I've been tagged!

This is the first time I've ever been "tagged", but I'm game. :)

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The tagged victim lists 8 different points of their perfect partner & give the gender. In order to avoid the meme curse I must tag 8 victims (they would be listed at the bottom of this post) to join this game & leave a comment on a post letting them know they've been tagged.

My partner: Male

8 qualities of my perfect partner (in no particular order of importance) :

1. Is a good listener ..... not the type that continues to stare at the TV, nodding his head
2. Is a family man ..... one that plays with his kids, and isn't afraid to be silly with them in public
3. Has a good sense of humor ..... I'm talking one that can enjoy "stupid humor" movies like Deuce Bigalow, Billy Madison and the like
4. Has nice, sexy arms ..... I love a man with strong arms, and biceps I can nibble on :)
5. Isn't hairy ..... I hate body hair! Period.
6. Loves to "give" more than "receiving" ..... take it how you will, but I'm thinking more along the lines of back scratches and foot rubs ;) Oh, and maybe that too
7. Cleans up after himself ..... meaning, he doesn't leave his shaving cream on the bathroom sink, puts his clothes in the hamper rather than leaving them on the floor, and throws his empty pop cans away
8. Loves my body the way it is, and doesn't care if I lose the weight or not ..... but if he supports and encourages me to lose the weight that I want to, even better

Now I have to tag 8 people ...... here goes ....

Katrina
Jennifer
Jess
Amanda
Amber
Rose
Lacey
Dana

Sorry gals!

Okay, so I've been quiet

But I didn't have anything of substance to really write about.

And I have been debating on talking about a possible job change, but up until now I felt that I might jinx something. No, I'm not quitting my job or changing jobs. I'm quite comfortable where I'm at, and unless there are some extreme circumstances, I don't forsee me leaving the company anytime soon. I've been there 7.5 years already, and am happily looking forward to my 10 year anniversary (and party that I will make my company throw - LMAO).

So .... enough of all that .... I'm sure you want to hear the details.

It's still not 100% guaranteed yet, and I'm not going to say much because - I'm still afraid of jinxing it. Okay, so maybe I can be annoyingly superstitious at times.

At any rate, Mike interviewed for a new job. It seems that the pay might be more, and the hours would be so much more family friendly I can hardly contain myself.

Hopefully we'll know more on Tuesday. Til then, cross your fingers!

Winter in Chicago

We can't really complain. We haven't had any snow on the ground since before Christmas.

We're getting a really good snowfall as I write this.

The first flakes fell a little before 3 this afternoon. It's now a little after 8pm and it's coming down hard.

As soon as blogger decides to yank the stick out of it's a$$, I'll post a couple pictures I took out our front door.

Sing to me

Often when I'm in the car, I jump from station to station until I find something I like.

I stopped on a station for a song that struck my fancy, and when it ended another song started.

It was one I had never heard before, but I was immediately drawn in and fell in love with it.

Truly great song, and the artist, Michael Bublé, has an amazing, sexy voice.

"Home"

Another summer day
Has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmmmmm

Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
“I’m fine baby, how are you?”
Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

Let me go home
I’m just too far from where you are
I wanna come home

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life
It’s like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
But this was not your dream
But you always believed in me

Another winter day has come
And gone away
And even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

And I’m surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel alone
Oh, let me go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I’ve had my run
Baby, I’m done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all be allright
I’ll be home tonight
I’m coming back home

American Idol - Season 5

I got suckered in AGAIN. It won't be long and I'm sure a results show will have me saying "I'm NEVER going to watch this stupid show AGAIN!" only to tune in the next week. LOL

Really, though, how can you go wrong? The auditions are freaking hilarious! And then once it gets into the competition, you really start seeing the talent.

I admit, I'm an American Idol fan. Not quite as die hard as some, but I did go to one of the Idols Live concerts (the first season - I really liked Kelly Clarkson, and over the course of the show started developing a bit of a crush on Justin Guarini).

So far some favorites that have made it Hollywood; the 2 sets of twin guys, the 17-year old guy from Crystal Lake, IL (not far from me, he goes to my boss' daughter's school), and the 16-year old girl (missed her name) from tonight's episode - she was one of the first few they showed, wearing a pink top, curly hair).

Pet Peeve

When people consistently bring up and use their handicap.

While I'm very sympathetic to those that are less fortunate and have lost their ability to hear, to see, to walk - I always thought that they didn't want to be treated differently, or "singled" out. At least I was raised with the knowledge that even with these people's limitations, that they were, afterall, still human and really no different that me.

I deal with customer service in my workplace on a daily basis. I'm sure we have several customers with handicaps that we are unaware of. However, there are 2 that always made it necessary to point it out to us over the phone.

One customer always talked about her daughter in a wheelchair that was disabled. If this customer forgot to pay her bill on time, she'd call and say "Well, you see, I have a daughter in a wheelchair" or "I didn't call in my order on time because my daughter is in a wheelchair". The "blame" was always put on her handicap daughter.

Today, another customer, who has in the past let us know her situation every single time we talk to her, called and left 3 messages after office hours. The first 2 were the same "I'd like to change my order, if someone can please give me a call ...". The third message said this exactly "Hi, this is 'so-and-so', I'm wondering if someone can call me, I'm legally blind ..... and I have an order change."

Whether she was legally blind or not, she would have gotten a return phone call. Telling us she was blind did not result in any faster response. She called after hours, we were gone .... I returned her call personally this morning (and surprising that this time she didn't feel the need to tell me that she was legally blind).

Spiraling

All of a sudden I feel like things are spiraling ... I'm feeling a bit "lost" and "out of control" (for lack of better words this time of night).

I almost feels like I did right before I went on meds.

