Day One

We went ahead and left today although we really hadn't planned to. The deciding factor in it all was that Lexie either needed to be dropped off at the kennel today between 9 - 11 or tomorrow from 3 - 5, and we really didn't want to leave that late. So we decided on taking a nice leisurely trip. Tonight we stopped in Mobile, AL - about a whole whopping 3 hours from home. No we didn't stop from being tired of driving or anything, we actually stopped so that tomorrow we can visit the USS Alabama Battleship. The memorial grounds are quite spectacular with tons of planes, tanks, guns, and the USS Drum submarine as well. I can't wait to get aboard it and take some pictures. For now I hope this will tide you over, as I must get off this unsecured network. I believe the next stop may be in Destin, FL.USS Alabama began her combat service augmenting the British Fleet protecting convoys on the "Murmansk Run" from England through the North Sea to Russia against German warships and aircraft. The ship transferred to the Pacific Fleet in August 1943, and earned 9 battle stars providing gunfire support for amphibious assaults on Japanese-held islands and protecting carrier task forces from air and surface attack. Alabama was credited with shooting down 22 Japanese planes. Her radar was the first to detect enemy bombers in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, at the unprecedented range of 190 miles. This warning enabled U.S. fighters and anti-aircraft gunners to destroy over 400 Japanese planes. Decommissioned in 1947, Alabama was "mothballed" in Bremerton, Washington until 1964, when she was transferred to the State of Alabama and towed 5,600 miles to become a memorial in Mobile.

The Park's artifact collection contains representative Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard aircraft from before World War II through the Persian Gulf War. Included are a Mach 3+ A-12 Blackbird, the submarine Drum, tanks and artillery. Alabama conducts youth group overnight encampments.

USS Alabama is a National Historic Landmark.

Legal Again!

Almost forgot. Finally after jumping through hoops getting paperwork I went to the DMV again and was able to get my license with no problems. After scrambling to get all the paperwork and such, it was later determined that I really didn't need it. Oh well, at least I never got caught for driving on an expired license! So once again I am a licensed driver - but the picture looks like crap, but that's typical for such ID.

Only a few more days!!!!

It's finally here, the weekend we leave for our much anticipated vacation to Disney World. As much as I am excited about going, I'm just not very motivated about packing. It's not about the last minute laundry I 'm wanting to get done in order to do the actual packing. It's not even really the act itself as pretty much most of of the stuff we're taking is sitting in a big pile next to the suitcases.

I guess what it boils down to is that over the last few days I have had some serious family issues weighing heavily on my mind, heart, and wallet. I've managed to keep the majority of this under wraps for the last 6 months, but in that time keeping it all bottled up has done nothing but build anger. It's gotten to the point where I'm so pissed off I can't see straight. I finally managed to vent some of the anger, but it seems that all that has done is cause me more. I'm pissed off and frustrated and I don't know what to do anymore. I knew that these issues would one day be a problem. When my Mom first became ill last February, I had begged her to revert her will to her previous wishes, and to give me some sort of legal power. Of course she dismissed it all, saying everything will be fine. Yet everything is not fine. Here I am the ugly-red-headed step-child I always knew I was. In all actuality, I'm fine with having no dad or step-dad. The others came and went and life went on just fine without them. The only difference is that this time there is a child involved. One who loves her grandpa, and likes to talk to him - yet he's never home when she calls, and hardly ever calls her. This is one of the many things that pisses me off cause no one fucks with my daughter. The pain it brings me to see her cry cause grandpa's not home to answer the phone. Ruben's mom calls her every Sunday, and has since October. The other problem is my disabled brother Bill who lives in Vegas. He was just left on his own to fend for himself, and now that Social Security has cut off his disability he has been having financial problems. And just who do you think has been taking the responsibility for him and paying his bills? Yup, me. Thankfully my sister has offered to help as well, so I wouldn't have to bear the burden of all the costs alone - but still even at half, it adds up over months and months. Our step-dad, well let me say that he hasn't taken the initiative to help - he hasn't offered to help, nor given us any money for the thousands already shelled out. I really hope wherever my mom is she is kicking herself for not listening to me, and can hear me say I TOLD YOU SO!

Now hopefully since I have gotten this off my chest and vented, I will be able to actually enjoy the vacation that we have saved for over the last 9 months!

