Oh, happy day!!!

Cause of Happiness #1:

I did it!!! I successfully completed NaBloPoMo!! Sorry you had to read some of those 'posts,' but hey, I made a commitment, and I had to see it through!

Cause of Happiness #2: (The REAL one!)

Most of my Bloggy Buddies can imagine how un-freakin'-believably THRILLED I was to walk out of the Hell-Hole today, and see.......SNOW!!!! It was barely detectable, but it was snow, nonetheless. :)

I tried to capture it for you on the way home.


Yeah, I can't see it here, either.


I ran some errands after school, and it was dark when I got home. I decided to try and capture the flurries again. (Hey, I REALLY wanted to share it with my friends!)


Again, not so much, right?

Ah, but then Dorky Dog wanted to outside, and I realized I could finally get a good shot in my back door light.

Did you see it?!?! Isn't it beautiful?!?! I only wish it was snow snow. You know, the kind that sticks and covers the landscape with the most delightful white blanket....ah, soon enough!

Look at how cute those little flurries are on my recycling bin!
The flurries are supposed to continue all night, so maybe there'll be a little snow on the ground in the morning. You know damn well that if there is, I'll be photographing it for you ! ;-)

Thanks to all of you that stuck with me during NaBloPoMo. I appreciate all your love and support. (and hilarious comments!) I'm actually considering doing it again for December, especially since I'll be on vacation for nearly the entire month. I just don't know if I can subject you guys to another month my 'stuff.' Stay tuned....

Oh no, not again!

This is going to be a total BS post, because I'm sitting at the damn bar!! My brother had a minor crisis, and needed me to work tonight. Holy crap, I haven't worked here in well over a year and a half!! (My longtime Bloggy Buddies might remember those days well!) I don't even think I remember what the hell to do! We have nearly 60 martinis on our menu, and tonight is Martini Monday (all specialty martinis are $5. Come on down!) We also got brand new, fancy shmancy registers, with touch-screen computer thingys, and I really don't know how the hell to use them. I came here the day they were installed (about a year ago!) so I could be trained on them, but then I literally never looked at them again! Yikes!!!

I couldn't fail NaBloPoMo with only two days to go, so here I am. And, here I go! I'll try to come back later!

Sunday Sketches (and other stuff)

I haven't posted any of Stud Muffin's art lately. I know I posted about this project he's been working on in the past. I never came back and shared the last 3 sins. I haven't scanned them yet, but when I do, I'll show you them individually. In the meantime, I'll show you these shots.

He had asked for my input on how to put the final project together. He wanted to just mount them on a piece of white poster board.I suggested he use red poster board, as I thought it would make the red in the drawings pop. We took these two photos and emailed them to his teacher. Gee...guess which one she liked.... And he thinks I don't have a creative bone in my body. HA!

He was trying to decide what to 'frame' the drawings with, and decided on a totally cool idea. He's going to write various Bible passages that are relevant to each Deadly Sin, scrolling the writing around each drawing.

I thought it would be really cool to trim the drawings, leaving a small border of white, and then mounting them on a black background. I thought it would look really cool on the red background. He ran the idea past his teacher, and she wholeheartedly agreed.

I helped Stud trim the drawings and mount them on black mats that I cut from a poster board. Maybe you can click on it to enlarge it and see the three pictures I haven't posted yet.

This is how I would arrange them on the poster board.
This is how Stud is going to mount them.
He has almost all the passages picked out of the Bible, and he's going to start writing them tomorrow. He is going to do something really cool with the writing. Many moons ago, he invented a special kind of writing, like a code, that he uses in some of his game designing. He told his teacher that he wants to write the passages in both English and his own 'language.' Surprisingly, she thought it was a good idea. I'm really curious to see how it turns out in the end.

