for all of the OCD bloggers out there...

I found a great website that has printable forms that you can use to help you get organized for Christmas. You can print forms, dividers, etc. and make your own notebook/planner...just in time for the holidays!

This might be one of my favorite things I've ever found...I love "To Do Lists".

Enjoy!

if you're a taylor swift fan, you will probably want to stop reading now...

Taylor Swift - Entertainer of the Year? Really?

I watched the CMA's last night and I was stunned not to mention disgusted, when they announced Entertainer of the Year. You have got to be kidding me! Taylor Swift shouldn't have even been nominated for this award, much less win!! Am I the only person in the world that realizes that she cannot sing?

And shouldn't she have at least headlined her own tour to be able to be nominated for this category?

Happy Halloween!

It has been way too long since I've been on here, but I just haven't really had anything interesting to tell and we've been going out of town a good bit on the weekends...lame excuse I know, but it's true! I'm going to be catching up on everyone's blogs this weekend I promise....other than going to a friend's house tonight for a little get together, I plan on having a nice lazy, relaxing weekend.

I'm sure I've told you all this before, but I suck at shopping....especially for special occasions! We have a wedding to go to next Saturday at 4:00pm and I'm not sure what is appropriate (we live in the South).....anyone have any ideas?

I hope you all have a Happy Halloween and get lots of treats!

what would Emily Post say?

Can someone tell me when it became acceptable to post a picture of your baby the second it has come out of you?

I am not even kidding.

I logged into Facebook the other day and one of my "friends" (maybe not much longer, I might be deleting her) had posted, as her status update, a picture of her baby right after it had been born. And I do mean right after. The baby had not been cleaned off and you could even see the mother's legs in the picture....propped up in the stirrups.

Disgusting.

never give up hope....

I just read this story that I saw on the Yahoo! home page:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_kidnapped_girl_found

I cried when I read the part about the stepfather....so sad!

How crazy is this? I hope more information comes out, because I wonder if they have held her captive even as an adult and if not, why didn't she come forward sooner? It almost sounded like she wouldn't have even come forward now if her kidnapper had not been called in on something else.

My heart goes out to her parents and the parents of anyone who have lost a child...no matter how they lost their child. I just can't even imagine.

I almost can't wait until next week......

We're going on vacation to the beach next week, which I'm very excited about! All day, every day, I'm going to sit my butt on the beach drinking fruity drinks and reading a good book and each night go somewhere to eat wonderful seafood!

Why does the title of this post say "almost"? I won't bore you with all of the details, but something has already transpired that makes me think the boyfriend's family is going to try their best to screw this vacation up for us, because God forbid we try to take a vacation for a few days and it somehow not be all about them.

I'm going to think positive and hope for the best and hopefully we will have a wonderful vacation!

well said.....

Until yesterday, I had never heard of a "push present" before. Am I the only one?

I'm not going to say a whole lot about my opinion, because I could go on and on and on about how I think this is tacky and I'm not really in the mood for a bunch of hate mail....haha. Let me be clear though....I think it's tacky to demand, expect, ask for, etc a "push present". If your husband wants to get you a present for having the baby without you having suggested it, that's great! But I don't think anyone should ask for a present for any occasion. If someone wants to get you a gift for something, then they will do so.

Anywho, I think Atlanta Bride says it better than I could anyway in this post. If you read the post, make sure you read all of the comments....they're quite amusing (to me anyway, but it doesn't take much to amuse me).

What are your thoughts on a "push present"?

get. a. babysitter. (or stay home)

why is it that every time my boyfriend and I go out to eat we always are seated beside the table with the snot nosed brats from hell screaming kids? I'm not exaggerating...I cannot remember the last time we went out to eat and were not seated beside a table that had one or more children who were spoiled brats and their parents did nothing to make them behave.

This past weekend this happened and the table beside us had a child that appeared to be less than a year old and he screamed at the top of his lungs the entire time.

Is it rude to ask to be seated at a different table (if there is another table available) when something like this happens? I think it's rude to continue sitting there while your child is crying or screaming, but that's just me. Furthermore, if I had children and I wanted to go to a nice restaurant, I would either get a babysitter, stay at home or take the kids to McDonald's for a happy meal.....the parents of these screaming kids can't be enjoying their meal anymore than I am with the way their kids are acting.

Most restaurants (depending on the state you live in) have smoking and non-smoking sections. Why can't we have children and no children sections? Seriously. Not only is it not fair to people that don't have or don't want children, but what if my boyfriend and I did have children, but decided to get a babysitter and go have a nice, quiet dinner together and then get to the restaurant only to be seated beside people that don't have the common sense to leave the kids at home with a babysitter or go to a restaurant that is more kid friendly?

stupid people

There are way too many people in this world that are not smart enough to ever leave their house. Ever.

I have come in contact with each and every one of them today.

Seriously.....I've reached my quota for dealing with stupid people for the year in one day.

why do some women think having a man is the most important thing in the world?

My sister is one of those women that HAS to have a man, and all you ever hear out of her when she isn't dating anyone is how long it's been since she's had a date. (Even if it's only been a couple of weeks). We are exact opposites when it comes to this mentality. Before the boyfriend I have now, it was two years since I dated anyone seriously.....and that was by choice. I guess that's why I don't understand this mentality. If I've dated someone for awhile and we break up, I just don't have any desire to jump right back into a relationship.

My sister has had several failed relationships and three failed marriages. Most of the guys she dates are losers and are just using her for one thing or another. You'd think she learn her lesson, but no, she just keeps going back for more. The guy she's currently dating has two small children that he has full custody of, and it's pretty evident (to everyone but her) that he's just looking for someone to take care of his kids for him.

