Catching Up On Things...

So I guess that today would be a good time to catch everyone up on the happenings of Miss M., and my mom is doing just fine by the way. So Ciso and I went to California for a whole week! I was so excited, I can't remember the last time I was gone from this bloody state for a complete week. So I guess I will do a semi-play by play. The first picture that I put up was from our tasting at Gloria Ferrer. I'll write more about that later though. I think I will write about the first place that we stayed at, which I wrote about on the first day. The Langham Pasadena.From what Cisco was telling me this place used to be a Ritz Carlton. It was so nice, I did not want to leave, but the second day we headed up North towards San Francisco. We drove along the PCH and I could have sworn that I asked Cisco if this was a straight road and not really curvy. I also was under the impression that he confirmed that yes, the road was in fact straight. No, it wasn't. It was all curvy and pukey. It was a beautiful drive, I do wish that I could have enjoyed it more. I really enjoyed when we stopped to go to the bathroom or to eat, or to just get gas. That was the high light of the PCH for me. Anytime that we got to stop. :) So along one of the stops we were at a beach and saw a ton of Elephant Seals.I could not believe how many of them there were. Some of them were fighting, some of them were swimming in the water which I thought was really neat. They were just jumping around in the water and swimming around with eachother. It was so cold outside. I could not believe how cold it was, I did not pack for this trip. I packed shorts and t-shirts. I thought for sure that it was going to be hot, hello, it's California. I thought that it might get chilly once we got to San Francisco but not until then. Boy was I wrong. Cisco was so cold here. I had my jacket on so I was ok. This little piece of beach didn't have anyone on it. It was windy and freezing. We walked down there and Cisco had shorts and his little thin t-shirt on, so when I wanted to keep taking pictures he told me to hurry because of how cold he was. I did not think that I would get any good pictures, but I got this really good one of him and a couple of black and whites. After this it was back on the road again. I swear all that day we just drove, which was great, because I love driving, minus the curvy roads. I guess it was good that we went that way though, because we would have never seen half of the things that we did if we didn't go that way.The next stop after going through Carmel was Half Moon Bay. I thought that this place was going to be more built up and touristy than it actually was. I had yet another surprise waiting for me there, Cisco made reservations at the Ritz there also. It was so beautiful. I wanted to stay there for the rest of the weekend. I had no interest in going to Mammoth after that stay.This place had a giant fire pit and it overlooked the ocean. I think it stayed light out a little while until about 9pm, which surprised me. I just loved that place and wished that we had more time so that we could walk around and look at the grounds more and possibly go for a walk on the beach. I wouldn't mind going back for the whole weekend again sometime.San Francisco here we come! Too bad that we couldn't go into the city and hang out for a while. I love walking around San Francisco, we went to breakfast and then headed out from there. I was one happy camper that morning. It was going to be straight highway from there. But, after breakfast I was a gonner. I think I slept for most of the drive to Sonoma though. When we got to the hotel in Sonoma it was so hot when we got out of the car. Such a shock to what we have been feeling when getting out of the car for the past two days. It made me happy that I was wearing a t-shirt. Not that I had anything else to wear. We went into the hotel to check in, change and then hit the vinyards. We didn't get there in time for the tour which was a total bummer, because I wanted to go through the caves so badly. But we did a tasting, which wasn't even really a tasting, we pretty much just bought a glass of Sparkling Wine and sat on the balcony and drank it. It was nice though, it was a beautiful view from that balcony.So that was a good start to a some what short tasting day. The next place that we went to was Gundlach Bundschu.I think that this winery had some great wines. We bought a couple of bottles before we left. I cannot believe how hot it was there. I was definatly needing some water while we were doing these wine tastings. It was nice to just drive around and enjoy the scenery and enjoy the wine and enjoy eachother. This was so great because it was time alone doing something that we both enjoy. So this day was so exciting for me, because it just showed me what was to come on this trip. The next place and the last for the day was Matanzas Creek WineryCisco was telling me that Matanzas is a word meaning massacre so he was interested to find out what the story was behind that. If I remember correctly the guy that was giving us our tasting was saying that it is because they used to kill animals here, the natives that lived on the land a long time ago. I think Cisco thought that they were killing people or something. This was a beautiful winery. It had tons of Lavender all over the place growing, inside