Slippery Slag Slug Strikes Again

Well... I don't want to piss myself off... especially since it won't do any good... but I gotta tell you what the SSS did. (That's the Slippery Slag Slug)

As you probably know he has been promising the kids a birthday party since June. As you also know, it's a miracle that he actually followed through. or so we thought.

He acted like it was their party.
He claimed to have cooked a ton of food for their party
He said he picked up a cake for their party

AND, even though I know that the party was at his brother house... (not his current residence, but one of his other brother's house) I thought it was still about the kids, since I figured he went to that brother for the party place because they were used to having shindigs...

Turns out

He went to that brother for a party place, to piggy back his party on a birthday party that was already planned for his brothers daughter.

That happens all the time... so why... why didn't he just 'fess up... instead of promising them this big party for their birthday's...

Jerk

AND... he didn't tell me there was going to be a water slide of anything so the kids left my house without any additional clothes, or bathing suits.

AND... he's a big jerk

AND... the part that makes me want to cry... my kids left my house thinking that their father had planned a big party for them for their birthdays... and without saying as much... last night my oldest daughter described a party where they were more or less crashing the party, but with their own cake.

I really try not to say anything negative about SSS

I asked my daughter: How was the party

her: Lots of fun, we played the whole time. I had to borrow clothes from (insert name) because we didn't know there was going to be a water slide.

me: That's so great! I'm glad you had fun, did you see lots of cousins

her: No it was mostly (insert name)'s friend.

me: oh?

her: Yeah, it was her birthday party

me: and your's right?

her: Oh yeah, we had a cake and they even sang happy birthday for us too.

But you know... I could see it in her eyes. She knew. She wasn't complaining. She had a great time, but she knew that it wasn't really her party. She knew she was an add-on.

The Spider In My Garden

Sounds like a new James Patterson Book.

Spider in the Garden... BWAAAAA HAAAAA HAAAAAA

Anyway, this beauty is right outside my house hanging out in my garden. Enjoy! (P.S. i found out it's a common spider called (strangely enough) the Black and Yellow Garden Spider.

No More Diet Coke...

I hate the documentary channel...

It's getting late.. I have to get ready for work.

If you want to read about my pain... my aggravation...

Read my last two blog entries at MomBloggerworks.blogspot.com

Here are the links in the order of my aggravation...

http://mombloggerworks.blogspot.com/2008/08/aspartame-good-or-evil.html

http://mombloggerworks.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-rant-about-aspartame-continues.html

I suppose you can see by the link titles... that aspartame is the topic... and perhaps by the time you get around to reading the articles, the holes that it is boring into my brain will have stopped my madness...... or caused it... bwaaaaaa haaaaaa haaaaa

That's all for now.


P.S. I saw a speak by Barrack last night... he reminded me of my younger brother... scary scary stuff.

(Did I just ruin Barrack for anyone?)

IS IT JUST ME?

I am about to... go off... please sit back and enjoy!

My ex-husband has been, of late, very generous. He has contributed $400.00 to the "need to get the back to school clothes fund" which you and I will agree is very generous. I didn't ask for that, but I appreciate it.

I asked for help with the YMCA membership. I asked for help with the swim lessons. Didn't get it... but got the great and very generous contribution towards new clothes and backpacks and things.

I just got off the phone with him. I found and booked violin lessons and piano lessons for my 2 oldest.

I told him last week that I found lessons, and that they would be about $70 a week (for 2 kids) he said no problem.

I booked the lessons, I told him today that they start Thursday... he was less than enthusiastic... but get this. He has asked to take them to the lesson. RIGHT... he just wants to make sure I'm not pulling his leg and milking him for money! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

He says he gets off work at 3:30. I said, OK, You have to be here no later than 4:30 or you will have to meet us at the place, because I have to be there by 4:45 to fill out the paperwork and pay for the first month.

We shall see.... but here's the thing that's getting me... (Here's where I'm going to start to rant and rave)

What is up with the... Here's what I want to give you... which has absolutely nothing to do with what you asked me for.

What is wrong with actually listening to people?

When... when did people STOP listening and START thinking that just because they want to give something... or just because they want to do something... that the rest of the planet should be thankful that they got it... EVEN if it wasn't what we asked for.

Like I said. Thanks. Now can we talk about what I actually wanted!?!

If you want to take the kids someplace... why don't you EVER offer to take them to the Dr. when they are due for shots?

