The Long-Awaited Interview April 24, 2007

My dear Denise sent me these interview questions and I’m finally getting around to answering them. Okay, so they got lost in my bulk mail and I just found them. But either way, I’m now doing them.

I know most of you have already done this, but if you want to play, here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment that says “Interview Me”.
2. I get to pick any 5 questions for your interview.
3. You will then post your questions and answers on your blog.
4. You will explain the rules in your post and offer to interview others.
5. To anyone who comments to you, you will leave them 5 questions.

Sounds like fun, huh? Well here goes!

1. Of your previous boyfriends, is there one that you would like to go back and “re-visit” for one night….no strings attached and no consequences.
Okay, I’m assuming that this also means I’m not married to my dear husband?! Well of course I would! There was this one boyfriend when I was in high school that I was just head-over-heels for. He was this guy I had lusted over for years and I finally started dating him. I thought I was big shit, let me tell you. We didn’t work out for many reasons, but he was way too in love with himself. But I would definitely go back to him for one night of no-strings-attached “fun”!

2. If you’re really sad (or mad) is there any one thing that will ALWAYS make you snap out of it?
I had to think about this one for awhile. Once I get in a funk, it’s really hard to pull me out of it. But as I thought about it today, I found 2 things that will always work: hearing my daughter laugh and having her come give me a huge hug and a kiss. It will melt me anytime!

3. What’s one movie that you could watch over and over and over….
I am a huge movie buff, so it’s always hard for me to pick just one. There are a lot of comedies that I’ve been known to watch way too many times, but for my all-time favorite I would pick The Man from Snowy River. When I was younger, I was in love with Jim Craig, the main character. In fact I told The Hubby that he was second to Jim! I just love the scenery, the storyline, and the characters. I swear I was meant to live in that time. So while it may not be a hit for everyone (or for most people), it’s still on the top of my list.

4. Do smells provoke memories for you?
Oh yes! The smell of tequila brings back hazy spaces of time that should be memories. When I was nursing, the smell of my daughter would have me leaking out of my shirt! You moms know what I’m talking about! The smell of cedar takes me back to my favorite childhood camp ground in Colorado, where the bathrooms were made out of cedar wood. There are so many smells, both good and bad!

5. Do you hold grudges? If so, what is the oldest grudge you are carrying?
This one is a little personal. For those of you who don’t know, my father is a pastor at a Southern Baptist church. This job entails a lot more that working on Sundays. He would put in a full days’ work at the office, then spend the evenings in finance meetings, deacons’ meetings, long-range planning committee meetings, and so on. He would visit any sick church member, either at home or in the hospital (this takes up a lot of time when the church has around 1800 members). This meant that I rarely got to see my dad when I was growing up. Over the years, it really got to me and by the time I was in high school I was very resentful of my father’s job. I knew that his work was important, but I wanted to be able to see him, too. It’s years later, but I still hold this grudge. It’s the main reason I don’t go to church anymore. I believe in God, but I hate the fact that church took away my dad. I could go on about it, but I think I’ve about covered what this question was looking for!

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Okay, so there are my questions. If you are one of the few people who have yet to be interviewed, let me know if you want some questions!

So Little Time… April 22, 2007

This week has been a battle for me. After I finally got through with the stomach virus, a sinus infected came roaring in. We don’t have insurance right now, so I’ve been forced to suffer this without an antibiotic. I’ve spent many night chugging the NyQuil and many days on the floor with Squeaks next to me, watching a movie. Sure I felt bad that she was watching so much tv, but I used to watch it all the time and I turned out alright! Plus I didn’t feel like chasing her everywhere. Thankfully today I woke up much better.

But now the pressure’s on. I have 200 bows left to make before Tuesday. I didn’t have a chance to work on them at all this week, so now I’m totally playing catch-up. And once I complete these, I’ll be hitting the books hard for finals. I only have 3 finals to take this time around, which is a relief, but my need to overachieve in school drives me to study more than I need to.

So I’ll still be here as often as I can because it provides me with a getaway from all the stress. And the next post (unless something totally post-able happens) will be me answering some interview questions that were sent me a week or two ago. Yep, procrastination is my middle name.

It’s a Day for a Bulleted Post April 19, 2007

• The dogs (Fatass 1 and Fatass 2, as Alison so aptly named them) are gone! The Hubby called Bob last night and told him it wouldn’t work. The weather is so nice, but Squeaks couldn’t go out to play with them here and they were killing everything that moved (except the neighbor dogs, which I want killed)! He just came and picked them up and I’m celebrating!
• Finals are nearing and I’ve got a lot of studying to do. I’m sure I’ll be venting about that a lot until I’m done. People don’t give moms enough credit for going back to school.
• Weight Watchers has been canned once again. I started it on Saturday and came down with a stomach virus on Sunday. I spent the next two days camped by the toilet (which The Hubby told me was no way to earn points!). Although I’m getting better, my stomach still can’t hold much food, so I’m just going to try to eat much less than I was before. I have no doubt I can lose that way. If it fails, I’ll go back to WW. By the way, I lost 4 pounds during the stomach virus…too bad it’s not good for you!
• Squeaks has to be going through a major growth spurt. She has been sleeping a lot more (yay!) and the child has been eating like there is no tomorrow! Last night she ate 2 slices of deep dish pizza! No lie. Her belly was hard as a rock after that. I don’t ever limit her food because I figure her body knows what it needs, but man that was a lot of food!
• In further embarassing myself with my tv addiction, I’m about to watch American Idol in hopes that Sanjaya (sp?) is finally going home! Enough is enough already.

