A Shellbug's Life

Suicide?

2009-04-20T17:35:00.002-04:00

While I am not sure there is a right way or good way to do it, I am thinking jumping into the tank with polar bears is probably not the best way.

What a hectic weekend!

2009-04-06T15:12:00.003-04:00

So Friday night, Soph and I got home and I was getting ready to give her a bath when the power went out. It was off for about 5 seconds and then flickered, so I assumed it was coming back on. I got up to look out the window to see if anybody had power and saw the flames shooting through the sky and the flames at the top of my trees, and all over my front lawn. Of course my mind goes into overload and I am thinking like oh God, this old house, faulty wiring, it is going to blow! So I am dragging my kid around, putting the dog on his leash (cause why bother saving him if he is just going to run out in the road and get hit...again) all while dialing 911. I tell the 911 operator there are flames in my trees, yard, a loud boom, my address, and she says "what township are you in"? WHAT TOWNSHIP??? I live on a road that has its own exit from the only highway around, figure it out lady! So as my husband is playing in Lewisburg, not answering his phone, I am escaping from the house that I know is about to explode and worrying about the fish that I left to die, I see the tree laying on the wires. Ahhh, this explains the loud explosion and the flames up high (on the wires), sparks falling... It all became clear, and I relaxed a little. I took the dog back in the house when I saw that none of the trees were actually on fire, and realized that the house probably was not going to explode. Soph and I sat on the front porch thinking that someone from the police car, ambulance, 2 firetrucks, or one of the 8 volunteer firefighters would come talk to us and tell us what to expect, ya know, since I did call 911 and they were parked the whole way up my driveway. However, they felt it was not necessary apparently. They got the wire out of the road, talked to all of my other neighbors, sat out there for a good hour and then just left. Thank goodness, PPL was nice enough to have a recorded message for me to advise the power would be on by midnight unless it was harder than expected. Who cares that we don't have HEAT!

Like I didn't already have enough excitement from Friday, on Sunday even more fun! I put Soph down for a nap, then got in the shower to get ready for work. As I am coming out of the bathroom with a towel, Simon starts barking like crazy, I turned to whispering-ly yell at him so Soph didn't wake up and there is a bat flying at my freaking head! Anybody who knows me, know that I am TERRIFIED of bats. So, I of course drop to the floor, crawl to the bedroom while coaxing the dog in, because I am sure that the bat has rabies, I mean why else would it be flying around my house in the day time. I sat down and tried to calm down in the bedroom. Once I regained my composure, I started worrying what if I didn't shut Soph's door and the bat is in her room. So I crawled out of my room (clothed now) and checked her door still shut and somehow quiet. I didn't see the bat, so I am assuming he is hiding somewhere, I looked in all the corners (from the floor) and didn't see him. I got up and ran to the kitchen for my phone to call Chris. While I am on the phone with him still panicking, the bat comes around the corner from the computer room and I run into my bedroom again. Chris came home and played baseball with him and then was kind enough to leave him lie on the sidewalk for me to look at on my way to work.

Now here it is rainy Monday and I am home. Not at the mall like I was supposed to be. SophMoores. I told her if she didn't stop, we would go home and not go to the mall and see the Easter Bunny and ride the Merry Go Round. She slapped me across the face. Now we are home and she is napping. Ahhh Good times!

Soph Stuff..

2009-02-24T23:18:00.004-05:00

Let me start by saying, how cool is it to have a president who speaks English and does not use made up words and stutter continuously when he can't answer a question! Even if he does nothing else, at least it is not embarrassing to hear him!

Now, on with Soph. Today on the way to the mall, Soph started coughing and threw up... every where! The smell in my car is so overwhelming, it is surprising that the smell did not cause more throwing up. After she did it, she just looked at us and said "what happened?" She did get a new outfit and coat out of it. Perhaps she knew that would happen and that is why she did it?

She apparently wanted a new computer chair too, because instead of running to her room wrapped in a towel after her bath, she ran to the computer chair. When Chris walked in she was standing looking at it and she said "Daddy, I peed right there" and pointed to the computer chair. Ahh yes, the fun we have!

