The Random Dilettante

Wow! Is it Friday already? Damn, time flies. I’ve been so busy I lost track of the days there for sec.

Ha. I wish.

I’ve got a bottle of good wine and I’m looking forward to sitting in my recliner, playing the DS/reading a book/watching a movie and bringing in the New Year with Taylor. I hear it’s the trend now days.

My mother-in-law bought me THIS COOL BOOK for Christmas, and I’m learning all sorts of interesting facts from it. Like how after you poop you shouldn’t wipe your butt with toilet paper, but instead with flushable wet wipes LIKE THESE. The book asked what you would do if you got poop on your finger. Would you just wipe it off with toilet paper? Probably not, right? So it said you should give your butt the same respect. It’s better for hygiene.

You wanted to know that didn’t you?? hehe. So goes my life. Come enjoy me in my suffering.

It is a good book though. You should look forward to me sharing more interesting stuff in the future as I learn more from it. I have more cool facts now, but I think I’ll work it in slowly..I don’t want to overwhelm anyone, hehe.

“Santa” was very good to the girls this year, so this morning was a lot of fun. We got woke with a call from Andrew, which was awesome. He only gets 10 minute “moral calls” so we didn’t get to chat long, but he was on the phone long enough to hear Taylor’s reaction from her presents from Santa, and also hear them both open up the presents he sent home for them.

“Santa” got Taylor a Nintendo DS that she never thought she would get, plus a few games for it. It was all tied together with ribbon and set near the tree. She literally started shaking when she saw it..I swear she was about to cry! Andrew got to hear her reaction too..which was really nice.

Taylor got a lot of other really nice things, but all day she’s just been repeating how she can’t believe she got a Nintendo DS. I asked her “what about all your other cool presents?” and she said..”I’m in shock mama! I knew I was good this year..but I didn’t think I was THAT good!” - She’s too funny. Right now she is playing Sims 2 on the computer because she also got an expansion pack for it, and she loves dressing up her sims and making them look all fancy and taking them out shopping. She is such a girly girl! I have no idea where she gets it..cause she didn’t get it from me!!

While she’s been doing that I’ve been toying around with her DS - and man..that thing kicks ass! She has Super Mario 64, and it’s almost identical to the Super Mario game that was on the Nintendo 64, and I used to love playing that game. Needless to say, if I get bored while she’s in school I’ll be picking it up! Haha, well probably not too much. Audrey doesn’t let me get bored to often.

Speaking of Audrey, she is in heaven too. She wants to put half of what she got in the water table..it’s funny. Oh, and she wanted to get in it, and was pretty dissapointed that wasn’t going to happen. I took some good pictures of her playing with it and a few other toys, so I’ll have to post them a little later.

So all in all it’s been a good day. It hasn’t felt quite as good as I was hoping for, because I was hoping to be so distracted with things I wouldn’t miss Andrew not being around as much. Unfortunately the more cute moments I see, and as I begin to cook dinner for tonight, it just really makes me sad that he’s not here to see it and enjoy this day. To say that we “miss him” is a gross understatement. ..but let me get off that subject before I get too emotional!

I need to check on the turkey and I don’t want to dry it out so I better go! (yes, I said TURKEY! It’s a free-range..and not a Butterball..so I caved!) It should be a scrumptious dinner..yummm.

Once again..Merry Christmas!!

Well it’s almost 11pm on Christmas Eve night and the girls have been in bed for about an hour, but as of 10 minutes ago Audrey was still getting out of bed and creeping down the hall inventing silly excuses for why she was up. I’m hoping she’ll stay in bed this time and go to sleep because I still have a few presents to wrap and even more to put under the tree before I turn in.

I can’t wait until tomorrow morning and both of them have new toys to entertain them. They have been driving me up the wall and Audrey needs some more age appropriate toys. She has outgrown a lot of what she has now and doesn’t even look at half of it anymore. Tonight I let them both open 2 presents, a pair of jammies and a toy. Audrey got a Melissa and Doug wooden tool box with all kinds of cool things to tinker with, (pictured above) and Taylor got a gameboy game from her Nana. Tonight became a lot more peaceful after that!

A lot of what I bought for Audrey was Melissa and Doug stuff, if you’ve never heard of them, they offer a lot of classic toys that are sturdy, mostly made of wood, and they come at a very good price.

Anyway, I know she’ll be more than entertained tomorrow, so I can’t wait!

Now if she would just stay in bed, I could get on with things! She’s been up 3 times since I started this post. The turd. I also have a water play table I need to set up before I go to bed, so she needs to go catch some z’s so I can start working on putting it together..I’m hoping it’s pretty easy.

