Nothing much happened this weekend.

I cleaned house. Moved some furniture around (the iguana now has different scenery to look at) and the dining room seems oh so much bigger! We moved the iguana's house under the window in the dining room and moved the table against the wall where the iguana used to be. Can't use as much of the table as before but it does create a lot more space in the room. I moved some furniture in the living room too. It looks a lot bigger, cleaner, and smells better. Oh, that might have something to do with the fact that I tore out the carpet. We are going to live with particle/press board as flooring for a little while. I have real hardwood flooring in my garage waiting for me to install in the living room. I just have to make sure it is enough to cover the floor. The room is quite big, 437 square feet (19ft X 24ft). The wood is older too, I have to make sure it isn't too dry before I try to install it. If worse comes to worse I will just purchase the laminate wood flooring at Sams Club a few boxes at a time until the room is completed. But as of right now, it may not be the prettiest flooring ever but it sure does smell better! (the cat had peed on it and so had my brother's dog & my dog.) Oh, yeah, did I mention that when I moved a lazy boy chair there was green mold growing on the carpet. Apparently someone had spilled some milk on the carpet and didn't clean it up. They just moved the chair to cover it up. That was the thing decided it for me. I had been on the fence about living wi/ subflooring.

That was Saturday. Sunday was a lazy day. We went to Church and then laid around the house. It had cooled off some. Big storm came through during church. Gomer had a friend over Saturday night and I took her home around 6pm on Sunday. Oh & Nikki- again- sorry for the "sights" you saw while Gomer & I were wrestling and having that pillow fight. Guess I kind-of "fell" out. Yikes!

Today the kids are home. Fighting. That totally frustrates me. Why can't they just get along. Why does my youngest have to act like she is the oldest? We are sitting down today when I get home & having a talk. I know that they know what I expect from them but I will be telling them again. and again. and again. Until it finally sinks in. Guess I will be telling them for the rest of my life just like my mom had to tell me.

Beanie (in black) & her cousin. They were scamming on the pickles before the party started.

Here is Lil'Man. Isn't he hansome. His shoes are about 1 size too small but he wanted to wear them anyways. They are brand new shoes too. His gma took him shopping for this outfit. When he told me his shoes were a size 5 I wondered if they would fit. The last shoes I bought him were a size 6 or 6 1/2 and that was at the beginning of the summer.
Here is Gomer & her Dad. I didn't think she would dance with him, but check out the look on her face!
This is Joseph. Isn't he a cutie. He really liked the hat & kept it on! Not so much liking the flowers they made him wear earlier. He kept pulling at them and pulled 3 holes in his shirt. This was taken just before Gomer let him drink some RED punch and he dribbled it down the front of his shirt.

Our power came back on Tuesday night. We were powerless for about 26 hours. I didn't lose too much out of my frig. Guess it was a good thing I had put off going grocery shopping before the storm. Tuesday night the kids & I were going to go the Newaygo Chapel (yes the funeral home) to watch tv, make dinner & I was going to do some laundry. I had just gotten both the baskets in the truck, got in and was about to back out of the driveway when I looked at the house and noticed the outside light was on. So we unpacked and headed in. Much to Gomer disappointment. She turned into A1 Cranky Girl! It's too early to be PMSing time. I'm hoping she was just tired, hot & cranky. She was better in the morning.

Jen & Lauri, I will update on Yahoo360 every now & then too, so don't forget to check there.

Okay, this is going to be short. Gomer wants to download some tunes.

Later.

The world needs to be purged from dumb people. What kind of special is a person if they don't even know what kind of Jeep they drive? A 5 minute conversation turned into almost a 20 minute conversation just because he didn't know what kind of vehicles he owned. & he had his current insurance policy in front of him. Yes, that is a certain kind of special there folks!