It does no good to try to talk to her though, since having a man is more important to her than anything else, of course she doesn't listen. So I just keep my mouth shut and try to be there for her when it all falls apart.

Do any of you know any women like this?

you've got to be kidding me....

I love my job, I really do. And I'm very grateful to have my job back after being unemployed. That being said, no job is perfect. I'm always busy from the time I get there until the time I leave, there is NO down time (since the cutbacks, I'm actually doing about three full time jobs, not that I'm complaining).

I have never been one of those "that's not my job" people. I'll do whatever I can to help out and I always do what I'm asked without question. I also expect other people to do the same, and I also expect people with power not to abuse that power (I know, that's a lot to expect).

One of many bosses today (doing several jobs comes with several bosses) called my extension to ask me to bring him a document. It's not like this document was even in my office. It was in the copy room where the files are kept. In the file. After he asked me to bring him the document, this is how the conversation went:

Me: Okaaaaay.

Him: Do you know what I'm talking about?

Me: Yes, I know what you're talking about. In my head: Yes you idiot, I know exactly what you're talking about, I'm trying to figure out why you are calling me to go get it instead of getting your lazy ass up and getting it yourself.

Him: Okay.

Me: Okay, I'll go get it.

Seriously?

home grown tomatoes

I love, love, love tomatoes, especially "home grown" tomatoes. The past couple of years I have tried growing my own tomatoes from seeds with no luck. When I first planted the seeds, the plants grew, but once they got to a certain point they just died. So this year, I decided I would buy a couple of tomato plants and plant them.

They have done really well so far and I just went outside to water them and guess what? I have my first tomatoes!!!! They're not fully grown or ripe or anything like that....they're tiny green tomatoes, but that's more than I can say for the tomatoes I've tried to grow in the past.

I'm getting old.......how sad is it that something like a tomato plant gets me this excited?

i'm thankful for my job

Over the past few months, several of you have either been laid off, or have had (or still have) a fear of being laid off. I was one of the fortunate ones and was called back to my job within two months of being laid off and that has made me more thankful for my job than I ever was before.

Now I'm not saying I'm perfect and don't still occasionally bitch complain when I've had a really bad day, but I don't ever complain to co-workers.

That is all one of my co-workers does is constantly whine about work that her boss gives her to do. I'm not exaggerating; no task is too big or too small for her to bitch about. It's gotten so bad that I do everything I can to avoid her. I may be wrong, but isn't that why we're there, to work? The funny thing is, the same thing happened to her that happened to me about a year ago. She was laid off, and then called back about 3 -4 months later (she wasn't out of work that entire time, she found another job about a week after she was laid off, but she hated that job, so she came back when she was called back).

Like I said, I'm not perfect and yes I do have days where I would like to scream or hit someone, but I always remind myself that it could be worse and I could still be out of work.

MIA

Sorry I've been MIA lately. Work has been crazy, I was sick with the stomach flu for almost a week, and this week I've been in training classes.

Hopefully things will calm down very soon.

And now I'm off to catch up on all of your blogs!

i'm speechless

As I said in yesterday's post, I read A LOT. I also read pretty fast, especially when I get my hands on a really good book that I can't put down.

This book was one of those books, I was hooked from the very beginning. I just finished it. I absolutely cannot. believe. the. way. it. ended. I am so mad right now, I seriously wish I knew the author so I could yell at her.

What's even worse is that I love when I find a new author that I really like and can't wait to read other books they may have written or can't wait until they come out with a new book. I will NOT be reading any of this author's other books....old or new.

amazon.com

I started selling my books on Amazon a few months ago (I'm always reading something, so I figured I might as well at least sell the books I've read, to make money for the books I want to buy) and I've probably sold about 12 books and not one person has left feedback.

I always leave feedback when I buy from someone on Amazon, because I know that helps them sell their books.....I always check the seller's rating/feedback and I figure other people probably do too.

Do any of you buy or sell books on Amazon?

my boyfriend must be feeling suicidal.....

he gave his sister my cell phone number. She called him last night and this is the conversation we had when he got off the phone:

Me: Why did you give your sister my phone number?

Boyfriend: She said she wanted to call you tomorrow and ask you something.

Me: Why didn't you just tell her to ask me while she was on the phone with you just now, you know how I feel about her having my phone number. (I don't want any of his family to have my phone number because when they call him and he doesn't answer, instead of leaving a message and waiting for him to call them back like normal people, they keep calling him until he answers the phone....I don't want them to start calling my phone when they call his and he doesn't answer.)

Boyfriend: I don't know, she just said she'd call you tomorrow and ask you.

Me: In the future, please don't give my phone number out without my permission. If she starts calling me every time she calls you and you don't answer, I'm changing my phone number and I'm not giving you the new digits.

Yes, I am aware that I am a total bitch not very nice when it comes to his family.

crazy co-workers

Whitney wrote this post and I thought it was hysterical. I've worked with these types of people before, but luckily haven't had to endure one in awhile.....until now.

We had a new employee start about a week ago and the first couple of days she seemed pretty normal and then it all went downhill from there. She's not as bad as Whitney's co-worker, but she's still pretty annoying.

She's one of those "everything is all about me, and if it isn't, then I will make it all about me" people. The other day a friend of mine at work was in my office and we were having a conversation and the new woman was walking by my office and just came in and interrupted my friend mid-sentence to tell us a story about her.....I wasn't interested in hearing her story and I'm still not sure why she thought I might have been.