Or the allergist when they have to sit there with the pricks bubbling up on their ichy little backs?

or the dentist (I won't go into that)

I'm supposed to be thankful that you will leave work on time and take your kids to music lessons!?!

PLEAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

(deep breath)

I am soooooo tired of people just doing what they want to do and acting like I should be thankful.

HERE'S THE NEWS FLASH. If you want to help me. If you want me to appreciate your help... really appreciate it... Why don't you ask me if there is anything you can do? or better yet... when
you ask me if there is anything you can do for me... why don't you actually do what I want? Instead of what you want... when you want.

and if you can't.

Then don't ask.

I'll either do or I won't do it... but atleast I won't keep expecting it.

Ahhhh I feel much better now.

Thanks for listening

Have a great day!

Finally got around to opening mail and paying bills

I don't have that many bills... but the ones have have... are persistant! HA HA HA HA HA HA

I'm not sure what has happened, but suddenly my electric bill is $300.00/month. OK, maybe I just haven't opened that bill in a while. I'm working on the ... open them when I can pay them method. Which happens to occur about once a month. So, when I checked last months electric bill, it atleast was in the 2's.... this month was in the 3's!

Anyway, no biggy, fortunately, I had the funds.

Here's the BIG NEWS...

Among the things that I had to open and read.... was a letter from an attorney... it appears that Slagboy has filed bankruptcy. We all knew it was coming.

The bankruptcy was filed in April. I wonder how that works. I wonder how he is going to keep his house and continue to collect the mortgage AND file bankrupty... Well, I guess it doesn't matter.

AND

it certainly isn't a shock. For all of you who don't know... "domestic support" is not supposed to be affected AND FORTUNATELY, I had already gotten the support filed with the court in march... so the good news is ... it shouldn't really affect me... and the PLUS side is that he will be less stressed and may actually have some cash for the kids incidentals. He has already generously given me $400.00 for new school clothes... You know I was wondering, how he had the money. I just couldn't imagine... how he always had cash.

So... this may work out in our best interests!

That's all the news for now!
Have a great day!

This Wheat Free / Gluten Free Life is HARD!

Well.... As it turns out, I have new insurance... and with the new insurance comes... new doctors and other professionals that are covered... and guess what?

As it turns out, there are a number dietician/nutrionists that are covered in my insurance! YIPPPPEEEEEEEEE

next step....

Look for a dentist!

Bwaaaaa haaaaa haaaaaaaaaa

So, I have to say this. I'm not trying to get out of the "wheat free" way of life... I guess I'm just trying to see if the changes that I see in my daughter are imaginary... or if they are really due to an intolerance.

Because I gotta tell you... everything has wheat in it! Everything you can imagine! Here's the rule.... If it says "natural flavorings" that could be a euphamism for Wheat filler. Here's the list... and you will see what I mean... some of the stuff just doens't sound... Wheaty
Like these:

Foods/ingredients that often contain wheat

• Modified food starch
• Gelatinized starch
• Hydrolyzed vegetables protein
• Natural flavorings
• Soy sauce
• Vegetable gum, vegetable starch

So, you see.... All those things that say, Natural Flavorings.... may just include some form of wheat! it's terribly hard to put together a tasty meal. I mean, I gotta tell you... It's hard for me to put together something my kids will eat in the first place... but without buying normal noodles, breads, things that you think are ok, because they say natural flavorings...

Did you know that Malt has wheat? That's right. if MALT is in the ingredients... no can do.

Yeah, so I'm a little tired of trying this without any professional guidance or support from someone saying, "Hey, yeah they definitely have an intolerance or allergy, so you HAVE to do this"

I can't tell if the behavior changes I notice are imagined or just wishful thinking.

Well, Anyway, I'll keep you posted

Have a great day!

Office 2007 - has done me wrong - The Love Affair is OVER!

Nothing
Nothing
NOTHING will end a love affair with a software package quicker then that application "Doin you wrong." And Office 2007 - the whole kit and kaboodle- done done me wrong friends.

One day I'm loving life, foot loose and fancy free.... Training clients on the new Office 2007 features, my excitement barely concealed as I display Outlook, Word, Excel and Powerpoint on the big screen... Mousing over the Fluent User Interface (the ribbon) activating the Contextual Tabs, warning against common pitfalls and chiding users for not taking advantage of some of the features from previous versions.

and then

and then

it happened

my .docx imploded

I'm not sure how, but I left for work with 5 perfectly good documents saved to my harddrive, and returned that evening to find 4 of 5 corrupt and unopenable.

