tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7026002295459945152024-03-12T21:53:18.676-04:00Blonde at timesDo I really need a description?Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.comBlogger245125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-52027011807271258932014-07-30T11:57:00.002-04:002014-07-30T11:59:18.074-04:00Picture this: Sicily. 1965:Only replace "Sicily" with "UMass" and replace "1965" with "2014".<br />
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Yesterday I was sitting outside talking on the phone at the nearby picnic tables to my work. while there, bees and other insects were nearby, but weren't bothering me so I was fine. after a bit I hung up the phone because I had to use the bathroom. </div>
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Generally speaking when I use the bathroom at work, I use the handicap stall because it's spacious- where the non-handicap stalls are so tiny it's a balancing act just to shut the door and not fall in the toilet. They are so small that that if the handicap stall is occupied, I will go to a different floor to use the bathroom.</div>
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Anyway, so there I am using the toilet when I feel something on my neck, I touch it and immediately realize it's a bee, and begin to swat it away frantically. ACK! it's under the collar of my shirt! SHIT! it kind of feels like it's in my hair! I rip off my shirt and throw it on the floor and attempt to shake out my hair. The bee isn't on me anymore, but it did sting me on the neck. Well shit. I sit there for a minute looking around, "I don't see the bee.. not on the floor anywhere... That's when I notice it sitting in the crotch of my underwear.</div>
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I bolt up, and strip off my clothes and the damn thing stings me again! This time in my thigh. I stand there shaking with the adrenaline rush and breathing weird. Mother F'er. It hurts and am grateful I am not my mother in this situation, for she is allergic to bees.... Can you imagine the headline of that story? "Lady gets stung by bees while peeing on the toilet, found mostly naked and probably nearly dead" (sorry mom).</div>
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After a few seconds, I see the bee crawling out of my shorts strewn in a heap on the floor, and curse under my breath as I realize my sandals which also came off in the rapid strip of my clothes, were under my shorts. It's now or never, and I reach down grab a sandal and whack the bee, hard, about 3 times. </div>
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I manage to finish what I was doing prior to the bee, and get dressed shakily as the adrenaline started to wear off. A few beats later, I am laughing at myself, because I start to think about "what if someone walked in while my clothes were flying off", and just had a visual of the whole scenario in my head, and it was hilarious. So upon arrival back to my Lab, I tell my colleagues, and then my friend whom I had just been on the phone with, and then mention it on twitter with a friend. I am laughing at myself. </div>
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Just remember that when you're having a crappy day YOU can say, "Welp, at least I don't' have a bee in my underwear." and mean it. *sigh*</div>
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Which made me think, why is it that all my funny stories involve the bathroom. At work.?</div>
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There was another time I went in to use the bathroom, and the older Korean woman from across the hall was in the tiny stall (I can tell by the shoes... trust me), so I happily went into the one I like to call "my office". This stall is larger than BOTH my bathrooms at home, not combined, but still LARGER THAN BOTH MY BATHROOMS AT MY HOUSE. It's a luxury to use really, and I get a small mount of satisfaction when I can see I'm the first to use the toilet that day. I know this because the seat is up when I walk in.</div>
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Anyway, so Dr. Dolan is in her stall, and she exits, and then MAKES A PHONE CALL and doesn't leave. Cripes. So there I am all done with my business, fully clothed standing there politely waiting to flush so that way the sounds of toilet flushing won't be heard by the person on the other end. I have no idea if this is a personal or business call (because she is speaking in Korean) but after a good while of fidgeting and standing there, I finally just flush and walk out to use the lone sink to wash my hands, and she's leaning on it. She looks and moves, but doesn't leave the bathroom. I leave her in there as I exit.</div>
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While I am in the potty talk mode, why the hell do they only put one sink, for 2-3 stalls in public restrooms here? So many times there are more than 1 person needing to use the sink at the same time. Some times, someone just needs the mirror, but it's always awkward.</div>
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Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-25766639793991913642014-03-10T10:00:00.000-04:002014-03-10T10:00:08.603-04:00Found this in my drafts folder from 2010: we went to beach, and I don't mean the river or a lake!So yesterday morning, we're sitting in the living room reading, when out of the blue the husband says, "Let's go to the beach",<br />
me: "well I was planning on heading over to the river later",<br />
him: "no, I mean the ocean".... what?!<br />
me: "but it's so far away"<br />
him: "where's you're sense of adventure?"<br />
I point at the kids.. "gone"<br />
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so about 5 minutes go by, and I say "Let's go tot he beach!" so we decide to head to hampton beach in NH. we call around to people to see if anyone wants to go. perfect. Trevor is coming with!<br />
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The weather was absolutely perfect! and the kids we amazingly good in the car. Evan had a blast, and even the baby seemed to enjoy himself! of course Jay doesn't really take pictures, so I grabbed a couple, which I'll download and add when I get to the other computer. we left at like noon and didn't make it home until 10-something. but we took the long way home on 101 in NH, and had dinner in Keene. it was about 2.5 hours there. arrived at 2:30 ish. We<br />
spent atleast 2 hours at the beach, and then headed back. Man I sure miss living close to the beach, especially one is warmer, and you don't have to get out b/c your numb (atleast at this point in the summer).<br />
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maybe today we'll head over the the river for swimming or something. who knows.<br />
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speaking of the river, I took evan swimming there on friday after work. Jay was exhausted, and the baby was sleeping, so it was just me and the Evster. While we were having a good time in the water, and little boy, about 2 years old, goes up to our stuff at the beach and started playing with evan's toys. I look around, no parents in sight? wtf? it wasn't a big deal that he came over to play, but where were his parents. Then the lifeguard goes over and tries to tell him that they belong to us, but he still wanted to play. So i asked Evan if he wanted to go play in the sand with that little boy and he said okay.<br />
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I ask the lifeguard where his parents are, she shruged and said, "He doesn't speak English". um, ok. So here is when I bust out my Spanish, "Adonde estan tu Mama o Papa?" his response, "el carro" and points to the car at the end of the row about 50 feet away. I said to the lifeguard that he says his parents are in the car, and she said she hadn't seem them in over an hour. I look over and sure enough there were some people in the car, but who really knew if they were his parents or not. So we play for a while in the sand, and I keep looking over at the car, they're not even watching, and I see them playing with the baby. I"m getting annoyed at point. but then his older siblings came over to play too. The little boy's name is Michael. They were supposed to be watching him. ahh. Even so, if they were supposed to be watching him, then watch him, don't be down the other side of the beach. and the oldest was about 11 or so. It made me angry. You just don't leave a 2 year old to himself at the beach. But I felt like it wasn't my place to go over and bitch at the parents because the lifeguard didn't say anything to them... And my spanish was not even close to good enough to start up a conversation about how they shouldn't leave their 2-year-old near the water. Especially without a life jacket on the kid. Especially after knowing someone who just lost his son b/c he drowned at a public facility during a lifeguard change.<br />
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The poor kids diaper had fallen off too. and he was trying to hold it on, when I had come out of the water the first time. It was full of water, poor kid.Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-12805617080887190162014-03-07T11:11:00.001-05:002014-03-07T11:11:18.758-05:00Forgot to MentionI forgot to mention a couple months ago I figured out how to add in my old posts from my previous blogs, so you can now go into my archives way back to 2004 when i started blogging. Thought you'd like to know. No need to keep the link to my old blog anymore. I maybe have even deleted it. I don't' rememberErica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-56617012184536960762014-03-07T10:48:00.000-05:002014-03-07T10:54:26.067-05:00Speech PatternsWhere I currently live in my state is fairly different than where I grew up. Ocean vs. no ocean, tourists vs. no tourists, cranberry bogs vs. traditional farms, mountains vs sandy shores and speech vs speech.<br />
