Wordless Wednesday

Whats making all that racket?

Not Me Monday...thanks to the handy scheduler

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not watch from inside the house with a/c while my hubby slaved away at the blanket of leaves in our front yard. It did not take him and a worker 1 1/2 hours to finally see the dirt bottom where there used to be grass.

There was not a hoax going around that gang members getting initiated were going to kill 3 women at Wal-Mart which closed the local store. I did not get a phone calls from 5 family members telling me not to go in town and certainly not in WalMart. What is wrong with this world??

to go along with the messed up people in this place....

Our friends son did not call his Dad to come pick him up from school on Wed. because the school was on fire. The fire was not started by some dumb kid that did not want to be there. The kid did not light the bathroom toilet paper roll on fire. The fire did not cause the entire school to evacuate, over $3000.00 in damage, and a close a whole section of the school for smoke damage. Dummy!

I did not leave on Sun. for a whole week with KC, Nan, Pop, Mom, & Lola in AL for a week of relaxation and rejuvenation, that week will not probably include manual labor, cooking, cleaning, hollering, bickering, and a more than likely eventual manic episode from my Mom. It never fails!

I did not prepare this Not Me ahead of my departure so Im on top of my game. Im probably not already missing my blog buddies and enjoying reading everyone elses Not Mes.

Not leaving until tomorrow..sigh

We arent leaving until tomorrow ugggh! I was all packed and ready to leave this morning but I learned last night nope, not leaving until Sunday.


In the meantime MY laptop threw in the towel finally and decided it needed a vacation too. So Im off to Best Buy for check in time so my little baby can get some much needed down time, and a gentle massage. Im using my old laptop and this thing is so ancient it wont even recognize my camera USB. I hope the 7 - 10 working day things is true, that way I can pick it up not to long after I come home the next weekend. I prescheduled 2 posts while Im gone and I had 2 more lined up but I cannot upload pics on here. I am taking my camera cord incase I find a computer so I can hopefully add the pictures real quick. Wishful thinking!

Aliceville, AL here we come. HAHA! That sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy joke in the making!

Wordless Wednesday

Any guesses?

Hope you wore your green....*pinch pinch*

Happy St. Patricks Day!

This holiday has always been wishy washy to me. I mean I always participate and wear something green to celebrate my small tad of irish heritage. I dont drink beer so having green beer is not a option for me. We dont have any big parades or anything. I got KC a cute outfit to wear from TCP, and I ordered him some green Converse but they didnt come in yesterday or today, but they'll be here for tomorrow.

We went to Target to get some "supplies" for our trip this weekend. I only have one kid and leaving this house for a overnight requires packing, this trip is a whole week! I havent been on a trip with my grandparents and mom at once in a looong time, plus they each are bringing their dogs. My moms dog I bought her as a gift, is a pampered little shih-tzu named Lola who is just as prissy as my mom is so they fit well together. My grandparents dog, which I bought my Pop as a Christmas gift is a blue merle Austalian shepherd, Gabe that is hyper active and sometimes annoying beyond belief. 2 cars, 2 grandparents, 2 dogs, a toddler, a mom, and about 1200 miles, doesnt that sound fun?? Yea Im beginning to have my doubts! Wanna bet by this time next week my mom will have flipped out about something dumb and wont be speaking to anyone??

Here are a few pictures of KC from today, hes in the yard doing his favorite thing. The first one is from last year, I know he will kill me from that tie one day, look how bald he still was! HA!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not start my week off being bad consuming the last cinnamon roll from the fair I will eat until next year. My BIL did not bring it back to me from the fair piping hot out of the oven, still warm and gooey all covered with icing. I did not immediately devour it all right on the spot not sharing any at all. It was not after 9pm when this occurred and that cinnamon roll did not go straight to my already inflated hips.

I did not spend an eternity on this phone this week trying to get my hubbys surgery set up at Moffitt. I have not been keeping my fingers crossed and saying my prayers that he gets approved for financial aid so his surgery is paid for free and clear. We are not thankful for programs like this to help people like us since regular insurance companies will not provide insurance to people with pre-existing conditions.

