in for retail sale.

Check out the page on Facebook and like it. I command you to do so! :-) Besides, isn't that doggy a cutie-pie? The Evil Twin actually got to meet Chubbs at a photo shoot and I am jealous! I want to scritch his fuzzy head. You can look at him and know he is a little love bug.

Hooligans, have a wonderful Wednesday! I have a million things planned for today and I hope to get to it all.

Love,

Another Fun Monday

We all had a long weekend, thanks to the Veterans Day holiday on Friday. The Evil Twin is a Veteran, so we all thanked him and treated him like a king. I mean, come on! The dude's ass was OWNED by the Air Force for 8 years. No, he didn't serve war time, but he did help with things related to Desert Shield. (or Storm, whatever that first one was).

And that's all I will say about that.

But, we did have 3 days off work/school. Except me. I'm here, 24/7 doing my thing. Honestly, do you think a person such as myself will get a break even when they don't bring in very much money, but do a large part of keeping the household running? I didn't think so. I'm used to it by now.

So, that is why I didn't update on Friday.

Today, the Evil Twin is back to work, the children are both in school and I am trying to get in the groove and be productive.

Right now, I'm eating little mozzarella balls marinated in olive oil that I bought at the deli. Don't judge me! I never eat lunch. (This is true - at nearly 5 foot 9, I weigh 114 lbs). I'm very stressed and I am a stress non-eater.

Currently, I'm sitting here in my undies - because my shorts fell off. But, I need to get in the shower and decide what will be my tasks for the afternoon. I have a variety of choices (as per usual)...but do I want to tackle chores to the East or to the West (I only do one direction a day to bundle the errands and save gas). And, I'm not even a hippie. Just cheap.

Have a nice Monday, hooligans!

Love,

Christmas Layaway

It's looking like more of a possibility this year than not.

Sissy is in dance class. There is a Winter recital coming up where the girls are to wear a long sleeved white leotard, a white skirt and white tights. They can wear their regular shoes - I always buy black shoes (we have 3 different pair: tap, ballet and modern, or jazz as it's been known in the past.) Her class is only doing one ballet and one modern routine for Winter.

I've already collected everything we need for that.

However, the Spring/Summer recital is a HUGE deal. There will be custom ordered costumes, 3 routines and Lord only knows what kind (color) shoes. The three costumes are $225.00.

I talked to the Evil Twin about it and he said, "I don't care." And that is Evil Twin speak for "Buy the damn costumes."

Normally, I'd be hedging about this, but Sissy LOVES the stage, she loves the performance. She's a 2nd child who has received so many "hand me down" toys and assorted other things, I think we can indulge her one fun activity. :::As an aside, I personally think she is the cutest in the class::: ;-)

It's no secret that I have a crap ton of work to do today, so I'm outta here. Y'all hooligans have a great Thursday!

Love,

Hangin' Around

Our main TV (in the den...which is the living or sitting room for those not Southern) and it's the BATV (big ass TV) which everyone enjoys watching has been acting up for a few days.

Alternately, the sound drops out and then a few seconds later the picture gets all scrambly - I'm told this is "tiling". We had a technician out on Monday evening and of course, like taking a car in for issues, the TV was not doing the freezing/tiling at the time.

As soon as he left though, it started back up again. We think it might be the DVR box itself because all the other TVs in the house work fine.

And, we have been known to burn through DVR boxes at an alarming rate. Not that they are over-worked, but for some unknown reason, our DVRs seem to shit the bed more often than the average DVR. Maybe they're possessed and hate us.

I just don't know. But, what I DO know is that with the very few - like less than 4 shows I do like to watch - I shouldn't have to watch them on the ancient 13 inch TV in our bedroom just to be able to hear them.

13 inches? Wasn't John Holmes' package bigger than that?? Sheesh, we need a new TV in that room.

Anypoodle, I called the cable company last night and they are sending out a technician today between 10 A and noon. Only, it's 11:54 and the only call I've had is from the office verifying the appointment.

We'll see. I just hope the issue is resolved today.

Happy Wednesday, hooligans! I have more jaw dropping stories coming up! ;-)

Love,

Everyday

Everyday, I try to sort through the mounds of paperwork I don't have time for initially.

The Evil Twin says my "office" area is a disaster, but I do throw away tons of non-essential papers, magazines, expired coupons, etc. on a regular basis.

I have my bill paying system set up the way it's convenient and accessible to me. I know where every thing is and that's all that is important.

Between the bills, local newspaper flyers and coupons and the kids' homework, it's enough to drive anyone mad.

So, it's the kids' needs first, bills second and everything else can sit and spin a day or two. Which reminds me, I need to vacuum and unload and reload the dishwasher...then make a trip to the Mart. AFTER I get a shower (and it's almost 11:30A).

What have I been doing all morning? Sorting through bills and papers. Cleaning up the junk the kids' left out in the den this morning before school. Scrubbing toilets. Adding "to do" items to my ever growing list. I also have 2 baskets of laundry to fold that I may - or may not - get to today. Our cable box is wacked out, so I need to call them as well. The technician was just here last night and things were A-OK. A few hours after he left, the same problem started up.

Don't get me wrong - I love being able to stay at home and take care of my precious little ones (Don't tell Buddy that, he's almost 14 and would be mortified. LOL.) I just wish it was one thing at a time. But, after nearly 14 years of doing my job, I realize it will never be one thing at a time.