of the winery they sold lavender and soaps and shampoo's that were made with the lavender that grows on that property. I thought that it was really neat. Since the winery's close around 4 or 5pm that was the last one that we visited that day. There wasn't much to do where we stayed, I think that night we tried to go to a movie, but the guy that told me where to go was totally wrong and instead we went back to the hotel, which was fine with me. It had been a long day. The next day we woke up early and headed out to Napa Valley. We ate breakfast and then tried to go to Domaine Chandon, but we had just missed the tour so we decided that we wouid go back there later. So we headed out and went to Mumm Napa ValleyI just loved going here because it was almost like a private tour, it was only us and one other couple. We walked around and I had not known how that made Sparkling Wine before so they were so descriptive on how the process was done, there were windows everywhere so that you could see what was going on. I loved the tasting that we did also. I didn't want to leave there. It was nice. While we were waiting for the tour to start I found this book that gave all the winery's in Napa and in Sonoma, which was a better map and book than I got from the visitors center that morning, that thing sucked. Cisco made reservations for us to go on a tour of Cakebread CellarsI liked this winery also, hell, I think that I liked all of them. By the time we finished that tasting, I was pretty toasted, and it was hot and I didn't have any water...you know what that means...Warning, warning, sick, sick, sick! But luckily that didn't happen, I found some water and drank the hell out of some. The guy that gave us our tasting was so informative, he was going to school to be a somminer (I don't know how to spell it) so he knew so many things! It was great.I was ready to leave, but Cisco found some friends when we were leaving, so when he came back to the car he had a big bag of tamales with him, he bought 12 of them! I couldn't figure out why we needed so many, but holy crap they were so good, we were so hungry. We drove down the street to see what other winery we could fit in before it was time to call it quits for the day and he drove into Grgich Hills for a tasting. They had some really good wine and a great tasting...uh, atleast that is what I remember. While Cisco was deciding about a bottle of wine and cashing out I decided to go back to the car. I was just about done for the day, I was pretty buzzed from all of our adventures from the day.But just when we thought that we were done for the day, we remembered that the last tour for Domaine Chandon was at 5pm and it was about 4:30 so we thought that we would go and check it out.We signed up for the tasting and for the tour. I didn't stay for the entire tasting. This place had huge slide open doors, and it was about 90 degrees outside so the air that they had on was off shot by the open windows, and I couldn't take it any longer. I had Cisco finish off my glasses and I snagged a bottle of water and took off to cool down and sit down while we waited for the tour to start, which totally sucked, so anyone that is interested, don't go to that one. I'm really glad that we went to Mumm first because it gave some great information and you walked around in more places and saw the way things were done better. Chandon only showed a video in a different part of the place. I love this picture that I took, there is a wall with empty sparkling wine bottles with some light behind it and it curves. It was one of the things that I did to recover from the excess of wine :) One of the exciting things that did happen on that crappy tour though was the fact that in the middle of our tour the wine maker was walking through and stopped to talk to us for a while. It was really neat to see the person that makes it happen. It was great. Later that night we went back to the hotel and then dinner. I talked to someone that actually knew where the movie theater was so we went and saw two for one, it was so easy to sneak into a movie there. Then our little trip in Sonoma / Napa was over and it was off to Mammoth. I have never been up to Mammoth before, it is really nice, it's really high up and there is no air up there. We stayed with my parents outside in a tent on a blow up mattress. It was no Ritz, but it's ok. We had a good time there and took some really great pictures, it was so close to this waterfall, that's all you listened to while you were sleeping. It was really nice. We didn't do much up there, I didn't go hiking or anything because I had a really hard time breathing, so I stayed with the kids, my mom and my brothers girlfriend Lisa. We had fun.Up in Mammoth they have bears up there, so one of the big rules is that you can't have any food or ice coolers laying around because the bears will come into your camp area and go through your things. Anthony forgot to take his backpack into the trailer one night so the next day we found his pack with a tear in it and the food that was in it was gone.Anthony chopping wood in the modern way that only he could.Anthony and Miss O just hanging out.It was a wonderful trip and I was so glad that we went, eventhough we were broke when we came home. It was a great and wonderful experience, we got to spend lots of time with the kids and family so it was great.