I actually got something accomplished today besides helping Stud with his art. This is 'his' tree in the basement. I wish you could enlarge it enough to see the ornaments. These are all ornaments he's received as gifts since birth. He's got quite a collection already. Obviously, he has enough to decorate a whole tree! (Every year, my mother, sister and I give him a personalized ornament. My grandmother always gave him an ornament, as well.)
This is 'my' tree upstairs. I had intended to decorate it exclusively with my penguin ornaments. (I have enough to decorate at least two trees!) However, I was feeling far too lazy to dig the boxes out of the garage, so I only used the ornaments I already had in the house from last Christmas. It's a combination of a few penguins, and all of my 'teacher ornaments.' Again, too bad you can see them. Maybe I'll get a burst of energy this week, and I'll dig those other boxes out and add the penguins to the tree.
Wow, it's WAY past my bedtime. It was so glorious to have these past 4 days off. And, hey, I only have to get through the next 2 weeks before we go on Christmas Break. Woo-freakin'-hoo!!! I'll be off from Dec. 10-Jan. 3. I can NOT wait!!!! Maybe between now and then I'll find a way to not go back. (Yeah, it's gotten THAT bad!) Maybe I'll find another job. Or, I'll win the lottery. Or, as my uncle suggested last night, maybe I'll find a rich boyfriend. HA! Like I told him, it wouldn't be worth the hassle!!

Never a dull moment...

I just got back from my cousin's get-together, and I'm pretty exhausted. I left around the same time as my parents to go to the party. Literally as I was parking in front of my cousin's house, my cell phone rang, and it was my dad. He had a blow-out on the expressway. I immediately turned my car around and started driving back. Because of the way the exits are, I had to drive almost all the way back to where I started before I could turn around and go back to where my parents were. By the time I got there, a state trooper had stopped to see if everything was ok. The plan originally was for me to just come and get my mom, as my dad had also called my brother, who was going to come and help my dad change the tire. The trooper told me that he had called a 'help truck' and that it should be there soon. My brother pulled up behind me about 5 minutes after I got there. I snatched up my mom and left. I just now realized I didn't even ask my dad if that truck ever showed up. After the tire was changed, my dad drove all the way home to switch cars, since he didn't want to drive on the donut.

The party was nice. LOTS of food, lots of good company. My cousin's boyfriend bought this house as a rehab project that he intended to sell. It's finally finished, so they hosted Thanksgiving for their families on Thursday, and now they had this open house today. They are actually considering moving into the house. They currently live in a very posh condo on the lake, on the very far north side. The condo also has a mortgage, which this house doesn't. They're thinking of selling the condo, and living in the house for a few years to save up some money. Sounds like a plan to me! The only downside is that my cousin works downtown, so the commute would kinda suck from Indiana. He would take the train, for sure, so it wouldn't be completely impossible, but still. I actually was able to make it to the house in Indiana in less time than it ever took me to get to their condo! No bumper-to-bumper city traffic to contend with is definitely a plus!!

I'm far too tired to really write anything else right now. I hope you all have had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend so far. I'm looking forward to spending tomorrow putting up the Christmas decorations. Have you put yours up yet?

Guess who had a great time at the concert....

Somebody LOVES his Mommy!!
I tried about 40 jabillion times to get a nice picture of us together on our Date Night. We took pictures at the concert. I had both of my parents try when we stopped at their house for left-overs on the way home from the concert. Stud and I tried the self-portrait route without much luck.
We finally gave up. At least I finally got one where you can see the teeth I spent nearly $6,000 for!!

I took a LOT of pictures at the concert, and a couple of snips of video.
Date Night was awesome!!!

My Date

Stud had a birthday a few weeks ago. One of his gifts from me was tickets to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He really loves them. As a matter of fact, last Christmas, he asked for their CD(s). Guess what his stupid mother got him? Their CDs! I never claimed to be the brightest bulb in the chandelier!

Anyway, in about an hour, we'll be setting off for an afternoon concert. I actually thought the concert was at 8 pm. My intention was to have Date Night with my handsome son. I even sent regrets to a friend's wife who is having a surprise 30th birthday party for him, because I thought we'd be at the concert! Then, yesterday I pulled up the email confirming my ticket purchase, to check the venue. Imagine my surprise when I saw 3:00 pm! I just may be going to that party after all. :)

In about 2 1/2 hours, we'll be enjoying this:

Are you jealous? ;-)

A peek at our Thanksgiving

It's nearly 2 am, and I'm just getting home from my parents'. I hated to leave so early, but I've got a date tomorrow (tonight?). I'll tell you all about it later. In the meantime, let me share a few photos from our Thanksgiving.

