'Pickle' asked for pictures of my gorgeous Gracie girl......
It's not like I need a lot of prompting to show her off :) So, here you go, Jennifer.......
With my brother, Charles and his dog, Zeus, last year..... 
On the front porch with Dumbo, last summer (sorry, put in the wrong picture~too dark!)......
And finally, one of my favorites :), last year at Halloween...... 
See, we did make a cute kid ;)
Oh, and load my main page.... new music to get your toes tapping :)
Cat
Scalzi asked and since I fall into the 'in-between significant others' category, I'll show my most significant-exes..... Wayne and Mohammed :) 
This was taken in front of the children's museum. That's me in the middle ; ).... Mohammed is in the white shirt, and our friend, Tareq, in the black (he was a hottie! but that's a story for another day). They're both from Amman, Jordan, and we learned a lot from each other that summer....
This is Wayne and I. I think we'd been together 6 years at this point and when I left him and met Mohammed.... Man, were we toasted that night :) still a lot of time has gone by :) And you can see how we had such a gorgeous kid, too ; )
Okay, on to daily stuff.....
My day started off normal enough. Got up, showered, went to work... blah, blah, blah...
Mom had a follow up at the doc's office for bandage removal and a look-see to make sure the veins that got 'stabbed' (left leg) are healing and the vein that got stripped <shudder> has no blood flowing.
They came to find a blood clot andshe had to go back to surgery at 4:30pm today. That was the bad news.
The good news is I got to... or rather, had to.... come home and watch Grace :) AND Mom went under a local anesthetic AND was not required to stay the night. So, she is much better this time around :)
Though I do feel bad for having to miss the end of my shift, I was glad to go. I stayed until 1:00 and 13 of 14 kids were asleep, so the rest is downhill for my coworkers, who start leaving for the day at 2:30.... They will survive, but Wednesday I'll pay for it, I'm sure. Oh well ; )
The new Ava came over to our room today. She's a quiet little thing. I'll have to take pictures of all the newbies now... Half our wee ones are new and young! Well, younger than others I was accustomed to...
She is another non-talker. At least she doesn't scream like some of the others. And one of them, is very strong willed and stubborn. When we scold him, he laughs... Hope he catches on quick, or it will be a very long road until he gets to the 2's class.
My girl was very mellow this afternoon, after a two hour nap (shock!). I thought she may be getting sick because that is how she acts. But that thought was gone as soon as my parents got home :)
She instantaneously began to climb everything while beinga pony, or train, or dog, or cat.... I think she may have even been a mouse at one point. The joys of being 3.... and a half ;) It's blue day at preschool tomorrow.
Last month of school~gone way too fast! Don't know what she is going to do in the summer. I mean there are only so many trips to the park one can take a day. Not to mention outings to the zoo or children's museum one can afford.
Maybe she won't get bored playing in the yard in her sandbox or with the dogs... I'll find something.
Well, I've got an early day tomorrow so I'm wrapping up reading here and heading to bed.
Hope you all had a good day....
Cat
We now interrupt regularly scheduled programming for this brief announcement....
'Revelations', on Wednesdays at 9pm on NBC (in The West Wing's spot), is also airing on the cable network BRAVO. I watched it today at 5pm.
Check your local listings for show times... now you have 2 chances to watch :)
We now return to 'Desperate Housewives' already in progress....
Mgmt
1. What do you tend to focus on the most?
A. The past.
B. The present.
C. The future as you think it will be.
D. The future as you are afraid it will be.
I will say mostly B, but some on C.
2. Name three famous people (living or dead) whose blogs you would like to be able to read. Leonardo DaVinci, Abraham Lincoln, and Samuel Clemens. I might choose Albert Einstein, but thinking I'd be lost in a conversation with him :)
3. How long have you lived in your current residence? How much longer do you intend to live in the same place? This time around~ 4 years now, total of 27... Don't know how much longer I'll be here.
4. Take the pointless quiz: What color is your heart?
Your Heart is Blue
What Color is Your Heart?
brought to you by Quizilla
5. How many of AOL's journalershave you met in person? How many have you spoken with by telephone? None in person, yet..... One by phone (Hey Stacy :) I'm not a big phone person anymore....
