This & That...My Silly Life

Yes I know I am so slack, it's been over 4 months since my last post :(  I noticed that the whole blogger site has changed since I have been gone so I guess I will have to figure out how to navigate all the newness.

I have a good reason for my lack of posting.  I found out in January I was pregnant with our first child, so to say the least I have been tired and my bed time has become super early which doesn't leave much time for blogging.  We have also had very busy weekends for the past few months and time has seemed to just disappear!  So we are super excited to be welcoming a baby boy to our family in September.

Pregnancy has been good to me so far.  My main complaint is just being tired.  By the time I get through the work day, get home and fix dinner and go for my daily walk I am pooped.  I have been lucky not to have any morning sickness or complications so far so everything is great.  I am 25 weeks and 3 days and it is flying by.  Before I know it he will grace us with his presence and our lives will change forever.

So I am going to try to do a little better and blog more often.  I don't know how that will work out, but we shall see.  As for now I am fixing to straighten up the house and get ready for bed!

When you really think about it, there is not much time in a day.  Especially a week day.  By the time you work, and get home how much time do you really have left?  For me it I guess it's about 6 hours (5-11).  I think it's crazy that we spend the majority of our days working and sleeping...it's sad  :( 

So how can you manage to get things done in this measly 6 hours?  Well if your me this is what it turns into...cooking dinner, cleaning, trying to get in exercise and some relaxation.  6 hours may seem like a good amount of time, but really it is never enough.  Everyday I feel like I don't get enough accomplished.  Like most people I am tired when I get off work and who feels like doing all this stuff once they have worked all day.  Still day after day I have to put in the effort.

This week I have been having a tough time.  Since tax season is here I spent one night doing our taxes, last night I started on my sisters taxes and tonight I finished them.  I have managed to cook dinner every night this week, but the exercise has fell to the wayside.  I managed to get 20 minutes in on my bike today (WOW)...it's something I guess.  I look at the clock and now it's 10:00!!!  I still need to go clean up from dinner and pick up the living room and of course I have to watch my favorite show Revenge.

It's crazy how much we are expected or need to get done in a days time....at least for us folks who have to work a job every day!

It's Monday and that's about all I can say about that!  My day was chaotic, meaning I went to work this morning and the bottom fell out and I was stuck in the middle of some upset folks.  Finally after lunch everything had settled down and was taken care of and I actually got started on my work.

On the upside our W-2's were available online today which is AWESOME!  Even though I didn't feel like it this evening I came home and got to work on our taxes.  We usually always get a refund, and with the replacement of those coils I had my fingers crossed we would get a refund.  I always do our taxes.  I took personal and business tax classes in school so it comes easy to me =)  Our taxes are a little time consuming since we itemize deductions, but I managed to get our State and Federal completed and filed in about 2.5 hours...I double check everything 100 times!!!

So while I done our taxes Mark cooked me a yummy dinner :)  I wanted breakfast for supper so Mark cooked eggs, sausage, toast and grits.  I LOVE when I don't have to cook dinner!!!  So even though my day started out sucky I am feeling great because our taxes are done, we are getting a little refund and now I am relaxing for the rest of the night and watching the Bachelor.

I need to get my exercise in but my brain is exhausted so I will resort to the couch for the evening.  Have a great night everyone...

So I always feel like I am running like crazy on this weekend, but this weekend I don't even think I have sat down.

So Friday afternoon started with a dentist appointment.  Just suppose to be a simple cleaning, but noooo not for me.  I have had to have a crown replaced and right now I have a temporary on.  I had been noticing a lot of bleeding around that area when I brushed, so I let the lady know.  Low and behold I had cement that was lodged in my gum line, which was causing the bleeding.  So after what seemed like everyone in the office coming to try to get it out and bleeding all over the place finally I was done.  It's always something right?  My mouth was so sore by the time they were done so I just came home a laid on the couch for the rest of the night.

