Keeping up with the Anderson's

My First Man

2010-11-10T18:20:00.000-08:00

If I had a diary, this would probably be an entry...

My husband swears I have a psychiatric disorder...I probably do. Sometimes my mind just floats from one thing to the next, I like to call it flight of ideas. I think it signifies being a genius and maybe if he hadn't gotten hit too many times playing football he would understand.

I like to think that myself and my life are fabulous. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so girly girl but hey...I like the pretty pretty. While on vacation I even had someone ask me if my husband played pro football...well damn...I guess I could roll with high society then! I feel naked without my mascara, a big purse and big sunglasses. These things just make me feel all around fantastic and let me tell you that is a wonderful feeling! Everyone should try it sometime.

I also like to think that everything happens for a reason. I haven't always felt this fabulous. I used to feel sorry for myself because I had to watch my father die a horrible death when he was only 37 years old. It was terrible, although I didn't want him to suffer, I often think of the things he missed. Me going to highschool, my graduation from highschool, college and grad school, giving me away at my wedding, grandchildren....the list could go on. I didn't know then that I should have been thankful for the time we had together because some people aren't even fortunate enough to get to know their father at all. I still hurt for my children though. They didn't get to experience what a wonderful man he was. He would have been the most awesome grandfather ever known to man, and that is an understatement. I keep a picture of him in their study area so they know who he is. I think that's important.

My father has been dead for 20 years now, but the memory of his illness is still very vivid in my mind. I still remember the news when my mother told me he only had a couple of days to live - just like it happened yesterday. Still remember the dress I wore to his funeral and the color of his casket. Still remember my mother learning to live the life of a widow and single mother when she was only 32 years old. He was my first man and every man in my life that followed had to measure up against him. I can count on one hand how many times I have visited his gravesite. Now, before anyone damns me to hell, let me just say that I know he isn't in that grave so I don't feel the need to go there and lament over him. It doesn't mean that I love him any less or am being disrespectful because believe me no one loves the man that gave them life more than me. I know he wouldn't want me to do that. He knows that's not my style. He didn't teach me not to pick myself back up. After all, everyone has a sob story. It's how you make it out of that sob story that matters.

Stepping out on Faith

2010-10-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Now I never proclaim to be the most spiritual in the bunch, but I have spent enough time in church to know that if you are sincere about asking God for what you want that He will make a way, not necessarily on your time but always right on time.

The last couple of weeks of my life have been so evident of this that unless I had lived it myself, I wouldn't have believed it. Some of you may remember that I resigned from a job before I even had a prospect of another one (I know in these crazy economic times that's hard to believe). I had to do it though. Sometimes you have to open up yourself to receive blessings and leaving that job was the best thing for me at the time. My last week on my former job I received a phone call from a recruiter from a job that I had applied to in early August. They wanted me to interview for a position that I was really interested in but had really forgotten about since I had applied for it so much earlier. I will have you know that in 3 days I had 4 interviews and was hired that same Friday based on my resume and a 5 minute phone conversation with the medical director for the program. By his (medical director) own words, he had interviewed 120 people and I would only be the 20th person that he had hired. By that Sunday I was on a flight to train for my new job and the rest is history. So basically I had no time lapse between jobs, which is a miracle. My week of training went wonderfully. I met my new coworkers and actually feel like I left with a new family and that's hard to find on a job. When I think about how many people that interviewed for the job (not counting the ones who applied and didn't even get a call back) it is just amazing to think that I was one of the chosen few. The even better part is that I don't have to go to an office everyday. The past 2 weeks have been spent on conference calls and web sessions with me in my pajamas and it feels great! I also get to travel with this job so I am super excited about it.

So right now I can use my quote from Drake - "I love myself cuz I swear their life is just not as fun." Hopefully you love your life too! If not perhaps there needs to be some changes. Cutting things or people out of your life that are hindrances is a part of life. Everyone/thing can't be a part of the team. Some people/things just don't have what it takes to be a part of MY team. What about yours?

Oops, I Did It Again...

2010-09-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

I took a job that I knew wasn't my calling. I was happy to have it because I felt like I was being rescued from a job that had become my nemesis, but I guess I really knew it wouldn't be a career so essentially I settled. Those days are over. I have decided I am no longer going to work at a place and be miserable just for the sake of having a job. Hell, I owe too much in student loans for that ish. So I resigned. I walked right in to the office and pulled my resignation letter out of my purse and slid it across the desk. Do I have another dream job waiting for me?? No. Did it matter at the time or now? No, because I deserve to actually love to go to work.

