Upset Co-Workers, Leaf Blowers and One Rude Dude

I woke up this morning in a really good mood. After all, it's Friday and payday. I worked over during the week so I could get off of work early and was looking forward to alone time at home with the last season of Six Feet Under.

Everything was going just fine except my cubicle neighbor was having a bad day with some extreme personal problems. She spent most of the morning receiving phone calls and crying.

After a bit I hear her say, "Oh no!"
So I say, "What's wrong?"

She had just entered some information incorrectly. Ok, no big deal I tell her it can be fixed and I proceed to tell her how to fix it. I guess she did not understand in her upset state because pretty soon she gets up and I can hear her talking to some other people about it and by now she is pretty hysterical. Of course they tell her it is ok but proceed to try and tell her to fix it in the most difficult way possible. This always happens and makes my head blow off.

She comes back and I roll over and sit with her until it is all fixed. No harm no foul. BUT, she is now worried that our supervisor is mad at her for making the mistake (can you say insecurity?). I reassure her that everything is fine and the mistakes are corrected. I should have been a phyciatrist.

After all this I decide to go take a break. I go outside and there is man with a leaf blower. I hear him coming closer and closer but don't think much of it. Closer and louder and Whoa, he nails me with the leaf blower. I just can't believe this just happen!!
Of course he apologizes profusely and thank God there wasn't a whole lot of dirt on the walkway but I was beginning to wonder about my nice Friday.

Ok, next up I go up to my floor and since we have security cards to get in the door we are not allowed to "tailgate" anybody going in the door. We can hold the door for people but we all have to hold the cards to the device and "beep" in. So I am almost right behind him and he turns and looks at me but does he hold the door? Hell no. Another girl who was about to leave just looked at him and shook her head. Now outside of his obvious lack of manners is his skill of sleeping almost all day at work! I think he is only about 20 or so but that is no excuse for no manners and job sleeping.

I think on Monday I need to put a plan into action. Chair bumping (oh excuse me!), balled-up post-it note throwing (who did that?), and a speech, "When you meet a lady at the door...".

A 9/11 story

I was visiting Arkansas Army Mom's blog when I read this story about an event that occured on 9/11 that I had never heard about. Go here to read it. It demonstrates the quick thinking and actions of our military.

Thank you Arkansas Army Mom for bringing this story to our attention.

Fingernails and Broccoli Salad: My Youngest Son's Wedding

My baby got married on Saturday, February 21st, 2009. It was a small intimate affair with just family and a few close friends. It was at the home of the bride's (Flower Child) mother E and stepfather J. Their house is in a rural area in the desert southwest and truly was the perfect setting. The bride's stepfather is an ordained minister who officiated the ceremony and the bride's mother served as her matron of honor. The groom's older brother, LCpl Honda served as best man.

We all arrived caravan style at the home of the bride's mother E. Me and Corvette, LCpl Honda, Cinderella, Tango, Butterfly, LollyPop Kid, Grandma M and Grandpa Dingdon. We met E and J and they made us feel so comfortable. The house was decorated in pink and white rose petals and there was a beautiful altar in the Arizona room complete with candles and flowers.

Soon Corvette and I were seated in the front row with Grandma and Grandpa behind us followed by Cinderella and Tango. Hippy Guy's (the Groom) best friends from childhood and Butterfly filled in the other side.

The music started and we all waited in anticipation of the arrival of the bride. She soon emerged on the arm of her stepfather aka minister (dual role) and I could see the emotion on her face. I turned to look at my son and I saw the happiness in his eyes. The ceremony began and I had worried that would be a blubbering ninny but to my surprise, oh yes there were tears rolling out of both me and Corvette!

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, especially their personal vows. My son was so eloquent and my daughter-in-law was so incredible and funny. My heart took a picture!

After the ceremony we all hugged and just felt the love. The reception was fun. We danced and ate and drank a bit. I watched my son and his bride dance. We even had a Conga line led by Butterfly and with the big, bad Marine bringing up the rear! I saw Tango and Cinderella dancing a bit and I know I want to see more of that! LollyPop kid gorged on baby carrots. Hippie Guy's best friends from childhood told so many jokes that we were all in stitches. When the bride and groom were feeding each other cake, the bride's fingernail came off in the groom's mouth! It was so funny and yes we have pictures!

You are probably wondering what broccoli salad has to do with anything. Well, I was supposed to bring it to the wedding and guess what? Yep, I forgot it at my house. But, I do digress, there was a lot of people at my house and hey at least it wasn't the rings!

I feel very blessed. My baby got married. God bless you Hippie Guy and Flower Child!

XOXOXOXOXO

The morning of the wedding. Time to say, "See you soon my love!"

Ok. Yes this is my Marine. The night before dancing the Jig. OMG there is video too!

The great tie dilema. Thank God Tango finally saved the day!

Grandma M helping Big B with his shirt.

LollyPop Kid was done before we even started!

