It's been a busy December

So it's been awhile since I blogged. And we've been busy. :)

December 8th I shot the annual Holiday Party for Tenet. I worked there for over 8 years so it's great to see people and touch base. Most of them I actually do stay in touch with, but it's good to see the others as well.

Carol is always my assistant. She's cheap labor. I buy her a quarter pounder from McDonald's and she assists. :) How can I beat that deal? Plus she's assisted so many times now that she can actually help me break down without me having a panic attack that something is going to get broken. lol Plus she used to work there too, before I stole her and Marsha to come and work for me. :)

So Friday night (12/7) Karl "bought me" (and by that I mean he told me that's what he wanted to get me for Christmas and made me go pick it up) a flash. So I left work at 4:30. Shillers closes at 6:00. Now this drive SHOULD take about 20 minutes. Well a few things complicated this drive. #1 it was Friday night, traffic is always horrible on Friday nights. #2 I was heading towards the Galleria which #3 is at the 170/40 exchange where all construction is happening. So it took me 30 minutes to get onto Brentwood from 170. #4...this is a big one. My Dear sweet friend Crystal....who I know FULL WELL can't give directions to save her life gave me an alternative route to get to Schillers. Make a left on Manchester she says. When I turned left I thought I think Shillers is West of here, I'm heading East. Then I doubted myself until I got to the city, then I knew I went the wrong way. So I'm melting down, thinking I'm not going to get to the store in time. Calling Karl, calling Crystal....about to abort the whole mission. Between Karl and Crystal I was able to stay calm enough to make it to Schillers 5 minutes before they closed. WHEW!!!!

So I had my new fabulous flash for Tenet's Holiday Party. All went well. Pictures in front of the beautiful tree.

Here are a few

Shirley & Marisa

Angelia and Bernie

(Just shot her mom's retirement party.)

Candace and Lil' Wesley

(Shooting their wedding in October)

December 9th spent the day with the Kayser's (Carol my assistant's family) trying to shoot a family picture. Her granddaughter Bianca moved to Louisiana so she wanted to get a family shot before she left. After 4 or more hours we made the best a several pictures to get this one shot.

Not the best family photo I've ever taken, but it's hard with two babies who are ready for a nap and three teenagers who are trying to make the babies happy and not looking at me. lol The 4 year old was fabulous. He's a bit of a stinker, but he is always good with pictures. :)

December 13th we met up with John Tate and the kids got their Wii. How much fun is that? We had to hide the Wii remote that night so they would go to bed. They love it. :)

Friday December 14...Bunko night. I've been playing Bunko for over a year, I've only won once. And "won" is a relative term. I actually got the prize for being the biggest loser. :) I must really not be good at that game. lol It's a good time to hang out with the girls. Drink a little, talk a lot, eat a lot, and maybe even play Bunko. :)

Saturday we had our first accumulating snow fall of the year. I know the kids were mad because they didn't get to miss school. It hit us in two waves. The first one was not so bad, but by the time the second one was done we had about 7 inches. Our subdivision plows so it's usually no big deal to get out. Plus the Durango is 4x4 so all bets are off. :) They plowed our circle and left the pile at the end of our driveway. Karl and I spend at least an hour out there breaking up the snow bank so I could get my little car out. :)

Here are a few shots of Bree making a snow man. (I fell asleep before the finished product was complete)

This is one round one of the snow storm so you can see the first round was not so bad.

Good wet snow though. It stuck together really well.

The snowball got a little heavy for Bree. Took all her strength to finish rolling it.

This is the face you get when you make your 13 year old put on a snow suit to go out and play in the snow. She was ticked off. And wouldn't go out in front with Bree. God forbid I try to keep her from getting frostbite. BRAT!!

Tatiana didn't go outside until I was already napping so I got no shots of her. I'm not sure if did that on purpose or not. I don't think she like the idea of a snow suit either. lol

Sunday, December 16th, I shot my friend Melanie's family pictures.

I'd love to put all 7 kids up individually but since I'm already recapping the month I'll spare you all the picture overload. lol

Monday, December 17 was Tatiana's make up concert. She did very well I don't think she was happy that I was snaping pictures though.

I got this face first!

