OMG, Guess what we woke up to this morning?! SNOW!! I couldn't believe it so I of course had to go outside and take pictures. We usually have snow by Halloween, but this is really early. I wonder if this is any indication as to what kind of winter we are going to have here in Fargo, North Dakota? The pictures below were taken in our backyard, you can click for a larger image. It is so gray and gloomy outside and the kids had to pull out their winter hats and mittens before they headed to school. I still have my patio furniture outside! I guess I'm gonna have to get it into the garage tonight. Well, I need to go get myself some coffee and I think I'm gonna bake a cake, there's something about the first snow that makes me want to bake! Have a great day and I hope it is warm and cozy where you are. :-)

::50 Questions Survey Added Today at 11:15am::
Survey swiped from Liz

1. Your name spelled backwards. Asil

2. Where were your parents born? Pueblo, Colorado

3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? Accounting software used for doing payroll for the limo company.

4. What's your favorite restaurant? Buffalo Wild Wings....their Blazin' wings are soooo yummy and very, very hot!

5. Last time you swam in a pool? John and I swam at our hotel pool on our honeymoon this summer.

6. Have you ever been in a school play? No

7. How many kids do you want? If I could afford it I would have six but as it is I think I'll stick with the three I have and maybe one more.

8. Type of music you dislike most? Country

9. Are you registered to vote? No, in North Dakota you do not have to be registered to vote

10. Do you have cable? No, my kids would watch too much tv if we had it.

11. Have you ever ridden on a moped? No

12. Ever prank call anybody? I hate to admit it but yeah we used to do it quite a bit. Stupid stuff which never would have worked if we would of had caller ID back then! lol

13. Ever get a parking ticket? Yes, once at college for parking in the wrong lot.

14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? Never have and never would, I'm too chicken.

15. Furthest place you ever traveled. Alaska

16. Do you have a garden? No, I have tried but I am just not any good at it.

17. What's your favorite comic strip? I don't read comics.

18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? Yes and if I didn't know it before I would now for sure as Brittany spent quite a bit of time practicing it for music class

19. Bath or Shower, morning or night? Shower, morning

20. Best movie you've seen in the past month? Sweet Home Alabama

21. Favorite pizza topping? Pepperoni and mushroom

22. Chips or popcorn? Popcorn

23. What color lipstick do you usually wear? Revlon's "Lavender Smoke" or "Ultraviolet", I never ever wear red.

24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? Huh?

25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? No, although I did put Brittany in a baby one once. She won 2nd place overall and 1st place for her dimples.

26. Orange Juice or apple? Apple

27. Who was the last person you went out to dinner with and where did you dine? I went out to dinner with my mom, we ate at Friday's

28. Favorite type chocolate bar? Dove dark chocolate

29. When was the last time you voted at the polls? The last presidential election

30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? About a month ago, my mom was given a huge box from a friend, they were so yummy!

31. Have you ever won a trophy? No although I won quite a few journalism awards and competitions in high school

32. Are you a good cook? Absolutely not!

33. Do you know how to pump your own gas? Uhhh...yeah

34. Ever order an article from an infomercial? No, although my kids have bugged me for quite a few things they have seen.

35. Sprite or 7-up? Sprite

36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work? Yeah, I worked at a truck stop and we had to wear these weird black vests and then when I became the bookkeeper I had to wear these white shirts while I worked in a truck shop. It made no sense because they got so dirty but they had a laundry service so at least I didn't have to wash them.

37. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy? Wax for Brittany's braces.

38. Ever throw up in public? No, although in junior high a friend of mine threw up all over my books and purse. It was quite gross and I made him clean out my purse and I got new books.

39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or find true love? Can't a girl have both? lol

40. Do you believe in love at first sight? Yes

41. Ever call a 1-900 number? No

42. Can ex's be friends? Yes, I think Jorge and I are better friends now than we were before.

43. Who was the last person you visited in a hospital? My father-in-law

44. Did you have a lot of hair when you were a baby? Not really although as a toddler I had a ton of curly hair.

45. What message is on your answering machine? A generic message that came with the machine, I haven't figured out how to program the darn thing.

46. What's your all time favorite Saturday Night Live Character? Mango

47. What was the name of your first pet? Mary Anne a cocker spaniel mix

48. What is in your purse? Makeup, drivers license, credit cards, a pen, about $50 in cash, tons of change, way too many receipts, bandaids, a tampon, cough drops, Certs Powerful Mints and vitamin C drops.

