It's Ok Thursday

 It's Ok... That I haven't brushed my teeth yet today. I'm working from home, who cares. I'll do it after lunch. That I make packing lists for vacations and even include things like vitamins. That I'd rather plan said vacation instead of doing work today. That my sister-in-law tells her almost 2 year old that Nurti-Grain bars are cookies. Yum! That I've been eating yogurt 2 days past it's experation date. Wait, is that gross? Oh well. That I plan to go back "home" (as in where I grew up) every weekend this summer to swim in my dad's pool. Hello, it's free, people. Plus, I love it out there in the woods. That I get all excited about things until I realize they cost money then I get all sad that I'm not rich. That I rent books from the library and never open them until I get that friendly reminder email telling me they're due back soon, at which time, I try to read it really fast. That I have zero gardening skills, but still bought flowers from the little neighbor kid. That I'm trying to make my husband watch YouTube videos of how to french braid hair so when we go hiking/camping, he can put his skills to work on my hair. That I wait for the mail to come every day like a child even if it's only ads and bills. Will someone send me a friggin' postcard, please. Thank you. That my Dad has texted me ONCE in my life, yet just bought at smartphone. Trying to teach him all the things you can do on it was mucho frustrating! Poor old geezer. That when my husband, dad and I went to get Josie's Frozen Yogurt, I put brownies, M&M's, chocolate chips and cookie dough on my chocolate frozen yogurt. And I'd do it again. Mmm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What are you saying "it's ok" to today?  

It's Ok Thursday!

 It's Ok... 

That I'm donating my old prom dresses to Fairy Goodmothers knowing that they may be too outdated for high schooler's taste these days. Ya never know & it's better than keeping them in the crawl space forever.

That my husband only wears t-shirts with fish or palm trees on them. Ugh, this will become an entire post of it's own soon.

That we made yet another trip to the vet today. We thought Mo's stitches were coming out but they're not. Phew, false alarm.

That we spontaneously bought a 15 year old car this week because it's gets 40+ mpg's & we could. It's a piece. And we love it. Welcome to the family, Cricket. (Yes, we name our cars. You should too.)

That I haven't looked at the National Geographic photo of the day for at least a month now. I friggin' love that site though.

That my husband got angry because he couldn't find the parking pass for work, but I told him it was hanging on the rear view mirror, right where it always is. After disagreeing and hanging up on me, he called back a few minutes later to apologize. Yep, right there on the mirror. Where it always is.

That I don't have many things to put on my "it's ok" list today. My mind is somewhere else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What are you saying "it's ok" to today?

Free ain't always easy!

So you got tickets to tonight’s game and you find out it’s free t-shirt give-away night! You cannot contain your excitement; it’s your lucky day. You wonder what color it will be and what the design is going to look like. You better leave the house extra early to get downtown and parked in enough time to be one of the first 10,000 people through the gate to receive said freebie. There’s nothing worse than watching them run out right before your eyes. If only you hadn’t been so polite when you stopped the car for those people trying to cross the street, who, by the way, will get their t-shirts in plenty of time. Bastards.

Let’s pretend you make it on time. You can almost touch the fresh thin cotton. Your ticket is scanned, purse is searched and body patted down (if you’re at a Bengals game). The friendly volunteer with a huge smile on her face finally hands you the prize. An XL t-shirt. Dammit. I wear a women's small, sometimes medium. This will never work. You look at your husband and say “does your dad want another t-shirt?” as he laughs at you. My father-in-law gets all the goods that I’ll never wear. Lucky guy.

I understand, really I do. It makes sense to hand out a shirt that will fit the masses. A grown man doesn’t want to hear that they ran out of XL’s and is offered a size small. This simply won’t do. But ca’mon, the ladies need something to wear too. Our husbands don’t want us spending $30 on a t-shirt in the store there in the arena/stadium but yet they’re the ones who get one for free. If they handed out size smalls and he wanted to feel included, I would let him buy a t-shirt… if it was on sale. Maybe.

The best place that I have gotten small t-shirts on freebie night is at the Columbus Clippers baseball games. Now they know how to do it right. They even hand out mediums and larges sometimes. None of this XL only garbage. And yes, I still wear my free t-shirts to the games. And yes, I’ve also bought a Clippers t-shirt there in the store. Off the clearance rack. I mean really, $30 for a t-shirt? Be real.

Oh and by the way, yes, I do snag the free t-shirts even if I'm not at a home game. I have an Andrew McChuchen (Pittsburgh Pirates) shirt on now. And it's a small. Winning!

The dreaded month of May

6 years ago today, my mom passed away. Instead of moping around, crying like I usually do on this day, I’ve decided that this May 1^st is going to be different.

