In Which This Experiance Was So Weird I Don't Even Have A Title For It.

Today I got off work early and I got to do something I seldom get to do.

I got to spend some blissful time alone. :)

I finished my Christmas shopping, and then, I got to go to Barnes and Nobel and drink a nice hot cup of coffee and bury myself into a book. I can't even describe the HAPPY that brings me.

I would have done a fat-happy dance if I wasn't, you know, in a public place.

I may or may not have done it anyways.

Anyways, back to the point.

(Sometimes I swear I have the attention span of a gnat. )

(If you know, gnats had attention spans)

(Oops here I go again)

So I had just settled into the big comfy chair with my book about to enjoy an hour or so of 100% pure happy, when all of a sudden I herd a shrill. The kind of shrill that could quite possibly break glass. I looked up and saw this teenage boy talking to his stuffed Pokemon character.

I don't know this little guys name but, this is the culprit.

I didn't really think anything about it, at first and went back to reading. Then OH THEN he starts to talk to the toy. Not only is he talking to it, he is talking in this high pitched voice that I can't even describe. Except to say if a dog was around it would howl!

Again, determined to enjoy myself for a little while I decide to ignore this kid and his "friend". So, a few more moments pass and I bury myself back into my book. The entire time this kid is talking to the toy, throwing the toy in the air, putting the toy on his head, on the table, reading to to toy, whathaveyou.

Did I mention that this kid was like 16-18?

He had car keys for goodness sakes!

So this goes on for a while, and finally...FINALLY he settles down. It is quite. I am again about 87 different kinds of happy. Enjoying my coffee, cuddled up in a chair, reading....

Oh AND THEN...

This kid lets out a scream that would make the devil cover his ears! I looked up and he is now GIVING BIRTH TO THE POKEMON CHARACTER!!!!

He has his feet up on the table (I swear my Grandmother just rolled over in her grave!) pulling the plush toy out of the zipper of his jeans...AND SCREAMING!

"Get it out of me"

"I need to push"

"Give me drugs"

No, I'm not kidding!

Actually, at this point the employees came and asked the guy to leave. I had already walked away so I don't know what happened after that.

So much for a nice, quite time alone.

I decided it would be more peaceful to go get Zach and go home.

Happy (Bloggy) Birthday To Me!!

Today is my bloggy birthday! I started this blog a year ago today! It's hard to believe that I have been doing this for an entire year! Well, that and the fact that I am no better at it today that I was a year ago! (Hardy Har Har)

I started this little blog because the Doctors were afraid that Zachary may have Autism. Thankfully, he does not and all ended well. I also have made/reconnected with some great friends that I wouldn't have otherwise. New friends are always a plus!

Soooo, since we can't all get together for cake and ice cream (plus I'm supposed to be on a diet) and Christmas is right around the corner I decided to share some GREAT webernet shopping with you all.

Please click on the links, and go check these sites out, you never know, you might just find a great Christmas present for someone on your list!

Baby Be Blessed

This website makes beautiful handmade dolls (male and female) that I fell in love with back in July! They involve you in every step of the process, you choose the material, hair color, clothes pattern. While all that is fun and great, that's not the best part! These dolls come with a scripture sewn onto their bellies. You get to pick which bible verse you want on the doll, and they will even let you put a short message on it if you want. When I found out that my sister was having a girl I ordered her one, and I couldn't be more pleased! Here is a picture of my niece with her doll.

Engraved Euniques

This website offers personalized engraved tiles for every occasion. I ordered one for my (other) sister as a housewarming gift and I love it! It came in the mail very quick, and Kaye was very easy to do business with. I chose to have scripture engraved on the one that I bought but the options are endless.

Faith Baby

This website is too cute! They have baby clothes with religious sayings on them. Their Christmas collections is a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e! I've herd that they're having a sale :)

Land of Nod

Micah suggested them to to me. I haven't personally bought anything from them, but I did take some time looking around the site yesterday and I fell in love. They have some great stuff!!

Tis The Season

I have always loved Christmas. It is my favorite time of year! I love the time with family, the decorations, the smells, the cold, just everything about the season just oozes HAPPY!!!



Last year was not the best Christmas season I've ever had. It just never felt like Christmas. My little sister had just moved away to Texas, it was warm(ish), I was swamped in school and work. I was really having a hard time getting into the Spirit. So my sister and I came up with this last minute idea to make Christmas candy. (Come to find out that massive amounts of candy will heal anything.) We had so much fun we decided to make it a new tradition.

Yesterday, Stacee called me and decided to let the boys make sugar cookies before we make the Christmas candy next week. It actually turned out really well, the boys had a blast and Stacee and I survived! So, I thought I will share some pictures. My Sister and Me. Two brave women!!

The boys getting ready to mix the cookie dough!