49. Favorite thing to do before bedtime? Read a book and share a bowl of popcorn with my sweetie

50. What is one thing you are grateful for today? A warm cozy house on our first snowy day.

She got in! Woohoo! :-) Whew...what a relief. I was prepared to deal with another night of tears. In case you are completely confused right now I am referring to my post from yesterday. Brittany is of course very excited and happy that not only did she get in but her best friend did too. I am happy for her and the other four girls who were picked but I feel bad for the girls who didn't get in because it just sucks when your child is disappointed.

I guess her music teacher talked to her today to find out why she was so upset yesterday. Brittany explained that she didn't do her best and that "K" had made a sarcastic comment about how she had did. Brittany did tell her teacher that maybe she had taken it wrong but that it had made her feel bad. Her teacher confided in her that other girls had complained about "K" making rude, sarcastic comments so I think that made Britt feel a little better.

And yes, "K" did get in too so it should be interesting to see how it goes with her and Brittany having to work together so much. Most of the other girls in school fight over being friends with this girl, Brittany is the only girl in her class who doesn't care that they are not friends. Last year "K" bragged and bragged that she was going to get a particular solo and when Brittany got it instead she threw a big fit to the teacher that it wasn't fair, she also went out of her way to make Brittany feel bad. No matter where you go there is a little brat like that and I'm thankful that it isn't my kid but it still bothers me that Brittany has to deal with her. Of course it will only get worse as she gets older so she (Brittany) might as well learn how to deal with it now.

Well, that drama is over. Not much else going on. I did a few more minor changes today to that webpage project which is still not live. Danielle stood home from school sick today and John has been working late just about every night in the limo shop. Yesterday Anthony and I went to Brittany's school for a baby shower for all of the sugar babies. We played games and had juice and cookies. It was fun to see all of the other babies. The boys had the funniest babies but did good at holding them as they were eating etc. Well, I've got to get running, have a great night and if I haven't visited you recently I will be by very soon! ~hugs~

Brittany came home in tears today. After school they had music try outs so that their music teacher could pick the 5 best 6th graders to be in a district wide choir at the end of the year. Britt has been looking forward to this for years and last year her teacher pretty much made it sound like Brittany would get in no problem. So Britt has had it in her head that she would get in and wasn't overly worried about it. Unfortunately, she got my cold and her throat is scratchy, on top of that she didn't practice much and when it came time to try out she didn't do very good. On top of that a girl who has always been upset that Brittany usually gets the solos made a big deal about Brittany not doing too good. Britt is pretty sure that she won't get in and my heart broke watching her cry.

We did have a long talk about how we don't always get what we want and that as she gets older she has to be prepared to sometimes be disappointed. We both agreed that she shouldn't ask to try out again because she would just seem like a spoiled brat but she is going to have a talk with her music teacher first thing in the morning and tell her that she was sorry that she didn't do her best due to being sick. Brittany is feeling like she let her music teacher down so she wanted to tell her that she was sorry if she did.

I so much want to call her teacher and tell her that Brittany was sick but I can't. My baby is growing up and needs to handle it on her own. But damn it, I don't want her to grow up! I want to be able to protect her from being hurt and make everything better. What scares me the most is that this is only the beginning! I think she did learn a lesson here, she realizes that she should never be so overly confident that she doesn't put in the effort that she needs to do to do her best. So tomorrow she will go to school and hopefully will be able to handle the disappointment with a brave face with her head up high because next time she will only do better.

With that said.......please keep your fingers crossed that she gets in! lol I know, I have prepared her for the worst but damn it I want her to get in! I'll let you know how it goes. :-)

What a busy weekend! We had way too much to do and so much that we still didn't get around to doing. I think I finally finished with that webpage project, they had a few more changes. I am going to be so happy when it is all done! The kiddies just left for school and Anthony is still sleeping so this means I just might get 5 minutes of peace and quiet! Woohoo! lol

Brittany is a "mommy" this week. They are doing "Sugar Babies" as a class project. The project goes along with this book that they are reading. We had to make her a "baby" out of a bag of sugar. We tried to find doll parts to add to the bag at the craft store but they didn't have anything that would work so we ended up buying a doll at Target and taking it apart. We duct-taped the hell out of it to make it stay together.

When we were all done she dressed it up real cute and wrapped it up in Anthony's old baby blanket. She has to carry it around and "care" for it for the entire week. She has to take it to school and every where else we might go in the evening, if she wants a break she has to pay someone to babysit.

