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Whatever

Published by redsmom94 the Apr. 8, 2008 at 10:55 AM . 1 comments. Permalink.

I have come to dislike that word very much.  Dictionary.com defines the word as follows:

 what·ev·er    Audio Help   [hwuht-ev-er, hwot-, hwuht-, wuht-, wot-, wuht-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–pronoun
1. anything that (usually used in relative clauses): Whatever you say is all right with me.
2. (used relatively to indicate a quantity of a specified or implied antecedent): Take whatever you like of these.
3. no matter what: Do it, whatever happens.
4. any or any one of a number of things whether specifically known or not: papers, magazines, or whatever.
5. what (used interrogatively): Whatever do you mean?
–adjective
6. in any amount; to any extent: whatever merit the work has.
7. no matter what: whatever rebuffs he might receive.
8. being what or who it may be: Whatever the reason, he refuses to go.
9. of any kind (used as an intensifier following the noun or pronoun it modifies): any person whatever.
–interjection
10. (used to indicate indifference to a state of affairs, situation, previous statement, etc.)

Eight letters that seem innocent enough....but when spewed from the mouth of an almost-14-year-old redhead, sometimes really push my buttons. Depending on the tone, inflection, and accented syllable, it has several meanings not listed above.  For example:

whatever! - I don't really have an opinion...until you tell me what you're thinking.  (i.e. "What do you want for supper, Shelby?" "whatever!" "OK, I'm making tacos." "Well - uh! Not that!")

what-evv-er - disbelief, or "as if" (i.e. "Ididn't buy that for you, I bought it for me." "What-evv-er" as she takes my new makeup to her room.)

whatev-errr - yeah, right (i.e. "I want you to clean your room and take your laundry to the sorter." "Whatev-errr" as she texts on her phone and flops on her bed and proceeds to ignore me.

Whaaat-ever - I'm getting tired of hearing you say the same thing over & over again. (i.e. "Your clothes aren't going to get washed if they don't get put in the sorter." "Whaaat-ever"  as she continues texting and ignoring...

what-EVER!!! - I know you're right but I'm not going to acknowlege it. (i.e. "I told you your laundry wasn't going to get washed if you didn't get it to the sorter. It's not my problem that the outfit you wanted to wear today isn't clean." "What-EVER!!!" as she stomps through the house while getting ready for school.)

There you have it.  I know there are those of you reading right now that are laughing and nodding your head as you relate to every word I have typed and know it's the truth.  For those of you whose children aren't yet teenagers.......take note! Beware! It will happen to you.

 

Injured Reserve?

Published by Yupa the Apr. 7, 2008 at 9:40 AM . 0 comments. Permalink.

I met up with the Freewheelers yesterday.  It may have been a little more than I could chew.  I think the group may have been a little more advanced than I am.  It was probably a B+ ride, and I'm probably closer to a C, maybe a B rider on a good day. (status depends on distance and how fast you ride....B+ is about 20-22 mph....w/out pushing myself, I ride 16-18 mph comfortably)

Well, this was not a good day.  I got the to the meetup and instantly was intimadated.  You can tell the more advanced, experienced bikers...and this was definitely that group.  I was starting to rethink going on the ride, but talked to Paul, the group leader and he said, we just won't go "balls to the wall"...gee, lucky for me.

I knew I needed to get my miles in before the MS ride, so I was felt okay doing a 61 mi ride.  We started in Carrollwood, jumped on the trail, went to the end of the trail through Countryway, Forest Lakes to 580, Countryside Blvd to the 7-11 for our first stop.  Continued Lake St. George, cross 19, down Belcher to the Long Center.  On a path, then crossed McMullen Booth on the overpass.  Meanwhile, did a few hills, fell behind a few times.  A guy named Steve helped me along.  Showed me how to draft, holy cow that makes life much more fun!  You don't have to pedal as hard when you're drafting...and of course that's if you can "stay up" with the group to be able to draft!!  FINALLY made it to breakfast in Safety Harbor at about 43 mi.  After chillin'....I got up and realized my knee was hurting REALLY bad.  I thought maybe if I pedaled, it would work itself out.  We went through Safety Harbor, which was an awesome scenic route, but just as we got to Phillippe Park, it was POURING....now all those fears that Craig had about me being on skinny road bike tires was starting to haunt me.  Steve didn't stay for breakfast, he continued back, so now who was going to "watch my back"?  Well, lucky for me...there's always someone willing to help....so now Mike, my new biking buddy, helped me....he told me to keep pedaling through the rain, how to feather my brakes, so I wouldn't crash, which I didn't feel like I wanted to do.....and again, how to use my gears to get up the ramp on 580 back to Forest Lakes.  Okay, now I'm a wimp, and I admit it....but now my knee was kickin!!  One guy kept saying, well it's only 15 more miles back to the start....okay, 15 more miles, my knee would probably look like a nerf ball!  So I told them to go ahead and I pulled off to WalMart.  Mike wanted to make sure I was okay, so he stayed with me.  My bike wouldn't fit in Craig's car, so I had to call my friend Amy to ask her to pick me up.  We took Mike back too since it was pouring really hard.