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I like to think that I'm pretty good at distinguishing the different dialects of <a href="http://massachusetts-map.org/">Massachusetts</a>, and other dialects of the English language in general. I can almost always hear differences even if I don't have a specific region to pin it to. In an area as small as Massachusetts is, we have quite a few dialects which are described quite well <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_English">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/USA_Mass_Cape_Cod_location_map.svg/500px-USA_Mass_Cape_Cod_location_map.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/USA_Mass_Cape_Cod_location_map.svg/500px-USA_Mass_Cape_Cod_location_map.svg.png" height="240" width="320" /></a>I grew up in where I affectionately refer to as, "the armpit of the cape", mainland side.<br />
First a bit of learning: Most commonly people only associate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_cod">The Cape</a> (anyone local to, I'd say New England, refers to Cape Cod, as 'The Cape'. As in, "We're going to the Cape this weekend". Yes we have other capes, such as Cape Ann, but Cape Cod is the largest, and most common of them as a vacation destination) as being the part of the state solely east of the canal. While, yes, that is the main part of The Cape, geographically speaking, there is "mainland" areas are also included as a part of it's region including the towns of Bourne, Sagamore, and parts of Wareham. When they put in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod_Canal">Canal </a>over 100 years ago, it created a visual border on maps which is why if I say I'm from The Cape, people tend to disagree with them once I tell them the part of the town from which I grew up. It's a battle I have resigned to by simple saying, "I grew up down by the Cape".<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">found here: http://wheelsms.wordpress.com</td></tr>
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For more than 15 years I have lived, "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Massachusetts">out west"</a> to a part of the state often not even on the radar of many of the people who live inside the I-495 belt that goes north/south outside of the Boston suburbs. Pictured is a funny, yet scarily accurate depiction of my area. HA! Other funny maps, poke of of the western area as but referencing that dragons live here or just fill it with several large ????? because as weird as it sounds, having had grown up in SE Mass, I had NO IDEA what lie west of 495. Swear to God. I knew the shape of the state of course, and knew that the Appalachians went through here, but had no idea about the Connecticut River, the large amounts of farm country, and streets wide enough for 2 cars to drive down at the same time.. oh my gosh! A wide Main Street, big enough for cars to park on, AND drive at a pace faster than a crawl in a land where side streets are much wider than driveways!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mjGelBwAmgk/UxnmwESRIWI/AAAAAAAAG1Y/3XXrOvVZS_4/s1600/6054_123022122410_5423116_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mjGelBwAmgk/UxnmwESRIWI/AAAAAAAAG1Y/3XXrOvVZS_4/s1600/6054_123022122410_5423116_n.jpg" height="150" width="320" /></a>I first discovered this area in high school when I came out for <a href="http://alumni.umassband.com/tag/band-day/">UMass Band Day.</a> Which made such an impression on me that I just had to attend UMass Amherst so I could be in the band. Then I got here and was too scared to join the band, crazy schedule and commitments were required especially so in the drumline, as I discovered my second semester freshman year into sophomore year. Pictured is the only football game I played in. AND this is the only picture of me the entire game because my Hubs (bf at the time) was taking pictures and the battery died right after this. Figures. The Drumline is a very stressful group to be a part of, and I think more so than the Band itself.<br />
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So anyway, this has turned into a long story about how my dialect has changed. If you want to know where yours falls go <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=1&">HERE</a>, which is an abbreviated version of the original survey found <a href="http://spark.rstudio.com/jkatz/SurveyMaps/">HERE</a>. It's too bad that you can't take the full survey anymore, as I did when it came out. It was pretty fun, and pinpointed my accent well. I leave you on my most favorite question in the link as it will always be a bubbler (bubblah) in my book. You can click through the questions and use the map to see where you fall. It's pretty neat!<br />
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Over the years I have most definitely lost my SE Mass accent. I do find it slipping out every so often, and when I catch it I gasp slightly, cover my mouth and then apologize about it. I have no idea why, and the people around me are all, "I didn't hear it". But then again my husband doesn't hear the difference between the names Erin and Aaron, so I can't rely on him. It's especially evident when conversing with my family and friends who still live out east.<br />
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This whole blog post was written because last night I found myself having an extremely hard time saying the name 'Arthur' in my son's story. He had to overcome some speech issues, so I like to try and say things are properly as possible yet is comfortable for me to say. We say our r's out here. They don't out east, and last night I kept saying "Ahthah" and not "Arthur" and I was getting frustrated with myself, and had to stop. That name should just not be allowed here.Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-90245275213063128972013-11-14T20:44:00.002-05:002013-11-14T20:45:39.405-05:00I'm old and young at the same time, I guessAlot of the time I feel like I have "old" moments such as forgetting stuff, getting confused easily, making references to culture in my youth and today's young folk have no idea what I'm talking about and have a child turn 10. Then there is the fact <a href="http://moonfrye.com/category/blog/">Soleil Moon Frye</a>, aka: Punky Brewster, who I know is older than me has children the same age as mine! She's not a peer- She's a role model dammit! or something like that.. It's weird. Also I find men in their 40's attractive such as <a href="http://images.starpulse.com/pictures/2012/04/13/previews/Chris%20Hardwick-AES-067866.jpg">here</a>, <a href="http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Cosmopolitan+Magazine+Fun+Fearless+Males+2010+__oZlBuqKDRl.jpg">here</a> & <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jo6bekFPwSE/Tm9J0LdQggI/AAAAAAAAGIA/ldK7Z9WncG0/s640/jeremy+sisto+suburgatory.jpg">here</a>. Sure sign of being old if you ask me. Also such expenditures such as student loans, car payments & mortgages... I can keep adding to the list.<br />
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But I'm not old. I'm a mere 33. Still young to most. When people find out my age they say, "oh, you're just a baby!" Thus, whenever I get the chance to say it to someone younger than me, I do too. I really don't like it when they say it to me, b/c I'm in my 30's for crying out loud. Not. A. Baby.<br />
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Anyway, I have been finding out recently though, that many other moms who have children in the same age group or younger than mine are 10 years older (or more!) than myself, and I think they are the same age as me. They talk about things they did in 1990 that surprise me, because that year, I was in the 5th grade and 10 years old. This is when I start to feel weird about being a "young mom" because to me, I'm not a young mom, I'm average. My mother was a young mom, and my best friend growing up was even a younger mom at 16 and her mom a grandmother at 32 or something totally crazy young to be a grandmother, seeing as some women don't even start to have babies until their mid-30's. Having a baby in your 40's is an odd thought for me, but very real and often very much desired with some people.<br />
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All I know is that when these older moms will be dealing with potty training and the prospects of children hitting puberty, my kids will be old enough to say, "Adios boys, mama is going on a vacation! Don't burn down the house!" Having children when you are on the younger side of the life spectrum is often shunned, but I am thankful I had babies in my younger, more energy filled days where my health is good and I'm not relying on social security just yet.<br />
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There are pros & cons to parenting in each age group, but for me, I'm happy about where I am.<br />
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<br />Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-78088268989640091042013-11-14T11:54:00.001-05:002013-11-14T11:54:38.650-05:00Chronically behind the times<a href="http://www.emulationnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/original-nintendo-entertainment-system.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="http://www.emulationnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/original-nintendo-entertainment-system.jpg" width="200" /></a>It all started when I was a kid in the 80's. We didn't have a lot of money, by any stretch of the means so we often relied on hand me downs from clothes to video games.<br />