I just had to start with this ridiculous picture. My poor Daddy!! He was cursed with a non-existent rear-end (of course, I did NOT inherit this trait!!) which means his pants tend to droop. While he was in the middle of removing the turkey from the pan, my brother noticed that his pants were droopier than usual. So, of course, he started teasing him. He lifted my dad's shirt, and noticed that the top of his underwear was showing, so that added a whole new dimension to his teasing. He started asking him when he went 'gansta' and so on. It was pretty funny, actually. Then, as my brother tends to do, he crossed the line, and decided it would be really funny if he tucked my dad's shirt into his underwear. Now, my poor father had both hands literally full of a hot bird, so he was helpless against my brother's antics. Obviously, I decided that instead of helping my dad, I'd take some pictures of the torture!

Here's my niece, posing with her favorite cousin. Isn't my brother's dog a cutie?!
My mother sure knows how to set a table. This picture doesn't do it justice.
The antipasto platter. I know - typical dagos, right!?
I HAD to take these next pictures, just to share the insanity. THIS is what the spread looked like AFTER we all ate!! My mother only knows how to cook for a minimum of 20 people. Too bad there were only 8 of us!

Um...yeah...that ham went completely UNTOUCHED.

As usual, my brother took a nap after dinner. Don't you love how he's hanging half off the couch so that the dog can snuggle with him?
My sissy and her youngest. So sweet!
How cute are these two?
At some point, my older niece ended up taking a nap right on the floor, alongside the dog.
These two really love each other. Can't you tell?
My Sissy and Me!!
Aw...my sissy loves me. :)
I hope you all had as wonderful a Thanksgiving as we did.

Bitch Fest, Part 2

Since I passed out so early last night, I've been sitting here, awake, since 4am. I figured it was as good a time as any to finally give you the rest of the boring story. If you missed Part 1 (or you just have no life!) go here first.

So, the delivery guys leave, and my family sits down to the yummy dinner I had bubbling away in my crockpots. Being a Tuesday night, that meant glee was on, which is a favorite of my sister, nieces, mom and myself. Unfortunately, because I was playing hostess, I wasn't able to really watch. Par for the course, considering how my day was going up til that point, right? I figured I'd just watch it the next day online. By the time glee was over, we were pretty much finished with dinner, so we cleaned up, all the girls went upstairs to watch DWTS, which freed up the TV in the basement for Stud to play XBox, and my daddy and I headed to the hardware store.

We picked up all the things we needed to hook up the stove, washer and dryer. Daddy hooked up the stove first. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy! Less than 5 minutes later, I was testing out the burners. One of the cool features of my new stove is that it has a 'power burner' with, I think, 1,200 BTUs, so it boils water incredibly fast. I can't wait to test that one out. Then it was off to the laundry room.

We started with the dryer. We bought a gas hose, which comes in standard lengths, to connect the dryer to the gas line. Well, whatta ya know. It wasn't long enough!! Without going off on a whole separate rant about the basement remodel, suffice it to say, there were several things that were not done to proper standards. So, while Daddy started connecting the water hoses to the washer, I jumped in the car to get a second gas connector.

I get in and out pretty quickly, considering it was after 9 pm and the store was nearly empty. I rush back home, we connect the second connector to the first, then Daddy attempts to connect it to the dryer. Why was I even surprised that it STILL wasn't going to work?! The coupler on the connector was a different size than the connector on the dryer. We needed to get an adapter. WTF?! Shouldn't this shit all be standard size?! This time, Daddy ran to the hardware store (Trip #3, if you're keeping track!!) for the connector, while I did the dishes from earlier. I was afraid he might not make it in time, since the store closed at 10.

Luckily, he made it in time. We FINALLY get everything connected on the dryer, then the washer. It seemed like everything was hunky dorey. My poor daddy was exhausted, as was I. Out of the whole houseful of people there, we are the only two who work, so it had been a long day for both of us. Actually, my sister and nieces left before Trip #3 to the store, because it was getting late, and the kids had school the next day. They took my mom with them so they could drop her off on the way. By the time my dad was able to leave, it was after 11:00. I felt terrible for him. I tend to forget that my daddy is nearly 70 years old. He's still just my Daddy, ya know?

