Wow.

Another X-mas Light Show | Send To Friends | Funny Stuff at JibJab

All the holiday hoo haha...

Ever notice that, around the holidays, your family goes a little (read: lot) nuts? Maybe it's just mine, but I look at the upcoming holidays with a cringing feeling of happiness. I'm incredibly happy to see all of the family that can make the appearance, and I love catching up with them and seeing how kids have grown. The problem? For some reason, getting families together seems to equal drama on an unprecedented scale. At least, for our families, that is.

I can look forward to my sister and myself butting heads big time over who knows what, (we just always seem to; it usually only lasts a day, but it can still be pretty ugly) my brother managing to absolutely drive anyone with in earshot absolutely nuts, and my mother freaking out, drunkenly proclaiming that it is all her fault, if only she were a better mother...

And then there's hubby's family. They are even worse! We have family fights that can escalate to a physical beat down, depending on which family members join which side, affairs that rear their ugly heads (apparently this year is Thanksgivings turn!) and the blame game on a HUGE scale! That's not including any drunken ramblings/speeches/unwanted come-ons.

Is it any wonder that at times we would prefer to just go down to the local Chinese buffet and have a quiet meal? Yes, I know I sound like Scrooge, but really, you should see all the drama. Tends to over shadow the true reason for the holidays and why family comes together.

6 months to live...

...without your spouse/significant other. Can you handle it? I'm facing that question now. Well, potentially, at least.

Went to lunch today with hubby, and he gave me this pamphlet and said, "we should seriously think about this." It ended up being a pamphlet about the FAA's AF-CTI program. (Airway Facilities - Collegiate Training Initiative) Essentially, since the community college he attends is an FAA partner school, he can apply to be temporarily hired by the FAA and paid to attend their training school in Oklahoma City (OKC), then once finished there, he would be qualified to work for Sky Harbor Airport (here in Phoenix) as a federal employee. Good training and all that, but since the school in OKC is only (only!!) 6 months long, it would make zero sense to move myself and the kids out there. It would seriously disrupt Ian's schooling, and would be very expensive, to boot. Granted, we're still at the 'just thinking about it' stage, but I don't want to be apart from my husband for that long. Yes, we managed an 18 month long distance relationship when he was in the Marine Corps., but that was 5 years ago, and no kids. (Well, Ian was there, but he wasn't used to having a guy around full time, plus he was only one at the time) They are already miserable with him in school locally for 3 nights a week; I can't imagine how they would be going for weeks at a time without seeing him, and vice versa. He's pretty attached to them, (and me) too.
At the same time, this could be a really good (financial) opportunity for us, because let me tell you, we only have one income, and it's barely gonna top $40k this year, and that's difficult to manage at times. So, which way to I look to? Thee immediate, with the kids and the separation, or the long term, and their future and our retirement?

(FYI, hubby does have a good job, but he had to start out entry level, and his young age is keeping him out of management positions. Really, he was put up for a management position weeks ago, and the response from the biggies was that, "What? He's be the youngest floor manager in ********* history by at LEAST 10 years." They didn't say anything about his other qualifications.)

Got this from Paste

Interesting...

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	9.1
Mind:	7.8
Body:	7.8
Spirit:	7.8
Friends/Family:	8.7
Love:	9.1
Finance:	8.6
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Try it, but try not to take it too seriously! I wonder how I would have scored if I were in a bad mood...

I've been tagged!

At the risk of sounding like a total doofus, I've never been tagged before, and so am hoping that I'm not waaayy off in assuming that this means that I repeat the questions with my answers on my blog. I know, I know, I am such a novice blogger! But this made my otherwise rotten day interesting, so, I will participate. (Plus I think Leslie and Noel's life in their Institution is incredible!)

So, here goes...

1. If you were a muppet, and had to pick ANOTHER muppet to be your best friend, who would you pick? I'd either be Animal or Gonzo and my best buddy would be whichever I wasn't. That could be an interesting friendship, and some wacky Friday nights!

2. Would you rather live on Sesame Street, with the Muppets on the Muppet Show, or down at Fraggle Rock? Can I live on Sesame Street, with my second and third homes being the other two? I'd have to pick Sesame Street because I'm obsessed with Slimey the worm.

3.If you were forced to date a Walt Disney character (human or animal), who would it be? Should I be cliche and say Prince Charming? Nah, rather boring. Let's go with...Simba (the grown up version) from Lion King!

4. If you could only eat one vegetable ever again, what would it be?Are tomatoes considered a fruit or a veggie? Tomatoes, if they are in fact a veggie, and broccoli if they aren't.