OH yes friends, I used the "open and repair" function... which caused me pause as it is so conveniently located on the "open" drop down in the Open Dialog box. (almost as if they knew that you would be needing this feature... and needing it often)

OH yes friends, I attempted to convert the file from .docx to .doc using an online conversion provider... sob..... it didn't work, I got a blank page

OH OH OH Friends... it is sad sad sad.... especially since the documents that I can not open.................................. are ........................................ the training handouts I use for the office 2007 training sessions that I am currently running.

Oh woe is me.... to be lulled into a false sense of security by this vagabond software, this willy nilly corrupting set of productivity applications.... NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will NOT go quietly into the night!

...sigh....

So..... sniff sniff........ first I'm going to recreate the training material.... sob... hiccup ... then I will write Bill Gates. WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

New Look, New Picture, New Me

Ok, new look to the blog, new picture of rosie... not really a new me... but I did manage to sleep.... ARE YOU SITTING DOWN...

Because you are about to get really really jealous.

I slept from 8:15pm last night to 6:00 this morning... Hmmmmm let me count those hours up for you! That's almost 10 hours!

10 UNINTERRUPTED HOURS!

I feel great!

I think that is exactly what I needed. I think I was a little stressed out .. hhhmmm, maybe not stressed, I was a little intimidated by the company where I was performing training, it's always interesting to sit in a conference room with successful people, the really successful people usually treat you (the trainer) like the expert you are and they are respectful, and some underlings spend a lot of time trying to show you up. They ask you obscure questions that no one else in the room really cares about, but they want to show how much they know...

The four things that I know, and it has been proven to me again and again:
#1) I am the expert and although I don't know everything, I know a lot more than the end-user and even advanced end-users (since they are advanced with the things that they do every day, but don't generally know alot of about everything - like I do)
#2) You can't take it personally when people fall asleep during the training. (not everyone is a geek that gets excited about software and no matter how many jokes I crack, they would rather be sleeping)
#3) Every office is the same, some are just cleaner, quieter, more modern, and secure... but every office has the flirt, the jerk, the old lady and the guy with the pencil protector.
#4) The people in the training (unless it is ongoing for several weeks) have not seen my 3 really nice training outfits. So I wear them proudly and confidently and will worry about the 4th day of training when that time comes.

Today you will notice that the blog looks different. I thought it would be nice to change it around, since I was going to use a new picture of Rosie. Isn't she a cutie-pie. (you will notice the tazer on her collar. the battery is dead again, so I took it off... but I'll be putting it back on.. however she hasn't jumped the fence in weeks!)

My mom is in town helping out my sis and mikey 4 fingers, so the kids are excited about seeing her.
My brother is in town, I haven't seen him but there was a fresh pot of coffee and I think the front door was open, which I don't recall leaving open last night ... although as I stated before, I was in bed by 8:10pm. NNNIIIICCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The Sun is Shining.... the temperature is almost perfect, it's 55 now... and I think it's only going up to 73 today... TODAY my friends... is going to be THE PERFECT DAY. An early morning sweater -> afternoon t-shirt -> evening sweater day. (for you more rugged types you can substitute sweatshirt with sweater..... or perhaps.... flannel)

And that is it.... I have slept the sleep of kings and I am ready for the rest of the week!

Have a great day!

Much Better Today

I'm not sure why, it has basically started out like all of the other days... but for some reason I'm not feeling ..... so angry.

I went to the YMCA yesterday and dropped off my financial aid form... that's right, I'm hoping they will give me a little help with the membership... then the skies the limit! I can get the kids into a chlorinated pool for swim lessons... as opposed to the apparently bacteria ridden lake.

OK OK I say bacteria ridden, however I have to tell ya... only one child has the rash.

Well, I'd love to blog more, but my 7 year old is hovering and making it very difficult to concentrate.

later!

TOP TEN THINGS I DISLIKE (HATE IS SUCH A STRONG WORD)

I just can't put my finger on why... but I'm in a foul mood.

Don't even talk to me.

I am a Ornery, Malcontent, Indignant, Derisive, Impatient, Sarcastic... and Humorless individual.

No, it's not that time of the month... No, I don't have a hang over... I'm not really sure why I'm in a bad mood... but I gotta tell you.... I am in a bad mood.

I am in a yell-irrationally-at-the-public-service-dude-that-walks-in-your-yard-to-check-the-meter mood. that sucks.

Since I'm in a bad mood...

