Why am I so bitter in general?

Here are just some little snipbits of reasons why I'm a little bitter. These examples are not meant to be totally inclusive, but are just some highlights.

My Father~Left me twice with incompetent women. The first time he left me with my mother who, among other things, snorted cocaine in front of me, and abandoned me for days at random people's houses. The second time, he left me with the mother of his son (my stepmother) who emotionally and physically abused me for years.

He and I have gotten along well for years now, and I love him dearly but find him very hard to deal with when this is the response I get when I email him to tell him I'm pregnant:

Dear Mutley,

Don`t people just practice anymore??? I guess congrats are in order I don`t know what else to say??? Go forth and multiply...lol I guess you figured out how it happens.

Luv ya ta bits,

Dad

Sure he says "Luv ya ta bits" and I know he does, but I'm just so sick of the sarcastic, tough guy act!

He visited for two weeks and held Cherry maybe five times. He just hung out in the guest room the majority of the time and it seemed like such a huge chore for him to have family time with us.

My Mother~Lived with her on and off until I was five. Been in and out of jail for as long as I can remember. May or may not still be using drugs, but is completely screwed up from past drug use. Hasn't phoned me or seen me since I was eight months pregnant last time. I'm not too worried about that though, because it was around that time that she got someone to threaten to beat up my grandparents if they didn't give them (her) $600.

Stepmother~ Lived with her from 5 1/2 to 16 years old. Slapped me around, destroyed all of my belongings on several occasions, grounded me FROM SCHOOL because I had a boyfriend and had made out with him. The grounding included banning me from using razors so I couldn't shave my armpits, thinking that would make it less likely for me to be "felt up". She also told my doctor I was sleeping around when I had basically only french kissed a guy. She got wasted the night before Easter one year, and didn't wake up early enough in the morning to hide the eggs, so I went and found them all in her closet and hid them so my brother and the family friends who were coming would have an Easter egg hunt. I later got in trouble because I had forgotten to take the price tags off of the candy. Got kicked out once because I said I wanted to VISIT my father, got kicked out a second time because I refused to quit a job she had forced me to get in the first place.

Half-brother~Six years younger than I am. I lived with him until he was 10. I loved the kid, and the only reason why I stayed living with his mother was so I could stay close to him. After years of brainwashing by his mother, the kid totally hates me and is more than nasty to me when I have had the occasional contact with him over the past few years.

My Mother's mother~Love this woman, but am starting to loathe her due to the fact that she constantly rags on me for having pets, and she does nothing but complains. (I think I got that trait from her!)

My Father's mother~A wonderful lady, but she seems to be able to visit Scotland, Chicago, Florida, and Vegas in a year, but doesn't take the time to come visit her first great-grandchild.

My Husband's mother~Lives an hour and a half away, yet has only come and visited Cherry three times. Promised to babysit Cherry 3 nights a week so I could work while Armondo was away, but backed out. Went to sister-in-law's house 24 hours away to do the exact same thing.
Dislikes the fact that we have a relationship with some family that she doesn't like.

My Husband's father~apologized recently for bad behaviour. I have forgiven him. I can move on.

Some of my husband's sisters~Accused me of: "corrupting" their brother, stealing from another sister, being MEAN to said sister, lying about their mother.

Husband's Aunt #1 (mother's sister)~ Told one of my husband's sisters that she didn't want to come visit Armondo and Cherry if I was home too.

Husband's Aunt #2 (mother's brother's wife)~No longer talks to me because of something cryptic I said about her in my old blog. It was nothing nasty, and it was disguised. She flipped. Her daughter flipped. Also, asked Armondo questions about her husband's behaviour while the two of them were away together. Armondo told the truth. No longer talks to us.

Husband's Uncle (husband of above aunt)~Has been saying to other relatives that Armondo was a spy "sent" by his wife to keep her in the know about his bad behaviour. Has refused treatment for his problems and no longer talks to us.

Yeah, so there are just a few things that I'm a little pissed about. I realize that it's MY problem and that none of these things should really bother me, but they do. And it makes me very defensive and cocky.

Happy Mothers' Day!

Today was my first Mothers' Day. It was great. I love being a mother!

Being a mom has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am truly blessed.

I take my job as a mother very seriously. I want to do my best to give my best to my child(ren).

Both of my children (I'm including the one in my belly in this statement) were planned and wanted.

I researched the job and continuously do so. I talk to other parents and read other parents' experiences in order to have some insight so I don't go into things blindly.

I am a very opinionated mother. And in my opinion, I am better at being a mother than I have been at doing anything else. (So far).

Being a mother is the one thing that I always knew I wanted to be and do. And I always wanted to be good at it.

It might be wrong for me to think I'm a good mother, and to think that I might be better than other mothers, but isn't that my prerogative? I mean, if you work really hard at being an artist, or being a lawyer and you think you're better than other artists or lawyers, is that so wrong? (Sorry, just trying to justify some nasty things I said in my last post.)

I hope I don't fail my children!

***

Armondo and I are horrible at keeping gifts a secret. Usually by October, we've given each other our Christmas gifts. Birthdays, we can't help but give too many hints. And I'm just plain good at guessing.

Anyway, for mothers' day I gave a bunch of suggestions, 'cause Armondo didn't even know where to begin. I guessed one of my gifts. I didn't know I would be getting more than one gift, but when I came home last night from getting a movie (Fun with Dick and Jane-darn good), I walked into the bathroom and saw empty bags from Ben Moss (jewelry) and Lush (body products).

"Armondo!? You might want to go into the bathroom" I say.
"huh? What?" He walks into the bathroom and sighs. "STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!"

It's impossible for us to give gifts secretly! Even when we TRY, we still screw up!

So, this morning, I was allowed to sleep in, and was awoken by the smell of a beautiful breakfast of eggs benny on homemade bread, sausages, fried potatoes, PRAWNS, and a beautiful fruit salad.

For gifts, I got the Timex watch I had wanted, some cute little diamond stud earrings and a massage bar (Which, of course, comes with the unsaid promise of a massage!!) I also got two cards. One from Armondo that said a bunch of mushy cute stuff, and one from Cherry, where Armondo guided her hand to say "It was very nice of you 2 bee my mommy, I love u, Cherry."

We then all had a nap, and went for a 6 km walk. It was a very nice day.

After we got home, we put Cherry down for bed, and Armondo made me a nice dinner of bbq chicken made with homemade bbq sauce and potatoes, veggies and salad.

I am so spoiled!

Happy Mothers' Day to me! And to you!

Clarification.

WARNING WARNING WARNING.

I HAVE WRITTEN SOMETHING JERKY HERE. DO NOT READ IF YOU'RE RELATED TO MY HUSBAND OR ARE GOING TO SPEAK TO ANYONE RELATED TO MY HUSBAND. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY HARD FEELINGS THAT COULD ARISE FROM YOU READING THIS. THE ABOVE MENTIONED PEOPLE ARE NOT WELCOME AT THIS BLOG. PERIOD.


This post is mostly for me, I'm sure none of you would find this interesting, but because this is my journal, I figured I should write this in here, so I can look back and remember...

I was really bitter this year that I totally got ripped off for my birthday. One grandmother sent me clothes that were a bajillion sizes too big, and the other grandmother didn't send me ANYTHING. This is the first time that they did this. This was the year I could have really used the money.

ANYWAY, two months late, I got a package from my other grandmother with my birthday money in it. AWESOME. It was a little late, and it didn't come in the month when I had THREE mortgage payments, but it did, eventually come. And it paid for the shopping spree I had just gone on when I bought a bunch of things for our new poodle.

The other thing is:

Armondo's dad basically phoned to appoligize to me for being a jerk in the past to me. He told me that I was an awesome mother and an awesome wife and he really enjoyed watching our family interact. That was pretty cool. When he was visiting, he had also said that Armondo and I were probably the only parents these days that are doing things right. (Referring to bed times, feeding schedules etc.) And he basically told me we were better parents than Armondo's older sister and her husband. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but WE TOTALLY ARE better parents. Ok, that was a little rude. But... sometimes the truth hurts. And now, my kids are going to be meth dealers and hers are going to be straight A students. Just because I said that.

***

Oh, and nothing makes me randier than my husband being all "Handy-man". Usually, I'm the one who does the fix-it things, or instructs how to do the fix-it things, but lately, he's just been so HOT being all handy! (I only know stuff 'cause I work in a hardware store, and have off and on for over 5 years.)

About pregnancy, baby naming, work choices, flying kites, dead rats, photos and a cat in a crib.

***

Warning! Slightly graphic content here.