Saturday I had to get up super early.  I had promised my friend Amanda I would ride with her to the Children's Exchange Saturday morning.  So I got up early did my grocery shopping, stopped by Target to pick up a baby shower gift and got us a biscuit at Bojangles.  The Kids Exchange is crazy!!!  There is stuff everywhere, it is almost overwhelming!  Amanda made out with a high chair and a few outfits for Miss Kayleigh.  We got back around lunch time and then I was back home cleaning and trying to get house stuff done. 

Saturday evening a few friends came over and we just hung around.  It was 1:00 by the time we got to bed...whew, I am getting too old for that!!!

Today, I got up and went to Target with my Mom.  Came home, and relaxed for a bit.  Then it was off to Hooters to meet some of our friends for dinner.  I LOVE the hot wings, they are so yummy =)  Good food and good times!  Now I am home resting, watching my tv shows and trying to get my mind ready for the work week ahead.

Have a good week everyone!!!

Today they came to replace the coils for our furnace.  Oh Joy!  On a good note, no more problems...I hope.  We will have heat and air.

Yes, I have been slack on my blogging....sorry!  We have been busy for the most part.  So lets do a little catching up.

Saturday I had to do some grocery shopping.  Met one of my friends for a yummy lunch and then headed home.  Mark and I had a baby shower to go to Saturday evening.  So I spent a little time cleaning and then we were off to the baby shower.  We got home around 8:30 and I think both of us were dead tired.  We went to bed early...on a Saturday night!  Yes we are getting older.

Sunday I really don't remember what I done...  I think laundry and caught up on all my tv shows.  Katie stopped by for a few minutes while Mark and Dusty went to check fox traps so we had some chat time and coffee.  Oh yeah...Sunday we had a little adventure at our house.  Mark had a fox in a dog kennel in our shop.  Sunday morning he comes in the house and says "The fox is gone!!!".  Of course I was like what do you mean it's gone?  To which he replied it was not in the kennel.  Basically this meant we had a wild fox loose in our shop.  Oh goodness =)  So he called over Dusty and Little David so the three of them could find it and hopefully wrangle it without getting attacked.  So I went in the shop and stood on top of the 4 wheeler (I wasn't getting attacked) while the 3 boys looked in every nook and cranny.  Finally they found him in a corner.  So after freaking out a little they cornered him and got him safely into another kennel.  I think stuff like this only happens at our house!!!  It was a very entertaining 15 minutes watching the guys...LOL

Monday I came home from a LONG day at work and went to Mom's to get my hair colored.  As soon as I was done I came back home to help Mark process our last deers.  Basically this means cutting the meat off the bone, grinding it into hamburger and cube steak then packaging it and putting it away in the freezer.  I went and picked us up some dinner because we didn't get done until a little after 8:00.  After eating we went to check fox traps...no foxes this time.  Then finally back home.  I think I really sat down for the 1st time last night about 9:20...yeah that's a long day! 

Then while I was sitting on the couch watching TV I noticed it was really cold in the house.  I looked at the thermostat and it said 64 degrees.  I thought that was weird since I have it set on 68.  About 10:30 I knew something was wrong.  It wasn't getting any warmer in the house and the heat had not stopped running.  I finally went to bed and left the heat running to see what the situation looked like this morning.  This morning the thermostat said 61 degrees.  We HAVE a problem...I knew it at that point!  So I got to work and called the service people to come out and take a look.

We already knew our coils in the house were leaking.  We have had the problem since this summer, but it was only a small leak so we have been letting it slide.  In December they had to come out and fill the unit with freon because it was almost out.  Low and behold a month and 2 days later we are out of freon again.  The leak has gotten really bad, and that is why the heat wasn't working.  They filled it up with freon and it now we have heat.  But since freon is $20 a pound and we had to have 6 pounds today, we can't ignore the leak any longer.  I had them order the new coils today =(  It really makes me want to cry because it is $990.00 for the new coils plus probably close to $200 on our service call today.  It never fails...when it is time to get some tax money back something snatches it right up.  Oh the joy's of home ownership!!!

