My Sister, My Friend (and other tidbits)

The day began simple enough, for the first time in forever I got a decent night sleep to MYSELF. See I slept at my Mom's. No husband snoring in my ear. No toddler crying out in the night.

So I got a good night sleep.

Upon waking up my Mother informed me that she had nothing in the house to eat and we were going out for breakfast. Then she treated me to a pedicure while she got her nails done. THEN after our relaxing morning, we headed to the hospital for our very long day.

We got the hospital around noon and after much waiting they finally took my sister in to surgery around 2:30pm. This began a VERY LONG WAIT, the doctor finally came out around 5:15pm to tell us:

• That the surgery went well.
• They managed to keep the vocal chord intact.
• She has a 2nd scar because they couldn't use the scar from her other neck surgery.
• There were "many" nodules on the thyroid.
• We won't have the pathology back for a week but once we know how MANY positives we have;
• We can see if she's still a candidate for radioactive iodine.
• She's in recovery for at least another hour and then they'll come get us.

At 6:30 we still had not heard from anyone.

At 7pm they told us they were "cleaning a room" for her and she'd be ready to go shortly.

At 8pm they finally came to get us.

A few minutes later my sister was wheeled out. She'd never looked so pale. Suddenly I began to feel EXTREMELY MORTAL.

We got to ride the elevator with her but by the time they let us in her room to see her it was almost 8:30pm.

While standing in the hallway I realized something.

This "kid" (my sister is 30) means everything to me. She is the reason I remember who I am.

I started to cry, right there in the hallway with my Mom and Dad. My parents that have been divorced since 1978 ( I think) so nearly 30 years; they united together and both tried to comfort me as I cried.

I said it out loud "That girl in there is the reason I remember I'm me."

My Dad looked puzzled "I don't remind you of who you are?"

"Sure Dad there of course is always some identity tied to your parents but yes, SHE reminds me who I am."

Again now both my parents are looking at me as if I'm suddenly speaking in a foreign tongue.

"I DO NOT HAVE A SINGLE CHILDHOOD MEMORY WITHOUT HER IN IT."

Not one. She's the one that would go swimming with me across town, the one I stayed up nights giggling with, the one I confided all my crushes to. She is the one that used to bring me my "sick tray" (you know those old flimsy aluminum trays) with soup and crackers and a can of 7up when I would get sick. She's the voice I heard outside my hospital room door when I was delivering my son, she's the first one I called when I found out I had to deliver Casey 10 weeks early. This is MY sister. Nothing feels like it happens if I don't tell Kelly.

When they finally let us in the room, I remember thinking..."I'm not going to work tomorrow because I'm going to stay here and feed her ice chips all night if necessary."

I hugged and loved on her and she did ask for ice chips. I fed them to her. She asked me to help her put her nose ring back in, she asked me to put her toe ring back on, she whispered about her cell phone. After about 10 minutes she said "Angie, go home and see your Bubba." It was like the heavens opened up when she could actually speak above a whisper. It was so good to hear her voice. I was so relieved.

See Kyle was leaving today at noon for a 2 night snow trip. She knew if I didn't get home soon I wouldn't see him awake before he left today since I leave for work at 5am.

I said "Only if you promise to take a pain med and get some rest."

She whispered to me..."Always the big sister huh? I will."

So I left...and proceeded to try and get home by 9:30pm.

As I drove home crying and thinking about what my life would be like if at 34 or 35 I lose her to some God awful cancer that started in her thyroid and spread I couldn't help but think about how lucky I am to have a sister only 3 years younger than me. My thoughts drifted to my own kids and their nearly 13 year age difference. I thought they might not have what I did with Kelly but they still had each other and to me..that made them lucky enough in their own right.

Of course I got within 20 minutes of home and I got pulled over by a State Trooper, which was a very funny episode but I don't feel very funny now so I'll save that for another time.

