All The Small Things

Good day people! How are you? It's been so long since I visited.. I literally have had a million things I could be blogging about, and the pics to prove it and I have NOTHING to say! Me? Speechless? Is that even possible? I ALWAYS have something to say!
Couple things..

I did not babysit.

I'm not sure what happened, but drama unfolded. I really don't like being compared to homewreckers, hookers, or hoodrats nor do I like dealing with them! At any rate- SIL found someone else to watch the kids, even though despite the drama I was willing to do it and jumped through several hoops to get it all set up. But in the end, it was just me and the Peanut all weekend. Cheaper, quieter, less stress all around. End of story. OK. Enough of me blabbering!

Saturday I used my coupon to Qdoba given to me by one of my co-workers. I forgot to properly thank him, so I will publicly out him and say THANKS FOR THE COUPON MIKE! He donated blood, and I got to eat. Whooooo! And here's what we had!


Peanut's plate: chips, with a chicken taco- hold the guac and the sour cream. She was holding her taco, I was stealing chips..

My plate- I got one of those "pick 2" kind of deals.. tortilla soup (the effing bomb there!) and a grilled quesadilla. I know what you are thinking, CHEESE? FLOUR? GIRRRRRLLLLLL? Every once in a while, I just can't help myself. I'm only happy that my reaction to cheese and gluten merely involves a stomach ache and a mild rash on my right leg. Bizzare yea. Tolerable enough to eat cheese and flour tortilla's once in a while? YEA.

I love this soda.. it has 2 servings of fruit in it- so I was happy!

The rest of the weekend went like this.. bike riding, sleeping, bike riding, sleeping, working out, eating, bike riding, sleeping. Are you noticing a pattern here? I have a child who loves to be outside riding her bike, I can't say no to that! But let's just say if C was home, I'd being saying no to something else becaues my ass feels like.... well. I just won't go there!

I totally have MORE MORE MORE to say, so I might be behind in my blogging a bit- just bear with me.. I'll get up to date and you might see a post from May sometime soon. OK?!

Hugs to everyone, I'll also be working on catching up on my dang google reader.. I feel so lost without you all!

Say Ahhh...

Is it Tuesday? Really? Have I really been gone that long? Sweet niblets!!
Well, I am back, it's been a LONG week already and it's only 8:48 in the morning (well it was when I started writing this anyway!)

I don't have too much in terms of words to say. But my nephew Melo turned 1. I love him so much I feel like I birthed him sometimes- and he doesn't seem to mind that I act like that either! I'm always getting hugs and kisses from him - what a flirt!!!! So here are the pics from our little cake-cutting ceremony on Sunday - his actual party is in two weeks, more on that in a second.


Here is he is eating the ice cream cake...adorable isn't he??


It was a good day with all the kids, I wish I took more pics! I have to save some of my memory though for this weekend when I have 6 children at my house for 4 days. Please, someone ask me WHY, HOW, WHAT. WHY did I say yes? HOW did they convince me to say yes? WHAT was I on when I said yes?
I'm weak when it comes to the kids! My SIL asked if I would babysit for her cherubs (qty 3) this weekend so she can go to Vegas (ummmm no invite??). I said ok for a three day weekend- how long can one stay in Vegas and stay sober and wealthy? Then it suddenly turned into a five day trip and I had to take three days off work for it! Yikes! So then, my niece (qty 1) and my BIL's younger kids (qty 2) want to come as well. If anyone is looking for me... I'll be the one with the mangy hair, sweatpants, with the crazed look on her face. Yep. For sure! I'm hoping the weather is nice, we will just walk around the neighborhood and go to the park and play outside. Please.. pray for sunshine!
So what was on muy food menu for the weekend? I have to get back to work over here, so I'll just put up the pics, you can bask in my food glory for now.. more later this week, if I haven't killed myself..
This pizza was pretty good- nutrition facts a little daunting but I sucked it up and ate the whole thing..


My go-to snack!



Chicken nuggets and fries! Don't worry, they were the good kind, no MSG or HFCS here ;)


And the best GF-DF french toast.. ever!!!!! I love this stuff! Highly recommended!

Well- I'm back off to work- I'll be trying to get caught up on blogs today- sneaking them between emails, so don't be surprised if you see a comment from me today!!!

Snackage

Snacks have been in high consumption lately. I've been lazy. I've been super tired. I've had the motivation to cook at 5:15, then I get sidetracked by searching for uniforms or ballet shoes, and it all goes out the window. Thankfully, they've been good, healthy snacks. So I don't feel so bad. Hopefully, one of these days, I'll cook a meal.
Imagine if I said that when C were home. If I didn't cook everyday, I got harassed. He used to say I was starving him! Lol. Luckily, I knew he was joking most of the time.
Well, I'm glad you guys liked my hair and thought crazy girl was a fake funky looking chick.

