Blog behind

I can't believe I have not blogged in so long! I have been busy but 6 months???

I have lots of things to talk about but in the meantime, I am going to post a blog I wrote on another site about my Black Friday Experience.

More coming soon....

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Black Friday mayhem
So this was my 2nd year to brave the early morning crowds and get my sleep-deprived self up at 2 a.m.(!!!) to hit Target for Black Friday. Last year I decided to see what the rave was all about and got there about 4 a.m. and was about a mile in the back of the line (for those from Beaumont, I was near the Pool place at the end of the shopping center). This year my philosophy was if I was making the effort to go and give up precious sleep (something that became a treasured commodity after having a child), I would do it right. No one seemed to believe I would go at 2 a.m. because I am known in my inner circle to hate the mornings!

My friend Tagnia was on board to go but she gasped at the prospect of getting up so early and said she would be there around 4 (wimp!) but my other friend Jamie - a Black Friday virgin - took on the challenge and said she would be at my house at 2:45 if we did corresponding wake-up calls at 2:00 a.m.

Miraculously, I was up at 2, called Jamie, and told her to hurry herself and get here because I wanted to be in line no later than 3. At 2:45 when she wasn't here, I called to harass and make sure she was en route.

We got to Target at about 5 minutes past 3:00 a.m. and the line was already to Payless. I found out there were crazy people who had slept there. I will NEVER be one of those people. We rushed into the line, secured our place with a blanket, huddled together for warmth, and waited. And waited. And...yeah...waited.

Of course, the line ahead of us began to fill up with people who had their places saved by gracious friends and loved ones. This became a real problem and there started to be rumblings from the back and shouts of "no cutting!!!!" - okay, that was me shouting, I admit.

When Tagnia wasn't there by 4, I knew, with risk of being mobbed from the angry crowd behind me, that I could not save her place anymore. Sorry, Tag :(

At about 4:45, we stood up and got our things together and were ready for the mad dash. I had emailed my blackberry the lists of the things I wanted. My list was in preferential order since it's most likely you will not get everything on your list. The managers came out, walked the line, and gave away empty bags to the first 500 (um, thanks). I asked one if there were a lot of televisions since that was my #1 list item and he told me I might as well not even try for it because they only had 37 and I was like 100 people back in the line. Jamie said I should just forget the TV and head to the camera section with her because she was becoming a little crowd-phobic.

As the line began to move, a local radio station started passing out donuts and Jamie said "forget the do-nut, let's go"....oh, now you're in a hurry, when there is free food! With hand extended, I grabbed a do-nut and never lost a step in line.

The door was manned by what seemed like 100 Target employees who watched for line-jumpers (there was a whole group of people who stood near the door and tried to ease in the line - we were not having that!).

Once in the store, I grabbed a basket, turned towards where the camera display was, and quickly reversed directions and tried for the TV. I was not going to make all that effort without even trying. I got to the TVs which were located in the women's clothes and there were like 10 left! A woman in front of me shouted "I want 6 TV's" so I shouted "I want one TV, please" - hopefully courtesy would work, and it did. A great employee put a box in my cart and my early morning trip was officially worth it.

I called Jamie on my cell (modern day walkie talkies) and determined her position and was happy that she was able to get a camera for both of us. So far, my #1 and #2 items were a success!

The next thing on my list was a steam mop that was discounted half off. I found the display and was able to get one of the last ones. Right across from that section was a display of sheets. Lots of people were over there so I figured it was a good deal. It was...they had 1000 thread count King Sheets for $30. I reached my hand out for one, grabbed the corner, and all of a sudden, they were snatched from me by a woman in my back. I turned and saw she had a basket full of nothing but the sheets. I was in shock! I'm all about the confrontation, but in the moment, I just stood there in silence and watched her scurry away. Wow...Merry Christmas.

I met up with Jamie and Tagnia and we were all pretty happy with our purchases. After we battled the lines that looked like everyday at Beaumont Wal-Mart, we were out and hit Starbucks, Kohl's and Bealls. I wanted to go to more places but my body was shut down.

When I got home, I felt like I had worked a full day and it was barely 10 a.m. Shopping is hard!