Anyway, about 5 minutes after he left, he called me from the car to tell me he forgot to turn the gas on after he hooked up the hoses. I told him it was no problem, I'll go do it right now. I turned the little switch, and immediately smelled gas. I turned it off, then checked the connections. I actually found one of the couplers between the two hoses was loose, so I just tightened it by hand. But, I didn't turn the gas back on because I figured I wouldn't really be able to tell if it was still leaking, since the laundry room already smelled like gas. I decided to just try it again in the morning.

The next day, I went down before school and turned the gas on again. This time, there was a very faint smell of gas, but I wasn't sure it necessarily meant there was a leak, since the water heater is also in my small laundry room, and I occasionally do smell a little gas. I figured it was ok, and went to work.

That day, I had a bunch of errands to run after work, and didn't get home until about 5:30. Stud and I had stopped at the grocery store, so he unloaded the bags, and was starting to carry them in the house while I pulled the car into the garage. He opened the door, and started yelling to me. "Mom!! The whole house smells like gas!!" WTF?! I immediately propped the storm door open, and went inside. We scrambled to find a flashlight, and I headed down to the laundry room. I turned the gas off again, swore at myself for being such an assbag and leaving it on in the first place, then went upstairs and opened the front door. After about 15 minutes, the house seemed to be aired out enough to turn the lights on, so I went back down, and tried to check the hoses again. Everything seemed ok to me, but really, what the hell do I know?!

Since it was Wednesday (one of his shooting days), my dad wasn't going to be around, so I tried to call my friend's husband (the one who did the remodel) to see if he could come over and check things out for me. Unfortunately, he didn't answer. I wasn't sure who to call next. I wasn't even going to bother calling CSJ. I'd rather die from gas asphyxiation than call him lately (that's another post all together!).

I finally decided to call my sister's ex-husband. Luckily, we're still pretty friendly, so I figured he might be willing to help me out. He was out having dinner with my oldest niece when I reached him, but of course, he said he'd come over when he was finished. Actually, what he said first was, "Ok, close all the doors and windows, and throw matches at each other til I get there." He thinks he's so funny!

I hung up with him, and went right to work on making a pan of brownies for him. I figured it was the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, and give my new oven a test-drive. I turned it on to preheat, and started mixing up the batter. I was upstairs, and suddenly smelled something that smelled like burning plastic. WHAT THE HELL!?

I immediately thought that maybe I missed some of the packing tape or plastic wrap, etc. on the stove. I ran downstairs to check, but didn't see anything. Next thing I know, the damn smoke detector starts screaming. Yeah, great, why not?! I'm still checking out the stove/oven, Stud is yelling across the house to find out what's going on, I'm yelling back at him to come help me, it was a classic clusterfuck! Stud finally gets off his ass and comes over to the screaming detector. He pushes some button, which, thankfully, shuts it off. Then he says, "Isn't this thing a carbon monoxide detector, too? Maybe that's the problem." Yeah, you're a bundle of help, aren't ya? Cuz I didn't have enough to worry about, now I'm convinced we're going to die from carbon monoxide poisoning!

I come to the conclusion that the burning smell must have been whatever oils were on the surface of the oven from the factory, and again, air out the house for a while. The brownies make it into the oven, my new fancy timer gets set, and I go clean up the dishes. My brother-in-law and niece arrive, and he gets right to work. He walks into my house with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth, which of course made me yell at him because a) I don't let ANYONE smoke in my house (including my own mother!) and b) um...HELLO!! You're coming to check a damn gas leak, you moron!!

About 10 seconds after walking into the laundry room, he launches into a tirade about all the things that were done wrong in the construction of the laundry room. "I hope you didn't pay somebody for this mess!" "Who the hell did this work?!" etc. He starts telling me all the things that need to be fixed, including the gas line that needs to be moved/extended. "If it was done right, you wouldn't need TWO hoses!" Blah, blah, blah...Just fix it, for Pete's sake!