So, I'm still not sick. With Cherry, I was sick for the first FIVE months. And I mean, REALLY sick. Every day sick. Buy REALLY expensive medication sick. Not able to get out of bed in the morning sick. But having to get out of bed anyway, because puking in a bowl isn't very nice.

I never puked at work though. I only worked three nights a week at the restaurant, and was usually ok by nighttime. One time I ALMOST threw up there, but was able to get off easy with just a little wretch.

So, needless to say, I'm pretty happy about not being sick this time. I have felt a *tiny* bit nauseous when my stomach has been completely empty, but besides that, I'm pretty good.

***

We've been going through baby names lately. We haven't gone through ALL of the letters yet, but so far, this is what we've got:


(girl) ABIGAIL ("Abby" is just too cute!)
(girl) ANNABELL(e)(a) (I really like this one, but it's probably a "no" because our dog's name is Annie.)
(boy) CALEB (I've loved this name for EVER.. well ever since I used to watch American Gothic the TV show.)
(boy) DOMINICK
(girl) CHARLOTTE
(girl) FARREN (Armondo is really warming up to this one.)
(girl) GWENDOLYN (This one is in my top three for sure!)
(boy) ISAIAH
(girl) ISABELL(E)(a) (This is a favourite, but probably a no-go, 'cause Armondo thinks I only like it 'cause Belinda's kid has some form of this name.)
(boy) THEODORE (I love the short forms of this name: Ted, Teddy, Tad.)
(boy) JO(h)NATHAN (I think if we named the kid this name, I'd call him "Nathan" for short, as opposed to "John")

We still have a bunch of letters to go through, and I'm up for suggestions, but the first name can NOT start with a "B" or an "H". Because our last name starts with an "O". I don't want my kid being called "B.O." or "HO".

***

Armondo might be getting another job on a fishing boat. We won't find out for a couple of weeks, but if he DOES get the job, he'll be gone for another month. I am NOT happy about this. I said to him: "I didn't think I was marrying a fisherman!" His response: "No, but you DID marry a cook, and I'll be COOKING on this boat."

It's tough. I miss him a LOT when he's gone, but the big money is such an attractive draw. And he feels like he has to "provide" for his family, and in his mind right now, this is the way to do it. Apparently, if he gets this particular job, he'd probably be able to get steady jobs on boats for as long as he wants. Weighing out the pros and cons here, just like I always did in high school:

Pros/Cons:
Big money/I'll miss him lots.
He really ENJOYS the job./He might miss major baby milestones.
He'll get time off for WEEKS instead of days/I'll be pregnant and alone for weeks, and I get paranoid when I'm pregnant!

***

Armondo said or did something really funny at breakfast today, and I told him I was going to blog about it. But I can't remember it. At all. Sucky.

***
We went to the park with my buddies C+O today.
It was Armondo, Me, Cherry, Jacy, Annie, O (5 year old), his mom C, and Baby G.
O. brought his kite, and at one point, Armondo got it flying pretty good, and handed it over to O. After O. had flown it for a little while, I said "Whoa, O. you're a PRO!!"
"Yeah!" He says. "I'm a pro! 'Pro' means 'Good kite flyer!' "

Later, as C. took O. to the bathroom, Armondo was holding onto the kite, making it do tricks and stuff, and he accidently let it dive bomb into the playground almost taking a kid out with it.

When O. got back from the bathroom, he started asking Armondo why the string was in so many knots and what had happened, so Armondo started explaining how he had it dive bombing here and there and he lost control.

O. replies: "I don't want to HEAR about any more of this 'DIVE BOMB' business!!!'

***

My other rat died. Armondo was here to deal with it this time. I was less than impressed with dealing with it last time. Rats are really good pets, but they just aren't made to last long! No more pocket pets for awhile. Not until the kids start asking for them.

***
Pictures? You want pictures? I've been forgetting to post pictures lately, haven't I? It's the stupid Flickr thing. You get so darned lazy when you put them there, 'cause you just think to yourself "They can just click on that thing if they want to see pictures".. but REALLY... how
many people ACTUALLY click on those things?
Armondo found this frog when he was cutting the lawn. Pretty cute, eh?











And this is Cherry making her pug face, or her "I'm done" face.

***

Cherry goes to bed every night at 7pm, unless we've messed up the schedule due to company or shopping trips or whatever. Tonight, we put her down to bed at 7 as usual, but she just kept on babbling and talking to herself until, finally at 8pm, she started sounding upset. I figured she had lost her soother, so I popped into her room to find it for her when I found the problem.

Ozzy was in her crib. Cherry had been babbling and talking to OZZY for an hour! No WONDER, she wasn't sleeping! She had finally got too tired to deal with the cat, so she started crying (I assume) so I would come in and take the cat out! So, I did, and I grabbed her soother off of the floor, and now, 15 min later, not a sound to be heard!

One day, Armondo will learn to check for cats before he leaves her room!

You know you're CeCe when..

You know you're sexy when your three favourite and best fitting bras were purchased from Wal Mart and had pictures of Star Jones on the labels.

You know you're a circus freak when you can just clap your hands and catch and kill two flies in one try mid air.

You know you're lazy when your most favourite activity ever on a sunny, warm, spring morning is sleeping.

You know you're a wuss when you start crying after your husband rips the wax strip off of your upper lip and you refuse to let him do it again, even though most of the hair is still there. (and not to mention, run away while crying saying "no, I CAN'T do it again!"

You know you're a little insane when you're watching a commercial with talking, drawing, costume wearing animated turkeys, and the thing you point out as being ludicrous is the fact that the turkeys have teeth.

You know you've been made up of left over parts when you sneeze everytime you pluck your eyebrows.

You know you take your cashiering job a little too seriously when you catch yourself putting your hand on your heart and telling the new girls at work that "Counting back change properly is a very important part of a job as a cashier."

Recap for the last week or so.

House Guests

After my dad left, we had one day without guests, then Armondo's dad Popeye arrived. He was here during that awesome seafood dinner we had. In fact, he purchased the majority of the seafood. I worked most of the days that he was here, which was a good thing, 'cause although that guy is really nice and funny, it's sort of like hanging out with a 15 year old in a 55 year old's body.
I'll have to tell you a little more about that guy someday.

***More about babies.

There's a new guy at the hardware store. He's my age and has a fiancee who is 20, and they have month and a half old twins. Boy and a girl. I'm so jealous. I want twins so bad!

***
A New Obsession.

We just finished watching the first season of Twin Peaks on DVD and "Fire Walk With Me" which is the movie that is the prequel to the first season.

The prequel basically told us who murdered Laura, but still left a lot of mysteries. The last episode of the first season shows Cooper, the FBI agent getting shot, so I guess that starts a new mystery for the second season, which we may or may not be able to obtain from local video stores. ANYWAY, I recommend watching the series if you haven't already. It's pretty cool. And I swear I have a lot of the craziness figured out, such as all the weird people in the dream sequences. I think Laura has multiple personalities, and, although it might just be a Hollywood thing, it seems that whenever the personalities come together and meet eachother, things seem to get nuts, which I think is what was happening to Laura in Twin Peaks. I think the multiple personalities were brought on due to the extreme sexual abuse she suffered from her father. And her father had a split personality too, and Laura caught on to this, seeing "Bob" instead of her father when she was getting abused.

***American Idol.

I love Katharine McPhee. I don't think anyone else is even slightly as good as her! In the early days of this season of Idol, I thought that there were a lot of good singers, but as we get down to the crunch, it's seems obvious that Katharine is going to be the winner. I think her voice is as good as Xtina's, but she's so much more wholesome, making her much more lovable!

I was a little surprised that Paris was voted off tonight though. That girl's got some awesome pipes! I think that she'll be getting a recording contract for sure!

***More Problems with THE server.

The past couple of weeks I was having problems with Lisa from the restaurant again. Alana, another server at the restaurant was taking some time off last week and hadn't got people to cover all of her shifts yet. I went to John, our boss, and told him I'd take the Tuesday shift after I checked with Alana if she had promised it to anyone else. Alana had told me that she had asked several servers, including Lisa, but no-one said they could take it, and Lisa said that she wanted it, but couldn't commit because she wasn't sure if she'd get the new job she had just had an interview for.

Not wanting to step on anyone's toes, and not wanting anyone to get really pissed off, (servers are so cut-throat about shifts sometimes) I went to Lisa to double check if she had wanted the shift. Her response?

"Tell you what, I'LL take the shift, but IF I get the other job and need to work that night, then YOU can take it."

I tell her that, no, that wasn't going to work, because I had to arrange my schedule at my other job, so it had to be a "yes" or "no" with me, no "maybe"s.