So I am essentially on the job hunt again. This time to find a place where I feel like I am going to a career and not to a job. It's out there just waiting for me to uncover it. I have 4 weeks to find it so I am hustling; however, I do have a plan B so I'll be alright in the meantime.

Poor Murice doesn't know what to do with me. New surprises everyday. I guess I neglected to tell him that in the whole vows thing! I have thought about staying but I truly believe that once you think about quitting you may as well do it because whatever caused you to think about it in the first place will always rear its ugly head again so I am sticking to my decision. I will keep you posted on how the job search goes.

Why bother...

2010-06-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

I have often wondered why people bother trying to figure me out. Some people you can pretty much categorize them from the moment you see them, or at least I can anyway. I have often been told that I am hard to figure out. Maybe what people should say is that they aren't really smart enough to figure me out. My husband told me the other day that he has realized that people either like me or hate me. I think I would prefer that you either do one or the other and not be wishy washy. If you hate me then no need to waste anyone's time because I hate wasting time. I can usually instantly tell if I am going to like someone, more often in females. I have this uncanny knack of knowing if they are genuine or not. Call it a gift. For this reason, I haven't really been "burned" by any female that I considered a good friend. Less drama is always a great thing. I keep my circle small. Some people are left wondering what I am up to, thinking about or doing and therefore have to make things up because they don't have firsthand knowledge. I find it quite comical and flattering at the same time. Comical because they don't have a life of their own so they have to make up nonsense. Flattering because it's obvious they want to be more like me or they would have something else to talk about...aww poor them!

Anyway, just for anyone who is still trying to figure me out here goes. I am not quiet. If I am continually quiet around you perhaps we don't have much in common or I don't feel like you are worth the air to talk. If drama hangs around you, then Mrs Anderson won't. I can't stand it. I have other things to do with my time. If you are constantly trying to figure things out about me that don't concern you, then I won't be hanging around you either. I am not a fan of "fishing". Allow me to share information before you try to probe into my life. Also I won't hang around you just for the sake of "being down." You can be sure if I am hanging with you it's because there is something about you that I like or love. I am also not defined by anyone I am around whether it is my spouse or friends. I can guarantee you that if any or all of those things fell out of my life that I would be able to survive and take care of things. I don't have a Master's Degree just because it looks pretty in the frame.

One of the loving nicknames given to me by one of the beloved people that has resolved to hate me is: cu** bitch. I love it. I am a bitch. To me it means Being in Total Control of Herself. Maybe if she was a bitch too she would be living like me right about now. Think about it.

My sick day

2010-04-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

I finally scored a new job and couldn't be happier. Instead of sitting in a basement office all day I will be doing a bit of marketing and making sure the referrals that are sent to our care facility meet the admission criteria. I have been counting down the days until my last day at the present job. I even celebrated by taking a "sick" day this week and getting day-drunk with my husband. It sounded like a good idea at the time but several cocktails mixed with heat and getting carried away sitting in the heat drinking for hours = getting day-drunk. I don't know if I will do that again, or at least not anytime soon.

It is amazing to me how people stay neutral toward you during your entire employment with the company and then when they find out that you are moving on they want to come in and tell you how valuable you are. Really?? Am I that valuable or did you recently change your occupation to brown nosing and serving BS for the day. Come on. I am smarter than that, give me a little bit of credit. Better yet, don't ask me to stay for a couple of weeks until you figure out what you're going to do and then when I say no you ask me if it is a definite no or a no meaning I'll think about it. I mean let's face it. If you were about to get raped and you said no, do you think the rapist would get off because he thought no meant that you would think about it. Exactly...move around please, you're wasting my time.

I am excited and anxious for this new adventure. All these months that I have been looking for a new job, God put this directly in my lap so I look at it as a blessing. Hopefully I will do well with it.

Buzy Bee

2010-04-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

My goodness. It has been a busy last couple of weeks. I did survive through the party although I will NEVER EVER do that again. Those girls had me so frazzled that I had to use a sick day at work on the next work day.

The girls seemed to enjoy themselves however and that's all that matters in the end. The cake turned out great. I was upset that we actually had to cut it. Next year the idea of a sleepover will not even be entertained - at least not on my watch...