Oh, and when I come back, guess what I have to look forward to???? I'm finally going to undergo the first stage of reconstruction again. June 1st I will be admitted overnight after they implant a tissue expander. After the weekly saline injections for it to stretch to size, it will be replaced with a regular breast implant, and during that time is when they will remove my other breast and also replace it with an implant. Let's just hope that I have better results this time than with my last expander surgery which was unsuccessful!

Cherry Chocolate Mousse?

If you know me then you know I'm always one to be doing something funky with my hair - like the time in 2004 I was getting ready to quit my job to become a stay at home mom. For some reason, I had always had this desire to have either purple or blue hair, so 2 weeks before my last day at work, I went and had purple - and by purple I mean eggplant purple highlights put in my blonde and brown hair. The purple highlights had replaced the red highlights I would get. My hair has always been an array of colors. By birth I am a blonde, and not a pretty blonde color either - that dirty dark, bland blonde, yuck! So since I have never cared for my dull natural color I always colored or highlight my hair. When I lived in Vegas I had an awesome stylist Hope (whom I miss terribly). Getting my hair done was mt one guilty pleasure in life, I didn't care that it cost $160 to cut and highlight it because she made it look so good. She would take sections and alternate between them which ones would be bleached, which ones stayed natural, and which ones were dyed red. I always loved the effect. But now that I live here and my hair is still growing and not quite at a length where I want to cut it yet, I haven't bothered to find a new stylist. So for now I have been experimenting and doing my own dye/highlighting jobs. Nothing special just stuff I buy at Walmart or wherever, although I really should go to Sally's. Anyway, this time I bought this color that's a very rich brownish-red. So far I love the base color, even though it's pretty dark for summer. Now I just have to see what it looks like with the highlights which I am about to go do soon. I hope it turns out good, cause like I said, so far I am really digging this color - and this is probably what will turn up on my driver's license picture! Maybe I'll post a picture when I'm done.
Oh, you know what else I really love? When lurkers come out! My friend and old boss from Anchor, Joy looked me on my MySpace account and sent me an email. It was great to hear from her. She has some of the cutest little kids. I can't get over how much they have grown! When I started working with her my daughter was just 6 months old - where has the time gone?

Something to talk about

Finally America gave Sanjaya the boot, thank goodness. I have no idea how he lasted this long, as that boy has no talent at all - all I know is I figured out he sucked ass the first week, and I am tone deaf, and cannot hear in one ear! But thankfully his days on AI is gone. Oh how I loved seeing the little bitch boy cry when he got the boot!

Also, with just over a week left before we leave for Disney World, I've managed to lose another 3 lbs. this week. 17 lbs. overall is not bad considering I really didn't put any effort into it. I'd still like to lose another 10 or more, but for now at least my pants fit better!

Have you ever heard of the magazine Radar? Supposedly it's been around for 50 years, but I've never seen or heard of it before, and I'm an avid magazine reader. A few weeks back I spotted a copy when we were at Barnes & Noble (or Borders, I forget which!) and judging from the cover, it looked like my type of 'zine, so I purchased it. Actually, I guess the fact that Colin Farrell was on the cover was the determining factor! He is soooooo hot. He's definitely one that is on my list of 5! I even have to admit that early last year (I think) when the story broke about Colin's leaked sex tape, I had to download it from the web before the court ordered it blocked. I must say that I do indeed agree that all those rumors swirling around about him and his man-hammer are true. LOL. Anyway, back to the magazine.....I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this article on Toxic Bachelors. Check it out because I think you will too. Here is the excerpt on Colin:

COLIN FARRELL

Age: 30

Occupation: Actor

Notable Assets: Gaelic brogue; smoldering gaze; Marlboro breath

Farrell burst onto the scene as one of the hardest-partying bad boys to hit Hollywood since Jack himself: smoking, drinking, cursing, trashing, and screwing anything he could focus on long enough before passing out. Since his arrival stateside, he's worked his way through the young and trashy set, from Paris to Britney to Lindsay, and a battery of models, including one who bore him a son. As he told W magazine, "When I come to town I [bleep] everything I can." On the set of Alexander, Farrell—or "Cock-Out Colin" as he was affectionately known—famously showed Rosario Dawson the trailer door when pouty-lipped sex priestess Angelina Jolie turned up hungry for fresh meat. Yet for all his dirty deeds, he comes off like a teddy bear. On his sex tape with Playmate Nicole Narain, for example, Farrell describes her vagina as a "beautiful little flower" and lays on the Irish sweet-talk: "If a fucking camera could blush it would be fucking red because you are so fucking pretty." Due to archaic bylaws, the performance cannot be considered by the Academy.