On Friday the class had to randomly pick what they were going to have. Brittany had a baby boy, she named him Zachary. Two of the boys in her class had twins! That means they have to carry around two babies. Tomorrow they are having a "baby shower" for her class. Parents are invited to go, I wonder if I need to bring gifts? ROFL It should be a fun project although Brittany is so absentminded at times. I hope she doesn't lose my "grandson"! hehe

I can't believe it's already Friday! I drove limo up to the casino Wed. night and yesterday I spent the day with my mom. We went and bought decorations for Bill's 50th birthday party. He doesn't want a big party so we are just taking the 24 passenger limo coach and a few of his friends up to Fergus Falls to listen to one of his favorite bands. I am looking forward to it, I'm sure it will be a lot of fun. We then went to Fridays for a drink and something to eat and then a movie. We haven't done that in awhile so it was very nice.

We had a discussion about family traditions. My family has just never been one to carry on any traditions, my mom's mom has never been into anything that involves other people in her kitchen and I just miss that we don't have a family recipe or tradition to pass on to my girls. So I told my mom that we need to make our own damn tradition.

In so many Mexican families it is tradition to make tamales for Christmas every year. I remember sitting in the kitchen with my ex-husbands family and helping them make tamales. It was fun but I never really enjoyed it because I felt like an outsider. I wanted to do those things with MY mom and MY sister.

I brought it up to my mom and she said NO NO NO. No because she isn't the "let's stay in the kitchen and cook" type of grandma, No because it is a lot of work and No because she has no idea how. I told her that we could figure it out and damn it she is almost 50 so she might as well start learning how to be the 'ol grandma in the kitchen! ROFL Anyone who knows my mom knows that that will NEVER happen but for one damn day I think she can handle it.

I think I might have talked her into it. There is a Mexican woman who owns a little Mexican grocery store close to here and she once told my mom that she would teach her how to make tamales. This is something I really, really want to do. I want my daughters to have this tradition, I want to give them something that they will still carry on even when I am no longer here. My mom might hate the idea now and when my daughters are teenagers they will probably hate the idea too but damn it I don't care! Someday they will thank me! lol So this is my mission, to make tamales for Christmas this year. I'll keep you posted!

Just a quick post today. Not much going on. The girls seem to be swamped with homework and I still have a cough left over from my cold which is driving me nuts! Since I am coughing so much I have a horrendous headache and can't seem to keep an original thought in my head. So when all else fails follow the crowd. lol Here is my very first This or That Tuesday.

1. Heroines: Ariel (Little Mermaid) or Belle (Beauty & the Beast)?
Definitely Belle she has always been my favorite.

2. More heroines: Mulan or Pocahontas?
Pocahontas...although I must admit I've never actually seen Mulan

3. Princesses: Snow White or Cinderella?
Cinderella, I've never really card for Snow White.

4. Toy Story: Buzz or Woody?
Buzz mostly because he is Anthony's favorite.

5. Animals: Simba (Lion King) or Bambi?
Simba, Bambi always depresses me. I remember that movie making me cry and cry as a kid.

6. Naughty boys: Peter Pan or Pinocchio?
Peter Pan

7. Sidekicks: Sebastian the Crab (Little Mermaid) or Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio)?
Jiminy Cricket

8. Villians: Wicked Queen (Snow White) or Cruella DeVil (101 Dalmations)?
Cruella DeVil

9. Classics: Goofy or Pluto?
Neither

10. And of course: Mickey or Donald?
Mickey, Donald was always so grumpy.

Well I guess I should figure out what to feed my family for dinner tonight. Before I head out I just wanted to say thank you to my sweet friend Kay for her wonderful blog award! :-)

I love fall! Today (Sunday...I haven't gone to bed yet) we took the kids to a pumpkin patch a few miles from here. I had to share with pictures below, it is so much fun. The kids enjoyed picking their pumpkins and playing in the strawbale maze. John bought me a gorgeous fall swag I'll have to take a picture of as soon as I find somewhere to hang it. They also had a few baby animals in the barn for the kids to pet. We had way too much fun.

We ended the day by going to Krispy Kreme and finally trying one of their unbelievably yummy doughnuts (ummm......okay....we ate more than one! lol) for the very first time. The kids loved watching them be made. We came home to a house that smelled so yummy because before we left I turned the crock pot on to warm up a batch of apple cider. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. :-) Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I also hope you enjoy the pictures below. Click on them to see a larger image.

I still feel like crap but am thankfully getting better. I hate being sick! So far no one else has been sick so that is good. Thank you to all of you who sent get well wishes and virtual chicken noodle soup! :-) Today the weather is cold and dreary. We have had rain off and on all day. The weather hasn't kept the kids inside though, they are all out there riding bikes.