So I made almost 50 miles of my adventure.  I guess that's more than most people did on Sunday!  

I iced my knee, and hope it gets better before the 26th!!

Can't Sleep So I Might as Well Blog

Published by redsmom94 the Mar. 29, 2008 at 11:49 PM . 0 comments. Permalink.

Hey everyone~

Looks like I'm back for my 2-month check-in!  Life is still like a psychotic carousel, not stopping or even slowing down for much more than a couple minutes. 

The school term I was starting last time I wrote is finished and we are two weeks into the next term.  Grades just came out yesterday - and the streak has ended.  I finished with A's in 2-D Design, Advanced Legal Writing & Research, and Informal Logic...and a B+ in Torts.  I had a feeling though because I didn't feel very good about the final paper I turned in.  Oh, well.  By the way things have started off this term, I won't be surprised if there's another B about 2 months down the road.  This term I have Real Property, The American Legal System and Litigation, Pleadings & Arbitration.  The last class is really the nuts & bolts of the paralegal job and judging by the homework thus far, I'll be spending every spare minute with my nose in a textbook.

Work is going well.  I really like the facility, and the job itself. I am finding my own little niche and am happy there.  Not that I haven't encountered any primadonnas there, because I have.  However, now, I just blow them off because I know I don't have to deal with them.  I did have to put one in her place because she was whining about not getting copies of something to another nurse while I was right there.  I set her straight though and left her looking a little shocked.  Maybe she's not used to someone speaking up when she talks about them behind their back right in front of them??? I don't know.  But now she knows how I play.  Other than that, it's been going well.

Shelby's still doing well in school too, but the DRAMA!!!   I just about can't take it any more.  Between getting involved in everyone else's scenarios and having her own, that girl just never quits.  It does me absolutely no good to tell her to stay out of other people's crap.  She does anyway..."I'm gonna stick up for my friends no matter what" and things like that.  In one of my finer quotable moments the other night, I told her to save the drama for somebody else's mama 'cuz I don't need it.  She rolled her eyes and stomped into her room.  I would have expected nothing less.

She had a meltdown a week ago that started out about hair.  She wants to have her hair cut and highlighted before confirmation on May 4th.   Leo had been asking me to get appts set for K & D to have their hair cut as well and D was thinking about some highlights too.  Fine.  Common sense and time management logic say....make the appointments all on the same day, within the same time frame.   Since I am the one who would have to drive them, let's go crazy and make it for a weekend day when I don't have to work so it's convenient for me why don't we???!?!!?  Well! 13 yr old girl bratitude says...take them whenever you want, I want my own appointment during the week so we can just go together ourselves.  And just when should I do that between working 9:30-6 and class from 6-9 three nights a week and working til 6 another night, and you having activities every night?  From there, it went to just I never spend time with her anymore, all we ever do is go to Leo's on the weekend and I just spend my time doing homework.  She even went as far as asking me if I was going to start doing any of the "little traditions" I did with her with Leo's girls.  The stuff she was talking about was stuff I did when she was a baby to about 6 or 7 years old.  They are 9 and 12.  Besides, if I tried, the wouldn't go along with it anyway.  So I had the talk with her I had alread had a couple times.  We are sharing our life with Leo & his kids now, and when we are together, we are a family.  I also reminded her that I told her before I started school that there was going to be times when I only had time for work & school & not much to spend w/her - that's one of the reasons I waited was so she could (hopefully) understand during those times. so much for that hope.  I said she had to expand her view just a little bit and include a few more things than just Shelby on her scope.  There was yelling, there were tears, and in the end it was left at the point that I told her she might as well just get used to it, cuz things probably won't be going back to just her & me any time soon, if ever.  This kind of shit is why I had an easy pregnancy and effortless delivery........my pain is here now.