We are having little to no luck on potty training. She was excited about it for a brief time and now she just down right refuses to use the potty. I try to put pull ups on her and she kicks her feet and says no mommy, I don't want big girl pants, I want my diaper. Everything we read and the doctor says that if they are like that you should not try to force them, you should let it go and try again after a few weeks, so that is where we are, but it is a pain because she knows when she has to go. When she has to poop she will run to her room and tell us to leave her alone, then come out and inform us she needs her pants changed. We have tried putting a potty in there for her to use and giving her privacy, but no go. She just won't use the potty.

I change her every night before I go to bed, last night I went in and she had her diaper off, and when she put her pants back on, she put both legs in one hole, so she was just stuck, and not able to move much. Chris said he heard her saying "Oh daddy, I need help" but assumed that she just wanted out of bed which is what she usually needs help with.

One more tidbit, WOW is it fun to work in the ER! Some of the patients are just downright hilarious!! We have a guy who comes in so often, he knows how to answer the questionnaire we have to ask, without hearing the questions, he just comes in, give us his medical record number and says yes, yes, no, yes, January 1986, no, Diabetes etc. It is hilarious. I have seen bones sticking out, an arm that looked like hamburger, gaping holes in skulls, the list is endless.

Losing Control...

2009-01-12T18:15:00.002-05:00

I think that I may be losing control in our household. Sophie has most definitely reached the "terrible 2's" and they are everything you ever heard and then some.

The other night we were sitting at the kitchen table with my mother and father in-law having dinner. Soph was eating something and it fell on the floor. Her response was "Holy Crap". I never use the phrase "Holy Crap", so I can only assume she gets that from her father.

The next night at the dinner table while she was eating I told her she had to eat corn and she told me to go sit in my chair. When I said no, she responded with NOW. She has been being punished by having time outs.

Today at the mall, she kept kicking her shoes off and when I would try to put them back on her and she would kick me and insist that Grammy would do it.

This is just a few of the many many many things, but I seem to be a little less in control every day!

Peta is Grrreat!

2009-01-10T14:05:00.005-05:00

Has anybody else heard about the "Sea Kitten" campaign?? I took the following story directly from their page. The buttons as well. I knew that Peta was a bit on the bizarre side, but come on Sea kitten Sticks???

FROM PETA:

People don't seem to like fish. They're slithery and slimy, and they have eyes on either side of their pointy little heads—which is weird, to say the least. Plus, the small ones nibble at your feet when you're swimming, and the big ones—well, the big ones will bite your face off if Jaws is anything to go by.

Of course, if you look at it another way, what all this really means is that fish need to fire their PR guy—stat. Whoever was in charge of creating a positive image for fish needs to go right back to working on the Britney Spears account and leave our scaly little friends alone. You've done enough damage, buddy. We've got it from here. And we're going to start by retiring the old name for good. When your name can also be used as a verb that means driving a hook through your head, it's time for a serious image makeover. And who could possibly want to put a hook through a sea kitten?

Artistic or just plain bad?

2008-12-11T18:25:00.002-05:00

Sophie loves to color. She literally will spend hours a day laying on the couch with her crayons and a notebook. She tells us what she is drawing. Today she took her notebook and her crayons into the bedroom and told me she was coloring. When I went in to check on her she was laying on the floor with her stuffed doggy toy coloring. So I went back out to the living room. I went back again a few minutes later and she had decorated one entire wall and the door on her changing table. She told me it was Rudolph and Santa. I told her it was bad and that she could only color on her paper and coloring books and she agreed, but will she listen? I spent a half hour trying to wipe it clean, but no, it is on there until we repaint. Chris says it adds character to the room. The picture does not show the full scale, but you get the idea... I have my training on Monday and Tuesday and then the following week I will start my job in the ER. I am excited to be going back to work and I think there will be a lot of interesting things in the Williamsport ER. Getting the clearances was annoying though. I had to call people I haven't talked to in years and ask for their date of birth and middle name. A few were not thrilled to share that info and even less thrilled to hear from me. Oh good times!

I think I am finally over the flu at last! A few sneezes and coughs here and there, but for the most part better. I think I got it on black Friday from all the people in an enclosed area.