We had girl scouts today. One of the girls is moving and this was her last meeting so we had a small going away party for her. I had a call from Brittany's teacher yesterday. Brittany got her very first white slip yesterday. That is a disciplinary slip which means she is in trouble. She got the slip because she has missed turning in 3 separate assignments. What makes me mad is that out of the three, two were done and she just forgot to turn them in. She daydreams way too much and just forgot. She was very upset by the whole thing and cried for about an hour when she got home. She is grounded from going bike riding with her friends after school for a while and also has detention tomorrow for 20 minutes. Hopefully this will make her realize that she needs to be more responsible because there is no one else to blame but herself.

I still haven't had a Krispy Kreme doughnut. :-( I think I might have forgotten to mention that it was their grand opening on Tuesday. People don't normally stand around all day waiting for doughnuts! lol John tried to get us some last night but the lines were still way too long so I guess we'll have to wait awhile. I did get a "care package" from my sweetie since I have been so sick. I got an adorable, cuddly teddy, a cute teddy card, a book, throat drops and a huge bag of M&M's. Isn't he sweet? :-) I didn't even have to share my M&M's! lol

I guess they pushed back the opening date of that website. I'm not sure why, I got the graphics done so something else must be wrong on their end. I haven't really heard. I'll let you know as soon as it goes online. My email was down for two days on the 1st and 2nd. I couldn't receive or send anything and I couldn't FTP anything either. Thankfully they were able to fix it, they sent me an explanation as to what was wrong but it made absolutely no sense. I'm just glad they were able to fix it! Well, I guess I should get going. I have to go check on my kiddies and make sure it hasn't started raining again. Have a great night!

I am so sick. I feel like complete crap. My throat hurts, my head is pounding and every muscle in my body aches. I spent most of the day in bed wishing I could die. Because the girls didn't have school today they were able to keep Anthony busy playing outside which was a big help. I did go see "Sweet Home Alabama" with my sister yesterday, I really liked it. It was very cute and funny.

Not much else going on, we watched the Broncos lose tonight and if I wasn't so sick I might just be in line with the rest of the crazy people camping out to be the first to buy a Krispy Kreme doughnut tomorrow morning at 5am! Either these doughnuts must be really damn good or we need more entertainment here in Fargo, North Dakota! ROFL We tried to talk my sisters boyfriend into camping out to be the first person in line so that he could win a year supply of doughnuts but he didn't go for it. I'm sure tomorrow will be a zoo there so I think I'll wait awhile before I try my first one.

Well, it's late and I really feel lousy so I'm heading to bed. *nite*

Almost a whole week without blogging, I hate when I don't have time to keep up here. I am just about finished with my webpage project, just making a few changes and I will for sure give you the link here once it is officially "live". I'm sure that once the programer and site manager finish with it, it won't be exactly the way I designed it but that's kinda what happens when you have so many people involved with one project. I think I like designing and publishing my websites completely on my own because there are some things that have been changed which I wouldn't have changed but they are the ones paying for it so I just have to go along with it.

Not much going on this weekend, I drove limo last night and took tonight off so that I could hopefully be finished with everything by tonight. My sister wants us to go see Sweet Home Alabama with her this weekend and I have a zillion adoptions to catch up on. I also have a few graphics to change now that my new monitor has shown me that some of my graphics aren't exactly how I pictured them. If you haven't received graphics/adoptions requested from me recently please be patient, hopefully I will be caught up by Monday.

Speaking of Monday the kids don't have school so I will have to come up with something for them to do, to keep them busy and to keep me from going nuts. I told Brittany about all of your warm wishes regarding her "presidency", she was very happy and said thank you. Her little "friend" who lost the election hasn't been very nice to her. She has been complaining to everyone at school that Brittany gets "everything" she wants such as parts for their class plays, solos for their concerts and now this. I am so mad because I know that Brittany works very hard for every part/solo she gets and I also know that her music teacher has passed her up for solos because she wants to give everyone a chance to have one. She has outright said that she wanted to give Brittany a particular solo but had to be fair and give other girls a chance to have a solo. If Brittany was a little snot then I wouldn't worry about people talking about her like that, but she isn't. I know I'm her mom and I might be biased but anyone who knows Brittany says that she is so sweet and kind and it hurts me that people are so petty because they are jealous of her. She is always happy for the other girls who get the solos that she wanted and she doesn't make them feel bad or throw it in their faces that the only reason she didn't get the solo was because the teacher had to be fair to everyone else. I know I shouldn't get mad because this shit will only get worse as she gets older but I can't help it. When someone hurts my kids they hurt me 100 times worse.