(Mom you're embarassing me)

Then this face.

(STOP!)

Then this face. I think this was her final attempt to get me to stop taking pictures. Too bad I don't listen well.

Here she is actually playing.

So December was a busy month. I took off work starting 21st and I don't have to go back until January 2nd. So I'll update you with Christmas pictures very soon.

Right now it's 5:00 and I'm still in my pajamas. Spent the last two days in pajamas too. (I am bathing though) lol

Another hohum week

So I promised pictures from Bree's basketball game last week. After uploading, most of the shots were just her throwing in to some one else. So I passed on uploading them. This week is a different story.

I like to call her "Lil Lisa" (Lisa Leslie) because this weekend, she was on fire. My baby is back. I think the rust of the not playing in a year may have finally worn off.

So here's a picture from before the game. Although sometime you can catch her talking just as much during the game. LOL

Here she is driving down the court. Ok so it was after a throw in and at this level they are only allowed to use a half court press so she really wasn't challenged at this point. But hey, she can dribble, right? :)

This is towards the end of the game. She drove down and was backing up on this girl. If you look closely you can see the scoreboard. Lets just say, they didn't have 14. :) And she drove all the way down, took the shot....and missed. But she's getting there. We've been working on shooting form this week. And by "we" I mean Karl. :)

It's still an improvement. Last year she'd drive down and try to find some one to pass it to, even if she was under the basket. She never had the confidence to take the shot. So we're on the right path, just need to work on actually making the baskets. :)

Today was Tatiana's winter concert. It was cancelled. Apparently if we have a small amount of freezing rain the world comes to an end. They rescheduled for (I think) the 17th. So look for those pictures.

In other news, I've decided that having a full time job, part time job (photography) and being a mother and wife just isn't enough. I enrolled in school. Yeah!!

I'm aiming for my MBA in 5 1/2 years. So Cianah should be finishing her freshman year in College when I graduate.

Starting out in the Associates program for Business Administration in case I want to change my major. If nothing else the additional education will help advance me in my current job.

The truth is, the things I'm passionate about, don't pay. I can't see putting myself through 5 years of schooling to make less money than I do now. Not that I'm wealthy or make a ton of money, but let's be for real. Starting salaries for teachers, $30K to $40K. Social work, let's not even guess how little those poor soles are paid. Psychology...unless I get my PhD I'm not sure I can even get a job. So we're back to what I know...business.

Classes start in 2 weeks. UGH!! Not a lot of time to prepare. I figured the longer I wait, the more excuses I'll come up with to not go. So I'm off to "college." Of course I'm taking online classes so I miss the joys of campus life, but then again I'm not sure I'd fit in there anyway. lol

Wish me luck in my continuing education.

I think Karl may go back too, just not right now. He said to give him another year to live out his childhood dream of being a professional video game player, then he'll reevaluate. :)

It won't take him near as long to finish. He already did 2 years so most of those credits should transfer. So he's ahead of me in the game there.

Thanksgiving weekend

So being off work for four days was wonderful. I wish I could have that every week.

Since we did Thanksgiving with my sister on Sunday we got to stay home on Thanksgiving. I cooked a big meal. Susana and my mom stopped by. My mom is allergic to the the dogs and the cigarette smoke so she didn't stay long. She brought her stuffing for Karl, so all is well. :)

I got up with Melanie and hit the day after Thanksgiving sales at 4:00 in the morning. We hit Toys R Us, Target, Walmart, Kmart, and Value City by 10:00. She had to go to work after (haha) and I went home to take a nap.

Susana and I went out for a bit that evening. Dropped Tati and Bree off with Christa (Sean's wife) and went to Panera for a bite to eat. We hit Gordman's and then home to watch some TV with Karl.

Cianah spent the night with a friend so nice quite night. Saturday so didn't feel like Saturday. I slept a lot. Trying to recuperate from the day before I'm sure. Cianah cleaned the WHOLE house (including her sisters' rooms.)

