30 posts in 30 days

I actually did it a whole month of posts.

I think the only thing I didn't cover was work, which was also a question posed. Right now work kinda bites. One of the people I work with is out on leave and we just hired a bunch of new people so I seem to get stuck with a new person 90% of the time. Robyn + new person = high stress level. I understand that everyone is new at some point, they have to learn the ropes as they say. I am not good at showing the ropes. I would much rather do everything so it gets done than futz around; this has me running like a chicken with its head cut off most of the day. On this unit it is totally different than any other one, which is what makes it so hard. It is much easier on the other unit I work on to tell the newbies what to do because they have an idea. But on that unit we deal with a number of people who had issues with authority(said in Cartman's voice) and enjoy messing with the new peeps, which is just annoying. Another thing that is annoying is arguing with a guy to give up his extra milk and being told how petty I am as I walk away. I'm sure if someone had shorted him 5 dollars on a deal it wouldn't be petty to him.

Thankfully it is 16 working days until vacation. I know I complained about my last one, but J will be off too and at home to balance out the Peanut Butter Jelly time.

O Christmas Tree Part 2

I decorated the tree last night and Peanut Butter is in love with the tree. When I got home from work today she said, "I broke snowman." I said you broke a snowman and she said,  "yes, I'm sorry" J said she was playing with the abominable snowman aka "the bumble" when it fell and knocked a bulb off  that broke and she couldn't get the bumble to hang up again which is why she thought he was broke. I still have to get my Rudolph stuff out and then we are done decorating....for now anyway.

Yay I made it everyday this month.

O Christmas Tree

We cut down our Christmas Tree today. It is up in the living room, but still need decorating. Peanut Butter kept yelling, "turn the lights on!" when we were trying to get it straight in the stand. She some how thought it came with the lights attached. For the first time in 10 years we actually found the perfect size tree, we didn't have to trim it at all once we got it home.

Photostory Friday: Nana's Visit

Hosted by Cecily

Nana came to watch Peanut Butter on Thanksgiving because I had to work and J was still hoping a deer would walk by his stand up north there hey. PB had a full day of tea party, doctor, puzzles, castle, and coloring with Nana. They even braved the cool weather and went to the park for a spell. Then we ate a non-traditional meal of raviolis and pizza. The raviolis were so good , the next time J goes up he'll have to bring some back. All and all PB had a great time with Nana and was begging for her this afternoon. She loves her Nana.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a turkey-less Thanksgiving and it was all good. My Mom brought raviolis and pizza from a place in Hurley and it was awesome. I'm not much of a turkey person and J is still chasing deer. My Mom came to watch Peanut Butter while I worked today. I hope you all had Happy Thanksgivings.

KungFu Fighting

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

BNL

For some reason my mp3 player kept playing Barenaked Ladies' songs today. So I thought I'd share.

A Vacation from Vacation

I am actually ready to go back to work. I am bored beyond belief here at home. I have done my best to keep Peanut Butter busy, but now I know why people have more than one child, so they have someone else to play with. I am in need of a conversation with some one who doesn't respond, "why?" or "what did you say?" I need to stop eating out of boredom. I need a night of sleep without someone on my arm. I did get to catch up last night on Nip/Tuck and it was great. I will have to do something different next year. I was thinking of maybe a trip to Disney just me and the girl. Hopefully I can pull my finances together by then, because this sitting around here for a week and a half is depressing.

Play Kitchens

Peanut Butter is still hell bent on getting a play kitchen so I went on a search for one. I think I have narrowed down to two.  This one:

This is Peanut Butters 1st choice. In fact she just ran up and said I want that kitchen set. I, however, like this play ktichen

I like the retro and it is still pink. Peanut Butter isn't convinced. They are both comparable in price which is still quite a chunk of change.

I have also made the mistake of watching other kids channels which unlike Nick JR. they show commercials so every comercial break there is screaming,  "I want barbie this!" "Mama, I need this PLEASE."  It is all becoming to much. I am almost wishing I had scheduled her for daycare tomorrow so I could have a break. I hope I can make it until Tuesday.