For now I'll just say a little thank you that her vocal chord is intact and she came through the surgery fine. For now I'll say a few small prayers and wishes that the pathology all comes back benign because beyond that I can't think about what might happen if it's not. Not right now anyway.

And the winner is.......answers to "Ask Angie" questions

I pretty much tried to answer them in the order they were on the blog.

G-Homie asks:

What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you?

The funniest thing to ever happen to me….

• Well there was the time that I bought a poster that said “you have to learn to laugh at yourself” and then promptly sat on a bag of cotton candy in the car so that the bag exploded and cotton candy went everywhere and got stuck in my hair.
• There would be any of the “sex” conversations with my son in his preteen years.
• You could say the time my son was 4 and started screaming in the middle of the grocery store..”MY PENIS HURTS, MY PENIS HURTS!” Clearly his first woody was more memorable for his Mother than himself.
• Even though it wasn’t funny at the time, there is the time I was sent a “nasty gram” ABOUT my Mother-in-law accidentally TO my Mother-in-law when I thought I was sending it to my sister. I had to call my MIL and pretend I had a virus and do damage control..and get her to delete it before she read it.

CPA Mom Asks:

What was your worst job EVER?

My worst job ever was working for what I call the 2 “time card Nazis”. Oh my word they were awful. 2 or 3 minutes would be like 15 to them. I remember only thinking I had a 45 minute lunch because they would watch me leave at 11:28 and if I wasn’t back at 12:28….instead of say 12:30. Well I was late. It was awful.

Why? Mostly because I did my job, most days I got there 10 or 15 minutes early but that never accounted for anything. If I worked 15 minutes later, that didn’t matter either. The very next time I was 2 minutes late coming back from lunch or not at my desk because I used the washroom…look out.

How many places have you lived? Places as in states, cities or residences as in the four walls. Uh, I was born in Tucson and lived in a trailer with my parents (yeah, stop the trailer trash thoughts RIGHT NOW) then we moved home and lived in a duplex in Calumet City, IL, then we moved to an apartment in Calumet Park, IL, then my parents split and I lived in an apartment in Dolton, IL, then my Mom met husband #2 and we moved to another apartment in Calumet City, IL. Then my brother came and his great grandfather bought my step-father a house for all of us to live in, again in Calumet City. That was the only “home” I’ve ever felt I had. We lived there the longest, at one point I had my own room. Then of course my Step-Dad eventually left my Mom and my Mom met a man and moved leaving me little choice but to find another place to move so I moved in with my boyfriend, which was an apartment in Lansing. Not long after we married. Not long after that we divorced and I wanted MY own place, so I moved Kyle and I to another apartment in Lansing, Il. This is the apartment I have lived in for 9 years.

So did you follow me:
2 States
5 different cities
7 different dwellings

Where is the farthest you've been from home?
As in traveling? Aruba. As in from the home my parents called home? That would be where I live now.

How many lovers have you had that have understood what makes a woman orgasm and how many have you had to fake it with?
See now this is so wrong on so many lovers. That would require me to actually give out my “magic number” and there is NO way, I’m giving that out.

So I’ll start with the bad:

SIGNIFICANT relationships that I’ve had to fake it with: 3, which really is quite sad.

Experiences where I can say “Damn that was some good lovin’”: 5

Everyone else falls somewhere in between and that’s a very large curve, let me tell you.

Is Britney insane or drunk or both? Discuss.
She’s a walking disaster. I’m not sure what she’s thinking. We all made jokes about how she married Kevin in order to have kids…and now she’s acting like she had NO time to be a 20something. She had plenty of time to party…if she’d only suggested a Winkie Wrap she might not LOOK so stupid. Clearly she is..but without her kids..there would be a lot LESS shock factor here.

Wal-mart? Evil or necessary? Both

Kellie asks:

Is there one person in your life that could be on fire and you wouldn't pee on them to put it out because of something they did to you (or a friend/family member)?