Let's talk about confirmation for a minute, shall I?  She went shopping with some other girls 3 weeks ago and bought her dress for confirmation.  I had given her money and a limit and sent her on her way because I had to work that weekend.  As she was shopping, they took pictures of different dresses and texted them to me.  Finally she found the one she wanted, that looked and fit good, and was within the budget.  A while later, she called me all excited because she had just found the perfect shoes and the money she had left was enough to pay for them.  Cool - all done, right?  One would think so.  Oh, how wrong one is.  Now, she has decided that she actually doesnt' want the shoes she bought and we need to take them back - again the "just me and you" thing came up. "I was thinking about some nice flip-flops"  WTF?!?! FOR CONFIRMATION? I DON'T THINK SO!! I told her I would try and get her to town to return them before confirmation and if I couldn't she was going to wear them and she was going to like it.

Speaking of Leo and me.  We actually have talked a little about moving in together.  Not much more than to agree that we were eventually gonna have to talk about it.  But it's a step. Psychobitch's 90 days that she had to get her stuff out of the house have come and gone.  But, he is still playing nice. He told her that she could have til April 12. He's even talked to a couple guys about helping him get the stuff to her!!! Unbelievable.  How ironic, then, today when the boy scouts hung a door hanger on the doorknob announcing a Goodwill pickup next weekend.  Just put all your unwanted household items out on the front porch with a sign that says "for Goodwill" and they will take it away. PERFECT!! I know where they can get a whole lotta stuff!

I did some math and if I did move in here with Leo, then I will save $3600 a year in rent, $1200 or so a year in electricity, around $1500-1800 a year in propane.  The cost? My domain.  I do have plans for making myself a little lair here once Psychobitch's stuff is gone.  There's a bunch of it piled in the bedroom (romantic, huh?) next to a sliding door that is eventually gonna lead out onto a deck (or so I'm told).  I think once her crap is outta here, that space will make a nice little area for me.

I am coming down with a cold or some friggin' bug.  I have woke up the last 3 or 4 mornings with a sore throat.  Today my ears started to bother me pretty bad and I've been coughing and sneezing like crazy. I went through the entire winter, fended off the germs, even when 90% of this house was on their deathbeds, and NOW I get sick? NOPE! I refuse. I am too busy to get sick.  No time. Sickness is for sissies! 

It's 12:39 a.m. and someone is rattling around in the fridge.

It's 12:48 a.m. and I just added a paragraph above and now I need to pee.  Think I'll say good night, Irene.

 

Finally got on Craig's "bike"

Published by Yupa the Mar. 13, 2008 at 9:11 AM . 0 comments. Permalink.

..Okay, so now I’ve been to Bike Week and got the itch to finally see what it’s all about....so after 1 1/2 that Craig has had his bike, we finally went riding together.

We went to Quaker Steak & Lube....where every Wednesday all the area "bikers" hang out...but this Wednesday, Vinny, previously from the OCC was there.  We bought a hat and got his autograph.  We had a really fun time.

I think I’ll stick to my own type of bike.  Another thing that was special about this ride, I wore Jeff M’s motorcycle jacket since he’s no longer able to ride.  It kinda ties in the whole riding the MS ride in his honor....

Hamsters- mommy's little friends

Published by Marcy Massura the Mar. 10, 2008 at 12:49 PM . 0 comments. Permalink.

With my husband refusing to allow any 'real' pets in the house (he claims allergies-but I think he is just heartless) I was excited to get my 7 year old a his first pet for his birthday in December. We went to the store and picked out everything needed to care for the cutest little hamster they had. He was chocolate colored and he was named "Mr. Pudding" before we got back to the house. We sent up the cage the wheel, the water, the food, the chew sticks etc (and on and on and on) and watched the little guy day and night. After a week it was clear to me something was wrong. Well, folks- he died. Apparently there is a disease that most hamsters have and more than 50% die after leaving the pet store within a week. I should have been alerted to this when the man at the pet store said we could pick out another if this one 'didn't make it' within 2 weeks.....geez, that was a tough lesson for my little guy to get on his first pet ever!!! He cried for Mr. Pudding. I cried for him.....(that of course was when my husband chimed in with 'see pets are not worth it').....

Did I give up? NO. I am a MOM. Not only did I go back to the store and get a new hamster I picked one up for his big brother as well. And guess what it has been 3 months and they are both doing great! My boys have long since given up on cleaning the cages themselves (yes, thats right I do that for them).....but they do play with them in the morning and at night- and they love them to death (well hopefully not to actual death)....and here is the surpising part...I love them too. They are named Google and Pixel...and they are adorable. I highly reccomend this as a pet choice...easy to care for, clean and FUN to watch.