Back to School!

Ugh! Today spring vacay is over, and it was back to waking up at 6:30 for Nat and I. Oh how we loved sleeping in late - or at least I did. She loved running around in her swim suit playing with her friends all day. It is so nice to see her this happy, and to know our community is so safe. We have some really terrific neighbors. The kind I wish we would have found years ago. Arleen and her husband Renee are awesome. It seems their house is one of the regular hang outs for the kids, and it's no surprise. Mr. Renee makes the kids burgers and real french fries to eat. I also like the fact that when Natalie is done playing with Abby, and it's dark, that they will have their oldest son Jacob walk her home (even though we're right around the corner - you never can be too safe!) Natalie has managed to find lots of kids her age to play with, and I'm finally learning to let go. I mean really, how far can she go with the street behind ours being a dead end in both directions? This being where most of her friends live - she knows Jason, Abby, Bo, Nick, Heather, Paige, Reagan, Drew, Brennan and Colin. Everyday as soon as she walks in from school she is already asking to go out and play. I can just imagine what summer will be like. Heck, just from this past week, she has gotten such a tan! She practically makes me glow in the dark. And while Natalie knows all these kids, we have managed to meet a few parents. Mainly just the ones living closest to us - Tony & Tammy, Craig & Nina, and Arleen & Renee, but so far we've only really talked to Arleen & Renee, mostly because we went to their daughter Abby's birthday party.
So we're down to only 12 more days till we leave for Disney World. I can't believe just how fast time has flown by! I haven't managed to lose anymore than the 14 lbs. Damn menopause! Actually I've been eating more than usual and not taking the diet pills the last week while on spring break. Oh well! So now I just have to see what all I can get accomplished in 12 days. Lexie goes to the vet tomorrow for shots so she can go into the kennel on the 28th. It's going to break my heart to leave her, but I know the place we are taking her to will take real good care of her and she will be kept indoors. Somehow I need to find the time to get my license renewed before we leave. I have been driving around on an expired license since January. I couldn't renew it because I couldn't find my birth certificate, and I couldn't order a new one without it being a pain in my ass cause I needed my marriage licences and divorce decree, and I couldn't find those either. But now I have everything I need. Ruben thinks that they are going to make me take tests all over again (which has been years since I've done) because I let it lapse, but there's nothing I can do about it. Let's just hope I pass, if they do!
Oh, yeah, and I didn't forget about answering the question......
There's a lot of stuff I've done when I was young and stupid, I'm not proud of it, nor ashamed of it. It's part of who I am. But eventually I grew up, got wise and stopped fooling around with drugs. Honestly, when I think about it, I'm surprised I wasn't chunkier then for all the pot I smoked - because this is really backwards. I was skinny then, and I'm fat now. Sometimes, Life is just not fair. But anyway, no there is no drug I would ever go back to doing. My family, my daughter, means too much to me to lose them, and that is exactly what would happen if I were to ever touch drugs again, and it's just not worth it.

FINALLY!

There is justice afterall. I loved seeing him come out of the courtroom and say I told you so!

7 Minute Soprano's

No, when I said I would answer the question from the book All About me, I didn't mean in this post. Here's the embedded clip for the Soprano's. Enjoy!