Save me now

2010-03-13T18:53:00.001-08:00

I don't know how I survive everyday with these kids of mine. A joy to have and yet stressful in the same breath. They are both total Rihanna addicts, or maybe a better term would be Rihanna Extremists. So bad that during church Braydan is singing the song "Disturbia" while everyone else is singing hymns. Please give me the prescription for Xanax now...

Morgan's birthday is coming up. She put in her request for the hot pink limo with a hottub. Um, yeh, that's NOT going to happen. I am letting her have a sleepover instead. I hope by the next day I am not kicking and screaming for the Xanax prescription. She wants a Hello Kitty theme because guess what - yep, that's what Rihanna had and God forbid everything around here is not "Rihanna - tized". Stay tuned for the post party report.

We are still diligently working on the house to get it "Anderson-ized". It has truly been a lot of fun decorating and picking out things for the house. I am not liking the solicitors that randomly stop by. You know those Kirby salesman who refuse to take no for an answer. The one that came by this evening begged more than the kids. I had to literally close the door in her face. She was probably still out there talking once the door shut.

I am beginning to realize that having a fun job is where it's at. My husband is currently in Miami checking out the market for wine and spirits. In other words - partying and getting paid to do so. It must be nice. There may be a possible move in our future. We'll just wait and see. I am up for anything. It would be nice not to have to drive to vacation at the beach and get to live there. Although from the superficialty of Miami I would need thousands of dollars in plastic surgery to fit in with the locals! Perhaps a suburb like Ft Lauderdale would be more fitting for someone lowkey like me.

Well I see it is log off time. I hear one of the kids complaining that the other one "passed gas"!

Where Do I Begin

2010-01-04T12:27:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR SUCKAS!!!! It's 2010! Christmas was wonderful in the new house. We had snow in Houston in December which was great for someone like me who has never been up north (I know you could never call me the world traveler). This year we embarked on a new tree mission - 2 trees, as if the havoc of one wasn't enough. They both went up without a hitch after I recovered from the mini stroke of how much Murice paid for the larger one downstairs. However, a bird flew into the house when we opened the door and fluttered around the high ceilings and both trees for damn near a hour before we got him out. The funny part is that the bird preferred the artificial tree over the real one. The rascal stayed perched in the tree despite Murice's constant tree shaking to try to find it. When he finally flew out of it, he flew right at me and scared the crap out of me. My nerves are still frazzled after that one. I love the holidays. Now that is a new year I am determined to stop being so hard on myself. We will see how far I get with that one...

New Years Eve was great. The kids and I cracked open the tride and true Sparkling Grape Juice at midnight. They got to drink out of wine glasses, which was great for Morgan who thinks she is an adult. Poor thing, she asked me the other night if I thought she would ever get to spend the night with Rihanna. I hate to keep shattering her feelings, but someone has to be honest with her. She has gone from wanting the Rihanna hairstyle to dressing like her (at age 7), to wanting to have a sleepover with her. She may have to settle with the concert instead.

I just noticed how outdated my picture is on this thing. I really need to get on it.

I am back at work today - reluctantly. I wore all black to symbolize my mourning of having to come to this place today. Nobody noticed. They thought I was doing it for fashion. I guess I should have worn a black veil too. Sometimes you have to be over the top for these idiots to notice anything.

Still trying to keep up with the Anderson's

2009-12-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

Busy is not even enough to describe the last month of my life. We moved out of our first house and into our second home. I can truly say it is a blessing, giving us twice as much space (or in my opinion, more space for me to clean), and a neighborhood like we always wanted to be in. We are counting our blessings everyday.

Even though I am part of the Anderson family, sometimes I can't keep up! LOL! Never a dull moment. We embarked on the moving mission - solo, just me and Murice. Let me just say that I will never ever do that again. After two trips in the 26 foot truck and breaking down on the interstate, I never ever want to see a Penske truck again. We still haven't even touched our storage unit that we have, but hopefully we will have that emptied before the new year begins. The kids have adjusted wonderfully to their new schools. The crazy thing is that I thought that with all this house, the kids would not be sitting right under our noses still - so much for that thought. I don't get it.

Anyway, we are having a wonderful time adjusting to the new place. My girl T came over and made the best meal ever the first weekend here and then she returned along with a couple other friends to hit us again with a post birthday meal for me on last weekend. Man, she is the best!