Lazy Days

Since being on vacation I haven't managed to do too much. I do have all the laundry caught up, which reminds me, my clothes are sorted all over my bed. I have been keeping up with the dishes and due to a certain nameless Peanut Butter, I have had the broom and vacuum out a couple times. I have not done any cleaning that I had wanted to yet while my other mess makers are away watching the woods. I was going to hop to it today and well with going to the gym, making pancakes, playing outside, making cupcakes, and a good nap, I just haven't found the time. Tonight I think we're going to watch Monsters vs. Aliens, which we were going to watch last night, but Shrek was on TV. PB seems to have some fascination with MvA even though she has yet to see it. I have yet to cook a decent meal also. Pizza, Mac and Cheese, tacos, tonight it will be hot dogs, since the girl has been begging for them. I will make spaghetti tomorrow, I will make spaghetti tomorrow. I have also been horrible about getting PB to bed. I have been putting her to bed at 9:30 ish and she is staying awake until I go to bed 10:30 ish and proceeding to say lets watch TV in your bed. And I seem to go along with this plan, but I have had naps out of her the last 2 days. I am off for 4 more days, she will be ruined.

PhotoStory Friday: No Mama

Hosted by Cecily and Sue

Someone has issues with having her picture taken now. If she hadn't had the box she would have been screaming and waving her hands at the camera. What happened to my little ham?

Thoughts for Thursday: Pet Peeves

Canadian Mama wanted to know what my pet peeves are, so here we go:

I hate clothes on the floor. Hate it. The Boy does it, J does it and it drives me bonkers. J thinks by hiding the clothes on the floor behind a door makes them disappear, but it doesn't.

Lateness, though I have become a little more lenient on this on since having a baby. Everything seems to take longer than you think getting a baby/toddler out the door. But, sorry Mom, my Mom and her siblings seem to always be running late. It is a running joke that whatever time any of them give you it is bound to be at least 30 min later.

Pee on the toilet seat.

The baggers at the grocery store. I would much rather bag my own, thank you.

Poor waitstaff service. Come on peeps it isn't that hard to stop at the table once in a while.

Trying to find a size 11 in shoes. Paris Hilton must spend a fortune getting her shoes made, but she has a fortune to spend.

I'm sure there are more, but I'll leave  it at that. Any you care to share?

Woe is Me Wednesday

J leaves for deer hunting tomorrow. It is beyond me why it takes 2 days to set up the camp, but I know he is not alone in this, since another guy who had his wife and kids out to dinner too said he was leaving in the morning too.

I must be a sucker for punishment since I allow Peanut Butter to talk me into using the ginormous car/truck carts at the grocery store. It was fine at first when she would actually stay in the car, but now it is in out, in out, in out. door is dragging on the floor. Argh shopping was hell this morning.

My Staples didn't have my photopaper when I was in today. I normally use the Kodak studio finish, but I took a chance on the Staples brand photo supreme satin finish and they seem to have come out ok. Yay for me since this paper is cheaper than the Kodak stuff.

I have been in a slump exercise wise. I am frustrated with Jillian, I have no "get up" to get to the gym, but I seem to be eating way too much.

Hopefully I will get a little relaxation in tomorrow and do a little scrapbooking.

It's Puzzling

Peanut Butter is hooked on puzzles. She did a few at the house we stayed at on Saturday. I knew she could do the ones at the library and the ones with the cardboard back. I didn't know she could do the free piece ones as well as she can. They gave her one to take home on Sunday and today I picked up a SuperWhy one. She has been at it all afternoon. I picked up two other ones for Christmas too.

Ah, Vacation

I went in for a little overtime today, but now my friends I am on vacation. I don't have anything planned except to not be at work. J leaves for deer hunting on Thursday and it will be Peanut Butter and I until Turkey Day Eve when my mom comes over to watch Miss PB while I work on Thursday. 

Unfortunately it looks like my Mom and I won't be going anywhere in December. Our weekends don't jive, but maybe sometime after the New Year. This might be a good thing since I have been strapped for cash as of late and I put in some overtime in hopes to have enough money to go, but now I should have enough to take care of Christmas. Hopefully I can use some of our tax return to go on a trip.

Since this is a short little post I will amaze you with another one of PB's photos.

There and Back

We are home from our short visit to Hurley. We attended the wedding reception of one of my friends. She looked beautiful. I'd show you photos, but again I forgot my camera. How I keep forgetting the dang thing is beyond me. I was going to take some pics with my cell phone, but it is extremely frustrating. The lag  is horrible, though I didn't buy the phone to take photos so... I was nice to see some people I hadn't seen in a while and a little shocking in the big scheme of things how much we have all grown and changed. It was a lot of fun seeing our kids playing/dancing together. It would have been nice to have had a little more time in a different venue to sit and talk for a while, but what can you do? Miss Peanut Butter tore up the dance floor. The band they had wasn't the best they took a lot of breaks in the 2 hrs after they started. We left early since PB was looking exhausted and since she was so excited to dance she wouldn't eat anything, so she was hungry. She actually said, "I'm starving."

