My love for Whitecastle

All I have to say, is my kids just had their first Whitecastle sliders...

AND THEY FUCKING LOVED 'EM.

Mind you, they were the frozen microwavable kind (a burger in 60 seconds! AMAZING!) so they haven't even had the GOOD shit yet.

And for all of you out there, that think the WC is gross, eff off. That stuff is da bomb. Seriously. I grew up on that. And the closest one in about 2 hrs away, and I seriously considered moving over it after high school. My family used to make trips into Columbus every Sunday for WC. SO GOOD. Good enough for after church food.

I nearly cried last time I was in Columbus a few months ago for a bach. party, and stopped & got Burger King (ack!) with my last few dollars, only to look up and realize there was a Whitecastle across the street. It was the liveliest I was that entire night. I may or may not have gotten teary eyed. You decide.

If you live down south, Krystal is a close substitute, but still not the same. But I'll take it. (Come to think of it, down south is where all the good food is. Quincy's, anyone?? Holla.)

And if you haven't had it, we are no longer friends. Okay we are, but only if you try it & YOU LIKE IT. I'm so serious about this.

Life is good.

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted. I'm feeling very reflective today. I've been reading a blog, that I absolutely love. Go to http://www.kellehampton.com/ if you haven't already, and read Nella's story. And then keep reading. Kelle is a mother of 2 girls (and 2 bonus sons as well) that learned upon her youngest daughters arrival, that she had down's syndrome. It is an excrutiatingly heartfelt, painful, loving, amazing, and beautifully written birth story. It was also featured in Parent's magazine, I believe it was, just a few months ago. Many have read Nella's Story, but I encourage you to read & follow this amazing blog. She truly, truly has a way with words, and writing her feelings in a way, I only wish I could. She is awesome!

One of Kelle's posts, was about the grays of her day and the color of her day. The gray being something not so uplifting, and the color being some happiness.

So here's the grays of my day today:

My husbands grandmother is very ill, and in the hospital. Please pray for her, we love her dearly. And it occured to me last night, that we have not taken a pic of her yet with little miss Brynn. And this rips my heart out that we don't have these pictures. I pray for her, and for Brynn, that she gets well, and I swear we will take a lot of pictures!

Another shade of gray: just life in general beating us up. There's never enough money. There's always something that comes up when we get any. My hubs has been gone a lot lately, working all day, class 2 nights a week, on the off days, he's either been putting a new motor in his truck that was on it's last leg, or helping his cousin with gutting their new house, which hubs is doing the electrical work.

The colors of my day: We are all healthy. We have a warm home, we have food in the fridge. We had some family fun at the pumpkin patch last weekend. The baby is taking nap #3 already today, I'm glad for the break, and bc she is getting over this cold. My son is playing happily today, and even VOLUNTEERED to vacuum the living room. And did a pretty good job at it. I'm glad I have a good man in my life, that manages to make things work out for us. Yeah times are tough. But really, how tough are they in comparison? I'm sitting here in a cushy chair, on my laptop, my son is wearing head to toe gap athletic clothes, watching tv on a plasma hanging on the wall, and I have to go do laundry that has piled up bc we have enough to allow it to pile up. Life is good.

This is a pic from late august/early sept...but I love his smile here...(and I gotta figure out how to download pics onto this laptop...maybe I'll do that tonight!)

When it rains, it pours. So where can I get cute rain boots, size 8?

I haven't been a very active internetish person the past 2 days, the baby was in the hospital. We now believe she had a simple stomach virus, and she is feeling better ut still not up to par.

We took her to the ER Tuesday night around 9:30-10 pm, bc she started vomiting around 8 out of nowhere. The girl had  agreat day, there was not even the slightest cold-like symptom. But she just randomly started vomiting & gagging horribly, and I just could not let her go through the night like that, I didn't want her getting dehydrated. So off the ER we go. Which is EXACTLY in our budget right now, let me tell you. Hopefully we've met our out of pocket max for the year, or I'm going to be making payments for a long, long time.