I am looking forward to 2010. Big things are happening and will continue! As I call it - Keeping up with the Anderson's - Part II is just beginning.

It's been too long baby...

2009-10-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I have been on the blog scene. It has been a very busy and stressful summer and start of fall. I was fortunate enough to see my great grandmother meet God in Heaven and I hope to be able to live just as long as she did and still be independent. I have also become closer to some people while experiencing ever increasing distance from others. I suppose you could say that the ones that I am growing distant from weren't really that special to begin with. I tend to keep my circle small anyway so the loss of a couple that never brought much to the table really means nothing.

I have realized that my kids are growing up. Bittersweet. I guess some will look at that as one less year until age 18. I look at it two mooches that get more expensive as the years go by. Call me a glass half empty kinda girl!

We are preparing for Halloween. They are going to be Batman and Batgirl this year. A perfect pair! I should probably try to talk Murice into dressing up as the Joker, now that would be sight! I have had more tricks than treats here lately. My dryer tricked me and stopped working. My roof tricked me and started leaking - again. I am about ready for the treats to roll on the scene! I am think I am a little bit deserving.

I Confess - I Am an Addict

2009-07-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

Over the course of my life, I have had a few addictions. Well, I guess I wouldn't call them real addictions because they were relatively easy to break. The first would be my love for Coke Classic, not that New Coke crap they came out with years ago, but Coca Cola Classic - the kind that burns going down. I used to start my day off with it and have one with every meal. I have since cut back to 1-2 a day, so I think that is pretty good. My second addiction is my love for shopping. I could spend hours in any one store - even the grocery store. I don't know that I will ever give up this love. I call it hereditary tendency to shop. You see my mother has 4 closets and yet more clothes in her garage. Each season, her sisters come over to "shop". I don't think they have had to buy new clothes in years. While I am not quite that bad, I do share her love for clothes, shoes and big bags.

Over the past couple of months, I have noticed a new addiction surface - facebook. This site is like meth - at least that's what I think it would be like. I can't go a day without looking on it. Actually I have never tried and don't think I will. I have facebook mobile. I have to browse it every morning on my way to work and back home and then I spend nights on my laptop as well. It is wonderful to be able to look at people that you haven't seen in years. It has really become as addictive habit. Whoever thought of this idea didn't realize the effect it would have on some of us. Clearly, I don't think I am the only one with this problem because night after night I see the same people on it just like me. These poor saps just don't realize they are addicts yet! I guess the first part is admitting it.

Sailing the High Seas

2009-05-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Well we finally got to go on our long awaited cruise. I can say that I don't envision myself taking another 7 day cruise anytime soon. After about day 5, you lose track of how much money you charge on your sail and sign card and it goes downhill from there. I will opt for a trip to Hawaii next time. It was awesome to see all of the beautiful beaches. Montego Bay, Jamaica is like nothing I've ever seen. We were harassed from the moment we stepped onto the beach until the time we left. People were selling everything from massages and jewelry to marijuana and the mention of heroin. No thanks. We loved Grand Cayman. It is definitely a place to go back and fully enjoy. The water was gorgeous and it was a beautiful city. Our last port of call from Cozumel, Mexico. Of course, this was during the time that the swine flu was just beginning to make big news. I think our ship was the last ship to be allowed there (lucky us). I guess we are fine though, since we have been back over a week now and haven't had to be quarantined. Going to other countries really opens your eyes to how devalued American dollars have become. 12 hot wings, a daquiri and corona in Grand Cayman was $45 US dollars. Talk about highway robbery. Now it is time to plan our annual August beach trip. Can't wait!

Spring Break or Bust 2009

2009-03-24T18:36:00.000-07:00

We decided to take the kids to Sea World San Antonio and the San Antonio zoo for the weekend ending Spring Break in Houston. In typical Anderson fashion we waited until the last minute to make arrangements, but actually got a pretty good rate at a new hotel on the Riverwalk so I was pleased with the accomodations.

