Friday, December 29, 2006

my merry merry day

Our Christmas went well.  To start, we put milk and cookies out for Santa (thanks Heidi!).

I guess he liked them, since this is what we found in the morning:

Blind Santa went nuts.  What did they get, you ask?  Welllllllll...I'll just name off a few things.  For Bum, there was an Xbox 360, Bratz, Barbie, My Little Pony, and a DVD.  For Dude, it was WWE wrestling stuff, games for his GameCube, Spiderman, and Transformers.  They got a total of 13 gifts...EACH.  See, told ya Santa lost his (um...her) mind.  And that was just at home...they still had Grandma's house.

We went up there, ate, and the kids opened more stuff--Pixel Chix, more wrestlers, a Barbie head, and a basketball hoop, just to name a few.  There were some outfits too, but who cares about those...lol.  Joey's cousins came, and then the real fun began...busting his ass...lol.  Here's a pic of two of them with Bum.

Oh...what did I get?  Well, I got a butterfly necklace from Bum, a locket necklace from Dude, 50 bucks from the mom-in-law (split between me and Joey), and from Joey's brother, we got a mini crockpot, a DVD, and *gleaming with joy* a Starbucks coffee grinder (which I've been looking to get for months now).  Yay.

til next time...=)

Sunday, December 24, 2006

a day early

I know it's Christmas Eve, but I have pics of presents they opened.  You know, the ones we got them--gotta make room for Santa's stuff.  We got them one each.  Here's how they looked Saturday night...

They were up at Grandma's house over the weekend, and came home a little while ago...I swear, I've never seen the kids wanting to come home so much--they actually came home in their pj's!  No sooner did they walk in the door, they were ripping open wrapping paper and bags...lol.

Here's Bum with her gift--an air hockey table.

And here he is with his Donkey Kong and bongos for GameCube.

They're already enjoying these...Dude's beating the hell out of those bongos, and she's beating the hell out of Dad...at the game, that is...lol.  More pics to come tomorrow...or Tuesday.

til next time...=)

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

5 more days!

You know what?  I can't wait for Christmas.  We can't wait to see the looks on the kids' faces on Christmas morning.  I'm almost done shopping, but the major items are out of the way.  I don't think Santa was watching them this year, because he went NUTS and is bringing them everything that was on their wishlist.  Even bent over backwards to get the main items, like paying double for a certain item on Ebay, and renting another certain item so it would be under the tree come December 25th.  The gifts are over at our savior's (again!) house...and Steve, the 14-year-old, is jealous of one of them, because she's getting something HE wanted...lol.

As for work, it sucks...but at my own will.  I don't have a day off until Christmas Day, and that's my only day off next week.  That's because I'm helping someone out by working half a day on Christmas Eve.  I mean, I'm not doing anything until 11pm, so why not work til 7?  No big deal.  All is well.  C'mon Christmas!  Get here now!

til next time...=)

Sunday, December 17, 2006

411 junk of the week

I know y'all look forward to these, so I'm going to make it a weekly thing, probably on Saturday or Sunday.  As a reminder, these are all listed places, so they do exist...lol.  Here we go...

The Nipple Bindery.
Out of the Closet.
The Dang Gym.
Dong Kink (a salon).
LA Gender Center.
Big Wang.
Wak Shack (a salon).
Grandpa's Train Depot (at Grandma's House).
Buellton Veterinary Clinic Bed & Breakfast (WTF?)
Bimbo's Market.
Mother Trucker's.

And my favorite of the week...*drum roll please*...
Yank Sing, a Chinese restaurant (with 2 locations!) in California...wonder how they got the name...lol.

Call of the week:
"Hurry up!  I'm standing in the middle of traffic--can you tell me how to spell 'Shredded-It'?"  LMAO.

til next time...=)

santa!

til next time...=)

Friday, December 15, 2006

lights, lights, and more lights

We took a surprise trip after I got home from work tonight...

to Nay Aug  Park for their Christmas...um, holiday light display!

The city puts this on every year.

The traffic was bad.  This time I didn't get a pic of it...lol.

Gotta leave milk and cookies.

So he'll come.

These pics don't do any justice--most of the displays were animated.  Like this one.