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We got our first system, an Atari with games from my cousins, when they got the all new Nintendo Entertainment System .<br />
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I loved the Atari- my favorite game was Donkey Kong, and also Big Birds Egg Catch. Give me a break guys I was like 6 or 7 when we got it, so it's totally cool you guys. Then when the SNES came out WE inherited the NES.. HOT DOG! That was loads of fun! It also started my mother's addiction to Dr. Mario and the Zelda franchise... It's possible we didn't inherit theirs but got our own, but I don't think so. My mom began this great task of creating her own maps of levels and How-to guides for MANY games. I bet she still has them somewhere too. Many countless hours were played in Dr. Mario on Level 25 (the highest possible level) as it was her downtime. Sidenote: Mom also played using her 1st 2 fingers with her right hand instead of her thumb.<br />
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At some point, we acquired the Super Nintendo and we were always a bit behind of everyone else. Even now, I never owned a game cube, and got the Wii like 2 years after it came out and an XBOX360 about a year after that. I am never on the cutting edge of technology. </div>
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Same thing with fashion. I am not sure what triggered my delay in fashion tastes, but I think it's partly because as a mother, my needs always come last last, and by the time I have the money and opportunity to purchase clothing for myself, the styles I liked I can't find. They have come and gone. It's not like I wear anything fancy either. I wear simple stuff cotton shirts and jeans. Now I have a hard time buying stuff because it doesn't fit right. I am wider in areas than I'd like to be, so even if the waste fits, other areas don't fit and my feet are big & wide so as much as I like shoes, I hate shoe shopping- it's very hard to find something that both fits comfortably and the right style for the occasion. It's awful. I think i'd rather get a tooth pulled than shoe shop all the time.</div>
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<a href="http://d1.yimg.com/sr/img/1/d491efe6-9453-3108-bd27-a30d8c4aabac" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://d1.yimg.com/sr/img/1/d491efe6-9453-3108-bd27-a30d8c4aabac" width="320" /></a>Even my nerd culture is behind the times. My husband has been a fan of Doctor Who </div>
for a very long time and has been trying to get me to watch it for.... pretty much as long as we started dating, and I never did. It was cheesy old British television that I didn't care for. Even when the reboot came out. I didn't get it. I just didn't. It was weird any full of sci-fi stuff I wasn't really into in my twenties. Thie past couple seasons of Matt Smith as the Doctor, got me hooked. I don't know why. I think even though the fans were upset that Tennat was leaving and smith was controversial, I really enjoy his portrayal of the Doctor. Now we are on the cusp of the 50th anniversary of the series. It's coming out in mere DAYS. As a result I have been binge watching Doctor Who (reboot) all fall and watched 4 episodes last night alone o.O . I am at the point where the doctor changes from Tennant to Smith. Even if I can't finish before the special comes out that's okay. I have seen the majority of the episodes with Smith. I have thoroughly enjoyed the timey-wimey adventure the most current doctors and companions.<br />
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Also I was late to Twitter, and love it now, and late to Firefly- I became a fan when it came to DVD and didn't even know about it when it was on television. Star Trek, I don't mind. I'm not a big fan of it, but thanks to my husbands escapades of binge watching ALL of the different versions of that series, I don't mind it. He watches so much though, often I just don't want to watch it at all.<br />
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The list of things just goes on. What say you, internet? Please tell me I'm not alone!Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-4468046540314004522013-09-12T22:40:00.002-04:002013-09-12T22:43:12.231-04:00Never thought I be so happy to look in my rear viewI have this friend. Had this friend. She's still alive, but I don't see her anymore. It was not my decision to have that be the case. I met her as she was my neighbor for a few years and we became friends quickly as our sons loved to play with each other. I considered her my best friend and felt like I could confide in her in about anything.<br />
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We had been close for quite some time, and she is a person attracts not the best men. One particular boyfriend of hers was verbally abusive. While he was staying with her she came down with the swine flu, and after she got somewhat better she realized she needed to leave this guy and called her ex husband to see if he could take care of their son while she was trying to get into a better situation. Long story short, her ex husband decided to not return her son back to her. She ended up moving to Texas to be near them. She had asked me to give her a ride to the airport in the morning and when I stopped by her place she wasn't there. There was no sign of her and I was really upset. I didn't get to say goodbye. I went home and cried int he driveway. She was in Texas for 2 years we kept in touch fairly frequently. Her ex was being an ass and canceling her visits with her son and brainwashing him into thinking the worst of her.<br />
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Eventually her ex made it so difficult for her to even talk with her son on the phone let alone have a visit, she left and came back north after 2 years of trying.<br />
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We reconnected and were hanging out again and all was well. Sort of. She still attracted weirdos, but whatever, She came onto hard times for a couple of different things, and I was severely worried about her. One thing that is consistent with is that when things get tough, she shuts down and becomes depressed. As a friend I am there for her and to help her.<br />
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Well, why am I talking so much about her? Well, she stopped talking to me and wasn't returning my calls or texts. Wait that sounded like I was non stop harassing this person. I wasn't. I was reaching out to her a couple times in a week. I was so worried that one day after work I knocked on her door, she answered and simply said that she didn't want company right now. That's fine. I asked her is she was okay. She said she was and then pretty much shooed me away and shut the door. That was a year ago this fall. Since then I have tried to reach out to her only a few times, one of those times was an email to wish her a happy birthday, and that was all.<br />
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I was confused, sad & angry and felt lost. I seemed to have lost my best friend for a reason that I did not know. It really bothered me and I just couldn't shake the feeling of being hurt for unknown reasons. If there was some sort of fight or disagreement atleast there would be an obvious reason.<br />
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Then came Thanksgiving. We decided to try and host Thanksgiving at our house for a change. To be at a location comfortable for our kids. A dinner where I could have some leftovers. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is completely family centered. Thanksgiving for me is being able to spend time with the extended family enjoy a meal relax and have fun. As a kid I loved being able to spend time with my cousins, especially the years when my log distance cousins were there.<br />
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So we invited people over and not a single person wanted/could to come. Not. A. Single. One. "We're going to so & so's", "we're gonna eat at home", "I need to feed the hunters", "I don't have a ride", "I have to work". So that was disappointing, but I made the best of it. I made a full on turkey dinner. We ate at the table! Which if you know us, know that this doesn't happen as often as I like. So I made this big wonderful dinner for my family, and then they hardly ate. "I don't like turkey", "I'm not that hungry", "I don't want gravy", "yuck, pie!" (whose kids are these?!)<br />
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And after that I was just in a chronic shitty mood. I didn't want anything to do with Christmas and the New Year couldn't come fast enough.<br />
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I can't remember when I came out of it, some time around the transition into spring? I don't know<br />
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Anyway,<br />
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I'm posting this because the other morning, my friend was behind me at a red light near my son's school and it just made me happy to see her knowing that she is still around and appears to be doing well as I have been wondering how she has been doing.Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-7358298122772311862013-02-21T21:31:00.000-05:002013-02-21T21:37:55.852-05:00that "certain age" where your body says F-UI have been in my 30's now for a couple years and it has been a pretty good run thus far. I don't know why people get so bent out of shape when they turn 30. It's pretty much the same as 29 only different in the sense of how 29 is different from 28, etc...<br />