My Dirty Little Secret April 17, 2007

Okay, so I have a confession to make. I love the show Hannah Montana. No lie.

It all started when my sister’s kids stayed with us for a week. We were snowed in with nothing else to do but watch movies and play games. At one point, Drama Queen put in her DVD of Hannah Montana and I was hooked! While we don’t have satellite anymore, it still comes on ABC on Saturday and Sunday mornings and I find myself constantly watching it. Like there’s not anything else I should be doing on a weekend morning! Granted, I don’t schedule my day around it, but if I’m home, it’s on tv. And the bad part is that I can’t even blame it on my daughter. Squeaks is only 1 and couldn’t give a damn about Hannah Montana. Oh no, it’s all me. But seriously, how many of you out there would love to live 2 lives? I know I would. Sure, I love being a SAHM, but there’s another part of me that could stand being some secret, sexy, career woman or something!

But because of my love for Hannah Montana, I’ve started cheering on Billy Ray Cyrus on Dancing with the Stars. I know he’s not the greatest dancer and he freaking counts the beat out loud while he dances, but he’s Hannah Montana’s dad (both on the show and in real life) and I therefore like him. Plus he’s come a long way from the mullet-sporting, Achy Breaky Heart crooner.

So does this confession make me pathetic? Probably, but I don’t care. It really means that I need to get a life outside of television!

Stereotypes April 16, 2007

Squeaks and I were buying groceries this morning when I ran into this woman that I just wanted to kick in the crotch (it might not hurt as bad as racking a guy, but we women know that a shot to the crotch hurts pretty damn bad). She was on the snack aisle with her son who was probably 3, mayber an older 2. She asked him which snack he wanted and he chose a Dora the Explorer cookie of some sort. That’s when all hell broke loose. She started yelling, “DORA IS FOR GIRLS! YOU’RE A BOY AND YOU DON’T PLAY WITH GIRL SHIT! DO YOU WANT ME TO BUY A DAMN BABY DOLL WHILE WE’RE HERE?”

I literally stared at her with my mouth hanging open. Then, the boy started crying because his mom was yelling at him and she yelled at him to “Shut the hell up or I’m taking you to the bathroom to beat your ass”. I just wanted to go hug the poor boy and show him some love that he’s obviously not getting. Who does that to their child?

I’m still just infuriated. What’s wrong with a boy eating Dora cookies? And why teach him that playing with dolls is for girls? God forbid he grow up to be a nurturing father. I’m sick of all of these stereotypical standards for kids. Squeaks loves to use her tools to help Daddy remodel the bathroom, she loves to play football, and she loves to wear Daddy’s boots. But there’s nothing wrong with that. She’s bonding with her Daddy, but then she’ll go into her room and rock all of her Backyardigans stuffed animals to sleep. That’s right, my girl is a jack of all trades AND she kicks ass at it.

So Close to Done! April 13, 2007

I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to this semester! I think this is possible the worst semester I’ve had in my entire college experience, not because it’s harder, but because I don’t like any of the classes. Not one. Normally I have at least one that I enjoy and that makes everything else easier. Not this time around.

But today I almost finished up my online classes. I’m 2 tests away from finishing those two, then I only have 2 other classes to deal with. Thankfully I’ll be done as of May 3rd! Yay!

I am going to take classes this summer, as well as a lot more in the fall, but I’m actually looking forward to getting into more things that I enjoy. In the fall I’m taking a Developmental Psychology class that is all about babies and young children. I think it will be so interesting. The Hubby took it prior to me ever getting pregnant with Squeaks and it helped him to understand so much of what was going on in my pregnancy. Granted, this class has nothing to do with my degree, but I had to have an upper-lever liberal arts elective, so I elected for this!

Okay, enough rambling about school. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Even My Mirror Is Crying April 11, 2007

I’m really starting to think about trying Weight Watchers again. The last time I did it it was a disaster, but I’m desperate this time. I only want to lose 10-15 pounds so why is it so damn hard?

The last time I did Weight Watchers, The Hubby and I did it together. We chose the flex plan, but were totally fooled by the name. More like the Communist-Food-Dictator Plan. We would spend all day counting points, then would lay in bed at night, bitching about how hungry we were. We were cranky, mean to each other, and moody. Hell, even our sex life suffered because we were so freaking hungry that we couldn’t concentrate on anything but the hunger pains. Three days into it, we abandoned Weight Watchers and devoured an entire batch of chocolate chip cookie dough. No lie.

