Things could be better

I am so stressed out right now. I am dealing with two things going on. First, my husband has decided in his infinite wisdom to bring his mother back from Pittsburgh to come live with us since her health was failing. He has changed his hours at work so he can be with her during the day and guess who gets her every evening? Yep, that would be ME! Now I'm not trying to sound selfish, because I genuinely love this woman and she is like another mother to me, but I really can't be expected to give up every single evening for who knows how long. I am more than willing to help out, but not to that extreme. Our niece has offered to come sit with her during the day for the same price we would have had to pay an adult day care service, so today she is doing a trial run to make sure it's not too much for her. I would rather have her with family and my niece needed a job so hopefully it will all work out well. We shall see.

My other dilemma is my brother who lives out in Washington state. His wife has left him recently and moved back to NC and he went into a deep depression. He called me Saturday night crying and saying he just wanted to kill himself. I got him a number for a suicide hot line out there so he could talk with someone. He seems to be doing better, but he needs to seek professional help, and I don't know if he will. It's hard being thousands of miles away.

So far 2011 has been a sucky year for me. I hope it turns around soon.

Finally got my new tattoo yesterday

It's been a long time in the making. I knew I wanted to get something that reflected my Irish/English heritage to make it more personal to me. I think the tattoo artist came up with a very unique custom design that I am very happy with.



I'm not going to lie. There were some parts of it that were uncomfortable to say the least, but I assured him that if I could have two natural childbirths, I could handle this. I only flinched a little when he was doing the white, which is one of the more painful colors to do. Luckily there wasn't a lot of that. Overall I am extremely happy with the results and can't wait to show it off by the poolside in Vegas in April :)



The great artist Harry Aron and I after he was finished. He is awesome!

Blue skies finally

We are actually having some warmer temps today, around 50. I am so sick of all the snow and ice. I hate driving in it. My work didn't close at all this past week either, so had to brave the slick roads. I normally have a 20 minute ride into work and one day it took almost 45 minutes! I can't believe how many pregnant women come out in this stuff. Well, actually I can because so many of our patients are STUPID! Let me risk my life, and the life of my unborn child to come see what I'm having! I must know! The world will end if I don't!!! Crazy asses!

Kim had her interview Thursday for Wake Forest and it went extremely well. I am so proud of her. They paired her with an admissions counselor that had the same interest as her, so she said he was very easy to talk to. They talked about poetry and one of her favorite books, 1984, which was also a favorite of the counselors. She showed him some of poetry (Mom's idea to bring it, score one for me, lol) and he was really impressed. He was a bit surprised that she was a black belt in taekwondo. (Remember, she is only 95 pounds and 5'2") He asked if she ever had to use her use her skills on the street? That made her giggle as she replied "Not yet." She had the biggest grin on her face as she walked out from it. It's a smile that I would love to catch on film one of these days. It's infectious. It makes everyone around her smile. They receive about 10,000 applications to sort through, so it's pretty competitive. She wants this so bad, so I want it for her as well. She will be so heartbroken if she doesn't get in. We won't find out until April though. Going to be a long 3 months.



Kim all dressed up for her interview.

My laptop died the other day. I knew it was coming by how it was acting. It finally had a blue screen that said something about a fatal error. Ken called it the "blue screen of death." I'm probably going to get a new one this weekend. I have been using Ken's Mac and I don't like it very much. I hate where you rest your hands to type. It has sharp edges and it makes my left wrist hurt and turn red unless I type with my hand suspended, which is just plain uncomfortable. Sorry Mac users, I like my Dell PC. :)

Enjoy your weekend everyone :)

Hubby's movie ;)

Slumber Party???

Ok so I got an invite on my facebook from a girl I know from where my sister works (the vet I take my animals to) and it's for a "Slumber Party" party. I have heard of "Adult" parties, but have never been to one before. Is it going to be like a jewelry party or tupperware party where the "goods" are laid out on a table for everyone's perusal? LOL I'm assuming there will be different shapes, sizes, and colors of the items for sale.

So, should I go or not? It might be fun. Let's get a group of women together, get them drunk, and sell them sex toys! ;)

I will let you know if I end up going.

Back to school and back to 3

This is Stephanie's last weekend home before she has to go back to school for the new term. :( Each time gets a little bit easier, but not much. We are a family of four, so when she is gone, it's a little strange to say the least. We seem to go about and adapt while she is gone I suppose. Go about our routines and such. It's still comforting to know that she still calls this place "Home" even though she has her own apartment and takes care of herself now. She still needs her mom and dad and sister though, so no worries there. Her and dad get on Skype to go over chemistry problems and she gets advice on cooking and cleaning from me and her baby sister well, she gets that advice only a sibling can give.

The holiday break is always the toughest since she has been home for almost a month now. You start to get really used to the idea that she is home and we are back to that magic number of four. The house is much more lively when she is here. She has the louder personality of the two. That's for sure. I don't know Kim is home half the time, she is so quiet.

The house is starting to stir, and I will have some children who want a good hot breakfast, so I shall go for now. It's actually snowing AGAIN!!! Nice to look at, but I wish it would go away.

Enjoy your weekend everyone :)

A little bragging rights please

Ok. So I figured I needed to post a little note since I haven't been on since I've been back from Europe. I know. I'm a bad blogger. (Smacking my hand) ;)

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I enjoyed being away from the hell hole, I mean work. It was hard to come back today. I really loved my time away with my family just relaxing and doing much of nothing. The start of the new year was uneventful. I had to take a quick cat nap just to stay awake until the ball dropped. I'm getting too old I guess.

This would be the time to catch you up on my girls. Some of you who are on facebook already know since I get on there almost everyday. I really need to make better use of my downtime I suppose, lol!

Stephanie transferred to a new college for the start of this school year. She is now at Western Carolina University in the middle of B.F.E.! She loves it there and is doing much better with her grades and made the Dean's List for the first time :) I am super proud of how much she has accomplished. She has even decided to double major in Biology and Forensic Anthropology. She is turning 21 in a few short weeks, which is utterly depressing :(





My baby girl was in a bad accident a few weeks ago where her car flipped twice, but thankfully she came out of it unharmed. The car was totaled and we are in the process of finding a new one for her. She is also applying to colleges. Boo! Her number one choice is Wake Forest, and she received an email from them saying that her application "caught their eye" and they were looking forward to her interview. She is so nervous and excited all at the same time. My little girl is growing up too fast.



I am so proud of the both of them. They are my whole world and I love them so much!

Just got back from the UK :)

And I soooo wish I was still there. It was everything I thought it would be and more. If you are on FB, I have posted tons of pics on there. It would take forever to put them on here. And Orion, Glencoe was simply spiritual. Pictures cannot do it justice. I understand how you loved it so much. It's breathtaking.


Glencoe

London was fabulous. I could never live there, but it was a great city to visit. Paris was pretty, but everyone is so freakin' rude there. Everyone in the UK was super nice and courteous. I had a wonderful conversation with a Welshman who taught at the local university while playing some pool.

And the highlight of the trip was getting to see Diane again. She is a truly remarkable person that not only took so much of her own time helping me plan this trip, something I could never have done on my own, but showed me London and Peterborough her hometown. It was wonderful spending time with her and her lovely family.


Scott, Heather, Lara, Shannon, Stephanie, and Kim


Of course I had to get into a real red phone box :)


The kids getting acquainted at the pub


In front of Buckingham Palace

It was a wonderful trip and I am so glad we did it :)