Election Annoyances and Sophie Stories

2008-11-04T11:42:00.000-05:00

Let me start by saying I haven't even gotten to the polls yet. No doubt that I will, but I haven't yet. However, my phone rang 8 times today. At least half of them were the republican party. Seriously do they think calling me with a recorded message is going to get me to change my mind or even go vote if I had not all ready planned on it? At least the democrat calls were real people. Annoying, but at least I could tell them so. The democrats also sent a very cute young man/boy to my house to make sure I had a ride and knew where to go to vote. He could have changed my mind. Also, if you have not already voted, please don't go straight democratic, the last thing we need in office is Rick Mirabito, DO NOT VOTE FOR HIM!

On to Soph, I am sure there will be more to say after I go to the polls, but not yet. Soph has started stripping herself in her crib. The other night I went in to change her diaper and she was completely naked wrapped in her blanket soaked with pee... Mmmm! I am not sure how to get her to stop doing this. We are going to try putting her sleepers on backwards... Next, a much cuter story we took her trick or treating. She was shy at first, but when she realized they were giving her free candy, she was excited and would run to the doors. Because she was so small people thought it was cute and not rude when after she was given the candy she would put her hand up and say "nother one". It worked for her. She made out quite well, she had a bucket overflowing and we only went two blocks. Finally, we were at the mall and Soph saw a midget walking towards us and she started shouting "Hi little boy, how are you little boy" I was so embarrassed the midget also did not look amused.

Random

2008-09-18T23:09:00.002-04:00

Chris and I have been living together for over 5 years now, but I must say I am still sometimes amused by the giganticness of his feet. I had to let the dog out and my shoes were out front, so I put his on. I felt like a clown. When he is wearing shoes, they don't look that mammoth, but dang, when I wear them. They are even more gigantic when Soph wears them. They are almost as big as her. Speaking of the little angel, when I got her up from her nap today she told me she was putting her binky in her pocket. She then proceeded to shove it in her diaper. Great!

Tomorrow we are taking Soph to her first football game. She is going to go and cheer for the Jersey Shore Bulldogs. I am mostly going to drive my niece crazy, but also because I think Soph will like all the people. I have not been to a high school football game since like *GASP* 1992! I am so freaking old! This is also the first game Chris has been to? How does that even happen??

This morning Chris was walking the dog at around 5 am and a deer in our back yard hissed at him! He said he never heard anything like it. I guess he was disturbing them! Someday, I will get up at 5 am to see them... Ok, not really but it could happen.

Video

2008-09-02T23:03:00.001-04:00

Had to do it... It is on the phone so the quality is not great..

HUGE NEWS!

2008-08-29T00:22:00.001-04:00

At 9:05PM my little baby girl took a poop in the potty!!! She was so proud of her self. I know it is gross, but we vidoed it. Not even two years old and pooping in the potty! YAY! We have a song for it and everything... I cannot wait to pull the video out for her prom!

The Departed

2008-06-07T01:25:00.002-04:00

WOW! What an incredible freaking movie! I feel a little bad for waiting this long to watch it. I don't even know where to start my review. From the first minute through the rat walking across the balcony, this movie blew my mind! Even the music was perfect. It as earned a spot on my top ten. If it was not 1am, I would start it over again. There is so much I want to say about it but instead I will just say holy crap if you haven't seen it, see it, if you have watch it again.

Things have been boring on the home front except that Chris already had to turn a job down. Lewisburg area... He is holding out for the port. Speaking of Chris, he ruined my pants. Not just any pants, my "IT" pants. He left a pen in his pants and threw them in the washer. My pants have more ink on them than his pants that the damn pen was in. Oh, and I dropped my phone in the toilet. Good Times!

Sophie is most certainly entering the "terrible twos" a bit early. She has been using the coffee table as a slip and slide. She also tries to stand on her giant rubber ball and jump in her playpen. She stands on her 4 wheeler and pushes the button with her foot and surfs across the living room. She teases the poor dog constantly! She holds food out for him and then when he tries to take it, she either eats it herself or runs away laughing at him. I think he is looking for a new home. She knows when she is being bad too, when she is about to do something she is not allowed to do, she looks right at me, smiles, tells me no, then does it. Worst of all she throws MISERABLE rotten tantrums several times a day! I am talking lay on the floor and kick and scream.

