Thanks a lot you f****r. You want fries with that?

I have 10 nieces and nephews. They range in age from 7 - 2 1/2 months. My sister, Heather and her husband Matt are responsible for 6 of the 10 munchkins. I'll be one of the first people to admit that when all the kids get together it's LOUD in the house! I like to watch my sister's kids once in a while to give my Heather and her Matt a break. Recently I was going to watch Heather's bunch and I had this awesome idea to take the kids out to eat. When I announced my plan to Heather and Matt, they both told me I was nuts. I'm the Auntie, I like adventure.

I took the kids to a coney (simple and cheap) and spent the next few hours wrangling kids, high chairs, booster seats, french fries, chicken tenders, chocolate milk and sundaes. All in all the evening out with the kids was a success. I was complimented by the waitress and the manager on how well behaved the kids were. I was pretty impressed with myself and the kids. Heather and Matt's kids are very well behaved. I'm not saying they are the *best* behaved kids every day of the year, but they are well behaved.

I bring this up because I came across this article (author unknown. 2009) the other day. I know there are kids who go into restaurants and are not that well behaved. Everyone has been there. I was a waitress for a few years, I know how much fun the table with kids isn't guaranteed to be. But, this goes too far.

The ironic thing about the couples visit to the restaurant is that they were sitting in what was named The Kid Zone (a kid friendly part of the restaurant). If a server is going to work in the kid friendly part of the restaurant, I would think they should have a bit of patience. Kids can be very cranky/crabby when hungry, throw in not allowing the kid to walk around and you're not going to have too happy of a kiddo.

I do think the waitress went too far by, even if it was a joke, calling the little girl a little f****r. The restaurant manager should have offered the family a bit more than an apology.

________________________________________________________________________________
Daily Mail Reporter - writer unknown Thanks you little f*****, family horrified after restaurant bill makes clear what waiters think of Molly, two http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1212583/Family-horrified-getting-restaurant-describing-year-old-daughter-little-f--er.html September 11, 2009

updates: sort of

I really slacked on adding blogs to this site. I took a class that focused on blogging. until I find either more interesting things to blog about or I make the time to blog more, I am going to add a few blog posts from my blog I started for that class.

I really hope to start writing again and keep this blog (semi) up to date.

Happy New Year everyone!

What's going on?

It's been a while since I blogged. So much has been happening. As I mentioned in my last blog, Drew lost his job. Drew has landed a small contract job in Cleveland. Nothing too exciting - he is still looking for a full-time gig. We have been asked if we want to stay in Cleveland, our answer is always the same - we will go where ever Drew gets a job. Since Drew is working during the day, I help him out by looking for jobs online for him. The other day I found a job in London, England and a job in Africa - would we really move out of the country? You bet we would! Of course, living out of the country would make my commuting a bit hard and Drew and I wouldn't see each other all that often, but we'd move out of the country in a heartbeat.

Speaking of commuting. "Commuting" from Cleveland to Detroit stinks! I haven't been "home" to Cleveland in over three weeks. I never thought I'd say this but, I miss Ohio =[ I'm going home this weekend. I believe I will get to relax a tad and (hopefully) not have to worry about too much homework.

Oh yeah, homework. This semester is stressing me out so freakishly bad. I'm going nuts. I have so much writing and writing and writing to do. I'm not a huge fan of writing. At all!
I knew I was going to have some assignments and what not to do. That's understandable, but yikes! I've had so much to do and I feel as though I have no time to do any of my work. I have one class in particular I think I'm having trouble with - Ethics. I don't want to assume I am going to fail the class, realistically, failing the class is not an option. I graduate in May, taking a class over again isn't going to happen. If I don't pass Ethics, I don't graduate. Plain and simple. Next semester I will more or less be in the same boat. A tough class that I MUST pass. Failing, again, not being an option.

I have to keep my head in the game, stop procrastinating, do my homework, and pass. Sounds easy enough. Doesn't it?

No G'news is Good G'news?

When I started my blog for a class I vowed to keep up with writing once the class ended. Since my last blog entry was May 11, I think I've done a pretty crappy job. Here is a quick update of what's been going on -

We moved! Drew was offered a job in Lakewood, OH. It was a Director of Marketing job. Drew moved down to Ohio in May and I moved down in June. Unfortunately, Drew lost his job in July. Drew and I, for now, are staying in Lakewood. Since I am only 3 hours from Detroit, I am going to "commute" to Lawrence for school.

Heather had her baby! On July 1 Anna Maria was born. A super healthy, adorable and lovable baby has joined the ranks of the Siekierski clan. Peter (the oldest and only boy) seems to be adjusting really well to having 5 sisters. The one that didn't adjust too well was Margaret. Margaret was the youngest for a split second. When I took the kids to meet their new sister Margaret wanted nothing to do with Anna. It took some time, but Margaret has adjusted. Margaret and Lily call Anna dolly, because Anna looks like a doll to them.

Drew has been back and forth with health issues. As I type this, Drew is in the hospital. Drew hasn't had any major hospital stays in a long time. Drew has been in the hospital for 4 days and the doctors still can't figure out what is going on. It would be so beyond wonderful if the doctors could figure out what is wrong with Drew and he and I could live normal lives. Although, at the point, I'm not really sure what normal is. As far as Drew and I have known, normal is pain meds, constant pain, involuntary shaking, sweating, weight gain, loss of appetite, doctors appointment, IVs, tubes, blood draws and a general feeling of shittyness.
I really hope something comes of all this. Drew would love for all this chronic pain and such to go away so he can focus on getting and keeping a job. Wouldn't that be nice?

So, this wasn't much of an update. I don't blog for 2 months and this is all I come up with. I'm telling you, when I'm not in school, I live a pretty boring life. Dig?

What Not To Wear

I went to a fashion conference with my sister over the weekend. The conference was promoted as a modesty conference, I wasn't sure what to expect I was going more for the opportunity to spend a day with my sister. The conference was AWESOME! I had such a great time and I really learned a lot. The idea behind the conference was to teach women to learn about what colors look best on them and how to coordinate outfits to look your best. I learned what colors go with my hair and my skin tone. I found out I'm considered "clear", fortunately for me, that means I can wear A LOT of different colors (lots of bright colors and such). I learned about what cuts look best on me to fit my body type and how to make myself look younger and thinner. I also learned about accessories and purses. How to pick the right size purse that isn't too small or too big and how to coordinate shoes with my outfits.

Don't get thrown off by the conference being a Modesty Conference. It wasn't all about wearing shirts up to here and skirts down to there. It was about how to dress modestly, make yourself feel good and confident when you choose the clothes you do and basically how to avoid looking trampy with clothes that are too tight or plunging or just should not have been manufactured.

I had an awesome time. I am hoping Shari (the woman who spoke at the conference) comes back to Michigan soon. My sister has already talked to some people at church about possibly booking a What Not To Wear conference at her church.

Goodbye Girl

August 2007 Drew and I rescued our dog Harlo. When we got her, there was no way of knowing her history. All we knew was that Harlo had been abused by her previous owners and abandoned. From day one Drew and I were absolutely in love with Harlo. The first week we had her, I was sitting on the couch with Harlo, I went to pet her or something and she snapped at me. Halo had her mouth turned up and her teeth showing. I had never had a dog I owned show so much aggression towards me. Drew and I talked about what happen and decided it was Harlo adjusting to new surroundings. A week later, Harlo barked and snapped at Peter. Drew and I decided that was Harlo protecting us. A few months after that Harlo jumped the fence at our old house and attacked a Beagle walking with it;s owner. Harlo drew blood on this dog and beat it up pretty bad. Drew and I again made up an excuse for Harlos behavior. Last year on Halloween, Laura brought her dog over so we could all hang out and pass out candy. Harlo went nuts and attacked Milo (Laura and Christian's puppy) going right for Milo's neck, breaking the skin and requiring Milo to go on to weeks worth of antibiotics. Drew and I decided that was Harlo protecting us. New Year's Eve, Harlo barked and bit our friends daughter. When Drew and I were in DC we had Harlo boarded. We came home to find out Harlo was no longer allowed at the puppy hotel she stayed at because Harlo bite one of the workers, breaking the skin and requiring the girl to go to the emergency room.

After quite a few incidents and excuses, Drew and I finally reached our breaking point with Harlo. Sunday, just after Drew left for Cleveland, Harlo was at one of the front windows barking at a passing dog. I was trying to get her away from the window by talking to her. I was about to approach Harlo when she turned around barking at me, while lunging forward, snapping and trying to bite me. I was scared. It's not a good feeling when you are scared of your own dog. I called Drew and through lots and lots of tears, Drew and I decided we have to get rid of Harlo. Making that decision was probably one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. I have been crying non-stop since the decision was made. I've tried to rationalize not getting rid of her. I asked a friend of mine who does animal rescue what to do, she told me once the animal turns on its master, the situation will only get worse.