Um yeah…this question is quite hard to give the back story on. See I have a cousin that is 25 days younger than me. Growing up, he was like the brother I’d always wanted considering there was 10 years between me and my brother. Anyway, he was a fox of a 20 something. Going to college at night while working as a full time firefighter and part time police officer for 2 different towns. One night while off duty…he and our uncle (that is only 7 years older than us) were out at a bar he hooked up with some girl. They went out to her car, realized they had no condom, he went back into the bar to get one, went back out to the car, allegedly had consensual although “rough” sex with this woman, she went back in the bar for a lighter AFTER the deed was done and then some time later they went back into the bar. I saw him 2 days after and he still had a hickey the size of a golf ball on his neck from this woman. Anyway, to shorten the story my uncle works with a guy and he starts telling a story about his wife getting pulled over by cops after a night at a bar. We find out days later that this girl is married to the guy uncle works with. Apparently on her ride home, she got pulled over for weaving in traffic. What we think happened is she was about to busted for DUI since she did have a blood alcohol over the legal limit not to mention she had a few of her own love bites and is going to have to answer to her husband right? Wrong..she tells the cops she was raped and then indicates that my cousin did it. Clearly someone being held against their will would not RUN FOR THEIR LIVES should their attacker go into the bar for a condom, nor would that person RUN FOR HER LIFE when she went into the bar for a lighter and of course someone that was just raped wouldn’t WALK BACK INTO THE BAR WITH THEIR ATTACKER and play a game of pool with 2 other people, right? Well whatever happened, she indicated him, went for a rape exam and of course there’s evidence she’s had recent and fairly rough sex, not to mention the hickeys and the fact that people could identify them leaving the bar together. My cousin gets put on leave with no pay from the police department and suspended with pay from the fire department after they indicted him. 3 months into the trial proceedings my cousin claimed to me in June that he had permission to leave the state for 14 days but had to be back for a court appearance in mid-July and he would be going from Northwest Indiana to Florida to visit friends. He did make it to Kissimmee, FL and told that friend that he was then going on to Myrtle Beach to see other friends. He never made it there. He also didn’t show up for court in July. In Sept. we were notified that his car was found in a city outside the Black Hills. They found his body in October. He’d wiped out his 401k and didn’t leave a note but the gunshot wound was self-inflicted. To this day I’m fairly certain he took his life because the life he wanted, he knew with this trial, he could never have. He could never go back to the fire or police departments and felony indictment would follow him the rest of his days. So at the age of 25 he took his own life because of this skank. She is the one that could be on fire and I might throw some gas on the fire. The hardest part is..since my cousin technically jumped “bail” unless this girl ever drops the charges my Uncle is out $10,000 cash. My cousin has been dead almost 10 years now..and I weep for the life he’ll never have almost daily.

What is your dream job?

Running a small computer based business, writing a weekly advice column or something from home so I can stay home with my kids. Something that makes me feel productive and worthy; makes me a little money but allows me the time to be their Mom.

This house you posted on recently? I'm nosey...how big? granite counters? Marble floors? Carpet that costs more than my car?
Honestly, it’s nothing much. Technically it’s just a small
2 bedroom, 1 bath ranch with a full basement (where
we’re putting a 3rd bedroom for Kyle). I think it might
be 1400 or 1500 sq ft. The real highlights for me are the
2 car garage, the huge yard for the kids, the school district for Kyle, the huge clothes line and in ground pool. No granite counter tops, no marble floors. Hard wood (that needs A LOT of work) throughout and mostly area rugs 3 x5 and 5x8s. It’s our first house and it means the world to me to have.

If you were unfaithful (not saying you'd ever do that), would you confess? If I were, I would confess. I’m not sure I could be….but sometimes I see the inclination as to what drives men and women to that point. If were begging, pleading, fighting for my marriage and all my husband did was ignore me and not try to help me fix it, I’m sure I would end up searching for attention somewhere else.