 

til next time...=)

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

my trees

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Show off your Christmas tree and/or Menorah and/or other seasonally appropriate holiday centerpiece.

Been a while since I did this.  To make up for it, I have TWO pics.  This is the one at our house...I didn't decorate this one--the kids did.

Nice, huh?  Well, I did get to decorate a tree...at work.  I did it yesterday, and this is what it looked like...

I use the past tense, because about an hour after I finished it, it went crashing down.  Two and a half hours of work (not taking calls...yay), gone.  I was pissed and upset, as you can imagine.  This morning when I went into work, it was completely gone--turns out it wouldn't go back on the stand.  Good thing is, the boss is bringing another tree in tomorrow, and guess who gets to decorate it (and not have to take calls again).

UPDATE: I went into work the day after I wrote this, and the new tree was up AND decorated.  DAMN.  I'll post a pic when I get it.

til next time...=)

Sunday, December 10, 2006

411 junk of the week

As if you couldn't tell, I was bored at work yesterday.

Lots o' stuff here, so let's get started.  Here's some of the listings we've found this week...

Holy Nails, Priestly Movers, and Golden Buddha...all in less than an hour, all fielded by yours truly.
Discount Sex Mall.
Escape From New York Pizza.
Big Balls Restaurant.
Two Urban Licks.
Fractured Prune.
Hillbilly Flea Market.
Tuna Town.
JR's Juicy Dogs.
Naked Fish.
And this one...residential...last name Chitwood...pronounced with "sh". (sorry if this is your name, or if you know anyone who has this name...if you do, I'll gladly take it off here.)

Got a couple stories too...

"A customer was looking for the phone number for a palm reader.  I gave a "not found" report*.  Her response: 'Well, she has a big sign in her front yard, so I KNOW she has a listing!'"
*"not found" report..."I'm sorry, but searching in (city) and surrounding areas, I'm showing no listing for (whatever).

"Customer calls in, looking for 'Parent Planhood'.  I told them I didn't find that, but I had 'Planned Parenthood'.  They said no, and insisted it was 'Parent Planhood', and hung up."

There...hopefully I'll get more for next week.  More and more co-workers are giving me their weird ones, knowing that I post them here...yay.

til next time...=)

Saturday, December 9, 2006

hi

Just sayin' hi!  I just have to say this too...WORKING 6 DAYS STRAIGHT SUCKS.  This is what I looked like at work today:

"please help me"

What worse is that I have to do it all over again next week--tomorrow's my only day off.  But that's a good thing for you, since I'll be posting the 411 junk of the week.  Here's a taste...

Caller:  (calmly) I need the police in Bakersfield, CA.
Operator:  Ok...is this an emergency?
Caller:  (still very calm) Nah!  My car has been stolen--I just want to report it.

I got a bunch of 'em...I've been saving.

til next time...=)

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

before and after #3

This time it's the living room.

Before...

and after...

*Just a little side note--the blue lines outlining the windows, etc...that's just the damn tape.  We didn't take it down yet, as we're not done.  We still have to do the finishing touches in some (a lot, actually) spots...lol.

til next time...=)

answer to the riddle

A couple weeks ago, I asked what you would get if you mixed Bum's new room with some fuchsia paint.  Well, here's the result...

and this...

Notice I painted the little lines between the ceiling blocks too...thought it would look cool.

til next time...=)

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

1st before and after

Joey's room.

Before...

After.


How's that for dramatic?  He picked this color out.

I still have given you the answer to the riddle I asked a few weeks ago...I'll post that tomorrow (when I get a final pic).

til next time...=)

movin' on up

Yup--it's done.  And as far as the title goes, it's literal--we had to move up steps...lol.

And that was NOT fun, especially for Joey...as of Sunday, he still had a baseball-size bruise on his wrist from the fridge.  Anyhoo...we did it all on Friday (started at 9am, stopped at 1am) and finished on Saturday morning.  Keep in mind, the move was only 1/2 block.  We had to stop halfway through, since it was raining off and on all day.  Then the thunderstorm (omg) came.  Then our saviors, Julie and Steve (the neighbors we like) came and helped us out.  Took me to get dinner for everyone too.