Last night I went to my very first "support group". It was called Motherless Daughters so everyone in there had lost their mom's. It was very interesting and I'm actually glad I went. Most of the people there last night had lost their mom's more recently, which I thought would be the case but they said it helps to see someone else, 6 years later still grieving because they saw that it was ok to not "get over it" as fast as others think they should. There were about 25 of us. I was the youngest, but there were others in their early 30's all the way up to a 60+ woman.

The class was 2 hours long so the first hour was 2 counselors talking about how people grieve and the anger and the guilt and the feelings of never getting to say goodbye and regrets and everything else in between. Then the second hour we sat in a big circle and everyone who wanted to talk, could. One woman jumped right in and told everyone how her mom had a stroke, then the next woman said her mom went in for some minor surgery and never woke up and another woman said her mom was diabetic... every story was different but at the same time SO similar in the way that the women there last night felt about it afterwards.

I even spoke up about 6 times, which shocked the hell out of me! Haha I was thinking "Who are you?! You were suppose to sit quietly and just listen and soak it all up, now you're contributing?!" haha But had I not spoken up, I think I would have regretted it. We all cried through the whole thing, but it was almost like we had a bond or an understanding so it didn't matter. One lady started crying the minute she walked in the door and wrote her name on the nametag. She had just lost her mother last month.

When it ended at 9:00, 4 of us stayed there and talked until 10pm! One lady was 30 years old and her mom had just died and the other 2 were sisters in their 50's so it was interesting to hear their feelings and how they get through it. The 30 year old has a 20 year old sister so she said it was good to hear my side because I was 20 when mom died. She said she can use my story & experience to help her sister now, so I thought that was cool.

I was really dreading going to this thing. I had signed up for it about a month ago and thought I didn't really need it, but WOW, it opened my eyes. They said there was a study done between people who had physical injuries and people who were grieving a close family member and at the end they came to the conclusion that a grieving person is the equivalent of someone in ICU. That sounded crazy, but makes sense to me at the same time. I should have gone to something like this 6 years ago, but I didn't know it was even available until now. At the same time, there's no way anyone could have talked me into going any sooner than now when I finally felt ready. I came home totally emotionally drained with a huge headache but a MUCH better understanding of what I've been going through.

If you have lost a loved one and are thinking about going to a support group or counselor, GO! Trust me. It took me 6 years to realize I needed it. Don’t wait that long. If you've lost your mother, you know that Mother's Day is right around the corner. Don't dwell. Don't get angry that other people have their mother's to celebrate with. It will be hard but there are other people out there who know what you're going through. Find them. Talk. I promise you'll feel better.

Mr Mo

This is sort of gross. Consider yourself warned.

Our kitty, Santa has been sick. Last Monday we noticed him squatting all around the house like he was going to pee on the floor, which he never does, so we called the vet and took him in that night. Turns out he couldn't pee. He had a blocked bladder. If we had waited much longer to take him in, it would have gotten backed up and caused kidney failure which would have killed him!

He had to have a catheter to drain everything and the poor guy had a cone collar around his head when he woke up from the anesthesia. He was not pleased. The vet kept him for 3 nights to monitor him and make sure he starts the healing process.

My husband and I went to visit him a couple times which was sad. Some of you may be thinking "you visited your cat?!" but wouldn't you visit a family member in the hospital? It's the same to us.

The first time he was really pitiful looking with a swollen paw from the IV they had to give him. He stayed in the back of the cage, pissed off at the world. The second day we visited he looked much better! They moved the IV to the other paw and he was obviously feeling better.

We brought him home after 4 days, but the over the weekend he re-blocked. Apparently this is common but for some reason we thought it wouldn't happen to him. We had to call the emergency vet line and go in Sunday evening. He had surgery to remove all hit "bits & pieces" and get rewired to be more like a female cat Monday morning. Ouch and no thank you. Turns out female cats have better piping, who knew?

After another few days at the vet, we brought him home again only to have him start peeing blood, so back to the vet we went Sat morning. At this point we're getting a little tired of making the doctor's fancy Mercedes payments. Turns out he now has an infection from the surgery so they gave us a stronger antibiotic for him. 

We have him isolated in the bathroom with baby gates up as a "screen door" so we can poke our heads in and check on him from time to time. He's stopped eating, so that's yet another pill to administer. You can now feel his back bone. I can't blame him though, I don't like eating when I don't feel good either.

Hopefully we're FINALLY on the road to recovery now. In another 2 weeks we'll go back, get his stitches out and remove the collar from hell. Fingers crossed it's all down hill from here.

Here are some pictures of Santa (aka Mr Mo). The first one is with his cone, all drugged up right after the procedure.