Oh, and at the moment I am watching “Love Actually” …which I have on DVD and absolutely love. It’s a great movie for the holidays and always lifts me up. It will do a good job of keeping me awake while I wait for the girls to fall in a deep slumber. I miss the days that they had their bedrooms upstairs..let me tell ya. Having us all on one floor really cuts out some privacy.

Anyway. I hope everyone out there is having a nice Christmas Eve, and has a Merry Christmas! I am going to make the best of it and make a delicious breakfast for the girls and I, and have a nice traditional dinner. I will miss Andrew sorely but there is also so much to be thankful for and enjoy, that I won’t let it be a bad day. We have 2 beautiful girls, a pretty Christmas tree with lots of presents underneath it, good food, nice things…and the list goes on. Not too mention Andrew will be home in about a month and a half!

OK, so I really feel the need to get past my last entry and my mathematic mistake. It was such a huge oversight, it apparently burnt me to the core. I hate feeling stupid. But anyhow, it’s hard to fathom how much a billion dollars is actually worth though unless you really stop and think about it, which I didn’t really.

But now I know that 500 people could each have a billion dollars, but certainly not 300 million of us. Anyways, I should stop talking numbers before I put my foot in my mouth again..as it’s entirely to easy for me too on this subject.

Has anyone seen the shit all over the news between Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell?

This is why our nightly news has turned to shit…well all “news media” actually. Out of all the other things going on in our world that actually need to be talked about and brought to our attention via the nightly news, they choose to talk about them two trash talking each other. It’s lame.

What’s wrong with keeping that on Entertainment Tonight, or the Insider? Cause there are shows out there specifically designed to talk about celebrity gossip, so why not keep it there?

I dunno it just annoys me, I don’t like celebrity’s making national news on all the networks, and even CNN. I like hearing about it, to a certain extent, I just have my preferred methods of coming across it.

That being said..as much as I really don’t like Rosie, little by little I guess I’m warming up to her. She’s just awful crass, so it’s taking me a while. She took shots at Donald but they were mostly about his actions, and he went the whole other route by calling her stupid, ugly and fat. That’s just cheap in my opinion. Low blows from someone grasping for anything they could get a hold of and it lacks class for someone of his caliber and supposed success. He puts himself on such a high pedestal he might as well communicate that way too.

Choosing between Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump is like choosing an honest politician though..it’s all about choosing the lesser evil - I value people who have class, not on the outside, but on the inside. In that way, I’m a bit of a snob, but we all have our downfalls right? Trash belongs on the curb or recycled, not coming out of our mouths and actions.

Don’t ask me why I felt the need to share that. Boredom I think.

Yesterday I detailed my car, and it’s sparkling inside and out, so I really don’t plan on going anywhere for a while cause I want it to stay looking polished (you think thats weird?) Plus, there’s nothing but icy rain forcasted until Sunday, so not like I would like to be driving in that anyway. I don’t even need anything if I did want to go out, so the girls and I will basically be counting away the seconds until Christmas is here and we have new toys and stuff to play with. I don’t think I got any toys but I look forward to playing with their toys, hehe.

Anyway the bottom line is that I will probably be going stir crazy very soon. Taylors out of school until the 2nd of January, and all my neighbors have left town until after New Years…so that pretty much cancels out any human interaction for me with anyone above 10.

Even if I blog, all you guys will be so busy hanging out with your family it’s not like your going to have any reason to be hanging on the internet. Like me. BLAH.

Not letting it get me down though. Well, at least not yet. I have too much time ahead of me to let it start chewing at me already!

This week has been busy, so I guess that’s why I haven’t posted? I think it’s like that for a lot of people out there though, being so close to Christmas and all.

I still had a few things to send out Monday, AND….

AND…

I FINALLY got my NY state driver’s license! Yeah..I’m cool.

I don’t think I ever went in to it on my blog, but it was a huge ordeal. It started when I went to apply for the job at the Children’s Home and it said that I needed a NY driver’s license to work there. So then I looked into what needed to be done to just get my license from Missouri transferred over to NY and found out that my license had been suspended LAST SEPTEMBER. I had no idea, because the papers telling me so must have been going to my moms old house.

2004- early 2005 weren’t very good years in my driving history, let’s just put it that way! I had 2 speeding tickets (or maybe it was 3?) and one ticket for an accident I got in that was my fault. All that put my points over and caused a 30 day suspension, that would have been reinstated in October (2005) if I had known that it had happened.

But I didn’t, so I found out over a year later that I had been driving without a valid license. Isn’t that peachy?!

So in order to get my license over here I had to wait to be in the clear with Missouri. Basically I just had to send in $20 and a fancy little paper the DMV filled out here that said I was applying to be a legal resident of New York. Then of course a lot of red tape mishaps in between that drew things out a bit.

