Trick....

... or treat

More Wordless Wednesday

I haven't had a buzz in so long, but I definitely do right now. Let me just apologize now if my grammar isn't proper or if I ramble incessantly. We just got done watching the season premier of Nip/Tuck and it was fantastic. Actually we got done watching it about an hour ago, but having a vodka buzz makes the time just fly. Hmmm, maybe I should drink vodka before I go to work and then I would actually enjoy my job. Just kidding. My sister bailed on me already. My brother-in-law came over after work to pick her up so she wouldn't drive intoxicated. Yes, we're quite responsible. Well, my husband and I are going to watch tonight's episode of Reaper now. Then we might watch Eragon if I haven't passed out by then. Ooh, maybe we'll rent Hot Fuzz from On Demand instead. That might keep me awake for a bit longer.

Let me just conclude this drunken post with my old favorite phrase from the movie xXx: "Everything is OK with enough vodka."

Thirty-four minutes and counting. I have to admit this day really did drag, but now I'm near the end and very happy about that. In thirty-four minutes I will be heading out of here and over to pick up my sister and her laptop for a night of drinking, blogging, surfing and watching the season premier of Nip/Tuck! Stay tuned to my blog and hers for potential "drunk and blogging" activity.

I have been completely screwed by Google. They knocked my rank down from a four to a two for seemingly no reason at all. Nothing has changed to warrant such a drop. Why are they doing this? It has completely screwed up my opportunity to make any decent money by advertising. I've gone into webmaster tools and corrected a few things - rebuilt my sitemap and enhanced a few of the tools. I'm praying that it will help build my rank back up. I know a lot of other bloggers are pretty pissed about this as well. I'm not the only one who's been unfairly knocked down. The posts from angry bloggers are mounting by the day. If anyone is interested in a link exchange, feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email.

I have a feeling that today will not be flying by as yesterday did. Knowing that I have a fun-filled evening planned and two days off, I imagine that this day will drag. I am hopeful, of course, that it doesn't. I have so much to do over the next several days to get ready for Gabrielle's party which makes it difficult for me to sit at my desk. I get a restless feeling when I'm tied to a desk with so many other things that need to be done. I just want to go and get the things done so I can stop worrying about them. Yeah, I'm a worrier... just like my mother.

I'll be leaving work shortly. The day has simply flown by! What a great thing to say about a Monday, eh? Only one day more to go - hopefully it will go by just as quickly - before I get another 2 day break. This time tomorrow night I will be getting ready to leave work, pick up my sister, and head home for a night filled with cocktails and a brand new season of Nip/Tuck. I am so excited about the new season! Does anyone else out there watch Nip/Tuck? It's perfect that the show premiers on "devils night" because the show is quite Devilish [ous].

I am overly happy today. I believe that I'm irritating people at work (co-workers, not customers) because I'm so chipper on a Monday. They'd be happy too if they had so many good things going on this week including not having to work all that much. Hey, I deserve this after working nearly sixty hours last week.

I'm leaving for lunch in a few minutes which means that my day is already half over!

I'm in such a good mood today! I know, it's Monday... what is wrong with me? Well, I only have to work today and tomorrow and then I'm off Wednesday and Thursday.Then I work Friday and I'm off work Saturday and Sunday. Plus, I got to sleep in this morning. No alarm clock going off at the crack of dawn. It's going to be a fabulous week!

Highlights for the upcoming week:

1. My sister is coming over tomorrow night to watch the season premiere of Nip/Tuck and have some cocktails.

2. Trick-or-treating with my kids on Wednesday night.

3. Gabrielle's 1 year pictures on Saturday

4. Gabrielle's 1st birthday party on Sunday!

It's been a fantastic weekend. Lots of hanging out with the family and watching movies yesterday. We watched Spiderman 3 and License to Wed last night. Spiderman 3 was better than the first two by far. License to Wed was pretty cute and during one part Jeremy and I were laughing so hard that we had tears in our eyes. I don't know if it's because we were up way past our usual bedtime and were a little slap-happy or what. Robin Williams is awesome though. I like just about anything that has him in it.

Today we spent the day with even more family. My sister, brother-in-law, both nieces and great-niece came over for the day. My husband and brother-in-law worked on putting the new doors on the bedrooms while the girls (and Evan) hung out. We took the kids to get more Webkinz - which is a ridiculous fad for children these days. If you don't know what they are - they are stuffed animals that have a code on their collar and the kids use the code to log into the Webkinz site, which is like an online community for children. When the kids log in and register their Webkin, it tells you all sorts of things about it and who it should be best friends with - therefore your child begs with tears in his/her eyes for you get them the other one. It's incredible. Webkinz are worse than Cabbage Patch kids were back in the day. My son now has three of them and my niece has five, I believe. I'm using them as a way to keep Evan in line at school . Webkinz are only between $10 and $15 each - much less than a Cabbage Patch kid. Unless, of course, they retire that one and then you have to search on eBay for it and pay ten times the original price. I haven't gone there yet. If it's not at the store, I'm not buying it.

