photo friday

this week's challenge: darkness.

my submission is up at my photo blog. it's a pretty cool picture, says the person who took it. :)

http://imaginephotos.blogspot.com/2005/09/photo-friday-challenge-darkness.html

my wish list (don't want much, do I?)

just some flowers:


and perfume:


maybe one of these things:


or one of these:


since I'm asking:


and just to push my luck:

thankfully, the rest of the week has been uneventful. I might even go so far as to say that it's been pretty good. hell, it's already Thursday! yesterday I kept thinking it was Tuesday so to only have one more day of work is very, very, very nice.

I've been in a really good mood lately too. for no reason that I can think of. things at home are great, the house is so wonderful. we really enjoy the time we spend there. it's so quiet and everyone has their own space. it was such a good move for us. I'm happy with almost everything in my life right now and the things I'm not happy with are out of my control so I'm not worrying about them. it feels weird when life is normal and calm, but I like it.

the weather is a little chilly today in Ohio. this morning it was cold enough for jackets! but the sky is a beautiful blue and the sun has been shining all day. tonight it will be even colder but it looks like we'll have a perfect fall weekend.

wow, I'm pretty boring when I'm not complaining. and probably when I am :)

another shitty Monday

so far, this day sucks. I have a terrible headache plus cramps. and it's raining and yucky outside. work sucks, as usual. did I mention that my head hurts? because it does. a lot.

I guess things could be worse. and at least this weekend was pretty nice. Friday night we did nothing. we were supposed to go out to dinner but thanks to a check book error on my part, we lost $155.00 in NSF fees. fortunately, this was a week where we could afford a blow to our account like that, if it's possible to be able to throw away $155.00, and not feel it. Brian was pretty pissed about it and so was I but it was my own fault so there really wasn't anything that could be done.

Saturday I took the girls with me to run some errands and have lunch. Brian stayed home to watch the Buckeyes game. my sister went with us and we had a really nice afternoon. we had lunch at Panera Bread, went to Joann, etc. for fabric and scrapbooking stuff. while we were there, we made some cool bracelets for free. after that, we went to Target to goof off and get a few things for the house.

we were supposed to go out with my sister and her husband to the Eagles that night for a Hog Roast but they cancelled on us because he wasn't feeling well. we went out without them though and had a great time. we played darts, which I normally suck at, but that night, I did pretty well.

I think all the hog made me sick though, because I was up pretty much all night with stomach cramps, etc. so Sunday was kind of a sucky day. I was tired, and sore and had a million things to do that couldn't be put off. bleh. we had laundry to do and grocery shopping. also went to stupid Wal-mart to buy a new vacuum. when I opened the box to do some vacuuming, we found out that it was used! ewwww. it had dirt in the bagless thing from whoever had used and returned it so now we have to return to stupid Wal-mart and get a new one.

we watched some football (the Browns barely lost, the Eagles won) and then the Simpsons and Family Guy and I fell asleep on the couch. I wish the weekend could have been longer. but I wish that every weekend :)

a memory

when I was a kid, we took a summer vacation to New Mexico. I don't know why. maybe because we're Mexicans. I thought we were going to actual Mexico, but to the newer part. I believe I was still in elementary school at the time so I forgive my own ignorance :)

I loved NM, in spite of the heat. the mountains (mesas) were incredible, so different that the ones we could see back home. it was beautiful! we went to Taos and walked around the ruins. we visited the church and I bought a little heart-shaped mother of pearl necklace.

one of the Native American women started a conversation with my grandfather, asking his name and whether he had an family nearby. he did have a sort of Native American look to him, and possibly some Native American ancestry, so her questions didn't seem at all out of the ordinary.

after we left Taos, though, my grandmother teased him mercilessly about his new girlfriend. not in the funny way you tease your husband when the waitress is really friendly, I don't think she knew how to gently tease. hers was always mean-spirited and constant and made the person she was "teasing" want to kill her. she would fill everyone in on the punchline. and if you didn't laugh, she would make a target out of you, either with malicious comments or her hand across your face, so she always got the rest of us to join in. and this one was a joke she kept telling for years.

on the way back home, we stopped to visit an aunt who lived in Farmington. she had four daughters (which is a terrible story for another day) and a son but as I think back, I don't remember any of her kids being there. hmmmmm, there's one more family secret I'll never hear about.

she had a pool in her apartment complex and she took me and my youngest brother down for a swim. I can't swim and have a great unreasonable fear of water, but I went down with her anyway. she was always very nice to me, which I couldn't get enough of. as we were putting down our towels, my little brother took off running and jumped right into the pool!

we watched him for what seemed like a minute and then my aunt asked, "does he know how to swim?" I answered that he didn't and she jumped in, fully clothed, to fish him out of the pool. I'll never forget the look on her face when she realized what was happening and I'll never forget how grateful I was that she was there. I would have been too terrified to go in after him and he probably would have drowned.

