Pieces of Us...

Throw In the Towel... - Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Sometimes I wonder if I should just throw in the towel on this blogging thing. Things have just been so crazy around here I can't even keep my mind straight.

Work has just been exhausting. It's one committee meeting after another and I am just going crazy. I'm still learning about all this committee stuff. Especially learning about taking minutes. Let me just say one thing, my minute taking experience is pretty non-existent. I'm learning, but good God, it's going to take me forever! As soon as things calm down in the legal department, they will then pick up in the events department, so it's a never ending cycle. I just do my best and keep on trucking.

Anyway, let me tell you one thing. I went to the mailbox yesterday to get the mail. I was nonchalantly going through the mail and opened up the gas bill. I almost shit a brick people. Excuse the French, but good God almighty what the hell are these natural gas people thinking! My gas bill was $415.00! You have got to be kidding me! Last month it was $150 and this month its $415.00! Oh hell no. Someone is screwing us people. They have to be. I mean I know we all read the news reports talking about how high heating bills were going to be this year, but please. It hasn't even been that cold here in North Carolina. We have hit 60 degrees probably like 10 days out of this month. So after opening the bill I got my happy butt on the telephone to call and figure out what is going on. Well I was on hold for over an hour people! Yes, 65 minutes and no one ever answered. I'm not stupid here, but evidently they were being bombarded with very unhappy customers. Then this morning they are actually talking about the gas bills on my favorite radio station.

What really sucks is we are leaving on another cruise next weekend. I'm sure I mentioned it here before. We are taking Skyler on a 5 day cruise out of Jacksonville. Well then we got the big bright idea to ask Jonathan's grandmother along. I didn't realize Jonathan was going to tell her we would pay for it. I figured he would ask, but if she wanted to go, she would pay her own way. But anyway, we are paying for it. But what he NEGLECTED to tell me was she is a horrendous snorer and gets up 6 to 7 times a night to use the restroom. Now we can't afford two cabin rooms, so we will all be sharing a teeny tiny room. And all of you know how difficult it is for me to fall asleep and even once I get to sleep to STAY asleep is not possible without my best friend Mr. Ambien..... So I'm not sure how well this cruise is going to go over. But I shouldn't bitch. I know lots of people who have never been on a cruise. Jonathan actually won this cruise again through work for the two of us. We just had to pay for Skyler and now, Jonathan's grandmother. So wish me luck on that one.

Last night I did something really fun. I went to a MOPS meeting. Now for those of you who have never hard of MOPS, it's actually a group for Mothers of Preschoolers. I had searched for a group ever since Skyler had been born. But they always seemed to be geared towards SAHM (stay-at-home mothers). The group meetings were always held on a weekday during the work day, so I was never able to join one. So a few months ago I found a group that met at a local church and it met in the evenings from 6:30 to 8:30. I thought, "How cool is that?" So I had put it on my calendar for the last two months, but things just always seemed to come up and I couldn't go. But last night for the first time I went. They actually have childcare so you can attend. But Little Man goes to bed at 7:30, so keeping him out until 8:30 wasn't such a good idea.

Anyway, so Jonathan kept Little Man and Skyler and I went to the meeting. Let me just say that was probably the best time I have had with other women in like forever. Everyone was great, the meeting was fun. I highly recommend a MOPS group if you have one in your area! What a great way to meet other moms.

I am so behind on reading everyone else's journals. What a bummer. How do people who have 3 or 4 kids and work full time do it? I sure as hell don't know how they do it. If your one of those people, I bow down to you! How do you keep from losing your sanity?

I have really sucked at taking pictures here lately. Chase changes so much every day and I have been a horrible mother by not taking photos. I haven't had their picture made since he was 9 months old. I am such a bad mom.

I know, I'm all over the place with this entry today. I just wanted to get something up so you would at least know I'm still alive. I promise to try and get caught up on some of your journals. I really miss reading them.

Anyway, enough rambling for today. I know this entry is just all over the place. Gotta run and pick up Little Man early today! Tootles!

Throw In the Towel... Monica; 3:28 PM 4 comments

What Is Your Animal Personality? - Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Fellow blogger Caroline had this on her site. I hate to say it, but it pretty much describes me. Jonathan tells me all the time I am too nosey! And everyone knows how much I like to travel!

What Is Your Animal Personality?
brought to you by Quizilla

What Is Your Animal Personality? Monica; 9:32 AM 1 comments

Meme from Fellow Blogger... - Sunday, January 08, 2006

I don't usually like doing these things, but three of the blogs I read, Robyn, Jane and Nance all had such interesting answers, I thought I would do it. Here we go...

