When I say Me...you say Ow!

Addie got not one but TWO toys with microphones and she loves to "sing" into them. I think we have a future dj on our hands! I got her to "sing" into them by making hissing kitty cat noises into the microphone. She'll scream into it and then wrinkle her nose up and laugh. She's so silly!

I've been back to work for two weeks and I'm already sick! I went a whole year without being sick and wouldn't you know I'm feeling death. Good times. Man, what I wouldn't give to be able to curl up on the couch and go to sleep. I can't say that, Addie is very easy going and is actually taking a nap!

Gotta go make dinner! Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

A word to the wise....driving and ice cream cones don't mix!!!

Today I got rear-ended by a very largish man eating an ice cream cone. No, this is not a joke or a dirty movie title.

I was at a stop light at 15th and Peoria stopped, minding my own when I feel my car being bumped. I looked and an old hoopty (1991 Toyota Camry to be exact) was a little too close to my car. OH crap, I've been rear ended!

The first thing I do is call Greg, who tells me to call Tim (our insurance agent/friend). Tim says that I can call the police if I want or just exchange info. I start looking for my insurance verification when I realize....wait for it.....left it on the scanner at home LAST NIGHT. No joke. So calling the 5-0 was out since I didn't want to be ticketed for not having my insurance on me. Poor Tim was so sweet to me. I was freaking out! Thank goodness it wasn't major, I probably would have needed oxygen.

Now, a good 3-4 minutes have passed and homeboy still hasn't gotten out of his car. I realize that it's like -10 outside but seriously, you just hit me!! I look at my car and can't see anything other then where dirt was moved on my car. I really inspect it because you know, I'll be able to tell if something was wrong!

Cars are wizzing by me - I swear they were! - and I have to walk to his car b/c he is making no indication that he is going to get out. As I approach I see him *eating an ice cream cone*. For reals. The largish man was eating AN ICE CREAM CONE.

My self esteem hit an all time low when I realized jabba the car driver was more concerned in his confection than me! And mind you, there was NO ice so he was probably making out with the cone instead of paying attention!

He then begins to lecture me how his car couldn't have done any damage, that bumpers are made to withstand a 30 mile an hour impact, blah, blah, blah...I told him to shut it b/c he hit me! I got his insurance information...because you know he wasn't going to get out and help! I hand it back to him and he goes "sweetheart, do me a favor and when your done with my info, shred it and get rid of it". Seriously, WHAT am I going to do with that info? He was so rude!

Then (yes there is a then), he threw his ice cream cone out of the window. I guess I ruined his experience or he was trying to get rid of the evidence!

So remember, driving and ice cream cones DON'T MIX.

Oh and all this happened while I was out doing an errand for my boss. Nice.

NKOTB Post!

Danny - quit looking at me!

I know this is my second post (sad) but Addie is sleeping and I wanted to post my story and pictures from the kick but expierence I had! Instead of re-typing everything, I'm just going to repost my thoughts on the concert from my myspace:

NKOTB is in the hizzy....
Okay, I could type like a book about last night but I'll try to post the highlights. It was awesome!!!!
After waiting almost an hour in the rain to get checked into the VIP party, we got our passes and headed up to the party with 150 other rabid fans. They put us in groups of 10 and Hueste and I were in group C...third group...with all the handicaps...yes, I was in the special kids group.
So we get called and go into this little room with all 5 of the boys! It was so surreal, exciting and akward wrapped into one. I think I touched all of them except for Danny. Pretty sure I didn't touch Danny. I made a beeline for Donnie and clung to him for the group pictures. I became an uber-fan and made sure I got to Donnie before the wheelchair guild did! I maintained a little dignity for the first picture but the second picture I was all up on Donnie. It was a beautiful thing .

Then I turned to Donnie and said "Say hello to your mother for me" which is from a SNL skit. In the skit Andy Sandberg plays Mark Wahlberg who can talk to animals and after each animal "Mark Wahlberg" says "Say hello to your mother for me". Well after the skit aired the real Mark Whalberg got pissed off about it...went on SNL did his own skit, etc.....so I thought it would be hilarous to say it to Donnie b/c I knew he would know what it was from and probably something no one had ever said to him before. I guess I was right, he gave me a crazy look and said "that's not my skit". I said "I know" and pretty much ran!!! I think I pissed him off!!! ha ha!!
Then Hueste got Donnie's autograph TWICE in two random encounters. Once he peeked into the room we were all waiting in and she got him to sign a picture and then the second time we ran into him and Joey in the hallway when the other 148 girls were waiting in the other room! Hueste then almost got accosted by their bodyguard! It was great!


We get our tickets THIRD ROW AWESOME seats!! The show was amazing and we had so much fun! I pretty much know that Donnie pointed at me and Danny looked right at us! Jordan was scary with his shirt taking off skills and I couldn't believe that they could high all of their hit notes still. Lady Gaga and Natasha Bedingfield opened for them and were awesome!
It was a long evening but one I'll never forget. I could go on and on and on...but I'm tired and I've got a ton of work to do! I can't wait to post more pictures!