The only snag we hit was when I was taking the truck back to U-Haul.  Someone forgot to turn off the light in the truck, and when I went to start it, the damn battery was dead.  So Julie (told ya she was our savior!) took me down to get the car from U-Haul, followed me back to the truck, stayed there while I jumped it (GIRL POWER!), followed me back down to U-Haul, then drove me home.  A few car trips after that, and we were officially done.  This is what we think of that house now...

See those little bits of paper on the carpet?  That's our old lease--and what we think of it...lol.  Damn--I should've wiped my ass with it before I did that...lmao.  That's what I really think of it.

So that's my move.  Yay.

til next time...=)

Sunday, November 26, 2006

turkey day

Turkey day went ok...went to the in-laws' house.  Ate, looked at old pics of Joey (lmao), and sat and bullshit the rest of the night.  No pics, but we had some fun.  But we made sure we were home in time for Grey's Anatomy...that is some good stuff.

I don't usually go Black Friday shopping.  I learned my lesson a few years ago, when a 10-minute drive to Walmart took 2 hours. Never again--until this year.  Lowe's had a pre-lit tree on sale for $25, and we needed a tree, since the cat peed on our last one.  Got up at 4am, got up there by 5, only to find out they didn't open until 6...the flyer said 5 (we weren't the only ones who were there, so I didn't feel like an ass).  To pass the time, we went to Dunkin' and waited in line only to find out they didn't take credit cards.  Damn.  Went somewhere else and got coffee, then headed back to Lowe's, to find a small crowd was there.  When they did open, we went in, got our tree, and got the hell out of there.  We were home by 6:15.  Kicked myself in the ass, though...found out we didn't have to go up so early--by late afternoon, they still had the trees.  Dammit.  But at least we got one.  Yay.

So that was my holiday.

Btw, it looks like we're not moving today, since the carpets STILL aren't laid.  Damn.  More on this when I get the info.

til next time...=)

Thursday, November 23, 2006

how it's goin

Just some updates...the painting's coming along (slooowly), but I should be able to get it done tomorrow, being that I'm off and all.  The carpet guy should be coming Friday, as well as the satellite guy.  Moving days are Sunday (major stuff) and Monday (the rest).  Everything else is either on already, or going to be by Monday.  Woohoo.  I'll have pics of the rooms when they're all done.

Since I was asked (by only one, but that's enough for me) to make the 411 thing a weekly entry, I guess I can oblige.  But I forgot to do it last Saturday, since I was painting.  And I probably won't do it this Saturday, since moving sucks.  So here we go...there's a lot of them.  And these are just the ones we found...

Wonkers Bonkers
Dr. Ashkock
Dr. Manlove
Hurts So Good Tattoo
Casper's Funeral Home
Blonde Genius
Tinkle Bell
Holy Cow
Philthy McNasty's Bar & Grill

and for you dog lovers...
Indiana Bones & the Temple of Groom
Snip Doggy Dogg

Which leads me to my next 411 rule...I think this applies to all 411.
Rule #2: You are charged for the search, not the results.

What does this mean?  Well, when you call 411, you want us to look for a number.  That's what we get paid to do.  But if it's not there, you can't get a credit because we didn't find it.  We still did all that we could to get the number for you.  So we provided you a service, even if you didn't get what you wanted out of it.  So don't bother asking--the answer's no.  One more thing--hanging up in the middle of a call does not mean you won't get charged--you're actually charged when you hear the recording say "What city and state?"  After that, there's no getting out of it.

Just thought I'd pass that info on...anyhoo...

 

myspace layouts, myspace codes, glitter graphics

til next time...=)

Saturday, November 18, 2006

the before riddle, part one

What do you get when you mix this...

...and this...

...with this?

The answer sometime this week...

til next time...=)

better

Everything's going good...the electricity's on at the new house, the new allergist eased our minds (a little) Thursday, and yesterday was payday.  What made my day better was coming home and finding this on the fridge:

Yay.  Happy day.

til next time...=)

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

the new supermarket...

I stumbled across this earlier...I HAD to post it.  As if soda specifically marketed to kids wasn't bad enough, look where you can buy it...