I have put together the top ten things I dislike: (Hate is such a strong word)

1. Email messages that have been forwarded 500 times. I don't care what the content... whether it is political propaganda or a "good luck" wish. Hate em

2. Phone calls from computers that hang up as soon as I answer the phone

3. Rude people (funny, but yup. can't stand them... they ruin a full moment in my life)

4. Stupid people (I don't mean IQ stupid, I mean people that believe that target is a french owned company because they received an email saying so, or people that complain about the government but don't vote in any election)

5. People who get mad because I disagree

6. Companies that manufacture children's toys using lead based paint. duh

7. People asking me to contribute money to the election campaign for any candidate (please, I mean please, do I look like I have any spare cash? While we're at it, where'd McCain and Obama get the cash to remodel their air planes?)

8. umbrellas. You read right, I hate umbrellas. I have yet to purchase an umbrella that has lasted through more than 3 rain storms. From the Dora umbrella to the Full size BIG BLUE, either one of the spokes breaks, or tears through it's little holder, or the thing gets bent, or the mechanism doesn't open or close... pieces of crap that never work when you need them. AND even if the umbrella were miraculously working, it's only good for one person, then 4 people with their own umbrellas can't walk abreast... and you need one hand to hold the umbrella so you really can't carry anything else. Umbrellas are a terrible solution to keeping dry on a rainy day! We need some kind of big bubble we can step into and walk out to the car in then pop when we get in the car. (I think this is what they call a psychotic break)

9. Every single person parked or attempting to park in the Kohls parking lot ('nuf said)

10. People who have nothing better to do than complain. (current company excluded)

Well, I feel much better now.
Thanks

Have a great day!

Strike up the BAND

HOW COULD I NOT KNOW!

First of all... let me say, it's 2:22am... I'm working on the presentation for a training class tomorrow... and I just discovered .....

At Long Last


There is a keyboard short cut for...... Paste Special!

Can you believe it?

I can't believe that CNN didn't pick up this story, or APP

Are you ready?

It's

Ctrl + ALT + V
that's right folks... at long last! You can paste that stuff as unformatted text.... or what have you... without taking you hands off the keyboard!

O, I am loving Bill Gates right now!

Greetings!

In my effort to prepare for Office 2007 training I will be providing this morning (it is 1:10am) I am checking out some of the features of the various applications that I have, thus far, failed to check out.

One of which is… The Blog Feature, which is found in the Publish section under the office button.

This is my first entry… and if I continue to use Word as my Blogging editor… you may, just may find less typos!

Yeah for you!

Have a great day!

Sun Burn and Other Tales

Yesterday I returned from work to 3 little crisp children.

I can blame the sitter, but I really can't blame the sitter, since my sister-in-law did the same thing. I gave her the sun screen, I told her to make sure they put it on several times, but I guess people just don't believe me when I tell them that my kids burn very easily... because... let me tell you... they are crisp!

So, no lake today.

If they got anymore burned... they would have blisters.

That's ok, they can swim in the kiddie pool today. My brother mowed the lawn, unfortunately, it's not really low enough for my At-A-Glance, dog poop removal method. But he has promised me that he will mow it again on Wednesday... and as long as it gets mowed twice a week... the kids can play freely in the poop free backyard! I will be going out there in a few moments to remove any debris that may have "accumulated" yesterday while I was at work.

Thursday I am taking my oldest to a ENT (Ear Nose & Throat) guy. This is on the suggestion from the allergist after the last late night "croup" incident. She is specifically asking the ENT to look at her vocal cords to confirm there isn't any problem there.

All of the kids seemed healthy when they went to bed last night... except my middle daughter whose rash has resprouted... another reason for staying away from the lake. She doesn't seem to have the rash problem in the kiddie pool, or in clorinated pools... so no lake... 3 days!

Well that's about it. I'm preparing for an Office 2007 presentation tomorrow. 4 hours of training an IT department on the changes in Office 2007 as they rollout office 2007 upgrades for their end users. I'm pretty happy about the assignment, since I like that kind of stuff!

OK. gotta go
have a great day!

Enjoy the next 4 weeks... because summer is almost over!

End of week one... Gluten Free

Just in case you aren't following The Gluten Free Blog... I'll update you.

The short story. My ex-husband AKA Slag boy, is the Anti-Gluten Free Entity... I don't want to talk about it... I just want to tell you, that the kids walked in with Wendy's bags for dinner.

And, it could have been worse, because I packed them snacks and fed them breakfast, so it could have been much much worse... of course my 7 year old was starving by the time they got to Wendy's because he didn't feed them lunch.