My Mommy...

I've been sitting here at work today, trying to work but finding it hard. My mama is at the hospital for something that we don't know anything about yet, and we all know that when I can't concentrate at home or at work I usually blog about it to help me feel better.

I came into work yesterday and she was telling me that she had some bad pain in her chest around her ribs, but on the right side of her chest and back. So we both assumed that it was gas, because with the way she describing it sounded exactly like what I have had before, a pain that just takes your breath away. Well after a couple of hours of her feeling like this I was convinced that it was not pesky gas bothering her. She nearly cried when she would try to sit down and she couldn't be moved without being in pain. So later on in the after noon Rick told her that he was going to take her to the hospital to get checked out, since the winner of a doctor that they have told him that he would have to bring her in on Monday because that was the earliest appointment that they had (I hate doctors, and their receptionists). So they went. I called later that evening to see if they found anything out and Rick said that they think that she may have a blood clot in or around her lungs, because of the pain and pressure when breathing. I was really worried then, just hoping that if that was what it was that they found out for sure very quickly so that they could do something about it. Later that night Rick called back and said that it wasn't a blood clot and that her tests all came back normal, she was on morphine and they were going to keep her for the night and then do a stress test in the morning on her heart and see what that came back as.

So now it's the next day, and my mama called me to say hello and to tell me that she is feeling a little bit better, she still has the pressure on her chest and they did the stress test, but they have not come back with the results yet.

So now it is just a waiting game to see what those tests have brought back. Hopefully it's nothing bad and she will be coming home tonight.

~M

Wishing to Be Well...

I am so sick right now. I want to go home and finish work. There has been a lot going on, but I don't think that I am up to it right this minute to get everyone caught up on all the vacationing I have been doing. While I was at summer camp with the kids I caught a cold and it just seems to be getting worse. So when I am up to it I will post some pictures and some commentary.

~M

Vacation...Day One...

We got started at about 10 am with driving to California for our little vacation. It was so nice to kiss the kids good bye and give huggies to the doggies and then be on the road. The thought of not being in town for an entire week is just too exiting. We got into Pasadena around 2 pm and went walking around Old Town like usual. At around 4 pm we decided to go looking for our hotel for the night. There were no reservations anywhere so we were just going to get the cheepest place that we could, but that was still half decent, like a Marriot or Ramada or something. We went driving around and ended up in this neighborhood with all these really nice houses. I was drooling at these things. So while we were driving around Cisco was saying how he was lost and wasn't sure where he was. I was really surprised because I have never known him to get lost anywhere in California...NEVER. So I was telling him to go back to where he came from and that I could tell him how to get back to where we were from there. Instead he went into the opening of this really nice hotel and said that he needed to turn around. I was telling him quite urgently where to make a U turn, but he didn't. Then I asked him what he was doing, he said that he was going to ask for directions. I was totally mortified and officially started freaking out, I told him that we could find our own ways back to where we started and that he needed to move around and get out of this parking lot. I didn't want these people to come up to our car and try to scoot us out and then turn around and tell them that we just needed directions. So then he took his seat belt off and told me that this was where we were going to be spending the night. I was so totally surprised. He was teasing me later, saying that I was getting all nervous about being somewhere that we just didn't fit...I started laughing but I was thinking that same thing. Yeah, I would fit in there only if I was working there. This place is so nice. I guess that not too long ago it was a Ritz Carlton, but they sold it to this other place. I have never heard of this place but it is really nice...what is even better is that it has pink accents. I LOVE IT! When we were having a drink at this place in Old Town earlier we were talking about if we should head up to San Francisco or just stay in Pasadena. Cisco was saying that if we stayed in Pasadena and woke up early that we could take the day and enjoy the views of the coast and the driving, since I have not been further up the coast than Santa Barbara. But now it all fits together...tricky, tricky.

