Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Inspirational Alphabet

Although things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when the times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow
God is forever able
Hold on to what you know
Imagine life without His love
Joy would cease to be
Keep thanking Him for all the things
Love imparts to thee
Move out of "Camp Complaining"
No weapon that is known
On earth can yield the power
Praise can do alone
Quit looking at the future
Redeem the time at hand
Start every day with worship
To "thank" is a command
Until we see Him coming
Victorious in the sky
We'll run the race with gratitude
X alting God most high
Yes, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...
Zion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!

"I AM too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed!"

The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.

The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.

Monday, February 27, 2006

It's Strep Throat...

That is what my daughter has...so we are antibiotics and also are on a decongestant because we have the beginning of an ear infection...YEAH.

Not only do we have strep throat and ear infection....but we have a daddy that has a bad attitude....I wish that he and I could just have it out and get it over with. I called him earlier to let him know that if he wanted to work out tomorrow he would be doing it late and maybe it would beg better for him to do it tonight because he will be staying home with Big Girl tomorrow. Instant attitude..."I don't want to do this that or the other..." AAGGHH, Look I am giving you a choice either work out tonight or not until Thursday because of other stuff that is going on in our family. So he went tonight to the gym.

Then I get home from the doctor and pharmacy and am making dinner. I ask him if he wants anything and he just starts cussing...I ask what is wrong...well heaven forbid that his Star Trek DVD is not playing in the player. He says he is going to the bedroom to watch it...fine....but Big Girl is in there laying on the bed sleeping....WHAT...can't she be somewhere else...Sorry...she is sick...she wants to be in our bed....and sleep....no she can't move....cuss cuss cuss....so he is in Big Girls room watching he precious DVD....He will be lucky if I talk to him the rest of the night...

When he gets tired, hungry or doesn't feel good...I get the bitchiness...which pisses me off...I know I should be more understanding especially after reading Nicki's post about being less selfish.....I know that I shouldn't be feeling this way or acting this way...but MAN OH MAN am I ticked...and I know he will just wait until bed time and then roll over and want to "make up"...not tonight buddy....

Sorry...I think I am PMSing.....LOL

My birthday information

You entered: 8/5/1975

Your date of conception was on or about 12 November 1974 which was a Tuesday.
You were born on a Tuesday
under the astrological sign Leo.
Your Life path number is 8.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2442629.5.
The golden number for 1975 is 19.
The epact number for 1975 is 17.
The year 1975 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/11/1975 and ending 1/30/1976.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rabbit.

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 30 March 1975.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 12 February 1975.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 18 May 1975.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 25 May 1975.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Saturday, 6 September 1975.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Thursday, 27 March 1975.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 11 February 1975.

As of 2/27/2006 2:08:02 PM EST
You are 30 years old.
You are 366 months old.
You are 1,595 weeks old.
You are 11,164 days old.
You are 267,950 hours old.
You are 16,077,008 minutes old.
You are 964,620,482 seconds old.

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 4.36947162426614 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)



There are 159 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 31 candles.

Those 31 candles produce 31 BTUs,
or 7,812 calories of heat (that's only 7.8120 food Calories!) .
You can boil 3.54 US ounces of water with that many candles.


In 1975 there were approximately 3.1 million births in the US.
In 1975 the US population was approximately 203,302,031 people, 57.4 persons per square mile.
In 1975 in the US there were approximately 2,152,662 marriages (10.1%) and 1,036,000 divorces (4.9%)
In 1975 in the US there were approximately 1,921,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.


Your birthstone is Peridot
The Mystical properties of Peridot

Peridot is used to help dreams become a reality.
Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)

Sardonyx, Diamond, Jade

Your birth tree is

Poplar, the Uncertainty
Looks very decorative, no self-confident behaviour, only courageous if necessary, needs goodwill and pleasant surroundings, very choosy, often lonely, great animosity, artistic nature, good organiser, tends to philosophy, reliable in any situation, takes partnership serious.