1. Four jobs you have had:

a. Waitress - Ok, admit it. We have all done this at one time or another haven't we? My career as a waitress actually started when I was 16 years old and I started working for a Chinese restaurant my current boyfriend worked at as a dishwasher. I only worked on Sundays and usually only made $35. But hey, that was enough to get me through the week back when gas was only $.70 a gallon and I didn't have many other expenses. I still eat at this restaurant to this day whenever I return home to TN. The same people still own it and still remember me.

b. Legal Secretary - I guess my first "real" job was as a legal secretary when I was fresh out of high school and only 17 years old. To this day I still remember my interview. The attorney asked me some various questions (it wasn't like I had a lot of experience or anything being as I had only just graduated from high school days earlier.). He said he liked secretaries who were young and "fresh" so he could "mold" them to what he wanted them to be. (Now that I look back on that, it sounds kind of scary, huh?)

So after all the questions, he asked me if I could type. He took me to a back office and told me to show him I could type. This was back in the day before most offices had computers. So I had to revert back to an ancient electric typewriter. I know some of you younger readers out there might say, "What the hell is a typewriter." Please don't make me feel old. So I stuck the paper in and typed approximately 5 words and he reached from behind me and ripped out the paper from the typewriter and said, "Yes, looks like you can type fine!" And thus began my wonderful career (with no college mind you) in the legal field....

c. Paralegal - I also worked as a legal assistant/paralegal for the Department of Defense in Europe. We handled all of the medical malpractice claims against the military. You didn't have a right to sue if you were maimed or killed by a military doctor because you weren't bound by U.S. law. There were 4 people in my office. We made the decision whether or not you would receive any payment for your injuries/death. After working here, I never visited another military doctor. I always kept my own insurance and never set foot in another military hospital.

d. Programs Coordinator - my current position. I basically plan continuing education and events for a non-profit association. I alsoassist the events department in our convention and various other major meetings throughout the year. Definately the coolest and best job I have ever had. I still work for an attorney, but it's not the same as litigation!

I've had quite a few other jobs, mostly as a legal assistant, but those are just a touch of what I've done over the last 18 years or so.

2. Four movies you would watch over and over:

a. Forrest Gump
b. Legends of the Fall
c. Fried Green Tomatoes
d. Believe it or not, no other movies come to mind. I guess you can tell I haven't watched too many movies in the last few years!

3. Four places you have lived:

a. Ludwigshafen/Edigheim, Germany
b. Tongduchon, South Korea
c. Savannah, Georgia
d. Kingsport, Tennessee

4. Four TV shows you love to watch:

a. Lost
b. Desperate Housewives
c. Ghost Whisperer
d. Medium

5. Four places you have been on vacation:

a. Barcelona, Spain
b. Moscow, Russia/Soviet Union
c. Chejudo, South Korea
d. Hawaii, Caribbean, Thailand, Australia, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Spain, Denmark, Czech, etc.

Traveling with the military, we have had lots of really great vacations!

6. Four websites you visit daily:

a. www.abcnews.com (gotta get my news fix since I don't actually watch it on television.

b. Some of my favorite blogs, Robyn, Nance, Jane, Caroline, Jess, Krista and lots of others. But those are just to name a few.

c. www.timesnews.net - My hometown newspaper. I used to check the wedding section daily. But now it seems I am checking the obituaries! Does that mean I am getting old?

d. www.cruisemates.com - Gotta keep up-to-date on the latest cruises!

7. Four of your favorite foods:

a. Spaghetti
b. Pizza
c. Lobster Tails
d. Soup (just about any kind that doesn't have a lot of meat in it)

8. Four places you would rather be right now:

a. On a cruise!!
b. At home with my parents in TN.
c. Shopping (with lots of money, of course)
d. Any tropical island somewhere

Meme from Fellow Blogger... Monica; 11:06 AM 2 comments

I Just "Thought" I Was Back... - Friday, January 06, 2006

I was all set for the new year to start blogging again. But, of course, things just got out of control again this week. We are preparing for a really big meeting next week in Charlotte and things are just CRAZY at work. It's nice to be busy sometimes to pass the time, but when your so busy that you start screwing things up... Well that just isn't fun.

Things are so busy that one day this week I had to run and pick Skyler up from school and bring her back to work with me. Luckily we have this totally awesome conference room with a huge tv/movie screen in there that is hooked up to digital cable, DVD player, etc.. I told her we were going to go back to Mommy's work and she was going to watch a movie/cartoons on our movie screen. We had received one of those huge barrels of popcorn from someone for Christmas, so I poured some popcorn in a cup for her and took her in the conference room and parked her little bootie on a chair and turned on Noggin on the big screen. She sat in there and didn't move or make a peep for over 2 hours! There for a bit I almost forgot that she was even there! I kept telling everyone to make sure I didn't walk out of the office and forget to take her home! That's how crazy it was that day. So I was very proud that she acted so good while she as at my work. That is the first time I have ever actually taken her back to the office and worked. A few of the girls have brought their kids in there once or twice in an emergency situation. Again, I'm lucky to have a workplace that is so laid back and understanding. Thankya Jesus for that one.