I don't know what made him think he could do that. crazy, fearless little kid! I wonder if he remembers...

and then

after I finally took a break to eat my lunch at 1:45, the stupid frozen thing I brought was damaged and I was too scared to eat it. so I drove to Wendy's (which is closest to my work) for a sandwich and fries. got back to my desk and spilled fries all over the place. gathered up the ones that weren't on the floor and bit my tongue while I was eating them. it's still bleeding. stupid day.

bad day

this day is shit so far. and I don't see it getting any better.

the boy left for Utah yesterday, which was awful. not that it won't be good for him, I hope it is. but it was hard for me to say goodbye and let go. and then I thought about it all day yesterday. so I'm already bummed out because of that.

my work situation is becoming more unbearable every day. I have too much work and feel bad when I say I can't take on any more. no one will give me a raise though, so lately I'm not only turning down any new responsibilities, I'm getting rid of some of the stuff I already have. my attitude is terrible. I don't care about anything here anymore because nothing ever changes for the better. ever. I hate being like this but it frustrates me when people don't care and don't want to fix the things that are out of my hands to fix. as an attempt to make my work life less stressful, I am trying to just come in and do my job and go home. it's hard though, because I am the type of person who likes things to be right whenever possible. apparently, that is not something that my company appreciates anyway.

other than that, everything is mostly okay. except that we have to replace a lawnmower this weekend because ours was broken and the one we borrowed got all fucked up while we were using it. so that has to come out of our new washer/dryer fund. bleh. I guess I shouldn't complain about it though, since I didn't actually do laundry this weekend or last weekend. and maybe we can find a good used pair somewhere.

I think/hope we're going out for a nice quiet dinner this weekend. it's only Monday and I already need it desparately!

it's been an interesting morning so far today. at 11:41, our billing system at work is still processing the overnight cycle so I haven't been able to do a bit of work. normally, when this happens, I just waste time online but our server was down too :( at least that was fixed by 9:00.

while I was internet-less, I read "Florville and Courval (The Works of Fate)" by The Marquis de Sade using an old link that Ian had sent me about a month ago. that story is seriously f'ed up, but in the good way. this girl (Florville) unknowingly sleeps with her brother (he didn't know either), accidentally kills her son who is in love with her (the father took him away when he was born so she didn't know it was him), testifies against her mother who is sentenced to death (the mother gave her away when she was an infant, told her father that she had died, abandoned her father and changed her name) and eventually marries her father (Courval - neither of them knew) and becomes pregnant. she finds out about all of it at once at the end of the story and immediately kills herself. damn.

yesterday, I was helping one of my coworkers with some work stuff and today, to thank me for my help, she brought me a big ole mocha from Caribou Coffee! how sweet was that? it was completely unexpected and just so nice. it really made my morning :) it's so huge and yummy, I should be extra energized today!

I updated the photo blog a little. just some minor changes really. I put some new pictures up too. you all have to see this one of our doggie:

http://imaginephotos.blogspot.com/2005/09/phoebes-taken-091305.html

wow, I just found out that I got some comments on my pictures. that's so awesome.

it seems like all the caffeine and free time is making this post a little unfocused. I think I need to go waste some more time on Blog Explosion and share the randomness with some strangers!

I took about a million pictures tonight. it was so much fun. this one of my sweetie is my favorite though.

long time, no write

I'm finally over that cold/flu thing that I've had for more than a week! it really was the worst. it seemed like I only had enough energy to make it through the day at work and once I got home, all I wanted to do was sleep on the couch. we did a couple of things last week though, had drinks with Brian's friend Mark Wednesday night and went to our nephew's first football game Thursday night. I felt a lot better by the weekend, luckily.

