Thursday, November 30, 2006

Let's Say Thanks

I can't even imagine what it must be like to be in Iraq for the Holidays. Away from your family and so far from the "joy" that is spread during this season. Let's spread some joy to our soldiers but sending them a Thank You card. Hell, let's flood them with Thank You cards.

I hope you'll take the time to do this and pass this along to everyone you can. They deserve to be acknowledged for what they do, especially this time of year.

Hugs, kisses and many thanks to our soldiers!

Monday, November 27, 2006

Musical plug

Damien Rice, "9 crimes". I just discovered this song and it's amazingly powerful. I love pure music that comes from actual talent and this song is no different. I can't wait to buy the entire CD to see what else he has. You can hear the song on my not quite up and running My Space page. Stop by and add yourself to the "my friends" page while your at it.

Friday, November 24, 2006

How did I get here?

How did I end up in this place? It's like I just woke up from a long nap and I have no idea where I am, who I am or how the hell I got here. Like when your husband dies and suddenly your life changes and you can't figure out what the hell happened or why it happened to you.
Only my husband didn't die, nothing suddenly changed and nothing truly tragic happened. Apparently I did all this, I chose the direction of my life, planned it all out and got myself where I am. Apparently this is what I wanted...
So why the hell can't I figure out how I actually got here?? This isn't where I wanted to be, I never saw myself here. It feels like a blink of an eye and suddenly I'm married with 2 children, drowning in debt and so unhappy the bottom of my pool looks like a nice place to sleep.
I don't recognize this person I have become. Who is she? Why is she so unhappy and why does it feel like the whole world is spinning around me and I can't grab on to anything. I just keep spinning and spinning, getting sicker and sicker as the world keeps going round and round.
I don't know how to get out of this? How do I get my life back on track? How do I take control again and make something out of this horrid situation? Or do I just succumb, go numb and go through the motions of life with my mommy mask on?
Don't get me wrong, I love my children and I did always want children. I just never imagined I would be here, trapped in a horrible marriage with no apparent way out. I just want things to be better, I want my marriage to be better or I want to be better out of my marriage. I want the world to stop spinning and I would like it if my husband would help me stop the spinning rather than make it spin faster.
I know to make the spinning stop I need to move. I need to take a step in one direction or the other, only I'm too terrified to move. I'm scared to death of my decisions, I don't trust myself with my own life anymore. My decisions are what got me here and I just want someone who knows better than me to tell me where to go. Only I know that won't happen, the only person who can stop the spinning is me.

Monday, November 20, 2006

In a funk

And I can't seem to shake it. I just feel foggy, sleepy and have absolutely no energy to work at all. It's going on a week now and I really need to get some work done.

I don't know if it's because I have been out of town a lot so the housework is piling high.

Or maybe because DH refuses to help me with any thing other than taking out the trash and unloading the dishwasher.

It's possibly because our monthly bills equal more than we make right now and it's up to me to come up with the difference.

Maybe because Michael is on antibiotics for impetigo and not only does he have new spots but Kaylee has spots now too. Chicken Pox? Bug bites from the Nanny's house? More impetigo? Which is the better option? Ugh.

Possibly because I spent all weekend attempting to clean house and it actually looks worse now than it it on Friday.

I suppose it could be because my period is late and I need another child like I need a hole in the head.

Or could it be because the running list of broken things around the house is growing larger and DH is doing nothing about it?

All of the above?

Whatever it is, I am seriously considering bringing spiked Egg Nog to work.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

10 Things I Hate About You

Dear Southern United States,

In honor of my 9th anniversary of being a transplanted Floridian I thought it was about time to give you a piece of my mind. While there are a great many wonderful things about living in Flori-DUH, there are those I am none too fond of. I will try to keep it to 10 things.

1. Fried chicken. My thighs do not appreciate you! Nuff said.

2. Here in Flori-DUH it seems as though the pickup is a natives car of choice. While I hate trucks and have my own personal theory about the drivers feeling the need to compensate for something, this is not what really bothers me. What bothers me are these. Why some Southern men feel the need to hang their balls from their truck is beyond me. Oh wait, I guess this brings us back to the whole compensating for something theory, doesn't it?

3. Confederate flag. You might as well write "racist" on the back of your truck. Seriously.

4. Gators. They freak me out, but what freaks me out more are the natives who are not afraid to swim with them. *WTF*

5. This one is specific to Flori-DUH, but I hate old, medicated drivers!! I don't give a rats ass if it is age discrimination, when you hit a certain age you should have to re-take the drivers test, period.