Apparently, the finger-tightening I did the night before was the problem. He tightened it with a couple of wrenches, then tested it by...wait for it...holding a damn LIGHTER up to the hose at each connection to see if gas was leaking!! Oh, that guy is gonna give me a stroke one day! Then, he gave a LONG list of all the things that need to be 'fixed' in the laundry room. I told him to write it all down, and he can come do it anytime he's free!

After visiting for a bit, he and my niece left with their brownies. I really wanted to test out the washer and dryer, but at this point, I was just wiped out. I did try them out the next day, and I already posted about not being used to the washer yet.

Oh, I just remembered something. This is NOT a gripe, because I would NEVER bitch about my daddy, but it is kinda funny. After I washed the first load of clothes in my new machine, I noticed that when I opened the washer, it was kind of warm in there. I always wash my clothes in cold water, so it struck me as strange, but I thought maybe it had something to do with how the new washer worked. I put the clothes in the dryer and didn't think about it again. I did a couple more loads over the next couple of days. I think it was maybe load #4 that solved the mystery for me. I stopped the washer after it started to throw one more piece of clothing in, and I noticed that the there was hot water in the machine. Huh?! After a little investigating, I realized that, somehow, Daddy must have crossed the hoses when he hooked them up to the machine. They're connected correctly to the water pipes, so it must be the connection to the machine. For now, my solution was to just set the washer to 'hot' so that it actually washes with cold. I still haven't told him yet, cuz I don't want him to even have to deal with it. I figured at some point over this long weekend, I'll just move the washer myself and switch the hoses. Or, more than likely, I'll just leave it the way it is. ;-)

I'm all bitched out now that I've been sitting here for over an hour, typing away and watching the news, so I'm going to stop now. Hey, it's only 5:45 am, maybe I can go back to sleep for a while. Or, I could join the rest of the nutballs who are out shopping right now. Nah, I think I'll just stay right here in bed and rest some more. I just wish I could lie down and still breath. This sleeping-sitting-up thing is getting old. :(

Happy Thanksgiving to my Bloggy Buddies!

How ridiculous is it...

...that I've been fighting the urge to go to sleep for about 2 hours now? I forced myself to run a couple of errands right after work, including going to the majorly crowded grocery store. That really did me in. All I wanted to do when I got home was go straight to bed. But, first, I had to make the things I'm bringing to my parents' for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Then, I had to clean up the kitchen, and unload, then reload, the dishwasher. I also had to wash a sink full of dishes that didn't fit in the dishwasher.

Only THEN was I able to put my jammies on, climb into bed, check email and read all my favorite blogs. Now, here I am with yet another boring post. In about 5 minutes, I plan to be snoozing away. Yes, I DO know it's not even 8 pm. What the hell is your point?!

I really wish I could shake this damn bug already. I just can NOT get enough sleep. It was hard to make it through this short, 3-day week at school. I hope after 4 days away from the Hell-Hole, I'll finally feel rested.

I'm sick & tired of being sick & tired!

Whatever it is my body's been fighting for the past couple of weeks really got me last night. (That would explain the total BS post for last night, although it did make me smile.) I never got a break yesterday, thanks to a grade level meeting, which means I never ate lunch. I didn't have breakfast, either, because I was running really late, because I had to take Stud to school, which really threw off my whole morning. Because I was running late, I didn't have time to stop for coffee. The lack of caffeine did nothing to help my lack of energy. :(

I had to run a couple of errands right after school. But, I was so hungry, I didn't even get to finish them, as I started to get the shakes. I ended up calling Bestest Friend, who then met Stud and me at our favorite restaurant. We scarfed down anything that wasn't nailed down at our table, and then I raced home because a) I was exhausted and b) I had to make sure I was home in time for the Dancing with the Stars finale.

Well, I made it home by 6, which meant I had plenty of time to put my jammies on and get comfy in bed. Yeah....big mistake. I turned the TV on, started checking emails, posted yesterday's little story, and the last time I remember checking the clock, it was 6:45. That's all I remember. I think I passed out. I didn't wake up until 6:30 this morning!! Oh, I was so pissed!