OMG, I was just sitting here blogging thinking about how boring things have been around here when I heard motorcycles zooming outside the front of the house. There was honking and engines revving, I ran outside to find hundreds of motorcycles flying by as Anthony and his cousin stood in the driveway waving at them. Everyone was waving back and honking at them. It was so cute. All of the bikes were a rally for the Roger Maris Cancer Center 61 for 61. I wish I would have taken my camera with, it really was cool to see all of those Harleys zooming by. I completely forgot that they were doing the fundraising this weekend. There are a whole bunch of events going on this weekend, I think I'm gonna drag my family out of the house for a worthy cause, to donate money and to keep my sanity by getting away from this house! Hope you all are having a great weekend!

I think I am having graphic block, I just can't seem to focus on much of anything, particularly the project I am on serious deadline to finish. I did get a new moniter and lets just say there are a few graphics I have done that the colors are way off for. Ugh. I have some serious work to do to get everything changed but like I said I just can't focus so it will have to wait.

Brittany won the election and is now student council president of her school. She is very excited but at the same time she felt bad because she was running against a friend of hers and the friend didn't take the loss very well. I think she was just sad and didn't want to cry in front of anyone so she ran home but Brittany thought the girl was mad at her because they usually walk home together. Brittany went bike riding with her friends and found out that the girl wasn't mad just a little disappointed. I just feel bad that Britt couldn't be completely happy about her win because her friend was upset. Although she did admit that it was pretty cool to bang on the table with the mallet and adjourn her first meeting this afternoon. I just told her I was glad she won......and I didn't even have to bake cookies to bribe all the kids! ROFL

Anthony has suddenly become "too scared" to go to bed. I know it's just an excuse to not go to bed, but John is really worried that he is scared of something in his room. So the two of them have been going through his room (the mess is about the only scary thing in there!) looking for what could be scaring him. Last night Anthony's "Mr. Potato Head" game was put to rest because it was too scary. John removed the batteries so that it didn't make any more scary noises. I just rolled my eyes because I know that Anthony isn't scared he just doesn't want to go to bed! Men are so gullible! Yes dear, I'm talking to you. Don't get mad, you know it's true. lol

The weekend flew by way too fast. The Storybook breakfast was a lot of fun. The kids had a great time and won lots of cute prizes. Brittany is looking forward to when she will be the one dressed up as a character although I was happy to see her still having fun and not growing up too fast. I'm glad I was able to keep that imagine of her in my mind as we got her ready to go to her very first wedding dance without me there.

She has a new girl in her class and this girl's mom got married on Saturday. Brittany was invited to the wedding dance. She got all dressed up, she wore her bridesmaid dress from my wedding, and we did up her hair and a bit of makeup. She looked so grown up and so excited to be going to a dance on her own. I dropped her off at the reception and told her to call John when she was ready to be picked up. I had a limo run that wasn't over until 1am so I wouldn't be home. At 11pm I called John and he still hadn't heard from Brittany, I wasn't too worried, I figured she'd be calling any minute. At 11:30 I checked back in, still no Brittany. Finally at midnight when there was still no call I told him to go right there and find her and call me immediately. She is too young to be dancing till midnight! lol I guess she was having so much fun she didn't even realize what time it was, she had a great time and waited up for me to come home so that she could tell me all about it.

This morning Anthony and I went to the school again for Monday Morning Mom's and now we are just waiting for the girls to come home from school so that we can go into town. John is making me buy a new computer moniter. We had a small fire a little over a year ago and the side of my moniter melted. Amazingly the moniter still works but the colors are a little off which as I'm sure you can imagine makes it hard to do graphics. So with my new project John has insisted that I get a new one.

The girls are home so I'd better get going. Have a great night! :-)

I am waiting for John to get out of the shower so that we can go out and yes celebrate. The meeting went very well and thankfully I don't feel too overwhelmed. I have been hired on as a graphic designer/consultant but they thankfully have their own in house programer who will handle all of the technical stuff that intimidates the hell out of me. There is a looming deadline which has everyone stressed so I have my work cut out for me. I still don't want to say what it is, keeping you in suspense is half the fun! ROFL The web site goes live October 1st and I will announce it here for you all to see. I am not even going to think about it tonight, I am just going to go out with John and have a wonderful night.