I've been so torn. Harlo has been so calm and cute the past day and a half. I am going to miss her so much. Harlo became such a big part of our lives so quickly. Drew would tell me having Harlo home with him when he was sick helped him get through the really tough days and Harlo helped him stay sane.

I'll miss you H.

RIP Harlo Jean Bufalini

Margaret

Saturday night Drew and I went out for dinner with Laura (Drew's sister) and Christian (Laura's boyfriend). After having a relaxing dinner and a few drinks we came home to relax - I was still recovering from working 13 hours on Friday and another 5 hours on Saturday. For some reason I decided to leave my phone at home. I don't usually do that. My phone is just about as important as underwear, it's always on.

We got home from dinner and I checked my phone. I had two voice mails. The first message was from Matt (brother-in-law) telling me that Margaret (my 18 month old niece) had a seizure. Apparently they were all eating dinner and Margaret just had a seizure and stopped breathing. Margaret began to turn blue and Heather called 911. Luckily. Margaret started breathing before the paramedics got to the house, but she was still taken to the hospital.

The good news is, Margaret came home from the hospital that night. Margaret has been sick for a few days and while she was eating dinner, spiked a fever and the spike in body temperature caused Margaret to have a seizure. Thankfully this is rather "normal" in kids. Margaret is going to be fine. Drew and I were so scared when we go the news. I am so glad and thankful Margaret is going to be fine.

The Mistake By The Lake

Last week Tuesday Drew had a job interview in Cleveland, OH. Last week Thursday Drew got offered the job he interviewed for in Cleveland, OH. Last week Friday Drew accepted the job in Cleveland, OH that was offered to him. Last week Saturday Drew started packing his things to move to Cleveland, OH. Yesterday Drew left for his temporary home, The Courtyard Marriott in Cleveland, OH.

Drew and I are officially moving to Cleveland. I am going down there this coming weekend so he and I can look for a place. We are debating about whether we want to rent an apartment or a house. I think we're leaning towards an apartment (bummer). If we rent an apartment we'll save money, but we probably won't have enough space for all our stuff, so we'll probably have to rent a storage unit to hold onto our junk for a year or two.

I am really excited to move. Of course I am going to miss my family and friends up here, but I think the move is going to be good for us. Drew has found a new doctor to go to. Drew's doctor is right at Cleveland Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic is 3 blocks from Drew's office. The new doctor is a non-narcotic doctor, which is awesome! Drew has been wanting to get off the narcotics for a long time.

It's going to be an adjustment when I get down there. I won't be fully moved for a few weeks. I have so much stuff to do up here before I go. It's going to be a crazy few weeks.

So, I Sat On Some Kiddos Last Week

Last Saturday was supposed to be lazy day. It started out lazy until I received a phone call from my sister. Heazy asked me if I could babysit the kids Saturday evening. I thought about it and said why not. A few hours later I packed up my stuff and went to sit on some kiddos.

As I was driving to Heather and Matt's house, I got this crazy idea to take all five of the kids out for dinner. I arrived to the house and announced to Heather and Matt what my plans for the evening were. Both of them looked at me in amazement and told me I'm a daring person for wanting to take all five kids out at once.

The kids were so well behaved, I was amazed!!! I was such a proud Auntie. The kids ate well, didn't fight or scream or anything. I had such a great time with them. I spoiled the kids with dinner and dessert. When we got home, I put the babies to bed and set up the older three for a "sleepover movie night". I had the kids get into their pajamas and bring down a blanket and a pillow and lie down as we watched Sleepy Beauty. Peter, Evelyn and Mya were all alseep with in 45 minutes of the movie starting. It was really cute. A good time was had by all. I love babysitting the kids. They are the best kids in the world!

I Gots My Hair Did

Last week I went to my sisters house and got my hair done. Heather colored my hair, this time we tried something different.
Last time we colored, my roots were not quite flaming, but they were gold. Not like gold, bling bling, but gold. It was bothersome. Last month when I went to get my hair trimmed Rebecca, who does a fantabulous job trimming my hair, suggested when I color I try going darker than usual. So this time when Heather colored me, we went with a Medium Ash Brown instead of a Light Ash Brown. Wow what a difference! I am so excited with how my hair turned out. My hair is a bit darker then usual, but I like it. I was really afraid the darkeer color would wash me out because some days I am so freakishly pale, but nope, no washing me out.
Speaking of washing out. I was also afraid of how much color would fade out when I washed my hair. So far, not much. This time I am really happy with how my hair looks! I'd post a picture, but all you guys really need to do is just look up from your computer and take a peak.

How Did I Get The Job I have Now?

There is a message board I frequent. One of the guys on the board asked people how they ended up at the job they are in. This is the answer I posted about my job.

Out of high school I was going to school to be a high school English teacher. I got bored with the classes and realized I really didn't like English and didn't want to be a teacher. growing up, I always told my dad I wanted to work in radio or TV. My dad told me I had to pick a better career and one where I could make real money. My dad was very against the Broadcasting industry. After my dad passed away, I dropped out of school. I was convinced I could get by without a degree. Dead end job after dead end job, I decided to "chase my dream" and go back to school for Broadcasting.
I was taking a Video Production class. the class was held in our schools studio. A few weeks into my class I approached my now boss, with my resume in hand and said if he ever needed any help around the studio I would be willing to work with him. I handed him my resume and didn't expect him to hire me since I had no experience. he hired me on the spot, I started a few weeks later. to show him how much I wanted to work with him, I worked my first three months without pay (I did eventually get paid for those three months)

I absolutely love my job. every day is different. I have learned so much being a Production Assistant. I have worked on some awesome shoots. Since starting my job I have been able to add director, producer, camera operator and audio operator to my resume.
I work with three of the best people on the face of the planet. The guys I work with are my extended family. If given the chance, I wouldn't change my job for anything. I am still a year from graduation, so I may have another year working here. Just today I was telling on of the guys at work how sad it's going to be if I ever have to leave my job. Since Drew is looking for work out of state, I do have a slight chance of having to leave my job. The idea of leaving makes me so sad

Weight Watchers, My Parents, Job Hunting

I am going to start Weight Watchers. I'm not looking to get super Tori Spelling skinny, but I know I need to lose weight. I am unhappy with how I look and how my clothes have been fitting. I can complain all I want about it and the only person who can do something about me is me. Thanks to my friend Sonja for saving me the money and giving me the WW points system. I guess we'll see how losing weight goes.

Today is April 16. 43 years ago today, my mom and dad got married. My dad died shortly after my parents celebrated 31 years together. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. Mom, you are the best, I love you and Dad, I love you and miss you more every day.

So as you probably know, back in January, Drew lost his job. Drew has been sending out resumes daily looking for a job. I have began to help him look for jobs and let me tell you, it's not fun. It's so tedious and pretty boring. I go to a site and one by one go through a list of about 200 cities. If something looks good, I forward it on to Drew. Most of the time the jobs look shady. Unfortunately with the way things are shaping up with the economy, shady jobs seem much easier to come by. It's so frustrating to go from job posting to job posting.
I really hope something comes up and Drew can start working again. Drew is just about going stir crazy being home every day. Keep your chin up Drew! You'll find something.

Planning A Day With Pie

Mya is my sister's middle child. Being 3, Mya isn't quite big enough to play with Peter (6) and Evelyn (5) and isn't little enough to be treated like the babies Lily (2) and Margaret (1). Poor Mya is stuck in the middle.

Mya is the best little (big) girl ever. Mya is so caring and loving. Mya is also very well behaved for 3. Some days are rougher than others for her, but she tries so hard to be such a good girl. When Mya does have a bad day, she will apologize to her parents and let them know why she is cranky.

I've been thinking a lot about Mya and how hard it is for her to be stuck in the middle. I decided I am going to spend a whole day with Mya. I talked to my sister today about the idea and Heather loved it. Heather thinks Mya is going to love spending a whole day with her Auntie. I'm not 100% sure what we're going to do yet. I'm thinking I'm going to take her shopping, out for lunch and possibly for a pedicure. I have a friend who owns a nail salon, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get Mya in for a pedicure, I know Mya might be a little young but she'll love going to a salon.

I'm really excited to spend a whole day with my Mya Pie! It's going to be so much fun

Easter

This year Easter was at my Moom's house (Moom is a nickname I gave my Mom a few years back and it stuck, I'll tell that story later)). Most of the family gathered for golf, too much food and an Easter egg hunt. I say most because two of my brothers weren't able to come in town for Easter, but we were able to celebrate with my Moom, her husband Gerry, my sister Heather, her husband Matt and their kids Peter, Evelyn, Mya, Lily and Margaret, my brother Scott, his wife Nicole and their kids Logan and Veda, my step brother Joel, his wife Imelda, daughters Sofia and Vivianna and Imelda's sister from Mexico, my step brother Jonathan, me and Drew (whew!)

Easter was a lot of fun. We sat around eating and watching golf. Other than Gerry, no one in the family plays golf. I follow golf, so it was nice to have The Masters on,I learned rather quickly that I am much better at watching golf than playing golf. Gerry is a big Tiger fan and I am a Mickelson fan, so we had some fun trashing one another.