He claims he couldn't get them out of the water.
He claims that my 7 year old told him that Wendy's was ok for them to eat
The he made some hush hush noises when she started to tell me about the other things that they ate at the pool (like the onion rings)

Well, thankfully... that was my life yesterday and not today. AND I don't have to worry about him and his bad influence until next week. My only concern is that he is kind of turning the "let's see what we can get away with behind mommy's back" thing into a game.

OH, he is such a jerk.

OK.... letting it go away..... I have no control over his actions.... and I don't have to think about them for another whole 6 days.... it's just very frustrating to work so hard and then have him come and spoil it... arrrgggghhhhhhhh

Well, my 7 year old had quite a tummy ache last night.

We'll see how she is feeling this morning.

In other News:
The weekend was spectacular... from the wild thunder storm to the sunny sunny Sunday. Saturday the girls and I went swimming in the lake early until the rain forced us out. Then we did some stuff inside, it was fun. Sunday, the kids went with their dad to the pool by his house and I got my hair cut, picked up a new pair of running shoes

RUNNING SHOES: That's right folks. I was NEVER a runner. I was NEVER a jogger.... until... until.... My kids started riding bikes. My oldest is off training wheels and is very good at riding. In fact, next year she will need a bigger bike. My 2 younger ones are on training wheels... but they are so good, that I can't keep up with them just by walking briskly.

So, the other day, I ended up having to the do the Jog, trot, speed walk, thing with some slip on shoes that my Mom had given me.

While in the Sports Authority looking for sneakers for my sister I chanced upon a pair of New Balance that were on sale... I tried them on... they were light... they were comfortable... I bought them.

I can't remember the last time I bought a pair of sneakers. Honestly. Probably about 20 years ago... I usually buy cute black shoes.

I looked at the calendar and I have to wonder... Where has the summer gone? It seems almost surreal that the summer will be over in 4 weeks. The kids will go back to school. My 5 year old will start kindergarten and my 4 year old will be in preschool... alone.

Pretty scary stuff.

All in All... it's been a great summer.

I hope you guys can all say the same.

Have a great day!

Happy Friday!

Well.
First, all the kids appear to be healthy, (with the slight exception of a residual cough), by healthy I say... no fevers. (I can't even say no contagious diseases until the test for Mono comes back!)

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Today is Friday.

Today. I'm taking the day off of work. I'm going to check in, make sure there isn't anything that really truly needs my assistance... then I'm going to take the kids... somwhere. I don't know where, but it will be somewhere.

Also, it's funny, but I recently wrote a post on my hubpages... about the negative power of complaining... and it's been pretty popular! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA I have gotten several comments and "fans"

It's located here: http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Power-of-Negative-Complaining

Ok... on to bigger and better fish to fry.

Day 5 of No Gluten.

Yesterday was meltdown city. However, we didn't get outside to do anything until pretty late in the day. Then we had to cut it short, due to a minor injury.

My oldest was standing at the corner waiting for us to all catch up (the kids were all on bikes, the younger ones have training wheels, so they can take their time, the oldest is a speed demon) So, she is waiting there for us to catch up. I'm looking at her... and she just appears to fall over.

Her explanation was she was day dreaming looking at a house, and she went to reposition one foot on the curb and another on her bike pedal and she missed the curb... and went down.

I gotta tell you. It was a sight to see.

That's not the first time I have seen her just sitting on her bike, ... then she just falls over. Like she forgot she needed to balance of something. It is quite a sight to see. Anyway, she put ice on her wrist and it feels better today.

Last night I took the kids to payless. The youngest had run out of shoes that fit. So, all three went... all three got new kicks. The oldest got a pair of Hannah Montana wedges (which she loves and is trying to convince me that they provide her with the extra support she has been looking for her whole life) The middle child picked out a pair of princess sandals that light up when you walk (I didn't know they made that that big) and the youngest.... picked out a pair of Vans. YUP. Black with colorful pink, red, blue, purple.... skulls. Oh yeah. I'm in for it.

They all love their shoes.

This will cut down on the 20 minute argument and shoe search and rescue efforts that occur whenever we have to go somewhere.... well atleast for the next several days.

That's it.

I'm going to fill up the pool this morning, so the kids can go in the pool this afternoon.

They are taking showers and baths today before we go anywhere

We are going to Morristown to the Healthfood store in search of gluten free pizza

AND

Maybe, just maybe something else will come up that will be fun...

Have a great day!