She told me how much she needed the money because she had car payments, and was in debt from her trip to Alberta, and such.

"Well I need the money to support my FAMILY. But that's fine, you take it. I can commit and you can't, but that's fine, YOU take it." And I walked away.

Later, she called me over and told me that I could take the shift.

On Monday she phoned me to "confirm" that I was taking the shift. grrrrrrr....

***Some People have all the Luck.

On Wednesday, Lisa and I worked a shift together, and Lisa got this totally crazy guy. He flipped at her for lighting his candle, swore at her for bringing him garlic bread, and totally lost it when she brought the hot butter (butter sitting atop a lit candle), and demanded she take his food away and put it in a to go container. I think he was off his meds. He kept on shoving $20's at her and begging her not to call the cops. His bill was $82, the tip was $80. I suggested she try to give some of the money back to him, and the guy refused. I then suggested that she give some of the money to charity. I doubt she did.

When I got home and told Armondo about the whole thing, he's like "Why HER?!? Why couldn't YOU have gotten that table?!?"

I don't have an answer for that. I mean, I had MY crazies last week.

***

Some Work Plans.

I'm going to cut back my shifts. I want three shifts at the hardware store, and one at the restaurant if possible. (Or two at each, but I doubt I can get a second regular shift at the restaurant.) If it does work out that I get 3/1 then, it means I work three and a half days, and get three and a half days off a week, which would be AWESOME! With the raise I recently got, I can justify not working quite as much now too. It's not a HUGE raise, but it sure seemed to make a difference this last paycheque!

I'd like to have more time for the family, more time for the yard, and more time for the blog. It seems like I never see Cherry anymore. Just half an hour before work, and half an hour after. And she's always grumpy just when I get home!

And I want to start drawing again, which I've been threatening for awhile, but haven't actually done. I'm also trying to hang out with my friends more often these days too.

***

Time with Friends.

On Monday, I went out for a bit with my friend C. and her little eight week old daughter. It was a nice afternoon, with lunch and window shopping. I'm worried about C., as when she was screened for post partum depression, she was considered borderline. I know she didn't actually want a second child, and she often talks about how the arrival of her child has messed up all her plans, so I'm worried, to say the least. I wish I could spend more time with her and her family, but I have my own family to worry about. (Her son is the boy in this post.)

Tomorrow night, I have a possible date with my friend L.B. I hope it works out, I miss her!

Last Friday, I went to a friend's house where she held a cosmetic party. The brand was called Arbonne. I wasn't overly impressed, and I didn't buy anything. We started the party off by going into the bathroom and having our hands scrubbed by some product that ACTUALLY hurt my hands. And then it left this really oily residue on my hands. We were then wisked into the living room, and were given little tubs full of hot water, marbles, and oil to put our feet into. My tub was too hot. And the smell of the stuff in it plugged me up right away! Watery eyes, runny nose, tight throat. It was gross. (I also had a cold, so this irritated the cold more than anything.)

Then the rep gave her speech, trying to tell us that a) anything our skin touches gets absorbed into the bloodstream in 26 seconds. b) And that petroleum jelly and baby oil can kill us by not letting our skin breath. c) that bat faeces go into some mascaras. d) that rendered animal fat from euthanized animals and road kill goes into making lipstick and mascara. e) the average woman eats six pounds of lipstick in her life.

My responses? (I didn't say any of this at the party, 'cause I wouldn't be this rude, but HERE, I can say ANYTHING!)

a) If this were true, then we would never have to drink water. We would absorb enough water from washing our hands, bathing, and swimming.
b) *ahem.. bullsh*t*
c) So? It's "natural"!
d) Is this really all that bad? I thought recycling was a good thing! And besides, haven't you seen "Fight Club"?
e) I have only worn lipstick MAYBE 25 times in my life. And I used that particular number because I know I've worn it once a year for the past few years on hallowe'en, and I wore it for prom. And there were a few times when I was a kid that I wore it too.

Needless to say, I didn't buy anything. Some of the girls there were totally sold on this stuff though, and a few of them had already been to SEVERAL of the parties, and had bought the $35 "discount" card.

***

Dreams.

Being pregnant has brought back the weird dreams again. I've had a couple lately. In one, this 20 something guy was destroying some of the ornamental trees on the road side, and I beat him up, kicked him to the curb and left him within an inch of his life.

In another dream, Armondo and I broke up, (but we were only dating in the dream), and I was so upset that he wasn't phoning me to work things out, then Bruce (his friend) calls me up to talk to me about the whole thing, and it's so obvious that Armondo's sitting next to him, coaching the conversation, that I just freak out and tell him to tell Armondo to call me himself.

***

More about work. I know, it's my whole life. I'm trying to change that.

I had a rude customer today. I got a little snippy. I told Jack about it. I think he's worried that he's going to have to fire me. (Only half joking here).

Jack paid me a pretty nice compliment today. He told me that I'd be a really good (personnel) manager. He said I have a lot of patience with the two new people and that I handle them well. I asked him if he was going to promote me, and he told me he didn't like me THAT much.

***

Yet another obsession.

I'm getting sort of hooked on Su Doku. I've been ripping pages out of a coworker's book at work and trying my best. I have yet to finish one without screwing up. I got SO close today!

***
What's the WORST thing a customer has done to you?

I was remembering today the time I had a customer at the hardware store in the town I lived in a few years back who just got plain violent with me.

She was returning a furnace filter that was the wrong size and needed one that was the right size. She didn't have her receipt with her for the return, so as I was on a ladder, reaching above my head to try to find the right size for her, I was telling her that I couldn't authorize the return without a receipt, and that I would have to get a manager to approve it (which wouldn't have been a problem, really). She started arguing with me about how it still had the sticker on it, and it was obvious she had bought it there etc. I basically told her that was all fine, but I still needed to get a manager, which wasn't a big deal. She continued to argue with me about it, even though she had nothing to argue ABOUT, because her return was going to be approved ANYWAY, when she finally yelled at me saying "I don't like your attitude!" and she THREW her furnace filter at me and stomped out of the store.

She made me cry. I felt like *I* had done something wrong. I was only a kid.

Recently Kathy, a coworker at the hardware store I work at now, had a rude customer. As she was finishing up his sale, she said "Thank you, have a good evening." And he replied YELLING "You are very RUDE! When I worked retail, we always said 'thank you for your business, please come again!' " and he stormed out of the store, still yelling various things, leaving Kathy angry and crying with fury.

People suck! Again, I ask, what's your worst experience with the "public"?

***

Whew, I'm tired, and I'm sure you're bored by now, so I'll ttyl!

~CeCe

About my belly.

Thank you all for your well wishes and such on the last post. Here are more details about the whole thing, and answers to some questions.

Armondo and I have been trying for several months to get pregnant. With him being away so much lately, we had missed my "peak" time each month. It wasn't until this month that we were finally able to get it on in the middle of my cycle.

I've had a head cold for a little while now, and it's developing into a chest cold. I was feeling a bit nauseas the past few days, but figured that, even though I was pretty sure that it was because I could be pregnant, I didn't want to "jinx" it, so just wrote it off as being part of the cold/flu I've been experiencing. But in all reality I knew.

And so did my boss at the hardware store. Several days ago he asked me if I had gotten pregnant yet, because I was "glowing".

Belinda also knew. Although, I'll leave it up to her to explain how, (if she so wishes) in my comments.

L.B. , a friend of mine also said I looked really good the other day, even though, like I mentioned, I've been sick for the past week or so.

Late the other night, I said to Armondo "Do you want to run to the drug store tonight?" (for a test) and he refused. (is it SOOO unreasonable to ask your hubby to drive 15 min at 11:30 at night, in his pj's to go pick up a pregnancy test?!?) So the next day (yesterday), I picked up a test during my lunch break at the hardware store. I knew there was going to be NO way I would be able to wait until I got home to take the test, and knew that there was the chance I wasn't pregnant, so I thought I'd just pick up two tests, (One to take right away, and if positive, another one to take later to take a picture of to post... OR... one to take right away, and if negative, another one to take NEXT month.) Well, I made a mistake, not noticing that someone had put a one test packet in a two test space, I only bought one test.

When I got back to the hardware store, I ripped open the package and peed. Slowly, the "-" turned into a "+". Now, I have to be honest with you, I still feel a little bit unsure... there might be the slightest possibility that the test wasn't ACTUALLY positive, because the line that completed the "+" was very faint. My friend Tricia assures me that that's just because my hormone levels are still low.

So, if you're following along, this means that the picture on the last post wasn't ACTUALLY of MY test. It's just a picture I found on google images.