After we ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and oh, yeah ate, we had our Easter egg hunt. So much fun! When Drew and I got to Gerry and Moom's, we went around the house and hid eggs, Drew went back out later and hid more eggs. Total we hid about 60 eggs for the kids to find.
This year Evelyn wanted me to be her "egg adult escort" (each kid has to have an adult hunt eggs with them), Mya wanted me to be her "agg adult escort" as well, so I had double the egg hunting to do.

Sofia ended up "winning" the egg hunt. Sofia cleaned up! After hunting eggs, we went back in to eat some more and watch more golf.
I was beat by the time I had to drive home from Dearborn. I was thinking I was going to come home and go right to bed, not so much. I got home a little before 8:00 pm and didn't go to bed until after midnight and I slept in until 10:15 this morning. Easter took a lot out of me

The Return Of The Great Family Vacation

Last year my family went on a vacation. We rented a cabin on Crystal Lake for a week. It was awesome! We had such a great time. My brothers came in from Oregon and New York City, and the whole family got to sit around lounge and relax. The family planned on going this year, but my mom and her husband, who treated us kids last year, decided us kids were going to pay our share this year. We were all about it until jobs started getting cut and numerous people in my family lost their jobs. Originally the cost was going to be $500 per couple to cover the rental cost. If money were coming in, it wouldn't have been that big of deal.

After discussing the family vacation over and over again, it was looking pretty grim that we would be able to go this year. Not any more! My mom sent an email to all of us telling us Gerry, her husband, didn't like the idea of not taking the family vacation this year, so he decided to treat the whole family and pay for the cabin! What an awesome surprise! I can't believe he did that. It was so sweet of Gerry to spring for the cost of the cabin this year.

I am so excited to spend another week on Crystal Lake this year. It's going to be so much fun!

There Is A New Sheriff In Town

There is something about me not everyone may know: I ABSOLUTELY hate Phil Collins. I don't know why. I just do not like the man. I don't think he is a particularly good singer or drummer. I say he may have had something to do with Genesis becoming an awful band (I know Peter Gabriel choose to leave Genesis, but come on couldn't Mike Rutherford have piped in? Who decided to move Phil Collins up from drums to vocals?) I believe I used to like Phil Collins years ago, but I guess I outgrew that. I liked Michael Bolton too, but I outgrew that. Although, I don't hate Michael Bolton.

So why is Phil Collins my ketchup? The one other thing I hate as much as I hate Phil Collins is ketchup. Ketchup is gross. So why associate the two? I was sitting in a job interview once and the interviewer and I got to talking about music. For some reason Phil Collins came up and I shuddered. She asked me what was wrong and I told her Phil Collins is my ketchup. Puzzled, she asked me to explain, so I told her about Phil Collins and ketchup and how equally wrong and evil both things are. It didn't take much explaining, she knew where I was going with this and she let me know that Dave Matthews Band is her mustard.

I think I may be on to something. Name your least favorite band/musician and your least favorite condiment and you have your own Phil Collins is my ketchup. Let me know what you come up with =]

Ode To The Mustange Driver

Ode to the Mustang driver,
driving up and down the street.
Your muffler is oh so loud,
only you think it is sweet!
The noise from your muffler,
woke me from my slumber.
If I had moved a tad quicker,
I would have taken your license plate number.

I was woken up this morning by some guy driving up and down our street revving his car. I know with it being Spring, people want to get out and enjoy the weather. I don't understand why people with loud mufflers feel the need to dive up and down and back and forth on residential streets making so much freaking noise. I'm guessing they do it on residential side streets because people can get tickets for loud cars, and probably stay off main roads.
I'm not a car person. I never have been. I don't really understand the fascination with muscle cars and cars in general. I just wish they'd stay off my street when I'm trying to sleep

Birkenstocks Changed My Life

I have foot problems. When I was 6 I fell and broke my leg. I was in a full leg cast for about 6 months. Back when I was little casts were made of heavy plaster. Due to wearing a full leg plaster cast for so long, my growth plate on the right side of my leg was thrown out of whack, resulting in my walking with a slight limp. After years of of limping, my hip has begun to act up causing pain. I was also born with no arches in my feet. Having no arches has caused me to have very weak ankles. Weak ankles have caused me plenty of sprained and bruised ankles over the years. Shoes have always been an issue with me.
When I met Drew he owned a pair of Birkenstocks, Drew highly recommended I get a pair. I was hesitant. Brikenstocks seemed so pricey to me. Drew insisted it was worth it. I gave in and bought my first pair. I fell instantly in love with Birkenstocks. Birkenstocks are so comfortable. When I wear them, my feet feel great. I am given what would be a natural arch, which really helps take pressure off my feet when I walk. When I wear Birkenstocks, I am able to be on my feet for 10 plus hours at a time without my feet aching or swelling. The style of Birkenstocks is so neutral I can wear them with just about any outfit. That really helps when traveling because I don't have to worry about bringing multiple pair of shoes. Birkenstock has a lifetime guarantee with their shoes. If/when the souls of the shoes wear down, send them back to the company and they will replace the souls for you. That alone makes the price of Birkenstocks worth it.

I am on my third pair of Birkenstocks. I will be a fan for life. I guess you could say Birkenstocks changed my life

Criminal Minds

Wednesday night, 9 pm on CBS, one of the greatest crime shows ever created is on; Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds centers around a group of people who are serial killer profilers who travel to different cities and help solve crimes. The group is known as the Behavioral Analysis Unit or the BAU.

The writing on the show is great. It's well thought out and researched. The ratings for the show have stayed steady since the shows premier, even with two major cast members leaving the show and being replaced. The way the show centers around the BAU chasing after their unsub, is suspenseful and always has a twist. Knowing the storylines of the show are based on actual cases studied by the BAU gives the show more of an eerie feeling. It's a great show, the cast works well together. Anyone who is a fan of true crime stories should check it out. Wednesday nights, 9 pm on CBS

I Admit, I May Have Waited To Long

I had an assignment last week to write about TV ratings and what people are watching. I clicked on the link my professor gave us, read the article and well, didn't write the assignment. I had every intention to write it, but I have had other things to do. I had some down time this morning, went back to the link my professor gave me and what do you know, I can't find the original article I was reading. Stupid me closed out the window with the article.

Why do I do this to myself? I tried writing the assignment a few times last week and over the weekend, but I didn't like where I was going with the assignment, so I walked away from the assignment for a while. If I sit and stare at something I need to write and force myself to write it I usually end up writing something I'm not happy with. I hate what kind of student I am. I am by no means a "book smart" person, I'm not 100% sure I am even a "smart" person. I can be witty and funny, but not so much "smart". Is it my own fault? Am I just not trying hard enough? Am I lazy? Am I unmotivated? Am I......no, I am not dumb, I am just me. Not a great student, not a scholar, just me.

Ode to Janelle Explains It All and Mi Vida

Last week and the week before, I was having trouble commenting on Janelle and Andrea's blogs. They both used new templates on their blogs. They looked cool, but the new templates may have been too cool for me. I tried commenting on their blogs and I wasn't allowed to comment. I was told to log in, I logged in and got nothing. I mentioned my issues to both Janelle and Andrea, through some talking and tears, they both decided to switch from their super cool new templates to the old ones (no, wait Janelle changed hers back and Andrea didn't - or something like that)
*Aside from Keisha having an adult content warning on her blog to enter and needing to be 18 or older, I am not having issues with Keisha's blogs*

I was totally able to comment on Andrea's blog today but I am still not able to comment on Janelle. I don't get it. I'm not a super computer smart person. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, or maybe, just maybe Janelle doesn't appreciate my blog comments and she has me blocked! That's what I'm thinking. Let me know if I'm on to you Janelle and we can deal with this "issue" on the playground.

For now I guess I'll stick to Andrea's blog and Keisha's adult content.

Can I Just Say That I Love My Job?

In my lifetime of jobs and paychecks, I have never loved my job. I've had a lot of jobs - I sold shoes, worked as a micrographics filmer, a bookkeeper, a food cashier, a green house weed puller, a teller, a receptionist, a radio station promoter, a bartender, a waitress, a client service rep.....blah, blah, blah, the list goes on.

For the past year a half I have been working as a Production Assistant. Since I began working as a PA I have enjoyed ever single day I've been in the office. No two days are the same. I work with three of the best people ever (and I'm the only girl). They are like a family to me. There is no petty, snarky bad mouthing - we are all up front, no lying or negative story telling. I couldn't imagine saying anything bad about my co-workers.

