AARRRGG!!

Avast, matey! Pirate Gabriel is here!



Looking for the "X"!


Found it!


Digging!


SCORE!


Presents!


Demetryus'grandparents, mom, aunt, sister & her baby surprised us with a visit that afternoon! They drove all the way from Philly for Gabe's party :) Here are the monsters hanging out with cousin Izzy and (great) aunt Angie at the hotel:

Bad Blogger!

Between family visiting and computer issues, I feel like I haven't been on in ages! I have oodles to write about, but only a 5 minute window here to type- gotta feed the heathens :) But I'll be back later to upload bday pics (I promise!!) and chat some more. Spent a huge chunk of money on some totally cool Xmas presents today. Including the totally expensive Magnetix *points accusing finger at Lynlee* :o)

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Today, my handsome little man turned 5 years old! I can't believe it. He's such a big boy now! We didn't have a celebration today, because wé're having such a large party on Friday. Tons of pictures from the party, I promise :)

Happy Birthday Gabriel!!! We love you :)

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire

was totally awesome. I thought the begining was a little rushed, and I wish they would have elaborated more on the Quiddich tournament, but sacrifices must be made :) I can't wait to see it again!

Whoever said chivalry was dead...........

Was SOOOO right! Mal and I boarded a packed city bus, each holding 2 bags, a purse, and the hand of one of the monsters. NOT ONE FAT BASTARD moved their lazy ass to at least let the kids sit. There were at least 6 grown men sitting around us, 3 of whom looked at me, smiled, then looked away. It took about 2-3 miles of standing and lurching everytime the bus jumped before we could get a seat.

Jerks.

Getting better...slowly

I'm not quite as sick anymore. And thats always good news ;) Mal and I have just been hanging out at home, not doing much of anything. Although, we did manage to get to the grocery store (via bus, then cab home as my car is still busted!) and got....drumroll please....the Thanksgiving shopping done! I never realized how big 22+ lbs of turkey really is! My fridge is positively groaning. I don't think I've ever had this much food in my house!

On a crochet note, I managed to finish Natalie's sweater last week, and FINALLY got the pictures done yesterday! So here we go, for your viewing pleasure *lol*





It was fun to crochet..for the first 5 minutes. I admit, I get pretty bored with large projects that have simple pattern repeats. But I'm pleased with the finished item. I decided to list it on ebay, but if it doesn't meet my (rather large and totally worth it) reserve, then I'm keeping it for Natalie. She looks good in it :)

Still Alive....

Just sick! :( Mallory got here yesterday, and the poor thing is not feeling well either. Although she did feel well enough to go out on a date with Josh tonight...*grin* I told her we need to keep Josh in the family *lol* So anyway, nothing really new to report. Getting ready for the big Thanksgiving dinner, crocheting up a storm, my boutique ebay group is getting ready to have a Christmas launch and I have NOTHING made...sigh...Oh well. I bet I could whip out a poncho soon enough.

Have to go grocery shopping tomorrow. Thats about the extent of my plans, since it's gonna be raining everyday till Thursday, and I don't fancy waiting for the bus in the rain.

And thats all for the moment :)

Bored and Quizzy..

You are Severus Snape You are a whiz at potions and skilled at working as a double agent for Dumbledore and Voldemort. But who’s side are you on? Although you may have been lead astray by the dark lord initially, you are really fighting the good fight, as a spy against the death eaters. Or is it the other way around? Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

You are 46% Psychic You are fairly psychic. You have an above average chance of choosing the right color at the roulette table. Although you are not as psychic as others, you are very lucky. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

You should have grown up during the twenties You are cool, sophisticated and hip – even by today’s standards. You like things before they are considered cool, and you like them long afterwards. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Furious

As you may remember, we had leaky roof a few months ago, and it has been slowly being repaired. First (quite a while after my original call) maintenance sent a team to fix the exterior. No problems. Then, about 2 weeks later, I get a phone call at about 8am, asking me if it's a good time for a crew to come over and get started on the interior. I said sure, they said they'd be there in 15 minutes. The work took several hours, but was done properly, and the guys were very nice, cleaned up very well after themselves. I was told that one further team of guys would be needed to "texturize" that portion of the roof, so it matched the rest of the house. All this for a leaky roof! But whatever, as long as it gets done. Well, yesterday, as I'm suffering from a horrid headache, laying on the sofa, the green maintenance van shows up. D answers the door, tells them now is not a good time. They still try to come in and "have a look at it". Umm...whats to look at? The spot had already been scraped and repainted, just needed that "texturizing" done. D says no (again) and sends them on their way. I had a horrible night, didn't get much sleep due to the headache. At about 9-9:30 this morning, I down a few more aspirin, grab the kids and some snacks (gotta keep them occupied *lol*), and head upstairs to my room for a nice long nap. I wake up early afternoon, grab my robe (I was still in my jammies) and start down the stairs. Looking over the banister, I notice that the blinds are fully open. Not such a big deal, the kids do that all the time. I tighten my robe (don't want to flash the neighbors!) and continue down the stairs. Next thing I notice scares the crap out of me. The door is unlocked. Both locks. I am SO anal about making sure they are locked, 47 times a day. I look further into the living room. My furniture is all pushed around. My knicknack thingies are missing from the corner shelf, they have all been tossed onto the love seat. These are glass things, and very important to me. There are plaster shavings ALL OVER THE FLOOR. The carpet, the hardwood floor, the sofa, EVERYWHERE. See where this is going? Maintenance unlocked my door, WITHOUT my permission (I cannot stress this enough- I have NEVER given them permission to enter my home when we are not there, it makes me very uncomfortable.) and finished the ceiling. Did a very crappy job too. All while I was sleeping upstairs, with my children. I feel so violated. I threw on any old clothes, slammed shoes on my feet, grabbed the monsters, and was out the door within minutes. Our house is located just down the street from the base housing office. I marched in there, and demanded to speak to the highest ranking person there. Of course, the secretary tries to act like she can help me, and that Í don't need to see anyone else. Bitch. I told her if she didn't get me someone right then and there, I was going to call the police and report a break in. She sure moved her fat ass a little faster after that. To make a realllllly long story a little shorter, I fought with the manager there (just trying to get her to do her damn job!) and managed to get her to contact maintenance. Who claims that I gave them permission to enter whenever. Um...total load of bullshit. I wrote out my complaint, made that bitch xerox a copy for me, and had the manager right down the list of names and titles of the people she said she would be talking to. And told her I would be back tomorrow morning, bright and early, and would expect answers. I also told her that my husband and I would be contacting Base Legal, to see if we have any recourse. There is a whole bunch more to the story, but this is the general idea, and my fingers hurt from typing. Plus, I still have that damn headache. So I'm off to bubble bath land, trying to soothe my rattled nerves. The instinct to rip off someones head is still pretty strong.

