Over it

I am home AGAIN today. I feel bad, I was just out sick on Tuesday. This time it’s Ducky who is sick though she doesn’t seem as bad as she did this morning.

And my car is fucked. It keeps stalling. Where the fuck am I going to take it? GRRR

I haven’t been to the gym since MONDAY. They’ve even called to see where I was. I thought I signed a 1 year, twice a month personal training contract (why??), not a personal yenta contract.

I’m stressed about my EA exams in December. I study, but I’m worried that I won’t be prepared.

And we want to move when our lease ends (11/30), besides that we have to pack, and cough up dolla dolla billz for the movers, we still have to find our new place!! When am I supposed to do that?? LOL

So, I’m fucking wiggin’ (does anyone say that anymore? well i do) from all the stress.

Although my friend sent me a very nice present today. I won’t say exactly what it is, because it’s a fairly well known mascot of a big corporation. But it was definitely worth a smile. Thanks Lynn!

And the winner is……..

(too impatient to wait for the picture to email from my cell phone)

so, without futher ado…

The winner of the philosophy bath set is:

Amanda from Sawdust & Diamonds

BUT WAIT!!

the winner of the super-secret runner up prize (because I’m tricky like that) is:

Procrastamom

Congratulations! Email me, so I can send this stuff out ASAP.

And to the everyone else, thanks for entering and I know how you feel. I’ve never once won a blog giveway.

Does this mean I can post again? Although this was fun. Maybe I should do the crocs next? LOL

Step Right Up!!

Have you ever made an impulse buy? I have. I just did actually. I bought Philosophy’s Falling in Love Bath Gel and solid fragrance set on eBay. Well, I must have been thinking of some other perfume, because this one? Definately NOT what I thought it was.

BUT!!! My loss is your gain! I’m giving it away!! Check it out:

Just leave me a comment by 12 noon Eastern time Thursday 9/27 and you could win this set! A $40 value. (note, i did use a teeny bit of the solid perfume to try it, but the bath gel is sealed) Don’t worry that I didn’t care for it! You could love it! (I’m looking at YOU sawdust & diamonds) and if you don’t, well it was FREE!

Back to work

How was your weekend? Mine was OK, except for the searing pain in both my biceps. I’m pretty sure I overdid it with the weights on Friday. And oh yeah, my abs, too. ‘Twas quite comical to see me get off the bed/couch/floor. I had to use some the techniques I learned in childbirth class. Like roll on your side to get up. Fun fun fun, I tell you!

On Sunday, Ducky and I played “SOCCABALL” and walked to the swings.

And finally, this morning, I wrote THE MOST boring blog entry EVER.

It’s not easy being me

Today at the gym I signed up for personal training sessions. At one point they asked for my email, so I gave them my non-blog email. Which normally would be no big deal, right? Except my other email is michelecake at [whocares] dot com.

Michele Cake!! So there is no doubt in anyone’s mind why I am in need of twice monthly personal training.

(can I say in my defense that when I chose the name it had nothing to do with baked goods? it had everything to do with this guy)

The world is coming to an end

I just bought Ducky-Duck these abominations. Because she asked for them. Even though I know better.

And I paid THIRTY BUCKS for them!! And also, it’s fall! Like if was going to buy these stupid shoes anyway, why not in, i don’t know, SUMMER????

Although, she wore them for a few minutes when we got home, then announced, “I don’t want crops”

So which is worse, cheaply made $30 rubber shoes in which she can do nothing more strenuous than strolling?? OR Red and Black $30 plastic mocking me from her shoe bin?

I’ve been Interviewed by Momsmoo

Of course I asked her to. LOL Check her out here 

The rules: Leave me a comment saying “Interview me.” I will respond by emailing you or leaving a comment with five questions. I get to pick the questions. If you don’t have a valid email address on your blog, please provide one. You will update your blog with a post containing your answers to the questions. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

1) Happy 30th b-day — a few days late.  Did you welcome the big 3-0 with open arms or hide under the covers?  Why?

I welcomed it. Why? Because I’m a schmuck. No really, I think because I am the youngest child, and am used to being “the baby”, so I was looking forward to an incontrovertible “adult” age . I can be an adult and still like Spaghetti-Os, right?

2) You refer to your daughter as Ducky.  Where did you come up with that pseudonym?  How about the Highlander?

Back when she was around 6 or 7 months old, I was putting her down for a nap, and as I walked out of her room, instead of saying “good night” (because, DUH, it was day) I said “good nap-nap”. The Highlander looked up and said “What the hell did you just say?”, so I told him, and said “What the hell did you think I said, I’m curious now”, He replied, “I thought you said ‘Good night Duck’” So that night, to be a smartass, I said “good night duck” when I was putting her to bed. It stuck. We call her that 50-75% of the time. When I started this blog, I wanted to keep her anonymous, but how anonymous is it if I use a nickname that we call her? But still, I’m still leery of using her name.

I call my husband “The Highlander” because I was sick of typing out his former bloggy nickname J/Daddy. Which is EXTREMELY close to his real name. I’m almost hitting you on the head with a hammer. I blogged about how I chose this pseudonym here.

3) Do you still think that Brit Brit didn’t give her kids alcohol??  If she did, should she still retain custody?  When do you think a mom/dad should lose custody?  Has it changed since you became a parent?

She probably wanted to but I think she has enough “handlers” around her to prevent her from actually doing anything that stupid. Do you honestly think she’s EVER alone with those kids?

If she did, I guess she’d need some restrictions, and lose them for a while, but to permanently lose them? No.

A parent should lose custody if they sexually or physically abuse their child or allow others to do so. Beyond that, I don’t know.