Let me know if you want to join my Black Friday posse next year. With all of my sistas beside me, we can take sheet lady if she shows her face again!

Kari

Just a scrapping my life away

A few new pages:

Pretty much a random day around here...

I'm making up for lost time by posting 2 blogs on the same day...actually I just looked at the clock and it's 2 a.m., so technically, I'm not.

While rummaging through my files, I found this clip from a few weeks ago. I'm probably the only person who thinks this is great. So, for a random video of how things go around here, see below.

Also, please do not judge me for the disarray of my office. As you will see from the video, she had been hard at work destroying it all day long!

Just a lot of stuff!

So as soon as I deposited the check into the bank, I headed to Marshalls to do some serious damage. Pre-baby, I went there all the time and would fill my cart with clothes, shoes, bedding, purses, basically things I did not need. That place just does something to me.

Now that any extra money is tied up in diapers, juice boxes, papertowels, and day school, I just resist the urge...until today. I went in just needing (wanting) a purse. I stopped in the wonderfully expanded shoe department and found three pairs of shoes I just had to have. Seriously, $10 for Nike tennis shoes...come on! Then a lovely pair of strappy brown sandals. I usually do not go above $20 for shoes because I have so many and, with a 2 year old and 6 animals, they don't have a long life around here! But to what did my wondering eyes behold, a pair that I immediately knew would break the bank. I looked...smelled...tried on...walked around...but never checked the price. I knew it would guilt me into putting them back. They were simple, really, just a pair of white Ralph Lauren wedges...nothing spectacular - but I wanted them...and now they are mine!

I did eventually head over to the purses and found exactly what I was looking for...a big yellow bag. I have been dreaming of a new Coach purse lately but that just ain't happening. This bag will definitely suffice. The pic does not do it justice.

I was not completely selfish and got some stuff for the family but, I won't lie, it was really all about ME!

Since I'm trying to catch up with my blogging, I wanted to put a few other pics on here. Bella finished her 2nd year at school and they ended with a carnival. I was chosen to paint faces and I am absolutely the worst face-paint artist ever! I can barely do it - even with a stencil. My art skills start and end with the computer. Bella is sad because she doesn't see her best friends everyday...Stella, Aiden..."the other Bella"...Nate and Ms. Cheri and Ms. Erica. She still asks about them every morning. She's starting Pre-K3 in the fall so she will have August and September with the friends she has now. I hope she can adjust!

Also, back in April my great Uncle Charles died. He was such a great man and he and my aunt Myra (my Granny's sister) were married for more than 60 years. There was no Myra without Charles just like there was no Myra without Bobby when my Uncle Bobby died in 2002 (yes, I have two aunts named Myra). Gini, Stacie and I always say myraandcharles and myraandbobby as one word. They both had amazing marriages. At the funeral of Uncle Charles, my mom captured a picture of Aunt Myra looking out of the limo window at the casket...the final picture. I think it is very poignant.

If you like, you can take a look at the memorial video I created.

If you have young children and get some free time, take them to the spray park in Port Neches. It is really fun and they have benches so you can just sit and watch the mayhem. Bella loved it and I can see lots of trips there this summer!
Going to Galveston next week for a mini-vacay...Woo to the Hoo!

Blogging and Bread

Wow, what a crazy couple of weeks! I'll start backwards since my mind is distracted on this loaf of homemade bread that will not rise although it has been 6 hours. As one of my Facebook friends said, don't they sell that stuff in stores? Yeah, they do!

I finally had the cortisone injections in my back yesterday. I had been dreading the procedure for months because I fear being put to sleep. Not sleep, I love that...just being put there. As you can read, I am still ticking. I was a little nervous because I had to go to the hospital by myself. I felt like a big loser with no one with me to hold my hand. Mom was watching Bella or she would have been there with me. My fault cause I have great friends who would have come, but I hate to imposition people. When they brought me back to the operating room, my mind went back to when I had the C-section and was strapped to the table...nekked and spread-eagle...still a painful memory! I remember the doc asking me a question about where I grew up and that was it. Next thing I knew I was in recovery beside some woman who was MOANING and, I'm sorry, I just wanted to kill her myself. She was probably in genuine pain but I just wanted to sleep in peace.