Sea World was a freaking madhouse. You would have thought it was judgment day there were so many people there. I became a total germaphobe about the public restrooms - my poor kids, but just the thought of all those people and those restrooms made me shudder. It was fun though. We got to see the Shamu show, which is the only thing I wanted to see. Braydan wanted to touch the "fishy" as he called the massive killer whales. He also enjoyed touching the dolphins at Dolphin Cove. Morgan was not so eager but she was quick to point out that she wasn't scared, she just didn't feel like touching the animals (yeh right). I must say, Sea World makes a killing in profits. Whoever thought of that idea is sitting high on the hog now.

Morgan celebrated her 7th birthday while we were there and lost yet ANOTHER tooth. The "tooth fairy" put $20 under her hotel pillow, so the "tooth fairy" and I had to have a discussion about the economy after the kids went to bed... She (Morgan) looks so funny. I just need to put lights in her mouth and call her the family jack- o- lantern! It was overall a good trip, but my wallet now needs a chance to recover.

The Drama of our Lives

2009-03-13T18:49:00.001-07:00

I keep trying to figure out how someone who loves to relax as much as myself, can stay so busy. Morgan plays volleyball. I have also signed her up for an 8 week cheerleading program, and Braydan up for t-ball. These kids will be the death of me! I got a call shortly before lunch today that Morgan was in the middle of two boys in the cafeteria that were play fighting. Well somehow she got caught in the crossfire and one of the little boys hit her in the mouth with his fist, resulting in both of her front teeth being knocked out. That would only happen to her. What are the odds? At least, she will have an interesting story to tell when people ask her when and how she lost her front teeth. It is however, comical to me that when I left at 6:45 am she had both of her teeth, only to return at 5:30 pm and two were missing! Of course this would happen a week before her birthday - don't things like this alway time themselves that way?!

We are still trying to decide what to do with the kids for Spring Break next week. I was thinking Sea World San Antonio and one of my friends suggested Fiesta Texas as well, so for now we are tossing ideas around.

Perhaps one day life will slow down and I won't be too confused to enjoy it. For now, I have concluded that I am just going to be tired and haggard for many years to come!

Bringing in March

2009-02-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it is the end of February already. I have been off the blogging world for a short moment. The family went through various illnesses and Morgan started volleyball so I haven't had a lot of free time (except while at work! haha!). Murice left this afternoon to go out of town so I am once again held prisoner by these two midget children who think they are the adults who pay the bills around here. I think they know by working together they can completely drain all of my energy. At least they are smart.

Murice told me the other day that he was getting the baby itch. I told him I thought they made creams for that! I don't know what goes through a man's mind. I had to get a 10 day stomach flu to be able to comfortably fit into my jeans without any muffin-top overlap and now he wants me to go and get as big as a house again. A girl can't win. He has not totally convinced me. The thought of childcare for three since we are the only idiots in our family who are out here in Texas, is not appeasing to me or my wallet. Furthermore, for some reason I am as patient as Job with infants, but once they hit about age 3, the thrill is gone. You would think I would be happy that they were getting older and self-sufficient, but it gets harder with my kids. The other day, Morgan asked me when she was going to get her "nips", ( or breasts as the rest of us call them). Meanwhile, I think Braydan truly believes he is a power ranger. It doesn't matter where we are. If he can find a little clearing in the aisles to do the power ranger stance and yell "Power Rangers Jungle Fury", it happens. I guess looking back on these days years from now I will laugh. Today however, as I suffer from lack of sleep because not only do I have the kids torturing me but I also have Murice waking me up at 2:30 am to ask me if I am going to take the leftover tacos to work for lunch, I am not laughing. I will just blog about it.

What was I thinking??

2009-01-28T11:21:00.001-08:00

I got up Monday morning and went to a boot camp class at 5:30 am. I figured it would be a piece of cake for me since I have run two full marathons and consider myself fairly healthy. Let me just say that I was DEAD WRONG!! You would think since the class was at the YMCA that they would have a little mercy on you - I mean it is a Christian association. All I can say that it has been 2 days and I am still sitting very carefully and walking like I have polio. I haven't walked this badly or been this sore since I ran my first marathon (and that was after 5 hours of running). The bigger question is will I return tomorrow? I don't want to "chicken out". Ah, why must I start things that I can't finish sometimes. All of this because of those two new bikini's I want to wear in April on the cruise. What's a girl to do?