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I have noticed in the past couple years I suffer from PMS like I never had before. I still get confused by it. Why can I be an instant bitch with zero tolerence, and go into full on must-clean-the-entire-house-while consuming-all-the-chinese-food-and-pizza-in-this-town, 6 hours later. I don't get it....and then I get a headache that I suffer through for a few hours before I realize I can take tylenol for that. Also, what's with the acne moving from my face to my neck? wtf ya'll?<br />
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The most recent thing I'm trying to figure out is my love/hate relationship with caffeine.<br />
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Here's how it used to be:<br />
I'm 20 and I can drink all the caffeine I want and still fall asleep at a reasonable hour!<br />
I'm 30 and I can't drink caffeine after 3 otherwise I am up half the night!<br />
I'm 32.5 and I can't drink caffeine after noon otherwise I am up half the night!<br />
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That's right folks, I have had insomnia for the last 6+ months or so hit or miss, but sometimes running for several weeks at a time. I <strike>think</strike> figured out that it's related to my caffeine intake. Now let me just clarify and say that I don't drink obscene amounts of caffeine. An "average" day I would drink a normal size cup -16oz in the morning and sometimes some soda for lunch or at dinner time. Rarely did I drink it all three times, and sometimes, I'd only have my morning cup worth, if at all. so in the last several weeks, maybe a month or so now, I have given up ALL but my morning cup of coffee for caffeine. I have also stopped caffeinated soda as part of the "my body has become sensitive to caffeine" testing trial.(with the exception of this past weekend at my sisters b/c my sleeping got all out of whack anyway- I needed the boost)<br />
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Since I have given up the other doses of caffeine I have been falling asleep around or atleast tired enough for sleep around 10/11pm which is waaaay better than the 12:30/1am I have been accustomed to for the last year atleast... especially when one's alarm goes off at 6am to get the rugrats and herself to school and work and make lunch and shower all before we <strike>try to </strike>leave the house at 7:30 to drop the kids at school. It's no easy feat on a good nights sleep, never mind chronically only getting 5-6 hours of sleep. Trying to catch up on missed sleep on the weekend always ended up in insomnia again by monday because it's like I moved to LA and shifted my sleep schedule by three hours.<br />
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I digress, cutting back the caffeine has helped significantly in terms of ability to fall asleep. I however still drag during some afternoons and get into a zombie like state, which isn't good when I'm driving and the whole reason why I would have the afternoon boost. This hasn't happened recently or often or while driving so that's okay I guess.<br />
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Tonight though, I am tired.. as in it's only 8 'clock and I could fall asleep right now, but instead my kids are going crazy and I'm Skyping with my sister, tired.<br />
<br />Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-33914283435546490102013-02-21T14:49:00.000-05:002013-03-11T13:49:12.272-04:00It's winter break time ya'llSo I went to hang with the homegirls for a few days with the rugrats... and it snowed.. again... just a few days after they had just gotten their power back on after it being out for 4 days. No snow at home. Such is life in New England.<br />
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A good time was had while at our stay. Hotel HoJo was very welcoming!. Breakfast and coffee was provided, as was entertainment and booze should be we need it. (Don't get your hopes up, there were no strippers, unless you count the kids running around in their skivvies.) There was even a party full of yummy gluten free food in hopes of my sister being able to get more stuff for FREE!!! Wheee! free stuff, who doesn't like free stuff AND my company?? That's what I thought.<br />
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When I came into town a few weeks back it was a *really* quick trip, as the sole purpose was for work and I babysat in exchange for room and board and was out the door shortly after lunch to head to the Pampered Chef party. It was nice spending time with my nephews in a completely different dynamic than when my kids are there and it's pretty chaotic and loud the whole time, just like it was this past weekend. On Saturday we got to visit with mom for a bit before she had to head off to work. Due to her work schedule we don't get to visit as much as we'd like and not nearly as I would like, but we make do with what we can, when we can.<br />
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On Sunday the big party day, we had to shovel the street and driveway so people would have a place to park. Stupid snow. Only a brave couple came to the party, but a good time was had by all! On Monday i went to the store grabbed fixins' for breakfast, grabbed a friend and went back so we could feast on breakfast! and after the brother-in-law got home from doing some work, we went sledding on the bluffs for a quick hour before we left for home. While sledding we rain into my friends son sledding with some friends, how's that for coincidence, eh?<br />
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We all had a fun time! Here are some pictures of our time back in the 'ham. Also there was this weird nose and glasses that kept finding it's way onto our faces. You've been warned.<br />
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<br />Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com0Onset, MA, USA41.743052243737182 -70.65849704550782941.719358243737183 -70.698837545507828 41.766746243737181 -70.61815654550783tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-85432927839858136822013-02-03T21:57:00.001-05:002013-02-03T21:57:57.658-05:00Stealth trip to the stomping grounds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I made a stealth trip to my old stomping grounds last weekend to do a Pampered Chef party at one of my oldest friends' parents house in the nearby town of Freetown. I didn't even bring the kids, or tell mom (it wasn't personal- I'll be back in a few weeks!) because the trip was going to be so quick Because it's a long enough drive I didn't want to do there and back in one day I surprised my nephews and watched them for my sis in exchange for free room and board for the night. Her friend stopped by and kept me company and when the sis got home we hung out til 1 or so playing goofy ringtones on our phones and relaxing. The next morning I talked my sis into going for a walk because it looked gorgeous out and I wanted to take pictures before I left just after lunch. Come to find out, the wind chill was brutal, so I took only 2 early in on our trek, and we looped around by my old school onto the main drag and back to the house where we promptly blew our noses because neither of us thought to bring tissues.. Team Blonde FTW! Anyway, here are a few pictures from my stay. They were all taken with my phone.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Olb9Yl_c88Q/UQ8d8uDQI3I/AAAAAAAAF9M/-zZbFIrwTpg/s1600/WP_20130127_10_09_47_Panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="103" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Olb9Yl_c88Q/UQ8d8uDQI3I/AAAAAAAAF9M/-zZbFIrwTpg/s640/WP_20130127_10_09_47_Panorama.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view I saw every ding dong day growing up. It's also the view my mom still sees.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you see how the ocean has ICE? yeah it was *that* cold. Also when I was a kid I got a rash from swimming here</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Showing my nephew a fun feature of my phone! moving photos!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were practicing his math, and I taught him some old "pager-talk" like: 07734 flip it upside down and it says "hello" he thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BIL and I played a game with the kids. I think B was thinking here!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AjDULHA_Zv4/UQ8hwJ1uTFI/AAAAAAAAF90/rmKP1gygLt8/s1600/WP_20130126_015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AjDULHA_Zv4/UQ8hwJ1uTFI/AAAAAAAAF90/rmKP1gygLt8/s320/WP_20130126_015.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was funny. J had the bright idea to "butt brawl" . You can't tell but they were hitting each other with their butts</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-swq_eNLRz90/UQ8e0PKsgHI/AAAAAAAAF9c/8fVUTZ-d7BU/s1600/Lomogram_2013-01-27_12-11-30-PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-swq_eNLRz90/UQ8e0PKsgHI/AAAAAAAAF9c/8fVUTZ-d7BU/s320/Lomogram_2013-01-27_12-11-30-PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">here they are being cute :)</td></tr>
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<br />Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-1262184843104547292013-01-16T15:17:00.001-05:002013-01-17T18:41:28.842-05:00Boy am I glad that's over withAnd by that I mean "The Holidays" which means the holiday Trifecta from Hell: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. ::breathe::<br />
