Here are your questions – don’t blame me if they suck.  I wasn’t expecting any of you fuckers to say yes! lol (Sheila wrote that, that’s why I love her)

1.  So you live in Podunk, Wisconsin.  I think that the day that you finally had indoor plumbing installed was, for you, kinda like our parents watching the first moon landing on tv.  Do you agree?

When we moved here there was  running water. But, I heard that it had only been working for about a month before we got here. That’s cutting pretty fricking close!! It has made life so much easier for the other residents of Podunk.
2.  When I come visit you, what sites will you show me on the grand tour?

I can’t tell you because it would ruin the surprise! But if you really, really, really have to, I can show you where the Packers play.

3.  You are an RN, right? Do you plan on going back for a Masters and do administrative work or would you rather actually work with the patients?

I do plan on getting my Master’s. However, I want nothing to do with administration work. I love dealing with the patients and their families, usually. I want to become a NP and focus on women’s health. Not the whole OB thing, but really work with women in educating them about heart disease, bone loss and the things that affect us so much more differently than men.

4.  Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Besides the padded cell? I see myself finishing school, living somewhere other than Wisconsin, having one child out of the house and a having a teenager at home and just being happy.

5.  Is there anything about you that would qualify you as a Charm School Reject?

Is this a trick question? I hang around with you(Sheila), if that won’t qualify me then nothing will:)

Insert the rules here because I am really freakin’ lazy.

xoxo
Sheila

The rules are that if you want to me to ask you 5 questions, leave your request in the comment sectio. However, I would probably suck at coming up with 5 questions, so if you ask…you have been warned:)

About a week ago he starts telling me about the gun cleaning stuff he wants. I’m like, excuse me, I am NOT getting rifle cleaning crap for Christmas. Uh-huh, no way!! So then he starts talking to me about Mac notebook external hard drives and wireless mouse. And a glazed look washes across my face.

So last night, with no hope of finding anything for him other than clothes and legos. Shut up, he loves legos. Our whole basement is covered in Star Wars legos all put together and acting out specific movie scenes. Anyway, I broke down and we came up with a specific detailed list of gun stuff. Narrowed down by what I can find at each store.

I was armed, I was ready to wander the aisles that normally bore me to tears. I was going to sound educated and informed if I had to ask for help. This is what really happend….

I go into the first store.By the grace of God, I somehow manage to find thegun hunting section of the store on the secong level. I nervously go up and down each aisle looking at all the boxes of thngs that I have no idea about. I’m looking for somthing that says “cleaning” or “30 caliber”. I start to panic and must look like a deer caught in the headlights. Finally some sales person comes over and asks if he can help me. Oh, this poor sucker:) I start rambling at him and show him my list. he leads me to a different aisle. And for some reason, this store is out of everything I needed.

On to the second store. This store scares me. It is full of animal heads stuffed and mounted on the walls. No matter where I look, some dead head is following my every move. Anyway, this new sales associate who takes pity on me in so damn nice. he didn’t laugh at me at all. He lead me up and down aisles, showed me all kinds of differen things and helped me pick out things that were decent and within my budget. Actual things that were on my list. My list of things that I was sure Travis was making up just to laugh at the idea of me on some wild goose chase. Anyway, I am now the proud owner of gun cleaning equipment, a site stand and sand bags…yeah, I have no idea either:)

Did I mention I was doing all this shoping while it was snowing like a son of a bitch outside. Today is my last day off until Tuesday. And Travis is taking off that day so we can finish last minute shopping and wrap.

My lesson learned….I am never going into those hunting stores again. they scare me and I am WAAAYYY out of my element in them. Next year, I’m getting him a damn gift card and he go down those damn aisles all by himself, or even better, he can take Seth with him!!

There has been some great news in my little circle of internet friends. Good news that calls for celebrating, whether you know these people or not. The first is that Amy’s son has been declared 100% cancer free. This news tops my list of holiday cheer. Nothing is better than hearing that a child is ok, except for being of the mother of that child and hearing the news. Next up is Sheila. She somehow managed to get herself a brand spanking pretty new blog site. Nope, she had no help at all. Hehe, I managed to type that without bursting into giggles. Then I have my dear Sarah, who managed to finish a really crappy semester at school and remain nervous breakdown free! And to my beautiful friend Aravis, who lost someone close to her recently and also is finishing up a tough semester at school.And to Janelle, who’s baby just turned the big 5, which always calls for a celebration.

All of these good things has brought me back out into the light. It makes me realize that life goes on and that good things do happen. It reminds me ot look at this time of year through the eyes of my children. My stress affects Taylor most fo all, and I can’t and won’t do that to her. At 13, she has enough drama to deal with. And Seth, my little monster man. I love to look at the world through his eyes. I have seen so many things for the first time and its been great.