Or, only if you were busted? And, would you feel guilty if you moved on from your guilt of said extra-curricular activity? Again, having been where I have….it would take a long long time for me to get over anything like that..where it didn’t haunt my every day but yes…just as I’m sure I’d be about to stop thinking about it everyday..guilt would more than likely grab hold of me.

Jes asks:
Do you suck your big toe? And if so, do you enjoy it? No I don’t. I’m not that bendy. Fairly certain with 99.9% of my being that I would NOT.


SJ asks:
If you could trade your life for someone else's life, would you?

Forever, probably not. For like a Freaky Friday short lived one week kind of thing…sure.

And who would you trade with, and why? I have no desire to cure world hunger or do much of anything ridiculously important..my ONLY motivation would be to see if people with money are really fundamentally happier than those of us without money..so I’d switch places with some stay at home of a Wall Street Banker or prominent Beverly Hills doctor. Someone that made a ton of money so I could stay home and worry about redecorating and “house staff”. Just to see what it’s really like….probably not nearly as rewarding as my crappy little life.

Rachel asks:
Do you ever question how good a mom or wife you are? Uh….EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

If so, what aspects do you question? I believe to be a good wife and mother you have to be a well rounded person and sometimes I feel like a circle rather than a triangle. Sometimes the “Angie” side gets lost…I also question my patience with my husband…and how I feel I assume as though he knows what I’m thinking. I also carry the angel/devil on each shoulder about the working vs. staying home Mom. If I work I’m away from them 12 hours a day. If I stay home I’m taking away their financial security because we’re strapped for cash. Wash.Lather.Rinse.Repeat.

Are there any choices in life that you regret you made? Yes, I regret first allowing my first husband bullying me to allow him to adopt my son…otherwise he wouldn’t marry me. I should have seen THAT huge red flag the size of Texas for what it was. If I hadn’t allowed him to adopt Kyle I believe he might still have married me so it wouldn’t have saved me from the bitter end of marriage or the feeling of loneliness from divorce but it might have spared Kyle a little. Not to mention I wouldn’t have spent the last nearly 10 years having him in my life. After our divorce he might have gone and crawled back under the rock he originally came from. I also regret being so bitter with my Dad for nearly 10 years of my life. I feel like he and I lost so much precious time together. I regret not fighting harder to go back to school after Kyle was born. At 34 I don’t have my bachelor’s degree and sometimes I feel “stupid” because of it. I regret an abortion I had in 1995. Again another demand from the same asshole ex-husband of mine. I regret allowing him to control my life for far too long.

Frannie asks:
If you could trade lives with any blogger you "know", who would it be? I would trade with That Chick Over There because I would love to experience TWINS just for a little while. Plus Ginger her dog, is the BOMB-diggity!*

who shot JR? or who framed Roger Rabbit?
Seriously I have no idea….

*If you could change just one thing about your past, what would it be?
I regret with everything that I am….an abortion I once
had. If right here I lose a few readers that are pro-life, I am sorry. I believe in pro-life too. At 23 with no real education and no job and possibly no father for either of my kids..I though of my son’s life. The one I’d already brought into the world..and how I would provide for him if I went against my ex-husband and had that child and was all alone. I know that seems very weak to some of you, but you have no idea how emotionally fucked up my childhood, my life was…it took me MANY MANY years to overcome all those feelings and although I’m still not proud of my decision. I believe that the rest of my life would not “be” had I had that child. I believe I would have orphaned my 2 kids by the time they were 7 and 3. I believe within 3 years of having that child I might have taken my own life.

*what is your biggest secret? (not that you would tell)Oh I have one….not sure it’s something I would ever say out loud. Only one person knows about it in the whole wide world. Unfortunately we have drifted apart.

*how on earth do you have such a perfect son? seriously, I want to know.
God smiled on me for something. Really I owe a lot to my family for their support over the years. I take a lot of the credit because well he’s mine..but some people are born to be wonderful people, I believe Kyle was one of them.