That brings me to wanting to vent my frustrations today. I know Whiny Wednesday is tomorrow, but I am going to vent today. First off, one should get a HUGE traffic ticket for driving 10 mph BELOW the speed limit during commuter traffic while hugging the center line and towing their travel trailer. Use some common sense there people, if there is more than 2 cars behind you on your bumper, pull over and let them pass. Stop for breakfast, go walk the stores, anything- just get your slow sorry behinds off of the road until the commuter traffic is done! Okay, feel better about that issue, now on to the next.

I am living like the Amish again. Huge storms came through last night and now we have no power. No damage to my house, but no power either. It went out about 5ish last night. I've heard rumors that it won't be back on until Thursday and more storms are predicted for Thursday. I guess that is one way to keep the electric bill down. Too bad I don't get a credit on my cable and internet bill, seeing how I can't use them either right now. My food is going to go bad too. That sucks. We went for a ride last night cuz my cell phone was about to die & I needed the alarm on it to wake my sleeply butt up in the morning. While we were out we saw a transformer blow up. It was kind-of cool. Red and white sparks were shooting everywhere. I was just about to turn onto that street when I saw the sparks, I turned the other way instead. There are trees and branches down all over the place. We went to my Grandparents to check on them for a while. Grandpa should have been on his oxygen but can't use it with an open flame in the same room and he didn't want to sit in the dark. He isn't doing very good. He gets dizzy very easily now and Grandma is afraid of him falling. She has a bad hip and would never be able to pick him up if he did fall. He fell once when I was there, the chair slid right out from under him. My SIL & I were there & we picked him up. I worry about my Grandparents. They are in their 80's and are feeling every bit of their age.

Okay, back to the venting. On my way in this morning there was a 2 car pile up. Seriously, 2 sedans were piled- one on top of the other- in the ditch. How they managed that one is beyond me. But that slowed up my drive too. Then I got behind another slow moving truck. They really should move faster than 10 under the limit! Remember yesterday I said I wasn't a patient person, while I wasn't kidding.

Now I am at work. I really wish people would listen to me when I tell them it is best that they schedule an appointment. Why is it that people don't want to schedule, they just want to show up. Then they get mad when they show up & I am busy. Hey, I told them to schedule, so is it my fault I am busy? Maybe I just need a new job. This one is getting on my nerves. But I have a great boss and couldn't leave him in a lurch. Even though he does it to me all the time! It would just be better if I could conceive him that I need some help in this office. Oh well. I've got to get back to the grind stone now. Papers don't process themselves! If they did, I wouldn't have a job!

Sunday we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean Deadman's Chest. I thought it was pretty good. I hate those kind of endings too. I am not a patient person. I hate to wait. I can't even wait through commercials on tv, I start to surf as soon as one comes on. I am usually doing 2 or 3 things at once, that is how impatient I am. I was a little worried about Beanie, thought maybe parts would be too scary for her. At the scariest part she was cuddled on my lap and she starts shaking. I look down at her and she is about ready to fall off of my lap. She was LAUGHING! Such a strange child I have.

Okay, I have been avoiding doing work stuff so I really should get back to work now. Boss is gone, people play. What can I say!

Possium. I have a possium living under my deck. It is eating my cat’s food. The kids saw it last night. Well I should say the dog saw it first. She rushed the slider when she saw something out there that wasn’t supposed to be out there. Then Gomer turned on the outside light and let out a God awful “MMMMAAA!” I came running from the bedroom but by the time I got there it was gone. Gomer was standing there mumbling about it’s big nasty teeth, pointy hair and how ugly it was and that it was under the deck. Lil’Man asked if it came back if he could have his pellet gun back so he could shoot it. I just called my brother & he is going to find me a trap. I live in town, I can’t just shoot it. Someone might turn me in for shooting a firearm in town. I want to get rid of it quick. I can’t let the dog out that dog, they would get in a fight and I am worried about my cat being out there with it too. He (the cat) has a rather high opinion of himself. He truly believes he is the Shiz and nothing or no one is bigger, badder or better then he is. He is a true male!
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Conversation from the back seat.

Beanie: Mom, everyone else’s crack is bigger then mine!
Me: Sorry about your luck there.
Beanie: I can pull it down & make it bigger.
Me: Don’t do that, you might break it.