Been awhile...

2008-05-15T02:44:00.003-04:00

So seriously, when was the last time you were calling to check on something (an order placed, dental insurance, your bank account) that you got so belligerently angry you called the person you were talking to "a FUCKING CUNT". I mean come on! I have been called many things since I started working in a call center but that is a little much! Who does that?
OK, I bitched about it... I am over it... Sort of...

Chris has an interview in Lewisburg already. Most of the schools were accepting applications through May, so hopefully he will get some calls a little closer to the port.

Sophie is going through a bit of a "no" phase. Today I told her to put her coat on and she kept saying no... no... no... Finally, I looked at her and pointed to myself and said "I'm the mommy and I said yes" She returned with patting herself saying "I am mommy". She is 19 months old and already thinks she is the boss. OK, she might be the boss a little but damn, I have to try to fix this...

Lastly, I am excited about Prince Caspian coming to theaters, I cannot wait for it to come out on DVD so I can watch it.... Sniffle.

Finally!

2008-04-30T01:06:00.002-04:00

So, let me start by saying both season 1 and 2 of Dexter were really intense and wicked good! I cannot wait for the next season, but really what else can they possibly do?

Next, Chris sent a packet of like 20 resumes out to schools in the Williamsport/State College area. I am torn on which place I want to end up. I guess the Port area. I love living in State College, but we would really be stuck in the same situation if we ended up there.

The biggest reason for moving home is to save the $710 a month for day care. Have I mentioned lately that she is only there a maximum of 40 hours per month... Let me make that easy, that is $17.75 per hour! If we end up in the Port, I can have my parents, brother, nieces, uncle, friends watch her pretty much anytime. Plus we are spending $1000 a month for rent, double what we would pay in the Port. We want to buy a house, but anything under $200 here is pretty much the ghetto, in the Port, $200 can buy you a nice house plus 5 acres.

Sooo, the point of all that is to say that by August we should be home, or at least close by! Woo Hoo!

Can it be?

2008-04-04T15:53:00.001-04:00

3 things

2008-03-25T01:12:00.000-04:00

First, some dick hacked into my WOW! account and got rid of all my stuff and stole all of my gold!! When I emailed Blizzard they said the cannot positively say my account was compromised... Umm hello, I just freaking told you it was! So now, I have nothing and it doesn’t sound like they are going to get it back.

Second, I started giving my agents a weekly survey, this week it was "What are your top 5 favorite movies". One of my top 5 was Pulp Fiction, and of 22 people 3 people have seen it!!! THREE!!!

Finally, we started watching Dexter over the weekend and all I can say after 6 episodes is wow do I love that freaky little weirdo!

No shit

2008-03-20T02:33:00.002-04:00

So I went outside to have a smoke before bed. Since it rained all day, I couldn't sit down because the chairs were wet. So I am standing there and all of a sudden a rabbit ran right into my foot. It made me scream, scared the living crap out of me, I thought it must be a rabid rabbit or something!! After hitting my foot, it kept running and another one that must have been chasing it ran past me, within two feet of me. It was just bizarre!! I am thinking they were excited because it was like 65 degrees out? Or perhaps one was feeling frisky and the other was not and was trying to escape or playing hard to get?

Oh nooo!

2008-03-07T14:11:00.001-05:00

Poor Johnny Castle!

Family Outing

2008-03-02T01:48:00.002-05:00

Today Chris and I took Soph to see Disney Princess on Ice. She liked it for awhile then got bored with it, then liked it again for awhile. There must have been 500 little girls dressed up as a princess, it was really cute. I cannot wait until she is a little older and take her in her princess dress.

I got annoyed at my job on Thursday. The manager likes all "fun" emails to be sent in a certain way. They have to be all short and chunky and all different colors. I on the other hand prefer justified and matching colors, I mean really, who wants an email with 14 paragraphs and each one a different color. Hers look dumb, mine do not. Since it was an email to my section, I did it my way. Twenty minutes later a supervisor had to "coach" me on my email. Are ya kidding me?? If there was a reason other than the manager likes them this way it would have been one thing, but it is an email from me to MY section! I kind of felt like I was ten.