So after I got changed and put some make up on we went to Macy's and walked around and then went to the Yard House to watch the Lakers / Celtics game. It was a great game. I had a lot of fun. So then when we got back to the room I decided to blog about it since Cisco gave me his grand permission....thanks honey. :)
Tomorrow we will be on our way to San Francisco. I can't wait to get there. Maybe I will update with day two tomorrow!

~M

Conquering Quickbooks...

So on Rick's urging, I contacted the accountant so that they could come and set our office up with Quickbooks. Now I guess he doesn't remember when I asked him to do this at the beginning of my career here at our little office. So now I am stuck with inputting information from the beginning of the year. I guess that he wasn't smart enough to do this in January, so now I am stuck putting information in from January 1. Yep, that's right all of our invoices, all of our checks that we wrote, all our deposits, and payroll. I could just kill him right now. Now this is on top of everything else that I have to do, billings, etc. I nearly cried yesterday when he asked me to look for something and I couldn't find it quick enough. I am thinking about not answering the phone today...just to get more of this crap done. But only two more day's until vacation, so that is the good thing that I can look forward to.

~M

And It's Only The Beginning...

So now it is summer break for the kids. I love them and all, but I don't think that being around them 24 hours a day is good for anyone. They get on eachothers nerves at times and mine as well. They have been coming to work with me for this past week and I have had about my fill of all day and all night with Miss O and Mr. A. Sometimes I am under the impression that they do things on purpose to get under my skin, but it's probably just me.

I don't like when they go out of town for a week at a time, but then again when they are normally here I have about 7 hours without them because they are in school. I think they need a little space as well as me. I always think about how nice it was going to be for them to be out of school because then I don't have to rush back and forth from work to school or the house to make sure they are alright, but now...

I don't want to leave them at the house alone because I don't trust them. They make huge messes and think that it is alright to eat a whole bag of Pringles and Twizzlers for lunch, and then when I come home and get on their case they look confused. I don't know if the look of confusion is from needing to hit the bathroom from all of the sugar or that they genuinely don't think they did anything wrong.

I know for sure that little walks to 7-11 or around the corner are in the near future at lunch breaks though, just to get out of the house. Everyone should know by now that I dislike the heat so much that I curse it, but I think that I will have to endure some of it just to keep my sanity.

Just feelin' a little frustrated right now and felt the need to share...:)

~M

I Think I May Be Dying...

That's it...I quit. No more Kickboxing classes on Monday's. I usually go on Thursday's, which is good I am now used to the tempo and know what this guy that is the teacher is going to do. The woman that taught this class yesterday is just pure evil. My knees hurt so bad from this little session yesterday. :( But it's all good. I can now fit into my clothes and them be a little big on me. I actually did two classes yesterday. I did the kickboxing and then Zumba ( I think that is how it is spelled ), I had so much fun doing this class. It's like a whole bunch of dancing set to some really awesome music. I will definately be doing that again. So far since I last weighed myself at the beginning of the week I have lost 6 pounds. I had stopped working out for a while so I gained the 5 pounds that I had lost right back on, but I have lost it and I think at the end of the week I will weigh myself again at the gym. I don't trust the scale at home. I think it lies and tries to make me feel bad. :)

~M

Happiness Is...

A bubble bath with candles and champagne...

Perhaps a warm "gun" ( for all those Beatle fans out there )...

Being loved by my kids...

Being loved by my man...

Having a job...

Feeling good about myself physically for the first time in a long time...

Knowing it's the season for vacations...

Lulu and Kipper...

My gym membership, lol...

Flowers...

The Sun...

The Moon...

Thunderstorms on a summer afternoon...

Naps on Sunday...

Disneyland :)...

Cisco...

Olivia...

Anthony...