She's also not too bright. She came in my office another time and asked me where she could find a pencil sharpener. After I told her where it was (anyone in our office that even uses pencils, uses mechanical pencils, so we only have one electric sharpener and it stays in one central location for everyone to use) I found out that she went and asked another co-worker the exact same question.....the funny thing about that was, that the other person she asked gave her the exact same answer that I did. And I think she went and asked the other co-worker BEFORE she even went and looked to see if it was where I told her it was. Did she think I was lying to her?

The sad thing is she's only been there about a week and she's already showing signs of being someone that nobody wants to work with......I can only imagine what she's going to be like after a few months!

5:00pm tomorrow can not get here soon enough!!!!

We are leaving for the beach as soon as we get off of work tomorrow and I could not be more excited! We're going with my friend (her 40th birthday is actually the reason for the trip), her husband and one other couple.

There was another couple that was supposed to go, but they backed out at the last minute, like they always do. Actually, they didn't even tell us they weren't going at the last minute...the friend that's turning 40 had to call, email and text them several times to find out if they were still going before she got a reply.

Anywho, we're going to have a great time, no matter who goes or doesn't go. I can't wait to do nothing but sit on the beach for two days and eat some wonderful seafood!

Have a great weekend!

is it just me.....

or does anyone else seem to have unpleasant experiences when they get a pedicure? And it's not just one particular place where I have had a bad experience before....it's been two or three different ones.

I realize that for $18 at one of those chain nail places, I'm not going to have a wonderful spa experience, but there are a few things that should not be unreasonable to expect. Such as:

1. I would prefer a girl over the age of 15 or 16 (she might have even been 14, she looked pretty young) that is more concerned with giving me a pedicure than strutting around in high heels trying to look cute.

2. Please look at my feet when you are using sharp objects on them, instead of paying attention to what the group of girls at the front of the salon are doing/saying.

3. If I wanted nail polish on my skin instead of my nails, then I would paint my toenails myself.

4. The price of the pedicure includes a foot massage. Your tip is also based on whether you do a good a job on the foot massage and how long you do the massage.....skipping over my favorite part of the pedicure or only massaging each foot for about two seconds isn't going to get you a very good tip.

I probably just need to start going to a real spa to get a pedicure. I realize it costs more money, but I have a feeling it would be money well spent.

I would love to have this beach towel.....

for my beach trip next weekend. I think I might buy one if I don't win it.....

To find out what I'm talking about click on over to Mrs. Newlywed's blog for her beach towel giveaway!

could someone please explain to me.....

why the judges on American Idol would save Matt, but wouldn't save Scott last week? I don't have anything against Matt, but he's not a better singer than Scott. Simon told Matt that he doesn't have a chance of winning this competition.....then why would Simon save him? I just don't get their logic.

I am glad that they did go ahead and use the save though, so now they won't be able to use it on Lil or Anoop. And I still don't understand why either one of them have not been kicked off yet....they are terrible.

I don't guess any of this really matters though, because I will really, really be shocked if Adam doesn't win this thing. He really does have amazing talent.

I'm back.....

not that you knew I was gone. Our internet has been down for the past two days, and I don't have any down time at work to get on the internet and play, so I haven't been able to read any of your blogs.

The problem with our internet has now been fixed, so I'm going to start catching up now!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all are having a wonderful Easter Sunday!

I'm exhausted, but we had a great weekend spending time with my family. Friday night we took my sister out to eat and spent the night with her. Yesterday, we had a big lunch with all of the extended family at my Mom and Dad's, and did an easter egg hunt for all of the kids afterwards.

We always do a prize egg with money, and the amount just depends on the amount that everyone with kids donates. My Dad loves to play pranks, and he told all of the kids that the prize egg had $300 in it (it was a plastic egg) and these are all young kids, so of course they believed him.

My uncle hid the prize egg, and evidently hid it very well. Those kids looked for that egg for almost an hour with no luck, so my uncle told them to look in a certain area for it. Those kids looked in the area he told them, were out there digging for it, and even some of the adults that didn't know where it had been hidden, were out there helping them look for it to no avail. After awhile, one of my aunts decided to go out there and help them, and walked right to it where it was and found it. Where she found it was not where my uncle had put it though. Evidently, when all of the kids were digging for it, they were throwing stuff around that was in their way, and had flung it out of the area where my uncle had told them it was.

The best part though was the look on all of their faces when they realized that they had been lied to and the egg only had about $50 instead of $300 after they had exhausted themselves trying to find that egg!

good thing i'm not really a burglar.....

My boss and her family are out of town and they dropped their dog off at the vet on Friday, because she had cut her paw. They're not coming home until tomorrow, so my boss asked me if I would get their dog and take her home today. I picked her up from the vet this afternoon, took her home, and went inside to leave the medicine on the counter. My boss forgot to mention that the alarm was set and I had forgotten the code (she had given it to me a long time ago when I house sat for them). I called my boss, she didn't answer, so I called her husband, but by the time I got him and got the code, of course the police were already on there way.

The cop gets there and I tell her what happened and all she did was ask me for my name. I offered to show her my drivers license and asked if she needed me to call my boss or her husband so she could call and verify my story, and she said that no, she just needed my name for her report. While I'm very thankful that she didn't want to arrest me, I guess she didn't realize that I could have just given her a fake name.

when the boyfriend is away......

the girlfriend and her girls will play! I didn't rent Marley & Me Tuesday night when it came out, because I had to watch American Idol that night and last night. By the way, could someone please tell me why in the world Anoop has not been kicked off yet? Since my boyfriend has to go out of town tonight, I'm going to order pizza, rent Marley & Me, and snuggle up on the sofa with my girls to watch it.