6. Tourists. Drunk, obnoxious tourists. The ones who show up at spring break and are wasted from the moment they touch down to the moment they take off. For god sake, if you are going to party that hard (and by all means, do) DO NOT GET IN TO YOUR CAR. Although it may appear differently to you, not all of us are on spring vacation. Some of us have *GASP* children in their car who would like to survive to see their own spring vacation. The next time a convertible full of girls in itsy bitsy binki's almost side swipes me flirting with a convertible full of bleach tipped boys I'm going to get out of my car, take your Smirnoff bottles and shove them...well, anyway. You get it.

7. For the love of god, YES that is Hulk Hogan. Who else do you know looks like that? Yes, he lives here and no, I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to sign your bicep.

8. Hoochie Mamas. There is a rule in fashion that says that if you are wearing something tight or revealing on top you should NOT do the same on the bottom and vice versa. Yes, I am aware that it is hot here. Despite that I still fail to see how your breasts hanging out on top and your ass hanging out on bottom keeps you any cooler than something 4 inches longer in either direction.

9. Hurricanes. We here in Flori-DUH get a little tired of boarding up windows, bring in lawn chairs and beating the hoards at the grocery store and gas station and only getting a little rain. It's scary, hard work and frankly it's annoying. Yes, we need to do it but when I heard the criticism of the people who knew Katrina was coming and stayed put I sympathized. You try picking up and moving every couple weeks, it's a bitch!

10. Last but not least...Mickey fucking Mouse! Seriously people, there are other things to do in Flori-DUH besides going to Disney. Swim with the Manatees, visit Kennedy Space Center, take a ghost tour. My dear family, I love you much but if you make me go to Disney with you on your vacation one more time I am going to throw myself in front of the Monorail.

In closing, while there are many things I like about living here the above are the things that need to go. They do not make living here "colorful" or "interesting". Mostly they annoy me or raise our home and auto insurance rates. I'm willing to compromise and let you keep that damn Mouse as long as you start serving liquor in the park.

Sincerely,
Jessica
9 years in Flori-DUH

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Confessions of a working mother

I'm going to say it. I'm sure it's going to piss some people off but here goes...

Being a working mom of 2 is EASIER than being a SAHM of 2.

No throwing fruit please! Notice I said, "of 2", this is because being a SAHM of 1 is easier than being a working mom of 1.

I know, now I'm really going to get it. I should be flamed, executed, shot at and banned from all "good mommy" groups available to those who keep the secrets of the Secret Society of Little People Care Takers.

I am not at all saying that this is true for all the moms. Heck, it may only be true for me. (I'm "sure" it is.) The thing is that it is true for me. I'd take a day at the office over staying home with my 2 rugrats any day of the week. I know I sound horrible but it's not because I don't love them, it's because it's just plain harder to care for 2 children. Especially when one is 2 and the other is 9 months old. You are probably saying, "What about all the house work that must be done at night time and on the weekends?" Well, the truth of the matter is that I don't have time to do housework when caring for my 2 at home anyway.

Now one child is totally different. It was easier to stay at home than work when it was just Michael and I. Heck, I left work at 8 months pregnant because despite being out run by my one year old, it was still easier to stay at home.

I know you all hate me now but here's the thing. I never said any of it was EASY. No way, no how is any part of motherhood easy. I'd take being a dad over being a mom any day, except guys don't have the cute shoes we do. ;)

Being a SAHM to 1 is hard work, no doubt about it. It's harder than most men are willing to take on. Motherhood is hard no matter what your situation is. I'm almost sure being a single mom is harder than what I do now. (Hey, I say "almost" because you have not met my husband.)

We all deserve loads of respect that we do not get. I would never in a million years say that my situation is harder than yours because it is your situation and what might seem hard to me may seem easy to you. In fact, I'm sure some of my girlfriends who are moms of 4 and 5 are laughing at me right now. I'm almost certain some of my girlfriends who are moms of 1 are cursing their computer screen wishing they had never read this blog, getting ready to type out some choice words for me.

That's all OK with me. We are all moms, we understand each other better than anyone else. Despite your initial reaction to this blog entry I'm sure you will soon realize is that what I am trying to say is not that what I do is harder than you and therefore I am better; but that life as a mother is a struggle for me. I find it easier to care for my family if someone else cares for my children during the day and as a result I feel like a lesser mother. Thus the need for this blog entry as a confession. I work because I have to but I'm happy I have to work.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Vegas Baby!

A few highlights from my Vegas vacation:

Celine Dion - I was given a ticket, which is nice because otherwise I would not have seen the show. It was AMAZING! It was so incredibly powerful it brought tears to my eyes on numerous occasions. As my friend put it, she is the only singer I have ever heard that sounds just like her albums, live. My theory on this is that she is just THAT talented. In case you are sitting there thinking I have always been a die hard Celine fan, this is not the case. I like her music, I even have a CD or 2 of hers somewhere, but mushy love songs are not usually my thing. That said, I couldn't help but be moved by her performance. Absolutely incredible.