I just try to figure out how to be two (or more) places at once! :-)

I keep telling myself if I made it through tennis lessons with a former pro tour teacher (he was SO demanding) and received my BA degree from university, then I'm strong enough to make it now, too. :-)

Love,

The Fortune Cat

As my 2 readers know, the Evil Twin goes to the local Chinese Buffet restaurant for lunch on Wednesdays with his co-workers.

There is a market near the buffet place that sells Asian foods, desserts and other knick-knacks. He and Sissy both dig the garlic peas, so he'll pop over there and buy some goodies.

He came home on Wednesday with treats for everyone. Well, not me, but that's okay. I enjoyed seeing the kids happy.

One thing he picked up for Sissy was a "Fortune Cat". It's sort of like a solar powered calculator in that if it is in light, the little left hand waves back and forth. Sooo cute.



Fortune Cat sits on the coffee table and waves at me all day. Fortune Cat don't give a shit, he just gets what he wants (and if I have a say in it, I hope it's money in our bank account - or under the mattress. I'm not picky.)

Bella, our real and not very fortune like cat, is intrigued by this new interloper. Not interested enough to jump up on the table and attack, but interested enough to stand on her hind legs and watch the new arrival to the house. She's kinda lazy.

Anyway, I spent half my day Friday trying to get this daggone video clip up on the old blog, but gave up after a while. Soo, here it is for your amusement today! Enjoy!

Mondays have to be good for something, right?

Love,

What Will Win? Lazy or Convenience?

As usual, I have housework to do and I've been doing little things here and there. I also need to go to the grocery, but I don't feel like driving to the Mart. I'll have to check the bank account and see if we can afford to pick up a few things from the K-Rogers.

Their prices are so high, it's scary. Maybe they're just doing for the Halloween season? I don't know because I went a day or so ago to pick up the usual: milk, bread, vino, etc. I also wanted to see if there was any leftover candy from Halloween that was marked down.

Ya know what? There was not. They already had their CHRISTMAS candy out. What? No nasty candy corns for Thanksgiving? You are truly a gem, Kroger. Where did the boatload of Halloween candy go?

I have a feeling it's put back in the store room for the next Halloween.

Oh! And I was also at Rite Aid earlier in the week. They had a ton of candy marked 50% off, but it was priced at $14.99 a bag. Soooo, you're charging me the SAME price for the candy by marking it up and then adding a 50% off sign? Even my 5 year old could see through that ruse.

It was fricking $7.50 a bag BEFORE Halloween. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck yesterday....Sheesh.

Rite Aid, you may sell Hobo Priced Wine, but I will not buy your overpriced candy.
Love,
Me

And, hooligans, have a wonderful Thursday. I'll check in tomorrow. I guess.

Love,

Old Skool Texting

And we didn't use any silly abbreviations, although I have been known to do that in the past (somewhat).

The Evil Twin's computer (desktop) is in his home office, which is downstairs. The kids and I spend most of our time on the main floor. I'm on my laptop, Buddy's on his laptop, Sissy has her DSi and is close to the kitchen for the snack drawer...

I had to get a message to the Evil Twin, but I didn't know if he was in his office (near his cell) or in his Laz-e-Boy chair in his man cave (and not near his cell).

So, I devised a plan. I wrote on a piece of paper. And then I made Sissy take it down to him. [hey, there are many steps between the main floor and the lower floor and she has more energy - She might as well make herself useful).

This is our transaction:

See how well that worked? And we didn't have to spend energy on texting, calling or anything. Just like the good ol' days when people had big families to work the farm, we can all still utilize our crotch parasites to do work for us.

I'll tell one kid or another: "Make yourself useful and __________ (vacuum the den area, go get the mail, pick up your toys & take them to your room, etc.)

Slave labor? Ha! I've got Babe Labor. I trucked those sorry things around for *weeks*. Fed them and everything. Even Sissy, who rode my bladder like it was a bouncy house.

I love my kids! :-)

And, I love my hooligans, too. Y'all have a great Wednesday!

Love,

Halloween + Chilly Nights Do Not Really Work For Me

In the nearly 6 years that Sissy has been on this planet, she has NOT enjoyed Halloween. Not one little bit.

Last year, we spent the evening with close friends. She went to...maybe 2 houses, got freaked out and spent the rest of the time on our friends' front porch.

But, this year, she seemed to really be getting into the whole "trick or treat" routine.

Unfortunately, it was drizzly and cold here. Buddy, at 13, feels it's beneath him to don a costume and go door to door. We did get Sissy a costume and she was able to wear it at her class Halloween party on Friday.

We might only have a handful of kids show up at our house, since we are kind of not very accessible. So, I told the kids if they stayed home and helped hand out candy, they could help themselves to the candy as well. Sissy wanted to wear her costume (no problem) and everyone had a good time AND stayed warm!

I even squirreled away a Reese's Cup for just myself - they were going fast! Buddy blamed the lack of Reese's on the cat, but since Bella doesn't have opposing thumbs, I doubt it was her. LOL.

This is the first year since I've lived in this state that Trick or Treat night actually happened on the 31st. Very unusual. Samhain (pronounced Sow-ain)must just be too skeery for the folks around here.

The worst thing that happened to us was that a squirrel(s) ate one eye and one toof off our jack-o-lantern.

I guess they wanted to make it creepier looking...since it was all smiley and sweet before.

Well, I hope my hooligans are not too candy-logged today and enjoy the Tuesday.

Love,