I don't always wake up in the morning and think about the sweet fuzzy things that accompany our lives day to day let alone think much about them at all in the length of the day. But for some strange reason I woke up in a particularly good mood this morning, which is highly unusual. I'm usually all business and dread going to work. But on this particular morning I noticed something in the mirror as I was staring at myself...I'm losing weight. I could finally tell and was so excited. I have been working very hard the past week or so to lose 10 pounds, it's a little bet / deal that Cisco and I have going, before we go on vacation in a week. I've been running at least a mile and a half 4 to 5 days a week at the gym and have gone to a couple of Kickboxing classes. So I've been noticing changes, but it didn't really hit me hard until this morning. I mean I actually considered wearing a tank top and jeans with nothing over the tank top, but then thought better of it...not ready for that yet, confidence wise at least. So it's just a good day all around. It will be even better as soon as I eat something, cause I am starving, but otherwise I thought I would share in my happiness.

~M

A Cake and An Animal Orgy...

So it was Olivia's 10th birthday this past Sunday and it was nice and low key. Olivia and her little friend went to see Indiana Jones and then we all went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Later we came back to the house to have the cake that I made with some Ice Cream. Overall I was quite happy with how the cake turned out. Instead of the strawberry filling I put buttercream and coconut. It was good. This cake took me 3 hours to decorate, from start to finish. I applied some pink pearl dust to the pink accents and I think that I pulled it off pretty good. I just dabbed it on where I wrote happy birthday because I didn't want to smear the writing that I had previously done. I was pretty tired after the whole cake thing. I didn't think that I would want to try some but I did and as always, found places for improvement. Everyone else thought the cake was flawless and tasted great, and I did too, but as usual the person making it always finds the little things that could be better and I guess that is always a good thing.

In about a week or so when the kids are on vacation I will do another cake but not using fondant, only buttercream so that I can try some piping techniques. It will be quiet so I will be able to do it without interruption.

Later on that night when Cisco and I went upstairs after getting the girls settled we found my babies doing the unimaginable. I have a firm belief that animals come to life when everyone else is asleep or away (like in Toy Story), so I think that these nasty little things got caught in mid Orgy. And I thought things were pretty normal around our house. I hope this is only with my babies and no one else's. :)

~M

Cake Walk...

So it is that time of year again, Olivia's birthday. This year I am happy to inform you that I am actually involved. I guess it's good news. I wish I had the easy part that her aunts have, shopping for the stuff and doing the running around. But, last year Olivia had asked me to make her cake so that is my sole responsibility. After several run throughs and several ideas that just didn't pan out. I have come up with this little creation...which was thankfully approved by her majesty, you should note that there are 10 little hearts at the top which I am planning on putting the candles in, I was quite worried. I think I spent a whole at least 2 whole days worth of time on this cake and the conception...EVERYTHING!!! It has been quite an experience I must say that though.

Usually Olivia plans her big day with her aunts, everything from the theme to the party favors and the cake. They get the cake and do everything and then Cisco and I just show up. But this year Olivia wanted a sleep over with her girlfriends at the house and for me to do the cake. I was quite excited that I was going to be involved. Olivia asked if I would make little cakes for her class and without thinking about all the man hours that I would have to spend on them I said yes. So two days ago I started making the cakes and last night I began decorating them so that we could take them to school today. I think I spent 7 hours doing them last night, just to decorate them. I nearly dropped some of them, but I saved them. I swear if I would have dropped them I would have needed therapy.So by the time I finished I piped O's on the top for "Olivia" and some dots and applied the fondant. I was quite proud of this little feat. Now I only have to do the cake for Sunday and I am finished. I can say that without a shadow of a doubt that if I see any sugary dessert any time soon I will turn and toss my cookies. I have two days to rest from the kitchen which is nice, in that time I can clean the house and prepare it for an invasion of girls.

~M

Would You Rather...

As I was driving to work this morning and listening to the radio I heard a conversation about 5 things to do on a first date (for ladies). As I was listening to this I was remembering what it was like to go on first dates, when I did go on first dates...which seems like forever ago.