I hope that all of you are enjoying this time fo year. Hugs to all of you:)

Layer One:
Name: Becky
Birth date: August 8, 1974
Birthplace: Belviedere, IL
Current Location: Appleton, WI
Eye color: blue/green
Hair Color: blonde
Height: 5′ 4″
Righty or Lefty: Righty
Zodiac sign: Leo

Layer Two:
Your Heritage: French and English.
The shoes you wore today: My hooker boots
Your weakness: My kids
Your fears: Being lost, spiders
Your perfect pizza: Pepperoni, pineapple and green olives
Goal you’d like to achieve: Become an APNP

Layer Three:
Your most overused phrase on AIM: I don’t have AIM
Your first waking thoughts: Oh dear God, where is the snooze button?!?
Your best physical feature: My eyes?
Your most missed memory: The butterflies in my stomach while getting ready for a date.

Layer Four:
Pepsi or Coke: Dr. Pepper
McDonalds or Burger King: McDonald’s
Single or group dates: Either, as long as I’m having fun.
Adidas or Nike: Etnies
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: As long as its raspberry flavored, I don’t care.
Chocolate or vanilla: Pineapple sherbert
Cappuccino or coffee: Chai tea

Layer Five:
Smoke: Not in over 4 years (with a certain Halloween party being the exception)
Cuss: What? Who me? Maybe just a little.
Sing: In the shower and in the car.
Take a shower everyday: Religiously
Do you think you’ve been in love: Absolutely
Want to go to college: Must finish to get the job I want
Liked high school: Only on certain days
Want to get married: I all ready am
Believe in yourself: At times
Get motion sickness: No
Think you’re attractive: At times
Think you’re a health freak: No
Get along with your parents: Yes
Like thunderstorms: I love them.
Play an instrument: Yes, in high school

Layer Six: In the past month….
Drank alcohol: Yes
Smoked: No
Done drugs: No
Made out: Not with a stranger
Gone on a date: Does it count if you bring the kids?
Gone to the mall: I just got back from it.
Eaten an entire box of Oreos: No, but I’ve come close:)
Eaten sushi: Yucky
Been on stage: No
Been dumped: No
Gone skating: Ice skating
Made homemade cookies: Yes
Gone skinny dipping: No
Dyed your hair: No
Stolen anything: No

Layer Seven: Have you ever….
Played a game that required removal of clothing: Yes
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Yes, unfortunately more than once.
Been caught “doing something”: Almost
Been called a tease: Yes
Gotten beat up: No
Shoplifted: No
Changed who you were to fit in: Not since high school.

Layer Eight:
Age you hope to be married: I got married when I was  25 when I got married.
Names of children: Taylor and Seth
Describe your dream wedding: The one I had with Travis.
How do you want to die: Pain free in my sleep
Where do you want to go to college: ??
What do you want to be when you grow up: I want to be a doctor…but that requires way too much school, so I’ll settle for being an APNP.
What country would you most like to visit: Ireland and Italy.

Layer Nine:
Number of drugs taken illegally: 1
Number of people I could trust with my life: Hmm…1 for sure, maybe 2.
Number of CDs that I own: Not a clue.
Number of piercings: My ears, but they’re closed.
Number of tattoos: 3
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: I can remember 3.
Number of scars on my body: 3, but they’re from knee surgery.
Number of things in my past I regret: I try not to regret anything.

One of Matt’s brothers (well, a wife of) recently had a baby. And a “meet the baby” kinda thing was held at Mike and Sharon’s. Taylor received an invitation to go. She really didn’t want to go, but I talked her into it. They only way she would go , is if one of her friends could come with her. Well, several phone calls later, they finally agreed to the stipulation. The party was from 11:00 to 1:30. This was also over mine and Travis’s anniversary weekend. And Taylor and her friend were going to baby-sit Seth for us so we could go out. Long story short, she didn’t get home until almost 7 and it was because Taylor made a scene that she wanted to go home.

We then get a phone call about 2 weeks ago. They were holding Thanksgiving on a Saturday, did Taylor want to come? This whole family thinks that I am the reason Taylor has nothing to do with them. They seem to forget that Matt has never once called to see how Tay is doing, he hasn’t gotten her a birthday or Christmas present in about 8 years (and I’m NOT exaggerating on that). She wants nothing to do with him. And everytime she sees Mike and Sharon they try to shove MAtt done her throat. Which pisses me off. Greatly. And I’ve told them that, repeatedly.

Mike has tried to make excuses that Matt’s wife (who has been with since he and I were married…and her name is also Becky, cute huh) is very insecure and jealous of Taylor. Excuse me?!? What kind of man, oh yeah i kinda forgot that he’s not one of those, would let someone stand in the way of seeing his own daughter. Could he not find a way to go to the mall and get a present. Can he not call on his way home from work. Whatever. I don’t buy that. And Taylor and I have discussed this at great length. She wants to know why he’s an ass, and I try to explain tihngs. I try so damn hard to not badmouth Matt or his parents in front of her. I try so damn hard to have her call the grandparents and be willing to go out to eat with them. But she doesn’t want, too. And I’m not going to make her. She’s fully capable of making up her own mind. if and when she decides that she wants to be a part of that family, it is her choice.

Do I want her to be a part of it? Hell no! They have fucker her and me over so many times that I want her to stay away from them at all costs. But I will NEVER tell her that. I will support her decision, whatever it may be. Now the family is asking about Christmas. The only reason Tay even likes being around them right now, is because the “other” Becky hates it when she is there. And Tay just wants to ruin her day. Which cracks me up, but again, I don’t tell her that.