I had to run some errands after work today.  When I got home about 6:30 you better believe I took me an hour nap.  I am stressed out and exhausted!!!  So that's what I have been up to...and now I am going to bed!

Night!

I am crazy for cheese, I absolutely love it!!!  Over Christmas I bought this cheese and fell in LOVE with it =)  Now I can't stay away from it.  I have been buying be a few blocks here and there ever since the holidays.

I like to think I have a pretty normal life.  Then again, most people are probably sitting on the couch watching TV at 8:00 while I was with my husband.  I know that sounds normal, but I didn't say what we were doing...

We were checking Fox traps...yes that's right!  My husband is a avid rabbit hunter.  We have hunting dogs the whole nine yards.  It's something that he really enjoys to do.  However the past few years it has been hard to find rabbits and that would be because of the Fox population.  Foxes are everywhere, they are seriously over populated and they like to eat little bunnies for dinner.  Therefore the rabbits have come pray to these little foxes and now there are not very many around.  This makes it hard for Mark to go rabbit hunting.  Several years ago Mark trapped, but after last year he decided it was time to start back.  To give the rabbits a chance to multiply and make a come back in our little country eco system =)

So for all of you rolling your eyes go ahead and leave my blog.  It's what you have to do to keep animal populations in check.  The foxes are not hurt, and we do not kill them...so don't say we are cruel because that is NOT the case at all!!!!

I don't go with Mark to check traps all the time, but some nights I do when he has to go alone (just in case he needs help).  Every time I go we never have any, but tonight was different.
Mark went to check a trap and called for me to come over. I couldn't believe it....low and behold a little fox (actually this was a big one). So I helped him get him out of the trap and he put him in the dog kennel.

So it's a rainy day here, I am tired and haven't been feeling well.  As a wife you still need to be able to whip up some dinner.  So tonight a quick chicken casserole.

Heat you up some green beans and another side and dinner is served.  I also added onion to my casserole, and if you would like you can also add chopped celery.

This recipe may not be the "best" chicken casserole, but it is fast, easy and has only a few ingredients.  Perfectly fine for a night where you don't feel well or just don't feel like spending an hour in the kitchen!

That's it for tonight, I must lay down...this crud is getting the best of me :(

Saturday night we stayed around the house and had a few friends over.  Dusty was nice enough to pick up some chicken wings to cook on the grill and I made the french fries.  The guys hung out in the shop besides coming in to eat dinner.  Us ladies stayed in the house and chatted and got a good work out playing Just Dance 3.  So much fun :-)
 everyone chowing down on some chicken wings!
 Dusty & Mark pretending like they cooked the fries
Dusty, Mark, and Little David standing around or listening in on the girl conversation.  I am not really sure...

So that was our Saturday, we had a lovely time with the friendlies!

So every weekend I have a cleaning routine.  Sometimes I don't have to do as much because I will start on Friday night...it just depends.  I am funny about the cleanliness of my house.  My husband is also funny about it.  Sometimes during the week there will be a few crumbs on the kitchen floor and he will say "I need to sweep this floor".  That actually translates into me needed to sweep the floor (LOL).

My usual cleaning involves the following...

• cleaning the sinks, toilets, mirrors, light fixtures and towel racks ect... in the bathrooms
• dusting everything in the house and I mean EVERYTHING!!!
• Vacuuming the couches, and all the rooms with carpet
• cleaning the kitchen (wiping everything down including the outlets, counter tops, stove, dishwasher, small appliances)
• cleaning out bedroom furniture with a wet cloth (furniture polish builds up, in case you don't know)
• then I sweep and mop every room with tile floors (besides the laundry room which I do every other week)
• then there is laundry which I hate with a passion!!!

Some people reading this are probably think that this sounds pretty easy.  Well I wouldn't say it's hard, but it is time consuming, aggravating and who wants to spend their weekend cleaning?  On the flip side, 85% of the time my house is clean and in order.  Over the years I have been in several peoples homes and I can say that I feel like my house is super clean :)  To each his own...some people don't like to spend their time cleaning.  I don't like it, but having a clean home is important to me!