Those blue pills have been out of my life for a good 3.5 months now. I don't want to go back. I don't want to depend on them.

Saturday

Here it is Saturday night. It's 11pm .... I just got back in from the store. Mom and I went out to Meijer. Christmas stuff was 90% off. I picked up Christmas cards for work -- can't beat 39 and 49 cents a box. :) Plus - I found a couple things for the kids for birthday or Christmas (yes, I know, it's January). But how can you go wrong getting a Cabbage Patch Kid outfit for $2.45 each?? Or a Batman figure for $1.70? LOL

So anyway, I never did get to drool over my man last night. Had a problem with the DVD player, so I am planning to do that as soon as I get off here and go take a shower. Nighty night!

The first week

Today finished off the first week of my weight loss endevour. Well, actually, I've only been at it about 5 days. The first couple days I only started to incorporate the water drinking. On Monday I started watching what I eat. I have yet to incorporate the exercise bit of "dieting". That's next. LOL

At any rate, the first week wasn't too shabby. I lost 5 pounds. WOOHOO!!!!

And now, I'm going to reward myself - no, not with a 1000 calorie treat - but instead with Matthew McConaughey. :)

I am going to park my butt in bed, kick back and watch How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...................Matthew.

I'm Free...

...from a car payment that is!

I mailed in our final car payment today. Hopefully both cars will last us awhile so that we can use the money from the car payment to pay down our credit card bill and put some away into savings.

It definitely will be nice not having to pay any car payment for awhile.

Let's try this for the 589th time

My little angel

Irritated

I'm trying to post some pictures of K, but I keep getting the ever-so-annoying 'Website Not Responding' message.

Oh yeah ..... well ......... pfffffttttttt to you, blogger!

My Big Boy

I just had to share a few pictures we had done for Braeden's 4th birthday. My big boy!! He's so grown up!

S E X Y

Yes, 2 of the sexiest people alive .....



Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson.

Seriously .... If I were to sleep with a woman, Kate would be my girl. LOL

Those are two people I would not mind sharing a bed with (separately, or both of them at the same time)

And Matty boy .... oh the fantasy.

Dream of all Dreams

I was honored to have a seductive and sultry fantasy tale written just for me.

I encourage you to read my fantasy story, and read the other sexy tales at Virtue Lost.

Sick Little Ones

Both kids are sick. Colds. The coughing at night is horrible. Poor Braeden is in his room, and I can hear him coughing and coughing despite the medicine I gave him just a couple hours ago. He coughs so hard at times that he gags. Kaelynn has the same symptoms, though it seems her cough isn't quite as bad. Poor things. I feel so bad for them. Even though it's only cold, I still can't help myself from checking on them multiple times during the night and just worrying in general. I suppose that is one thing us moms do best -- worry.

Pet Peeve

People that are currently enrolled to receive state/government aid (such as WIC, food stamps, housing programs, etc) and continue to abuse the system.

Whether it those that get a little extra money and instead of using it to pay for necessities - like food, doctor bills, laundry detergent, etc - they go and blow it on frivolous things like brand new wedding rings.

Or, those that already have children, yet continue to get pregnant so that they receive more help/money/vouchers from the state/government programs.

And it continues to amaze me that these people do not understand that, in reality, the people providing the money to fund these programs are us - the working people in America.

When speaking to someone about this (a SAHM nonetheless) - she had the audacity to actually ask me "why it mattered that taxes were taken out of each paycheck; that at the end of the year, people got refunds and it was normally MORE than we paid in." HA! It amazes me at how naive people can be, but yet how intelligent they are to figure out ways around the system to better themselves without having to work a day in their lives.

And the person that made the comment - she is living in a home that was built for her and her family (husband and 2 kids) while she was pregnant with their 2nd child. They had to put in so many hours for the house -- but that was it. When her husband got a "bonus" at work, they put the money towards brand new wedding rings. And - they are talking about getting pregnant with #3.

Quite frankly, it makes me sick.

Here's to 2006

I've decided to bite the bullet and try to lose the weight that I had hoped to lose last year. It didn't happen, even though I dropped 11 pounds in the first few weeks. Once I started maintaining my weight, however, I fell off the wagon and that was the end of that.

In the past year, I've managed to put on another 16 pounds. Yes, it's time to do something. I'm not sure exactly what my plan is, aside from trying to eat better, watch portion sizes, make healthier snack choices, drink water and get in some form of exercise, even if it is just walking.

To be honest, when I got the scale yesterday, I couldn't believe my eyes. I knew I was overweight and really needed to drop many pounds - but didn't expect my weight to be that much. I know, weight is just a number and what is more important is how your clothes fit and how you feel about yourself and what is healthy for your body frame.

So - I'm going to try .... these first few weeks may be hard as I buckle down and try to do things differently and get myself motivated.

I will be documenting my weight loss journey here.

To those of you that are also trying to lose weight -- Best of luck! WE CAN DO THIS!

What Mixed Drink Are You?

You Are a Mai Tai

You aren't a big drinker, but you'll drink if the atmosphere is festive. And when you're drunk, watch out! You're easily carried away.

What Mixed Drink Are You?

Happy F-ing New Year

While others partied, drank, spent time with their loved ones - I spent New Year's alone. The kids were asleep, Mike was at work. There was a sliver of hope that he'd make home in time to kiss me at midnight, but there I was - alone.

Doesn't really give me much hope for how 2006 will be. It's depressing.

I felt sick with anger, disappointment and abandonment. He didn't even call at midnight - or AT ALL - to just say, "Sorry I won't make it time, happy new year, wait for me, I'll be home soon"

I crawled into bed by 12:20am and tossed his pillows onto the floor. I moved mine into the center of the bed, and stretched out. I was angry. I felt that if I could be alone, he could sleep alone.