Spiderman 3: (5 cup rating)

License to Wed: (3 cup rating)

It's going to be a Laugh & Learn birthday for Gabrielle. We were looking at different toys online to see what we liked the best so that we have an idea when we go shopping. Everything we like is Fisher Price Laugh and Learn. We're getting her Learning Home and Learning Birdbath and either Learning Phone or Learning Puppy. She loves toys that have lights and music so she'll have a blast with these - and they're all educational. Can't beat that.

Here.. play with the birdbath or the puppy. You know you want to. It's a whole lot of fun!

One hour and forty-five minutes until my weekend starts. This has been the longest week I can remember. My husband said he thinks it flew right by. Apparently he likes not having me around *grin* because time usually only flies when you're having fun, right? I have been having no fun at work, therefore it seems as if time hasn't moved at all. The calls have started to slow down this evening and I can only hope that it will stay this way.

My husband just called. They're back from the pediatrican's office and nothing is wrong with Gabrielle. Apparently the doctor has been seeing a lot of this lately - fever and nothing else - so he put her on an antibiotic for ten days. She goes in for her 1 year check up in about ten days anyway so that works out perfectly. My husband said she's acting fine so that's good. Strange, but good.

I am no longer addicted to the chicken caesar wraps at work. I've eaten one every day for lunch for the past two weeks. Blah. I won't be having another one for a long time. I can't even stand the thought of eating another. I thought that yesterday morning too. Wasn't going to have one, but when lunch time rolled around I went down there and that is what I ordered. I'm not doing it again.

I got home from my long day at work last night and noticed that my daughter felt warm. I took her temperature and she had a fever of 102 degrees. It's the strangest thing though because she isn't acting sick. She doesn't have a runny nose or a cough. No sign of illness other than the fever. I gave her Tylenol and the fever went down. She slept with me last night because she just didn't want to sleep in her crib. I woke up at 3am because her feet were on my arm and they were so hot. The fever came back. We gave her more Tylenol and she went back to sleep. This morning I felt her and she felt fine, but my husband is going to take her to the pediatricians office anyway. Something must be brewing if she has a fever like that.

I'm so tired I can't even see straight. I feel like I'm floating around in a haze and everything looks blurry because of it. I can't believe how much this long week is taking out of me. I feel like I could go to sleep right here at my desk. It's taking every bit of energy I have just to talk to my customers. Other than the two hours left today, I only have tomorrow left and then I'm out of here for two days. That should make me happy, but the thought of doing this again tomorrow makes me want to cry. It'll be quite some time before I volunteer to work 12-hour days again.

Well, my son pulled it off. He got an "A" on his social studies test! I'm so proud of him. I knew he could do it. He's such a smart boy. He just needs help focusing. With the right guidance and study habits he could have all "A"s. So, it's time for me to pay up. I'm going to run out and get him a new video game for his Nintendo DS or a new Webkin (his choice) - to play when he's NOT studying. I want him to know how great it is to get good grades and not be in trouble. I think a reward for good grades is worth paying for.

I didn't even eat anything for lunch when I went home during my lunch time. I'm so tired that I had my husband make coffee and I slammed a big cup while I was there. Unfortunately it didn't wake me up at all. I will be so happy when this week is finally over. I love the extra money, but hate being at work so many hours every day and being away from my husband and kids. I can't wait to sleep in this weekend! I realize that sleeping in doesn't involve spending time with my family, but I really need to catch up on some sleep after this week in hell.

I am completely addicted to the chicken caesar wraps that they sell in our cafeteria. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but our cafeteria is catered by Marriott - very good food. I love caesar salad as it is, but this is mixed with grilled chicken and wrapped in a pita-type thing made out of spinach. It is heavenly! I grabbed an extra side of caesar dressing today which makes it even more delicious.

More Wordless Wednesday

I am out of here in five minutes. I hope no one calls at the last minute and prolongs the joy I get from leaving this place. I feel like I've been here for a week straight. Again, it's only Tuesday. Oh, crap.. that means that tomorrow is Wednesday. I don't do well on Wednesday's for some reason. Hump day and I just don't get along well.

Four minutes now. My heart races every time I look at the clock in the lower right corner of my monitor. I'm frantically anticipating that annoying beep that rings in my ear to warn me of an incoming call. Please, no. I can't handle another customer tonight. Let me leave on time and in peace.

Two minutes left. I'm almost in the clear.

One minute.

I'm waiting for the closest supervisor to yell "all clear!" so I can quickly hit the button to log out of the system preventing anyone else from calling in on my line.

Still waiting..

Any second now...

It's 8:00. Where is the signal? Are they not watching the clock? Come on now... I need to get out of here. They're giving them a chance to sneak in! Don't they understand that? Of course they do. They like to screw with us.

Oh, no! It's 8:01 and no signal to log out!

Sigh... there it is. I'm gone.