Not the Butt one--I know that's HEB (a 411 customer told me).  But Pubics???  Yeah, I know it's supposed to be Publix, but c'mon--doesn't anyone proofread their webpages?  And I didn't alter this in any way...go to the site and see for yourself.  Duh...

til next time...=)

Monday, November 13, 2006

rejected!

Just a little footnote about the last entry...most of the calls we get either (a) can't be understood by the recording (either from whatever accent, or having a dick, food, etc. in their mouth), (b) already know they (a), and automatically ask for an operator, or (c) are callers that just want to bitch at us.  Either way, for us it means only one thing--we get the rejects.

In other news, I'm taking the PA State Civil Service Exam tomorrow...I want (and need) another job!  If my sister (who took it a few months ago) is right, I'll pass with flying colors, and I'll have a new job by January.  Wish me luck...

til next time...=)

Saturday, November 11, 2006

411 hell

Oh. My. God.  Is it time to go home yet?  Oh. My. God.

This is the thought that went through my head today.  It seemed like all the looney tunes came out of the woodwork for the holiday, and decided to call 411.  And they all have Cingular Wireless.  Some thought we were psychic--we were supposed to know what they were looking for and where, before they said anything.  If we didn't, they went psycho and called us every name in the book.  And to make matters worse for me, THAT came within an hour after the start of my shift.  Oh happy f'ing day.

Anyhoo, I've been saving these all week for you--weird stuff we found!  *applause*  Here we go...

--Jugs & Strokers, a truck stop in New York.
--Happy Hookers Towing, in Oregon.
--White Trash Charm...dunno what or where this is.
--Thai-tanic, in DC.
--Dr. Slaughter, a dentist.
--Bud Weiser Chevrolet, in Illinois.

And since Turkey Day's coming soon, here's a couple to start:
* Squat & Gobble, a cafe in California.
* Feather Your Nest, a home store in Arkansas.

I might make this a weekly thing...dunno.  Let me know what you think.

til next time...=)

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

another new journal

But this one's not mine.  Well, it's under my name, but I'm not the one doing the writing...Bum is.  I figured if she wants to tell stories, I'll let her have an outlet for it.  I proposed this to her this morning-- when I got home from work, she was waiting at the door for me, notebook in hand!   It goes like this--she writes, I type.    Go look, and let me know what you think!

til next time...=)

Monday, November 6, 2006

new addition

This is where we went earlier...to my brother-in-law's house.  To see baby!

l-r.  Dude, cousin Sunny holding new cousin Madison, and Bum.  Made me want to have another one...LMAO--no way.

til next time...=)

again!

I had to post this pic again, since it shows almost as much excitement as I have:

We're moving!  We're staying in the area, but we're moving!  We saw the house on Saturday, and the owner called us back today.  We're moving!  Ironic, especially since the building manager came today and had the sink and door fixed...lol.  We gave him our 30-day notice, and voila!  We're moving!  We'll be out by December 1st...but like I said, WE'RE MOVING!!!!

 

new journal

This one's going to be more personal...and private.  I haven't written anything in it yet.  Let me know if you want in...

til next time...=)

Saturday, November 4, 2006

btw...

Did you vote yet?  You only have until Monday!

http://viviawards.bravehost.com/secondroundx.html

Whatchoo waitin' for?  Vote for me!  I even updated my pic for you!

til next time...=)

storyteller

Oh--about the other day with the visit with the principal.  Bum wasn't doing her homework to the point where it was getting to be a problem--she already had lunch detention twice this year.  So we had a conference with the principal and her teacher.  Her teacher said Bum is one of the brightest kids in her class, but she's always talking to someone while the teacher's trying to...well, teach.  She's always trying to get someone's attention, wheter it be the teacher, or the other students.  In fact, the only time she's good in class is when she's isolated.