There are 301 days till Christmas 2006!
There are 314 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you wereborn was waning crescent.




Find out about your birthday here.

Bus Full of Ugly People

A good friend of mine sent me this. While it isn't PC it is pretty funny.
A bus carrying only ugly people crashes into an oncoming truck, and everyone inside dies. As they stand at the Pearly Gates waiting to enter Paradise and meet their maker God decides to grant each person one wish because of the grief they have experienced.

They're all lined up, and God asks the first one what the wish is. "I want to be gorgeous," and so God snaps His fingers, and it is done. The second one in line hears this and says "I want to be gorgeous too."Another snap of His fingers and the wish is granted.

This goes on for a while with each one asking to be gorgeous, but whenGod is halfway down the line, the last guy in the line starts laughing. When there are only ten people left, this guy is rolling on the floor laughing his head off. Finally, God reaches this last guy and asks him what his wish will be.The guy eventually calms down and says:


"Make 'em all ugly again."

I'm home today!

My oldest was still sick this morning with a fever and sore throat. We are headed to the doctor today once they open and I can get an appointment. Not sure what is going on, but she has me concerned. I hope that it is nothing serious, but I guess we will find out when she gets to the doctor.

I am not sure what to do with myself today. My daughter is currently sleeping in the bedroom and I don't want to wake her, but I am so ready to watch some TV. I really need to get the rest of the laundry done, but that is NO FUN.

Hope all you fellow bloggers are having a great day.

Latibug

Sunday, February 26, 2006

What a Weekend!!!

What a weekend we had! For starters we were up early on Saturday because we had to go get the kids from their Dad's house. Then it was home to clean out the garage. Now this is not something we planned on doing, but was sort of forced upon us.

You see, last week we had the termite inspectors come and say that we needed to treat our home (the full cycle). OK, we said, however at the time we didn't realize that this meant having to pull all of the stuff away from all the walls in the garage. So into the middle of the garage everything went. That was all fine, well and good until the time came to move it all back. OMG, I didn't know we had so much stuff in there. So after about two hours, two trips to Goodwill and a full trashcan we are now clean in the garage. We can actually park both cars in the garage, you can't get out of them, but they will both fit now. The nice thing about that is that the garage is designed to be only a one car garage...LOL.

Then on Saturday night our church had a special get together for singing and communion. It was really nice, but I was ready to get out of there when it was over. My oldest daughter and I had a mommy/daughter date. We ended up at the local bowling alley, which was fun, but after about two hours I was tired and sore.

Today my youngest daughter and I had a date making cookies. It was fun and messy. I am so glad that I took the time to make these cookies with her because it was a really good time to bond and make some memories.

Today we had church this morning and then to the store for some goodies. Oldest daughter and hubby had a movie date planned, which is when youngest and I decided to make cookies. Oldest daughter came home not feeling well and running a fever. I have given her some meds and told her to rest. I hope that she is better by tomorrow because I can't afford anymore time off from work.
Youngest Daughter

Hope all is well out there in cyber land. I am really enjoying a lot of the blogs out there...well actually only about 5-6, but I know there are more that I will come across as the days go by.

Blessings,
Latibug

PS I know it sounds really vain, but I decided to get a personalized license plate with "LATIBUG" on it. I'll take a pic when it gets here (3-4 weeks).







My Babies

Thursday, February 23, 2006

I WANT TO FEEL LIKE A WOMAN!!!

My Mom sent this to me....it was my laugh for the day!




On a transatlantic flight, a plane passes through a severe storm. The turbulence is awful, and things go from bad to worse when one wing is struck by lightning.

One woman, in particular, loses it. Screaming, she stands up in the front of the plane. "I'm too young to die,"she wails. Then she yells, "Well, if I'm going to die, I want my last minutes on earth to be memorable! Is there anyone on this plane who can make me feel like a WOMAN?"