Giggle

You are the Marquis Da Sade. Even stripped of
exaggerations, Your real life was as dramatic
and as tragic as a cautionary tale. Born to an
ancient and noble house, you were married
(against your wishes) to a middle-class heiress
for money, caused scandals with prostitutes and
with your sister-in-law, thus enraging your
mother-in-law, who had you imprisoned under a
lettre de cachet for 14 years until the
Revolution freed you. Amphibian, protean,
charming, you became a Revolutionary,
miraculously escaping the guillotine during the
Terror, only to be arrested later for
publishing your erotic novels. You spent your
final 12 years in the insane asylum at
Charenton, where you caused another scandal by
directing plays using inmates and professional
actors. You died there in 1814, virtually in
the arms of your teenage mistress.
You are a revolutionary deviant. I applaud you.


Which Imfamous criminal are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Not having a safely operating vehicle makes it pretty damn hard to get to the post office. I could normally get around this by printing out my labels using paypal, but my computer is busted, and the printer is out of ink. Sigh. I'd love to catch a break here one of these days. So anyway, I was thrilled to discover a little "Pack and Ship" store on my way to Food Lion yesterday. Ooh rah. D and I walked over there this evening, so I could finally mail my Falling Yarn package and a purchase order from ebay. Thankfully, they don't charge any crazy fees or anything like that. I already had my packages addressed and sealed,just needed to pay and drop them off. The only downside is that they do not offer delivery confirmation. But I'll take it. Not like I have much choice!

I'm getting excited about my lil sis coming to visit. Poor thing is stuck in NC until we can pick her up next Saturday, and is sick with a cold. Just make sure you leave it there, Mallory! Otherwise you can wipe the monsters snotty noses *lol* We're gonna have a good time just hanging out, and I will SO welcome the help getting ready for my clan to descend for Thanksgiving. The pie preparation alone was making me feel faint. My folks don't arrive until Wednesday night, so I was going to have to do them all myself! Plus, we're celebrating Gabriel's 5th (!!!!!) birthday the day after Thanksgiving, after the shopping extravaganza, of course *lol* It's going to be a very scurvy pirate party! Everyone is going to wear eye patches and bandanas, and will be required to stencil a curly mustache with eye liner :) we're going to have a treasure hunt, which will end with the discovery of a treasure chest (decorated by mommy!) filled to the brim with chocolate coins. Beats a pinata anyday! So needless to say, I have a lot of work coming up in the next few weeks, and will definetely be putting Mal to work. Sick or not, little sis!! :)

Desktop

tagged by Lynlee

Today

To sum today up, Chicken Little was cute, and riding the bus was not so scary :) Besides having to wait quite a while for our bus home, it was okay. Although, the ride both to and from could have been a little less bumpy. I'm just saying.

After the movie, we walked across the street to the NEX (Navy Exchange) to do a little bday shopping for Gabe. Ended up finding the dragon playset he wanted, but not the Magnetix I was looking for. Oh well, those will just end up being a Xmas gift for both monsters. We ate dinner in the food court (horrible) and then set off home. All in all, it was a pretty good day. It totally feels good to be able to check my email again, even though all of my saved favorites and pics on my desktop are gone...for the moment. I'm still hoping my little bro can fix it when they come for Thanksgiving.

On the family front, my oldest younger sister, Mallory (19), will be coming to visit next week. This is a good thing, as we didn't think we'd be seeing her until the holidays. She'll be with us for about 2 weeks, then leaves back to Boston with my folks, to finish packing up their stuff. Their move has been finalized for December 15th or so. whoohoo!

It really sucks....

when your computer dies. Which mine had the audacity to do last Monday. What a bitch. So now I'm on a borrowed laptop (thank you Josh!) until we figure out what the hell is wrong with ours. I swear when it rains...first the car, now the computer..what a pain in the ass! Oh well. This is all I have time for now, I need to get the monsters ready to go. D and I are going to be brave and take the bus for the first time ever, and take the kiddos to see "Chicken Little". Looks cute, so I hope they enjoy. I will of course, be blogging more later. Tootles!