6. RAPID FIRE Question #2: Who or what is the most annoying:
a) Politician~Bush, of course! How can a man in that position, screw up the language so bad?
b) Late Night Talk Show Host~Jimmy Kimmel, though he's on my tv
c) Color~Orange! Kitty does not do orange.
d) Habit~Smoking... or food. No, smoking... or food. Definitely smoking.... or food....
e) Female Celebrity~ Paris 'Puke' Hilton.
f) Male Celebrity~Gotta agree with Bernie and go with Michael Jackson
g) Television Show~American Idol at the moment... still...
h) Commercial~The one where the 2 guys are cutting down a bee's nest into a garbage can.... idiots....
i) Fashion Statement~pants hanging off the ass! Pull them up or I'll pull them down... in a crowded store.. lol.
j) Word~Whatever! I'll whatever your boo-tay.... again in a crowded store :)
I'm reading the story of the woman now dubbed 'The Runaway Bride'.
The woman, Jennifer Wilbanks, who vanished days before her wedding, and who phoned her fiance on Friday and told him she'd been kidnapped while jogging.
Who was picked up by the police in New Mexico at a 7-11 and questioned for hours before she finally came clean and said she just had cold feet. I've read that no charges will be filed against her, too.
I have a problem with this.
Instead of stepping up to the plate and being HONEST with her fiance, family and friends.... she pulls a hoax like this. All the manpower hours spent searching for her, not to mention the police's time and efforts, and the worry her loved ones went through~and she will serve no time?! Pay no fines?!
WTF?!!
What kind of lesson are we teaching? This is not a child were talking about, she is a 32-year-old woman who didn't have the guts to be HONEST!
Are we raising our girl children to be such wimps? Too afraid to tell the truth... too afraid to hurt another person's feelings that we will go to such lengths? Oh.. and don't think I'm only going off because of this one chick. No, there are many stories like this (the worst of which was Susan Smith).
Why do we (women) believe it is easier to tell people what they want to hear rather than what we feel? Now, some will say that she will have to live with the guilt (as in Ms. Smith's case above), but I say that is bullshit.
I am a woman, I only feel guilt over what I let myself feel. Granted, I never drove my kids into a lake to watch them drown, or called my man and said I'd been kidnapped.... but I've been conniving and deceitful before. I was around 17 years old, too..... Guilt is an emotion that can be controlled, even non existent if one wants.
Ms. Wilbanks caused unnecessary panic, intentionally. I know it is easier to run away than to stay in an relationship one is not sure about. (I also believe the 'easy' way is never the right way)
Instead of talking to her family or a friend about how to get out of this situation, she chose not to embarrass herself in front of them and admitting she was scared.... oh no... she said somebody took her. Wonder if saying she was kidnapped and finding that to be a lie~is any less embarrassing?
She did not even think of her family and how this would scare the living daylights out of them. It was a selfishly motivated thing to do, something a teenager would do-not a 32-year-old woman.
Hell, even a man who had cold feet wouldn't make up a story-he just wouldn't show or he'd call it off...
My point is this, we must tell our daughters while they are young that these things will happen. That they will be rejected. That they also need to know how (and when) to reject someone themselves. Inform them that life is not happily ever after.... and not usually with the first person you feel love for.
We need to empower them with the words and feelingsnow, before it happens--so they know BEFORE the first boyfriend comes along. Our girls need to know its okay to say 'You are not the one for me' and have the criteria which to base that on, other than 'because I love him'.
I know there are women out there who already do this and hopefully teaching other girls the same. I also know there are women who are the complete opposite, and if they are happy in their choices in life~great.
I saying this to the people who would go to such lengths to get out of something, just so they won't lose or look like an idiot, or thinking more of what people think of her than what she does of herself....
Maybe there are men who do this, but the ones I know tell the truth, even if it is brutal. Call it harsh, I call it respect.
Yeah, my girl is gonna have some balls.....
Think I'm done now.....
Cat~
It's been one of those days. The type of days where there are a lot of 'almosts', but not a lot of 'got dones'.
Mom and Dad left before 6am to arrive at the surgery center on time for her leg vein operation. She was under general anesthesia, so that got to her to stomach, other than that, she is okay. No pain as of yet.
The girl woke up at the ungodly hour of 6am insisting she was 'Hungary' and chanting for oatmeal all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. When I cooked it (yes, really cooked~not instant), she ate 2 or 3 bites and wanted candy.
Seems she forgot who I was for a moment :) So when I denied her request and she began to show inklings of a tantrum, I quickly reminded her just who she was dealing with and what the consequences might be should she continue down that road. She still didn't eat the oatmeal....
She did that all day, too. Only taking a few bites of things, but it goes in phases. Some days she'll eat like she's a starving child all day. Then she goes into today's mode. At least its not junk food....