Grandma M, Butterfly & Grandpa DingDon

Grandpa DingDon & Butterfly

Me & Butterfly

The alter at the wedding site

Can you believe there is a spa behind that? Beautiful setting.

A view from behind, Grandma M, Grandpa DingDon, Cinderella & Tango

The paparazzi aka Hippie's best friends from childhood and Butterfly.

Waiting for the Bride. My Boys, Hippie Guy and his best man LCpl Honda

Ahh, the Bride and her stepfather also known as the Minister!
Let the Wedding Begin!

Reciting his vows. So eloquent! My son is a poet and I didn't know it!

Reciting her vows. So beautiful and funny! I have a new daughter!

More vows and exchanging of the rings.


Lighting the Unity Candle.

You may kiss the Bride!

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Hippie Guy!

The toast.

The Cake.

Oops, honey there is a fingernail in my mouth!



The Dance.

Let me just say that my son's wedding was a wonderful, intimate affair. Everyone was so happy and we all had a great time. This was a very special day for Corvette and I.

Our hearts took many pictures.

It's a Catspiracy

I was talking to few people at work and we got on the subject of cats. What we learned was we all have a cat that wakes us up at 4:00 in the morning to eat. Some of the cats jump on us while some stand on our backs. Other cats knead their paws on us but then some just reach out and smack us in the face. My cat has even gone as far to knock over a glass of water on the night stand in order to wake me up. One time she woke up my dog because she knows I won't ignore him since he will hike his leg if given the chance. I thought that was pretty inventive.

What I wonder is how come they all wake up at 4:00? Is this an agreed upon rule? Is it passed on from mother to kitten.

"Hey don't forget my little one to torture your owner at 4:00 am everyday. Weekends included."

So I have this video and watch and see if this is your cat too!



Don't forget to hide all your lethal weapons in your bedroom. It's only a matter of time...

My First Post On Parent's Zone

As promised I am putting up the link to my first post at Parent's Zone. As I posted yesterday, I have been asked to contribute to this blog. There are many interesting people there with lots to say so please visit often. You can find my post here.

Almost Famous

Probably not but I am so excited because I have been asked to contribute to a blog called Parent's Zone The blog focuses on parents of military members, the ups the downs, advice and support for each other. They also have a great resource section. I have yet to meet a military mom that is not hungry for info about what their child has embarked on. When Cinderella enlisted I did not have access to the internet so I did not know a whole lot. After LCpl Honda entered boot camp I found a message board and through other parent's posts I almost knew what he was doing before he did it.

I do think I am going to have fun participating in this blog. I already have fun with mine. I want to take a minute and thank everyone at Parents Zone for including me and "discovering" me!

My first post will be up tonight. And I will post a link when it appears. In the meantime you can read my intro written by LAW here. LAW is a blogger too and you can read her blog here.

Oh yea, my handle on Parents Zone is ProudMom3, of course.

Desert Snow

Well, we almost got a snow day here in the desert southwest. The news kept predicting the snow levels would fall to 2500 feet or less and it is 2600 here so we were waiting and hoping.

Now I know all you people in colder climates and wondering if I am crazy. Only sometimes and it doesn't pertain to snow. Snow is a novelty here. It is not a hardship. So when it comes we desert people get excited.

I went to bed but no snow, I awoke this morning and drum roll please: Ah, just a little bit. Oh well. Corvette's truck had some snow on it and there was just a little in the yard but other parts received more. Here's some pictures from the internet. I took some at the house but for some reason did not turn out. Oh well.

One Crappy Week

I am going to take a minute to vent and wallow in some self-pity. I am not normally that kind of person but I have a good excuse which I will elaborate on in a minute. Several things happened this week that just totally sucked.

1. We lost the Superbowl. It was so exciting to have our Cardinals even make it there. The game itself was very exciting and I really thought we had a chance. Right up to the end when Pittsburgh scored the final touchdown. I must say that I thought the Cardinals played an excellent game. They gave Pittsburgh a run for their money and should be proud.

2. Overtime was cut at work. I was expecting this but it is going to hurt a little. On the other hand I am glad I still have a job. But now it is probably back to clipping coupons, unplugging everything in my house and possibly canceling Netflicks. I am so going to miss Six Feet Under and all my other HBO favorites.

3. My cat Angelina threw up on my tile and now the grout is stained. Wonderful.

4. Work called another meeting to tell us that if we even go over a 10th of an hour we will be in trouble. TROUBLE WTF. And it doesn't matter that our time clock has mind of it's own and sometimes it either taketh away or giveth away. And to top that off we are now getting swipe cards to get in the door which is good for security but they plan to monitor how many times we go out and in. You see the restrooms are in the lobby so we have to go out and in. There is probably 50 people in my office so there is a lot of traffic. Next up will probably be limited restroom use and fifty lashes.