My sister is the best! She looked up Prison Break to see if it was being cancelled like I thought it might be and just let me know that it is NOT ending. Yay! I'm so happy. I didn't want to look it up myself because I was afraid I might run across spoilers and I don't like reading ahead. That ruins the show, in my opinion. Thank you, sis. Now I am really looking forward to seeing the two hour event in two weeks.

I spend an awful lot of time eating at work. It's amazing that I haven't gained any weight. Even though I haven't lost the extra 20 pounds from when I was pregnant last year, I'm still maintaining that weight even though I eat like a pig. Apparently it's my new average weight. I would eventually like to get rid of this extra 20 pounds, but since I'm so tall it doesn't show as much as if I was more of an average height for women. I think that's what makes it so easy to simply ignore it. The weird thing is that even if I starve myself (like I used to) the weight doesn't come off and when I eat, I still weigh the same amount. I'm actually going to have to exercise to tone up. Yeah.. someday.

So, Jeremy and I were watching Prison Break last night and when we watched the previews for next it week it said that in two weeks (meaning no show next week) there is a 2 hour event. Then it said "watch how it ends" or something along those lines. Is it over for good? Did they decided that it's gone on long enough? If we didn't watch K~Ville we wouldn't even know because they never show the previews until after Prison Break stops recording and K~Ville starts. Now I'm left wondering if one of my favorite shows is going to be ending only a handful of episodes into the 3rd season.

This day kind of sucks so far. It's only Tuesday and I didn't want to get up this morning. I'll be fine though. I'll get through the week and get to spend a wonderful, lazy weekend at home. I must be the laziest person I know. A good time for me means having nothing to do except lay around my house in my pj's for the weekend. Is there anyone else out there like that or is it just me?

It's amazing to me how quickly the weather can change here in Michigan. Yesterday it was beautiful outside; seventy degrees with a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect really. Today, on the other hand, it's fifty degrees, raining and windy. Blah. I don't know what's worse.. working all day when it's beautiful outside or working all day when it's like this.

Well, we've proven that studying really does work! We were really worried about Evan because his progress report wasn't so great for Social Studies. With changing his medication for ADHD we were concerned that he was going to have a really rough start this year and worried that we were going to have a difficult time getting a handle on the situation.

We made him sit down and study every single night - reading the chapter and going over notes and a study guide. He took his Social Studies test this afternoon and from what I understand, his teacher told him we'll be happy with his grade. She didn't give the test back to him, but if he gets a "B" or better, I'm going to reward him with a new NIntendo DS game or something. He knows what it feels like to be in trouble for doing poorly. I want him to really enjoy the feeling of doing really well by studying hard.

I can't stop yawning. I'm so tired. Two hours left to go and I will be out of here for a whole 12 hours. Wow, that's not much time when half of it is spent sleeping. I'll be home long enough to see my kids before they go to bed, watch our 2 shows - if they're on tonight (last week they weren't on because of the baseball game), get a few hours sleep and do it all over again tomorrow. *sigh* It's going to be a long week. Well, one day almost down... four to go.

I'm losing steam, folks. My eyes are starting to burn. Needless to say, I'm tired. I hope this evening doesn't drag on. I went home for lunch and got to see my husband and my daughter for a few minutes. Working these hours is difficult for me because I don't get to see my kids as much. I saw Evan for about 20 minutes this morning before I left and I didn't see Gabby at all. Then I got to see Gabby at lunch for a few minutes and didn't get to see Evan because he's still in school. Then I'll get to see them both for about an hour or so when I get home tonight. *sniffle* It's not easy. I already can't wait until next week. I'm looking forward to only working three days out of 9 next week. I have this weekend off, then I work Monday and Tuesday, then I'm off Wednesday and Thursday, work Friday and off Saturday and Sunday again. Next week is going to be great.

Well, today is my first day working 8am to 8pm this week. I've been here for 2 hours - only 53 hours left to go in the week. It's busier than hell today. Then again, it's usually busy. I shouldn't complain because that means job security and overtime money, but knowing that I will spend almost every waking hour here this week makes me want to complain anway.

We had a great time shopping for shoes for Gabrielle. She got 3 pairs - a pair of cute white and pink Adidas from Kids Footlocker and a pair of brown/white sneakers and a pair of white dress shoes from Payless. Check out the photos.

First.. a photo of the "look" she's been giving us for a few weeks now. It's a wonderful little scowl, isn't it? And this picture is just a mild form of the look. My little princess is already full of attitude. Ignore the bruise on her forehead. She took a nice little tumble into the table last week. That's what happens when they start walking.

and now for the shoes...

and don't forget the footage...

she's got a set of high pitched lungs on her too...

After a fairly lazy morning of drinking coffee and watching a movie, we're all taking turns getting in the shower to go shoe shopping for Gabrielle this afternoon. We're meeting my mother-in-law at the mall because she would like to go to. Buying Gabrielle's first real pair of shoes is going to be a family event. She's such a princess, isn't she?