J and L

2008-02-25T01:26:00.002-05:00

So the John Hiatt/Lyle Lovett show was incredible! I went thinking Lyle would be just ok and that I would love John Hiatt. Turns out, I loved them both. I also thought they would each play with their bands, but instead they came out together and sat on two chairs and played an acoustic show! It was so good. They are so different, they complimented each other very well. Good time! Thanks Ryan for the tip about the show!

Sniffle

2008-02-21T14:16:00.001-05:00

I just met my parents half way to drop Sophie off. Watching her drive away while she was waving and blowing kisses hurt bad. She didn't mind at all, but I kind of fell apart. We are going to go to the concert tonight and then come home to a house without our baby girl. It is kind of exciting, but also really scary. I am here, at the house now... ALONE. How bizarre.

January 6, 2008....

2008-01-06T21:50:00.000-05:00

It has finally arrived. The day I have been dreading for the last five, maybe ten years!!! I have hit the big 3-0! Holy Crap!!! I am not quite as panicked as I expected, but maybe it has just not sunk in. I went out in Panama City with Chris, my brother, and sister in law on Wednesday. It was a rough night. For my birthday Chris agreed to sing karaoke for me.... Anybody who knows him, knows how hard that was for him. He sang Into the Mystic and Every Rose has its Thorne... Obviously he let me pick the songs. Soon after he was finished at about 9:30, I had to be escorted to the garbage can outside where I released all the poison I had just ingested and cried about this day coming, then rode with my head out the window of the taxi back to the condo and slept it off....

I have lots to tell all about our vacation, but since I just got out of the car after driving 1024 miles, I am going to go to bed and will write about it tomorrow or maybe the next day.

Sickness has passed

2007-12-19T01:53:00.000-05:00

After Sophie's horrible night, Chris got it. It was 24 hours of pretty much hell. He got it on Friday. After Sunday came and went I was sure that it was going to skip me.... Of course, Monday night I started feeling it and then of course got it full force. The flu blows. I ended up having to take 1/2 a day off. I passed it on to my boss and two coworkers... Needless to say, they were not pleased. However, we are all better now. Thank goodness.

I got a Christmas card from one of my old coworkers. In the card she told me how the place was the same, still sucks for all the same reason. It made me think of my new job. Though I have only been there for 3 months, I have to say I like my job. I don't think I have ever said that before, but I honestly do. I don't even get queasy pulling into the parking lot. Of course, now that I finally don't hate my job, Chris is going to start applying for jobs back in the Port area. I would love to live back there again and be able to have a life, but then I will have to find another job, and there just aren't any there.

I am anxiously awaiting our vacation which is getting very close. We are leaving Christmas day and going to South Carolina to see Chris's parents. Then we are going to Panama City Beach for a week. My parents, my brother and his little angels, and Chris's parents are all coming. It will be like National Lampoons Vacation. Our fingers are crossed for nice weather.

Fun

2007-12-07T01:15:00.000-05:00

This made me snicker. I am not a fan of Star Wars, but I might like Harry a little....

Mmm Mmm that smell...

2007-12-06T01:41:00.001-05:00

Last night, Sophie literally threw up at least a gallon. I have never seen so much puke in my life!!! Her sheets, the wall, the floor, her clothes, her head, everything within 5 feet of her crib were completely saturated. I smelled it all day. I washed everything, but I think the smell is just stuck in my nostrils or something! She had a fever of 101. She still had a fever today, but she seems to feel fine. In case you don't usually read what I say, let me reiterate, "I HATE DAY CARE!". She is sick every week. It is terribly frustrating.

On a side note, I got my first Christmas card of the season last week. Chris's aunt and uncle have stolen my mothers spot of always being the first person to send out her cards. Perhaps to make things interesting I will send some out in July...

I hate NE

2007-11-26T01:16:00.001-05:00

SURPRISE, we lost to New England. However, they are a tough team and it was a really close game. So, this makes me say again, it is time for McNabb to be McNabbed right out of here. He "was" a great quarterback, but he is not any longer. I am counting on Andy even with all of his personal issues going on to see this. I also hate Feeley, but he looked better than McNabb has been looking....