Oh and for those of you who are wondering....

No, the worthless piece of shit that gave birth to Cassie and Alex did NOT call them on Xmas. Nice huh?

I wonder why it shocks and surprises me every time she does something like this. It's been over 2 years since she sent them presents for Xmas or their birthdays. Not that material items are important, but crap, to kids having someone give you something on your birthday or Xmas means something. Hell, even a card - they love that kind of stuff. But she can't be bothered. Didn't call them on their birthdays this year, I should have known that was the beginning of the end.

But it's not, though. She won't ever go away. It would be nice if she would just stop contacting them and leave them be. They are happy kids. But, as Dave says, she's around just enough to be a pain in the ass. It's been over 6 months since she's called. When she came to visit them in October of 2003 (the first time since 1997 that she'd actually come to visit them), I really thought she was coming around and was going to be more involved in their lives. Silly me, what was I thinking?

It's amazing, in a really awful, sick-in-the-pit-of-your-stomach sort of way. Pathetic is more like it.

Whole Lot About Nothing

I don't have much to say. I could probably type forever and talk about all sorts of things, but I have nothing profound nor earthshaking to discuss.

Xmas was great - very mellow, just as I wanted it. Funny, though, we had to basically force Zack to open presents. He opened a few, excitedly, then he wanted to play with his toys and we had to remind him that there were new presents to open. I'm sure this will be the only year that happens.

All the kids made out like bandits and they all seem to like their gifts. Somehow I managed to pick the ONE out of about six Bionicles that Alex said was his absolute favorite. How I lucked into that one, I'll never know, but Santa sure got thanked a lot for that one. That little guy is so cute.

I enjoyed putting all the toys together, especially Alex's legos. I think I will tell everyone to get him legos so that I have something to play with. I'm such a little kid.

I think I've messed my knee up somehow. It REALLY hurts. I yelped on the top stair today in pain. This is not good. I'm scared because it's never hurt like this before. Sometimes it's ached, but not for these many days and it's never made me cry out before. I know it's because I've gained weight back and it makes me so angry with myself. But what if it's something else? I've worked in law long enough and read enough medical records to know what it could be and well, it's enough to freak me out a bit. If I go to an orthopedist, they will take x-rays and prescribe physical therapy. Maybe that will help. I sure hope so because I don't want to think about the alternatives.

If it's still hurting on Monday, I will make an appointment. Damn knees. Damn getting old. Damn everything!

Have you ever eaten a salted apple? I never have, but that's what Dave's eating right now. Should I try it? Nah, maybe I'll just eat a pop tart haha.

What I Want for Xmas

Is some time to myself. Today, I'm in a fantastic mood, but this week has been hard. Sometimes (and yes, I understand that PMS has a lot to do with WHEN these times come), I feel like no one really understands that I'm a person and not just "Mom". I work part-time, but there might be one day a week when I can come straight home from work. And if that happens, there are chores to be done. Often there are chores that are done on the heels of errands that are run, immediately after working. It's exhausting. And sometimes, just sometimes, all I want to do is just RELAX.

But more often than not, I literally can't get 2 minutes to myself (work doesn't count). I will come to crash in the living room, only to have one or more children decide that the living room is exactly where they want to be at that exact same moment in time. It's extremely frustrating. I love my kids, of course, but sometimes I'd like to have some peace in my own house without having to lock myself up in a bedroom. It's a miracle if I can go to the bathroom without Zack following me in there or someone yelling for me while I'm peeing.

David is wonderful, of course, and has made all kinds of suggestions on things he can do to make me less stressed. He's a doll - I'd really be lost without him.

I will get my wish soon though. In 6 days, David and I are going away for New Year's, sans kids. 2 nights of just us. Oh, it will be heaven. Holed up in a cabin in Western Maryland. Soon. Soon. Soon it will come :)

New Model Zack 3.0

Today's the big day. My baby is 3. It's both hard to imagine and not at the same time. Of course he's 3 - it's hard to remember our lives without him, like he's always been here. At the same time, I can remember to the minutest of details being pregnant and his birth. I can tell you that 3 years ago at this time, it was one hour after my water had broken and my contractions were one minute apart. I was laboring without meds. That sooned changed about a half hour from now ;)

There sits my big three-year-old boy now, eating mac & cheese in front of the tv, in overalls and a t-shirt. Surrounded by new toys, watching Spongebob and as happy as he can be. I'm so glad that he's having such a great time on his birthday. He's very excited to be "fwee".

I'm so proud of him - he's such a wonderful, loving little guy, even if he is as stubborn as his mom. We're so lucky to have him and I'm thankful every day.

Off to go eat some cake :)

It's Funny, Cuz It's True

Thanks, Carrie ;)

You Know You're From Maryland When...