I should have written about the fans. Hueste and I are pretty sure that in the group of 150 we were probably the only ones that hadn't been to MULTIPLE concerts. These women literally were talking about how they had been following the tour bus from city, to city, to city, to city, etc. And we are not talking quality groupies either. A good portion of these women were toothless wonders and road hard. I can't tell you how many of them told us that they were single mothers who had literally been on the road for weeks going to concerts and FOLLOWING the tour bus. Seriously. One "lady" had a shirt on that said "Hey Danny, the girls are grown up" and a picture of Danny that looked like he was grabbing boobs and on the back it said "Got Wood?". No joke. One lady had Joey's SIGNATURE tattooed on her leg and had taken her 10 year old for her birthday. That's like my mom taking me to Captain and Tennelle. I really started to feel sorry for the Fab 5 that they had to act like they were excitied to be smelled, touched, licked by these folks. Night after night, after night, after night....
But, for a split second I contemplated becoming a groupie myself then I snapped back to reality.
I think I might write a book about this expierence....


Yes, that *JUST* happened to your eyes!

I need to get more pix from my friend Hueste...she took like 600, no joke!!

Survived the first day...barely...

So I made it through my first day back and while it sucked, I'm so glad that I DON'T EVER have to do the first day again. I was so lucky to have some wonderful people around me that were supportive. Missy made me cupcakes (Katie helped, of course!), I had a girl offer her desk to me in my old office (which is a much coveted spot) and I had many shoulders to cry on....literally!

I had my first home visit and it all came rushing back to me. Some of the noticeable differences in doing home studies and CHBS home visits: 1) home studies, you don't have to sit on the very edge of the couch due to fear of what is on/in the couch. 2) home studies, they are EXCITED to see you and want you to be there. 3) home study families don't usually curse at their children in your presence. 4) I've never seen a roach during a home study visit. 5) I feel uplifted after leaving a home study. 6) I'm not worried that a home study person is going to call me at midnight just because they can. 7) home study families don't typically have random men coming in and out of the home. I could list about 100 more but I think you get the idea. I think the main difference for me is doing a home study I don't have to worry that I'm not picking up on child abuse signals and always worrying about the children in the home. As much as I always say "I'm not going to worry"...I always worry.

Some of the good things: flexible hours (but I'm also on call 24-7 and am expected to work evenings), I know the job, you have the opportunity to help people (them accepting the help is a WHOLE other thing).

Okay, I think I've had my pity party long enough. It was so nice to come home to Addie playing with Grandma E and as happy as she could be. And I'm pretty sure that my house looks better when I got home then when I left it!

On to day two.....

Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I said...brrr..it's cold in here....

Only a few of my friends (okay maybe only Julie!) will know that line from Bring It On. One of my favorite movies. Sad, I know! But seriously, brr, it's cold in here!

So, I just got done doing another home study and this make THREE almost in a row that attend the same church! I must say, that these are some of the nicest people I have ever met (that also includes you Jen and Steve!). It's refreshing to know and meet people that are genuinely good and caring. Greg and I have talked about visiting this church for awhile now. Hopefully these folks won't think I'm stalking them for my "report"!!

Addie, Brenda and I visited a Mother's Day Out program today! It was so funny seeing all of the little ones together and seeing Addie interact with children. She was real shy at first but started to warm up some as long as mom or grandma was in her eyesight. We are thinking of starting her in January one day a week but we'll see how it goes with the grandma's. We may decide that being with her two grammies (my word for them, not hers!) is plenty of change for now!

This is totally strange and off topic but I have to post about it. Addie has the same curvature in her second to last toe that I do. I just noticed it today and it reaffirmed the fact that she is indeed my child!

Below is a picture of her "playing" the piano at her great grandmother's home on Thanksgiving. I love this picture!

One year!

Kicking off the new blog with a recap of the previous year!

Addie has officially been kicking it with us for a year and what a year it has been. I truly didn't think that life would change as much as it has. This time last year I don't think I had slept for longer than a 2-3 hour stretch in weeks and I NEVER thought I was going to again! I remember saying to Greg one night, "she'll sleep when she's 5, right?". And of course all of my friends children were great sleepers so I felt like there was something wrong with my child and my ability to parent a child to sleep! I won't even get started on breastfeeding but I'm happy to say that we (Addie and I) made it almost 10 1/2 months. Here we are a year later and there's been plenty of laugh and tears in between! She has such a silly personality and is such a ham.

She's really starting to get into this momma phase. While I love it, it also makes me sad. Starting in just a few short days I'm returning to work full-time. I'm not at all happy about this but hey, you do what you got to do. Hopefully this is a short-term thing and I'll be able to go back to part-time in the near future. It can't get here soon enough and I haven't even started. We are so blessed that our mom's are going to keep her for us - so no daycare. YEAH! I will be going back to doing CHBS (Comprehensive Home Based Services - Child Abuse Prevention) and trying to remind myself that there are plenty of reasons why this will be okay.

So with the one year mark having come and gone, we are enterning another new phase in our lives. Who knew a year later we would have a curly, red headed, 8 tooth, running around, dancing little girl. I wouldn't trade it for the world!!!