Moving right along!

Snacks!

This first shot is not MY snack, but the Peanut first foray into eating SANDWICHES! What, what now?????


Enter the peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my little peanut. I can't believe at the age of 7, she is finally eating PB&J. I think my mother gave us PB&J instead of formula when we were babies! Verdict? She loved it! I cut off the crust (even though that's the best part!) and she gobbled that stuff right down! Christina, should this go in your Friday Firsts???

Breakfast, double the waffle and multiply by 4 days in a row this has been my breakfast. I love those squeeze packs...

I found this in Hannafords a while back, it does actually look and taste like Spaghettio's. Another food I think my mother gave me instead of formula when I was a baby!
One can has 267 calories, so it was like a big snack, add a piece of fruit or a veggie and it's a small meal. I had two cans, so I had it both ways.

Up here in NE, we have Ocean State Job Lot. I have no clue if anyone else has them around? At OCJL you find the most RANDOM food items ever- and they are all incredibly cheap- it kind of reminds me of Trader Joes, except right across from the dates and pasta sauce are flannel shirts circa 1996. So anyway, my mom found this Bob's Red Mill granola there and she picked it up thinking it would be good sprinkled over fruit. It's also good, over yogurt, as you can see here!


That about does it for FOOD FOR ME. To answer everyone's question, YES I am feeling alot better in terms of myself. Although, I do have to admit, even when eating MORE (late night Oreos and bowls of cereal- this is a shout out to YOU!), I'm still not gaining weight. I think this might be a testament that my body NEEDS to eat more and so it's happily accepting the extra fuel and it's not going straight to my ass- glory be! So I'm lifting my coffee mug to the pantry! : )
Happy Thursday everyone, I'm getting back to work, I've been a little slow about reading blogs this week too but I'll get back to it ASAP!

Mother's Day

Hi guys! Happy Monday!

This is a quick post because I know there are a FEW people who are waiting to see pictures of my hurrr. I LOVE IT. I feel soooooooooo awesome with the new do! I definitely enjoyed the pampering for a little bit and it was good to catch up with Tara, my hairdresser. She loved how my hair felt, and her salon just got in tons of MoroccanOil hair supplies, so now all I have to do is ride my bike down the street and buy some!


But YES! My grandmother is CRAZY! I suppose she could say that she likes me better as a blonde, but she's like adamant about it. Everytime she sees me (and she's down the hall... YIKES) she tells me.. She made that comment to me and my mom, when my mom was braiding my hair one night (it's too long for me to braid myself) and even my mother was like.. WHAT??? I didn't want to tell my grandmother how many guys go ga-ga over a big smile, blue eyes, and dark hair. Too many too count! Needless to say, I am not my grandmother's favorite grandchild!

But what can we expect from an old lady who opened a bag of Doritios before paying for them to make sure they were fresh???????????

Mother's Day was GOOD! The Peanut did a great job picking out presents. I got a manicure kit (God knows I need purty nails) and a D & D gift card along with a million coupons. Plus a really cute card. I loved it! We went to church, ate lunch, tried to go for a bike ride (too cold!) and watched lots of Disney Channel. All in all, I couldn't ask for a better day if I were getting a massage by the beach on the Virgin Islands..

Wait a minute. I think I would have preferred that!

C wished he were home with me. Last year Mother's Day I had a wonderful time (no I didn't we had dinner reservations and SOMEONE *cough* baby mama *cough* didn't come and pick her daughter up until after 10!) Well, in order to look like this:

you gotta work at it.. I guess. Yep there we go. There's my arch-nemisis. Thank God, I'm merely the Ugly White Bitch. She doesn't know my name, doesn't know where I live, or that I can write beyond an 8th grade level. Or that I can literally find ANYTHING about ANYONE. Never leave anything you don't want me to see.. online... MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

And ending the post on a less "Amy looks like a pyscho look" here are pics I jacked from C's cousin's Facebook page. (ummmmmmmmm... oxymoron in my sentence, find it!)

The old folks are his grandparents who live in Puerto Rico. The guy with the funky moustache is his uncle and the little peanut in the pic is my Joanna. Whom I miss with ALL MY HEART. I LOVE YOU JOANNA! Poor Joanna doesn't deserve to live where she is living right now, I wish I could give her a stable home while C is away, but I have to be patient.. she is SUCH a good girl with a heart of gold.