I remember how excited I would get when I would give my phone number out or he would get mine, all the anticipation of wondering if he would call and when. Back in the days when cell phones weren't as affordable as they are now, I would forward my calls to make sure I wouldn't miss his. There were the usual first date jitters as well as the awkward silences and the inevitable good night kiss or hug, depending on how good the date went and if you thought there might be a second.

As is the rituals of courting you try to keep on your best behavior and you dress to the nines, shave everyday because you never know, and try to be yourself (at least to a point).

As time goes by and you decide that you will stick this one through and see how far it goes you let little things slip as you begin to know each other better and become more comfortable around each other. You love that person for themselves and not all the other crap that you were so worried about in the beginning.

So what would you rather have, years of happiness with that one person or giving it all up just to have those first couple weeks of excitement. I know there are people out there that would pick the last one.

I know that I will never really have that same feeling as I did on my first date with Cisco, but the anticipation for something more is always there. A note on the vanity mirror in the morning, flowers brought to me in bed, rare occasions when we are able to go out without the kids (including trips), and just being able to talk for hours without interruption if we chose to. I think that I miss that feeling of courting a little bit sometimes, just the excitement from anticipation and the butterflies that follow, but when I think about what I have now it's so much better. I get to come home to two kids who love me unconditionally, shaved legs or not, a man that knows my flaws as well as his own and loves me regardless.

I'm just so happy for taking that first step with our little first date, I didn't think he would call the number on the paper, but I'm glad you did baby.

I love you guys more than life itself.

~M

Hot Babies and Baseball...

So as all of you know yesterday was Mothers Day! So happy Mommies day to all of you out there. I was greeted in bed that morning to Anthony snuggling me and then about 1/2 an hour later to Olivia and Cisco coming in with breakfast on a tray and flowers and cards. I can definately say that I was feeling the love.

On Friday I got tickets for Anthony, Olivia and I to go to the 51's baseball game. I thought that it would be a fun little outing. A great surprise was that Cisco was able to get the night off early and come and join us around the bottom of the 3rd.





It was a really fun game, what was nice was that the team won and we got to watch some fireworks at the end of the game. It was a lot of fun. The weather was great also, a little breezy, and not too hot...not yet anyway.

On Mother's Day I wanted to to the the outlet shops at State line. There were quite a few things that I saw that I wanted at Sur La Table and thought that they just might have the same items at the Williams Sonoma outlet. Well, they had some of the things but not many, so that led us to driving back into town and going to the shops at Planet Hollywood, back to the Sur La Table store. We had gone to this store a week before so that I could let Cisco in on the things that I wanted, just in case he felt the desire to go there and surprise me with them on the morning of Mother's Day. That wasn't the case, but he did take me there. Well on the way there we were waiting at a red light, (on Tropicana and LV Blvd.) and if you live or have lived in this town for even a month or a couple of days you will know that there are driving billboards all over the streets as well as stationary ones letting people in on having escorts come to your hotel room. Well I try not to say anything about these things to the kids and sometimes they see them and say ewww and then other times they laugh at eachother about the girl with her butt cheeks showing. Well yesterday there was a driving billboard waiting for a light and Anthony saw it. I saw it right away and was hoping that no one under the age of 18 saw it either, but Anthony and Olivia both did.

Well Anthony started reading it, and said..."Hot Babies direct to you, what are hot babies? Are they on fire?" And of course Cisco and I started laughing pretty hard. We both wondered if him not reading wonderfully was a good thing at that point or not. I mean it didn't really get into details like I feared because we were all laughing so hard about him saying babies instead of the babes. It was hillarious. I made sure to take a picture so that it could be referenced in this little post, but I thought it was one of the funniest things, besides Olivia asking who wanted to go to the Adult Superstore a few months ago. It's things like this that seem to put the cherry on a mom's day.

~M

Ode To An Oven...