The only thing that would make this even better, is if it was Friday night instead of Thursday night and I got to sleep late tomorrow.

marley & me

I need this adorable puppy to curl up on the sofa with me and my other two labs...I'm sure my boyfriend does not feel the same way. Actually, my two girls probably wouldn't be too crazy about that either, since that would take some of the attention away from them.

I never did go see Marley & Me at the movie theater. It's coming out on DVD this Tuesday and I can't wait to see it. Even though I know it has a sad ending and I'm going to be crying my eyes out, it still looks like a good movie (other than the sad part) and I'm really excited about seeing it. I thought about just going ahead and buying it instead of renting it, but I doubt it's going to be a movie that I can handle watching more than once.....we'll see.

raindrops keep falling on my head

Does anyone else remember that song from when they were little? No, just me?

We needed the rain, and boy did we get it..........it's been raining since Wednesday. From what I've heard, this is supposed to be the last day of it, so hopefully tomorrow will be a pretty day and we'll get to cook out tomorrow.

I love rainy days and being lazy and not leaving the house all day, but I may have to venture out in it today, because I really need to go to the grocery store.

I don't know why I haven't already purchased some, but I really need to get some rain boots. They would have come in real handy this week! I think these are cute, but of course they don't have any left in my size:

I hope everyone is having a great weekend...rain or no rain!

all work, no blog

Since I've been back at work I haven't had much time to blog, but I wanted to let all of you know that even though I haven't been doing much commenting, I am reading all of your blogs.

Also, my personal life has been pretty boring since I've gone back to work, so I haven't really had any good stories to blog about. My daily routine has pretty much been going to work, reading blogs when I get home, cook dinner, and go to bed. Hopefully things will calm down a little bit soon and I'll have more time to blog.

We have planned a trip to the beach with two other couples in April and I am very excited about that! I'm pretty sure I have mentioned before that if I ever hit the lottery that I will move to the beach. We have access to a family condo at the beach, but we don't get to take advantage of it, because of the boyfriend's mother. She is retired, so she stays at the condo more than she stays at home. Not that I can blame her. If I had that opportunity, I would do the same thing.

I hate shopping

I get so frustrated when I go shopping. I either can't find anything I like or if I do find anything I like, I can't find it in the right size or it costs more than I'm willing to pay.

Part of the problem is that I don't do trends. I'm just not a trendy person, I can't pull it off. I just like a nice classic, put together look.

I went shopping all day last Saturday and the only thing I found was the one thing I didn't need...jeans. I guess I'll try to do some online shopping this weekend. That usually ends up frustrating me too, because I can't try the clothes on to see how they look/fit.

I hope all of you are having a great weekend!

work has been crazy.......

It's been tough getting back into the swing of things after being out of work for almost two months. Not that I'm complaining! It feels good to be a productive member of society again.

I've got lots of blog reading to catch up on. I hope you all had a great Hump Day!

celebrate good times, come on!

The company that I am going back to work for is a family owned company, owned by a father and his two daughters. For the past year he has been turning everything over to the daughters so he can retire. He still gives them his two cents, but lets them make all final decisions. When Daughter #1 told him that they fired the other girl for not doing her job and they were going to bring me back, he looked at her and said, "Which is exactly what I told you to do to begin with." I thought that was funny and it made me feel good.

The boyfriend and I are going to dinner at our favorite restaurant tonight with another couple to celebrate me getting my job back. I plan to have several a few drinks. I hope all of you have a great weekend!

kreativ blogger

I would like to thank The Tale of a Southern Belle for this lovely Kreativ Blogger Award!

As an award recipient, I am asked to do the following: List 7 things that you love, and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you love! Be sure to tag them and let them know that they have won. You can copy the picture of the award and paste it on your sideboard letting the whole world know...you are Kreativ!

1. I love that I am no longer unemployed!

2. I love my boyfriend.

3. I love my sweet, sweet girls (my dogs).

4. I love peanut butter pie.

5. I love the beach and one day when I'm rich that's where I'm going to live.

6. I love my family and friends. I know this one is a given, but I wanted to say it anyway, because they really have been there for me these past couple of months after I got laid off, and kept me from losing my mind!

7. I love reading everyone's blogs. Seriously, reading all of your blogs is something else that has kept me sane while being unemployed!

I love everyone's blog that I read, but here are the 7 bloggers that I tag for the award:

1. That Girl
2. Puttin' on the G.R.I.T.S.
3. One Xanax at a Time
4. Ramblings of a 30 Something Year Old Carolina Girl
5. She Just Had To Say It
6. Vanity's Fair
7. Under the Sheets-Shhh

I'm back in the game

I got a call yesterday from my former boss. The one that laid me off. Another employee was fired for not doing her job. It was not the first time she had been reprimanded for not doing her job, it was the final straw. What kind of idiot sits back and watches several people lose their jobs due to lack of work and then repeatedly screws up? On purpose.

Her stupidity is my good fortune. I'm getting my job back. Actually it will be a combination of my old job and her job. I'm meeting with my former boss today to go over everything and then I will start back to work on Monday.

I never thought I would say this, but thank God for idiots!

my boyfriend has lost his mind

Evidently my boyfriend has learned nothing in the 3+ years we have been dating. I do not like to be without my car. I will procrastinate forever about putting my car in the shop because of this. He has to put his truck in the shop for a few days because of a fender bender he had a couple of weeks ago. He just called me and this is the conversation we had:

Him: What do you think about me taking your car to work for the next few days while my truck is in the shop.