Four plus hours in the car was a bit much for the girl. I thought I had enough to keep her busy and the DVD player kept acting up. She did sleep the last hour or so both ways. J has to go back up again on Thursday for deer hunting. He wasn't to excited about going up this weekend, but he went. He got to take some of his gear up on this trip so it wasn't a total loss.

I am on vacation this week. I may work overtime tomorrow which is my regular day off, since I will be off until the 25th after that. I was going to work a day next week too on overtime, but J reminded me that I was on a furlough week so if I worked "overtime" it wouldn't technically be overtime, I'd be paid straight time. I'm thinking I might not do that since it is almost a 100 dollar difference.

We're Outta Here

We are going up to Hurley today for a wedding tonight. I am a little excited to see some people that I have not seen in a very long time. J spends more time in my hometown than I do, how odd is that. I am not looking forward to driving up 4+ hours for one night and coming right back the next day, but what can you do? I will have a little time to play with my new cell phone. I told Peanut Butter she was going to be able to get her dance on and she is excited.

PhotoStory Friday: Hula

Hosted by Cecily and JENNIFER 

I finally caught Miss Peanut Butter doing the hula from Lilo and Stitch. Everytime I would try to catch it on video either the song would end before I could get it or she would stop when she saw the camera. Bear with it through the first 10 sec. it take her a few to get started.

From November 2009

My Thoughs for Thursday: Motherhood

Leslie wanted to know if we were going to have any more kids and Mary wondered if The Boy was with us full time, I will attempt to answer these questions today.

As much as I love Miss Peanut Butter, we are done. I toy with the thoughts every now and then, but ultimately we are done. I fear that I am not a very good mother, while I do not leave my child to starve in her own body fluids locked under the stairs, I do not think I would win any prizes either.  There is a theory that the later in life you have children that you get all kinds of things done in you 20's and you can have no regrets once you have kids. I am not this person, there is still a few  things I would like to do. I waited until I was 32, because we always seemed to have something going on. J will agree on this,  we really should have had a child earlier in our marriage.

I breezed through most the first year. Miss PB was a pretty good baby. Once she started walking my life was over. The terrible twos tried my every patience. The threes have not been a picnic. I know that motherhood is not all hugs and kisses, but I would like to get home from work and not have to deal with an after nap tantrum on a nearly everyday basis. I would like a night when I don't have to be the one to force a toothbrush in her mouth, praying that she will not be like her brother who never brushes his teeth because no body but me made him. I would like to be able to leave the house without an inkling of guilt.

I know what you are thinking, well don't you have a stepson, didn't you know what you were getting into. Honestly, J's boy, was 3 almost 4, when we started living together and he was much easier than Miss PB. . The Boy  was pretty mellow; he did not climb up on counters. He didn't strew his toys all over the house, they stayed in a nice mess in his room. He was not in motion every minute of his awake hours. He's only beef was he was obsessed with McD's. He is with us half time and that may have been a factor in all this since all parties involved were used to their own time and space. While I try my best to guide and prepare The Boy, I have made it clear from the beginning that he has a Mom, and I am not here to take her place. This may have made in into the inconvenient person who only seems to get on him about things, but so be it. I am the one who taught him to tie his shoes, make him brush his teeth, and really try an push responsibility on him. J has always said I hope you are as hard on the girl as you are him. I truly plan to be, but I hope by only having one set of rules, things will not get as wishy washy as it sometimes does with The Boy. I have heard from other people, I love all my kids the same, whether they are my step or not. This is not how I feel. I think that having actually had a child from birth makes a huge the difference. Maybe it is different for a man because they do not actually carry the child. I try very hard not to be preferential, but the motherly love I have for PB is totally different from The Boy.