Now back to the reason for this post...  Saturday I came home and was fixing to start my weekly cleaning, but instead I decided to go work on my stock room.  I had cleaned my stock room not too long ago read here this will show you what it looked like before I started working on it.  However, like every time you start one thing it turns into several other things.  Since I had decided to take back my spare bedroom (for the most part) it meant I had to do a lot of moving.  The closest was slam packed full of stuff so that was not an option.  I decided to go clean out each cabinet under the sinks in our bathroom, in the kitchen and in the laundry room.  This would allow me to move stuff out of the closet and then I could put the stuff sitting around the room in the closest.  After all this I would have my room BACK :)  It was a lot of work!  All kinds of junk had accumulated in all of these cabinets.  Now everything is just peachy :)  It did take all day, I walked back and forth lugging washing powder, cleaning supplies and other stuff until I broke a sweat!!!  It was all worth it.  My friend Katie was over last night so I showed her my new and improved stock room.  The first question she asked me was "where did you put all the stuff?"  After that I knew I had done a great job!

This is what my room looks like now!
The laundry room cabinet
another cabinet
under the kitchen sink
full of shampoo and condition in a bathroom cabinet
under Mark's sink
under our guest bathroom sink

So a big project. I don't know why I decide to start these things...they always seem so simple until you start them and you have a mess all over the whole house. Not to worry, my house is in order :) With all this organizing and moving I have been doing over the last few months the house is really in tip top shape! Out with the junk and there is room and space everywhere!

Thank goodness for new episodes of my favorite shows.  I was getting so tired of watching reruns over the holiday break.

So tonight tow of my fav's


So excited to watch them tonight  :-)


Are you looking forward to your shows starting back up?

I am not much on new year resolutions.  I sometimes set goals I would like to reach for the year, but this year I really didn't have anything that I felt like writing down.

Of course like most I want to save money and be healthy.  I am not really concerned with losing weight, but I do want to do  better on my exercising.  I get really slack during the cold weather.  Mostly because the cold is really hard on my Asthma so I am limited to inside.

The main thing I want to work on this year are my eating habits.  Lately I have been extremely tired and for some reason I think my eating and drinking has something to do with that.  I have been so tired, and the reason is I am not able to get to sleep and when I do I wake up several times a night.  It makes the days so long, and recently I have been taking naps when I get home to compensate for the sleep I can't get at night.

So I am on a mission to have a better diet.  #1 on my list is cutting back on coffee (sigh).  I love coffee, I drink it all day and most of the time I drink a pot at night as well.  In between my coffee consumption is my next problem...soft drinks!  I usually have at least 2-3 soft drinks a day (diet).  In between the coffee and soft drinks my caffeine level is probably off the charts.  I think that has a lot to do with my sleeping issues.  #2 on my list is to start eating fruit and veggies.  I hate this stuff!!!  I am more of a junk food person so fruits and veggies make me cringe, but I am going to try to do better.  I am thinking I have some deficiencies because of my slack eating habits.

Today I made the effort to do better.  For lunch I had a bowl of chili beans.  For a afternoon snack I had a cup of apple sauce.  Came home from work and had an orange and a salad for dinner.  For something sweet I think I am going to have a hand full of jelly beans :)  So I think that was an improvement from my usual.  I also didn't make me a pot of coffee tonight.  That was tough since it is so cold out  :(  I am going to have some hot decaffeinated herbal tea.  Oh and I have drank a few glasses a water.  I HATE water...so a few glasses is good for me!

That's it...for 2012 I want to change the way I eat  :)  No more junk all the time, I am going to force myself to get use to eating the stuff that's good for me.  We will see how long it last LOL!

Do you ever just sit back and look at your life and wonder...what the heck is going on?  For me it's something I do all the time.

Lately I have been in one of my moods where I am just thinking screw it all.  Does anyone else ever feel like this?  Seriously, I could just lock myself in my house and exclude myself from most of the world.  I am tired of everything!!!  Tired of work, tired of drama and really just tired of people.  I don't mean it ugly, but sometimes it is just too much.