Right now I'm sitting at my parents' house in Tennessee on their ANCIENT computer. This is an old computer I bought back in 1998 that should totally be taken out to pasture. They have a cable modem, but when you pair that with an ancient computer, well it doesn't do you much good. The reason why I'm back in TN again after we just left last weekend is because we had a death in the family. My aunt passed away on Wednesday and her funeral is tonight. She was very sick and had Alzheimer's for years. Anyone who has ever lived with a family member who has Alzheimers knows how difficult it is. My mother's mother died and had severe Alzheimers (although they didn't really call it that when she died back in 1974). One other aunt has it and then this one had it. So I would say that may not sound like good odds for my mother. She already takes lots of medication and what not for various reasons.

Although my grandmother died when I was only 4 years old, I still have faint memories of her. At the time I didn't understand that there was really something wrong with her. I just thought she was a little crazy. I can remember my cousin and I (who was 2 years older than I) would go into the bathroom and if mamaw tried to come out, we would yell at her and tell her she was on an elevator and to not step out or she would fall! How cruel was that one! She would push the light switch on the wall and call out various floors. We were mean kids. It's horrible to look back on it now, but it was quite funny at the time.

Anyway, this is going to be Skyler's first experience with death. She has never attended a funeral before. I've tried explaining things to her. I told her how Mommy's aunt had gone to heaven, but her body was still here and we were going to place her in the earth. I did'nt say a whole lot. I did tell her teacher this morning that I would pick her up early from school because we were returning to TN for a funeral. I don't know if the teacher said something to the class about it or what. But when I picked up Skyler from school and we had dinner this evening she said, "Mommy are we going to go see a dead person in a vase?" I was like, "What did you say?" And she said, "Well are we going to see a dead person in a vase?" I'm assuming she heard that from school. Because I never even said the word "dead" and I sure as hell don't know what she is talking about in a vase. Now that I think of it, maybe she meant someone who had been cremated. Anyway, where do kids come up with this stuff?

The bad thing is, I still don't have their toys and things put away from Christmas. I have so much crap that I need to do back at home. But you hate not to go to a loved one's funerl. We got back late last weekend and we just took all of the toys to Chase' room and piled them on his twin bed (he still sleeps in a baby bed). Sunday afternoon we went through all their toys and took a lot of them to the babysitter's. I didn't want to add all the new toys to the mess until we had cleared out some old. We have been so busy this week, that I got all of their new clothes put away, but not the toys. You know it's sad when 60% of the toys they received are still in their boxes and haven't been played with. Can you say "spoiled brats?" The kids don't play with half that stuff. Chase just likes to tear through the house knocking everything down and Skyler just likes to watch tv, play with her Leapster and color. Why everyone buys them all those toys I will never know. Not that I'm not guilty of it either mind you.

Well I guess I better end this for now. I need to get myself and Skyler dressed and head to the funeral. It's been quite some time since I have attended a funeral. Come to think of it, it was probably Jonathan's brother back in 2003. I guess we have been pretty lucky that no one in our family has died recently.

Hope everyone is having a great New Year!

I Just "Thought" I Was Back... Monica; 6:01 PM 3 comments

I'm Back! - Sunday, January 01, 2006

I bet you thought I was gone for good. Heck, I thought I was gone for good. My ole computer crashed. The sucky part is, I had bought a backup drive and had everything backed up. All the pictures, web pages, videos, etc. So I thought I was doing good... But when I sent the computer out to a friend I stupidly also sent him the backup drive thinking he could restore all my stuff if he fixed the computer. Well evidently he crashed the backup drive to. So I lost 99% of my stuff. I was so upset, I cried for an hour. I had 85% of my pictures printed out. But I didn't any of the small clip videos backed up anywhere else or anything. My hubby thought I was stupid for crying and maybe I was. But I was just upset.

Anyhoo, I actually bought a new computer just a week or so after my old one crashed. But I have been so busy with the holidays, the kids, Christmas shopping, wrapping, etc. that I haven't had a chance to even think about this website. I also admit I haven't even had a chance to read any of my blogs that I keep up with. So sorry to you guys. I hope to get caught up to each of you real soon. I really miss reading everyone's blogs and hearing your advice on all my problems.