Susana came over to get Cianah to hang out at the mall. This is a slightly sore subject. Karl says he doesn't think this was intentional or deliberate so I'm trying to let it go. She took Cianah up to Mallory's job. Ummm, what part of out of my life (and my kids) do you not understand? So Mallory gives her a gift for Christmas (and something for the other 2 girls as well.) My opinion is...if you want to see the kids, work it out with your brother. Don't have your mom bring them to you. That's sneaky to me. And if it wasn't planned then why did she have the gifts there? I don't know maybe they came from her store and she just bought them right then? I don't know and I don't care. I'm letting it pass. My energy is not well spent worrying about the intentions of others.

So Saturday night Karl's drunk behind drops a glass on his foot. He bled all over my floor. LOL I butterflied him up and he's good to go. Last week he slammed his thumb in the car door. He had so much blood pooling under his nail that he took a drill and drilled a hole in his nail to relieve the pressure. Crystal thinks this makes him a stud. lol

So after the thumb drilling and sliced foot, he said he's ready for a tattoo. LOL He's wanted a lion with dreadlocks for a long time, just never had the courage (I guess) to get it. He wants one eye the African Flag and the other eye Puerto Rican flag. I say he just needs to get my face tattooed on his forearm. He said he'll pass. lol

Poor guy.

I'm like 90% done with my shopping. That usually means I end up buying more. :)

Cianah has a iPod nano, a coat, some jewelry, make up, a new cell phone, a death note necklace, speakers for her iPod, and a mini digital camera. She had an expensive one 2 years ago and lost it so cheap it is.
Tatiana is getting an iPod Shuffle, new cell phone, makeup, Dream Girls DVD, digital camera, Night at the Museum DVD, and I still need 2 other things for her.
Bryana is getting an MP3 player, twin babies with a stroller car seat and high chair, bratz doll (a big one that is like 2 foot tall), digital camera, a coat, Shrek the 3rd, and some polly toys. I have a rain check for a bike.

Then they all get PJ and some slippers. This for the traditional, "Mom can we please open one present on Christmas eve?" To which I say, "Sure as long as I get to pick the gift."

I got my niece (Ashanti) a baby Bratz doll and nephew (Qualil) a Hotwheels 18 wheeler that comes with 5 matchbox cars. Haven't started on the other nieces and nephews. My sister seems to think I should not buy for them this year. So we're still in negotiations.

My mom is getting a plate. (See previous blog) I have NO idea what to get Karl's mom, plus I think she reads this so I'd leave her gift out anyway. LOL

OH YES and my fabulous father-in-law (yeah so I'm not married to his son anymore, I still love my father in law the same) is getting the kids a Wii. Karl and I are chipping in a small amount and he's covering the bulk. So cool.

So all I have left is Karl's gift from me. I'm not sure is this is really for "him" as much as it is for the kids, but he asked for Rock Band. So they can all play together.
Then the few things for Tati, maybe Bree's bike, maybe my nieces and nephews in MO and my sisters in NJ. They are not making it easy on me though. I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to Christmas. (It's my mother's fault.) I don't get into other people buying me gifts, it actually makes me feel uncomfortable. But I LOVE, LOVE to give gifts.
If they don't help me out with some ideas, maybe the girls and I will just bake some cookies and ship them off to them. I don't know. It's just my small way to say I love you. Sappy and corny, but true.

So no pictures this week, just my babbling. :)

I thought I had nothing to do this weekend.

Friday night was Steph's going away party. So after getting reamed at work about my aging increasing$100K in one week (that's what happens when you double my work load and give me the same 3 people to work it) I was ready for a drink. :) I only stayed for a short while, enough for one drink. Then off to Glazed and Confused for "girls night" All I can say is even if Cheri's artistic nature did make me look bad, I'm glad I sat by her. :) She wrote all the words for me in her awesome handwriting. :) I painted a cute plate for my mom for Christmas. It says "Grandma's Garden" and has a flower pot (thanks to Cheri) and 10 flowers with all the kids' names. I think she'll like it. I pick it up Friday. It was fun. I skipped Bunko for Instant Iguana's CD debut concert so it was good to see everyone. :)

Saturday Karl went in to get some OT so I can shop on Friday. Yeah!! Bree had a game at noon. They got their butts kicked but I see improvement, so I'll take it.
I didn't upload the pictures yet, but I'll work on it this week.