I do have to say that day 2 and I feel pretty good. I don't have the pain throbbing in my back and the sharp pains running down my leg. I am scheduled for another injection in two weeks as they feel it's best to do them close together. We'll see...

When I came home, I slept most of the day (or tried to as Bella was running through the house screaming - my mom thinks that is hilarious). I got up about one and went outside to check on Rhett, one of my four cats who has been acting funny for a week or so. He came to me and when I tried to pet him, he yelped in pain near his tail. He was also burning up and I knew something was wrong. I tried to call the vet but he was on vacay (seems everyone but me is). They referred me to a vet right across the street and, in pain and all - mine that is, I loaded Rhett up and brought him over. Thank God because he had a temp of 109 and an abscess. They kept him for a few hours and put him to sleep to do the procedure. $150 later he is fine and resting along side his sister, Scarlett, and brothers Elvis and Shadow. What a diverse house I have!

Sunday was church and a pretty good day. When I don't have to do multimedia and Bella goes to the nursery, I can actually get something out of service. (Just went in the kitchen to check on bread. It's ready to go so I can actually get to bed before 2...what a rarity!)

Saturday Bella and I spent the day together just playing, cleaning, and having fun. Your guess as to who played the most and who cleaned the most. She is at that really hard age where it is a struggle keeping up with her. She can destroy a room in 5 minutes flat and I am not exaggerating! It's so depressing to have everything you just cleaned be dirty in such a short amount of time. I would not change it for the world though!

We are also in the midst of potty-training and I feel like a big failure! Because I am not a real Stay at Home mom but a work at home while I try to keep my daughter from killing herself mom, I can't be as consistent as I need to be. Success requires 100% devotion and sometimes it is just easier to keep her in a diaper! She has to be PT by her 3rd bday in October in order to enroll in Cathedral so I have to make that mark. We are also trying to break the "noonie" (paci) but one hurdle at a time please!

Saturday night I had plans to hang out with my follies Tagnia and Karen but headed to get a pedicure as soon as Gavin got home because I knew it would be my last opportunity before surgery on Monday. My friend was there when I got to the spa and it was her 40th birthday. Due to circumstances, she was alone this year and I could tell she was down. I wish I could have stayed with her for the night but I could not cancel on my follies as we never get a chance to hang out. She and I are planning some time together soon.

I picked up Karen and we headed to good 'ol Lumberton to Tag's fancy house. We had such a wonderful time and never got a lick of scrapping in although that is what we had planned to do. We reminisced, talked about our problems and lives, and just enjoyed each other's company. Hanging out with them is something I want to do more often. Although life has brought each of us to different paths, we have a bond that is strong and I hope we will be life-long friends. Tagnia is my oldest friend and we have so many memories together. From slumber parties to church dramas to Hull/Hell wrecks, we have so many stories! I met Karen in 96ish and love her to death. She is such a unique character and just so Karen! My absolute favorite thing about her is her dry wit and how she never seems to get rattled.

Other than that, life is life. Now that Bella is out for summer, I am trying to balance work with her and hope I pass the test. Part of me really wants to have another baby but circumstances are just not right at this moment and I know it is not the right thing to do. Bella Rose completes me and fills the hole that was in my heart for so long. I hope I am a good mother and that we are forming a tight and loving relationship that will make both of us proud and happy.

See you soon!

Memorial Day

Life is hard.

I'm very pensive this Memorial Day when I think about my life, my friends' lives, the world around me, and all of the veterans who have died to protect my freedom.

I've had a very low-key day. Bella and I just spent the entire day together and I got a preview of what is to come when summer is here full-time and I have no school breaks to help me keep my sanity. As much as I wish it were possible, I am not a Stay at Home Mom and don't get to plan trips to the zoo, play dates, park afternoons, and just playing and having fun. I have to figure out how I am going to balance work with being a mom to a very active 2 year old ALL DAY LONG. I know people do it all the time but I truy think Bella has the energy of ten regular kids. She's now getting to the age where I don't have to be watching her every second but, as you parents, know, it only takes a second for disaster to happen (heard about Mike Tyson's daughter?).