My weekend, so far.

Friday night Mel & I picked up Travis & we all went to a bar in Howard City to see Jason Eller perform. He is good, we had a good time. I know Jason and he knew I was coming to the show. His girlfriend was there too, along w/ a friend of their's, Joel. Mel & Trav were the dd (designated drinkers) & I was the dwd/d (designated water drinker/driver). There was a table with 3 females (they certainly were not ladies, and I am working on watching my language, so we will just use females) and 1 guy, they were heckling Jason most of the night. In my opinion, if you don't care for the music why stay at that bar- there was another bar across the street. But as the even wore on, I realized that one of the females must have been barred from the other bar. She was horrible. She was threating to beat Sara. Sara is very sweet, she has never been in a fight & would have ended up hurt. Mel was sitting next to Sara & could hear it all, I was on the other side of the table, away from the females & couldn't hear any of it. Mel told Sara that she had her back (that I heard & then asked what was going on). After I was told, I too told Sara I would have her back. I have been in one bar fight my entire life, I ended up with a broken nose (she threw two punches), she ended up w/ a broken jaw (I threw one punch). In defense of the females, only 1 of them was threating Sara- the other two were trying to get their friend to leave. They did end up leaving during intermission, while Mel & I went to get Mel another beer out of the car. (serive wasn't very good- found out later the waitress was busy flashing the kitchen staff her boobs). After the bar we ended up going to Trav's for a while, shooting the bull around his table. Mel & I went back to her house, super foggy out could barely see 4 feet in front of me all the way home- to find the child lock was locked on her front door & in order to wake up her husband we would have waked everyone up. So we went on a mission around the house to find an unlocked door or an open window. We finally found an open window, Mel climbed through & then opened the door for me. It was like 4am by this time & she didn't want her dh to know how late it really was.

Saturday I had to work for a few hours. I had to travel to Muskegon for a 30 minute meeting. My drive there was about an hour- one way. Good thing my boss knows how much I do for him (after I got back from my vaca he informed me that he is giving me another raise!). My kids went to J & R's in Grant while I went to Muskegon. They went swimming, how lucky! It was hot, not Oklahoma hot but Michigan hot & humid. (I don't know how you survive in Oklahoma hot weather, I would never leave the a/c comfort of a building if I were to live there!) After my meeting I ended up hitting Fashion Bug ,they were having a sale on summer tops & I wanted a new one. I ended up getting myself one new top, Gomer a new one & then 2 necklaces for us to share. I saved over $27 on the stuff I got, but still spent like $33. I then headed home to pick up Gomer and then we were headed to J & R's for dinner with my brother & his kids and Ty & Amy. After dinner we all went back to the lake & swam then we all headed to Ty & Amy's to play cards. My brother's wife met us at Ty & Amy's too. I ended up leaving there close to 11:30, I was tired and have figured out I must be borderline lactose intolerant. I had ice cream 3 times that day & I didn't feel well by the time I got home. No more ice cream for me for quite a while! Oh, get this. On the way from the lake to Ty & Amy's all of the kids except Gomer & Brina rode in my truck. So I had Lil'Man, Beanie of mine, my niece & nephew & Dev. My nephew informs everyone in the truck that Dork (my kids daddy) is living at these other people's home. Now keep in mind these other people he was referring to are Dork's xgf's parents & said xgf still lives wi/ her parents. My kids were pissed. So I ask my nephew who told him this, he tells me it was his uncle- xgf's brother. Nice. When we got to Ty & Amy's I tell my brother what was said, as I am telling him his wife walks up & is trying to listen to what we are talking about. I didn't want to tell her cuz anything I was to her always ends up getting back to those other people. But I was trapped, she asked what we were talking about and when I didn't reply she askes if it is something she isn't supposed to know. Well not wanting to make things worse I ended up telling her. She gets this wierd smurk on her face and doesn't say anything. Not sure how to read that. Later she tells me that her sis (married to xgf's brother) has told her that Dork & other person is where Dork told me he has been. (I know this is tough to follow & if you have any questions, IM or email me.)