For a moment there is silence. Everyone has forgotten their own peril. They all stare, eyes riveted, at the desperate woman in the front of the plane. Then a cowboy from Wyoming stands up in the rear of the plane.

He is handsome, well built, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He starts to walk slowly up the aisle, unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time. No one moves. He removes his shirt. Muscles ripple across his chest.

She gasps . . .He whispers into her ear.

"Iron this. Then, get me a beer."

Clean, and funny too!

Email to Friends about this morning's issues...

have changed names to protect the innocent...

List of Characters:

Little Girl - my 6 year old daughter
Big Girl - my 10 year old daughter
DH- my dear husband, but he is not part of this story
Dad - is their bio-Dad (my ex-husband, both children are from that relationship)
WWofW - is their stepmother (i'll let you fill in what you think WWofW stands for...LOL)



Hey guys, I just need a little prayer today. Yesterday was Little Girl's 6th birthday and while we had a good time on Saturday celebrating we didn’t “do” anything last night to mark the occasion. I had some church things to take care of and the girls had homework etc. Anyway, the girls came home with flyers in their backpacks for a fund raiser for their school at Chuck E. Cheese tonight. Both of them really wanted to go, but Big Girl (10 year old) goes to her Dad’s on Thursday nights.

I told her that I would be willing to take her, but she would need to call and ask him if she could go and I would drop her off after it was over. She didn’t want to call and I wasn’t going to do it for her. Finally after lots of attitude she called and left a message for her Dad. He called back this morning and was trying to work the details out with me and then said “I just don’t know if she deserves to go because she hasn’t really been doing her reading homework.” I asked him what he meant and I guess she has been reading the same book every night and then using it as her reading log homework for the next day. Well, this escalates between he and I about what should/should not be done at homework time. I finally just said “You need to talk to Big Girl and make a plan. I am willing to take her, but it is your night and your time and you need to decide.” So I gave the phone back to her and about 10 minutes later she was in tears and I was talking to her Dad and he was telling me that she wasn’t going. “OK,” I said and hung up.

Well, Big Girl had since locked herself in the bathroom and was crying. I knocked on the door and asked if I could come in. She wouldn’t let me so I unlocked the door and sat on the floor next to her. She started getting angry at me because her Dad said “NO”. I understand her frustration and anger, but I was not going to allow her to put it on me. I told her that I was willing and ready to take her to this thing tonight and I was willing to compromise, but her Dad made the final decision to not allow her to go. Then she said she was mad at WWofW (her step mom) who apparently told her Dad that she was using the same book over and over for her reading log. Well, come to find out it is a Ready Reader book with lots of stories, but I am not sure it is on her level...it maybe a little lower than what she can actually read at...so that may be part of the problem also.

About the best I could come up with today was sending some books from our home with her to her Dad’s and telling her to use those. Then I also told her that she needs to show WWofW/her Dad the Ready Reader book so that they know that she is not reading the same thing everyday. She was still upset when I left her at daycare to catch the bus, but she was still fuming with her Dad/WWofW.

I just needed to get all of this off my chest before I started my day. I just want to be a good Mom, but I hate to see my kids hurt. I just pray I did the right thing.

Thanks for listening. Latibug
This blogging stuff is addicting. I was OK about a week ago when I could only get here about once every other day. However, I am now finding that I want to be here reading others blogs and also posting more on my own. So much so that I have not got much work done today.

As I sit here staring at my desk and the huge piles (yes that is more than one) of paper stare back at me I wonder why I am even here. I don't want to be here stuck behind my desk working all day long. I need a break.

I have to say that I am learning more about HTML text and changing my template than I ever really needed or wanted to know. I am having an issue trying to create a "Blog Me" link from Blog Rolling. I am sure that if I really read and give it enough time I can figure it out, but right now it isn't work my time or brain power.

I am also in a bit of a funk today. I don't know why. Maybe it has to do with the fact that our part of the state hasn't got any rain in about 4 months (yep, that's right 100 days without rain as of January 26, 2006). So if 1/26/2006 was 100 days without rain that means that today 2/23/2006 would be (let me count...carry the one) oh yeah...128 days without rain. We need some moisture.