Am I Depressed???  NO, I am not...my tolerance for people is just at zero.  I go through these phases where I just feel like everyone is trying to push me to my edge, so for me I choose to escape the situation and be by myself.  Being by myself makes me happy...it's quiet and peaceful and I can just relax and nothing in the world can bother me.  These feelings exclude only my sweet husband and my Momma.

Just yesterday I was sitting talking to Mark and just bust out crying.  Most of the time he just thinks I am crazy he knows I have my little melt downs occasionally so I guess he is use to them.  I think there are just a lot of things going on in my head....I just need time to process.

My job is super stressful, and it has been stressful to the breaking point the past few months.  People act like butt holes every day and I just have to deal with it, my work load is enormous and I am just exhausted.  The past two months I have been having a hard time sleeping at night, I am so tired but I just can't sleep.  I just had my 29th birthday.  I don't know why but this was the whole thing that started my crying the other night.  I just feel like time is flying by and that I have just woke up and realized I am getting older.  I feel like I am behind on everything.  Most day's I just joke about how old I am.  All of our friends are several years younger than me, but for some reason this birthday hit me hard.  It's like a slap in the face!!!  In 350 days my 20's are GONE!

I know there are way worse things in the world that are going on...I am not an idiot.  Your probably thinking I am a selfish person...I'm not!  I am just stressed.  I feel like I just can't get things accomplished at home because I am tired.  I feel like I am just going through every day and my life is just passing on by.  I spend so much time worrying about other people, trying to do everything right and over analyzing every situation and it makes me MAD!  I am tired of wasting my life on all this stupid stuff.  I am done worrying over trying to keep people happy...duh April this is your life.  Can someone pinch me now?  I need to realize the only people I need to worry about is my family and my husband.  I need to leave work at work and do what I want to do and not what others expect me to do.  I just wish I could...I say it, I know it in my heart but doing it is a totally different story.

I need to try to start doing better.  I need to stop worrying over dumb stuff and realize that I have to do things for myself and 2012 is going to be the year it will happen!  I'm done with so much of this krap floating around in my life.  Next year I am forgetting about all this stuff..people, work, and life is not going to continue to bring me down.  Call me self centered...call me what ever you would like, but next year I am going to do what I WANT to do and if anyone doesn't like it then that's their problem :)  They can get over it or get out of my life...

Anyone else planing on making 2012 the year that they start doing things for themselves?  If so good for you!!!

Are you a loyal person?  I think I am for the most part  :)  Tonight I sit and ponder a lot of things about life, but especially my employment.  We all know economic times are hard and companies are squeezing everywhere they can....it's expected.  Where does it come to the point that enough is enough?

I consider myself an outstanding employee.  I am at work every day (sick or not), I am on time, I work my butt off and I try to schedule any appointments when I am on vacation.  Seriously the only day I called into work was last year when I had the Flu and I only missed one day! I can not think of any other time that I have called into work in the over 8 years I have worked there!!!  In my opinion that is dedication.  You don't find many people with my work ethic, without a doubt you can count on me.

Over the past few years things have really changed at my job.  Our company went bankrupt and we were bought out by another company.  I was thankful because I got to keep my job.  However over the past few years things just seem to be pure craziness (in my mind).  First we lost our 401K match, then our health insurance premiums went up, no raises in 3 years, we go through phases where they cut our hours (because we are slow), and the work load has exceeded what any one person is capable of handling in a work day.  Honestly, I am a understanding person and most of this stuff hasn't bothered me too bad.  Where my problem comes from is the every day stress.  I am talking about to the point that it is not unusual for me to sit at my desk twice a week and cry because I just feel like I can't take it anymore.  That is my breaking point!  I hate waking up each morning knowing what I am about to deal with for 8 hours.  Sometimes it gets to the point where I have to come home from work and take a nap because my stress level is so high I just can't do anything else.  It's very depressing.  So what do you do?