Then this morning, Dork calls me. After I tell him what was said last night he suddenly has to get off of the phone. His remarks to the whole thing was a "really". Gomer wants to pack up all of his stuff and boot him out. Pretty bad when your own kids wants you gone.

Oh, Gomer has a boyfriend. I was going to make her wait until she is 16, but 4 years early is only acceptable because he lives in a different state.

Okay, more later. It is starting to get too hot in my house. I have no idea what we will do today to get away from the heat. Maybe I'll take my kids to a movie. That would be atleast 2 hours of ac heaven!

I know it is Thursday and Thursday is supposed to be Thankful Thursday or Half Nakid Thursday, but I am going to post pictures instead. Some of them could qualify for HNT and I am very thankful that Jennifer came up to visit, so I guess I am covering all bases here.

Here is a picture of Jennifer, Sherry (both standing) and Lauri & I (seated). Lauri & Sherry are the blondes. This was taken Saturday night at Captain Jack's a bar located on the beach in Muskegon. It was a nice bar, not extremely busy but that was nice for us that night. Earlier that night we had a Pure Romance party at Jenn's mom's apartment for Jessica. Jess is getting married in the fall & we had a Bachlorette party of sorts for her. It was a lot of fun. I introduced Jennifer to Jello-Shots. She really seemed to enjoy them. I think she said she had like 14 of them.

This is Crystal and Jessica, guess which one is the bride to be. Yes that is a vibe in her cleavage and yes, that is what you think it is hanging around her neck.

It just seems so weird. I have know these girls for so long. Long before they even knew what "toys" were! Back in the day Crystal had long flowing blonde hair, she looked like a little princess. Princess of the Tomboys! & don't mess w/ Jess cuz she is a sharp shooter in archery. I have decided after hanging out with Jess the few short days we did, that she makes Jennifer look like a prude. Sorry Jenn!

(Image removed by request)

This is Jennifer's reaction to the Appletini. Sorry Diva, she didn't like it. I had to trade her. For some reason she doesn't like the flavor of alcohol, so she has to drink things that you can't taste the "kick". I got her a fuzzy navel.

It was a fun night. A much needed night. It is nice to get together with old girlfriends and have it seem like we have never been apart.

Okay, it's taken me over an hour to finish this. I guess I should get back to work. I'm post more pictures later. I've got a good one of Gomer, she was slimed by Nicky!

I just had to post this picture. This is true redneck horse shoe throwin'! They were in the parade too, only in the parade they were on roller blades/skates and the one in the biniki bottoms also had on a coconut shell bra on! Too funny! The old ladies at the American Legion Beer tent had a riot looking at and laughing at this guy. But some old fart had to go ruin their fun and made him put his shorts back on. Biniki guy's brother (not pictured) was wearing a mullet wig w/ his daisy dukes, knee high tube socks and wife beater shirt. The parade was at noon and they had 2 kegs on their float that were both already tapped!

It's now Thursday. My vacation is almost over. We haven't done a whole lot, just recovering from a major sunburn (duh sunscreen was made for a reason- use it!). According to Gomer I have the Mackinaw bridge burned onto my back. It is painful. I am starting to wonder when I can wear a bra again. I had better be able to get one on today, I have to stop at a visitation today. One of my co-workers lost their 18 year old son on the 4th. Quite sad. And I am under the impression that he died alone too, that would tear me up if it were to happen to one of my kids. He had AVM and they had tried several different things but it didn't work. They did donate his organs, if I have any useable organs when I die I want them donated so someone else can benefit from my death. But I am either going to die from cancer or in a horrible car accident, so who knows what will be useable on my body!

Ok, sounds like today's game plan is: stopping at vistation, going to a movie, getting pizza, going to the beach to watch the sunset and then having a bon fire on the beach. How fun! I'm all for going to the beach when the sun is less intense!
Ok, Beanie is trying to make pancakes all by herself, I think I need to go help before my kitchen is set on fire.