I just took my oldest son to get his tongue pierced. He's been asking me for a while now and I figured I would do something cool for him. He'll be eighteen in a few months anyway and then he would just go get it done on his own. I feel better knowing I took him to a place that I know is clean and trustworthy. He did really good. Not even a flinch. He drooled a lot while she was putting the barbell in, but everyone does. It made me want to get my tongue pierced again, but I fought the urge and remained the responsible mom. Besides, I took mine out on Good Friday nearly three years ago as a sacrificial offering to God, if you will, just before I became Catholic. It felt like a good thing to do at the time. I can't exactly go back on that.

So far the afternoon has been a lot quieter than the morning. I know a lot of times it seems that if you're busy, time goes faster. That isn't the case here. I don't know why that is, but I swear it's true. I enjoy quiet days at work. I can get lost reading on the internet and time seems to go by faster that way. Plus, I'm in a better mood if there's less of a chance that I'll have to talk to someone who's rude or angry. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it stays this way.

My lunch is over which means that I have three hours and fifteen minutes left to go. I hope the rest of the day goes better than the first half. I talked to some of the biggest assholes this morning. Actually, a lot of the people were nice, but the few assholes I did talk to make it all seem like a bad day. It's amazing how that works. My fingers are crossed that the rest of the day goes smoothly.

Friday is only the longest day of the week when I don't work on Saturday. I'm in HELL here, people. I've been here for sixty-eight minutes and I'm ready to go home. This is going to be such a long day. I feel like I'll never get out of here. I still have more than an hour just until my first break! Someone put me out of my misery. Just give me the winning lottery numbers, please! I swear I'll give half of the money to the poor.

It's far too easy to order the movies On Demand through our cable company. We watched Return to House on Haunted Hill last night. Not as scary or horrifying as I would have liked, but I stayed up to watch it. We ordered it through our cable company and it was just too easy. Not having to go to the video store, but just pressing a button and we're watching a movie. Far too easy, I tell you. We can't make a habit of that because I don't want the horrifying experience to be opening up our cable bill.

Let the fun begin. I'm at work for the next eight and a half hours. I really hope it's not busy today. It probably will be, but I can still hope, can't I? I realized driving in this morning that it's going to be dark when I go to work and dark when I leave work all next week. That's really going to suck. I just have to keep reminding myself that the following week I have two days off and that my paycheck is going to be a wonderful thing with all the overtime on it.

It's way too early for me to be awake today. I stayed up too late, didn't fall asleep for an eternity after I did go to bed and was up several times because Gabby had a rough night. Now I have to go to work and deal with that crap all day. I'm too tired. I'm going to need a lot of coffee today.

Can someone please explain to me why when I am sitting here at my desk working the time crawls by like someone put a hex on the clock, but when I go on break or go to lunch time starts to fly right by? I know that I'm not the only one who notices this. Fifteen minutes seems like an hour when I'm working, but my break is over before I know it. I walk away from my desk happy that I'm getting a break and then I blink and I'm sitting back at my desk. It totally sucks.

What is it about Fridays that take so long to get through? They are by far the longest day of the week. It's not even like I'm excited about having the weekend off because we all know I have to work tomorrow. So, what's the deal with the everlasting Fridays?

I have scheduled myself for twelve hour days all next week - 8am to 8pm. Blah. It's going to be a helluva week, but it's also a lot of extra money working an extra 15 hours at time and a half. We're saving for the holidays - and for a PS3 - which is sort of like a Christmas gift for the entire family. I'll have an easier week the following week. I have Halloween and the day after off work so I can relax then.

Yes, I do have to work tomorrow so it's not as great as it would be if I had the entire weekend off, but it's still Friday. My oldest is coming over for the weekend. I don't know if he's planning on moving in or not, but we'll discuss that while he's there. I am just looking forward to spending some time with him again. Two weekends in a row is a big shocker. He's usually too busy with his friends to hang with his mom.

My sister is giving us a futon for our basement. She was going to sell it, but she has been nice enough to let us have it. It'll be something good for Jamie to sleep on when he comes over and if he happens to move in. My sister is the best, isn't she? Jeremy is going to pick it up in a little while.

Could I have been any lazier today? I don't think so. I have done absolutely nothing productive today. I'm still in my pj's and haven't showered. I've watched television and played on my computer all day. I feel like such a bum.

It's my day off and it's perfect weather for it too. It's rainy and slightly cool - that weather that makes me want to stay in my pj's and "veg" all day. That's exactly what my plan was and now I don't have to feel guilty about it. We are currently watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on cable. I forgot how strange and confusing the movie is.

I only have one hour and twenty-eight minutes until I'm out of here and I won't be returning until Friday at eleven. I hate working Saturdays, but I sure do enjoy the day off during the week. I had a doctor's appointment tomorrow, but I cancelled that because I don't want my day off to be interrupted by anything. I know, that's what my day off is for - doctor's appointments and other things I normally can't do during the week because of work, but I really just want to enjoy my day and not have to worry about any outside obligations for the thirty-nine hours I have away from this place.