Me: That won't work for me, but I'll be happy to take you to work every morning and pick you up at night.

Him: That's just ridiculous. You're not even working right now.

Me: Yes, I'm aware that I don't have a job right now. Thank you for reminding me. I still need my car in case I need to go somewhere.

Him: Where would you need to go?

Me: Hopefully to an interview. This morning I had to go to the store to get tampons, I did not have even one tampon left. I would have been in quite the pickle had I not been able to get to the store to get tampons.

Him: My Mom can come get you if you need to go somewhere.

In my head: I'm not getting in a car with that crazy bitch his Mom.

Me: If there was an emergency, I wouldn't have time to wait for your Mom to come get me. Why don't you take her car to work?

Him: She may be leaving to go out of town tomorrow.

Me: Then how in the hell is she going to come get me if I need to go somewhere?

Him: I'll see you when I get home tonight. What's for dinner?

Dumb Ass.

fabulous!

I've been given this Fabulous Award by the Fabulous Kelley at The Lawrences.

I don't know if there are any rules to this award, but Kelley tagged two people, so I'm going to tag two new blogs (they're new to me anyway) that I just found that I think are fabulous:

Michelle at Live, Laugh, Love & Learn. She was actually around before, deleted her blog, and then came back. I just recently found her again.

Random Ramblings is another blog I recently found through another blog (I don't remember which one).

I think every single blog I follow is fabulous, but I know most or all of you have already received this award (of course you have, because you are so fabulous), so that's why I decided to to pass it on to the "newbies".

save money AND help a good cause

Go read this post by Whitney at That Girl to find out how you can save 30% at Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic AND help out a good cause while saving all that money!

confessions of a shopaholic

Has anyone seen Confessions of a Shopaholic yet? If so, did you like it? I was just wondering if I should go ahead and see it at the theatre or wait for it to come out on DVD.

vince vaughn is cheating on me

Vince Vaughn is engaged.

I guess he missed the memo that he was supposed to be my future ex-husband. I was willing to give him up for Jennifer Aniston, but not this girl. I don't know this girl, but I don't think she's good enough for him.

friends (part two)

I have some friends that live in another state, we'll call them couple #1 (original, I know). The wife of couple #1 has been one of my best friends for over ten years. I was with her when she met her husband and I was maid of honor in their wedding.

We all have mutual friends, we'll call them couple #2 and couple #3. Couple #2 and #3 both live in the same state (not the same state that I live in, nor the same state where couple #1 lives). Couple #1 are better friends with #2 and #3 than I am, but we're all friends. Couple #1, #2 and #3 all have children.

Okay, now that I've given you all of the background info, I can move on to the actual story.

We all get together from time to time and we've always all had fun together. So I find out via Facebook last week (junior high schoolish, I know) that couple #1 has invited couple #2 and #3 to their house for a weekend get together. My boyfriend and I were not invited. I know it's petty, but my feelings are kind of hurt by this. I think it's because they all have children and we don't. Which I don't understand, because we have all gotten together for a weekend before, all of their children were there, and I didn't have a problem with that. I don't have a problem with other people's children as long as they are not spoiled little brats well behaved and I don't have to take care of them.

I know I'm being petty and I shouldn't let it bother me, but I really do consider the wife of couple #1 to be one of my best friends, and I already hate that we live so far apart and don't get to see each other as often as I would like. I know there isn't really anything I can do about the situation, it is what it is. I just wanted to get that off my chest.

Moving on......I think we're going to do a whole lot of nothing this weekend since we were so busy last weekend. I hope you all of a wonderful weekend!

KAG Giveaway

KAG at Monograms and Martinis in Manhattan is having a giveaway. One lucky winner will receive a Carrie Dunham camera case. Good luck to everyone that enters!

i'm an idiot

I missed American Idol last week so I was confused when I watched it Tuesday night. I thought all of the contestants I saw Tuesday night were the final contestants. I, of course, realized my mistake when I watched it last night. My opinion of the contestants in the previous post is still the same, but I was glad to realize that there are still a couple of them that are still in the contest that I thought had been booted off.

All I have to say about the whole "wild card" thing is this.....Tatiana? Are you effing kidding me? Why? Why would they do this to me? I did my happy dance when she got booted off and now they're bringing her back? This is just wrong.

american what?

I remember now why I stopped watching American Idol so many years ago. Out of twelve people, there are two, maybe three people left that can actually sing. The sad thing is that they had twelve people that could really sing, before they got rid of them and kept the ones that, in my opinion, suck are just not that talented.

Von Smith makes my skin crawl.

Nathaniel Marshall just does not have a great voice.

Alex Wagner-Trugman shouldn't have made it past Hollywood Week, if that far.

Jorge Nunez has a pretty good voice, but I just don't see him as an "Idol".

Taylor Vaifanua is mediocre at best.

I hope that the last two standing will be Scott MacIntyre and Felicia Barton. I really do like both of them, but honestly, if a few of the other contestants that have already been kicked off were still there, then Scott and Felicia probably wouldn't be my top picks.

Who do you think should win?

late weekend review

It was such a busy weekend that I didn't even turn my computer on Saturday or Sunday. Actually, Sunday wasn't that busy, I was just lazy enjoying the snow. I'm finally caught up on reading all of my blogs!

Friday night we went to another couple's house for dinner and I ended up getting drunk drinking several a few glasses of wine. We played card games after dinner, the boys against the girls, and of course the girls won!