After taking the test, I phoned Armondo to tell him the news. He didn't actually sound very happy about it. Turns out that he was sad that there would be no more "practicing". He was joking though, and he's actually pretty thrilled.

The baby is due around January 8th according to Baby Center's Due Date Calculator.

Armondo says that if the baby is born on his birthday (Jan 5th) and is a boy, then he will be named Armondo's real name for a first name, and Armondo's brother's name for a second name, since Armondo's brother's birthday is Jan 5th as well!

This will all work out perfect. I really wanted my kids to be 18 months apart, and if this pregnancy is healthy and goes full term, they'll be right around that year and a half mark!

Seems like most of my new years wishes are coming true!

No words

Baby news!

No, not me... yet.. but...

EVE JUST HAD TWINS! Congratulations! Go say hi to her and look at those BEAUTIFUL babes!

And Kristina is about to have one!

And two of my co-workers' daughters are pregnant!

I so want to get pregnant!

Does this post REALLY need words?

More pics in Flickr

A mess.

Things are pretty good and very busy!

I haven't had much time to write lately, because I've actually been doing stuff.

I've had a few days off in a row and here are some of the things we've done.

~I trimmed hedges for the first time ever and did an ok job.

~I threw a baby shower for the first time and did an awesome job.

~I got a little bit sick again and am fighting a sore throat.

~My dad left yesterday to go to his new job. He was here for two weeks. He was a good guest, but it's nice to have my house back.

~I went to the specialist yesterday about my colon problems. He stuck his finger where the sun don't shine. He basically told me I have IBS, and if I WANTED to get a colonoscopy, I could, but otherwise, I should try laxatives and stools softeners for a couple of months before worrying too much about it. (Isn't it great that in Canada, if you WANT to get a scope of your colon done, you just CAN?!)

~Armondo is burning yard waste outside right now, and some of the waste is old hay and straw from when we had chickens. Have you ever smelled burning hay? It's pretty nasty! We're smoking out the whole neighbourhood. I feel bad, but ... whatever!

~We've had a few people look at the house lately, but no offers yet.

~We had three appointments in a row not show up. That really pissed us off. The realtor dropped the price bomb again, and we basically said "screw that." There is a house the exact same size, same amount of rooms and same amount of yard in the worst neighbourhood in town on the corner of two extremely busy streets that are asking the same price as us. There is NO way I'm dropping the price of our house lower than that house. Our house is in a nice not bad neighbourhood, on a dead end street, close to a beautiful river.

~There are new pictures up on Flickr that I put up a couple of days ago. Go check them out if you haven't already!

~Both dogs, Armondo and I went for a walk on the waterfront yesterday, it was so nice! The weather here has been so gorgeous the past couple of days! I'm a big fan of sunny and warm, but not sunny and hot.

~Jacy is fitting right in in our little zoo. Her and Annie get along fine, and the cats don't mind her either.

~Cherry LOVES Jacy, and Jacy is very patient with her when she tugs on her ears.

Sorry for the crappy post, and the lack of comments on your comments. I swear I'm reading them, I just don't have time to respond it seems. I really don't know WHY I don't have time to, but I've been feeling some pressure from Armondo to spend more "family time" than computer time. Oh, and we've been watching "Twin Peaks" on DVD the past couple of days, and no, Belinda, I wasn't TWO when that show came out, I was at least seven. I think. I'm not sure though. And we watched "Everything is Illuminated", which I highly recommend!

So, starting at 6pm today, I start my week of full time work again.

Hey, does anyone know if you can get TiVo in Canada?

The blogroll.

So, I've done some tidying of my blogroll. I've left in all the people who responded to this post saying that they wanted to stay. And I've taken out quite a few that are really well written. I took them out so that I won't "waste" so much time on the computer reading about people I have no real interaction with, even though I find them quite enjoyable.

I've also taken out a couple where I've felt like I've been "ignored" when I comment, or if they don't come back to visit my blog.

If you've been removed from my blogroll, and would really prefer to stay, let me know! I know I have several lurkers, and I'm sure some of you used to be on my blogroll, so, say hi, and I'll put you back on there!

After I go and catch up on all the blogs I have left on my list, I'll post some cute pics!

Quick Quips.

In his words, Armondo is not a "House husband" but is a "Domestic Dude."
***

Armondo was watching a movie with a pregnant lady in it and I asked him
"What do you like better: how I look now, or how I looked at 8 months pregnant?"
He replies "That's like comparing Apples and Oranges. They're BOTH TASTY FRUIT!"

***

Last week, we had a couple of really nasty weather days. We went shopping and it seemed with every group of people, ONE person would run to "get the car" while the rest of each group waited in the doorway until the other person would pull up to get them. Cherry and I were waiting for Armondo to bring the car up, and beside us, there was a family of four organizing the same mission.

The mom says to one of her kids "Wait here.." and the kid runs out after his dad and says:
"I'M NOT MADE OF SUGAR!!! I'm a MAN!"
***

That is all for now, I have a baby shower to plan now!

PLEASE READ!

Hey YAWL.

My bloglist is getting too long. It takes WAY too long to read all of your blogs while I'm working full time.

And there are some new blogs I want to add, but can't commit to yet because THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY!

SO... If you're on my bloglist and want to stay there, TELL ME! If you don't care if I remove you, then don't say anything!

If you're reading my blog and you don't think I'm reading yours, then TELL ME!

I like the "conversation" part of this whole blog thing. And if you're not into conversing with me, then I think I'm going to weed ya out.

No love lost. I'm just too busy, and would prefer to get to know a few of you really well rather than know a lot of you not so well.

The Weekend!

Yesterday we had a big day! Although things didn't go exactly like planned, it was still a good time.

We started off by taking the ferry to the mainland. I took this picture of my home town from the ferry. It had never occurred to me to take a picture of my town until now, because all I do is think about moving from it lately. It's actually pretty from a distance, being that it's nestled between snow capped mountains and the clean blue ocean.


And I realize it's vulgar, but see that tall building that's basically in the middle of the pic? It's nick-named "The Penis" because of how it sticks up and there are matching short buildings on either side that look like "balls".

On the ferry, Cherry had SO much fun hanging out in the play area.


She had fun crawling all over the toys.



And everywhere she goes, all the kids just gather around her and tell her how cute she is!

We spent a bit of time hanging out with my grandparents on the north side of the border, then spent half an hour in the line heading south.

On the other side, the arch says something like "Children from the same mother" and inside there's an inscription saying something like "Let this gate never be closed."

As we got onto the I5, Armondo says "My speedometer doesn't GO American!"

We then drove to Bellingham where we shopped at Bellis Fair Mall, and we picked up some cute baby clothes. We weren't really overly impressed with the mall, and thought that our local mall was probably a bit better. The only thing that impressed me about that mall was the Victoria's Secret store. I SO wanted to buy some bras there. But my boobs won't stop changing size, so I thought there was no point in buying a bra there at this point in time.

After shopping, we headed straight to the SeaTac airport, which we thought was just in between Seattle and Tacoma, but is ACTUALLY in a town CALLED SeaTac. We're assuming that the town was built around the airport, and not the other way around.

In SeaTac, we ate at Denny's, (which we don't have in our town) but we REALLY wanted to find a Red Lobster, 'cause I drool everytime I watch their commercials, and we SO don't have any of those close by!

The service was crappy at Denny's. And the waitress was so grumpy, and so was the hostess. And the waitress gave us our bill before we even finished our dinner. And she didn't clear our dinner plates. I was so inclined to not leave a tip, but I didn't want to be considered a "Cheap Canadian!"

From the window at Denny's we could see the airport. We drove to SeaTac nice and early so we could just relax and eat and not have to worry about getting to the airport in time to pick up Jacy.

Well, we went to the airport, Armondo parked the car in the "hourly" parking area, and I went in to find the "cargo" area while Armondo read Cherry a story and put her to sleep. I went into the airport and found someone and asked for directions to get to the cargo area. It turns out we were totally in the wrong place, and that we had to drive out of the parking lot, go back on to the freeway and find "Air Cargo Road."

So, I went back to the car, paid $2 AMERICAN for 12 minutes of parking, and we went on our way to find the right place.

The directions the woman gave me were pretty vague. She mentioned something about getting back onto the freeway. She didn't mention WHICH freeway.

So, we got lost.

Yeah, somehow, we were headed back North to Seattle all of a sudden. With some quick thinking, my superior navigating skills, and keen sense of direction, I said "Quick! Turn off back into Tacoma!" And then we found our way back. *whew*

We arrived RIGHT on time at the Cargo place, but Jacy was 15 minutes late.