I was thinking that we have three show to watch tonight, but I forgot we have given up on Pushing Daisies. It's the dumbest show I've ever seen and my husband agrees. We watched three episodes trying very hard to get into it, but we just kept rolling our eyes. Last week we even hit fast forward several times because we just couldn't stand it any more. I think it's still set to record, but only in case we have absolutely nothing else to do and feel like giving it another try at some point. I doubt it though. It will most likely be deleted in a week or two.

I'm back from lunch which means I'm half way through this day. Hopefully the evening is as quiet as the day has been. I love not having too many phone calls and being able to post here and surf the internet while getting paid. Is there anything better? I don't think so. Well, aside from being at home anyway.

It is absolutely gorgeous outside today! It's hard to believe that it's mid-October and nearly seventy degrees. I hope it's just like this on Halloween so that we can enjoy the time we are out trick-or-treating with the kids.

I have to go out this weekend to buy shoes for Gabrielle to wear with her costume. Up until now, we haven't bothered with shoes for her because she won't keep them on her feet. Since she's walking now, I'm going to buy her a nice pair that will hopefully last a little while. For as long as they fit anyway. I also need to get her a cute pair of dress shoes to go with her birthday dress! I can't wait. I'm taking my baby girl on her first shoe shopping trip. *grin*

More Wordless Wednesday

I am going to have a good day today. Why? Because I'm willing it to happen. I have tomorrow off because I'm working Saturday so that means I get to stay up late with my husband to watch all of our shows. We may even get the blender out and have margaritas or make some martini's so we can use our new martini glasses that my mother-in-law purchased for us. It's going to be a good day. I'm going to have the nicest customers all day today with no complaining or yelling. The day is going to fly by and before I know it I will be at home for the night. I insist on it.

I have twenty-nine minutes until it's time to leave work - as long as a customer doesn't call again at closing time and want me to rewrite his/her home and auto policy, that is. Twenty-nine minutes must be the count down of the day because if I remember correctly, I wrote earlier that there were twenty-nine minutes until my lunch break. Regardless, I'm out of here soon!

I feel like I'm in the slow lane today. I'm tired and I don't feel like being at work today. It's rainy outside which immediately triggers something inside me that makes me want to put my pajamas on and lounge on my couch with a good video game. Lunch is twenty-nine minutes away. I wish I was leaving for the day.

I was surprised that 28 Weeks Later was actually pretty good. Not something that everyone would like, but a very intense movie. My heart was racing through the entire movie. Jeremy's was too. We actually jumped out of our seats at one point. I had a hard time falling asleep after watching it. Not because I was scared, but because my heart was racing due to the intensity of the film. Definitely worth the rental fee.

This really was a bad Monday from beginning to end. I thought it might get better, but it only got worse. I was at work until almost nine o'clock, when I am supposed to get off at 8pm, because of a stupid customer and even dumber management. I was so irritated by the time I left work. Do they think I can just stay there all freaking night? Just because they don't have lives doesn't mean that I am willing to sacrifice the little bit of time that I get to see my children in the evening.

At least I'm out of there now and my husband just got home from the video store with 28 Weeks Later. Now I can kick back on the couch, relax and watch a movie.

Oh, yeah.. and one more thing to bitch about before I'm done here - We had to rent a movie because to go along with the rest of my bad day our shows, Prison Break and K~Ville, aren't on because of the damn ball game. This better be a damn good movie.

Today has totally sucked. I normally start the week out in a good way. Most people don't like Mondays and I don't either because it means the end to my weekend, but I normally have a good day once I get to work. It's usually the end of the week that sucks because I'm tired from working all week and dying for the weekend to get here. This has not been the case today. It's been a stressful, exhausting day and I'm already wishing it was the weekend again.

My oldest son, Jamie, is thinking about moving into our new house. He's always lived with his dad because it was easier that way when his dad and I divorced. Long story, but anyway.. he's now thinking it would be better if he lived with me. Actually, it would have been better if he had moved in a long time ago. His dad is having problems and not setting a good example for our son. Jamie just isn't doing well. He's got the wrong friends and he's not doing well in school. This is his last year of high school and he really needs to get his shit together. I really think the only way to do that is to move to our house and find new friends and have a little stability and discipline in his life.

Check out my little pink flamingo! Isn't she a doll? I can't wait until Halloween!!

The Reaping was even better than I thought it would be. It made us jump many times and the story line was awesome. I already want to watch it again. I still want to see 28 Weeks Later, but I'm glad it wasn't in last night otherwise it might have been quite some time before I got to see The Reaping.

The Reaping gets (5 cup rating)

I got my second wind. I'm still not fully awake, but it's nearly eleven and I'm still kicking. Jeremy and Jamie just left for the video store to get 28 Weeks Later.