I am looking forward to going to the beach in Mississippi for a couple of weeks since my aunt got a cabin. It will be very hard to be there without my dad because he loved vacations like this where the hardest thing is waking up and deciding to eat hot dogs or hamburgers for lunch. He was such a simple person in a very complicated body. I feel like I miss him more now than two years ago when he died if that is even possible. My dad always was on my side, regardless if I was right or wrong. I really don't have anyone in my life who fills that role so I feel sort of alone in this world even though I have people who love me.

Tomorrow is Bella's last day of school and I was assigned as a face-painter. Word got around that I was artistic but they will soon realize my skills are limited to a mouse and computer screen. I can't draw at all! Years ago I learned to draw a tree making a series of v shapes and that is about my extent. Hopefully the toddlers won't mind.

House for Sale!

Those on FB already know my drama for today...snake in the kitchen!

I was leaving to go pick up Bella from school and was headed through the kitchen when I spotted a snake coiled on my rug in front of the sink. My rug is black and it is a miracle I saw it because the snake was dark. From what I could see, it was blacky greeny and about 3-4 feet. I immediately screamed at the top of my lungs and the little devil slithered behind my dishwasher. Gavin later told me the snake probably felt my walking vibrations instead of hearing my scream but I think even deaf people would have heard what I let out!

I had about five minutes to get Bella so I had to leave the house although I wanted to stay and make sure it stayed under the dishwasher. I called my mom and Gavin from the car and they both headed over. My mom is a country girl so she was all about capturing the snake and Gavin knew he was up for major drama if he did not come home...immediately.

My mom came and instructed me to find a weapon to kill it...all I could find was a post hole digger...and she started to pull back the dishwasher. I wanted her to wait for Gavin but she wouldn't. She couldn't get it out so we had to wait for him anyway. When he got home, he pulled it back and it was not there!!! Now I have no idea where it is. We think it is still in the island where the dishwasher is because the cats are circling it. I wanted to rip the whole island out (we plan on doing that eventually anyway and now is a good of time as ever, right?) but Gavin wasn't having it. After about 3 hours of searching, I gave in and got a blizzard because I definitely deserved some sort of pleasure after my drama.

So here I am with 3 pairs of socks and tennis shoes on while I try to figure out what to do. My "prince charming" (please note the sarcasm) is sleeping...soundly. My daughter is baracaded in her room. Cory says I should burn down my house. Anyone have any reasonable suggestions? Exterminator is coming tomorrow so hopefully I don't have an anxiety attack by then.

Pray saints pray!

Say Happy Easter

So my mom took my camera and tried to entertain Bella before church started on Easter Sunday. She didn't know my camera had a video option on it and captured this by mistake. As you will see, my mom thinks she can rotate the camera any way and it will be right side up. Enjoy!

Digi Scrapping

If you want to get started with digi scrapbooking, I recommend the following sites:

1. ikeagoddess.blogspot.com - this blog posts links to freebies daily (freebies are kits, elements, graphics, etc. that you will need). You will find so many scrapbooking blogs on her site and will probably be overwhelmed at first...you will need to create a seperate folder on your computer for scrapbooking stuff and it will fill up VERY quickly!

2. scrapgirls.com - they have a great store but also a scrapgirls university with lots of tutorials

3. ACDSee photo software - this is a photo cataloging software that makes it easy to sort your pics by date, theme, etc. I think it's like $30.

My latest page

As those who are my facebook friends know, my daughter about tore the church down Passover Sunday during a kids production. She was a flower and, as we all saw, definitely a WILD flower.

I decided to scrap a picture from that day because I want to remember it. Cutting someone out of the picture and putting them against a new background is really a good technique if you like the photo of your subject but not the background. If you have Photoshop and would like instructions, let me know. 

Can't we all just get along?