Oh bearer of heavenly goodness...I am so happy that you are just now returning to my life. I am so happy that you have come to bring joy into our home once again. So many times I have heard the cries of the children yearning for the yummy baked goodness of treats or bubbly dinners fresh out of your womb, and now that dream has come true.....I FINALLY GOT MY FREAKIN' OVEN!

I am so excited! It arrived on Monday and I christened it with Lasagna and made a Pecan Pie. Last night I decided to polish up my cake baking skills and lets just say they were a little rusty. Just a little bit mind you. For those of you that did not know of my oven sadness, I have been without one for nearly two years. I was always using the damn thing. I have never really known an oven to go out before. I mean my mom's is older than ours was and it still worked, but low and behold my bad fortune to have a finicky one in my presence. Oh well though it's over and I am back to using it all the time. I have to pick up many supplies to fill up the pantry so that I may resume my cake and treat baking skills. They have been put a damper on since I didn't have an oven to use. When I was hard up during the holiday's I would use my mom's. However, if you have never had to truck all of your materials as well as the finished project 15 minutes away then you will not be able to appreciate my aggravation over the whole ordeal. Not to mention trying to work in someone else's kitchen. They don't have the same things you do, so you are not used to their hand held mixer as opposed to your standing mixer. Or the fact that you don't know where every little thing is so that it is only a mere whistle away.

So yay! Heaven has returned to my little Kitchen!

~M

And So It's Time To Start Over...Again...

And so it begins...I have registered for the fall. I didn't go at all last year, just because I think I needed a break as well as there was so much going on with the kids. But now that I am the first one to sign up for anything I will make sure to let the rest of the clan know, so that our children are not haphazardly thrown into activities without wondering where they should go after...I think this includes me as well.

I am excited about going back, I think because I missed two semesters. I will be taking my last Management class, Intermediate Algebra, Philosophy and Accounting. I am halfway done with school at CSN and I figured last night that if I go for this Semester, Spring and next fall then I will be done and I will be able to graduate in the Spring of 2010. I guess that is a good round number to end things on. Then it will be time to transfer to UNLV to finish out the next "two" years. When I was looking at my credits that I have earned yesterday it didn't feel like I had gone as far as I have. I think it is because when I take classes I load up, so that I can get it done. I haven't done too shabby yet, but I think this semester I will definitely need to see a tutor to help with the accounting and math aspect of this whole thing.

The only classes that I have left really are math classes, which sucks because I'm not all that great at math and it takes so much for me to finally grasp an idea that is trying to be taught. I miss taking the usual writing classes, I think it is because I am good at them. I think after I post this I will go onto UNLV's site and see what classes I will need to finish out the second part of this little degree that I'm trying for.

~M

Bring On The Cuteness...

I didn't really have much to blog about, but wanted to put something up so I thought that I would post some cute pictures of my Lulu and the kids...:)




















And by the command of Lulu...it's time for a nappy poo...:)



~M

It Was So Funny...

that I nearly cried! I think these are hillarious...

Bla Bla Bla...

I guess you could say that it is the same old thing. Boring, boring, boring. Well at least to me it is. This repetition is killing me...dinner, clean, laundry, bitch at the kids, dinner, activities, laundry...you get the gist of what I am getting at. I guess I just need to do something fun. Like join a pottery class, getting some friends might lift my spirits. One of them is married and lives on the other side of town, so we don't get together as often as we would like. And the other one is in a semi-new relationship and has recently decided that hanging out with friends is not a priority at this time. I think over time she will grow bored with him and then beg to go out with a friend every once and a while.

I guess it reminds me of when I got out of high school, granted I had Anthony not too long after that, but I wanted to call my girlfriends and have a sleep over or something fun that we used to do like that. I LOVED having sleep overs. But of course, I knew if I called these girls and inquired of the chances of a sleep over happening they would have laughed and hung up the phone on me. Even now...I would love to have one. But not with little kids, with my friends. I think that it would be so much fun. But no one has the time for that stuff. In my very small circle of friends I am currently the only one with kids, so I don't know why someone's schedule would conflict, but I know that everyone would be busy or something to that affect. I guess it just sucks to know that I don't have any friends, I have tried to make friends with some of the kids' friends parents, but that is hard too. I just don't feel like we are on the same level. I am a bit more carefree and fun, some of them seem so uptight and have so much drama going on in their lives, which is good fun when listening to it over coffee, but when it is my turn to share what the hell would I say to them?