Then the storytelling subject came up.  The reason she's not doing her homework?  She's helping her younger sister with hers--that's what she told her teacher.  We told them the storytelling has been a problem for years, and not just at school.  They apparently got the wrong idea, and asked her more questions, as well as pulling Dude out of class and asking him as well.  You know what they were thinking...!    Anyhoo, we weren't happy with that, so I called the school and was like "what the hell?"  But from what they tell me, that's standard procedure.  The principal proceeded to tell me that some kids who are abused tell stories do it to make up a false reality--to cover up the real one.  That's why they pulled Dude out of class--to ask him what's going on at home.  But since there was nothing going on, they didn't do anything.  Ok, I guess.

til next time...=)

just some catching up

The above was made last night (it's brownies!), since the kids wouldn't be here today.  His b'day is the other reason I took my vacation this week--that way I'd be guaranteed to have it off.  I'm taking him out to dinner later.  I know you don't read this, but happy 31st birthday, honey.

Today we're going to look at an apartment down the street (actually, 1/2 block) from where we are now.  It's a 3-bedroom, and it's supposedly a little bigger than this one (and cheaper!).  The owner of that one used to own this one too--a while back.  He's a cool guy, and he's not from out of state--he lives in the house next door.  Wish us luck...

til next time...=)

Thursday, November 2, 2006

not again!

This is gonna be a little long...bear with me.

As some of you might remember, this time last year, we had a girl living in the apartment downstairs from us who loved to turn her music WAY up.  At all hours of the day and night, sometimes until 2am.  We tried to tell her about it (which did nothing), we told the owner and he told her about it (at the time), called the cops and THEY told her about it (which kinda did nothing).  We finally took her to the magistrate, and gave her a fine (which again, did nothing).  What did finally stop it was her moving out--she got evicted--not for the disturbances, but for simply not paying her rent.  Bitch.

Anyway, back to the present...it's the same thing, but with a twist.  The neighbors downstairs from us now are doing the same thing.  Joey's not feeling so good, and I was tired.  So we turned in early, but not for long.  Seems as if they got drunk (they like to do that often--there's more to that), and started with the music.  Not too loud, but enough to hear it upstairs, with the bass vibrating the bed a little.  And you probably know, the last thing you want when you're sick is to be disturbed and pissed off.  So, since we're not the building manager anymore (the new owners stripped us of that), Joey called the owner herself.  In New York.  At 10:30pm.  He didn't care--we've told lady about her musical disturbance more than once before, and apparently that didn't stop her from doing it today.  So what does the owner tell him?  "What do you want me to do?"  DUH--take care of it...NOW.  So she tries to call them--the phone's busy.  Hmmm...too drunk to notice the phone's off the damn hook.  When she calls back, Joey just starts going off on the owner...omg.  He's on a roll--mentioning that our front (and only) door doesn't shut and lock right.  Our bathroom sink has the water turned off, since it leaks.  Our cabinets are falling apart more by the day.  And now this?  For $xxx???  You've got to be kidding!  She tells him that it takes time to fix things, especially since they just bought the house less than a week ago.  His reply--"Well, it didn't take that much time for you to raise the rent, now did it?"  (Keep in mind, they owned the house for about 6 hours when they were here with the new lease.)  Anyway, that was that, and the music eventually stopped (they probably passed out or something).

This morning, Kim (our cool new neighbor I didn't tell you about) came up this morning wondering what was banging up here, since she could hear it in her apartment next door.  Joey started telling her about the night before, and next thing you know, you hear lady screaming out her bathroom window, "I WASN'T BLASTING MY FUCKING MUSIC LAST NIGHT."  Exact quote.  Mind you, Bum was standing on the porch during this.  After that, she started with her music again, this time turning it way up, then down, then up again.  Joey called the cops, and they took our statements, and they were on their way.

My take on this?  Oh man--the gloves are off now.  Wanna fight?  Bring it on.  Both lady and the owner.  Just gives us more reason not to stay...and we'll have fun while we're waiting to move...lol.

til next time...=)

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

halloween...ooooo

Just some pics from y'day.  Here's the weirdos--I mean kids--with the pumpkins I carved for them...

No way can I trust them with knives--they'd probably go after each other or something.  Here's what they looked like lit up--

Bum's...


Dude's...

He wanted it to look like the one from Halloween...I guess I came close.  Next year, I'm watching the beginning credits to the movie, and burning the song (can you call it that?) to a CD.  That'll be fun to watch.  I might even make a video like that..lol.  I think we're going to stay home next year...then again, we said that LAST year too.