Tomorrow morning I am taking the kids to a Storybook Breakfast. It is hosted by the high school drama class. They all dress up as fairy tale characters and the kids get to eat pancakes with them, play games, win prizes. We have gone every year since Brittany was in preschool. It is so much fun and the kids are really looking forward to it. Tomorrow night I drive limo's all night and Sunday I am going to get stuff done around the house and hopefully catch up on all of my adoptions. I am so behind so if you have ordered one recently and haven't received it please be patient, I really have a lot going on. ANNA K. - Email is on the way for you. I am so sorry I haven't responded yet. I will do your graphics for you early next week, I promise! :-) Hope you all have a great weekend!! ~::~HUGZ~::~

I am still trying to recover from my hectic day yesterday and I am trying to pretend that I am not nervous about my meeting this afternoon. The weird thing is that I'm not nervous that I won't get the account but rather I'm nervous that I will get the account and what if I'm not good enough or have enough skill/talent to do it right? Damn, I am so neurotic sometimes! lol

Tonight John and I have a date. We are going out to eat although I have no idea where. Someplace where there hopefully won't be a bunch of kids. For some reason when we go out without our kids and we are looking forward to a nice, quiet meal; we end up surrounded by little kids who are running and screaming around the restaurant. I am so picky about my childrens manners in restaurants that I have little patience with people who just smile sheepishly as their children get completely out of hand. I'm sorry it is not cute and it is not appreciated.

There have been times when I have wished that instead of a smoking/non-smoking section there was a children/non-children section. Don't get me wrong, my children aren't perfect and at home they are free to express themselves all they want (which they do VERY well!) but in public I expect them to be on their best behavior. So anyway, after dinner we are going to meet my sister and Jeremy to see "The Banger Sisters". My sisters pick, not mine. Hopefully it is good, I'll let you know.

I guess I should get moving and start getting ready to go. Before I head out, here is my Friday Five....

1. Would you say that you're good at keeping in touch with people?
No, I always feel guilty about it but I am horrible at keeping in touch. Guilt just never seems to motivate me enough to do anything about it.

2. Which communication method do you usually prefer/use: e-mail, telephone, snail mail, blog comments, or meeting in person? Why?
Ummmm..... I would have to say email. It is easy, I don't have to buy stamps, and I can keep in touch while still wearing my pajamas with no makeup on.

3. Do you have an instant messenger program? How many? Why/why not? How often do you use it?
I have a few although the only one I use is AIM and I really don't even use that very often. I'm not sure why, I guess mostly cause I never seem to catch people online when I actually have time to chat.

4. Do most of your close friends live nearby or far away?
There aren't many people I would consider to be close friends, but those that I do have are far away.

5. Are you an "out of sight, out of mind" person, or do you believe that "distance makes the heart grow fonder"?
I never forget my friends/family, I'm just not always the greatest at letting them know I am thinking of them. I hope that they don't need me to tell them that I love them, I hope that they just know.

Oh, I almost forgot, don't forget to sign up for the 2002 Blog Ornament Exchange! :-)

This is my second time trying to make this post. The first time I was almost done when my computer froze up before I could save it. I hate when that happens now I have to try to remember what I was saying and it just never seems to sound as good the second time around! lol

I know that I was posting about my meeting tomorrow. I have a meeting set up with the account executive for the website that I mentioned on Tuesday. I am a little nervous and a little excited. I don't have the account yet but he did like most of my ideas and tomorrow we will be able to discuss it more to see where it is going. I am nervous because after a few conversations I still don't know if he just wants to buy my graphics/layout or if he wants me to maintain the site. I don't know if I have the skills needed to keep up with what sounds like, will be a huge, long term project. I'll keep you posted....

Today is our first Brownie meeting. I am excited to have a smaller troop this year. I think we will be able to do more activities/trips with only 8 girls because there will be less chaos as compared to the 16 girls we had last year. Brittany is running for president for the school student council. She is running against a friend of hers. I offered to make cookies to bribe the kids with but she wouldn't hear of it. ROFL I then offered to make posters on the computer with a big picture of her face on them and plastering them all over the school. You should have seen her face, it was so funny! She is so serious sometimes. She was relieved to realize I was joking. hehe

I have to meet with Brittany's REACH (her school's gifted/talented program) teacher tonight, kinda a back-to-school night and then after that I have a limo run. Somedays there is just too much going on, I'm never sure if I'm coming or going. Tomorrow night John and I have a night with no kids. I hate to be so excited about it.....but I am! lol...I love my kids but I am so ready for a break! :-) My mom is nice enough to take them over night so that we can enjoy some alone time. I can't wait.