It's rough that is for sure.

Anthony and Olivia made a tent in the living room the other night to sleep in, and when they first made it all they did was line up chairs in a circle and put pillows around it. I looked at them with great concern, HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO MAKE A TENT AND YOU ARE 9??? This baffled me only because at their age I was a pro at making those things. So, I pushed up my sleeves and showed them how it was to be done. It was great to hear their joy at the construction of this project and the out come. Cisco was also impressed and suggested that we leave it up so that the next night we could sleep in it. I thought that was funny, all I could think of was, "there is no way I can sleep on the floor in that thing, my back will be killing me the next day!". What the hell happened to me, when did I become so concerned about sleeping on the floor and what it would do to my body the next day. Scary people, very scary.

I hope that when I write next time there is more interesting things going on but until then.

~M

To Be Or Not To Be...

A bit vegetarian. So my darling son decided a few months ago that it was mean to eat Piggies. So I stopped fixing bacon, pork chops, pork loin, sausage, etc. And only cooked Chicken, Fish, lots of Turkey and occasionally Beef. There were several choices when cooking dinner so I didn't mind the slight change in menu. Then a couple of weeks after that Anthony was talking to his grandpa and eating a hamburger and his grandpa decided to ask him, "so you don't eat piggies because they are cute? Well don't you know where hamburgers come from, you eat cows and chickens and turkeys too you know...do you think that they are cute?" Anthony stopped eating and said that he would not be eating chicken, pork, turkey or beef. So it has been nothing short of a challenge to think of what to make for dinners.

To keep it short...I gave up. I found this fake soy or tofu chicken and make it for Anthony in conjunction with what we are eating for dinner. He didn't like the tofu concoction that I made one night and neither did I. It was pretty gross. I do have to think of better ways to include protein and soy into his diet without it tasting horrible.

He has not really come to the realization that becoming a true vegatarian would include not eating eggs, cheese, fish or drinking dairy products. I think that it is good that he does want to do something good for himself and his fellow furry friends, but he is a bit young and still growing to cut out those things and I can't cook him fish every night. So I have to come up with some recipes and ideas for food that don't include the meats that he refuses to eat. I put chicken on his tostada one night when we had them and he scraped off the chicken and just ate the beans and veggies. That was the last time that I tried to talk him into eating the things that he refuses, because it won't do any good.

So if anyone has any recipes or can give me some pointers PLEASE let me know. I would even be willing to leave my e-mail address so that you can send them. I am desprate. I don't know what to do, my tofu recepies suck! LOL...:)

~M

Nothing Much...Just Chillin'

Cisco and I went to Sedona for our yearly Valentines getaway. I know that I am about a month behind when writing about it, but if you click his link then you will read all about it, so I guess there is really no need for me to do so, with the exception of me having a great time and wishing that we could do it again very soon. While we were there though Cisco let me adopt a baby...and her name is Amber. She is so soft! But I thought that it would be a great idea that while on our way home I put her up on the ledge that over looks the Hoover Dam while the sun was down. The wind blew her down and nearly tipped her over the edge. After saving her life I had Cisco hold her for this picture. It was a very unsettling feeling...lol. The kids had their Valentines dinner at school and it was the usual scream fest. All the boys chased eachother around and all the girls huddled in the bathroom or corners to talk about the boys that they liked. And there were only girls dancing, typical. But it was fun. I also got to see who it is that Olivia is madly in love with this month, well I guess it's been going on for a while, but I'm just hoping that it's not going to spell out trouble in the very near future.Other than that I guess that is the news of the month. Nothing new and exciting, exept for the inevitable garage sale since the weather is warming up around here. It will be nice to start working on things in the house with the windows open, as well as in the garage, God knows that it needs to be done and soon. So until next time...

~M