Since I’ve been a parent, hmm, not sure about that. I guess it’s stayed the same, although I have become way less judgmental on a lot of other parenting things.

4) Dude, you had a stalker!  Tell more.

Let’s just say, in case this person is still “identity farming”, that don’t believe everything that you read. I’ve found out more about people by what they DON’T say sometimes. Also, when I spoke to this person, after seeing “her” pictures, I knew that the voice did not match the face. I brushed it off, because I thought I was being a weirdo. There were other clues too, like she supposedly had toddlers and I NEVER EVER heard them when we talked on the phone. I shouldn’t have made excuses for this person when my gut was telling me otherwise. Also, don’t be lazy like me. Watermark your photos.

I also had a real life stalker in college. It was scary, I had to get him arrested.

5) You were in NYC on 9/11 — do you think most of the country will never “get it”?

Except for the gawking at Ground Zero thing (which even my mother who was there doesn’t get) I think most people get it. People were appropriately horrified, just as much as those of us who were on the ground that day.  I remember being surprised when I got home and turned on the news that THE WHOLE WORLD was talking about this. When I was down in it, I thought it would be like tri-state area news.  As Americans, it was a rude awakening that a devastating terrorist attack could happen to us, and my family and friends in Europe said the same thing.

Thanks, momsmoo! This was fun.

Learning to love Diet FUCKING Coke

….or alternatively, keep your fingers away from my mouth.

I’m trying, perhaps over-ambitiously, to accomplish several large changes in my life.

First, I’m trying to “get in shape” (can I tell you how much I hate that expression?) while at the same time not hating my body or myself. I am the fattest heaviest I’ve ever been. (See there I go with the hating).Three pounds heavier than when I gave birth. So clearly I need to do something. My first goal was to be honest with myself. I’ve gained 80 pounds in the 4 years since I met The Highlander. And I had to figure out how that happened. It’s tempting to call it “baby weight”, but the truth is, when I got pregnant, I used it as an excuse to eat like a pig overeat. And I kept it up after she was born, believing that nursing would “melt it off”. Well I nursed for a year. And then when I was done, my diet didn’t change. A huge huge amount of take out and conveniece foods made up my diet, mainly because I hate cooking and grocery shopping. I also made more excuses than hair on my head about why I couldn’t exercise.

Well, the times they are ‘a changin.I’ve been dieting for about a week now, and have an appointment with a personal trainer at my freshly joined gym tonight. I have a decent amount of weight to lose, so I expect to be hungry for a year or so. God, Denis Leary was right. Life IS gonna suck when you grow up.

I don’t plan on blogging my progress (even good) because it’s a little embarrassing to me for people to focus on my weight. I’m doing this because:

• I’m not happy with how I look
• I want to get pregnant sometime in the near future, and this extra weight will not help.
• My father was diagnosed with diabetes at 33. I need to do something about my lifestyle or I’ll be next.
• I want to teach my daughter to respect her body, through example.

Second, I’m trying to be more careful about how we spend our money. I sort of want to switch places with the food situation. When it comes to food, I want more calories going OUT than in. With money I want just the opposite. I want the excess money to collect around my bank account’s love handles. We have some debt that we are semi-agressively paying, and hope to own a house in a year or two. And maybe, just maybe a fucking retirement account.

Third, I’m sort of going back to school. I’m studying for a certification exam in my field. Not sure when, because I haven’t exactly, ahem, registered for the test yet. But once I pass, things will be MUCH more secure career-wise. UPDATE: Instead of, I don’t know, WORKING, I registered for all 3 parts of my infernal exam. I’m not telling when in case I fail (because I probably will!)

Fourth, I’m trying to keep up with the housework.

Fifth, can I get a fuck that on #4?

WWJD?

My my my. They are censoring Kathy Griffin.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue had this to say about the news:

“The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences reacted responsibly to our criticism of Kathy Griffin’s verbal assault on 85 percent of the U.S. population. The ball is now in Griffin’s court. The self-described ‘complete militant atheist’ needs to make a swift and unequivocal apology to Christians. If she does, she will get this issue behind her. If she does not, she will be remembered as a foul-mouthed bigot for the rest of her life.”

I don’t agree. I am a Christian, and while I don’t necessarily agree with what she said (also, it was a JOKE), I don’t feel I need an apology. He is way off base. It is fine that he and the people he represents were offended. But if they are allowed to voice his opinion (and I believe he should be), I just don’t see why she can’t voice hers. I’m disappointed that E! is kowtowing to pressure from people like this.

I believe that even Jesus would let her say what she wants.

I will remember you

(Last year, I wrote about my experience on September 11, 2001. It’s here, if you’re interested)

There seems to be a different tone to the sixth anniversary. It’s almost a “get over it” kind of mood. I’m all for moving on, because God knows, the fall of 2001 was pretty black for me, but I can never get over it. I will never forget what it means that 3000 people are gone.

I will remember you.

The firefighters, the police, the office workers, the janitors, the messengers, the executives, the moms, dads, daughters, sons, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and neighbors. The nieces, nephews, sisters and brothers. Your lives meant something. To your families. To America. To me.

And to the volunteers who worked non-stop. Who gave their time, their effort, and now even their health. Who wept for all of the lives lost. I will remember you.

And to those who lost. I grieve with you. I will remember you.

Always.

Amy Grant

So many years come and gone
And yet the memory is strong
One word we never could learn
Good-bye
True love is frozen in time
Ill be your champion and youll be mine
I will remember you
So please remember
I will remember you
I will remember you
I will remember you
I will remember you.