Anyway, I am thisclose to telling them all off and kicking some ass while I’m at it. Which is why I may need bail money. Wish me luck people, this probably isn’t going to be pretty.

I managed to get through Thanksgiving without killing my sister-in-law. However, she did once again prove that she is so worthy of the C-word title. But, it did give me pleasure to see that she looked like shit. I mean she could have been the picture for the expression “she’s been rode hard and put up wet”. Even Travis agreed that she looked rough. Can we say…no love lost between the two of us? I only had to be there for about 2 hours because I had to work.

The best thing about Christmas Eve…I work 3pm-11pm, so I will miss out on the whole in-law family bonding experience. I could almost cry. I will miss watching my kids open their presents, but I will see plenty of that on Christmas morning.

I have a post that I wrote earlier today, but I don’t think I will hit that “publish” button. Its a little too raw and its a little too honest, and I’m not sure that I want to put myself and others out there. Maybe someday, but not today. But still, that damn publish key is calling my name. I would like to say that I am grateful for the friends that I have. I know that any of them would be willing to help me out if I need it. In fact, Sheila (so for the no linky love…I haven’t updated to your new site yet) and her hubby and are planning on coming up to Podunk here after the holidays. Travis and I were talking about what to do when they come up here. We decided that we will dazzle them with our electricity and flushing toilets:) And, if they’re really lucky…I might even show them our lovely regional airport!! I know…its exciting!

I have to get my butt in gear with Christmas shopping. I only have a couple of things for the kids so far. Usually I am done shopping by now and have most of the wrapping done. I am WAY behind this year. I just went out today and bought Christmas cards.

Well, that’s enough babbling for the moment. I have to go and sock skate with Seth:)

The best thing about him coming home? I will be able to sleep again!! Since he’s been gone, I haven’t been able to sleep very well. I toss and turn and hear every damn noise that this house makes. Its funny, I can sleep fine if I’m somewhere else and travis isn’t with me, but here at home…not so much. I have the dogs all snuggles up next to me, but it just isn’t the same.

Oh, Taylor has a half day of school today. I wonder if I should take jer out to lunch and see if I can embarrass her again? No, I should be a good mom and give her a day of rest. Oh wait, she needs to do that for me first!

Happy Hump Day and Happy Day Before Thanksgiving!

She and I took Seth out to eat tonight. I decided to do “kid friendly”, so we went to Burger King. My thought was he could run around the play area and burn off excess energy. As I was ordering, Taylor took Seth to the play area to get our seats and let him play for a few minutes. She didn’t see me trying to open the door, but a man did. So, being a gentleman (apparently they DO exist), he opened the door for me.

I knew he looked familiar but couldn’t place him. I figured it was either from the hospital, or from the bank (where I worked a long time ago). As I sat down, it occurred to me.

“Hey, Taylor!” I yelled out to her. She came over towards me, but stayed about 2 tables away. If that’s how she wants to play….game on:)

“Isn’t that the principal of your school?” I said it loud enough that he heard.

He stood up and came over and we talked for about 45 minutes. He is originally from Washington State and I lived there for 3 years. We talked about the holidays and various other chit-chatty topics. The whole time his kids and Seth were playing in the jungle gym area. Taylor, on the other hand, was about ready to crawl under the table. She was on her cell phone texting all of her friends that I was talking to the principal.

We’ve been home for almost 2 hours and she hasn’t spoken to me yet:) This has been a great day!

Anyway, things are running somewhat smoothly over here. Travis left on Friday to go hunting with the boys “up north”. They rented a cabin and the owners turned the water off! That gave me the giggles when I found out about it. But it got turned back on the following day. He will return Wednesday night, and hopefully without a deer. I hate this time of the year. There is nothing worse than driving around town and all of a sudden being behind a truck with a dead deer in the bed. It gives me nightmares.

I have to work Thanksgiving from 3pm-11pm. And I’m ok with that, it gets me out of going to my mother-in-law’s house for dinner. However, she decided to make the time eariler, just for me. I’m not sure if I should take this a kind of peace offering, or as a form of torture. As you can guess, we don’t exactly get along all that great.

I work on Saturday, so after work we will go and cut down our Christmas tree. I love going to the tree farm and picking out the tree I want and being able to cut it down. I love knowing that the tree I’m brigning home is fresh from the woods. Only minus the squirrel…I love “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”! That has to be my favorite holiday movie. And “The Peanuts”. I have “The Peanuts” Christmas theme song as my ringtone!

I have watched more freaking cartoons this weekend than any person should ever be allowed to watch in a lifespan. However, I was able to actually start the Wii and play my new Animal Crossing game! So yay for that.

I have a baking bug up my butt right now. I went to the store and got all the ingredients I need to make homemade Chex Mix, fudge, and molasses cookies and cutout sugar cookies. I can’t wait to start baking! This is the only time of year that I do bake. Everything else is store bought:) And I am perfectly fine with that!

I had something else I was going to write but Seth is pitching a fit next to me and just ruined my concentration. So, with that, have a great day!