I am also a little put out with my dear husband. I can't really tell you why, but I am sure it has something to do with the fact that he goes to his man cave for about 3 hours every night. That and we haven't had a decent conversation in about a month. Who knows.

Well, I am going to go dive into these stacks of papers. I'll write more later. I have story about this morning that I need to share....

Blessings,
Latibug

About Me.....

I got this in an email and thought I would share my comments:-0


1. What time did you get up this morning?
6:00 AM

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Brokeback Mountain

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Until March 8th Project Runway
On March 21st Blow Out (Season 3..Gotta love Jonathan)

5.What do you usually have for breakfast?
Coffee, Tea and another Coffee

6. What is your favorite cuisine?
Mexican

7. What is your middle name?
Ann

8. What food do you dislike?
Sweet Potatoes….they are not meant to be covered in Marshmallows

9. What is your favorite CD at the moment
Point of Grace - 24

10. What kind of car do you drive?
2003 Red Toyota Camry

11. What is your favorite sandwich?
Roast Beef with all the trimmings

12. What characteristics do you despise?
Hateful People

13. Favorite item of clothing?
Yoga pants…No I don’t do yoga…but love the pants

14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be and with whom?
Paris or Greece with my husband and girls

15. What color is your bathroom?
White and White

16. Favorite brand of clothing?
Old Navy and Ann Taylor Loft (only on sale though)

17. Where would you like to retire to?
In an RV…to travel…is that allowed?

18. What was your most memorable birthday?
Loved 30…finally got out of those 20’s which were both good and bad

19. Favorite sport to watch?
I like Ice Skating, but really got into Curling during this Olympics, but I’m not sure that is a “sport”

20. Furtherest place you are sending this?
I'm posting it on my blog so who knows who will read it and how far they are from me!

21. Who do you least expect to send this back to you?
I don’t know

22. Person you expect to send it back first?
Neil or Danielle

23. When is your birthday?
August 5

24.Are you a morning person or a night person?
Neither??????

25. What is your shoe size?
7 ½ - 8

26. Pets?
Not right now….

27. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us?
I'm on my 3rd cup of coffee....wired!

28. What did you want to be when you were little?
I wanted to dig up dinosaur bones because I saw that on TV…even tried to find some in our front drive with my dad’s paint brushes…(sorry dad)

29. How are you today?
Tired but happy!

30. What are your favorite lollies?
I liked only the red tootsie roll …not any of the other color

31. What is your favorite flower?
White Carnations

32. What is the date on your calendar that you are looking forward to?
March 24-26 going to Vegas with my girlfriends…YEAH

33.Are you married?
Sure am….

34. Do you enjoy your job?
Most days…depends on how behind we are on projects.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Two of my biggest vices...

1) Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies and cold milk

2) Project Runway Season 2

Therefore, it is safe to assume that if you put the two of them together you would have heaven on earth...well not actually, but pretty darn close.

Tonight was a busy one for us here at the house. First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AMANDA GIRL....she is now a big 6 year old girl. So after coming home and giving her hugs and kisses (she had a huge party this past weekend) it was off to church to practice for a drama. Then home to catch the last 30 minutes of American Idol...then off to bath, teeth brushed and bed.

Then I saw them. The most glorius site to me all day long. Two new boxes of Thin Mints were staring at me from the counter. Apparently they were dropped off while I was at church...then I went to the bedroom to see what was on the TV and YEAH Project Runway was on with the 5 designers and the new one is right behind that....love it.

Now all I have to do is brush my teeth, wash my face and chill.....

Night All!

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Don't you hate it when....

Your boss gives you a project and then only gives you enough information to finish about 3/4 of the project. I do.... I love my boss and I love my job, but if I hear one more time...."We really need to get XYZ done" and then in another month hear that again, then I am going to scream.