At any of my other jobs, if I came in to what I did today, I probably would have been bitching up a storm. Not now. I came in today, walked into my bosses office and said hi. He looks at me kinda weird, half smiles and says "What are you doing tomorrow? Want to work? We kind of need you to work. Sorry for the short notice." I know that doesn't sound like much. Maybe it was the way he asked me, or the fact that he asked me and didn't tell me. Sometimes it's all about the delivery of the question, not so much the question itself.
Of course I jumped on the chance to work. It's going to be a fun, long day. I have to be at the office no later than 7:30 am and I should be back here by 2:00 pm. There's going to be a lot of moving and setting up equipment, I'll be worn out and tired when I'm done for the day but that's okay. I love my job, it's so worth it

4 Weeks And Counting

Today is March 29. One month from today is the last day of the semester. I couldn't be more excited to finish what has been an up and down semester of writing papers, scripts, director's notebooks, shot lists and treatments.

Mentally, I have been done with the semester for about a month. The classes and work are getting to me. I am burnt out. I want to stop doing homework. I want to come home at night and not have to do homework. I work Monday and Friday nights, I am in school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. During the day I am constantly doing homework or meeting with Andrea, Keisha or Janelle to work on group projects or running around with them to finish an assignment.

I am one year away from graduation. I have Ethics and Problems in International Politics left to take. On top of that I have Service Practicum, Senior Prod. Practicum and Program Management. That's it. The end is so close I can almost taste it.
I am hopefully meeting with my adviser this week to talk about what I need to do to fill the Practicums and Program Management requirements.

Some days I am so excited to be almost done. Other days I am struggling to find the motivation to go to class. Other days I would like to walk away from going to school completely.

I'm lucky to have such a supportive husband, family and group of friends who talk me out of walking away. I know I can finish school and get my degree. I am four weeks away from the end of this semester and roughly 409 days away from graduation

On The Dull Side

Every week as I write my blogs I seem to struggle with what to write about. I never really have these major "I have to blog about this" moments. When I do decide what to blog about, 9 times out of 10, I delete the original blog - usually because I got so bored writing it, so I walked away for a while and when I did come back I re-read what I had written and realized it was boring so I delete it.

I got to wondering about my life and what I do, I have come to the conclusion that I am a pretty boring person with a not so exciting life. I think I pretty much do the same thing day in and day out. With school and work taking up a lot of my time, I don't really do much else. When I come home from work or school I usually pull out my computer and surf the web,do homework or watch TV. On weekends, unless I have something super exciting going on I am usually vegging on the couch with Drew doing not much of anything.

I can't believe the party girl I used to be is such a homebody now. 10 years ago if you would have told me I was going to be a big fan of vegging I would have laughed in your face. Back in my party days I was lucky to get 8 hours of sleep in a whole week now if I sleep less than 10 hours I am exhausted all day.

I'm sleepy. I'm going to bed.

The Great Parking Permit Mystery

So I had to get to school a little earlier than I usually would. Usually I have to be on campus by 3:30 on Mondays for work. I volunteered to do some shooting for another class so I had to be here at 2:00. As I'm waiting for the light at 10 mile to change, I'm looking at the parking lot by the Technology Building and it looks pretty packed. Who am I kidding, it's almost ALWAYS packed. It's torture trying to find a spot in Technology. So I drive around in circles for a while, take a look at the time and I gotta go! I decide to do something I never ever do, I "invent a spot". I hate when people do this and now I am one of those people. I would have parked by Management or even Science, but I was late and had to get inside. I did this with the intention of going outside either between filming and starting work or sometime after I started work. I "invented my spot" at 2:00 and was outside to move my car by 4:30(ish). When I got out to my car, my fear of (almost) all fears had come true. I got a parking ticket. My first ever parking ticket in my career at Lawrence Tech. I should be glad I didn't get a boot, I would have been PISSED!!!!

I noticed something on my $25.00 ticket that I have a question about. At the bottom of the ticket, there is a section for 'Officer Notes", there is a check mark in that spot and written next to it is "No Permit". Do we really have parking permits here? Were we given parking permits when we started school here? Did I miss my permit in my freshman welcome packet? Do we actually get parking tickets for not having parking permits? I must investigate The Great Parking Permit Mystery..........to be continued

ER

I haven't watched ER on a regular basis in YEARS. The last time I followed the lives of the crew at County General Dr. Greene was still alive, Doug and Carol were still dating, Carter was confused about being rich, Dr. Corday was dating Dr. Benton and Dr. Lockhart was still Nurse Lockhart.

Since I was such of a big fan of ER for years and the show is ending, I feel obligated to watch the last few episodes. I just watched last week's episode and well, I have no idea what is going on and who any of these people are. Well, that's not 100% true, there are a few nurses I recognize. Other than those few nurses, I don't know who the doctors are, what their backstories are, which doctor and which nurse are dating, who the chief of medicne is or what County General gossip is hot to follow.
Although I'm behind and lost, I am going to keep watching. I have read past cast members are coming back and making guest appearances. I don't know if they are going to be flashbacks or what, but I'm curious so I have to watch.

There are three weeks left of the show. Maybe the way it'll end is the old cast will come back, everyone will be in County General and the hospital will blow up. The only staff member that will make it out is Dr. Tony Gates (John Stamos), since his character is getting a spin-off show.

I'm a series finalie junkie. I watch series finalies of shows I never watched. Sad huh? I'm weird like that. So I'll be watching. Unfortunately, I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed with how the series ends. I'll let you know in a month

Another Great Hair Adventure

I am experimenting with my hair. I go back and forth. Some days I have "I am in love with my hair" days and some days I have "I am so irritated with my hair I should cut it all off" days. My main issue with my hair is damage. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I don't heat style my hair. I haven't in a long time, this helps the fight against damage. I try to go between washings and get my natural oils down my hair shaft, which also helps fight damage. I have learned a lot about shampoos and conditioners. Shampoo is very harsh on your hair. There are strong sulfates in shampoo that can actually dry out your hair and rob your hair of necessary moisture. Due to sulfates and drying, moisturizing shampoos don't necessarily moisturize your hair, the sulfates can make your hair dependent on the sulfates, thus resulting in washing the hair more.

I have been trying to rid myself of shampoo for a while. I do have a TON of shampoos in my shower, if what I'm doing works, Drew won't have to buy shampoo for at least a year and a half (unfortunately, I don't really think I'm joking).
I haven't washed my hair since Friday (3/13). When I showered on Monday, I washed my hair with conditioner, I use Healthy Sexy Hair from the Sexy Hair line. It's a fairly thin conditioner and doesn't weigh my hair down. I use the conditioner as I would shampoo. Put conditioner in my hands, rub it in my roots, paying attention to the sides above my ears (where oily hair tends to show), while massaging my scalp (a way to get the blood flowing on your scalp to promote hair stimulation). I then comb the conditioner through a bit to make sure it's distributed and then rinse. After that I use another, thicker, conditioner on my ends comb that through, let it sit and then rinse. There is another way of washing hair which is called a water only wash (wow), which I've tried, but had trouble adjusting to. With that experiment I went three weeks with out washing my hair with shampoo or conditioner - wasn't very happy with that one.

I was at Sally Beauty Supply yesterday buying hair color and noticed a new/different product. It's called Hair One. It is a cleansing conditioner that does the same thing a shampoo would do but without the harsh sulfates. I have tried WEN cleansing conditioner which is a great product but expensive, Hair One is just like WEN, but $10.00 cheaper. I bought Hair One with Jojoba Oil for color treated hair, I am going to Sally's today to buy the Olive Oil for dry/damaged hair. That way I can combine the two and target my problem areas.

I plan on updating my Great Hair Adventure as I try new products and new ways to not wash my hair. It might sound very gross to some people to not wash my hair. Most people think because I don't wash my hair, I don't shower. Not the case at all. If I am not washing my hair, I pull it up in a bun while showering. As I began my not using shampoo journey, I knew I had to be much more confident about how my hair is going to look and adjusting to sometimes having oily looking hair. Normally I would hair my hair under a hat, but I can't do that anymore. I haven't hidden my roots under a hat since Friday. My hair looks pretty good and feels good too. I have noticed since I haven't washed it that my ends a looking more texturized, my ends hold a curl and my bangs are staying in place without the use of a bobby pin or heavy product. Natural sebum oils are a great styling aid.

I'm pretty excited to see how my hair takes to this. I have gone on different message boards and online hair journals to read about different peoples journeys of going shampoo free.
I'll let you know how it goes =]

To help prove my point, check out this article from NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102062969

So Full Of Yourself And Then Some

I wonder about people. I've always been fascinated with people who are full of themselves. I get that people can and should be proud of their accomplishments, that's fine. I hate when people are too proud of what they do/have done and constantly talk about it. I think these people are the ones who overuse the word I when talking.

There is one person I know who loves to talk about everything them. At first it was interesting, but I'm over the interesting part of it. One day this person and I were talking about relationships and marriage. I asked the person about their wedding and was told they spent quite a while planning it. Understandable. Then I got to hear about all the research they did for said wedding. The research was so they could have the perfect wedding. Understandable. I was then told how this person wasn't going to settle for just any wedding and stressed again how perfect it had to be. Then I was told how absolutely perfect their wedding was and it was because of how strategically they planned their wedding. Okay, thanks for beating the horse, I get it, your wedding was perfect.