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Thanksgiving is normally my most favorite holiday. In my youth we used to travel an hour to my grandmother's where, depending on if it was the year the alternating branches of the clan were there or not, we would all get together (sometimes 25+ people I think) and hang out and the cousins would go run amok and play and have a grand ol' time while the adults did... something.... and we had and prayed for Eddie Jones to have the bones, because he don't eat no meat, said what we were thankful for and dug in to a glorious meal. My favorite part was the dish of little onions, and EVERYONE was sent home with leftovers. For the last several years we haven't been able to get together with my half the family for Thanksgiving even though the goal is to do the every other year thing. Our rotation got off and we haven't been able to get it back for one reason or another.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HfCvK2z2hHI/UPcEkvP1TKI/AAAAAAAAF6U/8bWkrcXtPSw/s1600/WP_20121225_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HfCvK2z2hHI/UPcEkvP1TKI/AAAAAAAAF6U/8bWkrcXtPSw/s320/WP_20121225_001.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our tree just after Santa delivered. He says Hi.</td></tr>
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This year we thought, for a change, we'd offer to host Thanksgiving at our house. Normally when we spend the holidays with the hubster's side we go to his aunt and uncles with his parents, grandparents and a cousin (the aunt and uncle's son and gf who are in the area). It's usually a pleasant time, but seeing as how I make my own turkey dinner anyway as a result of not being able to take leftovers we thought the change would be welcomed. Well when we invited people, no one wanted to come :( and so I made turkey dinner just for us. For my two kids and husband turkey dinner is not a favorite meal, so they didn't really eat much of it. I got all the leftovers I needed to keep the yummy part of the day lingering for several more, but the day was unsatisfying without the extended family. So my Thanksgiving was pretty "meh" and put me in this weird funk where I didn't really care about upcoming Christmas and decorating, or anything really family oriented. This has never really happened before. </div>
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Christmas break was good. I went into work a couple days, and thanks to university negotiations with the holiday schedule, I now get the 2 work days prior to New Year's off (instead of Evacuation & Bunker Hill Day) . I ended up working on Friday but not Monday or Tuesday and ended up with a 4-day weekend!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">auto setting with flash</td></tr>
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With my money I earned from Pamered Chef I went out and bought myself the new phone I have been wanting! yay! Aaaaaaaand. I love it. One thing that is awesome is that the touch screen works wearing gloves (yahoo!) and the camera just rocks. The the left you will see 2 photos. They were taken about 9pm at night back to back looking at the same thing. the bottom picture was taken in it's "night" setting and the the top was taken using just the flash on auto. </div>
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This phone really touted the low light picture taking functionalitly and dog-nab it, it works wonderfully. And boy oh boy did I miss that little camera button on the side of the phone. Having to tap the screen to take a picture sucks donkey balls. I don't ever want to have to do that again. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Night Setting!</td></tr>
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I took the kiddos sledding and had a grand ol' time on the hill at the kids' former preschool. We also went one day to the town's favorite sledding area near the hospital and I will never take them there again! It was chaos city.</div>
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Growing up we had some pretty basic common sense rules for sledding:</div>
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1. Wait until the person at the bottom of the path moves out of the way before heading down,</div>
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2. Don't walk up the path to return to the top, walk off to the side</div>
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and a couple others which were applied based on the path used for sledding: </div>
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While rules 3 &4 didn't apply here, rules 1&2 certainly did, and NO ONE was following them. I was freaking. out. The hill was high and steep (it was an old toboggan run that used to have a different path to get to the top, no longer in use), the snow was as hard and slippery as a sheet of ice, and there were a ton of people. There is also a bunny slope off the parking area where Liam was going down on the neighbors slow sled. He was fine. </div>
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People were flying down this hill without a care in the world. Everyone was returning to the top walking in the path of the other sledders. big adult types were way at the tippy top waiting for the path to clear "enough" so they can zip down without "hopefully" wiping anyone out on the way down. I watched one teen head down from one of the mid point launch areas and wipe out an adult man and is 2-3 year old child. They were stupidly just standing there in the middle of the sledding area and then the teen didn't even go and apologize to the guy and instead ran off to mommy who was sitting in her car and wasn't watching watching.. all sorts of effed-upness going on here and I was NOT happy about it. we left shortly after and heading to the preschool for a few until we realized the temps dropped and we were soooo cold... On the way back from that sledding trip I told them that I would never take them there again because it was too dangerous and I was really anxious about it because someone is going to get seriously injured there. They said okay without a fight. I think they thought it was scary too.</div>
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Now that it's a new year and the Holidaze are long gone, I can get back to normal. yay! My hope is that in the next month I can get my mother her belated birthday present that is now just about 2 months overdue. *sigh*<br />
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Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-87013579551963767272012-12-01T11:00:00.000-05:002012-12-01T12:22:58.189-05:00Heeey Geeky laaa-day!So for the last few months my inner geek has been going crazy loving all this stuff that I had forgotten that I really enjoyed. I have added some new links in my reading list as it is often where you can assume I'm occupying my straying mind when it's not working. The hubster has been trying to get me into Doctor Who the past oh... 10+ years and I've resisted, until this season, and the consensus is that I really like it. I did watch some of the previous doctor also and thought, well this is weird.. but it grew on me and is just pretty damn cool.<br />
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<a href="http://www.geekandsundry.com/"></a>I have been more active on Twitter, which I have found to be quite enjoyable! There is a button on the right side of your screen if you want to follow me. I follow a bunch of celebrities, and famous geeky people. Mostly I retweet awesome things hey share but sometimes I come up with my own things.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wVRQDo2SZ10/ULolS6uXT3I/AAAAAAAAFoQ/kC4GlBA6hhs/s1600/gs_logo_front.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wVRQDo2SZ10/ULolS6uXT3I/AAAAAAAAFoQ/kC4GlBA6hhs/s200/gs_logo_front.png" width="100" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GE_6uT5xPsY/ULolWLV72jI/AAAAAAAAFoY/Om3isD7EfYQ/s1600/165320_186049031412913_1963537_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GE_6uT5xPsY/ULolWLV72jI/AAAAAAAAFoY/Om3isD7EfYQ/s200/165320_186049031412913_1963537_n.jpg" width="100" /></a>I have been wasting time watching <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMilkbrai">YouTube</a>, specially on channels such as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/geekandsundry">Geek and Sundry</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/marvinforpresident">The Nerdist</a>. There is some seriously funny shit there, people. Felicia Day (@feliciaday), Wil Wheaton (@wilw), and Chris Hardwick (@nerdist). Need I say more? The Guild, TableTop, All-Star Celebrity Bowling are just some of these guys current work, and some of my favorite ways to <strike>waste</strike> spend time. They do a TON of other stuff too, but I only wanted to share a few things.<br />
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<a href="http://bit.ly/SyeWy8">(subscribe to Geek and Sundry here)</a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Make everything cute OR creepy!</td></tr>
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My favorite shopping website to browse is <a href="http://thinkgeek.com/">Think Geek</a> and recently I have discovered <a href="http://www.mcphee.com/shop/">Archie McPhee</a> where you too, can purchase your very own <a href="http://mcphee.com/shop/vandaleyes-googly-eyes-starter-kit.html">VandalEyes starter kit</a>. Where if you need some ideas go to <a href="http://vandaleyes.net/">VandalEyes.net</a>. This is an activity made famous by Anne Wheaton, (Wil's wife) and I am thinking I may need to start participating, but it's hard to find stick on eyes and then this happened.... so.. it might happen..<br />