It's Ok Thursday!

 It's ok... That I'm not very patient while waiting for my husband's cousin to have her baby (hopefully today). I can't wait to see her! That we might be driving 4 hours to drop something off, turn around and drive 4 hours home. That I could look at Pinterest and Instagram for hours and hours. That our vacation to Tennessee might be cancelled because of our sick kitty. He's more important. That when I got my hair cut on Tues, my static shocked my stylist in the face. Didn't even know that was possible, but it happened... twice. True story. That I'm listening to the Wicked soundtrack. Don't judge. That I'm not a huge fan of the new blogger set-up yet. Ugh, change. That I'm a little naive sometimes and prefer to see the good in everything. That my cat is STILL at the vet, poor guy. More on this in another post later. That my hands are so dry that my husband says I'm like an alligator. That I'm OBSESSED with The Book of Awesome! Look it up, love it. That I'm not really awake yet, but have a TON of stuff to accomplish today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What are you saying "it's ok" to today?  

Dear 17 Year Old Me...

Dear 17 year old me,

First and foremost, cherish the time you spend with your parents. Don't be the typical teen who thinks they're too cool for the folks. You don't know this yet, but your old man will have 4 heart attacks and your mama will fight lung cancer for 2 years before losing her battle. Your dear old dad will become even more of a hermit and you'll regret not spending more time getting to know mother hen for the rest of your life. That's all I have to say about that.

Don't quite track your senior year just because the head coach is a jerk. When you get to college, you'll join the track team and decide you want a change of pace and switch from a distance runner to a sprinter... and you'll SUCK at it. Side note to the 18 year old me: Don't become a sprinter! The distance girls really are nice. Well, except that one, but you're faster than her anyway. Don't stop running because you think you're burnt out. You'll wish you never had. Plus it'll make running those half marathons in your mid 20's easier! 

I know you hate your porcelain pale skin now, but one day you'll love it. It makes you different. You'll go through bottles of SPF 80 like it's your job, and love it. Oh and your beautiful tan girl classmates end up looking capital-n Nasty in a few more years. *Shudder* You don't want those wrinkles girl, keep slapping on the sunscreen.

Study for your SAT & ACT's. On second thought, don't waste your time. You'll still get into a great college even with that poor excuse of a test score.

Pay attention in French class. When you get to college, you'll switch to Spanish but never really remember any of it. Shame on you. Now you'll have to pay big bucks for a learning program called Rosetta Stone when you could have just listened to Ms. Rosa.

When people tell you how young you look, take it as a compliment. You'll look the same at 26 and get carded for a rated R movie. People are right when they say "one day you'll love hearing that".

Stop being friends with Tyler, it's just easier that way. His crazy girlfriend will think you two have something going on (which, as you know, you don't and never will) and will accuse you of paint balling her house and try to file for a restraining order against you. This is absurd. Don't overreact when you get called to the principles office to talk to the cops about it. You know you did nothing wrong and it will all be over soon. You'll find out later that it was Tyler's guy friends who did it but man, what a pain in the ass!

You aren't the only 17 year old not drinking. You'll drink plenty in college (and even then, not that much) and move on afterward. You'll never be a drinker, it's just not you. That's ok.

You have lots of friends but you'll find out that Danielle is the best of the best. You two will remain friends for years to come. She'll see you through LOTS of things and never judge. Her family will make you a better person. (Her dad will even surprise you with one of his homemade birthday cakes when you turn 26!) This friend is a keeper, hands down.

Try to get good grades. I know you don't currently put even an once of effort into your school work. Ok so you have cool parents who don't really care that you come home with a "C" on your report card. That's great, but that attitude will land you on academic probation in college and you'll have to take summer classes to catch back up. Not cool after all.

When you go to prom and homecoming, don't leave the house with those white-girl makeshift cornrow looking things in your hair. Sure, it's all the rage now, but when you look back on pictures, you will be embarrassed. I promise. 

That boyfriend of yours will soon break your heart. When this happens, get over it. He'll pop back up in your 20's. Ignore him then too, trust me. Remember how you always say "I don't have to be good at math, I'll just marry an accountant one day"? Well, you'll meet the man of your dreams in college and get married shortly after... and yes he's an accountant. Smart girl.

Keep eating whatever you want and loving that metabolism of yours that you never think about. When you hit 25 and work in an office all day, this will all change. For the first time in your life you'll look at nutrition labels and calories so live it up now. Although, don't worry, you'll still eat whatever you want.

You love photography and this will never change. But stop thinking it will all come naturally. There's no shame in taking classes to learn more. Wouldn't you rather know what an f-stop is now? The answer is yes. Do more with this. It will become one of your biggest regrets.