Sunday I woke up at 6:30 to go to Marsha's to fix her hair and do her makeup for her family pictures. I guess she thinks I like her or something? She better be glad I do. That was too early to get up when I didn't have to. LOL

Then off to my sister's. She and her fam are headed to Branson this week so we did Thanksgiving a few days early. It was nice. Plus I got my baby fill cuz I got to hold Sophie the whole time...YEAH! I had to fight with Bree to hold her, but I'm bigger and I can ground her if she bothers me too much. :)

My friend Christine's father passed away last week and the wake was Sunday. I didn't make it up there. How awful. He and his wife were at Lowe's and he had a massive heart attack and never woke up. So unexpected. I so feel for her. On top of that, her two kids were sick all night Saturday AND her husband was in the hospital on Sunday with what they think is appendicitis. How much can one person take? I guess it puts life into perspective. All the little things I complain about are nothing. Everyone keep Christine and her family in your thoughts and prayers. She's got to be having a rough time.

Not much else. But what I thought was "nothing to do" ended up a pretty busy weekend.

Tomorrow going to say goodbye to Stephanie. I'm already PMSing so this ought to make for more tears than I'm ready to shed. I really hate that she is leaving. First Ebony, now her. Apparently all my friends are headed to the West coast. I tried California for awhile. Although the lure of the beach one minute and the mountains the next was great, who can afford to live there? I spent 2 hours a day in the car commuting, one way. No thanks. I complain about 40 minutes now.

This Weekend

So Friday night Karl and I went to see our friend Jon's band play. They were actually really good. We had fun.

It's starting to sink in that Steph is actually leaving. I'm getting sad. We've been friends for 15 years. She is such a great person and an amazing friend. I'm not saying this because she reads my blog (she doesn't) but because I really love her. I do not think for a minute that her moving to Seattle will make us loose touch, it won't but I won't get to meet her for lunch whenever I want. I'll have to save it for an annual trip to Seattle. Since her family has all moved up there chances of her coming here to visit are slim. :)

Back to the band.

Instant Iguana...good stuff. And the Affton bar scene? Well, not my kinda crowd...but oh well I liked the music.

Stephanie and Karl. Gotta love the Pabst Blue Ribbon sign above their heads, right?

This place has something every night of the week...from line dancing to swing dancing, from 80's night to Rat pack night....What a bar huh?

The band. This was their CD release party and possibly their farewell gig. They might squeeze one more out before Jon joins Stephanie in Seattle.

So late night and then Bryana had a basketball game at 8:00. Adrianne I do not know how you function on as little sleep as you get...because I looked at the pictures I took at the game, and I have no idea what I was doing. LOL

I had the shutter speed set much too slow so Bree is a blur in most pictures. I know she's fast...but not that fast. :)

Look at my baby drive down the court.

Ok she really didn't wake up until the second half. And she was still a bit rusty. I think we may get her a hoop for Christmas. Not sure how much she'll get to play on it, but they said we're going to have a mild winter. Since it's been 70 degrees in November...it looks like it.

What a pass.

Then later in the day Saturday we took family pictures. I only melted down once (yeah right) while trying to get everyone to match. I don't think the lack of sleep helped at all. Karl, (the poor baby) at one point actually said, "Babe, I'll pulling out my best stuff here and it's not helping." I think I hung up on him. :) Poor guy, the abuse he takes. But we did work the outfits out. And the photographer said "You guys look great. You're the best matched family we shot all day." Karl (smartass) says, "I appreciate you saying that, if you only knew what it took to get us this way." (Meaning my meltdowns.)

Cianah being a typical (brat) teenager didn't smile like I think she should have. So she looks a bit unhappy. I even tried bribing them. Ice cream, anything. It didn't really work.

Here are some *unedited* and low res proofs:

It's so hard to get 5 people to look good at the same time, even if they are as hot as my family.

Thanks to Colortouch Photography for doing their best to make us all look good.

Please over look Bryana's white shoes. I couldn't find any brown one's in her size. It took 5 stores to get us all shirts and brown pants to match..I wasn't going to 5 more for a pair of shoes for Bryana to wear only a couple of times. Oh well. I'm sure no one but me notices stuff like that.

Sunday (since I hair Saturday) I got to relax. YEAH ME!!

