Constant Commentary

Bellagio fountain about to explode!  One of a zillion free things to do in Vegas! This trip almost didn't happen for us.  We had some dooooozy car repair bills and actually looked into cancelling, but it was non-refundable-- and we already had our flight tickets to Dallas for my school program, so we needed somewhere to stay anyway.  We figured there was plenty of free stuff to see, even the hotels themselves are attractions.  So if all we could afford to do was walk around, and sit in our hotel and stare at each other (lol), we'd still be on VACATION!  We booked a cheap on Expedia at Excalibur, which included a flight on Spirit Air.  At the time, we didn't know about Spirit Air and their trick, tricky ways.   They even charge you for your carry on bags! So, sometimes Spirit LOOKS cheaper, but once you factor in bag costs, it’s possibly way more! In this case it was still way less as long as we kept it to one carry-on and a ‘personal item’ for e...

I know people hate this shit and :::::GAG:::::: But why?  I mean...  I don't hate it when other people do it.  ....to a point.  Anyway.... this is my blog and I don't care.  And YOU KNOW WHAT!!!???  Maybe if we all focused in on love and appreciation and shit, this world wouldn't be going to hell in a handbasket.  So... if you are reading this... I challenge you to put some love and appreciation out into the world today!! I felt compelled to write this blog after glanced over at my husband in the kitchen julienning green apples, fennel, red cabbage, and carrots to make himself a fennel slaw to add to his lunches for the week.  He had a similar slaw a Duckfat a few years ago and made it his mission to replicate it and make it part of his life :-) This is after a morning of hard-core housework including dismantling furniture, massive cleaning, and trips to the dump.  Jessi's move, and Sean's move to her room, has left us doing some SERIOUS...

Lesson:  When a good part of your life revolves around talking about where you are going to move away to someday, there are people listening.  People that are at points in THEIR lives where they can take action instead of just talk-talk-talking about it. Richmond, VA- The city that is stealing my child It's no secret that I had a hard time when Jessi went off to college.  But now she is REALLY LEAVING!  Like, '12 hours away' leaving.  Like, 'have to fly there' leaving.  Like, 'requires several days off' to visit leaving. I am NOT handling it well.  At all. Friday I spent the day crying.  All. Day.  (It didn't help that I also binge-watched the Kid's Baking Championship and when those little kidlets get crying.... damn... that show is ROUGH!)  Then I drank some Rum.  OK, more than some. Saturday I got pissed off and spent the day angry. "Who the hell does she think she is!!?"  "She just texted me wanting me to bring...

While I don't plan to count the days like I did last time.  Today is day 4.  It's been tough to get back into it.  Sugar does NOT fuck around.  It knows how to find you in your weakest moments and just whisper sweet nothings in your ear. I am still shocked that I didn't give in to my sweet devil on Tuesday.  I had a long, crazy shift, with no time to eat.  When I finished up with what I hoped would be my last client at 9pm, I dreaded going home and having to prepare something for supper.  I{ was STARVING, to the point of being shaky and irrational.  So I used a lifeline.  I called Lonnie and talked to him on the phone because I knew if  I was talking to him when I passed McDonald's, I wouldn't pull in.  It WORKED!  Not only did it work, but I felt empowered enough to take the time to stop at the grocery store and pick up some salad stuff.  ( I LOVE salad!!! ---no sarcasm!  I LOVE IT!) When I got home, I was all ...

I love sleeping.  So.  So. Much.  However, this is the time of year every year (Which I didn't even realize until a blog reader noticed a trend a few years ago in my posts as years went on!), I get a case of the winter blues.... cabin fever.... whatever you want to call it. I usually combat my malaise with a vacation to someplace sunny and warm.  This year, I let Lonnie talk me into vacationing much earlier than usual, bringing us back to Maine with lots more winter left.  This has been a VERY mild, and non-snowy winter, but it's still winter.  I still don't want to go outside for a walk or a run, we aren't going out hiking and fishing and stuff on the weekends, and there is not a lot else to do around here other than shopping and the movies. So I have been sleeping.  A LOT.  My main excuse that I use is, "I sleep late because my job keeps me up late and messes up my sleep schedule."   Which is true sometimes.  But not every day...