 

Home Schooling

Published by Tammy the Mar. 9, 2008 at 10:36 PM . Permalink.

I don't know how many of you we have told but we are going to home school next year.  This has become a time engaging activity for me already as I research curriculum and strategies to what we will do.  I came across the bog of MamaArchers.  She is giving away a Lyrical Science curriculum which I have been eyeing at ChristianBook - http://www.cbd.com  (one of my favorite online retailers I might add). 

Here is the link to the actual contest - but please check out the rest of her blog too because it's great and I bookmarked it to return to at a later date. 

MamaArcher's Lyrical Earth Giveaway

But now I must retire to bed, because with the time change and all that one hour wreaks havoc for  a week.  (Just how does it do that anyway?).

Guess How Many Dalmatians are on this DVD....

Published by Tammy the Mar. 8, 2008 at 12:52 PM . Permalink.

You guessed it .... 101!   And Emomsathome  are giving away 3 (sorry not 101! lol) of them.  Maybe you could add it to your collection.  I'm hoping to win, because it's one of the few Disney Dvds we actually don't have, and you all know how Disney crazy we all are!

check it out at Emomsathome

 

Nest Egg

Published by Tammy the Mar. 8, 2008 at 12:20 PM . Permalink.
Nope not the kind that you save up for but the cutest pillow type product you've ever seen.  From Dates to Diapers blog has teemed up with Blessed Nest to offer one of these great pillows to a lucky person.  Check out http://www.fromdatestodiapers.com/2008/03/nesting-pillow.html and enter.

I made the call

Published by Yupa the Mar. 6, 2008 at 7:25 PM . 0 comments. Permalink.

So, I finally made the call.  I am totally in every way committed now.

I was actually nervous to make the call, I mean, I just thought Jeff would think it would be weird that I was riding in his honor....but he sounded excited and couldn't believe it.

I told him all about my ride and that I really hadn't been on a bike before last summer.  He said he would help me with the fundraising and of course I had his blessings....

Whew.

Today is my blog

Published by Mandy gomez the Mar. 5, 2008 at 10:58 PM . 0 comments. Permalink.
i guess i should tell you about the kids that make me blog right ?


Gussie 9 , Alex 6 and
Marissa 5


With out them i am lost i know that sounds werid but it is so ture

I've got help ! ! ! !

Published by Andrea the Mar. 3, 2008 at 12:32 PM . 0 comments. Permalink.
All moms are busy.  It is just a fact of life.   For the past 2 years, I have felt like I am hanging by a thread.  We have 4 kids.  I work 12 hour night shifts.  And I am in school full time.  

The end result is that my house looks like a tornado went through it.  I have a hard time just keeping up with laundry, much less doing the real cleaning.  My husband and the kids help out, of course.  Just not enough.  I have found myself often feeling discouraged because our home is in such a mess!  I guess having 3 cats & 2 dogs in the house doesn't help matters any.

But, there is hope!  In February I got a raise and Tim and I decided that if I could find someone that didn't charge a small fortune I could have someone clean our house.   I tried the major chain housekeepers.  I couldn't even begin to afford them.   Today, however, I interviewed a lady that I think is going to be PERFECT.  She recently retired as the head of housekeeping at a local country club.  She's wanting to clean a few houses to help supplement her retirement.  She seems to have a real eye for detail and tends to be a perfectionist. 

The most exciting part is, she is only going to charge me $50 every other week to clean the main floor of our house!  That is the kitchen, dining room, living room, master bedroom, and 1 1/2 baths.  I figure, the kids can clean their own bedrooms and bathrooms.  Earn their keep a little bit.  

I am so psyched!   Soon, our beautiful home will be cleaner and more presentable.  Just the peace of mind and reduction of stress is worth $100 a month!!!

My first organized ride - Dade City

Published by Yupa the Mar. 3, 2008 at 1:49 AM . 0 comments. Permalink.

So yesterday was the longest day of my life.  It started at 5:00 a.m.  I stretched, ate a hearty breakfast, water and headed out to Dade City/San Antonio for my first organized ride. It was cold and I was starting to psych myself out. 

The ride starts and I'm feeling good, I at least "look" the part.  I quickly drop to the back and at a certain point realized that I was dead last.  It was probably the SAG vehicle that was following me that was  a dead giveaway.  It was amazing that only one hour north of Tampa there are so many damn hills!  And here I am on a newbike and my first inaugural ride is a 75 mile ride through hills of San Antonio.  Of course it was beautiful and I did my share of talking to the man upstairs.  At a certain point a couple ahead of me fell behind because the man's shoe clip came off, so the support vehicle stopped to help them. 