What a morning

2009-01-19T13:53:00.001-08:00

I was awakened at 3 am by the loud chirping of the smoke detector. Naturally I had no 9 volt batteries to replace the blaring sound so I did the unthinkable - I disconnected one of the detectors. Did that work? Of course not, I lay in bed from 3 am until my alarm went off at 5 am listening to a consistent chirp every 15 minutes. Of course at 5 am, I didn't hear it anymore. You might ask why I didn't go out and get batteries or better yet why I don't keep batteries and once again I blame my husband! He is out of town so I couldn't leave to get batteries without taking the kids, and furthermore, why should I be responsible for home maintenance as well as finance, culinary, and all the other skills. So I am working off of minimal sleep right now. Still trying to figure out why I have had a headache off and on since Friday evening. It is definitely a Monday.

We had a mini celebration on Friday. Morgan won super citizen for the 3rd six weks for her class. So of course, Miss Greedy had her hand out for a gift. So I got her a new game for her DS. You would think that would be enough, but of course not. At our Wal-mart trip, she wanted the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie and ANOTHER DS game. She is so unrealistic. She better either marry money or pay close attention in school.

In the midst of all this, I have found a bright light. The ruelala.com website. Great designer deals for a bargain. Let me know if you want an invite. The site is by invitation only.

2009? It can't be

2009-01-02T16:27:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe it is 2009. Not that this time doesn't come at the same time every year, but I feel like I got sneaked up on this year! Let's count how long it will take me to write 2009 on anything that I write! I am looking forward to wonderful things in 2009. We have been so blessed. Each year has been filled with joy and lessons that we can use for the rest of our lives. I can appreciate 2008 however for giving me back my fashion sense! After being stuck in scrubs for so long, I thought it was gone forever. Whew! Another crisis averted. I have only high hopes for the future. It seems pretty bright from where I am standing. I wish everyone a wonderful new year! As usual, I don't waste my time making New Years resolutions. I just hope to be able to spend more time with my friends this year and to reclaim a best girlfriend that I can bond with. I am pretty sure that Murice is tired of filling that role and besides - he could never pass for a woman anyway!

The Start of a New Tradition

2008-12-28T11:51:00.000-08:00

This year during the Christmas season, Murice decided to start a new tradition with Morgan. He took her to her very first Nutcracker Ballet. She was so excited. She loved it. She put on one of her holiday dresses and they both had to sneak out of the house so that Braydan wouldn't see. I told her that she was going on a date with daddy and she thought that was so cool. She wanted to tell me all about it when they got home. I mean I got the visual demonstrations and everything - ask me what she said and I couldn't tell you because she was talking too fast but at least I know she had a good time. I told Murice he finally got something right - unlike those Ed Hardy shirts he got her for Christmas. She took one look at them and turned to him and said "I don't like these!" Further proving my point that children don't need expensive things - which is why Target is my FAVORITE place...

I look at Christmas tree on a daily basis and dread taking it down... hopefully we can take it down without scratching the ceiling since the painters finished up everything on Saturday. The chaos in the household continues. We discovered that we have to change all the locks on our house now, since the contractor "misplaced" our house keys - somehow I just don't feel so safe anymore.

Another Christmas pulled off successfully

2008-12-25T19:44:00.000-08:00

It's funny the things we do as parents. We were up until 3:30 this morning, partly because I had some calls during the night for work, but the majority was trying to get things ready for the kids on Christmas. I always wonder if when they find out the truth about Santa if they will look at me as a liar since I always teach them to tell the truth. Oh well, the lie has started now so I may as well continue. I began my Christmas festivities like I do every year, by watching the 24 hour marathon of A Christmas Story with Ralphie. I absolutely freaking love this movie. My tv's are all tuned to them and I watch the story over and over again, with the exception of the few hours of sleep I get. It drives Murice crazy! The kids seem to be happy with the gifts they got. Of course, Morgan totally overlooked the Wii in order to find the Nintendo DS she had asked for. If she knew the struggle I went through to get that darn wii - ugh. I cooked, we ate, and we ate some more and I am still contemplating another round of eating even though I am stuffed. I tell you, it's nothing more than pure greed! When I first moved away from home, I couldn't imagine being away from my Alabama family on Christmas, now I have come to love our Anderson Christmases of 4 people. I look forward to many more. Tomorrow brings another day of work, although come to think of it since I am on 24 hour call I guess I have never left work. Tomorrow will also bring another day of chaos at the Anderson address - painters, flooring guys - just chaos and dust...and with that said - I am signing off for the night.