The freakiest thing just happened. Before they left for the video store, as the credits of last weeks Smallville episode were scrolling down the screen, Jeremy suggested I check on Evan and Allison because they had been too quiet for too long. I went to the door of Evan's room and it was dark. I turned the light on ready to yell at them for something and they were both sound asleep - Evan in his bed and Allison in the sleeping bag on the floor. HUH? They went to bed without being told? In what world does a nine year old boy and an 8 year old girl who can stay up late on a weekend playing video games or watching television go to bed on their own? I'm still in shock.

Well, the guys are back from the video store and they didn't have 28 Weeks Later. What a drag. Instead they rented The Reaping with Hilary Swank. I do want to see it, but I was really in the mood for a zombie movie. Oh, well. Such is life.

We just ate dinner and now I feel so tired. I shouldn't be this tired on a Saturday night at only a few minutes after 8pm. I'm supposed to be ready to hang out with my family. I look forward to this all week. It's the only thing that gets me through each day at work. Perhaps a second wind will come my way soon.

I took this picture of Gabrielle last week when I was taking "after" pictures of our house. She was passed out in her crib and I just couldn't help but take a little close-up of her little feet hanging out of her crib. Isn't she just the sweetest?

Today has been an extremely lazy day for me. It started out productive, but that only lasted long enough for me to do the dishes from last night (drink glasses and such) and clean up the mess we left in order to go to sleep by 3am. The rest of this day has been spent playing Resident Evil II. That's been my day, at least. My husband decided to go upstairs and start ripping more things apart to get ready for remodeling. Our house is a bungalow and we haven't even started utilizing the top floor because it needs to be completely redone. We ripped out the walls and ceiling and we need to drywall and there are other modifications that will be made eventually. I'm considering jumping in the shower. Maybe after a cup of coffee with Creme Brulee creamer.

We all had a really good time last night It wasn't even as crowded as I thought it would be and my brother-in-law came over after work too. I'm so glad he came by. Everyone left around 1:30 and we didn't go to bed until almost three in the morning - something I don't do very often. It was so nice to sit around, visit with family and have a good time. We'll have to do that more often.

I think I'm stuck in a time loop of some sort. The clock hasn't moved in the longest time. I can't believe that I still have fifty-seven minutes left at work! Is it never going to end? How can a day start out so fabulously and end up so BLAH? I swear this day was flying by and then all of a sudden it just slammed on the brakes. I feel like I havne't seen my family in days. That's probably because I usually go home for lunch and today I didn't. That won't happen again. It makes the day seem far too long.

My son, Evan, who is 9 years old is not doing so great this year in school. As some of you might know, he has ADHD, which is really difficult for him and for us and for his teachers. We've been working with his doctor to get it under control and we've come really close, but now I feel like we're starting over again. We just switched his medication yesterday due to the lack of progress with the old medication. It's almost like he starts becoming immune. He's on the lowest dose of this new medication because we have to start each one slowly. In five days we're increasing the dose to the next level and I really hope it works better than this low dose. In just the last few days we've had to speak to his teacher and the principal of his school. This week is MEAP week, which is not the best time for a medication change, but we didn't have any way of knowing when the prescription was written last month. I feel so bad for him. I hope we can figure this out and get his medication right so he can live a normal life without always feeling like he's in trouble.

Well, my good mood is gradually starting to wear off. Everything is slowly going downhill this afternoon. The day has begun to move at a snails pace and the calls (read: the people calling) are getting crazier and crazier. I'm REALLY looking forward to a blender full of strawberry margaritas now! *Sigh* Thirty more minutes until my next break and one hour and forty-five minutes to go from there. Lord, help me.

We are going to have a full house tonight. As I stated earlier, my sister is coming over to hang out. My niece (her daughter) is also coming over with her baby, Rebecca, and my other niece, Allison, is coming over to hang out with Evan. My oldest son will be over for the weekend as well. So, there will be Jeremy, Jamie, Evan, Gabrielle, Jennifer, Bethany, Allison, Rebecca and myself at our house tonight. Holy smokes! Is there enough room? Hahahaha. We'll make room. It's going to be a blast!

It's a lovely day at the office. It's been fairly slow today - which I like. I hate when it's super busy and I have to take call after call. I'm having lunch with my friend, Julie, today. It's been a while since we've had lunch so it'll be nice to catch up. It's funny that we work in the same place and rarely have a chance to talk. It's a good day so far and I'm anticipating that it will only get better.

The work week is almost over. Sure, I haven't gone to work yet. I haven't even gotten in the shower to get ready for work yet, but at this time tonight my sister will be here and we'll be blending our first drinks of the night and ordering pizza.

I'm feeling a little better now after going home for lunch and seeing my family for a little while. I'm half way through the day. I need this next four hours to go by quickly so I can go home and spend more time with my family. The weekend can't get here fast enough!

People are getting on my nerves today. I am in such a crappy mood. I didn't get enough sleep last night, for sure. I am doing the very best I can to be as nice as possible to my customers. So far, I'm doing OK. I just need to keep it up for another seven hours. Wish me luck.