I actually just finished watching DWTS online, so I'm all caught up, but that's not the point. I suppose I should just be glad that I was able to actually get 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep, right? Obviously, my body needed it. I still pretty much feel like crap today, though. I can NOT shake this cough, which like I said, I think is bronchitis. If I'm not better by Thanksgiving, I'll be going to see someone on Friday.

Holy cow, won't you be glad when NaBloPoMo is finally over, so you won't have to read all the boring details of my life?! Thanks, C, I know right now you're yelling at your computer that you LOVE reading this crap! hahaha! To the rest of you, I apologize.

Email of the Day

It's amazing how your values change as you age...

An elderly lady was standing at the railing of the cruise ship
holding her hat tight so that it would not blow away in the wind.

A gentleman approached her and said, "Pardon me, madam..
I do not intend to be forward but did you know that your dress
is blowing up in this high wind?"

"Yes, I know," said the lady. I need both my hands
to hold onto this hat."

"But madam, you must know that you are not wearing any panties
and your privates are exposed!" said the gentleman in earnest.

The woman looked down, then back up at the man
and replied, "Sir, anything you see down there is 75 years old.

I just bought this hat yesterday!"

Better post before I pass out...

I set up a few things on Saturday night for the party today. I had intended to take more pictures today of the rest of the goodies, but I was just too tired to think straight. I've been fighting something for about two weeks now (I think I have bronchitis, actually) and I've just been so completely exhausted, no matter how much sleep I get. So, all I can share is what I did last night.

Here's the "drink station."

I decided to put together a tea basket, as many of my friends drink hot tea. There are no less than 15 different kinds of tea in here, as well as 3 kinds of hot chocolate.

I love these mugs. I only wish I had more than 4 of them.
There, that's better. They kinda match my Pampered Chef snowman plates.
These are Pampered Chef 'things,' but I'm not really sure what the hell they are actually intended to be used for. I decided to put them at the 'tea bar' so people could use them to hold their tea bag after it steeps. Usually, I put tea lights in them and line them up in another platter.
I know you can't tell from this picture, but those 'tubes' are actually vanilla-flavored Equal.
Here are those cute snowman plates I mentioned. I love them! They were a hostess bonus from one of my past shows.
I even busted out the M&M guys for today. They were freshly loaded with M&Ms.
I picked up this little tchotchke for my friend, Denise, who is also my Pampered Chef lady. I thought he was the perfect Santa for her!

Ok, that's all I got. I feel like I've been run over by a mack truck. There's still some cleaning up to do. I've already washed two sink-fulls of dishes. There's one more to go. It just may have to wait til tomorrow, when my back isn't KILLING me. I need to lie down. But, today was worth every bit of pain I'm in right now. I was able to see several friends who I haven't seen in a very long time, including 8741. I'm SO glad you and T-Bone could join us today!!

Oh, and the cake was actually a big hit. It was even uglier (if that's even possible!) when I took it out of the fridge today. The 'frosting' (cool-whip) cracked and the red icing bled, which made it look like a cake that was more appropriate for a Nightmare Before Christmas cake! But, let me tell you, nobody gave a rat's ass after we tasted it. It was REALLY good! There were two little pieces left after everyone was gone, and Stud and I polished them off. I'll definitely be making that again. And again! I'm thinking of making one next week for Thanksgiving. I'm already planning how I can make it look like a turkey.

I know you miss me...

...but I was really busy today. So, yes, this is a total fluff post. I've been getting ready for the Pampered Chef party I'm having tomorrow. Why do you think I had to get new appliances?! Duh!

I spent the day cleaning the basement. Wait, let me rephrase that. I spent the day de-cluttering the basement. I bagged up several bags of clothes that don't fit Stud anymore. I also did about 4 loads of laundry that was sitting in the laundry room from about half a year ago. Pathetic, right? I had a couple of baskets of stuff I had washed, dried and folded at the end of winter, but then never took them out of the laundry room, since they were 'out of season.'

I straightened out Stud's room, but only a little. I told him he had to have that room cleaned before the party starts tomorrow. Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen. He ended up spending the night at his buddy's.