This person and I talked about real estate once. I got to hear all about how they did such extensive research about buying a house. Understandable. It didn't stop there. This person went on and on about the perfect house they found and how the area they moved into had to have the best schools and how they weren't going to settle for just anything. Be proud of your house, fine but again the horse has been beaten and then some.

I learned the hard way to not ask this person about education and their background. When talking to them about education I got an earful. The school they attended was so carefully chosen and researched. The school they chose to go to had to be perfect and I had to hear all about how well they did while in school and the awesome grades they made and how much work they put into getting their degree. We've all been there, we know school is tough.

Now when talking to this person, I don't even listen. I get tired of hearing the great stories about this person and what they have accomplished and how much work they did. I also get sick of hearing about how things this person has done is how things are done in the real world. Do I not live in the real world? Last I checked I am not living in a comic book. I am living in the real world. Or am I?

Spiders To Me Are Like Birds To Keisha

Surprisingly enough I was talking to Keisha on the phone when this happened.

(backstory) I HATE spiders. I always have and I'm sure I always will yet I don't know why I hate them so. I remember when I was little, about 5 or 6, I was with my sister in our bedroom "cleaning" (sorry Drew, cleaning has always been an issue with me) when I saw a spider crawling on the back of our bedroom door. I FREAKED OUT. I start screaming at the top of my lungs, not saying anything just screaming. My sister decides to join me (I found out later she didn't know what we were screaming about). There we are standing about 4 feet away from our closed bedroom door screaming. My dad comes flying up the stairs, tears open the door (he probably expected one of us girls missing a limb), tries to calm us down and asks what's wrong. I take a deep breath, stick my arm straight out, point and the door and scream "SPIDER!" My dad stopped, looked at us, walked into the bathroom, grabbed some tissue, came back in the room, squashed the spider and told us to never ever scream like that for a silly little spider.
I have been traumatized ever since.

When I see a spider, I don't quite freakout anymore, but I get a sick feeling in my stomache and I get grossed out. The feeling is worse when the spider moves (ewwww.....)
Last night was a big night for me. I had just gotten home from school, I was getting ready to go out to J's Bar and talking to Keisha. As I was making my way upstairs from the basement (the spider disco in my house), I notice a spider on the backdoor. Trying to ignore the ew feeling, I announce to Keisha that there's a spider on the door, I mustered up what I could, took off my Birkenstock and actually killed the thing. Of course I was giving Keisha a play by play. I make my way into the kitchen, as I'm walking I look up and see another FREAKING spider!! What the deuce? I kickoff my Birkenstock again, give Keisha the play by play and killed yet another spider. The bummer part was I realise I have to dispose of the bodies.
I think that's the part I hate most. What if the spider comes back to life? What if when I throw the body away, not only does the spider come back to life, but actually crawls out of the garbage can? I know I could flush it, but what if, again, the spider comes back to life crawls up the toilet and pays me a visit on my next visit?

I did scraped the bodies off the door and the wall and threw them in the garbage. Of course when I walk by the garbage I check to see if the little buggers have resurrected and made their way out of the garbage can. As of now, they haven't. So far so good.

DC Has A Ghetto? Thanks Mapquest!

Drew and I are in DC. We left Friday March 6. It was a long drive, 12.5 hours to be exact. It wasn't supposed to take us that long, but we had issues. Drew went to Mapquest to get directions. Easy enough right? Yeah, right. We have had issues with Mapquest in the past. We went to Chicago to go to IKEA. We drove around for a while completely lost. We decided to look at our directions for IKEA instead of our hotel, only to find out our hotel and IKEA were pretty much next to each other. Nice!

So back to DC. We are on the freeway looking for our exit. We pass what we now know is our exit and proceed to keep driving South. We drive for a while and end up in the GHETTO!! I'm not kidding. If you would have looked up Ghetto in the dictionary, we would have been in the definition. We were ghetto lost for about two hours. It was interesting. We finally asked for directions to get back to the freeway. We found the freeway and thought we were doing good. Not so much. We stopped again for directions and sort of got where we were going.
After driving around under our new directions, we decided to call the hotel. The first woman we talked to was convinced we were in the "area" of where the hotel was. She was wrong.
We called the hotal back again and Drew insisted the woman we were talking to not hang up with us until we were in the driveway of the hotel. Considering we had a good couple of miles to go in DC traffic, she didn't stay on the phone with us, but was nice enough to let us call her back.

We did finally find where we had to be. It was painful getting here. We spent an additional 4 hours driving around, getting lost. The hotel wasn't (isn't) what we expected. I'll dedicate a whole blog to our hotel! It'll be worth the wait!

Isms and OCD

Some people would say I have OCD. Some people would say my Courtneyisms are odd. Some people would just say I am odd. Drew and I were hanging out the other night. I had just gotten home from work. I did a video shoot. The MC of the show I shot had some issues with breathing. Our sound guy never turned down the podium mic, so as the MC was waiting for a speaker to finish, everyone who was plugged into the audio system got to hear the MC's heavy breathing. After 8 hours, the heavy breathing got a tad annoying.
I told Drew this story and then for some odd reason, I confessed to Drew that breathing really bothers me. Not bothers me as in, I hate the fact that I have to breathe multiple times a day, or that I find breathing to be a hard thing to do. More of a I can't stand to be breathing in sync with another person. It bothers me to no end. I hate it. I've been like this for as long as I can remember. When I was little, if I were sitting on my mom or dad's lap, I would make sure my breathing was off from theirs. Breathing in at the same time bothers me more than breathing out at the same time. For some reason, I just can not be on the same breathing pattern as someone else - this only qualifies for people who's breathing can actually hear.

I also HATE mouth breathing. I am 100% a nose breather. Mouth breathing is flat out disgusting. It annoys me to no end. I have no idea why. The sound to me is beyond irritating. I am also not a fan of open mouths. A person sitting there with their mouth open grosses me out. If someone is sitting there, with their mouth open and breathing through the mouth - it annoys me. It's not quite nails on a chalkboard, but it's pretty close.

I'm going to call this the first of my Isms blog. I have many more to share. I'll take it slow and share more later.

Son of A B****

Wow do I feel dumb! I have been bugging Drew about reading my blog. Drew did a search for my blog title and couldn't find anything. I told him what the title was, Drew entered the url and got a blog in Spanish. I did a cut and paste and sent Drew the link to my blog. Guess what? I named my blog after one of my favorite TV shows AND I SPELLED THE NAME OF THE SHOW WRONG!!!! Yes, my blog title is misspelled!!

My blog is supposed to be quantumleap.blogspot.com and it is actually quatumleap.blogspot.com. I can't believe I did that! I'm crushed, embarassed and laughing at myself. I guess I can't be that embarassed if I just blogged about it. Whatev. I'm cool. I'm down. Misspelling is a big part of my life. Misspelling makes me who I am. Cortny Buffallini OuT!!

I Am Not A Poet

Last semester I took a Creative Writing class. The class was nothing like I had expected. Creative Writing turned out to be a very painful class. We studied poetry and short stories - my personal opinion; the class spent too much time focused on poetry and not nearly enough on short stories. Anyway, there were a few poems I wrote that I kind of liked. Here's one of them:

The Booger Poem
by Courtney M. Bufalini

I sit across the room,
Do you know I can see you?
I see you look left,
I see you look right.
You look right at me,
and the show begins.
You know there is nothing up there
Don’t you?
Are you looking for treasure?
Are you looking for bats?
Are you looking for hangers?
Is your knuckle really in there?
I think you lost your watch.
You know you’re missing a ring.
Don’t you?
Maybe you can look for that later.
I have a feeling this is normal for you.
Good luck finding what you are looking for.

A Hair Adventure

Last night I was talking to one of my fellow classmates. This particular classmate has long and beautiful hair. I recently discovered a great leave-in creme detangler and told my class mate about it. As I was explaining to her what I use and how I use stuff I used the word rotate. As in "I rotate out this product and this product", after the laughing subsided, classmate asked me if I was serious about "rotating" products, I told her yes and she then suggested I blog about my hair product rotation. Here it goes:

We will start with shampoo: I rotate between 7 different shampoos and conditioners (s/c). Currently is my shower I have Pantene Beautiful Lengths s/c, Pantene Beautifuls Lengths 2 in 1 Shampoo/Conditioner, Loreal Texture Line s/c, Aveda Damage Control s/c, Sexy Healthy Hair s/c, Ion Color Extender s/c and Biolage Matrix s/c.
Usually when I wash my hair I condition my ends first, then wash my roots (not the ends) and then condition my ends again - this is know as wash condition wash. After washing my hair I squeeze out the excess water, with a wide tooth comb I comb out my hair and place a microfiber towel around my hair. I leave the towel on for at least 20 minutes to help speed along the drying process.
(I wash my hair about three times a week (less if I can swing it). Ideally I would love to wash it once a week, with water washes in between, but I just can't get used to how oily my hair can get. I try to go as long as I can between washes and work my natural oils down my hair shaft. Natural hair oils are so good for the hair.)