At the third rest stop, the first SAG stop people brought the remainder of the water, etc and some of the people asked, how much longer, he pointed to me and said she's last....nice, not very encouraging....but oh well.  This is when I met Mark and Bruce.  Policemen from Naples, they were training for a 3-day ride in DC for the Police Unity Fund (which is what this ride was also benefitting), which is a memorial for policemen that died in the line of duty.

I have to give a shout out to these guys....I never knew how to shift a gear before this ride, Bruce totally motivated me the entire ride and I could tell, hung back with me.  He literally put his hand on my back and pushed me up some of the steep hills.  There were 3 incidents that I know had I not been with these guys, I would've given up....one, when my chain came off my bike.  Being the girl that I am, I would've just put up my hands and said I'll wait!  Another time, is when I saw the 40 mile area to the left and the 75 to the right...I totally think I would've jumped onto the 40, if I weren't with them.

There were times that I swear my legs were moving, but I felt like I wasn't moving.  My thighs were burning so bad.  Some of the hills were so intimadating and seemed to be 90 degree angles!  I think it was so much of a mind trip.  Bruce said biking was like 60 % mental.....I believe it.

I learned how to use the momentum of the hills to get up and over the next one...how to downshift....learned the "rules of the road"....

The couple that fell back ended up catching up w/ us at every SAG stop.  So it was the 5 of us in the back.  At the second to last SAG stop, they had already packed up and said they hadn't seen anyone for 1/2 hr.  Again, not encouraging.  The guy who comes around to do the sweep was looking for a man that was lost from the 40 mile ride and his friends couldn't find him.  And I guess there must've been chatter about me as well, as he mentioned that "they" were concerned about me.  He asked if I wanted to jump in his truck.  Bruce and Mark just continued to motivate me and I just asked him to go ahead and make sure the last SAG stop wasn't broken down and to ask them to stay put until we got there.  Good Lord, it was the longest 3 miles to that stop.  My thighs were burning...Bruce was pushing me up the hills, I had no motivation to keep going.  It was so hard! 

I kept thinking about Jeff and how he probably would love to just be able to get on a bike and ride.  And I kept going.  After all, that's the goal here...the 150 mile ride in April.

The 5 of us made it to the last stop, where the guy w/ the truck and another guy were waiting for us.  The guy kept asking if I wanted to get on and that there wasn't any shame  and making it this far was commendable.  Bruce and Mark kept encouraging me.  And the couple, who by appearance seemed to be more out of shape, guy actually had a huge beer belly, but they kept on going...so how can I skip out now?  Oh it was hard.  I think the pain and burning in my thighs were almost bareable, but the pain in my knees wasn't.  I started crying and he said, go get your bike.  He looked at the guys and said, that's what she wants, right?

Anyway, it was hard to swallow my pride, but to complete 68.4 miles (did I mention the hills?) is definitely something to be commended.  I realize that now.  And of course this is the way it was meant to be because the driver didn't see the guy he was looking for...and I spotted him.  Then he showed me that last 10 miles!  Holy cow....I wouldn't have made it...and certainly not by dark!

Did I mention now it's 3:00 by the time he picked me up?  Anyway, I have just over a month to get ready for the MS ride.  Last step....call Jeff to tell him that I'm riding in his honor.

My 1st road bike

Published by Yupa the Mar. 1, 2008 at 6:34 AM . 0 comments. Permalink.

Okay, so my husband and kids drove around all day with me looking at bikes.  I think we went to 6 bike shops, which we had visited last week, but it was raining so I wasn't able to ride any of them.

Last week we were looking at hybrid bikes, Craig thought they would be more safe, with the fatter tires.  Well, I test "drove" a road bike and was hooked.  I really liked the feel and was much happier.  I can't wait for my first organized bike event tomorrow morning in Dade City.  One of the bike shops, the guy was riding in the ride and said it was VERY hilly and that he was doing the 40 mi ride and that I should consider that one.  Now I'm nervous.....I signed up for the 75 mi ride.  We'll see....can't wait to try out my new bike.

Jeff has his 1st episode

Published by Yupa the Feb. 27, 2008 at 8:32 PM . 0 comments. Permalink.
Just found out that Jeff had his first episode of MS since being diagnosed 7 years ago.  Now the ride has much more meaning.....I HAVE to ride!

Registered

Published by Yupa the Feb. 25, 2008 at 7:30 PM . 0 comments. Permalink.

Okay, so I finally registered for the MS 150....now there's just one more step....telling Jeff that riding in his honor!

 



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