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I've been really into techy news lately and thought the other day my next job could be some company's social media maven.. These positions do exist- I just need to find one<br />
<br />Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-4676761267817971532012-11-30T18:46:00.000-05:002012-11-30T18:46:32.006-05:00so much awesome in one day is awesomeSo first THIS happened:<br />
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do you see ME?! I'm there, and I get to talk with one of my favorite authors and it was AWESOME!<br />
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And then while that was happening, I had a tweet get retweeteed on Twitter by <a href="http://www.thebloggess.com/">Jenny Lawson</a>... which is just awesome. Because she is also famous.. maybe not to most, but she is to me.. and I am just all excited now!<br />
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<script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-37124574156924077042012-11-14T20:49:00.001-05:002012-11-14T20:49:45.455-05:00It's your birthday?! here! have a broken arm!<div>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XvHcv-hqSfk/UKQ98zjY-aI/AAAAAAAAFh4/LCo62NMJplQ/s1600/2012-11-08+07.11.26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XvHcv-hqSfk/UKQ98zjY-aI/AAAAAAAAFh4/LCo62NMJplQ/s320/2012-11-08+07.11.26.jpg" width="320" /></a>Friday... could've been better. Liam and I raced off to North Adams (a 1.5 hr drive) to rescue some friends whose car died 2 days prior (as in the water pump exploded and bore a 1/2 inch whole in the engine where it is) because it was the closest hospital that accepted their insurance to pull out my friend's husbands' teeth- got them all taken out. poor guy :(</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9z95uWCykY0/UKQ981yQpjI/AAAAAAAAFh4/Bao_7QWz1k0/s1600/2012-11-09+21.33.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9z95uWCykY0/UKQ981yQpjI/AAAAAAAAFh4/Bao_7QWz1k0/s320/2012-11-09+21.33.21.jpg" width="320" /></a>so I'm on my way, and I get a call from my friend where Evan was supposed to be sepnding the night because it was Evan's friends birthday party. He hurt his arm. CRAP. And he is screaming bloody murder. The boys were playing and Ev tripped and fell and landed poorly on his arm. awesome. We didn't know it was broken at this point. I tell her Jason is on his way home from the eye doctor which was running late, and he will be there in a few minutes. Evan insists that Jason take him straight to the ER.. I get a call some time later on my ride home with my rides that he broke his arm. *sigh* </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MwkI8Ph_D0M/UKQ985bleBI/AAAAAAAAFh4/X7yzAkieawc/s1600/2012-11-09+21.33.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MwkI8Ph_D0M/UKQ985bleBI/AAAAAAAAFh4/X7yzAkieawc/s320/2012-11-09+21.33.47.jpg" width="320" /></a>Here are pictures from the last few days. The first one is from Weds, I think, after he got his first birthday present, in the mail, from his Gram. Right now it's happily residing among the clutter on the coffee table. Then we have a couple from the ER while the X-Ray technician was trying to get an xray. oh! and a picture of initial plaster cast.And we have a couple from the party on Sunday when Evan was still in a good mood. and the final in the series was taken today, just a little bit ago. I finally got him to put a shirt on normally AND he is now able to handle the XBOX controller on his own!! yay!</div>
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<br />Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-34199288820733829272012-11-04T18:06:00.001-05:002012-11-04T18:06:16.828-05:00Santa talk...<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">As posted by my husband at </span><a href="http://altonfreth.wordpress.com/">http://altonfreth.wordpress.com/</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">So my wife and I decided it was time to have the Santa talk with the nine year old because he had been hinting that he doesn’t believe anymore. So on our way to Staples I decides was time. Here is how the conversation went.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Dad: so what do you think about Santa?<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Boy: He’s real.<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Dad: Even though your friends told you he isn’t?<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Boy: yup<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Dad: what if I told you he isn’t?<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Boy: I would still believe.<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Dad: why?<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Boy: because my presents always say from Santa.<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Dad: what if I told you that mom and dad just write that?<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Boy: well, the presents are still wrapped in Santa’s special wrapping paper. It has his picture on it.<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Dad: what if I told you mom and dad buy that too?<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Boy: Well there is still the video on the computer.<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Dad: what if I said that was mom and dad too.<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Boy: I would still believe.<br style="line-height: inherit;" />We enter staples and he sits down.<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Dad: So let me get this straight. I am telling you there is no Santa, but you will still get presents and you are saying that you don’t care what I say, you still believe?<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Boy: yup<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Dad: and your not upset?<br style="line-height: inherit;" />Boy: nope.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">We then discussed what Santa means and why parents pretend he is real and he is now playing with friends like we just talked about his homework. I was expecting tears or the "no crap, dad I knew that a long time ago. "This was one of the strangest conversations I have ever had with my son. I was afraid to upset him but I guess there was no need to worry</span></div>
Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-24269527239178143832012-11-01T12:53:00.001-04:002012-11-01T16:06:33.687-04:00Timey Wimey & Robots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here we are at the Downtown Trick or Treat last night. We had a pretty good time! Can you guess the costumes? My attempt is quite poor, but if you get Evan, you can use the power of deduction to figure out my costume. The people that got Evan's were very pleased, but he did have to explain it a few times. Every seemed to love Liam's outfit (yay!) Lots of work went into it Mon and Tues night. No better way to spend a hurricane, than to make a costume, right?</div>
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A key piece to Evan's costume was held up in shipping due to the storm. Thankfully it arrived at noon on Halloween so there were no meltdowns! At the end of the downtown event they do a rag shag parade and costume contest. The kids didn't want to do the parade and Liam didn't want to compete (rats!) I bet he had a good chance in winning too. Trick or treater volume at the house was light too, probably because the downtown thing was on the same night, normally it's not.. But that's cool because now I have my own pot of candy to munch. nom nom nom.... </div>
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<br />Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-72060689609370867412012-10-29T14:45:00.000-04:002012-10-29T14:45:04.897-04:00battening down the hatches! Please oh please Mother Nature, don't force our town to CANCEL Halloween..... AGAIN.... 2 YEARS IN A ROW. I mean is that really too much to ask???<br />
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This time last year we were preparing for a <a href="http://blogs.wwlp.com/2011/10/">SNOW STORM.</a> Yes a snow storm.... we still had leaves on the trees and the temps were on the warm side for snow so it was heavy and wet... and we got over a foot of it. It stuck to the trees, and then they all broke taking down power lines with them. Much of our REGION was without power for WEEKS. We were extremely lucky to be only without power for 3 hours... I am not sure why this happened. Schools closed and they canceled Halloween. Well technically the postponed it to the following week, in which many people still didn't have power and crews were still doing clean up. It was weird, and we had to trick or treat early because we had to be somewhere at 6.<br />
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(Whoops... totally walked away from this post last night unintentionally)<br />
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My husband has been in Washington DC since Friday with a group of teenagers from his school. Due to the storm they left a day early. Winds here have started and aren't strong.... yet...<br />
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The first bad hurricane I remember going through was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Bob">Hurricane Bob</a> back in '91. I was 11. At the time I was living at the Cape and it hit us at a category 3. We moved "inland" to our friends place in the western part of town and spent the storm there. Arriving back home was crazy. Here is a picture of where I grew up.<br />