I woke up with a raging hangover slight headache on Saturday morning, but I pushed my way through it, because I had lots to do. I ran errands Saturday morning, spent Saturday afternoon going with a friend of mine to pick up some things for our dinner that night. Saturday night we also went to another couple's house (different couple....for some reason we were quite popular this weekend) for dinner. We had a great time, but I was so glad to get home and get in the bed since I was still feeling the effects from Friday night.

Sunday was spent enjoying the snow and still recovering from Friday night. I'm not as young as I used to be, it takes me longer to recover from too much a little drinking these days!

my new hair

This is my new hair color. I have been a blond since I was about 14 years old (my natural hair color is about the same as the color on the box). Since I'm unemployed, one of the expenses I've cut out of my budget is getting my hair highlighted.

About a couple of weeks ago I bought one of those do it yourself highlighting kits, but I couldn't work up the nerve to use it, because I was really scared I would turn my hair orange. So this weekend I decided to just color my hair back to it's natural color. I figured if I hated it, then I'd wait a couple of weeks and then go ahead and try the highlighting kit.

I'm actually really liking the new color. I never really liked my natural color, because even though it's pretty close to the color I used, it's more of a dull brown, but now it's a nice shiny brown with just a hint of auburn. I'm thinking that I like it so much, I probably won't go back to getting my hair highlighted when I start working again. If I do, it will probably be just to add a few more auburn highlights to it. Too bad I didn't figure out a long time ago that this color suits me better than blond. I could have saved a lot of money.

winter wonderland

Did anyone else get "thunder snow" yesterday? That was the first time I had ever experienced thunder and lightning while it was snowing. It was pretty cool. We got about three to four inches of snow and it was gorgeous!

I wish you all could have seen my boyfriend sliding down a hill in the snow on a garbage bag. We didn't have anything else, such as a big piece of cardboard, and we definitely don't own a sled since we live in the south and rarely even get snow. It was hysterical watching him act like a little kid (and busting his ass).

friends (part one)

Maybe I've got PMS, maybe I'm just being petty, but my friends have been rubbing me the wrong way this week.

One of my friends invited me to lunch yesterday and I gladly accepted. When we met at the restaurant, she got out of her car and was on the phone. No big deal. I assumed (wrongly) that she would tell whoever it was that she had just gotten to the restaurant for lunch to meet someone and that she would call them back. Instead, she continued the conversation upon entering the restaurant, while we were being seated, AND several minutes after we had been seated. That is just rude. For the record, I would also like to state that it was a personal call and not business.

I realize that I'm unemployed right now and don't have to go back to work after lunch, but that doesn't mean that I want to sit there and listen to someone talk on the phone for 15 minutes.

A little courtesy please, that's all I ask.

what reaction?

So I see this headline on the Yahoo! home page "Jolie reacts to Aniston" and I click on it to find out what happened. You can click here for the entire article. This is the only part I could find in the entire article regarding Jolie and Aniston:

"I have never, ever heard as big a gasp in the press room as when the TV telecast cut to a reaction shot of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt during Jennifer Aniston's presenting gig. At first, I thought Aniston fell out of her dress. Or Jack Black fell into it."

That's it? Where is the rest of the story? What exactly was the reaction? And why is the press still talking about the Jolie, Pitt, Aniston triangle anyway? It's over. It's been over for quite some time now. Personally, I think Jennifer's better off without Brad anyway. Not that I think she's better off with John Mayer, but I digress. Let it go people, just let. it. go.

weekend review

I had a blast at the Mardi Gras party I went to Saturday night. The party was at a friend's mother's house, so there were several older people there, and I figured it would be kind of boring and that I'd probably be home by 9:00pm, 10:00pm at the latest. I ended up having more fun than I've had at parties with people my own age and didn't get home until after midnight.

The boyfriend was not as lucky as I. The circus that he and his family went to was located 45 minutes from where we live. The circus itself only lasted two hours. It took them nine hours to get up there, see the circus, and get home. There was road work on the interstate (only one lane open a good portion of the way up there and back), traffic was horrible because the circus wasn't the only event in the area. They barely made it up there in time for the start of the circus and they left three hours before it started.

I also found out that even though the boyfriend told his sister both times she asked, that I would not be going to the circus with them, she and her mother wasted their money went ahead and bought me a ticket just in case I changed my mind. Evidently they don't know me very well. If I tell you I will do something, then I will do it. If I tell you I'm not going to do something, it would be a waste of your time and energy (and money in this case) to try to talk me into it. When my mind is made up, it's made up.

Yesterday was another beautiful day and me and the girls had a great time playing outside again while the boyfriend raked the leaves. The day went by so fast, before I knew it, it was dinner time. I made taco salad, which we ate while watching the race. Yes, I like NASCAR.....but I'll save that story for another post.

what a gorgeous day!

Me and the girls (my dogs) have been playing outside all morning. So I think we're going to be lazy and have a little girl time this afternoon, maybe watch a "chick flick" and then I'm going to a Mardi Gras party tonight.

The boyfriend just left for the circus. He tried to make me jealous that he was going and I was not by telling me about all the funnel cakes he is going to eat (I love funnel cakes). His mom is making them leave extra early so they can get there a couple of hours before the circus starts so they can have time to walk around. What?! There are no words to describe how happy I am that I did not agree to go with them. Especially since I would not have been given that little detail when I was asked to go. No, they just told him that this morning. There are not enough funnel cakes in this world to make me sad that I am not going on this trip to hell little adventure with him.

coming out of the closet...........

The blog closet that is. Maybe. I haven't made up my mind yet.

I've been thinking that I haven't been posting much about the boyfriend's family anyway and I could just go back and delete the posts that I have written about them in the past.