*favorite tv character from your childhood.
OOOO I was in love with Shaun Cassidy from The Hardy Boys….

Vicki asks:
Tell me about your first kiss and do you still know the person? My first official kiss…from a boy I wasn’t related to. I was 4. He was my neighbor, Mark and he was 5 at the time. I still see the family around sometimes but we were never really friends in school. I did go out with his older brother briefly at one point YEARS later…

My first kiss with tongue; I was 13. His name was Matt and for many years he was a juvenile delinquent. YEARS later I see that he settled down, got married, had a child…when I went to an older neighbor’s house and she said “This is my niece and her family” and it was him in the picture.

Amy W asks:
Who is your favorite Disney Character and why? My favorite was always Pooh Bear and mostly cuz he seemed like he needed a Mother and I’m the nurturing kid.

"And it can totally be a kinky reason"(HEHE...I love that)

Sunshine asks

If you were a stripper, what "routine" would be your favorite?
hm....that's tough to say....probably MMBop by those crazy Hanson Boys...no just kidding..probably something by Prince...

What's your favorite flavor of Ben & Jerry's?I don't eat Ben and Jerry....I'm an Edy's Girl. Anything with caramel or peanut butter.

Least scary natural disaster: tornadoes, earthquakes, or hurricanes?NONE of the above. They all scare me something fierce.

If you had to give up one of your five senses, which one would you choose?Probably my sense of smell since it's half gone already...horrible sinuses.

And last but not least, my favorite hypothetical of all time: if the planet was entirely populated with women, would there still be war?
Maybe...we're all kinda bitchy at one time or another and I'm sure we'd find SOMETHING to fight about. Although without men....maybe we'd fight LESS..but yes...I still believe there would be war.

Michele_3 asks:
What is the one thing in your past you wish you knew now then you didn't know then?
I wish I had taken advantage more of my education. Looking back...it was..the most precious time of my life and I was more concerned with hanging out than school.

What did you dream of becoming when you were a little girl? Mostly, being a Mom.

Did you reach that dream? Have you seen my 2 gorgeous children...

What thing do you want people to remember most about you when you are no longer living on this earth? I hate the thought of not being here. Mostly I just want to be remembered as a good friend. Good friends make this crazy life tolerable.

Bethany asks:
Favorite food? TOMATOES...then salmon

Favorite sex position? WOOF WOOF (Did I give it away?)

Favorite food while in a sex position? um....:)

frannie says:
I totally just realized that I basically asked the same question as SJ.. sorry, I swear I didn't do it on purpose. No, prob...thought of a couple of others...

*If you had 24 hours left to live, what frivolous thing would you do?
Go to Vegas and blow it all.

*who in your life do you secretly envy? I secretly envy....a few people for very different reasons.

*If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do? Follow people around that I know didn't like me..so I could see what kind of crap they would say about me..so I could get even.

*If you were given the choice to have the ability to read people's minds, but were not able to turn the ability off (so in other words you would always know the other person's thoughts) would you take it? No....sometimes there are things we shouldn't know. There are things that shouldn't be said.

*You will be stranded on an island with all needs and stuff met-- what luxury item do you take with you? A laptop.

SOOOOO the winner is....Kellie. She asked a question that I didn't want to admit about myself. Mostly I'm a forgiving person and even though I can be hurt by people, I usually wish them well and forget about it. I don't usually wish people ill will. I thought if there was one person in my life that I would wish ill things to happen to, it would be my ex-husband. The way Kelly worded the question...made me realize I am capable of hatred and I didn't think I was. Not that this is a positive realization but it does make me realize that I have a dark side..as much as I'd like to deny it. I guess the world really is balanced..good and evil.

So Kelly is the winner...but Amy W gets a big fat runner up prize for making the Disney characters sexual....only a twisted perverted soul like myself could appreciate that...

So both Kellie and Amy email me at amorrison73 at gmail with your addresses.

Thanks for all the questions...hope you all know the rule.