We watched some movies, read books, played games, and made things all before 10am, and I was ready for a nap. She was not. So, I tuned into Disney Channel and dozed in the recliner, keeping my ears alert for little feet treading where they shouldn't.
Finally, at 11:30, I'd had it and needed sleep in a bad way, so I announced nap time. I laid down on Grace's floor and slept for an hour. I can't seem to sleep longer than that in there. I got up and gathered her laundry to do later.
Once she was awake, I started the washer and made lunch. Again with the 3 bite thing and the candy demand after. Again with the request denied and an added drink your milk, and no tantrum this time~think she got it? :)
There were many things on my to do list today, however I didn't have the energy or mind set to accomplish any of it.... well, I did laundry and dishes, but they weren't on my list. I also had an accident prone day, so I considered myself on vacation before something or someone got hurt.
Maybe accident prone is too harsh, more like a bad omen day because, as I stated, there were many 'almosts', but nothing happened that was bad.
Tomorrow will be better, though I imagine the girl will still be up at the crack of dawn.....
Hope you guys had a great day :)
Cat
Work today was okay. It seems as though we called the same 3 kid's names over and over and over... all day. The other kids are picking up some of these bad habits, too. My sweet 'Ziggy-girl' is starting to lay on top of the other kids, thanks to one of the boys. Good thing she only weighs about 10 pounds.
Of course, these new kids are barely over a year old and mixed in with kids who are close enough to 2. One boy is moving next week to the 2's class and we are getting a girl to replace him. We will have two of each, then-Ava, Emily, and Caroline (we call them by their last names, too in this situation).
These new kids can't speak yet... so they scream instead, which makes Mrs. Lead, and the Assts. go crazy. And yeah, I admit it got on my nerves, too. But I just tell them to stop screaming and try to get them to talk instead. Don't get me wrong, my coworkers do that, too-it just seems to get on their nerves faster.
And they're passing around a nasty cough and lovely thick green stuff slowly dripping from their adorable little noses... oh yeah, and low-grade fevers.
I'll give a few parents credit that keep their sick children home (or make other arrangements), but for the ones that bring them in on scheduled doses of Tylenol, hacking like they all have the croup ... I'd like to thank them-- for contaminating the other kids, their families, us and our families~bunch of inconsiderate 'stuck-ficks' (use your imagination ;)
And get this~one of the sick on scheduled doses of Tylenol kid's mother came in twice today to take the older sister to the freaking eye doctor! Then didn't show up to get her little one until 5:30~ and asked me how she was today... hee hee hee...
I told her, not this bluntly mind you~ she coughing something horrible, so bad she wakes herself up after 45 minutes of nap time almost puking. Her nose bled. (She asked me how much) The baby didn't pick it, or touch it, or anything~and big drop slowly made its way down her upper lip. It stopped with a little pressure, but still... it bled, unprovoked. She is on inhalers for asthma, too... guess she's heading to the doc tomorrow.
I'm happy I've perfected biting my tongue.... or at least waiting to rant to you guys about it ;) I'd lose my job, if not....
Okay, I'm done now.
Dad said the girl did very well in dance class today :) Except for scooting around on the floor in front of the other girls, she stood there and followed her dance teacher... Cool!
I've been struggling with re- enrolling her for next year there or not. I want her to be involved in something... but they've suggested a morning class and they have one on Tuesdays, so I could take her again. I have to check the deadline on the registration form.
I didn't watch American Idol tonight~because I watch LOST instead~ but I'm glad I didn't see it! What the hell is wrong with people? That's all I have to say about that....
Then I watched 'Revelations'.... you don't even have to speak Bible to understand it. It is so good! And it explains everything as it goes. My guess is most people, even non-religious ones, have read the Revelations Chapter of the Bible. It's one of the most interesting, for sure :)
Mom is having surgery on her leg Friday. She has varicose veins pretty bad and is getting them closed off <shiver> Post-op instructions say to stay off of it for a little while and only do light walking after 4 days.
Think we're going to have to keep her medicated in order to accomplish that task. She was talking about mowing the lawn this weekend! I said you can't cut the grass, you'll be in bed. She loves to mow the yard... something I did not inherit :)
I don't know how I'm going to keep Grace from begging Mom to do stuff. She loves it when her Nana takes her to the park and stuff like that. Hope the rain keeps up until Mom can get around, because she hates telling her grand-baby no. I'll find a way to keep her busy, though.
Well, I think that's all from me tonight.... time to grab a Dove dark chocolate covered cherry royale ice cream nugget ;)
Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow~
Cat