Playing hooky

2008-12-23T07:18:00.000-08:00

Well I am at work playing hooky, mostly because my mind is elsewhere. It is difficult to stay focused on your paid job when your unpaid job of wife, mother, and household adminstrator has so many loose ends. The painters will hopefully be done painting the house today. I am so sick of having strangers in my house I can't stand it. The carpet cleaners will be there in the morning if everything runs smoothly with the painters and hopefully on Fri/Sat the flooring guys will be there to do the floors in my living room, bedroom, and stairs. That still however, leaves my kitchen and 2 and 1/2 bathrooms to finish - Ugh!! I have entrusted Murice to take care of calling people and ordering supplies like the flooring and tile. Hopefully it will go smoothly. So much for having all of this taken care of by Christmas though... I hate when things are kind of out of my control.

Adventures with Morgan

2008-12-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

I had to send Morgan to the kid's club at Braydan's preschool today. She loves it - I can't say that my wallet does though. They took the kids to the dollar tree today to Chrstimas shop for their family and friends. I guess the $5 we gave Morgan was burning a hole in her pocket, because she spent every drop of it but at least everything she bought was for her brother. She even purchased her own wrapping paper to wrap it. I guess the dollar store trip gave her the shopping bug because when I picked them up she wanted to go shopping for me and daddy. So off we all head to Kohls. I sent the boys to pick out something for her (from Braydan), and she and I went to look for Murice a gift. When I tell you that we must have picked up every male item in Kohl's it is not an exaggeration. She is a picky shopper and was determined to get what she wanted (as if she had the money to pay for it). She finally settled on golf balls and I took them to the register to pay while she and Murice went to find me a gift. I had to turn my back at the register while I paid so I wouldn't see what she picked for me. Of course she wanted to wrap them as soon as we got home. The wrapping job in itself was enough to drive me to narcotics. The gifts look like they were wrapped by Hurricane Ike, but at least she did it all on her own! So I can finally say we are done Christmas shopping - I think...

Where has the time gone...

2008-12-20T15:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it is December 20th already. Murice decided he wanted a bbq grill for Christmas so I had to go and get that today. I don't know if that is a double edged sword or not. The upside is that he will want to grill more things. The downside is that I will have to hear about how much of a chef he is! Hopefully the store will have it assembled before Christmas.

I guess I don't feel like Christmas is soon because today in Houston it was freaking 80 degrees. Gotta love Houston weather. Tomorrow the high is supposed to be in the 50's. I guess people will be walking around with scarves and their faces covered up like it is a blizzard. People in the south can't take chilly weather!

We went shopping the other day and the sales associate mentioned something about an upcoming concert, so of course Murice had to "testify" on how he was involved with the marketing etc. When we left out of the store, Murice had the nerve to turn to me and say "you know Steph, I think people look at us as a trendy couple..." it's nice to dream isn't it (I was thinking to myself), I don't see us as any different than anyone else. Perhaps he needs to take off those rose-colored glasses. Especially when we got in another store and Braydan decided he didn't want his gum anymore so he spit it on the floor inside the store and didn't mention it until we left. So then I had to walk back inside the store to find the gum and explain to the associates I was in there because he spit gum on their floor. Yeh, we are so trendy aren't we...

I have decided that by being the newest member of the team at work that I am getting royally screwed for the holidays. I am on call for organ transplants and medical questions, have to be at work everyday except for Thursday and everyone else with the exception of one other person will be off the majority of this upcoming week. Mind you, I am the one with the youngest children. So just dash my hopes of spending a nice, relaxing evening with my children and husband. Let me not complain however, I keep reminding myself to be thankful I have a job - even if it does suck sometimes.

They say it's my birthday!!

2008-12-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

S0 yesterday was the best day in world history - my birthday of course! Braydan had been singing happy birthday to mommy since last week and wouldn't you know it on the actual day of my birthday - he refused to say it! Murice tried to help me out with laundry and give me the weekend "off" of my second unpaid job as wife and mother. Of course, something went wrong. He accidentally put one of his fine Cuban cigars in the laundry with all the clothes. I should have known better. I did however get a chance to pick up my new tables on yesterday. As soon as I get a chance I am going to put the "no asses allowed sign on them!" We had a wonderful dinner at Smith & Wollensky on the house thanks to an earlier service complaint I brought to the manager's attention, so that meant we got a $200 + meal for free. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? - yes, more shoes! (with the money I saved on dinner) lol

So another year rolls around, it's hard being 21 (lol). I can't wait to see what this year has in store.