I took Brittany to the orthodontist today and got my nails done. Not a very exciting day, but hey, they can't all be exciting, and with the way things usually go for me, boring is good! lol I did get a frantic call from my mom this afternoon. Her and Bill had met with a local radio executive to discuss their advertising contract and he had mentioned he had liked the website I did for them. He wanted me to call him regarding a site that needs to be done ASAP because the project is behind schedule. I can't talk about it much because it is all confidential but keep your fingers crossed that I get his account. :-) I talked to him this afternoon and I really think that it will be a fun project to work on so tonight I will put together some ideas and hopefully he likes them.

Not much else going on, I'm waiting for candles from Missy, I have a few things I need to work on to get ready for our first Brownie meeting on Thursday and I as usual have a ton of laundry to do. Oh and I started my period which means I don't have to think about being pregnant for awhile. I still have mixed feelings about it, logically I know that right now isn't the best time to have another baby but sometimes when I see how big my three are getting I want another little one to hold and kiss and love. I put away the pregancy test that I didn't use, maybe I'll take it out next year when things are more settled in our new little family. When the times does come, John and I already have names picked out, it felt kinda silly talking about it but it was fun and sweet and a way for us to commit to each other that someday soon we want to have a baby together, just not right now.

Anthony and I are headed out the door but I just wanted to stop in and say hi. Today is "Monday Morning Moms" at the girls school, something we both enjoy. Anthony gets to play with other kids his age and I get to visit with other mom's as we do projects for the teachers. Before I head out for the morning, I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to you! I hope you have a wonderful day today! ~hugs~

Graphic by MLL

My poor blog is so neglected, it gives me an evil look every time I log onto my computer, which lately hasn't been very often. There is so much going on here; I don't even know where to start. Most of it is just every day stuff, going to PTO meetings, Back-to-School night, Brittany's class had a car wash to raise funds for our local fire department the week of September 11th, Danielle was given a project to work on called "all about me" which is 50 pages long, Anthony is just Anthony driving me nuts. John and I are doing well, when we actually have time to spend together that is. I drove limo's all weekend and we are looking forward to spending the day together today. The girls spent the night with my sister and the morning was peaceful as John, Anthony and I cuddled up in our bed with a box of dry cereal and mugs of hot coffee.

So here's the thing, there is a reason why I haven't blogged. Amidst all of the normal everyday chaos of my life, I have had something on my mind that I wasn't ready to share because I didn't know for sure what if anything was happening and I didn't know for sure how I felt about it. Do you remember me posting recently about my major PMS mood swing? Well guess what? The PMS was there but it wasn't followed by my period. I hate to admit it but I have never really been very good at keeping track of my cycle. I don't write it down and as my life is always so hectic I completely forget when my last one was and just depend on my body to tell me when it is on its way. So with the major mood swings I assumed it was time to start and when it didn't I just assumed that I had estimated my dates wrong.

Another week passed and still no monthly visitor, suddenly I was feeling queasy and waking up in the middle of the night to go pee which I never ever do. I just knew I was pregnant and at the same time a little voice was telling me that I was only imagining the symptoms because although I am not on birth control pills John and I are always VERY careful because we obviously already have our hands full with three children. So for the next week I worried about being pregnant, we have discussed it and agreed that we are not ready to have a baby right now and really don't know if we want to have more children. To John, Anthony is his son and neither of us has felt the need to have more.

So I have silently worried about what would we do, how could we afford it, etc. Finally I couldn't take the stress anymore and I had John buy me a home pregnancy test. I took it right away and guess what? It was negative!! So what was my first reaction? I burst into tears! Suddenly I WANTED to be pregnant, I wanted another baby, I wanted to experience having a baby that was part of both John and myself. I couldn't explain my tears to John who thought I would be happy to not be pregnant. I still don't know how I feel about all of this and on top of all of that I still have NOT had my period. I'm sure that I will start soon, I mean those tests are hardly ever wrong. I have a second test hidden under the sink, which I will use if I haven't started in a week or two. I mean I couldn't have estimated my period that far off could I? Sheesh. I swear, once I start I am going to write it down every single damn month, this is way too stressful! lol

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and on Monday I hope to be able to sit down and visit all of my daily reads which have been sadly neglected lately. Thank you all for continuing to visit me even though I haven't been the greatest of company!! Have a great day! *S*

I have so much to blog about but as I listen to the reading of names of 9-11 victims on the news, it all seems pointless and silly. I have cried countless times today as I watched the girls get dressed in red, white and blue in memory of the tragedy that will never be forgotten. I watch Anthony play with his fire truck oblivious as to the significant role firemen played a year ago today. I think of my brother, proudly serving his country far away from home, and I feel tears of pride and sadness overwhelm me. There are church services and community gatherings taking place this evening, I have decided to stay home and keep my family close in a safe little cocoon. It has been a sad year and today will be a sad day but through it all I have felt pride that I am a United States citizen. I can't explain how proud I am every time I say the Pledge of Alligence or salute the flag. I have always taken this privilege for granted but today as it has for the last year it takes on a special meaning and I hope that I never again take for granted how lucky I am to live in this great country. God Bless America.