"Never ask a question you don't really want the answer to."

Tomorrow is THE day

I won't be around til LATE (if at all tomorrow Feb. 22nd) since my sister is having surgery to have her thyroid removed.

We're all going to hope that it's not cancer or that it hasn't spread. We also going to hope the ENT was pulling our legs and that he is a specialist when it comes to the vocal chords. Because considering the last doctor she worked with paralyzed her right vocal chord, she needs the left to be able to speak..and hearing "there is a 30% chance I could paralyze the OTHER one." is not something someone wants to hear at the ripe old age of 30.

So tomorrow I spend the day with my Mom and my sister at the hospital. Anxiously awaiting for Kelly to come out of surgery in one piece.

If I get online it'll be late after I get home.

Otherwise, everyone just say a little prayer and I'll be back around on Friday.

Ask Angie Wednedsay a "Sweepstakes" of sorts

OK since I just did a 70 Things About Me Post...how much fun would it be to have a little contest today?

Today is ASK ANGIE WEDNESDAY

The Contest?

Well of the questions that get asked today...I'm going to pick a winner. The winner will get a $10-15 gift card from my "pile-o-gift" cards. See I buy $10-$15 gift cards and just have them in case I want to send a little pick me up to a friend or give a gift to a teacher. Right now I think I have Wal-Mart, Kohl's, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and Blockbuster. Sometimes I just collect the cards and throw $10 on them because the cards are way cute.

How do I pick the winner?

The winner will be the most interesting question asked of me....other than that I'm not sure. There are going to be a few questions and one...probably based on the way I have to answer will just STAND OUT to me. Nothing is out of bounds, it can be embarrassing, interesting, whatever..so be creative...and let's see who wins $10 or $15. So tell your friends...to come on over and ask me a question..even if they've never commented to me before...everyone can participate...

Edited at 1pm CST - I need atleast 5 participants to make this a little fun.

70 or so things about me...

1.Are your parents married or divorced? Divorced. My Mom remarried in 1980 my Dad remarried in 1981. My Dad and my step-Mom are still married. My Mom? She got divorced again in 1994. Dated and lived with another man from 1995 til 2000. Then husband #3 came along in 2001 and passed away last February. She is currently with another man for the last oh…8 or 10 months. Yes you read right.

2. Are you a vegetarian? Nope

3.Do you believe in Heaven? I think I do. However if there is a hell, I’m certainly going directly there.

4 Have you ever come close to dying? Delivering Casey in June 2005. It was the scariest time in my life to think that not only was she close to not making it but that I was just as close.

5.What jewelery do you wear 24/7? I don’t wear anything 24/7. My hand swell at night so I don’t wear either my engagement or wedding band to bed. I also have an alexandrite ring on my right hand that was a first anniversary present. I have a white gold bracelet on my right hand that I do actually wear 24/7 and then I have princess cut sapphire earrings that were a gift after I had Casey.

6. Favorite time of day? In the evening, just after both the kids are asleep and I can sneak in and watch them both sleeping. Usually I either look over and smile at my husband knowing we did that..or I have time to myself to read or write.

7. Do you eat the stems of broccoli? I eat the whole piece of broccoli usually.

8. Do you wear makeup? Not much. I literally had no one to teach me how to do it all. I don’t wear much for foundation, I hardly ever wear blush/rouge and I rarely wear mascara.

9. Have you ever had plastic surgery? No but I really need to for my scar on the side of my face.

10. If you did, what would you do? Well refer to #9 but if we’re talking about someone dumping a pile of money into my checking account. Boob lift/enhancement to even them out. Tummy tuck and lipo under the chin.

11. What do you wear to bed? tshirt and shorts or pj pants.

12. Have you ever done anything illegal? Shoplifted, drank, a little drugs but all I was underage. Never much as an adult.

13. Can you roll your tongue? Yes

14. Do you tweeze your eyebrows? I’m known by my shop as Chewbacca because I’m the hairiest person alive. I go religiously every other Wednesday. I usually never miss an appointment.