My birthday weekend

2008-12-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

So on the day before my birthday, what did I decide to do? I bought myself a wii. Sure, I was cringing at the price because I am the queen of bargain shopping, but I haven't been so intrigued by any one thing in such a long time that I decided to bite the bullet and buy it. Plus, they are so hard to come by these days I figured why not. Hopefully, it will be all that it claims to be. I also decided to replace my coffee table and end tables today. Finally, it has been almost a year since my "slim and trim" husband sat on my coffee table and shattered the glass! lol. Nobody's butt will be allowed on these tables - that's final.

Murice is back at the Christmas tree again...I guess he needs to put the final touches on. He has found even more ornaments that "need" to go on the gigantic tree. Today at Michaels, I ordered the bow for the top of the tree. We won't even go into that...What's a girl to do?? So much tree - so little time before Christmas.

a weekend with the Anderson family

2008-12-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

So this blog is a little behind, but I had to share. My mother and her employees were robbed at gunpoint on last Friday afternoon (see link): http://www.wkrg.com/news/topic/bank_robbery/. I told her that usually I am not an advocate of anti-anxiety medicine, but at this point she needs some. Hopefully she will recover soon.

We set out on last Saturday to get the famed Anderson Christmas tree. Mind you, we got one that was 8-9 feet (the brainchild of Murice) even though our ceilings are not that tall. He had to get the sheetrock guys to help him bring it in the house because I refused to help him. It was of course too tall, therefore there are more scratches on my ceiling to match the ones from last year when he did the same thing. So he cut off the entire top of the tree and my question to him was where am I going to put my bow that goes on top of the tree. Of course he didn't know. After all that cutting the tree was still too tall so he takes it upon himself to cut the bottom of the tree with a power saw INSIDE MY HOUSE. So there we are - him cutting with no protective eyewear me fussing, and wood shavings and dust all over my floors. I told him if he slipped and cut my floors it was going to be a war that day. I also told him that if he got wood chips in his eyes that it would be too bad because I was not taking him to the doctor. Bottom line - the tree is still too tall... I couldn't finish decorating it last night - it was too big. I almost fell slap into the tree on more than one occasion trying to put ornaments at the top of the tree. Murice is trying to kill me - just send the kids to live with my mama. Morgan was running around there like she was on speed. I had to tell her to calm down on more than one occasion - do they make Xanax for kids??? And where was Braydan you might ask - could care less about the tree - he had the nerve to close the door to my room so he could watch his power rangers dvd.

Those famed rhinestone jeans that Morgan had to have before school and her daddy paid $50 for, walked home on Friday with a hole in the knee. I told him this is why you don't buy expensive jeans for kids - idiot.

I was telling Braydan to do something over the weekend and he had the nerve to ask me " what you talking 'bout mommy?" This coming from the child who stutters...shouldn't I be the one asking him that question?

So this is blogging

2008-12-12T18:33:00.001-08:00

I don't really know what this is all about, but since some of my friends watch for my weekly email chronicle of my life I figured why not make it official. My house is still in hurricane mode after damaged sustained in Hurricane Ike. I will be so happy when they are done with everything. I was hoping it would be before Christmas, but now the future is not looking so bright for that. Patience is something I never learned as a child! Having a damaged house does make you appreciate the small things - like a roof and sheetrock! The kids and I went to Half Price Books tonight, of all the books they had, my son spotted a SpongeBob DVD - go figure. Everyone else leaving out with books and him with a DVD - so much for starting early with his reading! Life is great - minus the damaged house. I look at it like this - with the economy like it is I am just thankful that I have a home.

About Me

2008-12-12T17:51:00.000-08:00

I grew up in Alabama but packed up and moved to the big city to be with the love of my life. That was the beginning of magic (or so some would like to believe!). I am now a working mother and wife with 2 children who have me on a never ending roller coaster filled with happiness and mini disasters. Funny, up until this point I hated roller coasters, but as you adjust you realize that life should not be any other way. I constantly find myself trying to reinvent the organization wheel in this chaotic life we lead. I haven't found anything yet that I would like to patent - but stay tuned! Feel free to follow my blog and keep up with the Anderson family - you will be in for a wild ride!