Speaking of trick-or-treating, the kids made out pretty good--they were out for a couple hours, hitting all the nice (wealthy) neighborhoods in the area.  About halfway through, they started complaining about how heavy their bags were getting.  I told them if they couldn't carry them, then we were done and going home.  When asked if they were still too heavy, they replied...NOOOOOOO...lmao.  There were a few houses they wouldn't go near...that was funny, since I'm the one who took their bags to the house, pointed to the kids standing at the end of the block, and got their candy for them...lol.  I also told them that's how I want to do OUR house next year, and they're all for it.  Cool.

So that was my Halloween...how was yours?

til next time...=)

Sunday, October 29, 2006

just some pics

Just some pics to start off the vacation.  This was taken the other day...just enjoying the nice fall day.

For the hell of it, took his pic this morning.  He HATES it when his hair looks like this.

til next time...=)

Saturday, October 28, 2006

v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n

Did I mention as of 7pm today, I'm officially on vacation?  I didn't?  Well now I did...lol.  Until next Monday.  What am I doing for said vacation?  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  Well, not all week...Halloween's on Tuesday, so trick-or-treating's on the roster that night.  Also that day, we have a meeting with the school principal regarding Bum's lack of homework skills, but more on that when I get the details.  And Saturday is Joey's birthday, and I hope (hope being the keyword) to take him out for lunch or dinner that day.  Then next Monday is parent-teacher conferences.  YAY.  But other than those things, it's veg time for me.  Catch up on the movies I TiVo'd.  Spend some time with the terrors--um, I mean kids.  Give some love to da man when the terrors aren't here...ooh baby.  And I promise to comment somewhere, some day this week...lol.

til next time...=)

house stuff

First of all, some good news and bad news.  The good news--the pigeons are gone and the house is sold.  The bad news--they raised the rent, and they're not fixing the majority of what's wrong with the house.

The details...
The new owners signed the deed to the house this morning, and already they were here this evening with the new lease.  They upped our rent about $100 (figures--just in time for the holidays).  Fair market value, I guess.  They also wanted $50 security for each pet we had.  HA!  We already had them, you can't do that.  And I told them that.  They said ok--new tenants will have to do that.  They said they wouldn't replace most of the stuff around the house (like our bathroom sink that we can't turn on because it'll leak into the apartment downstairs), but will fix it.  They were here for a while, basically hearing me bitch about the price and negotiating.  They wanted to charge more.  I told them no, and that we were going to be looking for somewhere else to live.  All the while, the real estate agent (who will also be building manager) was here, sticking up for us and trying to get it lowered too.  From what I hear, he's STILL trying...lol.  Good--someone on our side.

Bottom line...we're looking in the paper tomorrow.  I'll keep you posted.

halloween

I know Halloween's a few days away, but the kids had their parade and party at school yesterday (it was actually their 2nd party--we went to one the other day).  So of course, I took pics before they went.


This is a pic of the bags they made at the first party on Wednesday--Dude's is on the left, Bum's on the right.

til next time...=)

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

or...

How about this one?

 I can't decide.

Then again, I noticed the deadline is Friday night...the same day as their Halloween parties at school.  Who knows what might happen then...lol.

til next time...=)

contest entry

Was thinking of entering this pic...

...in the Journals Halloween Photo Contest.  I wanted to PhotoShop it, but I don't have that to do it.  What do you think?

til next time...=)

my addiction

I didn't take any pics today, only because there really wasn't anything to take pics of...lol.  Instead, I thought I'd show these.

Below is me in the morning...

til next time...=)

Monday, October 23, 2006

today's pics

Still taking my camera everywhere, and this just proves it...

Sorry about the quality of this one...for some reason it came out REALLY dark, and I seriously had to edit it--twice.  The one smiling is Shereen, one of my best buds at work.  She out of nowhere started taking pics, and I played along...of course, I'm the only idiot who posted it online...lol.

And this one's just screaming, "TAKE ME HOME".  And I'm screaming back, "NO WAY".  Another one of Kikko's kids, this one's from another litter (talk about a ladies man), and is the opposite of Sixx, the all black cat.  This one's all white, except on its ears and tail, and that's cream color.  Again, I'm not taking this one...yet...lol.

til next time...=)