I feel totally blah today. I would love to just stay in bed all day long. It's been raining and cold since yesterday - which doesn't help my mood. I feel like crap this morning too. It's going to be a day of complaints. I can tell already. Just call me whiny. My coffee tastes like rubbish and my head is pounding. Care to hear anymore? I didn't think so.

Have you ever had one of those days that seems to go by quickly, but at the same time seems to have taken forever to get through? That would be today. It seems that all Wednesday's are like that for me. I don't know why that is. Getting over the weekly hump isn't the easiest thing in the world to do, in my opinion.

The decorations I ordered for Gabrielle's birthday should be arriving today. I'm so excited. I am going to start sending out the invitations this week. It may seem silly to some people that I am as excited about this as I am, but it's my little girl's first birthday!

I need to remember to get in touch with our cake lady. She hasn't called me back yet and I want to get the order in. I don't know why she wouldn't have called me back. Maybe she was on vacation. I remember the last time I called for another birthday cake she was having problems with her phone, but I think that was in February so I can't imagine she's still having problems. Oh, well.. I will call her at work tomorrow morning and hopefully get in touch with her.

I'm half way through the work week. I'm looking forward to the weekend. My sister is coming over on Friday to hang out and drink strawberry margaritas. Woo hoo! Fun times. We'll actually have to watch MoonLight before we do anything else on Friday because we finally watched the two episodes that we had recorded and we really like it. We're hooked already! I'm sure my sister won't mind having a margarita or two while we watch the show.

Happy hump day to everyone!! I hope your work week is going smoothly.

I was just on one of the longest calls I've had since working here. I talked to this man who wanted to make every change possible on his policy of 5 vehicles. Then he wanted to compare scenarios on each vehicle with different types of changes. I was supposed to have my last break at 6:30pm, but instead I went at quarter past seven. The good thing about that is that when I got back, I only had thirty minutes left to go. Now I'm down to twenty-two minutes.... and counting.

Here we are at the beginning of another work week. Today has actually gone by pretty quickly. There's only 2 hours left of my work day and then I can go home, relax and watch Prison Break and K-Ville with my husband. Weekdays aren't necessarily all bad because we look forward to the shows we have to watch every night. Speaking of our shows, we are television freaks this season. Here is our list for the week:

Monday: 1. Prison Break 2. K-Ville 3. What About Brian (CORRECTION - it's been cancelled) *sniffle*

Tuesday: 3. Nip/Tuck (soon to start) 4. Reaper (directed by Kevin Smith)

Wednesday: 5. Pushing Daisies 6. Private Practice 7. Dirty Sexy Money

Thursday: 8. Smallville 9. Grey's Anatomy 10. Big Shots

Friday: 11. Moonlight (we have it recorded, but haven't actually watched it yet)

Sunday 12. Brothers and Sisters

Pathetic, is it not? Could we have any less of a life? I remember when I could honestly say that I didn't watch television. Can't say that anymore!

Here are some pictures I took today. It's a picture taking weekend, as you can tell.

Wearing daddy's yucky work hat:

Such a sweet baby:

Evan trying to sneak around in his Halloween costume:

My father and mother-in-law just came by for a visit. They were in town for my brother-in-laws wedding yesterday and stayed the night in a hotel. It was so nice spending part of the day with them today. We don't get to see them often enough. I wish that we lived closer to each other so we could spend more time together.

They brought us a fabulous house warming gift - a new Black & Decker blender! I've already made chocolate-banana smoothies and plan to use it to make Strawberry Margaritas next weekend when my sister comes over. It's an awesome blender too. It even has an "ice crush" setting on it. Much better than any blender I've used before. Woohoo! Party time.

I took quite a few pictures of Gabrielle today. I don't think I need to say any more. Here they are.. pictures of my beautiful little princess...

Aww, my little sweetie:

I'm coming to get you:

I know... I'm cute:

Talking on the phone already:

Such a little ham:

Kisses? No way, I'll bite your nose off daddy:

Oh, I'm sorry.. here's a hug:

Fine, and a kiss too:

Never go to the grocery store hungry. We all know that, right? I've always known that, but I find myself doing it anyway. I just spent far too much money on groceries. I hadn't eaten a thing all day and then loaded up the kids and went shopping. Bad. Very bad. I just grocery shopped for the month, I think. The bright side: we have a lot of yummy food in this house right now. Dinner is almost done.

Gabrielle turned 11 months old yesterday. We're really doing the count down to her 1st birthday now. I can't believe how fast time goes by. She's a pro at walking now too. She can be sitting in the middle of the living room floor and just pop straight up and start walking. She no longer needs to pull herself up on the furniture to get moving.