This weekend we're doing Thanksgiving with my sister on Sunday. They're heading down to Branson on Thanksgiving (lucky dogs) so we're celebrating a little early.

Then I'll cook a spread for my family on Thursday. And hit the ground running on Friday for the sales. :)

Hope everyone is having a lovely week.

This week in History

So a pretty dull week in the Hobby House. Not much going on to speak of.

Bryana had the stomach flu on Monday and was nice enough to pass it on to me on Wednesday. So far we're the only two who have come down with it so fingers crossed it's all over.

I'm feeling almost human again so I'm happy.

Last weekend I shot a retirement party for a friend of mines mother. Ok, if you EVER need a caterer, I *highly* recommend Rachael's Restaurant & Catering. OMG! This food melted in your mouth it was so good. I actually kissed Rachael (on the cheek.) It was amazing. A week later I am still dreaming about it.


So good. I wish I would have known about her when I was booking a caterer for Marsha's wedding.

The photo shoot was fun. Angelia's family was fun. Plus I got to eat Rachael's food. So bonus right?


Bryana has her first basketball game is tomorrow. She missed the first practice because it was Monday night and she was sick. I hope the coach still plays her. I'll post some pictures from the game if she plays.

Tonight Karl and I are headed out....I know mark your calendar it must be a blue moon. Since Stephanie is abandoning me in a few short weeks I am taking every opportunity to hang out with her as I can. :) Jon's band is playing a gig near the house so we're headed out.

I'll probably take my camera there too so I'll blog about the Affton bar scene later. It's sure to be a blast. LOL

We're taking family pictures tomorrow too. I hope to have them fairly quickly so I can make up some Christmas cards since I actually have family out of town now. :) I can mail Christmas cards. YEAH!!

Can you believe it's that time already? I can't. Karl wants an iPod touch for Christmas. Why? I don't know it's not like he goes anywhere that he needs to take music with him. Whatever, if that's what he wants I guess I'll try and get it.

Cianah wants an iPod too...not the touch but an iPod.
Tati wants the Dream Girls CD and a makeup kit.
And Bree....well she wants whatever toy she sees in a book.

So there's this website http://www.blackfriday.info/ and it shows everything on sale (without the pictures) the day after Thanksgiving. I see nothing on my list yet.

I brave those wee morning hours with hundreds of other shoppers in the cold for deals. Darn it, we need a sale.

It gets harder every year as they continue to grow. Darn them. I remember when a bucket of legos, a barbie and a baby doll was Christmas and they were happy. I'd like those days back please.

Since Karl grew up Jehovah's Witness and they never celebrated holidays, his first year with us at Christmas it was like having 4 kids. He was just as excited. Well not much has changed....he still gets just as excited (or pretends very well.) Here's a picture from last year....



I don't remember but I think this was a wallet and a DVD.

Big kid right?


Usually I have mixed emotions on Christmas morning. The kids have usually snuck around for the previous month trying to find their presents (last year we actually put a lock on the storage room downstairs. So I'm annoyed that they already know all their presents. But happy that they are glad to get them.






One year one of those brats actually blurted out "Oh you thought this was for you, it was for me." UMMM BUSTED!!! I think that year I stopped taking pictures because my feelings were so hurt.
BRATS!!!

Last year was classic. I wrapped presents and went to bed earlier than the kids. Karl (since he didn't have this experience as a child) mistakenly thinks that if you let them stay up later, they sleep later. That may work on most days....but not Christmas morning.

So I didn't put up a tree. It was a busy time last year and I didn't get around to it. Plus the tree is broken and we need to get new one. So no decorations.
When I woke up...or was awaken by the children....I had a tree and Christmas lights all over the house. The lights....hung with duct tape. And the tree...tied to a broom stick to keep the top up straight. Great kids huh. I think I actually put a disclaimer on the pictures before I sent them out. :) LOL

So until next time....Hope everyone had a good week!!

Halloween

So against my better judgement...my kids keep growing up. I tell them all the time this is not allowed, but they refuse to listen. So this year Cianah decided she's too old to Trick or treat and wanted a party instead. Fine. (Turns out Tati is too old too but she didn't discover that until *after* I bought her a new costume.)