Avery ready for action

Putting the icing on the cookies

So, as you can see things got a little messy for poor Avery, but a good time was had by all! Next week I will go make Christmas Candy with Stacee and I'm sure I'll have pics of that as well.

Also, one more thing before I go, I want to do a post in the coming days of good gift ideas. If any of you want to share your favorite website that you have used to buy Christmas presents before please e-mail me with the details.

In Which I Become The Worst Blogger EVER!

I am aware that I have become the worst blogger in the history of bad Blogger's ever. (Not that I think that there is a history of bad Blogger's, but if there were I would be on it) I really don't know why I have taken some sort of blogging hiatus, but as it seems, I have. Truth be told I keep telling myself that I haven't done anything worth writing about. That for the most part is true, my life at the moment is blissfully UN-eventful.

But...

Yesterday when I was downloading some of the pictures off of my camera I saw some things that I wanted to share. My Dad is an avid deer hunter (if by avid you mean going to the woods for a week, and coming home with nothing, year after year, after year, after....well you get the point). This fall my Sister and I loaded up the kids and took them out for the day to see "Papaw". Zachary got his first fishing experience.
The only thing that was fished out of the water that day was my nephew Avery. He decided to walk right into the pond! (Seriously, the kid didn't even stop to think about it. Like he thought he could walk on water) But the boys (and Papaw) had fun anyways.

Also, my friend Brandi came into town a few months ago and I was so excited to be able to spend time with her. We hadn't seen each other in a year so the time spent together was well needed!

(Don't you just hate her? I look like the Goodyear Blimp beside her! And she's the one thats had four kids!!! Its sooo not fair)

I have also had my nose in a book for most of my free time. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to read. I was wondering if any of you have a good book recommendation for me? I am looking for another good book to dig into before the time I have to start school and throw my nose into a nursing book again. :)

So, now that we are caught up hopefully I will get back on a schedule!

Talk to you soon!

Guest Blogger Brandi

As promised I begged and pleaded asked my friend Brandi to write a guest post. She is the proud Mommy of four beautiful children, so as you can imagine she has some pretty funny "Mommy Stories" to share. So pour a cup of coffee/tea/hot coco, sit back and realx, and enjoy a few funny stories. Hopefully you will soon see why I love this girl so much!

************************************************************************************

Hi I'm Brandi, our friend Jennie here has asked me to be a guest um... blogger? I've never blogged before so bear with me please.

First of all I'd like to tell u a little bit about our friendship. I've been friends with Jennie now since the 4th grade. We have been through a lot together, and I wouldn't take back a minute of it. We have one of those rare friendships that, when I look back over it at anytime I am guaranteed to bust out in hysterical laughter, of course this always seems to happen in public (I get strange looks daily). Some of my fondest memories are of us driving around in her car doing absolutely nothing and having a blast!

Jennie suggested that I tell some war stories about being a mom/domestic engineer (that’s fancy for housewife. I always add in monkey wrangler to the occupation slot :D). Since I am blessed with four kids she figured I had plenty to share, so here goes, sorry if I bore you to tears!

Ok Lily, sweet Lily, is my oldest child and the most outgoing! She is beautiful and energetic in every sense of the word. When she was almost 2 she had her first time-out. I don't remember why she was in time-out, but I will never forget what happened in the next few minutes. I stuck her nose in the corner told her to stay and went off to finish the dishes. A few minutes later I returned to free her from her "prison" and saw she was still in the corner! As I walked towards her; I have to admit I was praising myself for raising such an obedient child that stays when she told at such a young age and reveling over what a smart child she was I saw it.
“Lily what’s this?"
"Happy stinky!" she replied with pride blazing on her face.
"Where did you get a hold of a brown marker?" I asked.
"Poopy!"She beamed back.
In the total of 3 minutes this girl was in the corner she managed to poop her diaper, deduce how to get it out and then proceed to paint her artful vision of happy in the medium of fecal matter all over my white wall! In case you didn't already know this Windex will clean just about anything.

Next up Andrew! Andrew is reserved but very handsome and something surprising will always come out of his mouth. One day I had returned from Wal-Mart with new tighty whiteys for him. Expecting the "Oh! Mom! underwear? Where's my toy?" response, I got the exact opposite... "Oh thank you, thank you Momma now I can be a super hero!"
Shocked and somewhat speechless over the reaction I watched him scuttle off into the house happily clutching his new undies. Soon he returned outside clad in nothing but aforementioned new undies and a red hanky tied cape style around his neck, he hopped around the corner hands on his hips and announced
"I'm Tighty Whitey Boy and I'll save the day!" (I may or may not have peed my own pants from laughing so hard).
Mine and Jennie's following week was decorated with random Tighty Whitey Boy jokes.