For starters there are not a ton of jobs out there.  Most are not paying what I make, and they are a longer drive for me each day (right now I have a 15 min drive to work).  The next thing is despite the conditions I really love what I do....  It's tough!  I will start looking for new jobs and then I stop.  I like being great at what I do, if I go somewhere else I have to start all over.  Wonder if I take another job and hate it?  Wonder if it is boring?  Wonder if I don't like the people?  Then what do I do?  It's so stressful.

I am at the point of seriously  looking for other options.  Some things have gone on recently that have just made me sick.  I feel like I am not valued and I feel cheated.  I know we all feel this way sometimes.  I am by no means saying I am not thankful to have a job because I am.  I just don't think your job should make you cry all the time and feel helpless.  I don't think you should work your butt off each day and be a poster child of a loyal and great employee and not be thanked for your hard work.  I have worked hard at this place for over 8 years and I think I deserve better.  We all have bad days at work, but when bad days turn into weeks, months and years there is a problem.  Trust me I am not the only one who feels this way.

So I try to make a list of pros and cons in my head....  My main thing about taking another job is Mark.  I don't want to leave him alone at that place.  I am the one who talked him into working there and I feel guilty to leave him there.  I love working with my husband, and if it wasn't for him I probably would have been long gone.  Even he feels my stress and has given me his blessing to look for something else, but at the end of the day I don't want to leave him.  The next thing is like I said earlier I love what I do.  It's not the same thing day after day and I have to stay on my toes and think which I love.  For the most part I love our customers who I have come to know so well after working for them for so long...they always sing my praises and I would miss them.  I would miss some of the people too, most of us have worked together since I started over 8 years ago.  I don't like change and that really scares me.  Being the new person freaks me out.  Maybe I could find a better job with more benefits or better working conditions. I just don't know.

Now that I am 29 I have to start looking at things differently.  In years to come my life will be changing.  One day I will have children and with the way things are I worry that the stress I deal with on a daily basis will affect my home life.  I have to think about how the older you get the less likely you are to get hired by companies.  If a change is to be made now is the time to start making a plan....  Decisions decisions, oh life....why do you have to be so hard?

So now that Christmas has come and gone and you have actually had a chance to breath what comes next?  For most of us we are sitting down and taking a hard look at our budgets, checking accounts and credit card statements...Oh Joy!

Are you the person who stuck to your budget or did you over spend and now find yourself scraping the bottom of the change jar for extra cash?

I admit that I have a hard time sticking to my budget, especially when it comes to my brother (he is so spoiled).  This year I promised to stick to a budget on all the family and it worked well.  I wanted so bad to buy more stuff for Winston...it was really hard!  But after Mark and I put in 1/3 of the money for his truck this year I knew I had to.  To my surprise he still loves his sister who spent less money on him for Christmas this year  :)  He is my money pit, but only because he works hard in school and is for the most part (he is a teenager) a good kid.  He will be getting his license in about 2 weeks so we will see how good he does with a little more freedom....LOL

Back to the story....  I stuck to my budget this year Yay for me!!!  It's hard to do for all of us...  You always feel like you might look cheap or the Christmas tree has less under it, but trust me your family will still love you even if you don't spend every dime on them for Christmas.  The only place where my budget had an issue was with our friends....I think we spent a little too much this year, but it is what it is.

What I can say is that it is the last week of December and all the bills are paid and we still have a little cash left.  I think that is more than most can say!

If you are one of the people who spent a little too much it's ok, it happens to the best of us from time to time.  Now you have to start working on getting your budget back on track.  You don't want to start the new year in a financial bind.  If your budget is tight find fast money on your wasteful spending...Starbucks, fast food, manicures, and picking up items that are not needed when you go to store.  Stay AWAY from your favorite shopping spots!!!  This time of year sales can be tempting which will make you buy stuff you don't really need because of the low price.  If you over used your credit card over Christmas lock it up or if you really went out of control CUT IT UP....you can always get a new one once you have tackled your balance  :)  As most of you know I am anti credit card unless you are able to pay your balance in full every month.  Our credit card bill is going to be outrageous next month due to end of the year dental work and I used the credit card on stuff for Mom to give her some extra time to pay off her Christmas debt, but either way I can guarantee it will be paid in full!!!!  Keep in mind if you don't pay your card in full you are paying interest on everything you bought which means you spent even more on your Christmas gifts :(  Tackle your budget shortfall as soon as possible and work hard to get back on track even if it means going without some of your favorite things!