5. The next thing deals with a female problem so if there is any guys out there just look away if need be. I am in the throes of menopause. This is the excuse for my bit-o-self pity. My symptoms are pretty severe at this time and I going to start treating that soon. I think the worst is lack of sleep due to sweating all night. So Thursday morning at 4am my cat started meowing. I was in one of my rare 15 minutes of sleep when Corvette decides to wake me up and ask me what he should do. What he should do? Nothing I said. But what if she pees in here? he says. THERE IS A CAT BOX!!!!! Hope the neighbors didn't hear me. I digress, unfortunately I have a very short temper right now and he woke me up. One side note: I later apologized to him for yelling but made it clear not to wake me up again. I don't care is the roof is falling in. Leave me alone already.

So that was my crappy week. I am glad it is Friday. I need to be away from work. I need my cat to keep her dinner down but mostly I need to sleep.

Oh, What A Wonderful Day! Part 1

I had the fortunate privilege to be Maid of Honor at my best friend N's wedding this past Saturday. Since she is now married I am going to call her Mrs. P and her husband Mr. P. I don't know if I can describe how special and beautiful this day was, but I will certainly try.

It all started on Friday when I arrived at Mr. & Mrs P's house. Once there I met some of Mr. P's relatives which included two of his brothers, Colorado and Texas as well as Mrs Colorado, Mrs. Texas and one lovely little baby I will call Sweet Pea. And I know there was another brother and his wife there but I think I only met them briefly. What can I say, there was a houseful so I hope I am not missing anyone. Also there were Mrs. P's sons MSFAM D & MSFAM A

(MSFAM=My sons from another mother).

As well as MSFAM A's wife Lovely J and their beautiful children Big K, Medium K & Little K. I also was privileged to meet my new "boyfriend" Cool M. He is a long time friend of Mr. P's and is an absolute gem of a person, but more on that later.

So on Friday we feasted on ribs, rice and green beans then lit a fire in the backyard and managed to kill off a whole bag of marshmallows. The next morning (wedding day) I came back and the kitchen was alive with breakfast cooking. Mrs. Colorado, Mrs. Texas, Mrs P & me participated in a whirlwind of eggs, bacon & hash browns. We also traded secrets for cooking hash browns. I found I was not the only person who has a hash brown problem. While the cooking was progressing the men where in the garage doing "man things" and building a box to send a giant T-Rex head back to Texas. (Don't ask all I can say is it has something to do with paintball.)

After breakfast we all sort of went our separate ways to get ready. Mrs P went to get her face and hair done. I went to my hotel to get ready and OMG Texas and the Mrs. commenced working on the wedding feast which included at least six crockpots of meat, huge cartons of mashed potatoes and I don't know how much corn. These two should get an award for their ginormous effort that day. Of course everybody else pitched in and helped but in the end they kicked us all out of the kitchen and pulled off the whole affair. The only small setback was the crockpots kept blowing the circuit breakers so they had to be moved to different parts of the house. I learned meat cooked in the bedroom is just as good as meat cooked in the kitchen.

Soon the time for wedding was upon us and as the guests started to arrive it was so wonderful to see Mrs P's parents and other relatives and friends. Next we went for a small rehearsal. The wedding was in a small park next to the P's house and it was the perfect setting. Finally after everyone had arrived and was in place the wedding began. The wedding party included the bride and the groom, me and C the groom's best friend and best man, Mrs P's two nephews so dapper in their tuxes, Big K and medium K dressed in pink and blue and the two MSFAM escorting their mother down the aisle.

The ceremony was so moving and inspiring. We faced the guests and as I sneaked a few looks at the friends and family my heart took a picture. But the best part was watching these two people take their vows and watching the love light in their eyes and the eyes of the people standing with them. Ohh, I can't wait to see the video!!! Also just let me say that the Pastor was the best! He was funny, personable and so sweet. We all loved him! He made the ceremony so personal and special.

So once the license was signed we were finally off to the reception. I rode with the Bride and Groom so I wasn't sure exactly how to get into the hall for the reception and I was supposed to walk in before them and announce their arrival. Well being the goober that I am I tried to open an exit thinking it was the way to go and guess what? I tripped an alarm on the door. #@&*#*%*@ crap!!!! Oh well what can I say?

Since this is getting really long I am going to stop now and post some pics that I have. Unfortunately since I was either taking pictures or in pictures I did not get alot of the good shots, but I hope to acquire them soon. So when I get them I will post part 2. It is worth the wait. Trust me.

I took so many pictures so I just picked out a choice few. There will be more in part 2 and there might have to be part 3...

This is MSFAM D and and medium K

This is MSFAM A and Little K. Notice a theme here?

Ahh. This is Sweet Pea

This is Cool M. My most awesome new "boyfriend".

And I give you the Bride!

The Bride, the Groom and some of her family.

The Paparazzi

The Bride, Groom, Me and the Best Man. I think this was a pause between pictures. You know those paparazzi, they are everywhere.

Maid of Honor signing the license.

Best Man signing too.

And the happy couple signing their lives away! Just kidding.

I am going to end with this for now. It speaks for it's self.