But now my mom is back in it and is losing lots of weight and looking great. And now I’m realizing that we didn’t exactly make the best choices when it came food. I mean when you get only 20 points a day, it’s not good to waste 6 of those points on half of a frozen pizza (when you’re used to eating the whole thing). I think I just wasn’t familiar enough with the points system and what foods I needed to eat. Plus I didn’t go to meetings to hold me accountable, but I couldn’t afford to join (I was using my mom’s Weight Watchers stuff from when she joined).

But swimsuit season is quickly approaching and sadly I’m heavier than I was the day I went into labor. Over the last year, the SAHM life has ballooned my body. It’s not from being lazy, it’s just from having food available to me all day. So, I think I’m going to give this another good shot. I’m just such a junk food addict that it’s going to be really hard. Really hard. Maybe I’ll paste a picture of my cellulite-ridden ass to the fridge to remind me why I’m not snacking! But in a few days I plan on starting and I’ll try to beat my old record. Here’s to 4 days of Weight Watchers!

No Longer a Mommyblogger April 10, 2007

Oh man. I think I’m just going to change this to a blog about dogs. It seems to be all I can talk about lately.

The couple I talked about in the last entry? They have a lot of pets. Most were evenly distributed by the two (meaning she took the well-trained ones and left him with the shitty ones…who can blame her?!). Well, the husband (we’ll call him Bob) is working and grieving full-time and feels that he can’t provide his dogs with the attention they need right now. So being the nice friends that we are, we volunteered to let him bring the dogs out to our place until he gets settled in his new house. Big mistake.

One is the fattest black lab I have ever seen. The other is a greyhound, also fat. On top of that, they are the most hyper, uncontrolled animals ever. When I take Lucy out to go to the bathroom, the others are right on top of her and the poor girl doesn’t even get a chance to go potty. That works well for housebreaking a dog. So now Squeaks can’t even go outside to play because these dogs will knock her down or maul her (in a nice way — they’re not violent). And we’re supposed to have Sears out here to do new siding this week and I’m sure they’ll just love having the world’s fattest dogs getting in their way.

Needless to say, I think Bob is going to have to come get his dogs. In fact, I think he will be getting a call tonight. I don’t want 4 freaking dogs. Two was really pushing it, but the fact that one was a farm dog made it better. Not to mention, I don’t want to be responsible for what these dogs may do to visitors, neighbors, etc.

So I’m sure that the next few days will be interesting, to say the lest, until Bob gets these creatures away from my house!

That Scary D-Word April 9, 2007

Some very close friends of our decided last week that they could not solve their differences and that they are going to divorce. I have lived a very sheltered life, as this is the first time I’ve had divorce this close to me. My parents (and entire family) are happily married. My friends are all still young enough that they haven’t experienced it. I am blissfully happy in my marriage, even if there are days I want to ram a toilet brush up his nose. But needless to say, I’m taking this very hard.

There was no abuse, no adultery, not even lots of fighting. For this reason, no one saw it coming. And that’s what bothers me the most. There is such hurt on his side, because he was caught unaware. He had no idea that he was about to be single again. And seeing his hurt is making me so sad.

I know there are situations where divorce is the best option. I understand completely why some people choose to end a marriage. But in a situation like this, it seems to be very much based around money (he inherited millions and she’s suddenly divorcing him) and I just don’t understand human nature. I guess I am just a naiive Oklahoma girl who needs to experience the world, but it makes me sad just the same.

Why am I posting about this? I don’t know. It’s just really weighing on me. The husband of the couple has been here all night and I’ve literally been crying with him. But most of all, it makes me thankful for what I have.

I’m Dreaming of a White Easter? April 6, 2007

The weather has been so great around here lately: 80 degrees, shorts and flip-flops, we’ve even been doing yardwork and landscaping. And then today. Today came a cold front and now it’s freaking snowing! Snowing. In Oklahoma. In April. Like we haven’t had enough damn snow this year!

Because of the weather, I put the new dog out on the screened-in porch. I figured if she had to go to the bathroom, it would be better there than inside. Plus, it saved me from having to stand in the snow, waiting for her to go. But as we were sitting in the living room watching a movie, we heard an awful commotion on the porch. We both bolted to the door to find that the neighbor’s damn dog had somehow gotten onto our screen porch and was attacking the new dog! We broke up the fight and it turns out that Lucy is just fine (just a huge whiner). But the idea that that same dog killed my puppy only 2 weeks ago and is now attacking again is enough to piss me off. I told The Hubby that first thing tomorrow I’m going over there to tell them to keep their dogs off of my land. I know it’s hard out in the country to control them, but this is getting ridiculous and I’m scared for Squeaks to be playing out there with them running around. I’m to the point where I will shoot those dogs if they so much as step foot on our property!

And to totally switch gears here, I do have something to be excited about! Tonight I got to go to the bathroom and shower with a door!! It has been months since we’ve had a door in the bathroom. While there’s really no need for us to have one with just us around, I love the fact that I can close the door if I so choose! And if we have company, we don’t have to worry about them freaking out over the big gaping hole in the wall. Man, remodeling sure sucks sometimes…