When she arrived, I had to pay for the flight and do some paperwork with the cargo people. Although friendly, I HAVE NEVER SEEN PEOPLE MOVE MORE SLOWLY. I tried to be patient, but kept on dropping hints about how the dog had been locked in a crate for close to 11 hours and NEEDED TO PEE! But they just took their sweet ass time. I guess they didn't want to break a nail or anything!

And then we got our precious Jacy. And she was cold. So we had to put one of Cherry's sweaters on her.

How is it that they had JUST met, and they're already making the same face for the camera?

After attempting to get Jacy to pee outside for a bit, I handed dog duty over to Armondo while I went inside to call Belinda to tell her I had received her precious poodle. (To read about the beginning of Jacy's journey, click here.)

Belinda has the cutest accent EVER! It was so hard for me not to giggle as she ended our conversation with "I LAWve y'all!" Is that what they call "Southern Hospitality"? Seems to be a whole lot of LAWve down there!

Jacy fell for Armondo right away, picking his lap over mine for the beginning of the trip home. Although, I think she sensed my jealousy 'cause she hopped onto my lap a couple of times just to make me happy. Here, Jacy and Armondo are "singing". Armondo was singing to a CD, and Jacy started howling and whining along. This, apparently, is a talent that even Belinda didn't know Jacy had!


Seattle at dusk. Taken from a moving car.

So, since Jacy hadn't peed at the cargo terminal, and it didn't look like she had peed in her crate, we thought it would be a good idea to stop at a rest stop to get her to pee there. *I* peed. Jacy. Did. Not.

Jacy didn't pee when we got to the ferry terminal either. Even after a couple of hours sleeping in the car with us while waiting for the ferry, she still didn't go pee. She didn't even pee when we got home. It wasn't until several hours later that she peed, and she didn't even get all the way to the yard, she just peed on the deck. And a LOT of pee, Armondo tells me.

When we went to get back into Canada, the crossing guard harrassed us slightly. She asked us how long were were in the US, what we bought, and the purpose of the trip.

When we told her we got a dog, she started asking us all these questions..

"How old is the dog?"
"Where did it come from?"
"How much did she cost?"
"You're going to have to shout, I can't hear you."
"You're telling me you haven't actually MET the woman who sent you the dog?"
"Why would she send you an adult dog? Don't breeders usually send puppies?"
"You're telling me that all you paid for is the flight fare?"
"Why would this woman whom you have never met, send you her dog?"
After handing her Jacy's paperwork.
"So, she's four years old?"
"Tell me again, WHY did you get this dog?"

*ugh*

So, yeah, we couldn't get ahold of Armondo's dad before our trip, so we just headed straight to the ferry. We *knew* we weren't going to be able to make the last ferry, but we thought we'd try. We were 45 min late. So we slept in the car. We were prepared though. We had foamies, and plenty of blankets. I slept ok, but I'm starting to feel it in my back now! Jacy cuddled with us in our little nest, as Cherry slept in her car seat, which we moved up front while we slept on the folded down back seats. When we got on the ferry, I continued to sleep while Armondo entertained Cherry up in the passenger decks.

We got home around 7:30 (a whole 24 1/2 hours after we left the day before) and after letting Jacy and Annie meet, I called my boss to tell him I was going to be late for work, as I hadn't had a shower, and I actually had to work at 8:30 am, and not the 9:30 that I had assumed. My boss told me I was a "good girl" and said that would be fine.

And then I got a raise.

Yup. On the day that I show up half an hour late, my boss gives me a $.50/h raise.

After I got home from work today, Armondo filled me in on the days events.

~Jacy can hop over the baby gate.
~Cherry finds Jacy to be absolutely HILARIOUS.
~Jacy needed to be carried on their walk today.
~Something about poodles pooping and it looking funny... You don't really need to know. *I* didn't really need to know.
~Annie and Jacy are tolerant of eachother, but both act jealous of eachother.

Then we watched American Idol (Kellie is SO going home!) and on our little loveseat we had Armondo, Jacy, Me, Annie, and Ozzy all cuddled there. (One bonus for Annie, is that because Jacy goes on the couch, we're now allowing HER on the couch.)

THANK YOU BELINDA FOR THE CUTE, DARLING DOG. WE LOVE HER AND WE'LL TAKE GOOD CARE OF HER, AND YOU CAN COME ANYTIME YOU WANT TO VISIT, AND I'LL FEED YOU POUTINE AND NANAIMO BARS.

***

We never did end up going to the petting farm on Easter. The weather was horrible, and since Cherry isn't walking, we figured it probably wasn't going to be too much fun for her to crawl around in the mud while the other kids ran around looking for eggs. So we posed her for silly pictures wearing silly bunny ears. Not many of them turned out. These two were the best.

Tomorrow we're going on a road trip.

Many of you guessed close to the right answers. Here, as an update, I'm going to include the answers in parentheses.

We're leaving our Island on the 7:45

(ferry)

To(Tsawwassen)

We will then (drive)

To visit
(my papa and grandmother)

And then from there, we will cross
(the peace arch)

And

(drive)


to(Seattle)

but stopping on the way to
(shop in Bellingham)

then continuing on to (Sea Tac Airport)


in order to pick up(Jacy, the Ninja Poodle)

We have about a 1% chance of catching the (ferry)

on the way back, so we're going to try to stay with(Popeye, Armondo's Father-who we never got ahold of)

in
(New Westminster)

but then wake up early in the morning in order to catch the
(ferry)

to get to
(work at the hardware store)
by 9:30 am.
(which, was actually supposed to be 8:30am)


Let me know what you think I said in the comments!

White Trash.

Yesterday when I started work at the restaurant, I got two tables right away. One of the tables had a man and a woman who were siblings and who were completely nuts.

The hostess sat them at their table, then came to warn me about the weirdness I was about to encounter. I hadn't quite seen them at this point, but I could smell the alcohol on them from half way across the room.

When I got to the table, the woman was heavily concentrating on rolling up her paper place mat, and the man was leaning back in the booth and almost sliding over to the side.

I asked them what they wanted to drink and they both ordered a beer. When I brought them their beer, I asked if they wanted anything to eat, and the guy says "Do you have fries here?"
I answer, "Yes I can bring you some fries."
"Can I have a poutine?"Poutine is fries with cheese curds and gravy on it.

"I'm sorry sir, we don't serve poutine."
"Can't you MAKE me a poutine?"
"Sorry, sir, we don't really have any gravy here."
"What? How can you not have gravy?"
"Well, we have peppercorn sauce, but no gravy sir. It's more like an au juice, and would probably be too runny for pou..."
He mutters. "Stupid F*#*ing restaurant, what kind of restaurant....?"
"Ma'am, would you care for anything to eat?" I say, turning to the woman.
"No."
"Sir, would YOU like anything to eat?"
"No, I want poutine!"

The man asks for his bill.

When I deliver the bill, the woman turns to me.
"I want this placemat all rolled up like this!"
"Ok ma'am, that's fine, you can have that placemat ANY way you'd like it!"
"Can you maybe bring me a piece of tape, so I can keep it like this?"
(Lying) "Sorry, Ma'am, but I don't think we have any tape in the restaurant. But you can take it home and do what every you'd like to it!"

I left the two of them to drink their beer, and I went to go take a look in the parking lot to see if they had driven a car there, 'cause there was no way I was going to let them drive home in the condition they were in. All I could see were staff cars and the truck the other table drove up in. I warn the hostess and the busgirl that the two of them are likely to walk out on the bill, so there should always be one of us out front at any given time. In the meantime, a third table has shown up.

As the two of them get up to leave, they start to fight. The man comes up to the til and pays the bill, as the woman stops at another table where there are customers and starts swearing and staring at them. Luckily, the table she was harassing was just two teenage boys who were friends of the busgirl. (the other table we had was in a totally different room, and they missed most of the action.)

After the man pays the bill, (and leaves me a $1.50 tip on an $11 bill), he asks me to "pretend" that he didn't pay the bill and to pursue his sister (who, by now, we've decided has some sort of mental illness), to pay the bill. I tell him "No I can't do that." And when he starts to try to convince the hostess to do the same, she replies with "That's mean."

He then asks me to call them a cab. Then he says to his sister "Ok, I'm leaving now, pay the girls."

He leaves and his sister starts FLIPPING OUT! "Stupid fu#*king brother, he's an A$$HOLE!"

"He was joking!" The hostess and I try to convince her over and over.

She then starts getting closer and closer to the hostess, backing her right into the liquor room, at which point our boss catches on to what's happening and comes out of the back to figure out the situation.