So much has happened since I did an entry, I wouldn't even know where the heck to begin. So I'll just highlight and then hopefully just start from the today. Quite appropriate since it's the first day in a brand new year. Happy New Year's to everyone!

I know I never even commented on our cruise. I had uploaded about 50% of the photos to Flickr. But I lost the rest. Bummer. But if you want to check out any of our photos from the cruise, you can just click on my Flickr banner. I won't even go into detail about the vacation but to say it was GREAT! It was AWESOME! But two weeks was definitely too long to be gone. It was also freaky driving in St. Thomas because they drive on the left side of the road. Now that was an experience. I let Jonathan do all the driving the 4 days we were there.

And we enjoyed our vacation and our cruise so much that we already have another cruise planned for February. This time we are only taking a short 5 day cruise and we are taking Skyler with us. I figured we would take her on a short one first to see how she does. I know your probably wondering how the heck we have the money for all these cruises... Well don't get excited or anything, we definitely aren't rich. But Jonathan wins these contests at work all the time and he receives these points that you can turn in for Carnival Cruise Ship Dollars. Kinda cool, huh? I'm just really lucky that I have 5 weeks vacation at work so I can go on the vacations.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. Our's was great. The kids got entirely too many toys, as always. Today we spent a couple of hours going through the old toys and packing them up to take to the consignment shop. I thought it would be a struggle and Skyler would resist saying, "I want to keep that one Mommy" or "You can't take this one away Mommy!" But surprisingly, I told her we were taking the toys to "needy children" and she was okay with that. Actually we are going to consign the really nice ones and take the rest to Goodwill. And whatever the consignment shop doesn't take, we'll take those to Goodwill to.

I wish s0me of you moms lived near me so we could exchange toys or something. I hate just giving them away. But I don't know anyone who needs them or anything. Actually, Jess doesn't live really far away from me. Maybe she and I can get together sometime and I can take all of Skyler's old toys to her daughter! I'm sure her daughter is like mine and probably has everything she needs. I wish we had some kind of orphanage or something where I could take Skyler and she could give the toys to the kids and actually see them or something.

Jonathan and I didn't exchange gifts with each other. We just bought for the kids and counted our vacations as our Christmas presents to each other. It kind of sucked in a way because we really didn't have anything to open up on Christmas. I actually bought Jonathan a couple of things so he would have something to open up on Christmas. But he didn't buy me anything and I think he kind of felt guilty afterwards. He was like, "But you said we weren't going to buy each other anything!" And I was like, "Women always say that. But you should know better." Men.

So Chase has been sick for about a week or so. It started out with a runny nose but then yesterday he got all croupy and sounded really congested in his chest. Poor little thing was so bad off he couldn't even cry this morning, he just made this hoarse little croaking sound. So instead of waiting until tomorrow to take him to the pediatrician, I took him to one of those urgent care facilities.

The doctor said I was very lucky because we had just caught him in time. He was very congested in his lungs and she said if we hadn't given him some antibiotics pretty soon, it would probably have turned into pneumonia. He acts like he is feeling fine, but he sounds horrible. Poor little guy still wants to play and run around like a wild man. But he sounds just awful.

I was driving Jonathan's little SUV today because he and Skyler were planning on going grocery shopping and they were going to take the van. So as I'm coming out of the doctor's office, I see this huge scratch and dent down the side of Jonathan's SUV. I'm like, "Shit! Someone hit Jonathan's car." Secretly I was thanking God it wasn't my car. He he he I was so pissed. I was sitting there thinking to myself, "Well there goes a couple of hundred dollars. " Knowing that whoever hit it was long gone. Then this nice gentleman comes over and looks at it and then looks at the car sitting beside me and he says, "Look here. I think this is the car that hit you. See the dent and paint on this mirror." I was like, hello! Thank you very much. I probably wouldn't have had the good common sense to even think that the car was still there.

So I called the police department and while I was sitting there waiting on them, I took out the good ole camera cell phone and took pictures of the damage, of the other car's tag, the full car, etc. The police came and went inside and found the person who had hit my car. It was this poor little old lady who was sicker than a dog. I kind of felt sorry for her, but you would have thought she could have come inside and asked who the car belonged to. But at least she didn't move her car! So the good news is, I got her insurance info and I'll turn it into my insurance company tomorrow. Just another wonderful thing to deal with in the new year.

Well since I have so much to get caught up, I'm not even going to attempt to do it today. I do want to catch up on some of your journals. So I think I will spend my next few minutes (while Skyler is peacefully watching television and Chase is taking a short nap) to catch up on your journals. Can't wait to get caught up!

I'm Back! Monica; 2:49 PM 3 comments

about me
name: Monica
Home: Somewhere in NC
About: The life and times of a working mom with two kids who needs a break!

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