After the towel is removed, I use my detangler product(s). I start with misting my hair (roots and ends) with a mix of water and Pantene conditioner, finger combing that combo through. Then I use either Redken Anti-Snap, Pantene Naturals Leave-In Creme or Pantene Restorative Leave-In Creme - those three are my current leave-in rotation. I do have about 12 other leave-ins/styling aids I use from time to time - some day, when you're older I'll make a list of all the product I use.
Once my product of choice has been applied, using a wide tooth comb, I comb the product through my hair concentrating on the ends.
I usually do not use heat on my hair. I am working on getting rid of a lot of damage, so heat is the last thing I need to apply to my hair. I do own a hairdryer, I use it maybe three times a year. The only other times I use heat on my hair is when I go to the salon. I have been air drying my hair for 6 years. Usually it takes my hair anywhere from 4-6 hours to dry. It depends on the weather.

Once my hair is dry I usually pull it back. I am a ponytail addict. If it were better for my hair, I'd wear one more often. That's about it. I an pretty particular about my hair, yet I do nothing with it. Some days I love my hair, other days I think "maybe I would look good with a bob", then reality smacks me in the face and reminds me that no, I do not look good with short hair. I am a long hair kind of girl.

Happy Birthday Evelyn!

My niece Evelyn turned 5 yesterday (I intended to blog about her birthday on her birthday, but I had so much stuff to do). Last Saturday Evelyn had a birthday Tea Party. Evelyn invited 8 of her friends over, requested everyone wear a fancy party dress, fancy hats and gloves. All the girls were dressed in their Sunday best. It was adorable. Evelyn and her sister Mya wore their new Easter dresses Grammy and I bought them. Both Evelyn and Mya managed to spill (a good amount) of chocolate down the front of both their dresses). Evelyn was so excited to have her friends over.

The party was successful and everyone had a super time. My sister called me the next day to tell me that Evelyn had the best day of her entire life! I guess for a 5 year old having a princess tea party can qualify as the best day of her life

Spring Break Can Not Get Here Fast Enough!

This year for Spring Break I am actually going somewhere! Drew and I have planned (not just planned but booked) a trip to Washington DC! I know it's not a typical trip to Mexico or Jamaica (ahhhh Jamaica) spending a week in the sand and surf filled with drinking contests and all night parties. It's going to be me and Drew driving to Washington DC, staying in Downtown DC for a week. Cell phones will probably be turned off, yet internet will stay on. I am bringing our camera and hope to take 5,000 pictures documenting our trip! I am so excited! Drew and I haven't been on vacation since our honeymoon to Jamaica in 2004. No wait, I lied. We did spend a week in Minnesota, but that whole week was spent inside The Mayo Clinic, Drew was in a hospital bed and I spent everyday in the chair next to his bed. Technically we were out of town, but it wasn't a vacation.

We are leaving bright and early Friday March 6 and won't be home until Saturday March 14. It's going to be awesome!!

My Harlo Has A First Name It's H-A-R-L-O

August 2007 Drew and I rescued a dog from the Royal Oak Animal Shelter. Her name is Harlo, she is a German Shepherd/Greyhound mix. When we first brought Harlo home we were excited and nervous. Drew had a dog when he and I first met. Shortly after we started dating Drew had to get rid of his dog Lucy. Drew was afraid of not connecting with Harlo and feared having to eventually give up another dog. So, going into Harlo's adoption we decided we were in this for the long haul and giving her up would never be an option.

Very quickly after we brought Harlo home, we fell in love with her. Harlo is a great dog, full of energy and love. Soon after we got Harlo we noticed her personality really reflected both Drew an myself. Harlo loves to sleep (like me) and Harlo is very affectionate (like Drew), Harlo is also a bed hog (like me) and protective (like Drew).

Not knowing Harlo's past made things difficult for us at first. All we knew about Harlo was she had been abandoned twice in one year, had lived in the shelter for 17 months, was about 2 years old and had been abused. Drew and I noticed signs of abuse and abandonment right away. Harlo was skittish with hands in her face and she would go crazy when Drew and I left the house together. From whet we gather about her previous owners, they moved out of state and left Harlo alone in the house.

We've had Harlo for a year and a half. Harlo is the most loving, caring, loyal dog. Harlo senses when Drew doesn't feel well and doesn't leave his side on days the pain is too much and Drew spends the day inside. Harlo also knows that I am a big fan of sleeping in so it's not uncommon for her to come upstairs and crawl into bed with me.

Drew and I have decided that Harlo loves to watch nature shows and crime shows. When Drew and I settle in to watch tv, Harlo is right there wedged either between us or plopped on one of our laps. Drew and I have both caught the other talking to Harlo, asking her opinion on something or just talking to her about the weather or family.

Drew and I love having Harlo around. Harlo is our baby =]

(second) Best Valentine's Day Ever!!

This past Saturday was Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day 2004, Drew proposed. Since then, every year I harass Drew about what he's going to get me for Valentine's Day. Drew's usual answer is "You'll get nothing and like it!" I then let Drew off the hook and remind him Valentine's Day is the anniversary of us getting engaged and nothing else.

This year, maybe because it's been five years. Drew asked me if I'd like to have a date night in: dinner, play some games and watch a movie. I was so there!

Valentine's Day started of awesome! I slept in until noon, came downstairs to coffee and Drew watching a crime show, while cuddling with Harlo (our dog). The rest of the day was spent with us on the couch switching between reruns of House and Law & Order (all three). We were feeling really lazy and were craving Chinese food. We tried getting food delivered, just to find out (according to the owner of the Chinese place) our house doesn't exist and we lied about our address. Plan B. We decided to get off our lazy asses and pick up carryout. It was so yummy! We enjoyed our takeout over a crimeshow or two.
We ended the evening watching Sex And The City movie in bed, while snuggling with our dog. Drew was a trooper. He made it through 1 hour and 26 minutes of the movie! Not bad Drew. Not bad

I'd Walk A Mile For A Camel

I started smoking when I was 12. It started when my friend Cathy and I decided to steal a pack of her mom's cigarettes out of the freezer. Cathy's mom noticed packs missing and confronted us about it. Shortly after the missing packs were discovered, Cathy's mom began letting us buy our own cigarettes. Back in the 1980's parents could send their kids to the gas station or party store with a note giving their kid permission to buy cigarettes. It was easy and convenient.

January 2005 I quit smoking cold turkey. It was easy, Drew had just gotten sick and was in the hospital. It was during these two weeks that I quit. I was spending all my time at the hospital. At the time I was unemployed. I was spending 12 plus hours a day with Drew at the hospital. Quitting was a snap and I thought I wouldn't go back. I did great for a while. I was completely smoke free for over three years. Last year I began caving - here and there. I didn't think anything of it, an occasional cigarette was harmless. I didn't think I would go back to smoking again. I've quit off and on over the past year. I have been getting progressively worse with quitting and for some reason I feel like I can't stop.

I don't like smoking. I don't smoke to look cool. I don't smoke so some guy will like me. I don't smoke so I can smell like stale cigarettes. I don't smoke to get winded when I walk.
I smoke because it's addictive. I smoke because I grew up around people who smoke. I smoke because Drew smokes.

I want to stop smoking because smoking has taken the lives of so many people I love: my Uncle, my Aunt, my Dad, my "second" mom, my "second" dad.

I'm 33. I have been smoking off and on for 21 years! 21 years!! That is MORE than HALF my life! What is it going to take for me to quit? I don't know. I'm not going to quit quitting.

Fabio. I Feel Your Pain. Without The Cameras Of Course

Yesterday I was doing homework, editing to be exact. I was sitting crossed legged with my laptop on my lap. I leaned over to grab something off the coffee table, as I'm leaning my leg twitched or moved or something and I ended up whacking myself in the nose with my laptop. It hurt so freakishly bad (at the time) it wasn't even funny. I had this shooting pain going from the bridge of my nose radiating into my eye sockets and down into my cheeks. Immediately my nose begins running and I notice one nostril is just about blocked. I start to freak out a bit thinking my nose is broken. I went online to look up how to know if your nose is broken, I didn't want to go to the Emergency Room just to find out it wasn't broken. I have a few of the symptoms described online. I found out with a broken nose, it's not always obvious right away. Sometimes a person won't know their nose is broken for a week or two. From what I read, the big test with the nose is when going to sleep. Lying down causes a lot of pressure and pain to the nose. I did have quite a bit of pain when I was trying to sleep last night. I may have slept a total of four hours - due to pain and 50 mile per hour winds.

My nose still hurts. It hurts when I form certain letters and when I drink out of bottles. I can't scratch my nose too hard and vigorously trying to rub my nose is completely out of the question. All I can do is keep an eye on my nose, look for swelling (none) or bruising (none) or abnormal amounts of drainage (none). I think I'm good. I'm no doctor, but I'm guessing my schnoz isn't broken, probably just bruised.

Happy Birthday Heather!