Anyway, I'm back to work.. I have food stuffs for you in the next couple of days.. YAY!

Creature of Habit

Happy Friday people! How are you all? Warm welcome to any new readers who have stopped by in the last few days.. I'm really enjoying reading all the new blogs and having new commenters.. makes me feel POPULAR! : ) JK.

So let me just jump right into it now. I've been growing my hair out for about 4 years now. It's been on the long-ish side for a while and is now almost down past my bra line. My bangs are in the way, my hair is in the way. When I have it in a ponytail and I'm running, my ponytail gets stuck in my armpit. Ohhhhhh so sexy. I measured it a couple of weeks ago and it looks like I have 21 inches of hair. I'm glad that's not my armpit hair. I love it. It's now super soft and silky from the hair treatment I've been using on it, but it's just SOOOOOO flippin' long!

This stuff, has seriously, changed my hair and my life. No more frizzy hair! No more straw like texture! It's soft, its touchable! I love it!
Tomorrow, I'm going to get a cut. I'm almost nervous! I want to do something different! But alas, I'm a creature of habit and my hair dresser is scared of C. He is fighting for me to keep it long and dark! And the last time he talked to her, he said, "don't let her cut her hair short!!!!!!! PLEASE!"

My grandmother said a few weeks ago that it was a good thing I had dark hair, I didn't have to worry about anyone paying attention to me. Because I looked so unattractive no one would notice me.

I didn't know how to take that. But now you know why I don't hang out with my grandmother very often.

I love my long dark hair. But be prepared. Some shit is goin' down with it. I hope my hairdresser doesn't get too nervous about it. She tries to be an undercutter, not an overcutter. : ) I'll definitely be putting up before and after pics!

So Mother's Day is on Sunday. What are YOU doing for your momma? I have no idea what the Peanut is getting me!!!! I asked if she would get me one of those little massager thingies (no, not THAT kind of massager!) for my back. Who knows what she will come up with! I got MY mother a knife set, so she could kill my dad when the summer is up and she is sick of him being up her butt all the time...
ONLY KIDDING. I did get her a DINNER knife set, we have 1.5 million spoons, 1.2 million forks, and 4 knives. I have no idea where all the knives went, so I got a set of 12 from Target for $12. Last year I got my mother orange juice glasses. I tend to buy people the things they muse about while standing around... and then they go, "oh my God! I really needed these!"

Anyway, onto my eats! Side note, I thought I had more on here. OY VEY.

Salmon burger, on Kinnikinnik white rice bread, with a slice of rice "cheese". Soooooo good, but the salmon sat kinda heavy in my stomach. Blech.
Oh and I got this card for my anniversery from Charlie, he's on time for everything, can't you tell?????

So I tried a new snack today - trying to break the mold of a creature of habit here...dried papyaya. I bought it at Whole Foods a while back and just finally cracked it open today. It looks like a giant sour patch worm.

I think I was expecting it to TASTE like a giant sour patch worm too. I ate two pieces and didn't finish the rest. No flavor. Not even sweet. What gives??? If I'm going to get cavaties for the 23 grams of pure sugar in these babies, I want it to taste good too!
Well dearests.. I'm off to the fair! (what movie is that line from?????? anyone???? please tell me someone knows it and I'm not the ONLY dork out there who loves old school Disney movies.. (that was a hint!)
Have a GREAT weekend, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mommies out there! Katie, Sammie.. I'm talkin' to you!!!!!!!

Open The Skies

I had a beautiful post. Talking about how well I was doing the last couple of days, despite it being C's birthday today (Happy Birthday sweetness!) and I was upset about being apart then. I was doing ok, a little tired. A little worn down. But I hadn't thought about tearing myself down.

All your comments made me smile by the way. I love you guys.

I was complaining today to C about being away from each other on his birthday. Trying to work out at the same time (he always knows when I'm working out and calls me then. I'm not sure how he does it). Then I changed really quick and grabbed the Peanut to go to the store and buy some food, I was hungry.

My mom stopped me before I left and said, "just so you know in case you notice your dad looks a little down today.. he lost his job".

I think I had a hot flash, followed by a cold freeze all over myself. My mom breezed out the door at that point, running late for a rehearsal and there I was standing in the kitchen to think about all this.

My poor father..

I cried, still took Peanut to the store, and spent 20 minutes staring at shampoo bottles in Target. I bought some shampoo for my mop (definitely needed). Then headed to Hannafords where I stared at the food for another 25 minutes. Not really putting anything in my basket- instead I picked stuff up for Peanut.