So Friday October 26th we had a party for her. (Thanks Adrianne for making me realize I worried about nothing)

The kids had a good time! Minor tragedy, Bree's friend didn't show up. Of course Cianah, being the wonderful sister she is, only pointed that out 10, maybe 12 times...cause if you can't torture your own flesh and blood, who can you torture, right?

I made these cute little spider cookies and *attempted" to make witches with marshmallows. Ok so I skipped the food coloring on the hair so you can't see it and I couldn't find "chocolate wafers" for the brim of the hat...they still ate them.

Hannah made some cute "fingers."

I made dirt cake too, didn't take a picture of that though.

Ok Adam is the only boy who showed up. He got really mistreated because, well because that's what we girls do to boys. :) Deal with it.

Girls left to right:

Abby, Miranda, Hannah, Cianah, Kelci

Tatiana had Katie over too...Cianah wouldn't allow her sisters in the picture though. Sweet kid huh? Notice a theme with her?

They did an "eyeball hunt" with balls in spaghetti, a "mummy making contest with toilet paper, and the traditional bobbing for apples.

Tatiana won the "eyeball hunt."

Kelci dripping wet...doesn't that look like fun?

Then they watched Dawn of the Dead. I think they were scared, but no one will admit it.

Halloween itself. Well here's my opinion of the "costumes" they have available for girls. You can either be a princess or a hooker. It's hard to find any middle ground. So last year Cianah was a Geisha (aka hooker) Tatiana was a Cat, with go-go boots (aka hooker) and Bree was a spooky spirit (happy middle ground)

Since Cianah wasn't trick-or-treating the previous hooker costume was what she got to wear...I think this is the last year before her entire butt will hang out...so no more. Tati (as seen at the Halloween party) who hasn't grown too terribly much had to wear shorts under her costume from last year...because hookers don't wear long dresses..any growth can result in this problem. Bree still fit in hers with no appendages hanging out..so we were safe there. Tatiana was a doctor, nice and safe. No exposed body parts. In fact she had a mask and surgical hat so I think even in a Muslim country she'd be safe.

As always my friend Melanie came to trick or treat with us. Again, her kids continue to not listen to me and grow up too. So only 4 trick-or-treaters this year.

Bryana

Tatiana

The twins - KeAndre & Kizmet

Kayla - She's 10 and as tall as I am. Ok so I'm only 5'2" but come on.

Kalen - Melanie gave him the cute little curl on his forehead.

Kendale - "too old" to trick-or-treat so he hung out with Karl.

Kyle - 15 (16 in February) - also too old to trick-or treat. He'll just steal candy from the little ones. :)

To see all the Halloween party pics: http://hobdypix.smugmug.com/gallery/3728535#214047228

I'm on a rampage.

Ok so I feel like everyone wants my money. I don't have enough to go around. Stand in line.

I bought a "new" car in September. Driving 70 miles a day round trip on my old car was not going to cut it.

So we bought a "new" car. We shopped around. Found a great 2001 Mazada Protege for $3000. Great, done, done. While we were "test driving" the car the dealer was chatting us up. He "mentioned" that if your check engine light ever comes on and the car is not running rough, you shouldn't be concerned.

Fast forward 2 weeks. Whatda know....the check engine light comes on. I took it to Autozone. The do free diagnostic checks. I got the code, was told it was the air/fuel metering thingy and that it needed to be serviced at the dealer. Knowing #1 the dealer's cost more & #2 that we have our cars serviced at Firestone, I took it to them first. I told them I have the code and wanted to make sure they couldn't fix it first. They OF COURSE can't use Auto Zone's code, they need to take my $95 and run a diagnostic. Ok, I pay for it. And whatda know, the SAME DAMN CODE. And, they can't fix it. I have to take it TO THE DEALER!! So basically you just took $95 to give me the same thing Autozone gave me for free?

I call the dealer...they want to do ANOTHER DIAGNOSTIC CHECK...this time for $120. I haven't taken the car in yet. The PCM computer just needs to be reset...It'll have to wait.