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The south end of the Canal is on the right side of this picture. Clearly this is a beach community. Some people decided they didn't care if their boats roughed out the storm in the water. What they didn't expect was to find said boats IN PEOPLE'S FRONT YARDS trapped on dry land after the water receded. Low lying areas still were sort of flooded, and on our house a piece of the vinyl siding was hanging off under the window. We were very lucky in that we lived on a small hill and the water only came to the bottom of our street. Other houses were not so lucky- They were swept away, or completely flooded as whole sections of our little village are low lying and/or very close to old cranberry bogs. In order for these houses to rebuild they had to be built on stilts.<br />
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So when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irene_2011">Hurricane Irene</a> hit last year...<br />
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(and... I walked away again, but this time I blame my sister who called me on the phone. Now it's the next day, again.)<br />
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Where was I? oh yes! Hurricane Irene...<br />So when it was approaching I got all panicky because of the way I remembered Bob being to violent.What happened instead was that it was a bit breezy, and not rainy at all. So even though I was still anxious about the weather I drove south for 15 minutes to attend a baby shower for a friend. I was a good time and everything was going great... that is until I was headed home... pretty much all roads north were closed because the rivers were flooding and other roads because trees were down. It took me 4 different tries before I found a road to which I could get to Greenfield.. it took me over an hour to get home. What ended up happening was that a crap ton of water flooded our region. Roads and bridges got washed out and people were stranded... MANY without power for a long time. My friend lost her house. Remember how I was at a baby shower. It was that friend who lost a house. Over a year later they haven't been able to rebuild because the flood insurance people said they won't cover their house loss FROM A FLOOD! Those f*ckers. some areas in Vermont are still recovering... It's crazy<br />
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And here we are in the midst of another hurricane. They are a way of life in in New England along with Snow storms and 4 distinct seasons. Given the choice of tornadoes or hurricanes, I would most certainly choose hurricanes. These guys we can prepare for, relocate from and most importantly we know they are coming- all of this not really possible for a tornado.<br />
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I am not nearly as anxious about this storm as I was about Irene, I am not sure why. But I'm glad for it. I hope everyone stays dry and safe during the storm and that Halloween goes on as planned!<br />
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<br />Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-76714700497667859922012-09-29T09:27:00.000-04:002012-09-30T15:15:24.574-04:00#FirstWorldProblemI broke my phone. It died prematurely and I blame the black top. Yes it was a smartphone. No not an iPhone or even an Android. It was a Windows Phone. It wasn't the best model as it was one of the first to come out, but I loved it.<br />
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But then I dropped it. And it was FINE... until I pushed the power button to kick on the screen. I used it and it was fine, but somehow the power button broke.. and now I can't use my phone. :( Of course I could go pick up a new phone. I was well beyond my contract period for it but I have been anxiously waiting for this one: <a href="http://i.nokia.com/image/view/-/1789920/medRes/3/-/Nokia-Lumia-920-PureMotion-HD-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i.nokia.com/image/view/-/1789920/medRes/3/-/Nokia-Lumia-920-PureMotion-HD-.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.nokia.com/global/products/phone/lumia920/#.UGbzDiVyt1E.blogger">Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone with PureView Camera - Nokia</a> <--link a="a" p="p" to="to" video="video"><br />
The camera on this looks phenomenal and seeing as how my phone is my primary camera, a good camera is essential for my next phone. While I would probably be happy with the next model down- except that it doesn't have as much storage as I would like, and the camera isn't as good, this one.. is my goal! Only thing is, is that it's not available yet. Windows phone will be upgrading the operating system this quarter, and official dates and prices are not available yet, so I want to wait. Until then I am using my husbands old phone (he recently upgraded) and I am grateful, but I am not a fan of it. It's an Android- Samsung Galaxy S. I think if I chose to switch operating systems on my own my attitude would be different, but it's not and I'm almost tempted to just get a new phone now the Lumia 900.. which is cheap right now... and will still be supported after the upgrade...<br />
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I can't decide what to do<br />
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<br /><!------><!------></--link>Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-8853411504903418542012-09-17T00:14:00.003-04:002012-09-20T09:36:23.552-04:00an open letter to men trying to pick up women:Dear men,<br />
It appears as though you need help with picking up women because twice in one week I experienced 2 instances of men epically failing to pick up women, (one was myself and the other a friend at our most recent book group meeting) so I thought I'd share a few pointers.<br />
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1. Make sure the woman isn't already married. A simple way to figure this out is to look at her hands. Is she wearing a ring on her left hand ring finger? If yes then WALK AWAY NOW. If not, then she's fair game until she says she is not single.<br />
2. When you say, "you look like you enjoy a good beer, what do you like?" and she responds with " Oh I don't really drink beer, but I do enjoy a good cider" don't follow up with, " so you like Bud?" and when she says, "eww, no. I do microbrews if any" don't name anything with Bud in the name. You don't know what you are talking about and just need to shut your trap.<br />
3. When you say, "it looks like blue eyes run in your family"and she says, "oh yeah everyone in my family has them... The harder gene to keep going the blonde hair..." do NOT say, "usually chicks with blonde hair and blue eyes are bombshells" for you will hear crickets chirping or get slapped.<br />
4. When you sit at a table with a book club and they are discussing books, don't say "f#$% books I hate them" you are not impressing anyone.<br />
5. Also don't go on a tirade on about plastic hardware after you interrept a woman's story about home depot. We could care less. We're out without the kids or husband let us drink and be merry.<br />
6. And when you leave, don't walk away in a huff because you failed so miserably in your moment of trying to impress, because your attempt was just so awful.<br />
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Thanks for the laughs gentlemen! I hope you found these tips helpful and cleared up any confusing areas for you.<br />
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With that said, its sweet of you to flatter us with your attempts at flirting. Brownie points to you for trying. Unless you're a dumbass.Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-38173675209529638962012-08-05T21:01:00.001-04:002012-08-05T21:01:08.090-04:00Semi-Staycation is doneIt was vacation week over in the Burns' household. It wasn't as originally planned but it was nice all the same. Last week I was in Cohasset working hard- 12+ hours a day heavy lifting, on my feet, waking up at 5 am and being careful around poison ivy (which I got anyway). Came home Friday night and woke up at 5 again to go to a Pampered Chef meeting hosted by Home Office, and it was a blast! And from there Jason and the kids picked me up and we went to NYC for a couple of days. We saw the Statue of Liberty, went bowling, went to the Met and had dinner at Hard Rock cafe. We also went to the USS Intrepid Museum. We had a great time. :) We had wanted to do other things locally following the NYC trip but we ran out of money as the previous week not only did Jason need to get a root canal, we had to get the oven fixed b/c when we turned it on, gas was leaking and while he was here we had him fix the dryer because it was making an awful noise. So needless to say we were sort some vacation money.<br />