15. What kind of sneakers? I wear Saucony. My Dad turned me onto them and he has diabetes so his feet are very sensitive.

16. Do you believe in abortions? I believe in the right to choose. It is not a choice I would have made when I was younger but yes speaking from experience I have considered it. I’ve considered it when both my very hard working collegiate sisters thought they might be pregnant. I don’t want to think about how I might react if it were Casey as a teenager but I think every woman has a right to decide for herself.

17. What is your hair color? I’m shades of brown. Medium to dark with a WHOLE lotta gray popping through.

18. Future child's name? I have Kyle and I have Casey. There will be no more children in my life. However, I still like the name Julia for a girl and Alex for a boy.

19. Do you snore? Yes but not as bad as much husband.

20. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? My #1 would be Ireland but recently Italy is ranking up there. I want to go to a country where it’s ok to take a nap in the middle of the day.

21. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? Besides my husband? Uh, no22. If you won the lottery what would you do first? Take a short vacation back to Aruba with my husband while we decided what kind of house to build. Hire our builder and then go back on vacation to get away from the madness of the construction.

23. Gold or silver? I’m a silver person but usually I end up getting everything made in white gold.

24. Hamburger or hotdog? Probably hamburger with mustard.

25. If you could eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be? The only thing I can imagine never tiring of would be tomatoes but that’s not very well rounded nutritionally speaking is it?

26. City, beach, or country? In order, beach, city, country

27. What was the last thing you touched. Besides the keyboard, my pen

28. Where did you eat last? At my desk for breakfast.

29. When was the last time you cried? About an hour ago.

30. Do you read blogs? What’s a blog again? LOL

31. Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex? I did once for Halloween.

32. Have you ever been involved with the police? Besides the simple traffic accident and being stalked…none.

33. What's your favorite shampoo, conditioner and soap? I use Pantene for Women of Color exclusively for my hair. Soap..whatever is cheap.

34. Do you talk in your sleep? I don’t think so.

35. Ocean or pool? To swim, pools. Oceans are pretty to look at but too salty for me.

36. Sauna or whirlpool. Whirlpool

37. Starbucks or Krispy Kreme? For coffee? Krispy Kreme. Starbucks gives me heartburn.

38. Window seat or aisle? Aisle usually

39. Ever met anyone famous? Oprah when I was on her show. I’ve known a few athletes in my day. Nobody really important.

40. Do you feel you've had a truly successful life? Not for myself. I’ve managed to lead my life for just about everyone BUT me.

41. Do you twirl or cut your spaghetti? Cut

42. Ricki Lake or Oprah Winfrey? Oprah. Gotta stay faithful to the Oprah. Is Ricki even on the air anymore?

43. Basketball or football? To watch….American Football.

44. How long do your showers last? I’m in and out in less than 10 minutes.

45. Automatic or stick? Automatic need a hand free just in case for radio, holding a soda, etc.…although I know how to drive both.

46. Cake or ice cream? Usually ice cream..but I love me some chocolate cake. 4

7. Are you self conscious? My weight, my teeth, my hands…just a little ya think?

48. Have you ever drank so much you threw up? Atleast a few times…

49. Have you ever given money to a beggar? I’ve never given money but I have given food.

50. Have you ever been in love? Twice…plus my kids.

51. Where do you wish you were? Sleeping.

52. Are you wearing socks? Black nylon trouser socks
53. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? No.

54. Can you tango? No, but I wish my husband had rhythm so we could learn.

55. What was the last gift you received? I got roses on Valentine’s day from my dear husband.

56. What was the last sport you played? I played…softball at a parents vs. kids game a few years back. Otherwise I never played an organized sport.

57. What things do you spend a lot of money on? Stuff for the kids mostly. Meals. When Jeff and I get time alone I’ll think nothing of dropping $125 on dinner for the 2 of us. Mostly cuz we have appetizers, main courses, desserts and coffee to extend our meal and make the most of our time together.