I managed to completely clear off the island, which hasn't happened in a very long time. To be honest, what sparked this need to clear the clutter is the fact that my friend, 8741, will be coming to my house for the first time to attend the PC party tomorrow. My other friends already know I'm a total pack rat, and a bit of a slob, but I didn't want her to go running out of my house, screaming, so I thought I'd pick up a bit.

I also made a cake for tomorrow that is a Pampered Chef recipe. We were going to do it as part of the demonstration, but unfortunately, the cake needs to chill for at least 6 hours. I decided I would make one the night before, and then we could put a second one together at the show. But, then I realized that the second cake would be left here, and we couldn't have that! So, I told my friend I would just make it tonight, and she could just talk about how to make it.

This is the picture of the cake from the Pampered Chef catalog.
Here's my version:Admittedly NOT my best work, but I'm completely exhausted. It was the best I could do under the circumstances. I had intended to buy some Christmas candy (BESIDES the candy canes!) but I just didn't see anything I thought would work. I have a few pieces of chocolate in there, but you can't even really see it, huh? Oh, well, I can redecorate it tomorrow, before the show, I guess.

For now, I'm gonna hit the sack. I took some other pictures of what I set up tonight, but I don't have the energy to deal with Blogger right now.

Wait, WHAT time is it?!

Holy mother of pearl, it's 11:55!! I literally just walked in the door after a very fun-filled evening out with Stud and one of his besties. We went to dinner and then to see Stud's "wife" in her school play. We then all went out for frozen custard at a new place that just opened this week in my 'hood. I'm trying to remember if I've ever written about Stud's wife before. Quite frankly, I'm too exhausted to think that hard, so I'll just come back and do it later. Oh, and I didn't forget that I owe you Part 2 of Bitchfest. This is literally the first time I've gotten on a computer today. I'll try and do better tomorrow. :(

Bitch Fest, Part 1

Sometimes I can't believe how grown-up Stud has become. Then, there are times that it's like he's still a little boy. This is one of those times.

We stopped at the dollar store last night to get a poster board for an art project he has to do (photos coming soon!). He wanted some kind of stupid candy, and so he started acting like a little kid, trying to make me laugh and give in. All of a sudden, I hear him say, "If you buy it for me, I'll let you take a picture of me in this hat." I turned around and saw this:


I LOVE the look on the lady's face behind him. I'm sure she was trying to figure out why this grown man was wearing a dinosaur hat AND letting me take pictures of him! Actually, after I snapped this one, she immediately started apologizing for getting in the shot. Then we both had a good laugh at Stud's goofiness.

Now that I've had a few giggles, I suppose I can move on to the hell that the past couple of days have been.

My delivery window on Tuesday was 1-3pm. The truck showed up at around 2. Not bad. The delivery guys were to take out my old washer, dryer and fridge, and then bring in my new stove, refrigerator, washer and dryer. Great. I'll skip ahead to the part where the guy was going to attach the doors to my fridge. I realized that they were attached on the 'wrong' side. It then occurred to me that the salesman at Sears never asked me which way I wanted the doors to open! That was where the day went downhill. The guy told me that they (the delivery guys) weren't allowed to switch the hardware, and that it had to be done at the warehouse before the appliance is sent out. I told the guy to just leave the doors off because I was going to have to switch the hardware myself, so there was no reason to put the doors on just for me to take them back off, right?

As the delivery guys were leaving, one of them calls me over to the door, and shows me the two spots on my landing (you know, the one covered in bamboo!) where they scratched the ever-livin'-shit out of my hardwood!! Oh my hell!!! The scratches are bad. I wanted to cry. He then had the gall to ask me to try and use some kind of product to cover it up, and to not call and complain because they're independent contractors, and if I call and complain, they'd be responsible and it would cost them dearly, and yada yada, yada. I said, "Well, yeah, I'm sure, since it cost ME dearly to put the hardwood in!"

They leave, I start to switch the hardware. Well after taking out the first three screws, I realize I need a bit that I don't have to switch the rest. After doing some swearing, I decide I'm just going to have to put the doors on the way they are for now because my food has already been out of the fridge for a few hours now. I called my dad and he said he would come switch the stuff later. He also said he would come over and hook up all the appliances that night. (I made a roast, with veggies, in one of my crockpots, and a big pot of cream of potato soup in another, so that I could have my parents over for dinner that night. In the windup, my sister and nieces joined us, too.)