We left the store and I'm blinking back tears, crying for my dad. My other half. My own self. I wasn't strong enough to stand on my own two feet suddenly. I felt weak and tired and helpless. My body was screaming for relief and I yelled out in my head, "what's next God???"
I got in the car and we started to head home, Peanut still chattering away behind me.

I looked up suddenly startled by the sky.

I see those shoulders bend all weighted by the thought
One more day to carry on, now, carry on
Trouble she cannot shake
Dreams she would like to take her away, yeah, away

I'll be waiting for the sun to rise
So I can start again by and by
I'll be looking o'er my head to the sky
See the clouds open wide, reveal my faith


I totally lost it at that moment. The Peanut and I got out of the car laughing. I had tears coming down my face while I was taking pictures. I haven't seen such a thing since I was a kid.

How amazing God can be, sometimes I don't know what to think. To tell you right there, it's going to be ok.

I don't know what my dad will do for now, but he has a lot of people rooting for him. I don't know how C will get by for now, but he prays everyday for the strength to make it through another day. And me?

I think I'll be ok.

"... He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water; And God will wipe away all their tears." Rev. 7:17

Amazing

Welcome back to reality dears. It's Monday afternoon and you know what that means.

*cricket* *cricket*

Maybe you don't! Time for our weekend round-up. When's the last time I did this? I have no clue!

First up. Friday night. What did we do? It was pay-day so the Peanut and I took a break from the mundane and went out for ice cream. I will freely admit that I DID eat only a small snack in place of dinner so I could get ice cream. Not my most shining moment, indeed.


A beautiful Saturday can only mean a few things in my house. Early morning workout followed by park and a bike ride. But first, an "amazing" breakfast...


Amazing grass lovers, sorry but this tasted like Amazing ass. No lie, I spit it out right into the sink.. what am I doing wrong? I want to love this stuff!!!! Christina? Thoughts? Suggestions? Hold my nose and chug it?
With that giant fail over and done with, it was off to the park. I satisfied my need for fuel with some liquid cocaine in the form of home-made iced coffee and peanut buttered waffles. It would have to suffice. I needed major fuel to ride a dino and make my way across the monkey bars.



I slid down the slide too and got all dirty. Way sexy...
We made our way to the petting zoo where we saw lots of fuzzy friends. This guy loved to be pet. Look he has his eyes closed and everything, lol.


Look Katie... I totally thought of you when I saw these ostriches.. LOL YOU KNOW WHY!!!!!!
The rest of the day was spent bike riding and just being outside. I love being outside when it's gorgeous out. I feel alot better about just about everything. It has been a rough week and I'm really glad it was nice outside. To get out and just be free was so liberating!
Saturday night I actually WENT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What what now???

One of my friends was in town and we met another girlfriend out at a bar in in my neighborhood. I had a very large adult beverage and we talked. ALOT. Now they know what's going on with me and C - so that makes me feel alot better too. It was good to get stuff off my chest. I think alot of my feelings of loneliness don't stem from my high school friends ignoring me (because when they are in town, they never do) but mainly from C's sister. After the teacher tried to smooch me, she got mad at me because I let it slide, saying she would tell Charlie about it. I diffused the situation for a bit but then when the teacher asked me to be a part of the performance team, I think that was "over the top" for her. At least that's the only thing I can think of. In any case, we haven't spoken in a long time. And that hurts alot. She does only call when she needs something, and I'm not strong enough to not respond to her- but I'm thinking that I will not be from now on. So anyway, enough about that- I went out and had a good chat with the girls- it was fun to get out and people watch.

Sunday I slept late. No workout to speak of besides a little booty shakin' with my ipod while I cleaned the kitchen. One of the consequences of being a non-drinker, having a drink. The next day I'm useless.

Well I wasn't toooooo useless to go to the town fair. I went with Gina, the Peanut and my niece. We spent a small fortune and got sunburned, tossed around on rides, and hit on by fat guys. Note to self, NEVER dance where a fair worker can see you. Where do they find these people?!?!?!?!

I wanted to borrow this guys earrings. They were SOOOOOO hot!
I also snapped a shot of a woman whom I affectionately called chicken face but in the interest of being nicer and not burning your eyes out, I won't post it. HAHAHA. In case you don't remember, I have a sickness when I see unfortunate people I can't help but take a picture. Just remembering isn't funny enough for me...(please click that link to bring you to my last foray into paparazziness)



Well I ended up going to bed early after watching The Blind Side. Best movie I've seen in a long time.. if you haven't seen it, watch it! Great story, I laughed, I cried, I was grateful for all the blessings I have in my life. It was a wonderful end to the weekend.
Hope you guys are having a lovely day back into work.. : )