Anyway, the main reasons we are done are: I always said once I hit 35 I was done, I am just getting to the good stuff with PB and I do not think I could sanely do years 1.5-4 again. I know that the next child could be totally different, I am not prepared to take that chance. As one of my coworkers said when you plant corn, you shouldn't be surprised when corn grows. I cannot deal with the guilt of motherhood on another level. It is already crushing me. I feel like I can't go anywhere or do anything with out thinking I am doing some sort of damage to my child. This I think is the hardest on me. This I think is my greatest stress. I am trying very hard to find me time and let go. I am very jealous of people who just go and do things with out what seems a care. Do they feel like I do and just not say it? I sometimes wonder if it is because I work, but I honestly could not be a stay at home mom.

I think PB is one of a kind and I think she'll be staying that way.

Wordless Wednesday

Guess what this is?

Miss Peanut Butter's attempt at photography.

Happy 40 Years Sesame Street

 Sesame Street was my all time favorite show when I was a little tyke. I'd watch the same episode twice a day. Here's a blast from the past a few of my faves.

Where in the World

Today is an answer to Mary's question, "Where would your dream vacation be right now?"

My friends, I am not a tropical person, I do not like hot. You will probably not ever hear me moan to be on a beach somewhere. As beautiful as a lot of these places are, they are not somewhere I would like to spend an entire vacation, but maybe a weekend. I like history and architecture. I like cobble stone roads and big iron fences. I also like big cities, I love the hustle and bustle. I like riding the metro/tube what have you. Thankfully J likes at least the history part. My dream vacation would be to travel across Europe by train. I'd like to start at the beaches of Normandy, go through France. Another stop in Paris would be fine, I could never get enough of Paris. Travel though Belguim and see a lot of Germany and then travel through Austria.

I chose this question today, because my Mom and I might take another jaunt somewhere in December and I am trying to decide on a place that isn't going to break my bank. I was thinking Krakow,  Prague, or maybe Budapest. These are places J has no desire to go to, whereas, I think they would be neat. My Mom's suggestions were Istanbul, St. Petersburg, Hong Kong, South America, or Azerbaijan. St. Petersburg was my first choice but after further look, it appears the city is the twelfth most expensive city in the world and sigh, that my friends is out of this girl's budget. I was perusing at work on my break and a coworker though I was nuts looking up Riga, Odessa, and other foreign places that apparently no one wants to visit but me. We haven't been able to discuss it since she is in China with no internet access. She is a traveler, who luckily gets to travel a lot for work, which luckily for me gets her lots of frequent flier miles.

I have a Where I've Been on my facebook profile and yes I'd like to go to Libya someday. The Roman ruins I saw on The Long Way Down were amazing. It might be hot there though.

Anywhere you want to go?

Publish Post

How it All Began

I put the call out for post requests and Nicole was curious how my hubby and I met. We met at work and I could not stand him. He was cocky and arrogant and always seemed to have baby's mama drama. He somehow got accepted into my circle of friends(note to self: need more female friends) and as most crazy kids in our 20's we seemed to be at the bar a lot. This led to many an after bar party at my apt. It comes in handy that I hardly had any neighbors. One night for some strange reason, the moon was full or something, we ended up together. A few months passed with cold spell and an ex of mine showed up at the bar one night and he took offense to it. I said it ain't like you have been calling, to which the OOOOHHHs were heard from our friends and he must have figured he needed to get his butt in gear. We "dated" about a month or so and then moved in together.

After 9/11, we had been together for 2 years and he decided he'd better pop the question. He proposed at a Packer game, that we and a bunch of our friends went to Carolina for. We got married a year later in a way to expensive wedding. Elope people, Elope! This way your future husband won't feel the need to have 6 groomsmen and 4 ushers, making you find 6 bridesmaids(note to self: need more female friends) after you adamantly said 3, 4 max.

We were having a hard time deciding where to go on our honeymoon, I wanted Paris he wanted London, so we did both. We had a great time. The dollar was much stronger then and we we able to do quite a bit.

November actually marks 10 official years together. How we ever made a go of it is beyond me sometimes. We are very different people. He is much more of an extrovert and jokester, whereas, I am more introverted and serious.

There you have it.

Something to Talk About

Since this is going to be a long month, I'll let you give me something to talk about. Any burning question you are dying to know? Want to know what my take is on a subject? I'll even open up to questions pertaining to work, should that be something you are wondering about. I don't want to bore you to death with the antics of Miss Peanut Butter for 20 out of 30 days, so whatcha wanna know?

Photostory Friday: The Aftermath

Hosted by Cecily and Emily

The Aftermath

What happens when a three year old doesn't take a nap, dresses up in a costume, and walks until she is begging to be carried, in the cold, past dinner time?