It’s all in the past now though, and I’m totally squared away and LEGAL!! Whoo hoo. Good for me!

I think it’s cool that I am now registered to vote in NY, and for the most part have left Missouri behind. My in-laws are there, but as far as my past there, it’s nice to have it gone..if even by paper.

Plus, I really do like New York. I haven’t found one thing I don’t like about it actually. The people are outstanding, the scenery kicks complete ass, and the things to go do and see are endless. Drive 5 hours or less in any direction and you will no doubt find yourself in a very cool place….and seriously, nothing beats that.

In other news, I recently bought a subscription to TIME magazine from some highschool girl that was selling stuff out of a catalog. I didn’t want any of the other crap, so for some reason I got the subscription..I think I just wanted to be nice, as she looked a little defeated from lack of sales/response from people. Anyway, early this week I got my first issue, which just happens to be the last issue of the year, so it’s got the “Person of The Year” and a whole lot of other recaps.

New’s magazines are bad for me though. They get me all riled up and wanting to debate, or I just get bitter and angry. I should have known better is all I can say. I would go into more detail but I don’t think I could keep it short, and this is already getting pretty long.

Here’s some stats before I go though:

US population in 2006: Just over 300 MILLION

The price the war in Iraq/Afghanistan has cost us so far: Over 500 BILLION

Ummm. Are you saying that technically all 300 MILLION of us could receive a BILLION dollars and STILL we would have 200 BILLION left over if there had been no war in Iraq? (ok ignore this. Tim pointed out that I’m stupid and I should stay away from mathmatics.) * a billion is a thousand million - duh. So, ok..we don’t get millions. We could if we didn’t give it out to the entire 300 million of us, like say we cut out anyone under 25..cause they need to struggle a little. And who ever else you can think of cutting out so I can get my million damn it…

(I know this isn’t economically possible, but still..the numbers totally fuck with my head.)

And then there’s the whole “Person Of The Year” thing, but I’ll save that for later.

But here’s a peek (I can’t help myself) - It’s “YOU” the internet user. The blogger. The Ebay Seller. The MYSPACE user. The YOU TUBE uploader.

Which at first glance..I thought it was cool enough. They point out, how never before have we been able to communicate and connect with each other so well, and that our opinions on the web are starting to shape the media and advertising, and so on and so forth. Good for us..yada yada yada….

Then they did a page on the 2 guys that started YOU TUBE 21 months ago, and how they just recently sold out to GOOGLE for 1.65 BILLION.

What? These dudes are now billionares? They make billions of dollars from other peoples work? And don’t offer a cent in return?

YOU TUBE is cool and all, but here’s a REAL billion dollar idea for you:

Someone needs to create a website similar to YOUTUBE, but the new site needs to compensate the users who post their videos on the site. Without them, you’d have nothing, so it only makes sense to me to give back in some way. But YOU TUBE basically takes and ends it there. People don’t realize it, but they are being exploited.

If a website was created that compensated, in even the slightest way..all those users would move on from YOU TUBE in a heart beat. As the creator, you’d still have your millions and millions from advertisers that paid to be on your site, you’d just be giving back a little to those that made it possible. YOU TUBE is too cheap and greedy to do this, and that makes me bitter, just because it could be better, and it’s not. But oh well. Who am I?

Just a number.

If any of you like to try new things and like cappucinos and lattes..you should totally try this drink. It’s made by Caffe D’Vita and it’s a “tea latte” Chai vanilla to be exact..and it is HEAVEN.

HEAVEN.

It’s kind of like a pumpkin pie version of hot cocoa…OMG.

HEAVEN.

Seriously, try it. And if you can’t find it and want to…let me know. I will personally buy some for you and send it to your front door. Well, as long as your family I will, haha. I can’t buy it for every “Joe” out there.

The commissary stocks it up here, and it’s only about $3 for a good size can.

HEAVEN.

Try it.

P.S. - Did I mention it tastes like HEAVEN??

I am so DAMN proud of myself. For the most part I am completely done with Christmas…cards sent out and all! WHooo hooo! This is very rare for me, so I guess that’s why I am so proud. For the past 3 years I have actually bought Christmas cards and never got around to sending them out…needless to say I have a lot of boxes full of Christmas cards in my desk..oh and thank you cards too. I get half way a lot and then don’t follow through. I’m also usually one of those people shopping for loved ones on Christmas Eve.

But this year I followed through and totally rocked.. I went and got new cards that I love, cause they are pretty and I can put a picture of my girls in them. Annnnnd…I not only signed them…but addressed them and took those puppies to the post office!!

For some people, sending out cards a week before Christmas is very last minute, but for me, this is A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS..and awesome in all rights imaginable for me.