OK, now that that is off my chest let me tell you about my day after work......

Today was Parent/Teacher conference at school. I love both of my girls teachers and each of them is great to work with and communicate with. I have to say that each of my girls got great reports (....pat...pat...pat...myself on the back....). However, I know that each of them are totally different. For example, my youngest comes home from school, strips to her underwear and immediately goes and watches TV. Is then told turn it off and get homework done...does it (reluctantly) and then does her home work. My oldest daughter comes home immediately gets her homework done and goes outside to play. This is my dilemina...how to motivate my youngest daughter to get her work done...any suggestions would be great.

After the Parent/Teacher conferences are over I go to the book fair that is on campus. The sale is buy one get one free. I love books especially kids books and I go crazy. Not too bad, but I do enjoy shopping for new kids books. I buy 6 (4 for my kids and 1 for each teacher n(2)).

I come home and make a quick/easy dinner and now am blogging and trying to get the kids dressed for bed.

After they are all in bed, I am going to brush my teeth and get there myself.

Nights,
Lisa

Sunday, February 12, 2006

The Rest of the Story.....

I wake up on Saturday morning around 9 am relishing in the knowledge that my dear husband and I do not have children until at least 4 pm that afternoon. I plan to make the most of it. I roll over in bed to hug and kiss my dear one awake and find an empty spot. He was supposed to be there sound asleep after getting in from his trip at 11:30 the night before.

A little worried, I get up thinking that I know he must be here. Sure enough he is in his man cave (basically the den with all his "man" stuff). My heart leaps because I haven't seen him in about 36 hours. Anyway, I run and give him a huge hug and then we proceed to get ready for the day.

About the time we have both showered, changed and brushed our teeth I feel hungry. So, we have breakfast for lunch at the local Village Inn. Now mind you, we live in a sub-burb of Phoenix, AZ and this is the mid/end of winter so every blue hair that has a car/rv/place to stay here has migrated to the great state of AZ. Most of the time I don't mind this because the influx of people is great for the economy and overall I usually don't hang out where retired persons do.

So, we get to Village Inn around 11:30 with our tummy's rumbling and mouths ready for some food. I won't say that it was invasion of the blue-hairs by any means, but it was pretty crowded with those of age 65 or older. It didn't take long to get seated, but my hubby and I by far brought the median age down to about 58..LOL.

Anyway, we get there and get our food and I am already looking forward to pie. The one reason I love this place is that they have the best French Silk pie. Great whipped cream topping, great chocolate filling and HUGE shavings of chocolate. If there was a perfect pie, this would be it. Anyway, eyes being bigger than my tummy left me shy of being able to order pie with my breakfast. Good thing we have a Chili Cookoff at our church tonight.

So, we head out to do some grocery shopping and some other errands. We get home and I decide that I am going to do the taxes before we leave. Now granted it is 2:30 in the afternoon and the Chili Cookoff is not until 5 pm. So I have time. I get started and then find out that I need to gather a bunch of information from last year. For the last 7 years I have been doing my taxes on TaxCut on the computer. I love it and will never change unless a program that can do the taxes for me is invented. So, I dig through some things and then realize that I need to add up medical, dental and prescription drug coverage for my family. OK, I'll add it up...to the checkbook I go....thankfully this is also on the computer...in EXCEL. I figure a quick search/find will do it. Folks, I spent more time on that than actually inputting the figures for my taxes.

OK, 4:00 rolls around and for the first time in his life the ex decides to bring the girls home on time. I have just pressed the button that says "Click here to file electronically" within the program. YEAH! Now I get to see my kids and the taxes are done......NOPE they are not done....You have one error in your tax form...click...click ....click...done. "Click her to file electronically" You have an error in your tax form.....another round of clicks and I think I have it....NOPE...you have ONE warning....you are not required to fix warnings but please verify the information...K...Click Click Click...DONE...NOPE now you have to print the forms for your records....COME ON......I have Chili that needs to be eaten...I have pies calling my name...I need to be where the FOOD is....58 pages later and half a small forest killed...the TAXES ARE DONE!