5. Do you have any recurring dreams? Yeah, where I live in NYC with my 5 brothers...Not sure where this came from!

6. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Is mind-reading a super power? Because that would be rather handy in a marriage!

7. Did you rename your Cabbage Patch Kids, or keep them with the name Xaiver Roberts gave them? What were they called? I believe that I renamed her every time my sister and I played house. It was almost live a soap opera, we could never have the same episode twice! I'm not sure what all the names were, but I know Mercedes was one, and Rebecca was another.

8. First Concert you ever went to? Don't laugh, I was young...New Kids on The Block. Ok, I changed my mind, you can laugh. That's pretty pathetic!

9. Does it bother you that Sebastian Bach from Skid Row was acting in Gilmore Girls? I avoid the Gilmore Girls at every chance, so I didn't know until reading this that he was even on the show. (What a stupid show, too, by the way)

10. What are the Best 3 Simpsons episodes? It is impossible to pick only three, but off the top of my head: The one where Lisa plays hockey better than Bart; the one where Homer gets food poisoning from a sandwich and Marge's sisters take the kids to Duff Gardens; and I think the one where Homer is getting death threats. Or all of them, I love the Simpsons!

12. Who do you tag? I'm not tagging anyone in specific, but feel free to tag yourself! (FYI, I'm not even sure who reads this to tag, so take pity on me and give me a freebie on this one!)

Leslie, thank you, this was interesting, and I hope this is what I was supposed to do!

Grrr...

What a day. This lovely morning started with hubby waking me up, asking for my help. Hmmm, wonder what on Earth he needs help for at 6:45 Tuesday morning. Walk out into hallway and see the answer immediately. One of our wonderful doggies had a 'little' accident ALL over the walk-area by the kitchen leading into the front room. And it needed cleaning up. He did help to wipe up some of the runny brown mess, but it was me on hands and knees scrubbing the foul-smelling stains at 10 til 7. I had to take Ian to school and Tuesday is my day to volunteer in the classroom, so I made sure that the areas were nice and moist so that no stain could set, and decided to pick up a carpet cleaner once I was finished at the school. Picked up my three year old from my mother's before getting the carpet machine, and ended up taking my 18 month old nephew so that my mom could rest. (she's feeling a little yucky, and I am a wonderful daughter!) We get the cleaning machine picked up, I get both kids fed and down for naps and start in on the carpets. Now, mind you, I've used this type of machine multiple times before, and never had a problem. That wasn't to be the case this time. About halfway through, the water hose (that is under pressure) pops off of the power wand and begins spraying water like an unmanned fire hose. I dive to get the machine shut off, and then survey the mess; most is on me, and some puddles on the carpet and tile. I figure that it wasn't attached securely, so re-secure it (good) and proceed to clean up the mess and start again. 5 minutes later, it happens again, only it takes me longer to get to the machine and shut it off, so a MUCH larger mess, and a much more unhappy me. So, once the kids wake up and I pick up Ian from school, we will be returning the machine BACK to the store, and I had better get a new one AND the chemicals replaced, because I used the last of them in the tank that I have to dump out in order to return the machine. In the mean time, I'm off to find me some chocolate!

Pics from our area

These are all houses that are on our street, I pulled them from the real estate archives. It'll be awhile before I post pics of our house and the back, but, for Paste, this is what our area of Gilbert looks like.

2 Weeks In

Today marks 2 weeks that we have been in our new house, and it's been interesting. First, I love this house! It's not too big, so I haven't totally lost control (at least for long) and I have even managed to do some regular cleaning, like bathrooms. Our furniture fits like it was bought for this house, which amazes me. Even our desk, which is HUGE, fits like it was custom made for the den/back room area. I think I'll have to take it as a sign that we were meant to have this house! The neighbors have been great too, all except for... The blonde down the street that wants my husband. It's painfully obvious, and the sad fact is that she's married. But the more beer that goes in, the more obvious it is. And hubby and I have talked about it (my jealousy) and the fact that it's not totally related to him. Yes, if I see her trying to hang on him one more time, I will not be responsible for my actions or her medical bills, but the biggest thing is, it really makes me mad that someone could act like that, to her husband and to me. How disrespectful. But that has been the only real negative point; the rest is just learning a new house, like the fact that the hot and cold water pipes are backwards to the bathtub in the master. That one took me awhile! But I have to go back to unpacking, I want to try to finish as much as I can while the kids are home from school today. (Ha ha, little joke there!)