Gambling: OK, I don't gamble but my friend and her BF does. The highlight of all the gambling for me was the free drinks. :) As long as the drinks were flowing I had no problem sitting next to a slot machine while my friend gambled her savings away.
A note on gambling: I do not understand why a good day gambling is one in which you break even. I just do not get this, to me it would be a huge waste of time. I'd rather window shop. JMO

Pure Night Club: If you watch E news (like I do) you probably noticed mention of Nick Lachey at Pure Night Club last Saturday night. He was celebrating his birthday with the Pussycat Dolls. The truth of the matter is that he was hosting Pure Night Club that night. In other words, he was getting paid to celebrate his birthday! Oh to be a celebrity...
Anyway, the reason I am blogging about something so stupid is because earlier that day I met the owner of Pure (and other establishments) on Saturday while drinking at Fat Joes (at 2pm because it's VEGAS baby!). The long and the short of it was that he put me on the list to get in to Pure that night. In the end I didn't end up going because my friend really didn't want to.
Confession: I am relieved she didn't want to go even though I was dying to go. The reason is because she is very overweight and my guess is that she would have been turned away at the door. I would not be able to stand seeing that happen so I am glad she opted to not go. It's sad but true. What's even sadder is that I actually enjoy these materialistic places. *sigh* Little do they know, my overweight friend has perkier breasts than I do, lol.
So I guess the long and the short of it is that I had my .5 seconds of semi-fame by being on "the list" at the hottest night club in Vegas on the hottest night.

So really that's the excitement of my Vegas trip. That and I scored an awesome deal on some BCBG shoes; regularly $169 and I got them for $30!

In case anyone is wondering, I did not do anything I wouldn't want my husband to know about. Though tempted at times I'm just not that girl.

The disappearing entry

If you thought you saw a blog entry from me about a week ago that disappeared you are not mistaken. I vented and then thought better of it. :)

Just wanted you to know you are not loosing your mind.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Grey's Anatomy

I love this show, love, love, love it. Every Thursday night I lay in bed and watch it BY MYSELF. I would love a group of girls to watch it with so we could gab about how dreamy McDreamy is and how steamy McAsshole is but alas I don't have this so I'm going to gab about it here. Partly because I'm bored but mostly I am so overwhelmed with work and family life that I am seriously lacking some girlfriends to gab with so here goes:

Mer/Der: It's getting old. Every single TV show does this to us, it goes back and forth until sometime in the last season, usually the last episodes, they finally get together. Unfortunately it's usually anti-climatic because by the time the show is on it's last leg it just feels like an after thought. (Hello?! Can we say Ross and Rachel?) Please just get them together, it would be so much more interesting.

Burktina: I wasn't fond of this story line until last night. In fact, I wasn't fond of Christina until last night. Can't wait to see where it goes.

Bailey: I love her and I truly feel for her right now. I love that she is a mom and that it softened her, I love that the writers are "going there" with the doubts from the other surgeons regarding her competence. I especially love that she fights it tooth and nail the entire time.

George/Callie: George needs to get a life, if he isn't willing to be committed then he needs to quit stringing her along. Callie rocks, period.

Izzy: I like Izzy but I can't believe that she would expect to be able to treat patients after what happened with Denny. Also, cash the check already!

I loved that Derek's sister showed up and still don't understand the whole dynamic between Mark, Addison and Derek. Ah well, I'm sure it will unfold.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Why I Wore Lipstick To My Mastectomy

I'm not usually moved by movies on Lifetime but I thought this one was really good. Not sappy, just good. It was enlightening and frightening at the same time and for once I understood what it would be like to be "emasculated" as a woman. If you happen to be channel surfing and come across this movie I highly recommend it. Sarah Chalke provided a wonderful, Emmy worthy performance. If anything, you will come away with a better understanding of Breast Cancer and possibly more compassion for the cause.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Out of the mouths of babes

On our way home from Trick-or-Treating last night we hit one of those yellow lights that is too yellow to run but you have to break hard to stop. I was not wearing my seat belt (I know, shame on me) and I had to grab the handle on the door and brace myself of the roof of the car to keep from hitting the dash board. While stopping myself from exiting the car via the windshield we hear Michael (my 2 year old) from the back seat yell, "Jesus!"

There was no blaming this one on my husband. Michael learned this from me. It is what I say when my psycho driver husband pulls his "nearly get us killed" driver moves. (Ok, so maybe I can blame it on Aric a little.) Never the less, I have taught my son a word he shouldn't know in that way right now. While that word is not offensive to us, he doesn't need to use words that are offensive to others. *sigh*

What's worse is my husband and I laughed when he said it. I can't help it, I thought it was pretty freaking funny to hear him say it on his own especially in response to my husbands driving. :)