It was one of those nights. She did seem to have fun trick or treating until the walking got the best of her.

Thoughts for Thursday: Die Hard Fans

I light of this past weeks Packer/Viking game a thought for Thursday. Are you a die hard fan of anything? I am one of those people who are amazed at the extent that people are pissed off at Brett Favre going to the Vikings. My husband screamed at the tv all Sunday about what an a**hole he is, and when I didn't agree, he asked, "What are you not a Packer fan now?" I said well hon, I never really was a Packer fan. I was more of a Brett Favre fan which in turn had me watch the Packers. I really only endured the Packers because the Hubs was a fan. Did I have great times at the games we went to, heck yeah, but I'm not going to wish bodily harm on a guy who left the team. I'm not real happy about the way he went about doing it, but it is a business. Though if Steve Yzerman had done what he did, and went to the Blackhawks, well I might have had an issue.

I'm really not a die hard fan of much, Duke basketball, maybe. I enjoy watching great players play regardless of what team they are on.

Read a Good Book Lately

If you were curious to see how Miss PB's photo shoot went you can see a preview here.

Have you read any good books lately? I have been on a Dennis Lehane kick, it started with Shutter Island, which I really enjoyed, and I just finished Gone Baby, Gone. I only have three more of his books left: Prayers for Rain, Coronado, and The Given Day.  I am currently reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, it is not taking me long to read this one. I think I read the first book The Hunger Games in less than 2 days. Two interesting, but fairly dark books I finished in the last couple months are Sharp Objects and Lullabies for Little Criminals. If you are looking for a nice mystery with a lot of laughs check out the Spellman series by Lisa Lutz. They are a fun quick read.

There are a few nonfiction books I have been waiting to read when they come available at the library, on paperback swap, or the used book store: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels, and I'm Down by Mishna Wolff.

A few books I have not read but every one else seems to have are the Twilight Series, Eat Pray Love,  and My Sisters Keeper. You cannot make me read Twilight, I won't, the only vampires in my life are Angel and Spike.

I try to keep up my lists of books at Good Reads. I'm always up for recommendations.

Hope that was enough links for y'all.

perpetual motion

I took Miss Peanut Butter to get photos done today and all I can say is it was complete hell and I hope to that hell there is a good photo or two in there. I felt horrible for the photographer since PB would not and I mean would not stay still for a second. She would not, sit she would not smile, she would not listen. We spent more time chasing her than anything. I am hoping that the photos don't all look like this one(from Sun) where she is in perpetual motion.

Papa

My Dad came to visit yesterday. Miss Peanut Butter was beyond thrilled and played with Papa until he was exhausted. I was a little surprised that she wasn't shy at all, since she has only seen my Dad a handful of times because he lives in Utah. She took to him like a fish to water. He played the look and find princess book with her, played horsey, which I think took a toll on him, and she tried to get him to play doll house with her, but she wasn't even too into that at the time. They seemed to have a wonderful time.

I am going to attempt NoBloMoPo. This could be interesting since I have been barely squeaking out 10 posts a month.

Halloween

Miss Peanut Butter was "Ariel" or a mermaid for Halloween. I though her costume came out pretty good. I remade the top to look a little more princess like and even made her a little treat bag. She didn't want to wear the headband we got, but whatcha gonna do. I barely got a long sleeve shirt and sweater underneath the shirt. It was pretty cold and windy.

She picked up "trick or treat pretty quickly. She would get her bag all ready before she headed up to the door.

These folks had a pretty neat set up and PB wasn't too scared by it. It actually took me a minute to realize the guy was actually a guy and not a statue. They had the garbage can set up so it looked like something was peeking out, PB actually went up to it to take a look. She did get scared at another house they had one of those candy bowls where the skeleton hand comes out when you grab a treat. She freaked when it came out at her. It was a little funny. The guy who had it was one of J's coaches from baseball.

PB seemed to tire out much more quickly this year. She didn't make it the whole two hours and was begging to be carried the last couple blocks. I had wanted to get photos in front of a house that was really done up but she wasn't having it. She was very happy to see Daddy who stayed home to hand out candy.

By the time trick or treating was over Miss Peanut Butter had enough. She didn't want her picture taken, she didn't want to go inside, her skirt was itchy, no one was coming to for her to hand out candy to, and she was just plain wore out.