Now if you are like me and done well and have some money left over why not start planning for next Christmas.  I have already picked up a few gifts for next year, and put them away.  I usually never do any Christmas shopping before Black Friday, but for once I am making a change.  Why?  Because even if you have a budget and stick to it you can still have a hard time will the extra expenses at the end of the year.  Case in point for us we had some stuff come up...Our AC unit had to be repaired to the tune of $200, and then my car had to have breaks $50 both unexpected right here at Christmas time.  Stuff like this can stress you out in a hurry!  So I am going to pick things up here and there that I know the people I buy for will like and save myself a little hassle at the end of the year.  Of course only when I find them for AWESOME prices :)

So how was your Christmas?  Mine was exhausting!  I have been missing my blog, but I have barley sat down since I left work last Thursday.

Thursday evening I had to go grocery shopping.  Then I came home to start cooking the things I could start on (which wasn't much).  Then Friday Mom and I got up to do some last minute shopping/browsing around.  Then Friday night we had Christmas at Mark's parents house.

Saturday was the most stressful by far and I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown before the end of the day!!!  I got up to start cooking and preparing the food for Christmas Eve.  We had to go to my Grandparents house.  We spent most of the day there...  I missed Christmas at Mark's Grandma's because I got home too late.  Then when I finally got home it was a mad dash to finish cooking and get everything ready for Mom and Winston to come over to eat and open presents.  I was jumping for joy when Christmas Eve was over because I had no energy left!!!

Up on Christmas Day to watch Winston open his Christmas gifts from Santa (or Santa Mom as my Mom would say).  He got a new phone which I spent most of the day trying to activate.  After trying to activate it all day and calling Verizon it never started working until today.  Apparently their system was overloaded.  Note to self...next time activate the phone before Christmas!!!!!  Mom and Winston had decided they wanted to burn an old deck in the back yard...I had to supervise.  Luckily nothing was burnt down.  Then we ate dinner at Mom's (thank goodness I didn't have to cook).  Christmas day flew by and I could feel myself needing sleep!!!

But then there was today...  I wanted to get up early to go do some shopping.  Mom was mad because I said we were leaving by 7:00.  I wanted to hurry get everything done so I could take a nap this afternoon.  Well  I didn't wake up until 7:15 so Mom was ill with me because she had got up so early : (  Sorry Mom!  I bought her Starbucks at the mall so I am sure she forgives me.  I got everything I needed for the most part.  I just wanted some jeans from Old Navy (who can beat $15.00), and I wanted to stop by Bath and Body Works.  I also wanted to go to Wal-Mart and pick up some new ornaments but I decided to just go home because I didn't feel like dealing with the people at Wal-Mart.

Came home then Mom called...Winston needed help with his new phone.  Mom's Christmas tree fell over twice today, I think she finally just threw it in the back yard...LOL!  I tried to get the house clean and done some laundry.  Still exhausted :(  I did squeeze in an hour nap (WOW).  Did I mention my car has no brakes and I can't drive it???  Geeezzz  So I am sitting here now, feeling sorry for myself because tomorrow I have to go back to work.  I am tired, unorganized, carless, and broke....yep I am sure I am going to be in a lovely mood tomorrow.  Hopefully it won't be too busy!!!

All in all it was a great Christmas  :)  Usually I would be off this week but since I have a pain in the rear job I have to work because they wouldn't allow us to use vacation this week (eyes rolling).  So I really ran myself ragged and tried to spend a lot of time with Mom and Winston because I usually do a lot with them this week while we are both off.  So Thank You job for ruining the time I like to spend with my family!!!! 

