Blog Whores

So I'm mentioning my blog to a friend the other day (who doesn't blog & doesn't read blogs) and the first thing she says to me is, "Oh my! Are you a blog whore?". I wasn't really sure what to say... I explained that I own a blog & read a few blogs, but I do LOTS of other things with my time as well. Due to all the other activities I engage in on a regular basis I concluded that no, I am NOT a blog whore.

Recent changes to my blogging activities have led me to re-evaluate my conclusion, but before committing myself to the title "blog whore" I thought I'd like to poll my readers (all three of you LOL) and find out what your definition of "blog whore" would be. After comments are taken I'll tell you my conclusion & my definition. :0)

Must Have's of 2008

** I had to edit this because upon further reflection there are a few more things I had to add....

So I started following this blog, Linecook, & read this list that I really liked. Plus he blogs about quotes (very funny)...something I'll probably take up too. For now though I just thought this would be a fun little list for me to do. Maybe it will catch on & some of my other friends will blog about it, though I do only have 2 followers. :(

Anywho...here goes

20, scratch that, 24 Things I could not have lived without this year:
**Not in any specific order...that would be too much work.

1- My baby boy
2- My new husband
3- My ever so loving & supportive family (Seriously, you guys ROCK!)
4- Three last names :o) LOL
5- Snow crab legs from Red Lobster, butter included
6- The companionship of my Papi for the first half of '08
7- My new car (love the Western Family Honda Accord!)
8- Traveling with my family & hubby...but especially my hubby!
9- Tank tops & jammies
10- My Jessica Simpson shoes (yes they really are that hot & yes they really are that comfortable)
11- Good grades...Okay, Passing Grades truthfully
12- Student Loans & Pell Grants (Bless those overly supportive & enabling congressman & women!)
13- Getting to see a 'real' comedian live (Carlos Mencia) I HIGHLY recommend it!
14- The perfect wedding & honeymoon
15- Lots of great movies (too many to even list in fact)
16- New friends, stronger friendships/relationships, new family, and personal growth
17- My Treo 755p, specifically Bejeweled
18- FABULOUS pictres by Deb @ Funny Face Photography
19- All the laughter & smiles I was blessed with! :o)
20 - The internet, of course, especially Facebook.
21- The growth of my testimony
22- Taking the time to develop my political voice/opinions...I know, seriously reveals my age right? :o)
23- Being elected & serving as a Republican county delegate...or maybe you don't know my age for sure after all. :o) --you were right, I am young...just REALLY cool. LOL
24- Learning immensley about the legislative process through the midwife licensure ammedments (SB93)

Christmas of Course

Look at me! Christmas is barely over & here I am, already blogging about it. Who knows, maybe soon enough I'll be blogging every day. :) Okay...perhaps that's a little way off still, but it's all about progress. LOL

Christmas Eve was a little more stressful than I'd hoped for this year (Dustin & I both sick, Dustin injured, kids gone to their other parents house), kind of a bummer.

Christmas day was good though. We went to pick up the kids about 9 & headed out to Dave & Wendy's (Dustin's parents). We were there until about noon & let the kids open their presents from Santa there. We had a fantastic oven omlet breakfast & then headed home to open gifts at our house before going to dinner at Krista's.

The kids had a blast opening presents here & really liked everything that they got. :) They're 2, still so easy to please.

Dinner & hanging out at Krista's was short but still a lot of fun. My mom gave all us kids movie tickets & free babysitting. I got a Wii from Dustin & a $50 ITunes card! I was SO stoked about my gifts. Dustin got a weekend away with me at a cabin that Brent's company owns & I also finally framed the pictures of the sunrise on our wedding day for him (complete with some fun quotes written on the mat). I'm not the super artsy type, but I thought it turned out really good. That went along with some of our wedding pics finally framed & a bunch of other "practical" gifts.

All in all it was a great Christmas & I'm looking forward to spending the weekend away with my babe this weekend!

SCHOOL'S OUT!

I finished my last final this morning & I literally feel like a HUGE weight has been lifted andI can FINALLY begin to enjoy the holidays! :o) I'm SO excited to spend time with my kids, get ready for Christmas & just relax in the evenings for a change!!