I uploaded a few pictures that I wanted to post from Labor Day weekend. lighting the gigantic sparklers was a bust, for the most part. I guess they were too old because they didn't want to stay lit for very long. the kids had fun though, which is really all that matters. we had to light them with the citronella torches, which made for an interesting photo:



and of course, taking pictures of sparklers is always fun. I think this is Casey, but I'm not sure:



we don't really have much going on right now. just enjoying the new house and the last few weeks of summer. the boy is staying with us until the 18th and then he's moving to Utah to stay with Casey's dad. when he first told me about it, I was kinda' sad. but he's been with us again for about two weeks and I have realized that nothing has changed. he is following our rules now because he knows that we won't let him stay with us unless he does, but his attitude hasn't improved at all. he needs to grow up and it doesn't seem to be happening here. hopefully the move will be good for him.

the girls are doing well with school. Casey has a band performance this weekend at the high school football game, which should be a lot of fun. she has some new friends this year and seems to be enjoying middle school.

Hannah has joined a band with some of her friends from school. she's playing the drums and apparently they're a punk band, which is surprising because Hannah doesn't like to play punk music. oh well, I'm glad that she's doing something outside the house. she tends to sleep too much or spend hour after hour on the computer. she is actually looking for a job right now. yay Hannah!

things with Brian are wonderful. we still need to do something to celebrate our anniversary since I've been too sick to actually do anything. I'd love to get away for an entire night alone but that will have to wait until the boy is gone. Saturday night, Brian went to see KISS with Ian (read Ian's post about it here) while I spent the evening watching the OSU v. Texas game at my sister's house. we drank (too many) margaritas and had pizza and wings. it was fun but I missed my sweetie. Sunday I spent most of the day sleeping/recovering and watching more football. I'm so excited that football is back!!!

one last picture, just because it's so cute, of Casey soaking up some sun with Phoebe. that dog will lay in front of these doors for hours if the sun is out.

still feeling so sick. I just want to go home and go to bed.

hooray!!! - part two

today is our anniversary! Brian and I have been married for one year. I can't believe it's been a year already. it seems like our wedding was weeks ago. I've never been so happy, he is honestly the most incredible person I have ever met and the fact that he loves me still feels like a dream come true. he went out and got me breakfast before I woke up and gave me a wonderful card. he loved the card/mini-book I made. I have to admit it turned out better than I thought it would.

the only bad part about today is that my stupid allergies are kicking my ass today and I have little to no energy to do anything. so our night out will have to wait. oh well, we're having yummy barbecued ribs instead. I think my sister is coming over for dinner and maybe a movie tonight so that will be fun. I am really excited that we have one more day off. hopefully I'll feel a lot better by Tuesday. there will be a ton of work on my desk. :(

hooray!!!

I made it through my crash-iversary without crashing my car!

too busy for a real post, never too busy to blog!

• I finished the poem last night but it ended up being kinda' long. so I'm turning it into a mini-book instead. it's silly but I like it. I hope Brian will too.
• my lunch today was super awesome. leftover beef and chicken kabob stuff plus a Jones cream soda. that frickin' soda is delicious!
• one year ago today, three days before our wedding, I was in a car accident on the way to work. it was terrifying. no one was hurt, except for minor aches and bruises, but my car was totalled. I still can't relax in the car, especially when I'm not driving. it has gotten better though.
• I'm thinking of getting a part-time job doing something that I wouldn't hate to get some extra money for a trip to Vegas next spring or fall. cuz I can't handle working more hours at my regular job.
• we need a new/used washer and dryer. we currently have none and going to the laundromat sucks. we also need a new vacuum because ours broke when we were cleaning up the old house after we moved out.
• the new house is lovely. we are having a big cookout on Saturday and finally lighting those 6" sparklers we've had forever. yay fire!!!
• I am becoming too addicted to Rock Star: INXS and can no longer claim that I don't watch reality tv. although I think I had to stop saying that because of that one time I watched the Britney Spears one. I want MiG to win, even though he capitalizes the last letter of his name.
• I cannot wait for this weekend. three days off, baby!

my favorite tattoo

I have a total of seven tattoos but this one is my absolute favorite



it's on my right shoulder and you might not notice that my kids' initials are in there somewhere (most people don't). it's beautiful and meaningful and special and perfect and I completely love it.