John stands there for a good minute or two looking at her while she rants and raves, when he finally asks her to leave. She hadn't noticed him at first, and when she sees him, she says "Whoa, he's MEAN..." (he's not) and "Whoa he's BIG!" (which he is also not). "What's HE doing there?"

"I'm asking you to leave! Your cab is outside, it's time for you to leave."
"I'm not leaving with that bastard! I live across the street!"
"That's fine, you need to leave now!"
"Why?"
"Because you're drunk and the bill is paid, and you're disrupting my restaurant. You need to remove yourself, and if you don't, I will phone the cops, and I'll get THEM to remove you!"
"I have TWO sisters who are RCMP!"
"That's fine, do you want me to call THEM?!?"
"Why would you do that?!?!"
"BECAUSE YOU'RE DRUNK!"
"I'm was born in Newfoundland, and so was my brother. He was born in Newfoundland."

I didn't hear the rest of the exchange, as I had to go to my other table, but in the end she left, and we didn't have to call the cops. She also apologized for her brother and left a five dollar tip.

Which means I got a 50% tip overall.

Silly Newfies!

Photo Update.

Hello everyone! I've missed you!

We've been pretty busy lately!


I've been working lots, so I haven't had a lot of time to see my family, but when I have time off, we've been having a lot of fun!

We've been to birthday parties!


Grumpa's staying with us!


We've been going for walks and spending quality time together!




Life is busy, but we're doing well!

Tagged

Meme:

I've been tagged by Erin over at Pupsickle with this meme.

Rules : 1) Write a few weird/strange/quirky things about yourself and post it in both my comments here and on your blog (if you do memes). 2) Leave a comment on their blog telling them they've been tagged.

My weird/strange/quirky things:

• I need a lot of sleep. I funtion best if I sleep 10 hours or more in a 24 hour period. My ideal day would include 10 hours of sleep at night, and two-three hours of napping.

• I'm scared of big Ants. Not REALLY scared, but I don't like to handle them or anything. It has to do with a childhood trauma.
  

• I get two whiskers on my chin. One comes in black, the other white. I have to pluck them every three weeks or so.

• Feet gross me out. And I hate to go bare foot.

• I'm not really shy, but sometimes when I talk in a group, or if I'm talking and random people start looking at me, I get all embarrased and start to sweat this "nervous sweat" that is really nasty.
  

• I swear I can FEEL germs on my hands. I always have to wash my hands before I eat or drink or handle my kid or anything she eats or drinks if I can "feel" the germs.

Mr. Fab, you're tagged. And Tricia. And Candice. And umm... YOU!

Cyclone journal entry

My dad's here!

This is the third time he's been to our house since Cherry's been born. That means he TIES with my MIL in amount of visits since Cherry came along.

My mother in law lives one and a half hours away.

My father has visited from 16 and a half hours away.

Not that I'm complaining. A visit every three months from my MIL is plenty.

Anyway, my dad now has a job on the island. He's back "home" now. He arrived on our doorstep today while I was at work and Armondo was home. I got a call at work today from the hubby saying "Uh, your dad is here, and he's taking a ... shower." And I laughed. Because every time he visits, he breaks our shower head!

Dad told me he was going to be arriving some time in the middle of April, but he never called to confirm or anything, he just showed up. Which is fine, I don't mind, I love my dad! But what would he have done if no-one was home?

We're going to put him to work though, while he's staying here. We're going to use him and his truck, and go and load up on free scrap wood from the cedar mill, and to do a dump run. We never seem to have access to a truck, so we're going to take advantage of it!

We're also going to get him to babysit tomorrow night so Armondo and I can have a nice dinner out. Dad doesn't know this yet. We'll let him know in the morning.

I don't know how long he's staying with us, he'll be calling his work tomorrow to see when he'll be able to start working and when he can move into the residences on the little island where his job is.

***

In other news..

I think I've caught up on my sleep now. Armondo made sure I went to be early last night, 'cause I was "Acting like a Zombie-a HOT zombie, of course." I still feel over worked though. I've worked full time before, but for some reason it's way harder now. I've always been one to need a lot of sleep, but I used to be able to work a full week (and party at night) and not feel as exhausted as I have lately. I can't blame it on the baby either. She only wakes up one or two times a night now, and I don't even have to get up anymore!

That one day when I worked two jobs went pretty well, and it was worth it money wise! I raked in a LOT of dough! I shared a big table with another server and we split the tip to make $93 each! I also had a few other pretty good tips and walked out with a pretty good haul even after tipping out 30%. (and no babysitter to pay!)

I'm happy though, that I'm back to work. My feet hurt, I don't see much of Cherry, and I'm tired, but it feels good. I feel productive. I like getting out of the house. I like that I'm doing something nice for Armondo and Cherry. It's a two-three month stint where I'll be working full time so that Armondo can have some time to bond with his first born. After the parental leave is over, Armondo will go back to work and I won't have to work again until the kids are in school, or if we go broke.

And I like my job. I mean, I know I complain about my idiot customers, but in reality, I actually like my job. (I can't remember if I told you this, or not, but...) A couple of days before Armondo came home this last time, he mentioned that he was worried about money. The next time I talked to him, I told him that I was probably going to get some shifts back at the hardware store. He says "I'm worried about money, but I didn't mean for you to go get a second JOB!" I say, "But I LIKE it at the hardware store!" He says, "I know you do!"

It's too bad that there really isn't any money in retail, unless you own your own store. I would love to take all the courses and learn as much as I possibly could about all of the things in the store, but it seems like there's not much point, 'cause I will probably never earn more than $9 an hour. This is the second hardware store that I've worked at, and at the first one (where I worked with Sarah) I never made more than minimum wage. It really pissed me off when a new woman started working there and was making more money than me right off the bat and who had never worked retail and who hadn't had ANY sort of job for the 16 years previous while she raised her children. I didn't hurt much to leave that store.

At this store though, I know there are other people working there who are making more than me, but it feels like they deserve it. There are people who actually know plumbing, there (used to be) people who had their horticulture certificates, etc. But even with all their extra training and knowledge, they still aren't making that much more than me. ANYWAY.. like you all care about this stuff, but hey, this is my journal, and this little part is just about my own ramblings! And the point is, ONE DAY I WILL OWN MY OWN HARDWARE STORE. And my other point is, if my boss offered me the manager position that is opening up, and offered me some good money, then I'd be HAPPY to stay here. And I could take over the scheduling that the other manager does, 'cause.. well, he really sucks at it!

***

Ok, I'm only pretending to change the topic here. I'm still going to talk about work ('cause, geez, this is my whole life these days!) Now I'm going to talk about my co-workers though. Hardware people are more my people. I worked with Sarah in a hardware store, and although she's psycho and pretends to eat her pet guinea pigs, I love her. And L.B., who often leaves comments and who baby sat my kid when Armondo was gone, is one of my favourite people, and her and I met at the hardware store I work at now when we both worked there over a year ago. I've got some awesome bosses, and I don't hate any of my co-workers right now. (When I left the hardware store a year ago, half of the reason why I left was because of two guys who were always pissing me off and who were bordering on "harassing" me. One of them found another job, and the other is out due to knee surgery, but might be back soon.)

When some of the crew decides to get together for drinks after work, everyone is invited. Even when it's the "young" ones planning it, the older ones are invited. There are no "cliques". No one cares if your pink shirt and red apron clash. It is so different from working in the restaurant! Don't get me wrong, there are always people in any work place who are annoying and who tend to be more on the "outside", but I find that with the hardware crew, (people more like me), we tend to try to include everyone until they alienate themselves. We're just more down to earth, I think. I've never felt like I fit in at the restaurant. I'm not flirty enough, I'm not sexy enough. I find it really hard to sell myself in order to get a good tip. But I like the money, and I like the hours. And every time I leave a restaurant, it only takes me a few months until I want to go back to make the good money again. *sigh* I need a "career"!

So, the other day, I get to work at the hardware store and as I'm walking to the back, I see a girl who looks like Chase. Later, I find out she's the new girl, and as soon as she starts talking, I instantly think that she has a voice JUST like Shane. Funny thing, really, because both of these women like women. Half way through the day, the new girl, (We'll call her T.) and I start chatting, and I decide to take over training her on the cash 'cause it's obvious no one else really wants to, and I find out that T., as well as the two people she resembles ALSO likes women.

Oh yeah, my people perceiving skills are EXTRAORDINARY. Yup, I'm cool.. I could be like a .. profiler or something. Not that I'm saying that women who like women need to be PROFILED.. oh crap.. am I getting myself into trouble?