Happy Easter

Well I suppose first and foremost I should say Happy Easter, although it's just another day around here. We've had a major drop in temperatures over the last few days and it is downright chilly outside. Due to that, there was no egg hunt, BBQ, yardwork, or even sun for that matter! In fact we have the heat on again. Gotta love Louisiana with the A/C one day and Heat the next!
On a sad note, today is the 4th anniversary of the day we lost Ruben's dad to lung cancer. I don't think today has been easy on Ruben by any means. He has worked hard today (and yesterday) with pre-occupying himself by installing new ceiling fans....8 total!
We also spent Friday out shopping to buy a new grill - I think I killed ours when I moved it and the propane tank fell off, cause the next night when we went to use it, there where flames coming out from the bottom of it. I must have damaged one of the propane pipes. Aside from a new grill, we also had to buy a new weed eater, edger, and blower. We bought one of those Cub Cadet ones from Home Depot that has the rapid release (on the weed eater) so you can change the bottom attachment to something else like an edger or blower. Our yard is so huge we really do need something to make things a bit easier and not rely on the use of an extension cord. We also went ahead and purchased new faucets. 4 bath faucets, 3 shower/tub sets, a kitchen faucet and a roman tub faucet. I almost had a heart attack during check out over the $1100 total! Of course we still need to remodel the rest of the baths. We are looking for light fixtures, and so far both Home Depot and Lowes have been no help in the remodel. See, Ruben doesn't know how to remove and replace a tub and shower unit, so we need major assistance. Personally, I do not want to get into it. As this person was telling us, you basically have to cut the tub out of the wall. I do not want to see what is behind there! I have no desire to see the innards of my house - god only knows what might be in there or come crawling out from such holes! I'd rather hire someone, that is IF we can find someone! We also need/want the vanity countertops in each bath replaced. Ruben is slowly working on the toilets now, although he still DOES NOT have Natalie's toilet functioning. We can't seem to find a long enough hose to connect the toilet to the water supply. I told you this toilet was much taller than the previous one! So much aggravation! I hate home repairs & DIY sometimes!
But on a good note, today is the day I have waited like 18 months for....The Soprano's returns. Man am I ready for some serious whacking. This is the final season, so they're all going down in a blaze of gunfire. I'm also excited about the return of Entourage. I just love HBO. Once again, Sunday is the best night on TV. Which reminds me I have to find this clip I watched yesterday that sums up all 77 hours (thus far) of The Soprano's in 7 minutes. It's awesome. Link to 7 minute Soprano's article. I'll embed the clip later for you all to enjoy!
Almost forgot. We went to Barnes & Noble over the weekend as well. I've been putting off getting this book for quite some time. I first read about it on Jeff's Blog, and it got me interested. Since chemo, I have such a horrible memory that I have been wanting to find something to write down things about myself, family, etc. to leave my daughter when I die. Every since my mom has passed, I have felt like a lost soul. Like a child with no parents, and no home. I don't know half of my family - who they are or where they are, let alone how I'm related to any of them. In the last year, it has become increasingly more important for me to leave behind something for my daughter so that she won't feel the same when I am gone. As it is, she can't meet or learn about my family. I want her to feel grounded, rooted. The only real tie I feel left is that with my sister. My mom's passing has brought us closer than ever before. We feel a bond that will never exist with my other family members, because for one, I have a brother I will never speak to again. We have made a commitment to one another that not only will we always be there for each other, but that we will always be there for our other brother Billy. It's the ties that bind. But unlike me, my daughter has no siblings, so I worry about what will become of her. In any case, the book is All About Me, and I would like to thank Jeff for recommending this book. I love it. In fact, I am thinking about picking random questions and revealing my inner most secrets.
Case in point.......Under the morals section. A drug you will never try again? I'll answer this on the next post, if I remember to.

Well it's about time for me to prepare for tonight's TV entertainment.

Weekend Update & a look ahead

Well I'm happy to say that after the unfortunate flooding incident that our downstairs bathroom has finally seemed to dry out and the good news is the ceiling didn't collapse! Like I said, we will have to repaint it though. And much to our dismay, Ruben was unable to replace the upstairs toilet yet. The $250 toilet he bought didn't come with a toilet seat, and he has to make some kind of adjustments as this one is taller than the previous one. He should get his needed parts today and hopefully wrap it up. Looking ahead at the calendar, I see this month will be a crazy one. Lexie goes to the Groomer's on the 4th, I have a Dr. appointment on the 5th, Natalie starts Spring Break on the 6th and is off school through the following 13th. We still need to get an appointment to have our taxes done, Lexie needs a vet appointment for shots. I need to find a boarding facility for her that I like. And we still have more stuff we need to buy before leaving for Disney on the 28th. This month is going to fly right buy. In a blink of an eye Disney will have come and gone, Natalie will be out of school (May 23rd), and summer will be here.
I have a feeling that it will be so hot here this summer, I will have to sell my blood to afford my A/C bills. Maybe we'll get lucky and the neighbor who is installing a pool will let us use it too. Just wishful thinking. = )