I suppose it's natural, and possibly inevitable, that over time couples start to take each other for granted. even the best of couples can get too comfortable apparently. and yes, I do consider us the best of couples. we need a night out alone. lately we've been spending too much time with other people and not enough time with each other. this weekend is our anniversary so it seems like the perfect time to remind my wonderful husband how wonderful I think he is. since the traditional first anniversary gift is paper, I'm planning on writing a poem for him. I can't wait to get started! I love writing. I only hope I have enough time to do something really, really good. I should have started days ago.

chaos

if I had been going the other way on the highway this morning on my way to work and if the batteries in the digital camera weren't dead, I would have been able to take the perfect picture for Photo Friday. this week's challenge is chaos.

apparently, at about 8:45 this morning, a semi driver lost control of his truck, crossed the median and two lanes of traffic, and ran into the side of an apartment building (link to story is here). I got the picture from there too.



my kids had a two-hour delay to the start of school this morning so we didn't leave the house until after 9am today. we saw this story on the news right before we left. when I drove by the accident, all I could think of was whether or not any kids lived in that apartment. because they would have been home today because of the delay. fortunately, no one in the building was injured. hopefully the driver is okay too.

we used to live in that apartment complex, although not anywhere near this particular building.

overdue update

we're settling into the new house quite nicely. almost everything has been put away or hung up, except for a few family pictures that I want to hang up. Brian put up the shelf above the desk that holds the printer and scanner and hung up the paintings from Ian in Hannah's room. we also put some furniture on the front porch, it's so cute! we all sat out there for about an hour Tuesday night. I think Brian was trying to have some quiet but after he asked me to come out and sit with him, and the girls kinda' followed.

this past weekend was pretty busy. Brian went to see DEVO with Ian Thursday night. they drove to Cleveland for the concert, on a school night! bleh. he got home at about 2:30 and had about five hours of sleep before his work called him and woke him up to come in. after work, he called and invited me to come with him to meet Brian's friend, Doug, at the Eagles for a drink and a game of pool. we had a few drinks and ended up not playing pool. instead we went to Pizza Hut for dinner, because Doug is friends with the manager. we were supposed to go see a band play in Columbus at 10pm that night but I actually fell asleep on the couch before it was time to leave. tee hee!

Saturday we all just hung out at the house, did some housework and then met the family at a park in town for a birthday party. my nephew was turning 14 this weeks. we almost always go to a park for his party. it's usually so nice out and all the cousins hang out and play. soon he's going to be too old for that kind of party and it will be a little sad. that evening Brian grilled yummy ribs for dinner, which took forever. we ended up eating at about 9pm but it was totally worth the wait!

my parents were over Sunday for dinner, which was nice. they were our first invited guests. we spent the whole day cleaning out all the stuff in the garage and doing yardwork and putting away stuff that we brought in from the garage so it was a pretty tiring day. but it was great because the girls helped us with everything. Hannah even made a cake for dessert. yummy!!!

my mother did lose her job. her work says that she didn't show up for work three days in a row so they fired her for job abandonment. she is convinced that she filed out paperwork to take a leave of absence and that's why she didn't go to work. I hate to admit that she is probably wrong, but I'm almost positive that she is.

her memory is worse every time I see her but she keeps cancelling her doctor's appointments, saying that she feels fine. my stepdad won't make her go and won't even try to discuss it with her. she won't listen to any of us kids either. so I guess we aren't going to find out what the problem is for a while. and now that she's not working, they don't have health insurance so I know that will be the next excuse for not seeing a doctor.

it's so frustrating because if doctors know what the problem is, they can try to fix it. and if it's not fixable, we can all start to prepare for whatever will need to be done. I don't know why she is being so difficult. but whenever we talk about it, she acts like nothing is wrong or just gives me a blank stare. I'm really at a loss here.

I met one of our neighbors Monday night. she brought us a loaf of delicious zucchini bread. how cool is that? our neighbors are all older and religious, which is so weird for us. we really don't fit with them. but they're really sweet and that's all that matters.

we're planning on having our friends and family over for a cookout Labor Day weekend to celebrate the new house and our anniversary and to break in the neighborhood. it's going to be a lot of fun and Brian is going to make delicious food. anyone who lives nearby should come over!

back to school

so today is the first day of school for the girls. this morning went surprisingly smooth. it's so nice to have two bathrooms now. well, one and a half, but still it's much better than having to share one bathroom in the mornings.

Casey is starting middle school this year, which will probably be a big change for her. luckily (for my peace of mind!) only the 7th and 8th graders attend middle school so her class is only the youngest by one year. the school is a lot bigger but except for choir and band, she stays on one side of the building. I hope she has a good first day.

Hannah will be a junior this year, so high school is no big deal to her. the only change will be that her brother probably won't be there and neither will their cousin, Hable. I'm hoping that will be a good thing and that she will find her own place instead of relying on them for a social life. she has become a lot more mature over the summer and I think she'll be okay. as long as she can wake up for her first period Latin class!

Photo Friday - One

my photo friday entry is here, on my photo blog. I'm going to post them there from now on.