The cookoff was great...great food great fellowship great everything. Today was spent doing some other things that 1) can't be mentioned on the internet and 2) that will require a post tomorrow.

Happy Evening!
Lisa

Saturday, February 11, 2006

My Night

As I have posted on my other blog my husband and kids were out of the picture last night and I thought that I would have a nice and relaxing evening with myself. You know a little ME time. Well, I was wrong.

After I got off work, I went to the store to buy some comfort food so that I didn't have to cook for myself when I got home. I got some really bad food from the prepared section of the store, you know where the food has been sitting under heat lamps all day and the time/date stamp states that it came out of the oven about 10 minutes ago. However, the skin on the chicken is all but nonexistent because all the hydration has been sucked out of it by the heat lamp. (Think Joe vs. the Volcano when Tom Hanks says "You look terrible, Mr. Waturi. You look like a bag of shit stuffed in a cheap suit. Not that anyone could look good under these zombie lights. I, I, I, I can feel them sucking the juice out of my eyeball. Suck, suck, suck, SUCK... " ). That is what the food in this area of the store looked like. So against my better judgment I immediately asked for a corn dog and a fried burro. Neither of which my system is used to having on a regular basis.

I also pick up a carton of macaroni Salad that looks like it has sat on the shelf for about a month. No, there will be no problems with this meal. What was I thinking.....

Anyway, I get home and my dear husband has left me with a job to do. One that I didn't ask for and really don't want to do...take care of the kitten he found outside.

The day before he went out of town he found a kitten in the tree by our house. Brought her inside, washed her all up, bought a ton of supplies to "keep" her and then promptly left for a comic book convention in the greater San Francisco area. Ms. Diva Superstar (as I have come to call her over the past three days) decides that she has not had enough attention since we all have jobs and such to go to since she has been found. So I come home to a kitten crying for attention.

Now by my nature, I didn't grow up a cat person. In fact, I lived out in the country where pets were kept outside and the next day you might see them or you might not depending on how well they fended against the "darks of the night!" So, having a pet in my house is not something that I ever wanted. Granted over the last 5 years of being with my husband we have "tried out" various cats and I have to say that I am STILL not a cat person. I would love a dog, but my husband is really not up for that.

Anyway, Ms. Diva Superstar wants attention...OK, I say come to the bedroom with me and we will watch TV and eat junk food. I get all my stuff together and head to the bedroom...Followed by a crying kitten. Now, I am not heartless, I did pick her up and pet her and love on her and even bought her some toys at the store...Thank you. However, she wanted more attention now. I loved up on her and played with her and eventually got a nice little cut from her claws on my finger. Then I was ready to eat....and she still wanted to play. I sat up to start my fat filled, vomit inducing, cardiac stopping meal and she attacks my back. Just jumped up and attacked me from behind....OUCH!

I thought in my mind that kittens were like babies, if they are crying make sure they are clean, feed and loved and then if they are still crying, leave them to there own devices and eventually they will calm themselves down...NOPE not this DIVA! She followed me around the house underfoot all night. Finally, after attacking my remote control and trying to pounce the flowers on my PJ's I put her in a bedroom and shut the door. Here is a pic of said Diva.....

Anyway, after putting her away I was able to eat my crappy and now cold food. I watched "Cruel Intentions" and waited for hubby to return from his trip. I made it to about 11:30 when the Sandman visited my pillow and I was out. I really, really tried to stay awake, but alas it was not meant to be.

It was a relaxing night once Ms. Diva Superstar was put to bed. Unfortunately our home is only three bedrooms and all are occupied at the moment. She has been sleeping with my youngest daughter, but she has only been here three days. I won't allow her out by herself because she is just a kitten and I have brand new furniture that I don't want torn to shreds. So she will be "caged" so to speak in a bedroom while alone in the house.

Hope all have a great weekend!