Speaking of the boyfriend's family, I might as well tell you this story while I'm still undercover, in case I do decide to come out of the closet......

If you've been reading my blog for awhile then you know that I don't want any kids. Ever. I don't mind being around other people's kids, as long as they are well behaved, but they are usually not. Especially the boyfriend's niece. She might be one of the worst spoiled brats I've ever been around.

So, knowing how I feel about children, this is a conversation my boyfriend and I had a couple of weeks ago:

Him: The Sister just called and wants to know if we want to go to the circus with them the weekend after Valentine's Day.

Me: (After I stop laughing) ummmmmmm, let's see, a huge event with about a trillion small kids running around? No, but thanks for asking.

Him: Well we'd be going for them not all those other kids.

Me: Yeah, I'm going to have to pass on that. But you have a good time.

I do feel sorry for him though. He's not fond of children either, and I just don't think he realizes what he's getting himself into.

let's go to the bahamas!

Who needs a trip to the Bahamas? I do, I do!!! The Tale of a Southern Belle is having the giveaway of all giveaways!!

You probably shouldn't enter though because the less people that enter, means the greater my chances are for winning!

valentine's day weekend

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! We actually celebrated Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday night, we went to dinner with another couple, but didn't go to the restaurant where we had originally planned on going. Our favorite restaurant doesn't take reservations, so we figured we'd just go early to avoid the crowd. Evidently everyone else had the same idea. We got there at 6:00pm and there were more people there than I have ever seen before! It was crazy. We ended up going to another restaurant that is actually owned by the same people that own the first restaurant we went to. We only had to wait about 15 minutes to get in and the food was delicious!

Since my boyfriend took me out to dinner Saturday night (and because he deserves it), Sunday was all about him. I made him french toast for breakfast, chicken fettucini for dinner (his favorite) and peanut butter kiss cookies for dessert.

The only thing that would have made it better is if he hadn't had to go to work today....but I guess one of us has to!

one more giveaway before Valentine's Day.....

Bama Belle In The Big City is having her first giveaway. Everyone needs a little pampering, so get over there and enter!

week three.....

of being a Stay at Home Girlfriend is starting to get on my nerves. At least now I know that if by some miracle I do hit the lottery one day, I'm still going to have to work at least part time. I'm going stir crazy.

I've sent out several resumes, but no calls yet. School doesn't start until April and if I don't find something to do before then, I will probably have to be admitted to a mental hospital or a fat farm. I won't even say how many cookies I have eaten today.

I'm not going to let this get me down. I have faith and I still believe there is something bigger and better in my future.....I just hope it's in my near future for my sanity's sake.

he's just NOT that into you

I saw "He's Just Not That Into You" Saturday afternoon with a good friend of mine. We had a good time just because we went and did something together, just the two of us, without the "boys". It was a cute movie, but I think it's one I could have waited for to come out on DVD.

Please don't let this stop you from going to see it. I'm not a big movie theater fan. It has to be one of the best movies I've ever seen for me to say it was worth going to see it at a movie theater. I'm just lazy and would rather watch a movie in my jammies on the sofa rather than pay ridiculous prices for tickets and snacks.

If you're wondering what kind of movie it takes for me to say it was worth a trip to the movies.....Sex and the City was worth it for me. Of course that could be because I went to see it with a group of friends and we went out before the movie and got drunk had a few drinks.

wedding invitation from pissed off mother-in-law to be

I just got this in an email and thought it was funny and that I would share it.

brownie mixes

If you have any trouble finding brownie mixes for the Brownie Delight recipe, these are the ones that I use. As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I'd love to hear back from you on whether or not you enjoyed them.

brownie delight

From reading your blogs, I know a lot of you are trying to lose weight, so I thought I'd share one of my recipes that I used to make all the time. I got it from a friend of mine that used to do Weight Watchers. It's really good, even if you're not trying to lose weight. You can't even tell that it's fat free/reduced fat.....I promise!

Brownie Delight

Ingredients:

1 box of fat free or reduced fat brownie mix

1 box of fat free chocolate pudding mix

1 tub of fat free Cool Whip

Bake the brownies according to the directions on the box. Let cool. Crumble up the brownies into a casserole dish. Mix the pudding according to the directions on the box (use skim milk), then drizzle the pudding over the brownies. Spread the fat free Cool Whip on top.

wii

How many of you have a Wii? We bought one right after Christmas and I absolutely love it! It's great exercise and something fun that me and my boyfriend can play together. I love that I can kick his butt at bowling! I still can't beat him at tennis though.

Also, another couple that we hang out with on a regular basis has one, so we like to all get together at their house or our house and play. Which is exactly what we did this past weekend. Instead of dinner and a movie for date night, it's now dinner and Wii.

Valentine's Day Giveaways....

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and Confessions Of A Overweight $hopaholic is giving away a basket full of pink goodies! Click here to check out her giveaway and enter.

Also, Blue Eyed Bride is giving away some Hankie Pankies for her Valentine's Day giveaway!

Vote for G.R.I.T.S.!!!

Please read this post by The Tale of a Southern Belle and nominate Puttin' on the G.R.I.T.S. for the Sweet Sensation Giveaway (you can click on the picture on my sidebar to go to the giveaway).

She really does deserve this and could use a little pick me up right now!

And Bumpkin, let me know when you want to go make that visit to Country.....I just lost my job, I have nothing but time on my hands, and I've got a few things I'd like to say to him myself!

Thanks Whitney!

I received this award from Whitney at That Girl.