Graphic by Susie's Graphics

Just a quick post today, I have a million and one things to do before I head out on my limo run tonight. And Grace I had to laugh at your comment as you pictured me driving limo's. Hopefully it's not that bad! ROFL

Last night was fun but I drank way too much and have a headache and queasy stomach to prove it. I only slept a few hours because I had to get the girls ready for school and although I probably should have taken a nap I don't dare with Anthony running loose!

Tomorrow is our little town's "Community Day". It is an all day event starting with a pancake breakfast at the community center followed by a parade which goes right in front of our house and then all day events for the kids with games, pony rides, pedal tractor pull races, and an airplane drop where prize certificates are dropped out of a plane in a large field and the kids get to chase after them and try to get a prize. There is also a family softball game and in the evening there will be a dinner at the community center followed by a street dance. Everyone is really excited, the dance will be fun and hopefully John's sisters will be able to make it out.

Not much planned for Sunday, I am going to go see "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with my mom and that is about it. I will probably spend the rest of the day moving furniture around. I am going on a television strike, or should I say I am forcing my family to go on a strike. I am so sick of the kids watching too much TV and making a mess in the living room with popcorn and snacks, I am tired of the TV always being on during dinner and so yesterday I pulled the plug. I am going to move the entertainment center into mine and John's room this way I can better monitor TV use and so that John can still watch the news at night.

The kids are grounded from TV use for the next month. Their punishment for not doing their chores and for too much fighting. They can earn TV time by doing chores after that month is over. Anthony is already driving me nuts wanting to watch movies but so far no one has had any serious side effects! ROFL I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Hopefully my house will stay clean, my kids will be healthier from all of the fresh air they are sure to get now that they will be playing outside more, and we will have more quality time together as a family. I am also setting up a study area in one corner of a large hallway that is pretty much wasted space. I want a small table there with a floor length table cloth and compartments underneath where arts/crafts, puzzles, games can be stored. I want a place to be able to play a game or do a puzzle and not have it on our dining room table. It will also be close to my computer which means I can have some computer time while still monitoring the girls homework.

Since my living room will no longer have an entertainment center I want to set up a little music alcove in it's place with the piano and a comfy place for Britt to practice her saxophone. I'm sure my family will have a few complaints but I really think that after a month or two they will realize how much more stuff we will do when the darn TV is silent. Wish me luck :-) lol

Before I forget I want to thank Jana for her lovely blog award. It is my very first one. :-) I will find a home for it very soon.

Also thanks to Kay for our adorable blog buddies, I will also be finding a special home for them as soon as I have a second to hear myself think! :-) Your friendship has really brightened my days! Thanks so much for always listening and making me smile.

Ack, this was supposed to be short but obviously I don't know when to shut up! lol Also, I am really behind on email and adoptions, I had a virus which I have gotten rid of but I haven't wanted to email until I was sure it was gone so hopefully I will also find time this weekend to get caught up! Well, since I've already made this post longer than I wanted, here's my Friday Five.

1. What is your biggest pet peeve? Why?
Being lied to. It would take too long to explain but mostly it has to do with a person in my childhood who never kept promises. I hate when someone says they are going to do something and they don't do it. This issue can bring me to tears even when it seems like not a big deal. I am always as honest as I can be, sometimes to a fault, which makes me expect others to do the same. If someone lies to me once I pretty much never believe them again.

2. What irritating habits do you have?
Who me? None! ROFL Actually I am late all of the time, I never shut the cupboard doors in the kitchen, when I am working or reading I tend to tune out anyone who should happen to want to talk to me, I procrastinate, I'm sure if you ask John he can list more but those are the worst I think.

3. Have you tried to change the irritating habits or just let them be?
I have tried to work on being late but I just can't seem to be on time. As for the others I don't really worry about them, I mean everyone has to have a few bad habits right? lol

4. What grosses you out more than anything else? Why?
People who pick their nose and kids who do the same and eat it. Just thinking about it makes me sick.

5. What one thing can you never see yourself doing that other people do?
Burping. I never burp, I think it is so disgusting. John laughs at me because it grosses me out so much. Him and the kids sometimes have burping contests just to drive me nuts.