Happy Birthday Steph!

My third daughter turned 21 this past Sunday. What a milestone! This is a picture of Steph in her sister's wedding this past November.

We are so proud of her. She is a hard worker - she works full-time, second shift at NutriSystem, and then works in the hair salon on Fridays and Saturdays on her days off from NutriSystem. She went to cosmotology school and she really loves the salon, but she does not have any health insurance, etc from the salon so she has to keep a full-time job as well.

When she was really little, she was very attached to me and I couldn't walk out of a room without her screaming. I remember washing windows for her great grandmother once, and she was inside the house screaming in her infant seat because she couldn't see me. Then she could see me through the window and quieted down. It was tough for a while leaving her with other people.

She always put all of her efforts into anything she would do. She was very enthusiastic about things, and is very thoughtful and concerned about other people.

One thing she liked to do when she was little, like at 3 years old, was take things apart with a screwdriver. I remember when she tried to remove a doorknob from her bedroom door, and also she loosened the screws in a chair we had.

She always said that she would never move out of the house. Which is very funny now, since we hardly ever see her. her boyfirend lives nearby and they work the same shift, so they hang out after work, at midnight. Her stuff still lives here, though!

She sent me flowers for her birthday, and here is what the card said:

Mommy (yes, she still calls me Mommy), I wanted to thank you for everything you have done. Just think, 21 years ago, you held me in your arms for the first time. And because of you, I am the woman I am today! Thank you, Love always, Stephanie

It was a beautiful thing for her to say. As a single parent, there were many times when I thought I wasn't doing the right thing, or felt like I didn't have enough time in the day to give them each the attention they needed since I had to work to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

Her two older sisters said "oh great, now we have to do that every year!"

Happy Birthday Steph!

Glossary for the Upcoming Election

Courtesy of The Onion:

Featured Term:
debate - A contest to see which candidate can answer the fewest questions.

absentee ballot - A form of voting that does not involve the inconvenience of having to get up off the couch and walk to a high school gymnasium.

ballot - An object recording a voter's decision that is frequently counted toward an election's outcome.

caucus - The process by which Americans are quadrennially reminded of Iowa's existence.

change - Can be found
1) In the air/wind.
2) At hand.
3) Inside us all.

convention - The best four-day-long chance a politically active, overweight Kia salesman from Tulsa has to nail one of them blond Fox anchors.

corruption - The most effective and efficient way to produce results in government.

delegate - A demented, often screaming individual who experiences intense arousal at the sight of a vertically printed placard bearing his or her state's name.

democracy - A moderately representative plutocracy.

Diebold voting machine - A sophisticated, computerized balloting terminal that electronically changes your vote into a vote for Mitt Romney.

election worker - A male or female at least 70 years of age.

electoral college - A process by which the number of states in the Union is narrowed down to the most important seven or eight.

experience - A quantitative score any politician may increase by slaying foes or solving riddles.

hope - An intangible object within every American that is destroyed every four years in November.

likability - The degree to which each candidate is able to hide the extent to which he or she is full of shit.

lobbyist - A better-paid legislator.

MoveOn.org - A company offering routine tests of your e-mail's spam filter.

platform - A list of the subjects that candidates are willing to discuss.
A raised structure, almost entirely covered by flags, upon which candidates are placed.

political consultants - Individuals who are very savvy politically, but don't have enough hair to run for office themselves.

political philosophy, conservative - A great way to meet chicks at Princeton University. U-S-A; e.g., U-S-A, U-S-A(!).

political philosophy, liberal - An ideology steeped in a proud tradition of ineffectual whining.

pollster - A person who willingly communicates with the elderly.

Rock The Vote - Something that is, apparently, still happening.

voter apathy - The reason most American politicians are able to achieve and maintain office.

Ways to keep your Sanity......just for Laughs

1.At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and Point A Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2.Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3.Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with That.

4.Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."

5.Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone Has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch To Espresso.

6.In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Sexual Favors". Do this even for the utility company payments!

7.Finish All Your Sentences With "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

8.Don't Use Any Punctuation

9.As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. Ask People What Sex They Are. Laugh Hysterically After They Answer.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play Tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, HOT MAMA

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking Lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

19. Tell Your Children Over dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.

Wearing of the Green...And other Stuff

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to ye all of Irish descent. We attended a St Pat's family party over the weekend at the Deathlok homestead - a good time was had by all. The Guinness stew rocked!

I made Irish sodabread this weekend, which means my weigh-in this week will probably be poor. I gave most to our folks, but left half a loaf here. If it is here, I will eat it. The truth hurts. But it is only once a year, so...

Here is a picture of our little Irish lass, opening presents at her Fourth birthday party last weekend. Today was her actual due date, but she was born a week early.


Other stuff that happened in the past two weeks:

Number One Son got accepted to Temple University (they beat St Joe's - sorry, Wyatt!). I made him a maroon and white cake to celebrate - white icing, maroon cake. When he cut it, he said "I don't think this cake is done, it looks a little rare."


Then a few days later, he and his friends were filming something for a documentary they are working on, and he got tackled the wrong way so we ended up in the ER Saturday afternoon. He has a sprained MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) in his right knee and is now on crutches with an almost full leg immobilizing brace. He can take it off to shower but that's pretty much it. This will probably ruin his baseball season this year - he plays for our township and practices usually start after Easter when the fields dry up enough to be used. It inconveniences me because now I have to drive him into school every day at 7am, which means getting Kara up as well.

Oh, and I discovered I have an eBay addiction, or at least it felt that way last week. I have a new quilting hobby and was buying fabric and instructional books on eBay last week. That's one of the reasons I didn't have any blogging time. I'll blog about my hobby later today, perhaps.

Beware the Ides of March....

Just sayin'.

This Week's Weigh-In

Hi, I'm here. I weigh 197.5 this week. Not that great for two weeks, but at least it is going in the right direction.

Good luck to you all this week, I'll be back tomorrow for more blogging.

This Week's Weigh-In, etc.

Hi All, I weigh 198 this week, down half a pound. It's a Downward trend that I will continue. I'm being optimistic, and trying to stay focused. Good luck to everyone this week. I started doing the Slim in 6 (Beachbody.com) exercise program this week and feel very energetic today.

Another busy week, no time for blogging this past week and probably not this week either. We are working on the inside of the house, trying to complete all the projects we've started or been meaning to start over the last few years, but never finished or got to. Our goal by spring is to have everything minor finished so we can simply enjoy our weekends and relax outside or do day trips, etc. Last week, we completed the most of the painting up the stairs and in the upstairs hallway, including all of the newer doors Grimjack put in year before last. He got the ceiling and walls finished yesterday, and installed the new light fixture, which looks great.

Just to give everyone a frame of reference, I lived in the house for 16 or 17 years before he came along. The house is close to 50 years old, and since I was a single parent a good number of those years, I never had the money to make improvements other than painting. So we had the original kitchen and bathrooms, etc. So over the last four years we have tried to do many of the things that needed work long before then.

This week, I hope to get all of the trim painted. Little Grim's Fourth Birthday is this coming weekend, and we have a family party for her on Saturday, so the rest of the week will probably be spent preparing for that.

Hopefully, the busier I am, the less I will binge!