I put back the screws I had taken out, then started to put the door on the fridge. Done. That was easy. I then move on to the freezer door. It took me a few minutes to finally figure out that the problem was - the damn top hinge was missing!! I looked all over the basement, no hinge. I went outside and looked all over the backyard, and down the driveway, thinking that maybe it fell out of the box. Nope, no hinge. By now, over half an hour has gone by, and my blood pressure was rising.

I called the service number for Sears. I was put on hold at least 6 times, and transferred to at least 4 different people. Argh! AND, every time I got a new person on the phone, I had to repeat ALL of the same damn information (Name, address, phone number, order number, blah, blah, blah...) I was getting angrier and angrier. Someone finally comes back on the line and says that if I'd like to make an appointment, they can have a service technician come out in the next day or two...WHOA!! Wait a damn minute!! Day or TWO!!!??? Oh, HELL, no! That's pretty much where I lost it. I may or may not have screamed at this woman that my food has now been out of my refrigerator for over 3 hours now, and I will NOT be waiting a day or two, and I don't care if someone goes to the damn showroom floor and takes a damn hinge off one of those damn refrigerators and drives it to my damn house, I WILL get that hinge NOW!!! I then asked her if they could just call the delivery guys and ask them to check the truck. I was put on hold AGAIN! When she came back, she said the delivery guy would be calling me.

While I was waiting for the call, I took a better look at my house and found MANY spots that were scratched/dented/chipped, whatever. I had planned to take pictures for you, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I finally got a call about 15 minutes later. The driver tells me that they don't have the hinge on the truck, and asks me if I looked around the basement. REALLY!? Are you fuckin' serious!? No, it never occurred to me to LOOK for it! You're a genius!! Assbag! He tells me that they have to finish their last delivery, and then they'll come back and help me look for it. Yeah, that'll work. In the meantime, my damn food is sitting outside now, in laundry baskets, in an attempt to keep it cool, despite the fact that we were having a mini-heatwave that day, and the temperature was in the 50s. Not exactly enough to keep my frozen food from thawing.

I decided to just start putting my furniture back where it belonged (I had moved it all to make room for the delivery guys to bring the appliances in) and do some cleaning up after the mess they made. Soon, it was time for my family to arrive for dinner. About 5 minutes after my parents walked in, the delivery guy called back. He said they were about 15 minutes away. He then tells me his 'partner' said that when he took the door off the truck, he put it down on my swing in my backyard, and asks me if I looked there. Uh, no, no I didn't. I walked outside while I was on the phone, and sure as shit, there it was!!! DAMN IT!!! I could have put the damn door on the freezer literally FOUR hours ago!!

He then asks if I still wanted them to come back, and I told him, "Absolutely!" I figured, why the hell should I have to put the damn door on, let them do it! They came back, and as the one guy was putting the door on, I showed the other guy (the one who showed my the scratches on my landing) all the other things I found that they damaged. And, I wasn't all that nice about it.

They finish up, and start to leave. The one who put the door on actually had the unmitigated gall to ask me to give them a good rating when the service center calls with a survey later. You know, because "we really worked hard." Are you kidding me!?

I'm going to have to split this delightful story into two parts because this has been way too long already. (I started this damn post well over an hour ago!) I'll come back tomorrow with Part 2. In the meantime, here are my pretty new things.

My brother insisted on upgrading the washer from the one I picked out. This is one of those new-fangled washers with no center agitator. It is a high-efficiency washer, and it has these cool sensors that weigh the clothes and adjust the water levels accordingly. The only thing I've noticed so far is that it seems to take much longer to wash a load of clothes, which doesn't make me happy. I suppose I should read the manual. Maybe I'm not using the correct settings.

After I took these pictures for you guys, I started heading upstairs, and Dorky Dog was there. He is pretty damn cute, isn't he? And, yeah, it HAS been over three years and the stairs still aren't finished. Shut up!