Weekly coffee selfie... new diningroom location! It was a long day but I made it through.  Lonnie and I both came close to giving in when Sean came home with so, so much candy and was like a crack dealer trying to share it with us.  But we stood strong.   I kept thinking, "Well it's not like I am not going to have sugar at some point, why not on a holiday?"  and wondering if perhaps this torturing myself was just hollowing out a hole in my brain and I am eventually just going to go batshit crazy and EAT ALL THE THINGS to attempt to fill it up.  the funny thing is, at one point Lonnie said, "Just go ahead, pick like 4 pieces and keep it to that." :::insert spoiled voice::: I don't WANT 4 stupid pieces.  I want 104. I couldn't even think of which 4 I would choose, honestly, none of them appealed to me-- which told me that it wasn't really the candy itself that I wanted , it was Veruca (that spoiled little girl!), being told no and throwing a...

When I wasn't working and doing fun stuff, I spent a good part of 2015 going back and forth about grad school.  I even applied to a couple.  But ultimately decided that I just don't feel right adding to my already enormously high student loan mountain of debt.  ...that is already growing since I am helping Jessi pay for college.... and interest of course.  I would love to get my Master's.  I LOVE school and I would also love to be more marketable once we starting planning our move from Maine, and I have the time for it with the job I have now.  So if I could just win the lottery......    I have few regrets in life as everything I have lived through has made me the bucket of awesomesauce that I am today,  but I definitely regret spending all that money and time going to Husson University to get my teaching credentials.  I could have my graduate degree, and instead I have nothing since I didn't finish the program by doing student ...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!  And I say this not to avoid saying MERRY CHRISTMAS, but because Thanksgiving AND Christmas have so far been HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY! We have our ghetto-fabulous-little-tacky-tree and we have our perfectly decorated silver and gold tree. There are actually WRAPPED PRESENTS under the tree already!!  My kids can attest to how groundbreaking this is as last minute shopping/wrapping is usually how I roll!  I HATE wrapping presents!  Well, I THOUGHT I hated wrapping presents.  Turns out that I just hate wrapping presents alone with no help!  When Lonnie dove into the pile with me, it was actually FUN!!! I have a pile of projects that I need to get to work on! (I may have bit off more than I can chew in the project department...lol) On Sunday we are making gingerbread houses!  (OK...we are going to attempt to make gingerbread houses...lol) Black Friday was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!  Lonnie and I had a great time, got all the deals we w...

Christmas used to be my jam.  I was SOOOOO into it!!  I started pre-gaming for Black Friday the second the leaves started to turn! Then I got divorced and everything changed.  The kids have to go here and there and everywhere and we have to schedule in Christmas.  Rick and I always had a giant rager of Christmas party that I always looked very forward to with all of our friends and that's gone.  We always got up WELL BEFORE DAWN and headed over to his parent's house for presents, food (CRAB DIP!), and fun... then after a nap.... LOBSTAH DINNAH!  ....and for me, that's all gone.  And coincidentally, right around divorce time, the kids got older and less into toys that required me to line up and freeze my ass off with a bunch of other crazy people at midnight. These days they are more into clothes and pricey things, and their presents are divided between here and Rick's house, with the result being the 'under-the-tree- space looking more sparse with a ...

Random web pic from https://energytalkradio.wordpress.com/ but it was this bright!  Last night on my way home from work, I saw the coolest falling star I have ever seen.  It was HUGE and super bright sailed across the sky for a LONG time.  It was way cool.  After I ooohed and ahhhhed to myself, I suddenly thought,  "Ooooohhhhh I am supposed to make a wish and this was such a neat star that it has to be a good one!!" .....and for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything I would wish for!! Thoughts that crossed my mind.... Money:  Well yeah more could be fun, but we have to have to work to earn our fun stuff, which makes us appreciate it more!!  And frankly, rich people don't seem all that happy. And also... wishing for more just seems greedy since there are so many that have so little. Skinny!:  Meh.  Sure I want to lose weight, but I am working on it and I don't want a quick fix since I know that the problem is not my body, it'...

Usually when I have not blogged in a bit, it's because I have fallen off the wagon and just don't want to face that in font.  Today I come back to blogging after a little break still fully entrenched in my weight loss endeavor.  I have even started running again.  Lonnie and I are fast tracking ourselves through Couch to 5k.  We are and doing three run days in a row (which is week in the program), then taking a one day break, then starting another 3 days.  I assume we will hit a road block around week 5 or 6 where we will need to repeat some days, but maybe not!  It's going well, and even though we are in the midst of a stifling heat/humidity wave, I have been able to easily complete the run segments.  This is not to say I am skipping out there with a giant smile on my face though  ;-)    This summer has been a GIANT exercise in self-control and learning to find outlets for my emotions that don't involve snacks.   We ...