Anyway, I like T. She has her flaws, like she can't seem to figure out how to count change back properly, and can't seem to see the importance in this act, but she's pretty cool. I think she'll fit right in! She's nice, she's no-nonsense, and besides the money counting back thing, she's eager to learn. I could see us becoming friends. Which is good, because A. is leaving the hardware store, and I really like her, so I'm happy that someone else cool is filling her place.

***

So, as you may of read in the comments from my last post, Belinda isn't able to send Jacy tomorrow. I'm sad that she's not coming right away, and I'm concerned that things aren't going well in the Ninja Poodle dojo, but I'm almost relieved that I'm getting an actual day off tomorrow, where the most traveling I'll be doing is to the library. And it will be neat to hang out with my dad!

***

Yeah, this post is long. That's what I do. I don't write anything for days, then I post a novella. Off to bed now!

T-I-R-E-D

Thank you to everyone who added their comments to my last post! It was great to see what many of you added! I haven't really had the chance to go back and reply to all of them 'cause I've just been too tired and busy lately!

This is going to be a DARN LAZY recap!

~The house hasn't sold.
~We have put in a new kitchen faucet, woodstove, and oil tank.
~We are going to take the house off the market on June 15th if it hasn't sold by then.
~Our parental leave ends in July, so if the house hasn't sold by half way through June, Armondo has to find a new job.
~We're thinking about Saskatchewan more seriously.
~I'm working EVERY DAY it seems!
~On Saturday, I worked at the hardware store from 8:30-5 and the restuarant from 6-11.
~I had yesterday off, and went to O.'s birthday party.
~I get Wednesday off, and if all works out, I'll be picking up my new poodle from the airport in Richmond. She is one of Belinda's Ninja Poodles.
~On days I work, I only see 1 hour of my kid.
~Last night I caught up on everyone's blogs and didn't have time to write in my own.
~I am too tired to write anything good tonight.
~There are new pictures on Flickr.

Oh yeah..
~If we take the house off the market, we'll put it back on next spring.
~We're REALLY working on making a new baby now.

Talk to you soon!

A letter to all of you retail shoppers out there.

Dear Customer,

I just thought I'd take a moment to write you a little letter. I like you most of the time, but there are a few things you do that just get under my skin. In order for our relationship to continue to be a friendly one, there are a few things you should know.

First of all, when I ask you how you are, please answer me with something like "Ok. Thank you", or "good, and you?". I don't deserve to be ignored, and I don't need to hear about how crappy your day is really going; I don't really care. It is my job to be polite and nice. Please try to make my job easier by giving a simple and polite answer.

If I ask you if you need a bag, just say "yes please," or "no thanks". I don't need to know WHY you may or not need a bag. I don't care if you're walking three blocks and need a bag with a handle. I don't care if you don't need one because you have a cupboard full of them at home.

When I check your money to see if it's counterfeit, it is not a personal slight. Counterfeit is a huge problem in our area, and the store takes the loss if we take counterfeit. Do not get offended. Also, please don't try to be witty by saying "It's good, I just printed it this morning!" I've heard this joke before. I hear it everyday. It wasn't really funny the first time I heard it, it definitely isn't funny the fifth time I hear it in a day.

If a product doesn't scan properly, it doesn't mean it's free. Just like the counterfeit joke, the "It's not scanning, it must be free!" joke is NOT funny.

When there is a line and I call a second cashier to open up the other till, please don't push and shove and think you're all so clever when you beat other people to the second line. It is childish, and it reminds me of the fights we used to have in kindergarten when kids would "budge." On the other side of this argument, if someone else beats you to the other till, who cares? Grow up and chill out.

I HAVE to tell you how to properly use the slug bait you are buying. I HAVE to warn you that it is not only poisonous to household pets, but that it might even attract them. It is the law. It is not funny, or even slightly amusing when you tell me that you'd LIKE it if the neighbours' cats eat it and die. In fact, I can even refuse the sale to you for being so ignorant. I meant it when I told you that you needed to move into a strata where pets were not allowed. Pets are a fact of life. Get used to it.

I don't know you very well, and it is rude when you ask me "What ever possessed you to pierce your eyebrow?!". It is my job to be polite and nice to you, so I will play along, but I'd like you to know that you asking me about it in such a way, would be similar to me asking you "What possessed you to wear that shirt today?". The next time you ask me with that same attitude, I will try my best to be polite, but my new answer will be "I did it for personal reasons." And if you push me further, I may throw a bit of rude back at you.

Yes, I try my best to give you good customer service. Yes, I will take you right to the item you're looking for instead of just pointing, but this does not make me your personal shopper. It is not my job to run all around the store to find and pick out every item on your list.

Please don't expect me to let you return an item that is not in the packaging. I WILL call the manager to see if he will approve the return, but in reality, I wish you weren't wasting our time returning an item worth $4, when you didn't even take the care to make sure that it was still saleable.

Please don't answer your cell phone when I'm ringing your purchases through. Who ever is calling can wait a minute or so until you are done. There are people behind you waiting, and I'm often left standing there waiting to be handed your cash or credit card. It is very rude and freekin' annoying. Also, when you've come to me for help with a project, please don't answer your cell phone. I will CONTINUE to walk away every time you do this; there are other people who need my attention more than you obviously do.

Just because I'm working in a retail job doesn't mean that I'm an idiot. It doesn't make me beneath you or of less worth. Yes, I am paid to help you and to be nice to you, but that does not mean that you have the right to treat me like dirt and to be rude to me. Go take your crap somewhere else, I have my own crap to deal with.

When I ask you if you need help, you can tell me what you need. You don't have to necessarily "ask a man" when all you need is a tube of wood glue or paint mixed. I know just as much about this as any of the other men in the store (except maybe for the managers). Just because I'm a woman, doesn't mean that I'm stupid.

All that being said, please keep on bringing your cute kids, parrots and puppies into the store! I love kids and animals, and it is always a joy to spend half a minute interacting with them.

Also, keep on coming in when you're in a good mood and feeling chatty, just realize that it's a good idea to end the conversation when a line is forming behind you.

Thanks for your time, I will be seeing you soon,

Sincerely,

CeCe

PS. As per requested by Sarah, I will also ask you to please supervise your children while they are in the store, as it is NOT my job to clean human faeces out of display toilets!

A little more PG-13

So back in this post I talked about some reasons why I've switched over my blog. Well, in that post I talked about a mother-daughter combination of in-laws with whom I've been having problems with.

The "mother" of this equation is my husband's aunt by marriage. She has pissed me off again. I'm soooo almost over it, but I thought I'd share a bit.

In the original problem, I had written a cryptic post about her on my blog, and her daughter read it and told her about it.. (Read more about it in that old post is you want..) ANYWAY, she's now been calling my husband to ask for more details about HER husband's activities while they were out fishing and waiting to fish. And then she basically told Armondo not to discuss their conversation with me because she doesn't trust me.

Why? Because I might blab about it to the whole world on the internet?!? Ok, maybe.

But here's the deal. I wrote about it. I erased it. I apologized. And I did all that after I spent two days listening to her whine about her problems on the phone to me and then spent another day hanging out with her while she wept and spilled all her guts to me.

The simple truth? I wanted to be there for her! I really did. And I care for her, I really do, but it stressed me out! And I vented that stress on my blog. I DIDN'T use her name, I didn't use specific details, and I changed some very important details.

But now, I feel like she's expecting me to grovel to her, to beg her to forgive me, for me to really put myself out to get back in her good books.

But you know what? I'm at the point where I don't care. Like I said to Armondo: "It's not like people are lining up to be her friend right now, and if she's going to sabotage our friendship, so be it!"

She's not a bad person. She's got a huge heart, and she's really "been there" for many people in the "in-law" family when they've needed it. But she can really get under your skin. I have the same problem!! I know I do! But unlike her, I don't NEED my in-laws approval. (The rest of Armondo's family doesn't like her, for reasons un-known and un-said. She tried for years to gain their approval to no avail. She has only recently given up, and is very hurt by the whole thing.) Of course, I'd LIKE it if everyone I ever came across loved and liked me, but that's not going to happen because I'm too honest and too blunt and abrupt. Much like her. Unlike her, I will accept that someone's angry with me, and I'm not going to beg her for a relationship with her. If she comes back around some day, I'll be here, but in the meantime, she can just deal with all this crap on her own, 'cause obviously I can't give her the help she needs.

***

So, thank you all for your tips and suggestions on what to get Armondo for our anniversary. In the end, I just made some cutesy game and we played it in bed. *ahem*

We decided that we really didn't want or need anything, since we're really pretty good at just buying what we want, when we want it, and since I had just bought new towels, it seemed like the traditional second year gift of "cotton" was well taken care of. Besides that, we're (hopefully) moving soon, and it's not like we need to buy more crap to move! Trust me, we're both perfectly happy with this. And don't worry, I'll be getting a big, shiny rock on our tenth anniversary!