She also knows the signs for milk, eat, and more. She can blow kisses, wave hello and goodbye and play pat-a-cake. She can say uh-oh, clock and duck along with mama and dada. If we say hello, as if answering the telephone, she will go over to her phone and put the receiver to her ear. If we ask her for any of her toys, her books or babydolls she will go get them. She also loves to give kisses and hugs. If you tell her she's a good girl, she will clap her hands for herself. If we tell her no, she will shake her head no, but then, of course, she laughs and goes after whatever it is she shouldn't have. She will also point to my nose, mouth and hair when asked where each one is and points to her belly and her knee when asked. She's such a big girl now.

It was nice not hearing an alarm clock blaring through the house this morning. It's been a great Saturday morning already. I got Gabrielle's decorations ordered, called the cake lady to order the cake - although I had to leave a message, paid all the bills we currently have and we received Gabrielle's Halloween costume in the mail.

Jeremy is going to his brother's wedding today (he's standing up in the wedding) and I am staying home with the kids because we don't have a babysitter. The kids and I are going to Halloween USA to get Evan a costume and then going grocery shopping. I enjoy spending lazy days with my family. Grocery shopping may not sound like fun to anyone else, but I like it. I think I'll make something nice for dinner tonight.

I can't believe I missed Thursday Thirteen this week! I just realized it too. I'm so bummed. I'm going to blame my sister because she should have reminded me. How horrible of her to let me miss it. I guess I'm not going to let her come over and watch the Justin Timberlake concert I recorded for her. *grin* Just kidding, sis. I'll llet it slide this time.

I think time stopped moving after my last break. The last hour has felt like three and I am so ready to get out of here. It's been so busy all day and I'm utterly exhausted. It's been call after call after call with no time between. My throat is dry and sore from talking so much and I am starving! I've only eaten half a package of Ramen noodles today and it's half past seven. Someone needs to give "father time" a swift kick in the ass so I can get out of work already and enjoy my weekend.

I only have half the day left and I am free from work for the weekend! Woohoo! I have been busting my butt today and trying to stay as busy as possible so the day will fly by. So far, so good. I'm hoping that before I know it, I'll be on my way home. This week has actually gone by a lot faster than I anticipated. That's always a good thing. I just hope the weekend doesn't go by just as quickly.

I'm running out of steam as the night wears on. Only a few more minutes and I am out of here! One more day to go and the weekend will be mine to cherish. It's funny how having two days off makes it worth getting through each week.

I've actually been a lot nicer to my customers lately and have enjoyed doing my job more than I had up until a week ago. I made a mistake (I was pretty snotty to a customer) and had to listen to that mistake in a room with my supervisor. Yes, we listened to my recorded call that was not nice at all. The prior debt collector in my took over and I let this woman have it. That's not how things are done here. Worrying about how much trouble I was going to get in for this made me change my ways. I haven't said anything even remotely snotty since. In fact, I've been a joy to do business with.. so I've been told many times this week. It's amazing what a little fear will do to whip your butt into shape.

Here I am... writing from work again. The evening hours in this place are generally a slow time so I have plenty of time to get caught up here. I haven't done so until now, but why the heck not, right? I'm not going to just sit here with nothing to do. Last night I shopped online for Gabby's Halloween costume. The night before I was searching for the decorations for her birthday party. I'm torn between two different themes. I'll have to post both of them on here later and get your opinions on which one is the better choice. One is more expensive than the other so I'm leaning toward the less expensive choice.

I'm home for lunch so I thought I would quickly post the picture of the pink flamingo costume that Gabrielle will be wearing this Halloween. Of course, once it gets here I will be posting pictures of her wearing it. This is just the catalog picture with some other baby wearing it.

What do you think? She's going to be a cutie, isn't she?

Well, here I am at work... being bad. I'm sitting on hold while a customer calls her mortgage company to get their correct fax number. Fun times. I figured I would take the time to write something here and feel somewhat connected to the outside world.

I hope today goes by fast. Tomorrow too. I am looking forward to the weekend. I will be taking Evan to Halloween USA to get his costume for this year on Saturday. I'm also going to be ordering decorations for Gabrielle's first birthday party and ordering the cake to match. I already ordered Gabrielle's Halloween costume from a baby website for only ten dollars. She is going to be a little pink flamingo! I'll post the picture from the catalog when I get home. I'm also going to post the pictures of the theme I picked out for her birthday party. I'm so excited for both!

OK, well.. phone call is done. I have to get back to work - for now.

Well, it's hump day once again. I have to get in the shower and get ready for work. I would love to just stay home with my family, but then again.. who wouldn't. I don't know anyone that really enjoys going to work every day. I'm sure there are some people out there who do, but I can't imagine it for myself. I would much rather spend time with my kids and my husband than be on the phone all day with people I don't know.

This year is just cruising by. I can't believe it's October already. I love Fall and I'm looking forward to so many things; Halloween, Gabby's birthday, Thanksgiving and yes, even Christmas - even though I have no idea what I'm buying for anyone yet. We're not going to do much in the way of Christmas presents this year. It's pretty much for the kids and that is all this time around. With us moving into this house and having all new bills, we have to be careful with our spending this holiday season.