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I was able to have a nice staycation at home, though. I relaxed went to the river beach and visited with my neighbors. unfortunately though I have also been suffereing from insomnia the last couple weeks and I must say that it's getting old. I have never had insomnia before and always wondered. Now that I have to work tomorrow I would like to go to sleep at a reasonable hour....Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-11558553431600673402012-07-27T20:02:00.000-04:002012-08-05T21:03:42.809-04:00it's all lies except the part about me having a crap ton of green vegetables.....I was recently on the street corner near my house and had two large green things in my hands. I was waving frantically with them shouting "ZUCCHINIS, CUCUMBERS!" take them- FREE!Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com3Greenfield, MA, USA42.587915 -72.599410442.541153 -72.6783744 42.634677 -72.5204464tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-55043918400763401712012-07-02T14:43:00.001-04:002012-07-03T11:34:09.583-04:00oh Monday... *sigh*<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This lunch could more enjoyable if a) I wasn't eating salad with a toddler spoon, and b) if there wasn't a rain cloud dead ahead. I picked up my things and perched in my car for a few minutes to wait it out...</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 14px;">I managed to dodge the rain cloud as it moved to my south and ate the salad like a champ. I go into my lunch bag to grab my bag of cherries and what do I see??</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">My fork laughing at me.. Dammit!</span><span style="text-align: left;"> D<i>o you see it there, hiding behind my salad dressing? *sigh*</i></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><i>***UPDATED*** </i>And to top off the evening I stepped on a bee who was happily working in the clover on my way to my Pampered Chef meeting tonight, and it was so happy it stung me... in the arch of my foot... oww!</span></div>
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<br />Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-44720091044371353832012-06-28T09:52:00.002-04:002012-06-28T09:52:50.485-04:00spare key? yes! oh crap...<span style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So after a FANTASTIC evening near Boston working a Pampered Chef party, I roll in around midngiht go to bed without incident.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">I get into work this morning and manage to lock everything (except myself, my coffee, sunglasses and a now empty snapple bottle) in my car. Pocketbook, lunch, not 1 but 2 cell phones (mine and my work) and my audiobook... *sigh* Thankfully the husband will be able to come to my rescue sometime later... because my spare car key, is in my purse WHICH IS IN THE GOD DAMN CAR! *guzzles the damn coffee*</span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The best part is that I carry a spare key in my purse because I always fear that I will lock my keys in the car.. not only is this the first time I locked my keys in the car, but it's also the first time I locked my spare key in the car. Two birds with one stone. *sigh*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Story of my life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(thankfully though, my husband was able to rescue me and come to my work to unlock my car... 2 hours later)</span>Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-79405568096247100082012-05-26T00:21:00.000-04:002012-05-26T00:21:01.659-04:00Just another dayHave you ever felt the urge to blog knowing that you really have nothing specific to write about? That's me.. bout nearly every day. Sometimes I am in the middle of driving somewhere and I think, " I should blog that" and then of course I forget to.<br />
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The last couple of weeks have been filled with... stuff. Same shit different day type of stuff. Except that it also included:<br />
Building a garden bed at the younger kid's school of which I am wrapping up my run as PTO President, for the second time. That's right I ran this group when my older son attended this school too. I have since been voted in as president of the PTO at the elementary school where both boys will be attending in the fall. oy.<br />
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This is about to be a butterfly garden and to the left there we plan on adding some butterfly bushes. Due the the rain the last couple of weeks, progress is slower than expected. Rain happens it's okay.<br />
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We are also experiencing sewer line work on my street resulting in 1/2 my front lawn missing and a new walkway to be installed (silent "yay!") I drive a little Hyundai Accent, and because of the mud on the street, it looks like I took my car 4-wheeling... and I might as well have. They are starting to do finishing work as of this week, so we no longer have a dirt/mud trench down the middle of the street, and the frame it set up for pouring our new walk, hopefully on Tuesday morning. We'll see..<br />
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I also had my birthday this past week. I turned a whopping 32! *gasp* I know, I know.. "I'm just a baby" as most people tell me when they hear my age. I have taken to the habit of telling anyone who is younger than me that they are a baby and I'm the old lady... lol true story. Other people say, "you're *only* 32?!" Christ people! How old do I look?! I've also gotten carded a couple times this past month... woohoo!! I look under 30! I know that since I turned 30 I have lost my ability to guess people's ages with any accuracy.<br />
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As a result of my birthday I am throwing my annual Birthday/BBQ this weekend. We are also celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary because my husband is going to be away in Kansas City for work.. he'll be grading AP exams... all day... for an entire week.. I win! <br />
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oh! I had pictures done of the kids.. my one of my besties Melissa. You can see them here <a href="http://www.colorsofherheart.com/">ColorsofHerHeart.com</a> They came out pretty awesome! She also helped me design some new business cards for my Pampered Chef business. Also pretty awesome.<br />
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So now it's almost 12:30, and my brain is shutting down.. maybe next time i will share something worthy of sharing! Maybe.</div>
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<br />Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702600229545994515.post-37858571662550538762012-04-22T01:46:00.003-04:002012-04-22T01:46:42.249-04:00unintentionalHave you ever given thought to key things about who you are and how or what made you that way? One of my favorite <a href="http://thebloggess.com/">bloggers </a>wrote a book about what makes her tick and how she became who she is. I have purchased her <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lets-pretend-this-never-happened-jenny-lawson/1106566380?ean=9780399159015">book</a> but haven't read it yet. I will, soon too. I'm actually very excited about it, but have to finish my current book first. If you've never read her blog, you better do it.<br />
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There are several things about who I am as a grown up that are unintentional results of my childhood. I have come to these conclusions over the last several years as something triggers my recollections:<br />
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1. I don't like to throw things away that I no longer need that are still good. My husband likes to do dump runs when I'm not home, because If I were home I'd take half of it back and try to convince him to let me have a yard sale. "It's still good! Someone might want it!" is my argument. This is a result of being poor all through the first 2/3 of my life. When you work hard for the things that are yours, it can be hard to let them go even if you don't need them anymore.<br />
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2. I have an uncontrollable need to be accommodating due to an incident at girl scouts once when I was around 8 years old. I was left out of eating ice cream on root beer float night because I do not like root beer. I remember asking the troop leader if I could just have some ice cream and she said okay, only I didn't get any because they ran out and I had to WATCH everyone enjoy their floats- including the troops leaders. Scarred. For. Life.<br />
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3. I *really* love & respect great guitarists. My mother played guitar growing up and apparently had a huge impact on my musical tastes. I totally dig rock music. I get nostalgic when I hear Crosby Stills & Nash, and Foreigner<br />
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4. I am Wonder Woman. I bought<a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/e9e3/?srp=1"> an apron</a> to help me out when I'm feeling stressed and need a boost. It makes me awesomer. I grew up in a single parent household since infancy. My mother never remarried, and barely dated. She did everything on her own, and I feel like I need to as well. But really I need to feel like I am able to do things on my own, because that's how I saw it done.<br />
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5. Major holidays included the whole wide family, and there was a feast to be had. I miss this. We are spread all over now that we are grown and don't get together nearly enough. Thanks to Facebook though we all keep in touch fairly regularly!<br />
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6. German Shepherds make me very nervous. I was 5 when I witnessed my best friend get attacked by our neighbors dog. It was on Halloween in 1985 and I remember watching my mom pry the dogs mouth off my friends face.<br />
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Tell me about you. Can you recall a specific instance in your childhood that is still with you?Erica Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661443073030917949noreply@blogger.com3