***

On Sunday, we spent a bunch of time working on the yard. At one point Armondo just let one rip!

"Farrrrrrrt"

"ARMONDO! Say excuse me!!"

"What? Even when I'm outside?!?"

*sigh*

What have we been up to?

This is an entry that is "G" rated and will be copied into my old blog as well. I will be back with a better entry in a bit ;)

So, I've been waiting for AGES to take Cherry to the petting zoo. I was waiting for two reasons: 1, I wanted the hubby to be there for it, and 2, I wanted to be able to take photos, and since Cherry is pre-walking, someone needs to hold her while she pets the animals, making it hard to take photos.

We went on Saturday and had a really good time. There were even new lambs, and we got to watch them be bottle fed!

I took the camera. The batteries were dead. We didn't get a single shot.

Oh well, we'll be going back on Easter weekend for hay rides and visits to all the new chicks and ducklings! I will make sure the batteries are charged!

***

I'm starting full time work tomorrow! I'm a little excited, but a little sad as well.

I'm excited to bring in some extra income, but a little sad that I won't be home as much to spend time with Cherry.

I'm excited also, because I really love my job at the hardware store, and I'm happy to go back. I'm also glad that Armondo is going to have the chance to really get to know Cherry the way that I have over the past little while.

***

Cherry will now "High Five" and has just learned how to wave "hello."

***

I guess I should update you all about what's happening with the house.

It hasn't sold. Simple. HA! We're taking some of the fishing money and getting a new woodstove on Wednesday, and we're going to buy a new oil tank on credit, and hopefully those two upgrades will look good to potential buyers.

In the meantime, we've let the offer run out on the house up north. We got an inspection ages ago, and there were a few things wrong with the house that needed to be addressed right away. They weren't major problems, but they seemed big enough that we should have been able to get a lower price. So, we lowered our offer and the owner refused. We let the offer run out, and decided that we'd make another offer when our house sold and that maybe if the house had been sitting on the market long enough, they would take a lower offer. Here's hoping!

So, I will be back with pictures soon!

Life as I know it...

It's all back to normal around here!

Armondo's home, and I couldn't be happier.

I never thought that my happiness would depend so much upon another person! I guess that's a little bit sad, isn't it?

Anyway, getting the hubby home wasn't without its hic-coughs!

Pretty much all the phone calls that the hubby and I have had over the past few weeks have been collect calls, and in order to be clever, Armondo and I decided that instead of saying "Armondo" in the "say your name now" spot, he'd say "I'm on the ferry." so that I would know that he had made it from the airport to the ferry and was on his way home.

The original plan was for him to arrive at the airport around 11am and for him to make it to the ferry for the 1pm sailing, and to be home around 3pm.

I usually work at 4:30pm on Fridays, but thought it would be best to switch to a later shift so that I could spend a little bit of time with the hubby before I left him with the kid and ran off to work.

So, at a little after 1pm, I get a collect call saying:

"I'm on the three o'clock ferry." And he hangs up before I get a chance to "accept" the call.

First thought is: "Why'd he say THREE o'clock? Does that mean that he has missed the 1pm sailing and is going to be on the 3pm sailing?"

Second thought is: "He said he was ON the 3pm sailing, and it's 1pm now, so maybe he meant that he's on the sailing that will be in at 3pm, like the original plan."

So, it's close to 3pm and I strap Cherry into the car and go to the ferry to pick him up. I've got Annie in the car too, and I've got her all hyped up by saying over and over "We're going to go get daddy... are you happy to go see daddy?!"

3pm goes by. 3:15 goes by. All of the passengers of the ferry get off. The crew gets off. No Armondo.

CRAP! Am I at the wrong ferry?!?

I decide that Armondo must have taken the OTHER ferry and not the one that's right by our house, so I start to race towards the other ferry terminal.

And the gas light goes on.

I KNEW I was almost out of gas, but I also knew I had enough gas to go to the close ferry, to pick Armondo up, then to go to work, earn some tip money, and buy gas after that. (The gas prices have been going up SO high lately, that I had been avoiding getting gas.)

I didn't, however have enough gas to get to the other ferry. So I stopped at the nearest gas station. Now, I try to only go to gas stations that have the "Pay at the Pump" option when I have the kid in the car. It pisses me off when I have to pump gas, then take the kid out just to go pay for the gas. This particular gas station did not have "Pay at the Pump", and I knew this driving up, so I did the unthinkable. I pulled up to the closest pump to the front door, filled the tank, locked the doors and left the kid in the car.

I was in a rush. Bad, I know.. but I swear, I only took my eyes off of her for like two seconds while I punched my pin into the debit pad.

But wait.. I didn't just go straight into the store. I found a treasure on the way in... I found a wallet. A wallet with at LEAST $100 in it, if not more. (In Canada, our bills are all different colours, and the $20's are the only ones that are green, and in this wallet was a whole lot of green, Canadian sized bills, therefore making me think there was at least $100, if not $200.)
Without hesitation, I handed the wallet over to the clerk (with whom I am familiar with) and said "Someone dropped their wallet, and there's a LOT of money in it!" He took the wallet from me, and wondered out loud, "Who was just in here who could have dropped it?" He then opened it to look at the ID and said "Oh, HE'LL be back, he's American and he's just about to catch a ferry."

"Ferry?" I say. "I'm on the way to the ferry right now!"

But guess what? That guy wasn't going to either of the ferries I was visiting that day. He was going to the OTHER OTHER ferry.

So, I paid for my gas and was about to leave when the clerk said "I'm glad it was YOU that found his wallet, 'cause if it had been anyone else around here, it would not have been returned!" (He was making the comment in regards to the fact that it was a bad neighbourhood.)

(Yes, I left my kid in the car. In a bad neighbourhood... LET'S MOVE ON!)

My response to him was. "Well, uh.."

And then I got back to Cherry and Annie and drove off to the next ferry.

It wasn't until I had been back in the car that I started to ask myself if I had done the "right thing" by returning that wallet. I mean, I KNOW I did the right thing, and I was proud of myself that my FIRST reaction was the right one, but I started to feel a little silly about returning the cash. I mean, really, I could have USED that money, and it's his OWN fault for losing his wallet! I could have just returned the wallet with all the ID, and kept the cash. I mean, wouldn't that have been the best for my family? These thoughts passed pretty quickly, but ONE thought STILL lingers in my mind:

I should have returned the wallet, with all of the cash, but I should have taken enough out to pay for my gas!

I finally arrived at the other ferry, and there's no Armondo. In fact, there's no ANYBODY! Deserted.

Defeated, I went home. I put Cherry down for a nap, and laid down myself. An hour later, I get up, strap the kid in her car seat again, and we make the trip BACK to ferry number one.

Now, we're on our way to pick up the hubby at the ferry which was SUPPOSED to arrive at 5:15. As I pull into the terminal at 5:17, I see that the ferry hasn't quite made it into the dock, and that I have at least a 15 minute wait until the hubby will have made it off the boat.

As soon as I see him come off the boat, I get out of the car and wave to him. He comes over to the car, and we all have our happy reunion. Then I realize that he doesn't have his bag with him. HE CHECKED HIS BAG. Now, remember how I said that I had switched shifts with someone so that I could have some time with him before running off? Well, that shift that I was now responsible for started at 6pm.

And now we have to wait for his bag to come down the conveyor belt.

Oh, but it's ok. I'm prepared. My work clothes are in a bag in the car.

I then drop Armondo, Cherry, and Annie off at the house and speed off to work before they even get in the front door.

"Nice to see you, happy anniversary, BYE!"

Yeah, remember? It was our second wedding anniversary on Friday. I got to see my husband for a total of seven minutes before I rushed off to work.

Work wasn't all that bad on Friday. We got a bit of a late rush, so I didn't go home completely empty handed. And our dishwasher burned his fingers on a metal soulvaki skewer that had just come off of the burner.

Nick says "Oh, THIS one is the beef one, for sure!"
Grabs the metal ring end of the skewer.
"OH FARRRRRRUUUUUUK!!!"
All of the other servers came running into the kitchen to see what had happened as Nick is running around swearing, and I'm busting a gut laughing almost on the floor!

Nick now has small semi-circle shaped, white blisters on his finger tips.

I think he learned his lesson: Nick does dishes. Nick does not cook.

And then I came home and the hubby and I had awesome "I haven't seen you for a gazzilion days" s3x.

Wow, this post is long. I must end it now. I may write another one tonight.