I had a chance to talk to my friend Cory yesterday and, as usual, we fought about the Presidency of Barack Obama. See Cory is a former conservative turned libby and I am trying to save his soul from damnation and Nancy Pelosi. What got me up in arms is an interview I saw on NBC where Janeane Garafolo said that everyone who attended the tea parties are "racist red neck teabaggers." For those, who don't know what the term means, look it up...I don't want to be responsible for teaching you about it. I already had to explain to my mom and that was oh so wrong!

Cory doesn't think everyone who is against Barack Obama is racist but he does think that we (honkeys) are ingrained to be racist from birth (esp. Southern honkeys). I totally disagree because I was raised in a household to respect all people regardless of race. Even though I had relatives who were "old school" and felt different races should not marry, I was never told anything negative about anyone. 

This topic really upsets me because I believe racism in reverse is becoming more acceptable and because white people do not want to seem racist, they don't say anything. Why can't we have NO segregation? Having magazines, clubs, pageants, tv channels, etc. devoted to one race is absurd! Can you imagine if white people tried to do this?

Off my soapbox...

The rest of the conversation was hilarious, as usual. When we talk we follow the "stream of consciousness" technique where we just segue into topics in the most random way. We used to work together and every morning we would devote a few minutes to catch up on what was happening...especially Mondays. I would come in and tell him about my weekend adventures with family, dating, church, friends, and he would tell me what medications he took. Then we laughed and sometimes played jeopardy (but never did anything racist...righ, Cory?...private joke). 

Now that we don't work together anymore, I don't have that outlet, and when we do talk, we have a lot to catch up on... We've had a lot of funny things happen to us over the years so I may intersperse our tales every now and then.

Here's one to get you started...

Several years ago we had a revival at New Life (this is when Cory was still a Pentecostal...the best time in his life!) and we had a certain evangelist as the guest. After the service, people were waiting to have him pray over them because we was supposedly quite the prophet. Cory and I were standing right near the front watching different people go up and suddenly we hear "the prophet" say..."that couple, you there...please come up.  God wants to save your marriage." We looked around because we were so not married and surely a prophet would have known that, right? How about God help us get married before He saves it. A friend of ours who was there got so excited because she felt like it was sign from God that we should be together. That evangelist never came back.*

*That one wasn't too funny...I'll do better next time.

10,000 maniacs

I've decided to blog again for me and the two people interested in my life (one is my mom and the other is you, obviously). I've done this before (see original post) and really got into it. That was before the days of marriage and mommyhood so my life is more hectic than ever before...albeit much more eventful!

First, let's get this out there...I am nuts. Not "institutionalized nuts," but the things that go through my mind would probably scare most people. Or, maybe I'm normal and think the same things others do but no one talks about it. In any case, I hope some of the things I write can be cathartic and people who read will understand when I express them.

Thus...the blog title, "Do I look blind in this dress." Only one person besides myself knows what that phrase means and I'm not really at a point where I feel like explaining. Just know that line pretty much sums up my life, and when, or if, I do explain, it will not be as interesting as you think it is. Anyone wanna take a guess?

A few things about me:

1. My daughter is the most important person in the world. I live and breathe for her and was put on Earth to be her mommy. She is the only pure love I have ever known. You will hear much about Bella Rose.

2. I love Facebook and spend way too much time on there. It still amazes me that I am connected to people who were a part of my life for 18 years and who I lost touch with since 1992. I love seeing people 's family pics, reading status updates, and even cyber stalking people I think are crazy (come on, you do it!).

3. I love graphic design and everything it entails. I am building a business and hope it will flourish soon. 

4. I digital scrapbook like a maniac. I've probably taken 10,000 pics of my daughter since she was born and have to find something to do with them. It's really an obsession, and if you start, I guarantee you will love it!

5. I don't have as many friends as I used to...life, marriage, motherhood, etc. changes relationships and some friendships thrive and others do not. I used to look forward to weekends because I had multiple possibilities of activities to do with awesome people. Now, I hang with a 2 year old and I love it (most of the time). I do love nights out and adult interaction so hopefully I will be able to fit some of those in as well.

6.  I'm pretty socially conservative. Many of the things I write about will reflect this.

That's about all I feel like writing tonight. Blog at ya soon!