Riece made me do it

My friend, Riece, has been telling me that I need to update this blog thing. I think she is the only one reading, but I figured I will humor her ;)

So, since I needed something fun and interesting to write about I decided to go out and get a Monroe piercing today and write about that. I went to the place that I am having some tattoos done Hartford County Tattoo. The girl there took me as a walk in and 15 minutes later I walked out with a new hole in my face!

For those of you that don't know much about piercings, a Monroe is a piercing that is in the approximate area that Marilyn Monroe had her mole. Also sometimes called a Crawford, after Cindy. I've been wanting another facial piercing for awhile, and I think this was a good one to go with. I considered the lip, but with my freakish obsession with Chapstick (the traditional black and white tubed Chapstick brand only, thankyouverymuch!) I felt a lip piercing might interfere with my frequent application of the semi liquid crack that I so love.

So here is a pic


And for an extra tidbit, my favorite new artist has been climbing the charts and getting a great amount of airplay for her song I Kissed a Girl. Now, don't get me wrong, I love that song but I don't feel like it's the best representation of Katy Perry's talent. So here for your viewing pleasure is a much better example of why I think Katy Perry is the bomb.

Some funnies

My kids are destined to be stand up comedians. I don't know where they get their humor from, because I can't say that Scott or I are very humourish folks (although I have that whole sarcasm thing locked down!), but all three kids are just hams.

For instance, Rylan well just pop out with the funniest things. The other night we were haning out with our friends Steve and Colette. Steve (who wears a red bandana on his head now and again) said something odd and Rylan looks at hims cockeyed and says "man with a bandana say whaaaaa?"

This morning Chayse, being his usual cute self, was looking out the back door. Mind you he was naked, and trying to shoot squirels with his nurf gun. At one point he comes running to me to look at something. He tells me "Look, mama, it's a chinchilla!" I explain to him that, no, it is not a chinchilla. It's just a squirel. He looks at me and says "No. mama. It's a chinchilla. I shoot da squirels but not da chinchillas" Well, oooookay then, Chayse.

Links

Time to change the drinking age?

Pole Tax?

This guy is either real crazy or real fun.

Want to catch an Off Broadway show?

On a happier note

Brianna and I had a conversation last night about me being in school.

Me: How do you feel about me being in school? Do you miss me because I'm not around as much?

Brianna: Yes

Me: Do you think me being in school is a bad thing or a good thing?

Brianna: Well, when you're done you'll be a nurse right?

Me: Yes

Brianna: Well, I want you to be a nurse so it's good.

Doesn't make it all better, but it sure helps.

1 year, 6 months, 14 days

1 year, 6 months, 14 days. That is how long I have been in nursing school. 2 months, 15 days until I graduate.

With graduation quickly approaching I have found myself pondering a few things about the past almost 2 years. In the time that I have been in nursing school things in my life have drastically changed. In all honesty, I wouldn't be able to say that I am the same person I was before I started this journey.

In almost 2 years I've gone from having a relatively happy marriage to being on the brink of divorce. I'm truly unsure as to whether my marriage will survive all of this. We are on our second round of marriage counseling. Scott fells ignored, I feel stressed and alone. Neither of us are very happy.

My relationships with my children, while still close and loving, are different. I'm not there with them like I used to be. Once Rylan over heard me tell a teenage friend who was inquiring about nursing school "If you go to nursing school, do it before you get married and have kids". When she asked me why, Rylan sharply replied "Becasue when you are in nursing school you don't ever get to see your family". And while I think I have done a decent job of balancing school and family, that right there says a lot.

2 years ago Scott and I rarely worried about paying our bills. Don't get me wrong, we had tight months, but this has been a tight year. Today I have around $150 in my account and somewhere around $2500 worth of bills to pay. Clearly I won't be paying those bills. We have nothing to fall back on. We have borrowed money, begged for babysitting, and asked favors from almost everyone we know. We thank everyone whole heartedly for their help and support, but I know a simple Thank You is just not enough.

So I am left with the very unpleasant question; Has it all been worth it? With all this trying to get ahead, what am I leaving behind? Now I'm sure that when I graduate and get a job that works with my kids schedules and will essentially double our current income I will have a better grasp of the worth of my endeavors, but right now I am not so sure that it's been worth the struggles and the things I've given up. The things I've asked my family to give up.

I look back before school, and I think we were a happier family then. I stayed at home with the kids, worked part time, and tended to the house. Scott worked his job and helped me out when needed. We fought, but we always made up. The kids were happy and I don't think they felt neglected. I don't think any of us felt neglected. Now, well I'm not so sure.

I guess the point of all of this is that getting ahead requires sacrifice. We all know this. I knew this when I started. And I hope that the sacrifice that have been made are worth the outcome in the end.

Thank Heaven for little girls

Especially my little girl, who is getting to be not so little these days.

Brianna had her annual Father Daughter Dance tonight. We went out and picked up a new dress, some shoes, and the accessories to go with them. She picked the dress herself, with a little coaxing (the orange ball gown she was begging for thankfully had a rip in it). She knew how she wanted to wear her hair, what color tights she wanted to wear, and she was thrilled that I let her put on a dab of my perfume. She wouldn't let Scott see her until she was dressed and ready, and she made him wear a dress shirt. LOL

I'm amazed at how big she has gotten. My little baby girl, wearing lip gloss and heeled shoes. I'm holding on to every one of these moments.

Music Man

We had quite a day yesterday. Chayse and I had a few errands to run and I decided one of them would be to swing into my local consignment shop. I'm glad I did because they had a huge sale going on. I was able to buy a huge amount of stuff for around $40! I'll sell half of it on Ebay and probably double my money, at least. See how resourceful I can be!

Anyway, after sorting through racks for over an hour, Chayson decided he had had enough. He also decided he really liked this pair of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger swim trunks. After trying, repeatedly, to convince Chayse that a size 4T was not going to fit I gave up and my 3 year old took his shoes and pants off and proceeded to tell me he would leave his undies on while he put the swim trunks on.

After that we had to make a sprint to Walmart to buy Rylan a pair of black dress pants. However, I now believe every 9-11 year old boy in Rylan's school bought their black dress pants (that are the required dress for chorus and band) from Walmart. Not a single size 10 or 12 could be found. What that meant was I then needed to drag 3 kids to Target, 15 minutes away, in rush hour traffic at 5pm and make it home in time to get Rylan to the High School for band practice at 6pm.

$50, some complaining about tight shirt collars, a bit of yelling, and a lot of speeding later.....

He was nervous to play, but he did great! It's an elementary school band, so don't expect masterful Beethoven, but it was cute. He also sings in the fourth and fifth grade chorus. If he has the famous Paine singing voice, which I do believe he may have inherited, I think he may fair better as a sax player. ;)

Extra space

There are 5 people in my family. 2 adults and 3 kids. There are also 4 cats and a large dog. Our house is 1100 square feet, with one bathroom. Obviously we are bursting at the seams.

Scott had been working on the basement for awhile, but things kind of stalled mostly due to the fact that I was holding out for Pergo flooring instead of a cheap rug. Finally, after the influx of toys entering our house at Christmas, I caved and decided to go ahead and finish the basement sans Pergo and a few other things. It's just a playroom. I need to get over myself sometimes.

Here's the finished product. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

So now we have a bit more space and the toys are out of my living room. It's a much better situation for us all. However, I hold no illusions that it will stay looking like it does in that picture. Believe me, the floor is already covered in toys. But again, not my living room. The joys of having a playroom!

Miracle?

Go New Hampshire! Go Obama!

2007's Word of the Year?

Proof that all men are pigs.