This Friday, yes the 13th, is my sister's birthday. Heather is turning 36. In the past we have always had family parties, but this year we are trying something new. A few months ago Heather saw an ad for the movie "Confessions of A Shopaholic", excited about the idea of the movie Heather told Matt about it. Matt looking extremely uninterested but thinking about giving in and agreeing to see Confessions, told Heather the movie sounded interesting. Heather looked at Matt and explained she didn't want to see the movie with him, she wanted to see it with the only person/shopaholic she knew could fully understand the movie, her sister. Heather called me that night, told me about the movie and just about let me know I had plans with her on her birthday. I am really excited to see the movie. I've read reviews and such about the movie and it's not getting awesome reviews. I'm sure it's going to be one of those cute kind of movies. I'm not expecting it to be Oscar worthy or as delicious as "Mean Girls" but it doesn't really matter to me.

I get to spend all day with Heather and the kids and while spending all day with Heather and the kids I get to remind Heather that she is 36 and that she will always be older than me. That's what sisters do =)

11 minutes is all it takes for that fresh from the Dentist feeling

I am a bit obsessed with my teeth. My friends and family make fun of me for how particular I am when it comes to the general care of my teeth. I wasn't always this weird about my teeth, the obsession started when I was 22. I got braces when I was 22 (I have always been a bit of a late bloomer). When I got braces, I got the clear ceramic ones put on. My sister was getting married a few months after I got my braces put on and my mom didn't want me to have a mouth full of metal for the wedding pictures. Getting my braces put on was so beyond painful. I had to have a palate expander put on as well, which sucked really really really bad. Anyway, so having the clear braces made me very aware of getting things caught in my teeth, so I began brushing a lot during the day. When I had my braces on, I was brushing about 12 times a day, obsessive right?

I got my braces off when I was 24, and the obsessiveness continued. I have since cut back on how many times a day I brush, but I have increased my routine of how I brush. I had gum surgery two years ago, since that surgery I've had to make minor adjustments to my routine. Today happen to be one of those do everything in the brushing routine day. As I was pre-brushing and pre-rinsing and actually brushing and flossing and post rinsing, I decided to time how long it takes me to brush my teeth in the morning. Roughly 11 minutes. Is that crazy? Probably. This is my breakdown of my brushing routine:

1) With a baby soft bristle toothbrush (mine is Hello Kitty), warm up the bristles with hot water, apply toothpaste, warm up the toothpaste with hot water, with one hand lift upper lip and brush the upper, outer part of the gums with slow circular motions for one minute. Rinse toothbrush, apply toothpaste, warm toothpaste and while holding down lower lip, brush lower outer part of gums in slow circular upward motion for one minute. Rinse mouth and brush with warm water.

2) Rinse mouth for one minute with PLAX pre-brushing plaque remover rinse. The directions say 30 seconds, but I like to make sure the PLAX works to the max, plus the freak in me thinks swishing longer helps me with flossing. Whatever. Spit out rinse.

3) Floss upper and lower teeth starting on the upper left side of the mouth and moving to the right. Once done with the upper, move on to the lower teeth also starting on the left. After flossing the lower, move back to the upper part of the mouth and repeat flossing the upper and then moving to the lower. After I floss twice with regular floss I use threader floss (a piece of floss with a semi-stiff piece of plastic to help guide through braces and bridge work) and starting on the left, I floss my lower front teeth which have a permanent retainer cemented in. I have to be extra careful around the retainer area, because that's where I had my gum surgery. It's very important to keep plaque out of the area. Flossing can take me anywhere from 1-2 minutes, it depends if I'm in the mood to floss After flossing, rinse with warm water.

4) Brushing. I have been searching high and low for years to find the perfect toothbrush. I think I found it. Oral-B Vitality. It's awesome. It's a rechargeable and really gives your teeth a clean feeling. I love it.
This is the best part of the tooth brushing routine. I have the brush attachment that has semi-hard pieces of plastic around it to help reach parts of the teeth that may not get super clean while flossing. It's a great feeling. My toothbrush has a timer on it. So when brushing my teeth, I brush them for a total of five minutes. 2 1/2 minutes brushing on the top and 2 1/2 minutes brushing the bottom. Such a great feeling I get when I am done brushing my teeth. After brushing, rinse with warm water.

5) Fluoride Rinse. After brushing for 5 minutes, I use a tooth strengthening fluoride rinse. I swish the fluoride rinse for one minute and then spit. The important thing when using the fluoride rinse is to not eat at least 30 minutes after rinsing.

So there you go. 11 minutes of my everyday explained in 5 easy steps. Toothbrushes are very important to me. I do have a collection of toothbrushes used for different brushing jobs. Some I use just on the gums, others I use in certain parts of my mouth. I believe I have about 10 toothbrushes I rotate between. I also have 4 types of toothpastes I use for different brushing jobs, along with 4 types of mouthwash or pre-brushing rinses to use as needed. Since floss is a big deal, I rotate through 5 or 6 different types of dental floss, again used for different flossing jobs.

Call me obsessive or crazy or weird, I've been called a lot worse. I like brushing my teeth. I love the feeling of clean. Try my routine someday. Let me know how you like it

People Are People And Sometimes They Bother Me

I am an easy going person, right? I think so too. I have noticed there are people who I see out and about, here and there that really bother me. I am going to breakdown people that bug me, why they bug me (not naming names). This is in no particular order, so please excuse the mess.

Bumper Humpers - These are the people who sit behind you at traffic lights and creep up and up on your bumper. These Bumper Humpers may or may not honk at you if you don't floor it as soon as the light turns green.

Light Creepers - These people are probably cousins to the Bumper Humpers. These people will stop at a light and slowly creep and creep and creep up on a red light, waiting for it to change. The kicker about these people is that when the light does change, they don't go right away. The person behind them will give a friendly honk to get the Light Creeper on their way.

Parade Route People - These people are also known as The Sight Seeing People. These people like to drive around town and look at EVERYTHING as they drive around. You can see the person in front of you rotating their head back and forth and back and forth as they drive around.

Non-Blinkers - These people are the ones who DO NOT use their blinkers at all or EVER!! These people will also slam on their breaks as they are approaching their turn. They don't use their blinkers to let you know they are turning, they just turn.

Hey I've Been There Person - These people are people who talk only about themselves and like to throw in bits and pieces about themselves into your stories and or other conversations. They feel the need to insert bits about themselves all the time. If I want to know about you, I'll ask. These people have also, somehow, experience everything you have experienced and will one up you on every story.

Enough About Me, Let's Talk About Me - People who only talk about themselves. You try talking to them about something other than them and they somehow bring the conversation back to them.

Stirring Up The Pot People - These are people who ask questions or make statements just to be assholes to other people. These people really bug me when they bring up things they know nothing about or are too closed minded to learn about a topic before their verbal diarrhea kicks in and they sound just plain dumb.

Bandwagon People - These are people who hear about something on the news; a recall of products, products containing lead paint, etc; and suddenly all hell breaks loose and these panic people go all nutso throwing things out and clearing out products talked about on the news.

I'm Going To Make Fun Of You For Liking Something And Then Turn Around And Like Said Something, And Be Stupid Obsessed With Said Something Person - This is the person who (pretty much what the title says) makes fun of you for liking a type of music or sport and with (what seems like) a flip of a coin that person is in love with what they were just making fun of you for. What makes this person even worse is when they strike up a conversation with you about what they are now obsessed with, something you missed or didn't get and they turn around and mock you for it.

That's about it. More kinds of people bug me, but for now I'm taking a break. I just got home from school and House is on. Good night!

I Gots My Hair Did........

Some people tell me I am obsessed with my hair. That may or may bot be true. I look at my hair as a security blanket. Eleven years ago my hair was long, past my elbows, it was colored brown with blonde hi-lites. For some odd reason I decided I wanted something different. Over the course of a few weeks, I went from long and flowing brown with hi-lites to a chin length dark brown bob. The bob was a cute look on me for all of 10 seconds. I got home from the salon and cried and cried and did what? Oh yeah, cried. I HATED my hair bobbed. I decided to grow my hair long again. Years and years and years later I am almost to my goal length (yes, I have a goal length)

I discovered a hair "support" web-site/message board. I began looking through this board to get tips about what I could do to make my hair healthier. Some of the tips I've read about are, I'll admit, crazy. Other tips makes sense. I try to wash my hair two or three times a week. In between washings I "work" my natural oils through my hair with my fingers or a wide tooth comb. Natural oils from your scalp are so good for your hair. For a while I washed my hair only with water, while applying conditioner on the ends only. I do regular scalp massages, Drew even helps me out and will offer to massage my head for me. Sounds crazy, but usually the day after a head massage from Drew my hair has such awesome volume! I get criticized for how particular I am about my hair, because I do nothing with it. I don't use heat on my hair and I use very little product on my hair.