I rarely need to be in a particular place at a particular time, so it’s turned me into the person “who’s always late” because of lack of practice. Also, I am definitely the person who always waits to the very last SECOND to do the things I need to do..people who know me..know this. I don’t like to brag about these traits, and I hate that I’m that way most of the time, so when I break out of that character..

yeah..I like to pat myself on the back

I only a have a few presents left to wrap for Audrey and Taylor’s presents are all done and some are under my tree and some are hidden away until Christmas morning. You read it right, I actually put up my tree too! For a while there I was really not wanting too, but I knew that wouldn’t be right for the girls. I’m so glad I did too, because Audrey just loves the tree. Every time she looks at it she says in the sweetest voice “Oh..I LOVE Christmas!” It’s too cute, and made it totally worth it.

I also took the girls to see Santa today. I wasn’t going to, because he was just at our local drug store and I figured it didn’t really matter. Then I asked Taylor why she was wanting to see Santa so bad..cause she was the one really bothering me about it. I didn’t even think she believed in Santa anymore. But then she tells me ” Well, last year I didn’t write him or see him or anything, and only got 2 presents from him!” - haha

Now the explanation…

Usually we are home and Christmas morning is never at our house, it’s usually at Andrew’s moms. Well last year, as usual we took her gifts over there, but we put “From: Mom & Dad”..not even thinking, and then Andrew’s mom kinda did the same thing, and only at the last minute changed a few presents. She got plenty of presents, but only a few of them said they were actually from Santa.

I’m glad I took the time to ask her this question and hear her answer though..cause like I said, I didn’t think she believed in Santa anymore. She’s asked questions here and there that made me think she had figured out where the presents were really coming from. It works out great though, cause I have a good stash I wasn’t going to bring out until the night before anyway, and they don’t have labels on them yet or anything.

So whewww…

And awwww…

My little/ big girl still believes in Santa Clause.

There’s an innocence there that I can appreciate.

These are some of the pics I dug out..

This is me and some social worker. Don’t ask me what that doll was there for, I have no idea..and I don’t want to know..hehe.

God knows why I was asked to pose in front of McDonalds..or lord forbid I ASKED too. Eeek. Any which way..if this isn’t a classic orphan photo I dunno what is. I got the dress. The un-even socks. The antique brown shoes. The red hair. What more do you want??

This is me and my brother after we were adopted. About 4 years later my adoptive parents gave up custody of my brother back to the state of KS ( he had mental issues my parents weren’t willing to deal with.) Enough said..it wasn’t cool. The dog is “Buddy” - he had a twin called “Missy” ..they were both grumpy ass dogs. Buddy died out of no where one night from a burst blood vessel in his brain. Missy lasted until she was 16 or something..my mom loved the hell out of her. So much so, that she got a golden urn..that was 100 times better than the urn my dad got after he died. Go figure.

This is as close as I ever got to a prom-type photo. I believe I was a sophmore and Andrew and I were on our way to the Military Ball. God I look dated.

This is me my Junior year of HS. I look like I’m up to something. Umm. I probably was. All I remember about this photo was that I rushed to get my hair out of a bun and slip on another shirt besides my uniform one. (I went to a military school where we had to wear a uniform 4 out of 5 days a week..it sucked.)

STAYED TUNED - Pics from Paris circa 2000 coming next!!!

I made this little video as a virtual Christmas card for Andrew. At first it was kind of sad, but once we got into taking some pictures and adding in some old ones, it got to be kind of fun. I showed it to my neighbor though, and she cried..which isn’t quite what I was going for, but ah well! The girls and I had fun making it.

I know Andrew checks my blog every once in a while, so this will be his first time seeing it too, because it’s too big of a file to send through email. So I hope he can see it and his internet is fast enough to stream it!! We love you, and can’t wait until you come home!!

I took this pic just a few minutes ago of my neighbors truck. They left for a while and when they came back, somehow their truck had grown 2 antlers and a red nose! Amazing!

It cracked me up, so of course I had to take a picture of it.

Yes..it’s still snowing..I’m not sure it’s stops too often here. I’m loving it though, believe it or not! I’d much rather look at everything all white and pretty then all brown and dead Plus, we have snow blowers! And it makes clearing out the driveway fun!

I’ve been digging through a lot of old pics today. Feeling nostalgic if you will. I’m thinking of scanning a few and posting them..so look forward to that! In a few I look like the classic “orphan annie” because they were taken while I was at the Children’s Home, and then I found some others from Paris that had me in them! But don’t get too excited..even then I wasn’t so hot about taking pictures..so they turned out pretty funny. Anyway, I’ll try and get them posted by tomorrow.