Anyway, in the ER they did some bloodwork, did a chest xray, and said she had pneumonia. Ummm hello? What? Pneumonia? She hasn't even freakin SNEEZED. But I'm not a doctor, so what do I know? Then her white blood cells were elevated, so they decide they need to do a spinal tap to check for meningitis. And then tell me horrible meningitis is and all of the horrible things that cold happen. Needless to say, I stood in the hallway with the hubs, crying for awhile until they came out & said the spinal fluid was clear. Thank God, bc it was one of those moments where I was just wondering if things that you hope will never happen, were going to happen. Worst. feeling. ever.

They finally admitted her and got us a room in peds around 4am. We were exhausted. She still vomited some in the morning, so she wasn't allowed to eat for 8 hours to allow her stomach to rest. She finally started taking some pedialyte this morning, and eventually took a bottle, all of which has stayed down. Now, we have diarrhea instead. The doctor wanted to keep her another night, but honestly, it's too much for out family to do that, and we can't afford for hubs to miss more work. I think I can handle the diarrhea. I've done it numerous times with my son, and she's going to her regular doctors office early in the morning, so I'm really not worried about it. I think she'll be fine.

And on top of this, hubs is in his cousins wedding this weekend, so will be tied up Friday & Saturday nights. Hopefully, she'll be well enough we can still make it to the wedding.

So keep little miss Brynn in your prayers. She acts fine, you'd never know something was wrong with her. So hopefully her poop turns to more soft serve rather than pond water. ;)

I'm baaaaaaaacccckkkkkkk

Hello my little monsters! Yes, I AM actually Lady Gaga. No, not really, but I do enjoy a good meat dress when appropriate.

There I go getting off track already.

So my computer literally melted last week. Don't ask. So Hubs debated the options for a few days and finally decided to buy a laptop, which I am on now. Hopefully he fixes the desktop soon as well. I kinda miss my giant way too expensive super duper computer screen. It's pretty awesome as far as computer monitors go. And I was pissed when he bought it. Ha.

Huh well this would be maybe a bit more interesting but there is a baby staring at me whining, like she wants food or something. Peace out dolls.

(Dolls. What was Kourteney thinking wanting another baby with Scott????)

rah rah oo la la la rah ma rum mama gaga oo la la.....BAD ROMANCE

I just like that song. Still.

So.

Another of my fav bloggers- a blogging DUO actually called out my next post idea in the comments of my last fab hair post. Thank you, Two-Non Blondes. Unicorns & sparkles to you. And skulls. What? Ok.

In my last post, I briefly discussed the kissy face. This is also known as the duck face. And there is a wholllllle website devoted to it, and it's NOT FACEBOOK. I know. It is this masterpiece: antiduckface.com

Read the comments. Add you own. Live it, love it, REMEMBER IT.

NO KISSY/DUCK FACES.

I have compiled a list of requirements on kissy/duck face pics, based on what I've seen here, and splashed all over facebook.

1. Obviously, the kissy/ duck lips. Duh.

2. Cleavage.

3. Throwing the deuces. "Peace sign" for you old, un-hip folks.

4. Camera angled from above your face, at arm's distance, bc you know you look too stupid to actually do this in front of someone while they take your picture.

5. Background must be either home bathroom, bar bathroom, or teenage bedroom. Sometimes, the setting will also be a sports game/party.

6. There will be beer.

7. Girl's arm must be around a guy if another person is in the picture. Usually he's black.

8. If not a guy, another chick, also making a duck face & throwing deuces.

9. A tan.

10. Heavy eyeliner.

6 out of 10 requirements must be met to achieve. Just kidding, just put that stupid so not sexy pout on your face!!!

And here's a couple of pics of MY duck face...WAIT, WAIT!! I THOUGHT I HAD SOME AND I DO NOT HAVE ANY!!! I SWEAR I THOUGHT I DID! So here's the closest you get:

*Insert catchy title here*

So thanks to my fav blogger in all the land Kelly, at Speaking From The Crib, for inspiring today's post. Go here to see what all the fuss is about.

I took her advice and cut my hair. French bob style, a la Kristin Cavallerri. Yeah she's still around. I always liked her on Laguna...