You know more than 10 people who own boats and they all park them at the same marina in Annapolis You can pronounce and spell "Pocomoke," "Mattaponi," "Accokeek," and "Havre de Grace" You prononce "Bowie" BOO-ie not BOW-ie or BAUW-ie 1 hour is an easy commute to work You have more than three recipies for crabcakes French fries just don't taste right without Old Bay There are more than two crab places in your town Even your high school cafeteria made good crabcakes You got your first lacrosse stick before you were six years old You call all turtles "terrapins" You refer to your state as "Merlind" Your mother shops at Hecht's You still call Six Flags America "Adventure World", or even "Wild World" You still remember the Wild World commercial (Wild World's the cure for the summertime blues!) You can tell the difference between the smells of septic and marsh. You not only know how to eat hard crabs but you also know how to catch them, cook them and tell the males from the females. You don't think that Assawoman Bay is a strange name for a body of water. You know perfectly well why Rehoboth is called "Little San Francisco" M R Ducks makes perfect sense. So does C M Wangs. You think Salisbury is a big city. You think of dumplings as wet slippery squares of boiled dough. You and your boss take off of work when the fish are running or the ducks are flying in. You've eaten muskrat at a church dinner but think it's better the way you fix it. You think of "Dairy Queen" as a pageant title and not a place to get an ice cream. "Formal wear" is a ball cap, a flannel shirt and Timberlands. You still root for the Orioles even when they suck You'll never understand why tourists come to DC. When in Florida, you can only laugh when you see signs saying "Real Maryland Blue Crab Cakes!" You color with "Crowns", take a "Share" with "Wooter" and think the president lives in "Warshenton." You know the difference between Glen Burnie ghetto and Catonsville ghetto. Your whole family lives within a 200 mile radius of your town. Dale Earnhardt's accident was a close personal loss to your father At least one man in your family is a waterman You plan for "The Festival" a year in advance. During the summer, you spend more time in Ocean City than at home. Margret Heater, Hedspace, Jepetto, Outside Joke and Mary Prankster are people you think are "Famous" Your radio dial is stuck on 99.1 You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Maryland.

Get Your Own "You Know You're From" Meme Here



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My 40th Entry (??) More like 50th or more!

Wow, that's a lot. What's ironic is that I don't really have much to say today. It's been a mellow weekend, which I like. The last of the year. Saturday is Zack's birthday. The following Saturday is Christmas and then the one after is New Year's. Holy hell this year has flown by. We did get our tree up this weekend - first one in 3 years because of Mr. Mack, but we figured this year he was old enough to not tear it down. It's so pretty - I'm so glad that we got rid of all the tacky non-matching balls. Our tree has silver garlands, white lights & blue satin balls. Also, we have homemade decorations and some special store-bought ones. All in all, a great tree. I will hate to take it down this year.

I just noticed that Zack's framed baby picture has little Zack-prints all over it. I should clean it, but the fingerprints make me giggle.

So I've gone back to being vegan. That's no meat, no dairy for those of you who don't know. Dave wanted to do it to improve his heart health and I was more than happy to oblige. It's much easier to eat this way when someone else can enjoy it with you. I used to hate making vegan dishes and wanting someone else to try them and no one would. I feel better already. I always feel so much better eating this way, both physically and morally. I don't like eating animals. Not sure why I was, other than laziness.

And there's my 40th entry. Nothing very interesting, but I do get comments from people when I don't update for a while. Must appease the masses!!

Stealing this from Angel

I saw this on another blog ;) Thanks, Angel - it's cool!

In 1972 (the year you were born)

Richard Nixon is president of the US President Nixon approves NASA's space shuttle, a reusable spacecraft, at a cost of $5.5 billion Nixon arrives in China for an 8 day visit, which he calls a "journey for peace" While campaigning for the presidency Alabama Governor George C. Wallace is shot and seriously wounded Five men are arrested in the Watergate office complex in DC for breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Committee Hurricane Agnes strikes the East Coast causing 117 deaths First scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) os introduced for $395 Shaquille O'Neal, Jennifer Garner, The Rock, The Notorious B.I.G., Cameron Diaz, Eminem, and Alyssa Milano are born Oakland Athletics win the World Series Dallas Cowboys win Superbowl VI Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup The Godfather is the top grossing film Pink Floyd debuts "The Dark Side of the Moon" during a performance at London's Rainbow Theater "You've Got a Friend"by Carole King wins a Grammy for song of the year The Price is Right premieres on CBS

What Happened the Year You Were Born?

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Awwww, yeah!!!!!!!!!!!

I got me a potty trained boy, yes yes I do. He is the man, I swear he's awesome. He's fully trained himself in 2 weeks. Oh, and it's been over a week since he had an accident, so perhaps he did it in one week? Tonight's the first night he's slept in underwear and not a pull-up, but he's woken up dry for like 5 days in a row, so I figured why not.

Ahh, what a relief. I love this. I really didn't care that he wasn't trained before now, but I was kinda stressed about doing it since he seemed so resistant to it. Thank god I used my brain and just waited until he was ready. That's my boy!!!!!

On another great note, I have taken control of our finances and we are all over this!!! We are going to get our debts paid off and get a college fund in place within the next few years. With the help of Dave Ramsey. Our friends Chance and Kimberly have been a true inspiration in their getting out of debt. I read their annual Xmas letter and sat in awe of what they did. So now, we're doing it. I'm so excited.

And, shhh, don't tell, but I may be a non-mini-van driving mama again. Ahh, you know I never WAS a real mini-van type now was I? ;)