On Thursday while doing laundry while KC took a nap, I did not playfully drop kick my dryer door to close it and then trip & fall in the laundry room floor like a fool. Yea Im not 14 anymore and putting your feet above your chest might be good for you heart but certainly not for your butt!

I have not been looking for a preschool for KC 2-3 days a week for just a few hours so he can be around other kids and play. I have not come to the conclusion that it would benefit him so much to be around others his age, and be able to learn things that maybe Im missing. And incase I return to work this would not be a better option for KC than becoming prisoner in a office with me all day.

We did not start a new routine in the kitchen on how things are done to keep it clean. The hubby did not roll his eyes and pitch a fit like a 5 year old when he learned he was no longer allowed to throw his dirty dishes in the sink with no worries. He did not also grumble about having to wash his own dishes if the dishwasher is full & if the said dishes are not communal. I have not decided that Im tired of picking up after everyone in this house thats older than 2, and put the smack down on the whole situation by starting new chores and rules that we all must follow, me too! This has not been the easiest week ever since Im not picking up a gazillion cups, and plates and that other members of this household are at last helping out. Good Job!

We did not go to Erics birthday party Sunday and have a absolute blast! We were not there for 4 hrs straight and with KC having no nap!! He was not having so much fun playing on the playground with 2 other kids his age. He didnt get to play in the water with his new friends, and get soaking wet. Eric did not turn 5 either, I was not there the day he was born, and I have not watched this little baby grow up into such a great little boy! Time does not fly by like they say anyways! KC did not finally crash out at 4pm, and Mama did not promptly wake him up 55 minutes later so he would go back to sleep.

and the last one...

I am not the least bit excited about leaving for a week, even if we are going to a super small town in AL that doesnt have a WalMart, McD's or even a CVS. I wont be sleeping on a air mattress while Im gone either. I will not spend the week getting packed and trying to make sure I do not forget anything. And for Sneaky Momma, no, I will not be taking my laptop because I know for a fact I will not be getting any service out in the boonies where we will be. And I know my phone will not be functioning way out there so that wont help. I hopefully will be able to log on at my cousins house when we are over there visiting. I will not be going through withdrawals being without it either.

I know my Not Me's were pretty boring this week, hopefully you did something more exciting than me! Head over to MckMamas place to read the long list of Not Mes the link to her blog every Monday. Happy Monday!

Money, money, money, money,....monnnney! (To the tune of The Apprentice)

I know I havent posted anything in awhile, but I have been so busy. KC & I are leaving next Sat. for a week long vacation with my mom and grandparents. We are going to a place they (the gparents) just bought in Aliceville, AL where my Pop (gpa) is from. We go there every year in June for a family reunion, and my Pop was given the opportunity to buy some of his families old land back so he did. It has a mobile home on the property so we are going to furnish the place and get it ready for everybody to stay in for the reunion this June. This is also something they wanted to do for our family, so that when they are no longer here we will always have a place where we have roots so my Pop says. So this will be a working vacation, but hey anywhere except home is good enough to be called a vacation to me. We also have my best friends son Erics birthday party to attend tomorrow at 1pm so today I finished up gift shopping and bought KC & me some new shoes. I had a coupon from Stride Rite for buy 1 get 1 50% off and KC is just about to outgrow his size 5's so he got 2 new pairs of shoes. A cute brown pair, and a cute navy blue pair. I dont get to buy all the cute frilly girly shoes, so he atleast has shoes to match. I got some cute brown Roxy flip flops because for some reason I can only locate one of my favorite pair that Ive had forever. I wonder what KC did with it?? I just found his John Deere boots Ive been looking for for about 2 weeks, they were behind the entertainment center so I can only imagine where my left flop will turn up. I never never spend money on myself, I always buy for KC, the hubby, KAS, and then there always a gift for birthdays etc., so today the Hubby gave me $40 bucks and told me to buy some new flip flops for myself. He said if I came home without them or spent that $40 bucks on anybody but me I couldnt buy KC another thing! HAHA! Yeah right, but I got his point anyways and came home with about $3 bucks leftover.