::::::::and to all my friends::::::  I miss everyone  :(  I have seen no one over the Christmas break nor had the chance to talk with anyone.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and hopefully I will see you all soon!!!!

Hope everyone has a great week.  It's a 3 day work week for us because we have Friday off for New Years.  I hope it flies by!!!

Thank you Lord for this wonderful husband of mine :)  I have been so stressed lately and he just makes me happy.  I can't even look at him without saying something stupid that makes me break out into a laughing fit!!!  Life is so much easier when you have an amazing person to share it with.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Mark he may not be perfect but he's perfect for me....

So a short post tonight because honestly I am worn out and need to get to bed.  It has been a hectic and busy weekend.  I don't even feel like I had any time off work and tomorrow it is back to the grind.  Not to mention Christmas is right around the corner and I am feeling the STRESS!!!

So Saturday morning I got up and headed out to the grocery store to get the necessities for two things to cook.  My sweet potato rolls which are in demand as Christmas presents and a pot of vegetable soup which I had desperately been wanting to cook.  No problem...out the door I go and grabbed everything I needed and back home to get to work in the kitchen.  My plan was to get the sweet potato rolls and soup done on Saturday...that didn't happen!!!  I spent all day cooking sweet potato rolls, I didn't even have time to finish them!  4 hours of just mixing a baking them...WOW!  Now I remember why I only do them once a year.  I managed to get my beef cooked for my soup but that was it  :(

Saturday evening was busy for us and we were out the door at 6:30. Mark and I had a lovely dinner at Wendy's (LOL)  Then we went out to Mellow Mushroom to watch our friend Joey play some music.  We left there a little after 9 to head to a Christmas party.  We arrive home at 2 am...geezzz 

So I was tired and slept in today until 10.  I woke up to breakfast in bed from my sweet husband (awww).  You would think I would be happy, but NO!  I got out of bed ill as a hornet.  For one, I had 15 sweet potato rolls that had to be iced, packaged and put in the freezer, two I needed to make my soup because it is not possible to do that during the week, and three we were suppose to eat dinner at Marks parents house for my birthday.  I was feeling overwhelmed and so stressed.

First I start working on the sweet potato rolls....nothing goes right!  They are super sticky and I cant get them to wrap right which is the most important part after you fill them.  They were sticking to everything and I had really lost my cool with those stupid things  :(  I had to stop half way through to meet Nena to pick up my Pampered Chef stuff I had ordered and then back home for more frustrations.  I was so ill I told Mark I didn't have time to go eat at his parents house for my birthday...  So he called them and told them I was just too busy and won't going to have the time.  I am sure they probably think I am a butt hole...but I had all I could take and didn't need anymore stress.  I knew I was stretched for time today and I didn't have time to go sit and eat dinner.  After all it was for my birthday so who cares if I didn't want to eat?  I really hope they won't mad, but my sanity is more important.

So I finally got the sweet potato rolls done.  For those of you expecting them I hope they taste ok...  They just didn't fill right and I had cream cheese filling smushing out the sides (yikes).  So I dunno???  Then I called my Mom over to help me get started on my soup.  Why you ask?  Well several years ago I attempted my Momma's famous soup and burned it all to pieces.  I had enough stuff to make a huge pot and didn't want to ruin it.  So Mom comes over and gets me started and writes out a time line for all the ingredients to be put into the soup.  You can't cook everything at once or you have certain things that get over cooked.  I started my soup at around 1:00 this afternoon, and it wasn't finished until 6:30 this evening.  I really didn't know I would spend my whole day in the kitchen Saturday and Sunday!!!!  The soup has to be stirred every 5 minutes to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.  Believe me...if you don't stir it your stuff will stick and them you have ruined not only a whole pot of soup but a lot of money worth of ingredients.

Anywhoo...the soup was a success (thank goodness).  Mom was proud of me, she said it was really yummy!  Tomorrow I will be freezing some since I cooked the biggest pot in the whole world!  I already gave Mom a bunch, and I think I am going to take my Grandparents some for Christmas...my Grandma doesn't cook so they will appreciate it  :)