NEXT! My two oldest got their school pictures taken in September. They have this lovely "pay online" option. So I did that. So now it's time for the pictures to come in. I get a paper that says "You didn't order these pictures." Uh, yeah, yeah I did. So I call. Wagner Portrait Group....DO NOT EVER USE THEM. They don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. I have sent 2 emails, talked to 4 different customer service reps and been told they will "call me back." I'm holding my breath waiting for the phone to ring. Still nothing. They have my money...I have no pictures.

NEXT! I get Bryana's pictures from a different studio, CRAPPY!! So I call the school to see what I do for picture retakes. Oh, they needed to be back Monday...I got them on Wed and the kids were off school on Friday. So I had to call the school Thursday and have them back the next day???? Now I'm stuck with $35 of crappy pictures for Bryana, no pictures of Tatiana and Cianah.

NEXT! Monday, Tatiana broke her glasses (for the 3rd time in 2 years.) Lenscrafters is supposed to have a deal that within a year you only have to pay 1/2 price for a new pair. So I take them back. The LOVELY person at Lenscrafters says "we don't carry this frame." Uh, well you did 9 months ago. I'm not paying for new lenses too. She didn't even take the time to look up Tatiana in the computer to see that the other 2 times I paid to replace the lenses and frames. Ugh, don't you think you've taken enough of my money? I walked out pissed.

So today, I called the car dealership and told them I think it's "funny" that he mentioned the check engine light...and wow it's on. I have a message from them to return in the morning.

I filed a complaint with the BBB on Wagner Portrait group. The school says they get the same response,

I logged on to Firestone and Lenscrafters websites and lodged a complaint there too. I heard back from Firestone, only that they forwarded the complaint to the district office. Nothing so far from Lenscrafters.

I feel much better. My check engine light is still on, I have no pictures, and Tati is still blind...but darn I got it all off my chest. :)

Tomorrow's another day and I'm bound and determined that it will be much better. I know that all these things will work out better than I ever planned.

Thanks for listening. :)

More Sisters!!!!

So Karl and his dad "reconnected" about 4 years ago. Which is great! We were starting to plan our wedding and since my dad is gone, I thought it was important to not let any more time pass. I called the only "Hobdy" I found in Michigan, since we knew his grandparents lived there. I asked for "George" and was told he passed away. UGH!!! My heart sank. After a few more questions to whom I found out was my Aunt, I realized that Karl's grandfather had passed, also George. To the family Karl's dad is Ray. Mixed emotions. Very sad that Karl's grandfather had passed, but joy that Karl still had time to reconnect with his father.

I hung up with Aunt Geri (sp?) after giving her our phone number. Not more than 5 minutes past...the phone rang...Karl's dad.

They were both so happy. Karl and his dad have maintained a constant relationship.

So we knew there were 3 sisters in NJ. Well surprise..there's 4. Elyssa was the first to start talking to Karl. He was more than excited!





Baby girl is 13. :)






Last week we heard from Adrianne and Davida. These two Karl remembers playing with when he was little.



Adrianne








Davida





Elizabeth was just a baby last time Karl saw her. Now she's all grown up.



This is Elizabeth with Elyssa at her 8th grade graduation.




And just to embarrass my sisters some more... Here's the last time they were all together (except Elyssa)

I really don't know why you are all so embarrassed. Karl looks like Arnold from different strokes. "Whatcho talking 'bout Willis."
:) (you may be too young to know who that is?)


Adrianne sporting the hot sunglasses.
Davida in the pink dress.
Elizabeth is the baby.

So we are all talking now. We're all reconnected. And this is for good. We are not giving this up! Adrianne and I decided. So the rest of you are stuck with us.

I know my girls are dying to meet the rest of their aunts.

Elyssa how does it feel to have a niece as old as you? :)

Oh yeah, and as a bonus....I have a niece and nephew. YEAH!!

The Next Generation







I can not wait until we all get together.

We need a family reunion.

My blog...My feelings

Apparently I should clarify my blog about Karl not being "very involved" with his family.

That was not to say he doesn't love them, that's just Karl. He'd spend his life as a hermit if it wasn't for me. He just doesn't go out of his way to do anything.

His mother and his sister are the only family he has (and now his dad is around.)

He does love them and would do anything for them.


His mother has never done anything but supported us, in every way. I have no problems with her, nor does he....at all.