Anywho- I chopped the mane. Mostly bc my dream of Kardashian/Aniston/well mostly Kardashian hair is just never coming true and I really need to just get over it. Every time my hair gets past my shoulders, I'm all like Hells yeah, I'm gonna have to hottest hair in all the land. And it never happens. What REALLY happens, is I put a bunch of shit in my hair, including but not limited to, mousse, gel, silk therapy, blow dry lotion, and use a plethera of styling tools, including but not limited to, blow dryer, crappy flat iron, crappy curling iron, velcro rollers, hot rollers...And what I end up with is...

...crappy looking hair that feels crappy and is in crappy condition.

And then comes my ponytail. Or my high school trademark of I don't even know what it's called, but I pull half my hair through the ponytail at my attempt for the messy, but I spent forever on this look. Which is also crap. I'd post a pic but as I told my facebook friends, I don't really like taking pics of myself, and I think the whole kissy-face that every girl makes when they take their own pic is getting a little out of hand, don't you think?

I mean really? Is that kissy face supposed to be hot or sexy or something? It looks effing retarded if you ask me. (disclaimer: I believe I have ONE of these pics on my fb page- BUT in my defense, it is at least 3 years old, I did not take it of myself, and it was when I still drank occasionally, and this was one of those occasions. I do not get all dolled up to take pics in front of myself in front of my bedroom mirror or bar bathroom. Bc that's where all the others seem to be at.)

When life hands you lemons...

...make some lemonade.

...add vodka.

...OR JUST GO THE FUCK OFF.

Hello pleasant MNAN readers. All 3 of you. I'm here today to discuss something I'm officially calling bullshit on.

I am a good person. I am. Sometimes I say the F word a lot, and often times I speak about people in ways I would never really say to their face. But generally, I am good. I heart my family, I work hard, and I've worked hard to get this family to where we are. I have a lot of pride, though we still go without most all of our wants in life at this point. Here's why I'm pissed today:

I'm pissed bc I've been out of school for over 2 years now and still have yet to secure full time employment. I'm pissed bc I've spent hundreds of dollars on stamps to mail out resumes, knowing full well that no one is hiring, but someday they might, and appreciate my persistence. I'm pissed bc in college they tell you a bunch of shit about how you're bettering yourself, and you will just love your profession, and this is the best thing you've ever done in your whole entire life. I'm pissed bc I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm pissed bc everytime I feel like I catch a much-deserved break, I get slapped in the face.

Without going into too much detail, I have been blessed enough to qualify for unemployment benefits. I got an e-mail today that I may lose them for reasons that are entirely, 100% not my fault. The system needs to change, that's the bottom line. And I have a great feeling I'm going to get screwed in the process. Bc I told the truth. However, if I was a liar and could do that not feel guilty, I'd be just fine. Isn't that GRAND?????

I'm pissed at my former employer who has PROMISED I will receive my job back in due time, but yet again, when a full time person quit, the position was not even offered to me and someone else has the job, when I've got 2 years and literally blood, sweat and tears into that place. And they can STILL tell me that they love me, and want me to be there & keep me employed. Really? Bc you sure as hell don't act like it. I'm sick of people being hired over me. So sick of it. Even if I did go back, at this point I'm so pissed, they'd probably start disliking me pretty fast. I'm pissed bc my other job as well is a dead end.

So how long do I have to wait for a full time position? How long? I would just go back to school now, but I have a ton of student loans out there that I haven't even begun to pay back. Otherwise I'd do something else in a heartbeat. It kills me, that something I worked so hard for has failed me. It's failed me for over 2 years now. My only hope, is there is a chain dental office being constructed in town now, and I pray to God I can get in there. In my head, I'm already hired. I try to positive all the time, I keep telling myself that what's meant to be will be, but how long will it take? How long does my family have to live paycheck to paycheck? This is just ridiculous. I never do anything for myself, everything I do, I do for my kids, and I haven't even bought their fall clothes yet bc we've been trying to get back on our feet since my initial lay-off, and I swear, like we finally got there this week. We got caught u[p on everything, paid bills a month ahead like we usually do, I did do a little shopping for the baby & got halloween costumes, we went to an amusement park last weekend, going to a football game this weekend, things have been looking up. And his whole unemployment thing has screwed me again.

Sorry for the vent, I'm just so irritated now. One of these days I'll have something happy & funny to post about again, I promise.