This is how this award works:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I am giving this award to the following bloggers:

1. Puttin on the G.R.I.T.S.

2. 27 Dresses in Cleveland

3. Lipstick Diaries

4. One Xanax at a Time

5. Confessions of a Cohabitant

6. Well, That's Just Fabulous

7. She Just Had to Say It

8. Vanity's Fair

Mandy Rose's very first giveaway!

Mandy Rose at House of Rose is giving away some precious stationery for her very first giveaway. So go on over there and check her out!

another giveaway!

Gwen at Confessions of a Control Freak is having a fantastic giveaway in honor of her 200th post and for being smoke free for four months! I just found her blog through Whitney and I'm so glad I did! I've been wanting to quit smoking and I'm hoping her blog will be the inspiration I need.

talk about your bad Mondays........

Some of you already know because of my comments on your blog and/or emails.....I was laid off from my job on Monday. I work in an industry that is doing terrible right now and it will more than likely not get better until later this year or next year.

Even though things have been bad at work, because of conversations my boss had with me prior to Monday, led me to believe that if I did get laid off it would at be at least another two or three months before it happened. I was definitely shocked when it happened.

It's definitely upsetting (this is the first time I have ever been laid off from a job), but after I've had time to think about it, I'm actually one of the lucky ones. I live with my boyfriend and he makes good money, so unemployment will cover my car payment and insurance. There was another woman that got laid off the same day I did and she is a single mother with three kids.

Also, I'm going to turn this into something positive for myself and try to go back to school. Even if that doesn't work out, I will find another job, and hopefully it will be something even better than the job I had. Everything happens for a reason and I know that everything will work out....I hope!

I can't believe the boyfriend's sister has a job and I don't. That will teach me to keep my mouth shut!

oops!

I probably shouldn't post recipes from memory anymore.....

On the Chili Recipe, the 2 cans of tomato sauce are 29 oz. each, not 16 oz. And I forgot the onions. Mix 1/2 cup chopped onions in with everything else.

Sorry for my screw-up and I promise from now on I won't post my recipes from memory!

so many generous people....

Monogram Chick is having a giveaway!

If When you enter, be sure to tell her that Medicated and Motivated sent you, so that if you win, we both win!

her parents must be so proud

My boyfriend and I saw this on the news last night.

How do we even know she's really a virgin? Even if she is really a virgin, $3.8 million? Really?

The funniest thing is that she'll only get about half that after taxes, and then she'll probably blow through the rest of the money in about a year or less.

this is chili weather

I decided that I need to make some chili this weekend as cold as it has been....I love making chili when it's cold. If you don't like the regular chili beans (pinto beans) that most people use in their chili, then you might like to try my recipe:

2 lbs. ground beef

2 big cans (I think they're 16 oz. cans) of tomato sauce

1 small can of Original Rotel drained

1 regular size can of Black Beans

1 packet of McCormick Slow Cookers Chili Seasoning

1 tablespoon Minced Garlic

Garlic Salt to taste

Chili Powder to taste

Brown 2 lbs. ground beef. Mix all ingredients together in a crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours. I like to serve it with Fritos scoops and shredded cheese.

EDITED TO ADD: The can of black beans also needs to be drained.

more giveaways!!

Danielle at Well, That's Just Fabulous is having a giveaway for her 400th post! I really need to win this one....I love to cook and I make pancakes almost EVERY Sunday morning!

Good Gals Inc. is having a giveaway in honor of her blog getting a facelift.....and it's just in time for Valentine's Day.

And because I'm lazy, go check out Lipstick Diaries for even more giveaways!!!

Whitney's having a giveaway........

The lovely Whitney at That Girl is having a giveaway for her 100th post.

Go check her out...tell her Medicated sent you!

I'm not conditioned for weather this cold

It is COLD.

I live in the South. When it is this cold, I would like for it to snow so at least I could stay home and not have to go to work. In my warm, cozy bed. Where I belong.

my boyfriend thinks he's a comedian

Actual Conversation:

Boyfriend: Remind me to call sister tonight.

Me: Why?

Boyfriend: So I can remind her that she needs to go to bed early, because she has to be at work at 8:00am tomorrow.

are you sitting down?

The Mooch Boyfriend's sister got a job. Can you believe it? I can't.

I'm starting a pool to see how long it takes her to screw it up get fired. Just kidding. Maybe.

this is just too cute!

I got this cute little award from Whitney over at That Girl....Thank you so much Whitney!!!!

These are the instructions:

Pass this along to 10 bloggers who make you feel special. It's so hard to pick just ten...you all make me feel special! But since I can only pick ten, the award goes to:

1. One Xanax at a Time
2. Puttin' on the G.R.I.T.S.
3. 27 Dresses in Cleveland
4. Lipstick Diaries
5. Let the Good Times Roll
6. Life with Attitude
7. Vanity's Fair
8. She Just Had to Say It
9. A Bit Unaware
10. Cocaine Princess

American Idol

Did anyone watch American Idol last night? I haven't watched this show through the entire season since Season Two. I usually just watch the first few episodes to see the horrible singers contestants that they put on there just to make fun of them. I think I'm going to try to watch for the entire season this year.

There is no way I would have let the hoochie in the bikini get a "golden ticket". She can't even sing. Granted, she wasn't as horrible as I expected her to be, but definitely not American Idol material. I will be very surprised if she makes it through the next cut.

February is going to be a good month.....

I knew this movie was coming out on February 6th and had already planned on going to visit a good friend of mine and have a girls weekend and go see the movie:

Last night I saw the trailer for this movie coming out on February 13th:

I've read both of these books, they were both hilarious, and I can't wait to see the movies!!!!