His sister, and namely the way she treats his WIFE is the problem. She's a spiteful, snotty person to me (not to most people just for the record.)

She is VERY self absorbed, too much to see the problems she causes around her. It's all about Mallory. And that's fine.

Karl & I have been together for pushing seven years.
We have been through lots of ups and downs.
We've fought and made up with the best of them.
The bottom line is we are in this forever.
No one *NO ONE* will ever come between us. We are too close for that.

Karl and I are soul mates in the truest sense of the word. We balance each other completely. What I am get upset, he does not and is able to calm me down. What he gets upset about, I do not, and I can calm him down. (Ok sometimes...most times he's better at this than I am..)

So on holidays when I usually try to make sure we are all together, no more. If Susana wants to come over and watch the girls open presents and share a meal...GREAT!

Last year I learned where we rank with Mallory. We were fit in somewhere between Christmas Eve & Christmas Day with Sean's parents and Christmas Eve morning with John (Sean's friend.) I started calling weeks in advance. Oh and nothing on Thanksgiving at all. That was Sean's family, who don't even celebrate Thanksgiving.
All that even though this was the first year Susana celebrated either holiday. Nice!

My feeling is this.....
I've tried, really tried to be the person I would want some one to be to me. I have gone out of my way to make sure I am not letting my personal feelings affect how I treat some one.

I make *ALL* the effort to be decent to Mallory. Helpful beyond what a "normal" sister in law would be. And still I am treated with no regard. So I'm done. That is not my family. Never was, never will be.



Susana is my mother in law and I love her...She is there at the drop of a hat.




But short of a lot of things changing...I'm good not having Mallory in my life, ever.

Karl is free to spend whatever time he wants with her, and I will never object...but as for me and mine...no thanks.

I am blessed with multiple good friends that I KNOW would be there for me no matter what time of day or night. I do not need people in my life who treat me poorly.... Karma will handle that all on it's own.

Those are MY thoughts.....this is MY blog. I don't have to like everyone.

Forest Park Ballon Race

Carol planned a end of summer BBQ at her "lake" house in Goose Creek. Since most everyone had plans that weekend it turned out to be just she and I. So the Forest Park Balloon Race was this weekend...so we went.

This was actually Bob's idea but we did have to push him to go on the actual day.

Karl and I both woke up with bloody noses, some silly person (me) decided it was so nice that we should open the windows. Not a wise idea.

Then we went to buy a "new" car. My little red car was not going to hold out much longer traveling 70+ miles a day. $1500 for a car that made it nearly 2 years with minimal problems was well worth it.

So we were at the Car dealer for hours....I drove away in my new baby. 2001 Mazda Protege. Lovely car. Hail damage so I got it for a steal. This will transition to a car for Cianah when she turns 16. By then the Durango will be paid off (and hopefully still a wonderful car) and I can get a new car.

Anyway, tired and not feeling great I trudged to the Balloon Race.

The girls were at their dad's for the weekend and Cianah didn't want to go...so Carol, Bob, Danny, Bobby and I made our way.

All of us took our first trip on the metrolink. According to the Balloon Race website "a short 15 minute walk for the station." Yeah maybe if you aren't carting two babies in strollers up and down the hills of a golf course.

The way there we got on at Shrewsbury, the 1st stop so no trouble getting a seat. On the way back however, not so nice. 1st we got on the "Lambert Line" and not the "Shrewsbury Line" so we had to get back off and wait for the next train. Only the next train was bursting at the seems so no way of getting on there. 20 minutes later we cram on. Danny's hungry and crying. Bobby is all coozied up with some little girls who allowed him to share their seat.

All in all, next time I think I'll drive. There was parking everywhere.

The Balloon Race itself was more about how much money the man could squeeze out of you than the actual balloons.

Bobby enjoyed the bounce house:

The Barrel Ride got marginal reviews.

Although we did sit him right behind the four wheeler pulling the barrels, so maybe the carbon fumes made him feel good?

Once the balloons started taking off, we sat in a nice shady spot...Danny had a great time with the sticks and grass.

There were too many people for my liking. I felt like I was at the VP Fair. (Or whatever they call it these days)

Here are a few of my favorite shots:

I think we all felt like Danny on the way home....a nap was just what we needed.