58. Where do you live? About 40 miles southeast of Chicago.

59. Where were you born? Tucson, Arizona

60. Last wedding attended. Labor Day, my oldest nephew got married at the ripe old age of 23.

61. There was no 61 but I hear it's about SEX... and yes I do.

62. Favorite position? Hmm…do you really want to open up the sex talk with me? I’m a semi-reformed slut. Honestly.

63. What is your most hated food? Onions. They hate me.

64. What is your most hated pop? Mountain Dew is tied with Dr. Pepper.

65. Can you sing? I used to think so when I was younger but in reality not one note.

66. Who was the last person you instant messaged? It’s been a while. Probably That Chick – a few months ago.

67. Where was the last place you went on holiday? I just got back from Florida.

68. Favorite regular drink? Honestly, water. I love me my water, I just have to get ambitious enough to drink the required amount.

69. Favorite current song? Stupid Boy by Keith Urban

70. I will not tag anyone since I stole this from Emma.

So since I just gave you 70 things do I really need to run "Ask Angie Wednesday tomorrow?"

I will in case anyone has questions about what I put up here..how's that :)?

Onward and Upward or Laterally...whatever

So in my mind (we have NO set date because of baseball) I'm moving in just about 5 months to a house, which seems like an upward to me. However, I'm sure if some people saw the house that will be mine they wouldn't think much of it. However, I think it's wonderful and am very excited.

Now last year baseball ended up late on a Sunday night the third week of July. As long as I'm out by August 1st from my apartment, things will go fine. It would be nice to have a more set "date" in my head but well..... I can't control everything. I will eventually have a date, it's just not going to happen until after we see a baseball schedule in the spring.

In the meantime I am trying to make lists of things we'll need, things we should replace, things we want to replace. Pretty much in that order too need, should replace and want to replace.

What is in those categories you ask?

Things we'd need:
Some furniture for Casey's room
Linens for Casey's room
Linens for Kyle's room
Linens for our new king size bed
Rubbermaid Storage containers

Things we should replace:
Towels (in order to match the new bathroom)
New glassware set
New pot and pan set
New laundry baskets for each room vs. only 2 rooms

Things I want to replace:
Pillows on the couch
Silverware set
Blender (for better quality)
Toaster (for better quality)
Knife set (for better quality)
Frames in the living room to better match the new colors in the living room
New alarm clock for bedroom

See you can see what kind of task this is categorizing them.

One thing at the top of the list is new linens for Casey & Kyle.

See they are both "bumping up" in bed size.

Casey is going from a crib mattress to a twin.
Kyle from a twin to a queen.

Kyle's was easy enough to find. He's asked for a black, gray and red room.

Casey's was not that easy. See the room she will be moving into was my youngest sister's and she had a black, white, hot pink with daisies decor going. The top 14 inches from the ceiling all the way around the room is hot pink with a shelf all the way around the room. The remainder of the wall is white.

I was attempting to keep the pink. IF I could find something to match it. I figured rather than make myself nutty (oh who the hell am I kidding) ok, ok, make myself MORE nutty I would just paint over the pink if I couldn't find anything to match.

Honestly I didn't have much luck...until
My Lovely M pointed out a friend of hers makes blankets.

So I wandered over to
Shannon's site only to find that she HAD to make a blanket. So let the email begin. I emailed Shannon asking for a quote and specs for a twin quilt. She gets back to me and I decide to try and find the perfect material for Casey's room.

Considering she'll have just turned 2 when we move..I didn't want a character themed room but I wanted something YOUNG and fun and fresh...WITH the pink if I could find it.

Shannon immediately started sending me links to materials. I began my own search...and what did I find?

I found THIS. This Fun Turtle print with just the right PINK. I've never been more excited about something in my life.

So now I'm on a hunt for turtle and butter fly stuff AND I get to keep the pink.