Abby is the most quiet of the four, she is so sweet and gentle in everything she does. I had made gummy worms one day and completely amazed she asked me
"How you do that Mommy?"
"Magic" I answered
"Wow!"
About a week later when the last gummy worms had been eaten of course Abby comes and asks for one.
"Gummy worm please Mommy?"
"They're all gone darlin' I will have to make some more."
Thinking the conversation was over I returned to my task, after about 5 minutes I turned around to find her still staring at me.
"Abby honey what are you doing?"
"You have to say Abra-Dabra-Gummy Worm!" and that’s when I learned that she takes me way too seriously.

Michael is the baby he is rough and tough and hardly anything stops him. No certain story has popped up in my mind for him but, I will tell you the kid runs fast, I mean fast. He is 19 months old and when he runs I believe he is literally defying the laws of physics. The way he wabbles the kid should live with his nose in the dirt. When he screams (he is in the fit-pitching stage) someone always yells "The tea is ready!" But he loves his hugs and kisses and his food and I wouldn’t expect anything less!

I think I was supposed to tell The Waterpik Story but this thing is already too long its even annoying me. Thanks for reading!

I'm Baaa-aack!

Wow.

It has been a long time. I am what my IRL* friend Micah called a Slogger. A slacker blogger.

*In real life

I wish I had some really exciting story to explain my absence, but I don't. So this post is to play catch-up. So bare with me here, while we get caught up on a few things.

First of all, Monday was my Birthday. I am officially an old woman. Let me prove this theory. I went to some semi-local shopping outlets with my Mom on Monday to go shopping and find a new wardrobe. I shopped about 1284 stores, just knowing that I was going to go home with a completely glamorous wardrobe. I tried on outfit after outfit just knowing that "this one" was it. I also came home empty handed. Call me crazy, but I don't like any of the new styles out right now. There is just something about the "homeless logger" look that is not appealing to me. Five years ago I would have worn it anyways because that is what was in style. Now that I am an old woman, I chose to come home with no new clothes.

Second we have been hit. It crept in on us like a thief in the night. Silent. Harsh. Unrelenting. Unforgiving. It is the Swine Flu, and it is evil. I picked up Zachary from the babysitter on a Sunday night. He woke up that night with a 104 temp. I took him to the Doctor on Monday morning and they confirmed my suspicions. Positive Group A Flu Test...aka H1N1. We were house ridden for three days. He was so sick it was pitiful!

Third I finally got to meet my niece. She is so much more beautiful than I ever thought. I have enjoyed every minute with her. I will ask you guys to pray for my brother-in-law because he leaves for Iraq on Tuesday. She in her Mom (my sister) will be coming home to stay while he is away. I can't say that I'm sad about that, but I do ask that you pray for his safety while he is away, and for my sister to have strength since she will be a single mom for a while.

I also have a few other request. My friend Angie announced this week that she is pregnant again. Please join me in praying for her and her family. I believe that not one person in this "blogasphere" does not know how the last pregnancy ended. So please pray for a healthy pregnancy, and baby.

Also I am sure we all know Stellan's Story. He is in the hospital again with SVT and is not doing well at all. Please pray for his recovery, and Jennifer's strength and peace at this very difficult time.

And finally, be sure to check back in with me tomorrow, because I will have a guest blogger. I have asked my best friend Brandi to share some of her "Mommy Stories" with us all. I'm sure with four kids she has plenty. Please drop by tomorrow and show Brandi how loving my Lovelies are!

I think we are all caught up now. It was good to talk to you all again. I promise to do better.

Talk to y'all tomorrow!

Whatever Happened To The Customer Is Always Right?

I have noticed something over the past few weeks. Something that actually disturbes me a little. You may have noticed this too.



Customer Service Is Dead My Friends!!



I have worked with the public since I was 16 years old. One thing that was (painfully) drilled into my head was "Make the customer happy" or "The customer is always right".



Well much to my dismay, those days are long gone.



Take for instance the lady at the checkout that was on her cell phone the entire time she was checking me out. Never spoke to me, not even once! But I can say that she is going to buy her husband a new pair of shoes for his birthday next week! I'm glad, I was worried my bothering her to want to pay for my merchandise would doom her husband to walking around barefoot, and I would just never forgive myself.





Or a different cashier at a different store who let out a blood curling scream right in the middle of checking me out, and went running to the other end of the room. I was shocked! I checked to make sure I didn't have some kind of monster hanging out of my nose, or that Zach didn't let out some sort of atomic bomb in his pants. When I was sure that I didn't cause the little breakdown she came back to explain that a spider crawled across her register. A little melodramatic?



Then there was the guy at the hardware store. I asked him where something was, and I was told if I would look "down that way" I would see it. Since I came to him from "down that way" and didn't see it, that may be why I was asking for assistance.



Call me old fashioned, but I'm not giving these people my money to be treated like I'm bothering them!! What happened to the days of old when people would pump your gas for you? Or come to you while you are shopping to ask if you need help finding something? Or, at the least, GET OFF THE PHONE while they are waiting on you?

I'm curious, do you have any bad experiences to share?