Don't buy that box of dark purple hair dye! With your pale skin, it will make you look gothic. People will think you dyed it black until you go out in the sun where then it's obviously the totally awesome purple color you always wanted to try. Oh second thought, buy it! Who cares if you're the only one who likes it.

Last but not least, make decisions for crying out loud!! Preferably good ones, but any will do really. You're WAY too indecisive. It's your achilles heel in life. Fix it early.

Love,

26 year old you

It's Ok Thursday!

 It's Ok...

That I had to take care of my sick husband earlier this week. I washed my hands every 10 minutes! I didn't want whatever he had going on, he was miserable.

That my vet bill is through the roof because my poor kitty had a blocked bladder and it almost caused kidney failure which would have resulted in death :(

That my Grandma & Papaw's house is now sold and I'll never step foot in that door ever again. Lots of good memories of them and that house will live in my heart forever.

That I'm behind on my work because of a mandatory training class I had to take. Ugh.

That I have a countdown going until The Color Run... 92 days.

That I stopped at Taco Bell on the way home from the library. It sounded really good, sue me.

That I haven't planned our trip to Nashville yet and it's getting closer and closer. Anyone have any input on the city? Where should we go? What should be do?

That I'm SUPER jealous of my aunt & uncle's trip to Alaska this summer. I would try to fit into their luggage if they didn't live in Georgia.

That I'm still trying to talk my dad into taking a trip to Bora Bora (or Australia) with me. He's ALMOST convinced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What are you saying "It's Ok" to today?

Winners & Losers

The Price Is Right gets better and better.

Yep, I said it. When Drew Carey first took over in 2007, I was not impressed. And I love me some Drew, but it was awkward and forced. If you've ever seen his standup act, you'll know that he's very raunchy and for that reason, I thought this would never go well. I said "he can't make dirty jokes about the contestants. This is going to suck" but I was wrong.  

He addresses the models by name (my favorite is Rachel) and the announcer, George Gray gets to be seen on TV. This is totally different than the way Bob used to run the show. You never knew the models' names, let alone hear them talk and the announcer was never seen, only heard. Makes me think Bob was a real jerk and thought it was all about him.

My favorite game is Plinko. Hands down. I would love to go up there and win $10,000 by just dropping a chip. Better yet, $50,000 but I'm not picky. I also enjoy Cliff Hangers because of the little yodeler guy. Yodelayheehoo!

I love when people get up there and get it right, unless they're total idiots. Then I want them to lose. Badly. I hate the people that take FOREVER to get down to the podium when their name is called. They're high fiving and jumping around like tools. I understand that you're excited, dude with too much gel, but Drew needs to get on with the show. Move your tush!

Am I the only one that gets angry when contestants get an easy game so wrong? The whole audience is telling you the answer and you decide you'll go with something else. Brilliant. Yea, this is going to go well. Oh wait, you got it wrong? Wow, I didn't see that coming at all. Oh, now you're so sad? Get off my TV. You better not even think about getting $1.00 when you spin the wheel. You don't deserve the showcase. Or the Jimmy Choo heels you won to get on stage. Maybe I'm just jealous. Yes, that has to be it.

What's your favorite thing about the show?

Old lady Leet

Happy Birthday, Lauren Leet!

Yep, my old roommate is turning 27. She now lives about 1,000 miles away from me so this blog post will have to do since we can't go out for Mexican to celebrate. Tragic, I know. I'll take a rain check for this summer. 

I've been through everything with this girl. The first time we met at college orientation, I knew we would be friends. We lived together for 3 years in a different crappy typical college dorm/house/apartment before she ditched me to transfer to OSU. (Remember when we almost transfered to Kentucky together because you're obsessed with their basketball team?)

We've been to London together, stood in Times Square for 7 hours for New Years Eve & vacationed in Laguna Beach for spring break. Man, I miss the days when we just picked up and left because we could. Oh and Lauren, I'm serious about our 30th birthday trip to France/Switzerland/Italy. Start saving money. How about we go for 2 weeks & really soak it up? HA!

Lauren fears birds, loves The Yankees and UK basketball, laughs at jokes she didn't understand, drove to track practice in college (1/2 mile from our dorm), loves kids, got an "industrial" piercing through her ear when I pierced my tongue (see pics below), went on Valentine's dates with me when we were both single, toliet-papered a house then cried when we got caught, wore matching shirts with me, dressed like a skank in public and thought it was acceptable (don't worry La, so did I, we thought it was normal) and I wouldn't change a single thing about her. This girl is a true friend for life.

Over the years, we've taken thousands of pictures. Here are just a few (ok, more than a few) that bring up some great memories we've had together.

I hope you have a great birthday! Love ya LaLa!