I used to get my hair cut once or twice a year, I have since increased that to get my hair cut on more of a regular basis. If I want my hair to grow, I have to get regular trims. I did go back to getting my hair colored, only because the gray hairs were taking over and at 33, I wasn't excited about the grays moving in. Getting my hair colored before would cost anywhere from $70.00 up to $170.00. Because of the length of my hair, I would sometimes get charged for more than one color application. That can add up fast. I was talking (complaining) about this to my sister (bestest sister on the planet!) and she suggested we try doing it at home. I went to Sally's, with my trusted partner in crime Keisha, picked out some color, a bottle of developer and for under $20.00 was able to get my hair colored. I was pumped and excited and I had new hair!

My goal is to have my hair to my waist by my 34th birthday. My long term goal is to grow my hair to my tailbone, realistically I don't think that will happen. Even I think hair can be too long. I'll do my best to not write too many blogs about my hair and my journey. Hard to believe not all people like talking about hair, especially my hair. Weird huh? I know.

I got my hair cut last week. Got an inch off the back and cleaned up the layers. I went to my sister's on Saturday and got my hair colored. Something went a bit wrong with the coloring, my roots have faded to a weird gold color. Whatever. I'm not going to be picky about it. Total cost for Heazy to color my hair was $10.00! Not bad sister. Not bad!

3-Year Old Wonders If Blue Pig Position Pays Benefits

Name: Mya Siekierski
Age: 3
Profession: Toddler and Big Sister
Future Aspirations: Blue Pig

Of all the barn yard animals that Mya Siekierski could choose to be when she grow up, she has chosen a blue pig. No, not a cop. A blue pig.

I sat down with Mya over breakfast and asked her a few questions about her pig aspirations. I opened the interview asking Mya what she wants to be when she grew up. Mya's response was, "A pig!" Interested, I asked her if there was a particular type of pig she wanted to be. She replied, "A blue pig!"

As if to demonstrate, Mya proudly showed me her breakfast plate still splatered with powered sugar and butter, and licked it clean. All that was left was a spot of powered sugar on the tip of her nose.

Regarding the particulars of her profession, she admitted there are none other than marriage and raising piglets of her own. Curious, I aksed Mya what she meant about marriage and raising piglets. Mya let me know she does plan to get married to, "A green pig." and when asked about piglets, Mya responded that she hopes to have,"Five baby piglets" and says they are all going to be "Green!"

Mya is continuing the professional traditions of her siblings. Older brother Peter wants to be an orange elephant, while big sister Evelyn wants to be peacock princess. Mya's parents are very proud of their children's career choices. Although not the traditional following in daddy's footsteps of going into IT, Mya's parents believe Mya will be successful in any career she chooses to go into.

when does a hug become a bad thing? probably when you've eaten a whole bag in a day and a half

I have always been considered small framed. Growing up I was painfully thin. I didn't hit 100 pounds until I was a senior in high school. Because of being thin growing up, I began to worry about gaining weight. The majority of women in my family start out thin and gain weight with age. I do have a few women in my family who are larger than others. I began noticing the different sizes of my aunts and cousins and also began to worry. I was one of those, I can eat whatever I want kind of people, knowing I would still be thin. I never worked out. I was always curious about my weight and became a little obsessive about it.
Since I graduated from high school 16 years ago, I have gained about 30 pounds. The first year Drew and I were together I gained 20 of those 30. I knew I was getting bigger and thought nothing of it. My mom popped that bubble when the day before my wedding she told me I had gained weight. Since then my weight has gone up and down (I have gotten very good at hiding my weight). Two weeks ago I weigh myself and was shocked to see I lost 10 pounds. I really want to keep that weight off and lose another 10 pounds. My problem is I have no discipline and no self control. I go in spurts. I'll eat super monster healthy for a while, decide to reward myself and suddenly I'm of the wagon. I fell off the wagon this week and I hate it. I'm gross! I've eaten so much candy this week it's pathetic. I don't even really like candy, I eat it because it's there. Where is my self control? where is the discipline I had in my 20's? I used to kick box. I did kick boxing 4 times a week for 3 years. I was in such awesome shape. I miss those days. Since then I have broken both my ankles and ruined my knees. I don't have cartilage in my left knee, my right knee has some left and I have jacked up MCLs. Kinda makes you wonder how I walk. I manage, but I will need both knees replaced by the time I'm 40.
I want to get healthy. I want to get back into shape. I don't want to be one of those people who can't work out. I have thought about looking into Yoga or Pilaties, but money is a factor there. It's such a bummer.
I know I probably won't go back to the body I had when I was 23, but if I looked something like that, I'd be pretty darn happy.

12 years and it still hurts

When I was 19 my dad was diagnosed with Cancer. January of 1995, dad had surgery, a third of his left lung was removed, the sweat glands were also removed and some nerve endings. Dad went through radiation and three months later he was in remission. November of 1995 we were told the cancer had spread and he was to start chemo the next month. Chemo started in December. I don't know if I was too young or distracted or naive, but I thought things were going well with the Chemo. As his Cancer progressed and the Chemo continued to kick his ass, I began to see things differently. As the Chemo ripped his body apart, I began to resent my dad and how he wasn't the funny, happy person I grew up knowing. Lucky for us, friends didn't stop coming by and people would stop by and visit. My dad hated seeing people and aside from going to appointments, dad hardly ever left the house.
Looking back on it now, my dad was so weak and sick, but he was such a fighter. He told my mom numerous times he didn't want to die. As the months progressed, my brothers, sister and mom became a lot closer. Us kids kept it together for my mom and my mom stayed strong for my dad.
July 20, 1997 dad lost his battle with Cancer. He was 56. it was the worst day of my entire life. Dad was in the hospital and due to be released. He was in the hospital for routine dehydration from the Chemo, things looked good, he was given a release date. My mom asked us kids to all go to mass the day before dad was released because my mom had a mass dedicated to him and wanted us to go. We were spread around, so we decided on a time to go to mass and were all set to go to mass somewhere at 10:00 am. My twin brother, Scott, and I were with my mom getting ready for mass when the phone rang. I answered the phone, it was the hospital. My mom got on the phone, began crying and fell to the floor. Scott went to my mom and hung up the phone. All my mom could say was "We have to get to the hospital."
Mom, Scott and I went to the hospital, a little over an hour late my dad was gone.

I didn't know how to react to my dads death. I still don't. It's weird when people say they are sorry about my dad dying. I know peple mean well, but I never know what to say. I don't know if it's because I haven't fully accepted his death or because I don't want to accept his death. It's been 12 years and I still cry about it. I think about him every day and as each day passes, I miss him more.

I posted a picture of my dad holding Heather while trying to get Scott and me to stop crying. I think the picture was taken in November or December of 1975

a few hours with Pedro

My niece Evelyn, who is four, split her forehead open and had to get stitches. Evelyn had to get her stitches taken out yesterday (Tuesday) and my sister needed someone to watch my nephew Peter for a while and then take him to catechism. My sister asked me to help her out. I said I would. I love watching her kids and I was excited to spend some Peter and Auntie one on one time. I haven't had one on one time with Peter since he was 6 months old. I asked my sister if she could promise Peter won't be like he was the first time I sat him, he cried the whole time and wouldn't stop, it scared me off from sitting on the kiddos for a while. Lucky for me, Peter has stopped crying non-stop. As I was driving to my sister's place I was thinking about what Peter and I could do together, I didn't have a lot of time so I had to think small. When I got to Heather's house, the girls were running around trying to get ready. I helped get Lily ready as I got hugs, kisses and I love yous from Evelyn, Mya and Margaret. Peter hugged his sisters good-bye and Heather was off.

Peter stated showing me different things he had built with his Legos and drawings he had been working on (the poor kid really really needs a little brother). I asked Peter if he wanted to play or if wanted to do something with me. He was hesitant to answer and aked me what I wanted to do. I told him I was thinking about taking him out for ice cream. Before I could get the first part of cream out of my mouth, Peter was up and ready to go. We went to Baskin Robbins. I ordered Peter a sundae and it wasn't until he was inhaling it, did I realize I ordered him a large adult sundae. When you're six, and with your Auntie it doesn't matter how big the sundae is. After we ate, we still had time to waste. I took him to Walgreen's. As we were walking around, Peter stopped at a display of seeds. He looked at the pretty pictures of flowers and asked me if we could buy seeds for mommy for her birthday (Heather's birthday is February 13)
Peter picked out some seeds for Heather and asked me if we could wrap the seeds with a card and give his mommy an early birthday present. Of course I had to say yes. After we picked out the seeds, I had Peter pick out a card and a gift bag.

We had to get going to catechism and Peter was so concerned about being late (apparently my sister has trouble getting the kids ready and to places on time and Peter knows that) I take him to class, after we got lost a bit, I found where he needed to go. I was helping him take his coat off and get his stuff together. I got this feeling of sadness as I realised my little 6 month old non-stop crying nephew was 6 years old, in class and not really needing me there to watch him. I can't believe sometimes how much he has grown and how mature he is. He is always going to be my little Peter Pie (I don't think he knows that yet). I feel such a connection with Peter, I don't know if it's because he's the oldest or the only boy, but the connection is there. I love being an Aunt so much. It's the best job in the world