As some of you know I've really been having a rough semester with unstable child care, lack of sleep, full time work, new marriage, travel, just a LOT of craziness all around! I'm so glad to finally be done & I'm actually very pleased with my grades, even though they will end up far from my norm. I'll probably average high C's or low B's for my 3 classes, that's down from my typical straight A's. :( I'm forcing myself to keep a really good attitude about it though since in my former life when I hit rough patches I would just lay down, quit, and have to start all over again. It is a massive success for me to have complete in spite of knowing that I was not going to reach the goals I'd set. {That's a step in the right direction in the smoking battle too!} :)

So this is me saying, "HOORAY for me!", congratulating myself, and looking forward to getting caught up on a lot of stuff (work, sleep, house chores and organizing, etc) and thoroughly enjoying this season!

Ok, I'm fired!

I can't really beleive that it's been the ENTIRE month of November and I didn't blog a SINGLE TIME! :( I'm very unhappy with myself and decided to blog about some randomness and family updates as sort of pennence... So here goes:

This weeks highlights began Friday. I had decided to work late at the office since I'd been out most of Thursday andFriday trying (succesfully I may add) to get caught up in accounting via the helpful people at the tutoring center.

When I was finally ready to go home Teanna & Dustin came over to drop the car off. I asked Dustin if he wanted me to pick him up at Teanna's since we were headed to a birthday party for a friend. He said he'd meet me at home because the bike was at Teanna's house. I said "ok", and headed home.

When I got home I figured I'd put on the "good wife" hat for a few minutes. I cleaned up the toy room (front room), folded all the laundry and put it away, picked up the kitchen and the time flew by. I walked into my bathroom and realized it had been over a half hour (Teanna lives 3 blocks from us) and thought to myself, "Self, either you're gonna go over to Teanna's and be pissed that he was dinking around and making us late, or you need to go scrape him up off the pavement".

As the last part of that horrifying thought entered into my mind I realized it's truthfulness and jumped in my car. {It was TOTALLY one of those creepy "mommy" moments where ya just know...some of us like to call it inspiration}

So, I'm driving out of my neighborhood, turn left onto Valley View Drive and literally have about a block to go when I realize that he's on the pavement right that second. :( Not a fun feeling. So I'm watching the road for broken husband, smashed motorcycle, etc. I get to the turn in for Teanna's subdivision and as I'm turning right, there he is straddling his bike. I roll down the window and all he says is, "I don't know what happened". He's obviously shaken, but before I can urge him to get in the car and forget the bike here for now he's driving cautiously away and headed home.

When we get home I get my first ever glimpse of his irrationality in a purely manly style. :o) He jumped in the shower to rinse out all the road rash and had me pour rubbing alcohol on his hand (It was all we had & by the time I was done I REFUSED to put that on his head. I was afraid he'd pass out). Because we didn't have any hydrogen peroxide I'm trying to loan him up in car to get some and simultaneously trying to convince him that his head should be stiched. As I'm trying to herd him away he realizes that Jaylyn is coming to get her car he's been repairing and it needs water in it first. So, the logical choice he makes, HA!, is to play mechanic and "finish the job" for an HOUR!!

I was pretty much fuming when he was finally in the car, but accepting of my defeat. Because of this acceptance I decide I'll not try to take him to the hospital, unless he asks. We're on our way over to the birthday party (in the drive thru of Wendy's to be specific) when he says, we should go to the hospital because he thinks his thumb is broken. He didn't have to tell me twice.

So we head to the hospital. A broken thumb, dressed hand, and three staples in the head later we leave with a pain medication prescription and a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. The thumb is broken near the wrist and will possibly need pins, we'll know tomorrow for sure and if it does need surgery we're hoping to cram it in before December 31st cause the insurance premium resets the 1st! :o)

In the end all is well, really. It scared me and I'm more adament about the helmet regulations, which means I have to get real serious about quitting smoking (that's the deal)...he'll be active about not dying if I will. :) The story about the wreck is still pretty unclear. He was just pulling out of the complex & basically popped the clutch too fast for the cold tires or gave it too much gas...either way the back tire just spun out and then he crashed. I summed it up for mom pretty good when I said, "I didn't call out the forces because it was like he wrecked a bicycle. He has road rash and a broken bone, but is otherwise fine".

The rest of the weekend I played nurse and felt sad that my man wasn't well, but I was happy that we didn't have any kids to chase. We found out that he's deferred from donating plasma. :( I HATE losing income! I attempted to study for finals and work some more, which just amounted to me being EXTREMELY exhausted this morning for my first final. I am one final down and two to go. By this time tomorrow I will be celebrating 3 weeks of NO SCHOOL!! YIPEE!

That's basically it, I think. Ya'll, whoever reads this, is probably irritated by the length here, so I'll pause here and try to be better about updating more regularly. I still didn't even blog about Halloween and the cruise. :(