I felt so guilty today even buying anything when we went shopping. I spent $42 bucks at Childrens Place, $15 bucks at Gymboree, $35 bucks at Tillys, $78 bucks at Stride Rite, $37 bucks at Dillards, and $62 bucks at Target and that equals $269 bucks total. Thats like a whole electric bill! Finances have been tight in our house since Christmas, and Im on the verge of going back to work...hopefully not though! My hubby does land clearing, landscaping, lawn care, and also has a tree service but he has been slow for months. We are hoping things are going to start picking up soon with the spring season and people getting their tax money back to spend. And I know this is going to sound insane, but a hurricane would be really sweet! Not a Cat. 5 Katrina or anything, but a nice Cat. 2 or 3 with some strong gale force winds to knock down some trees would be a a dream come true. I live in Florida and yes I just wished for a hurricane! I could go back to work at my familys business and be able to take KC with me everyday, but uggggh the though of having to go back to work at the family enterprise is not appealing. But then again the job market these days sounds pretty rough, so having a job at all if I needed it would be a for sure blessing! I have gotten quite used to not working and doing my own thing and Id like to keep it that way. Finances causes my mind to spin non-stop. I will be 30 this year and I have come so far and been able to have so much, the thought of loosing my footing drives me loony. I have been very fortunate growing up to have a family that has gone above & beyond caring for me and giving me alot in my lifetime. Its different when you grow up, move out of the nest and starting paving your own path, you no longer want things given to you, you want to do it for yourself. Once you get used to that, having to back step and then ask someone else for help just blows your self esteem out of the water. On top of that we have dealing with my hubbys EX who thinks she still runs things, about more money of course, and I found a lien against me while looking for something for a friend. There are 2 actual liens adding up to almost $5000.00, 1 from late 07, and 1 from early 08. The state is saying my business was open much longer than it was and they estimated my taxes through the month I really closed in April of 07 thru the whole year of 08. I have all my paperwork to prove this but its a pain to get it undone. I cant file my income taxes this year until this is cleared up because they will hijack my tax refund, and I need it damnit! If it only grew on trees for real! I know so many other people that are way worse off than we are, so just complaining about my situation makes feel un-entitled. I pray every night that our situation resolves itself here soon. I have been selling stuff on ebay and craigslist and that has been giving me some cushion, and is helping me rid my garage of unused baby gear..bonus!

Tommorrow should be fun though, there will be a bunch of kids running around so KC will have a blast. Erics birthday parties have always been at a nearby huge county park with lots to do!

Bag Tag ...round & round we go

Sneaky Momma has tagged everybody to join in on the fun of digging through everyones personal belongings. Since, Im just as nosy as the next Rosey I had to see whats in everyones bag and spill the goods in mine too. I usually dont have the time in the mornings to post anything, but this morning my hubby took KC to breakfast ALL by himself so I have some free time. So here goes:

I do not carry a purse, and I never really have. When KC was born I had a obnoxious diaper bag that I hated! Last year for my birthday I splurged and spent $100 on a large Vera Bradley Cafe Latte backpack so I could tote mine & KCs stuff around. Let me tell you its the best $100 Ive ever spent because I have been in love with this bag ever since. Its just the perfect size to hold everything but not be to big or to small. Its dark colored so it doesnt show the dirt & grime that accumulates from going everywhere, and its machine washable! Can you believe that?? Like the time a snack pack of applesauce imploded in there, all I had to do was throw it in the machine! Thats amazing in itself, no purse or diaper bag I ever had could pull off a task like that.

Things in here do change on occasion, but this is pretty much it.
Wipes, and diapers of course! A cool little brush/mirror from Sephora, hair tie, lip stuff, snacks, (this time we had rasains, goldfish, & chesse crackers), keys, phone, books, mints, sippy cup, festival tickets, exotic coconut perfume, wallet, pen, Disney pass, gift cards, KCs John Deere tractor, KCs 1972 Ford Bronco that his dad just had to get him, a stroller hook, throw away diaper bags, a wooden frog toy, Vaseline, and KCs gloves(it was cold last week) and thats it! Wow that was fun, wasnt it. I do love my bag!
So now the only thing left is to TAG anyone that wants to join in! What do you have in your bag?

Strawberry fields of gold

Well, Ive been in a crappy mood for about a week now and even though I did not want to go anywhere I HAD to. You see once a year in my lil redneck hometown there is this festival that takes place with all its strawberry glory. If you cant tell Im obsessed with strawberries then you must be blind! Im not totally obsessed with them but they do play a big part in my life. My hubbys family, some were/some are strawberry farmers, and my families business provides liquid fertilizer to the local farmers (for a fee of course)as well as shipping all over the US and many other countries, my Pop started the company in his backyard shed. The town I was raised in is the winter strawberry capital of the world, and named after Henry B. Plant and railroad developer, and hence its named Plant City.
The festival Im referring to is the Florida Strawberry Festival. I have been every single year since I was born, we glorify all things strawberry. I have shown plants, and pigs, and cows, I have been in the parade (yes a parade in the name of strawberries), I have parked cars for the school to raise money, I have had my own booth set up for my scrapbook store to sell strawberry scrapbook stuff, and now I have the whole slew of the strawberry life to pass on to my son. My MIL was even the 1960 Strawberry Festival Queen, yes there is such a title I swear, proof below. So today since the festival ends on Sunday I HAD to take KC to the annual tradition before he missed out. I really have been enough to last my lifetime & then some, when I showed animals I was there off & on everyday, when I had a booth I lived there for 11 days from 9am until after 10pm EVERY night.
Last year was KCs first Strawberry Festival and I entered him in a decorated diaper contest, decorated by yours truly, and also in the Most Handsome Boy for age group 6-9 months. I decorated a diaper as Mickey Mouse, you wouldnt have guessed that right? but sadly we didnt win. KC did make it in the Top 5 for Most Handsome out of 32 baby boys. This year, no parade, no animals, no booth, no contests, just FOOD! KC was included with the food, he ate a corn dog, some funnel cake (against moms wishes), strawberry shortcake, ice cream, and root beer! He never never gets soda, but we got some old fashioned root beer out of this barrel so hubby wanted him to try it, he did but he didnt want to try it again.
When you go to the festival and youve lived here your whole life you know everybody, and everybody knows you. Thinking you can go on senior citizens day when theres not a big a crowd, at 1pm in the afternoon and not see anyone you know is a joke! The whopping 2 1/2 hours we were there we saw atleast 15 people we knew and had to stop & talk to. Did I mention I havent been in a great mood, and the thought of explaining my life in the past yr. to someone makes me nauseous. I smiled and talked and said exactly what I thought they wanted to hear so I could make it to my next snack shack as quickly as possible. I didnt come to talk, I came to eat! Wait no thats not right, I HAD to come to carry on the tradition with my son so he knows his strawberry roots, yes thats the reason. We did have a good time though, and Im glad we took KC.

Heres some pictures from last year and this year, mostly last year because my hands were to full for a camera too.

Mickey Mouse diaper I made it

What KC wore for Most Handsome

KC with his Meme, and former 1960 Strawberry Queen

In the strawberry throne

KC eating his corn dog this year.

some Roses for my hubby

How can you love someone so much, but then sometimes want to bash their brains in with a iron skillet. Im totally kidding! I did come across this clip from War of the Roses though and it made me laugh so hard I snorted out loud. I havent seen that movie since I dont know when, but I found it hilarious tonight for some reason. I think my fairy is making her appearance early this month because the hubby is on my last nerve. I usually try my best to say something nice or not at all, but I couldnt do it this time. Forgive me Lord for my mouth runneth over, and then spilled onto the floor!

Sorry for my crabiness!

Not Me Monday...Not!

Ok I confess I didnt participate in Not Me Monday this week. Why you ask?? Because I didnt feel like it...there! Thanks to the lovely selfish man that resides in this house with me I have been in a horrible mood for the past 2 days. I just dont understand what makes (most) of the Y chromosomed mammals of the world think they are so high & mighty that they can do whatever they please at any moment without having any consideration for the X chromosomed mammals that they need to pat them on the butt and assure them its all gonna be ok. After all, I sit here all day eating bon bons and snapping my fingers for the butler to bring me more grey poupon, I have a live in nanny, maid, chef, and my own personal laundry attendant all at my beck & call. The garbage man also walks all the way up our driveway to fetch our garbage and then promptly returns the cans to where they belong beside the garage. I could go on & on with this one but I think you catch my drift. This to shall pass, thats what I always tell myself. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt.