<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542</id><updated>2011-04-21T18:21:05.414-04:00</updated><category term='exercise'/><category term='zumba'/><category term='sanity'/><category term='recovery'/><category term='addiction'/><category term='condoms'/><category term='rubbers'/><category term='drug use'/><category term='abandonment'/><category term='funny'/><category term='neglect'/><category term='absent'/><category term='fustration'/><category term='bad mothers'/><category term='oops'/><category term='new'/><category term='college'/><category term='kickboxing'/><category term='crack'/><category term='info'/><category term='first'/><category term='inauguration'/><category term='semester'/><category term='angry'/><category term='life'/><category term='teenagers'/><category term='mommy sories'/><category term='parents'/><category term='sex'/><category term='forgotten'/><category term='begining'/><category term='start'/><category term='family'/><category term='about me'/><category term='speech'/><category term='Obama'/><category term='YMCA'/><category term='my story'/><category term='drugs'/><category term='kids'/><category term='meth'/><title type='text'>Ups, Downs, &amp; Arounds</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>21</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-1557947710866989318</id><published>2009-02-02T21:36:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-02-02T21:44:37.998-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Who wants the Clap for Valentines Day???</title><content type='html'>okay so this is a just as equally humorous mommy story, except that this happened shortly before Christmas.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm studying for my Microbiology Final and I was searching for things (microbes and the like) and I came across this site : http://www.giantmicrobes.com/.  I started looking at what they had for sale and being the Geek that I am, thought it was a FANTASTIC idea!  My daughter comes up behind me and sees the stuffed animals, the following conversation ensues:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Brooklyn:  What '&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;cha&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;doin&lt;/span&gt; mommy?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  just looking at stuff...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;B:  what kinda stuff?....&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;OOO&lt;/span&gt; what's that??&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  That??  It's AIDS.  Why?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;B:  AIDS?  Mommy can I have AIDS for Christmas???&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;OMFG&lt;/span&gt;!!  I couldn't STOP laughing!!!  Does that make me sick???  Needless to say, she stood right next to me as I viewed the rest of the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;plushies&lt;/span&gt; and proceeded to as me if she could also have the Clap and Salmonella for Christmas as well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now that you have peed your pants you can all go and buy one of these wonderful &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;plushies&lt;/span&gt; for all your friends!  I can see how this could be GREAT fun at the office party or Secret Santa!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Till Next time!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"&gt;Muah&lt;/span&gt;!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-1557947710866989318?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/1557947710866989318/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/02/who-wants-clap-for-valentines-day.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/1557947710866989318'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/1557947710866989318'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/02/who-wants-clap-for-valentines-day.html' title='Who wants the Clap for Valentines Day???'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-6226267040114061064</id><published>2009-02-01T16:25:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-02-01T16:38:04.170-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sex'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rubbers'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='teenagers'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mommy sories'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='life'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='condoms'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='funny'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='family'/><title type='text'>Rubbers</title><content type='html'>So I had to vacuum because I'm having company over to watch the Bowl - ugh.  I have a bagless and it needs to be emptied because of course my son, who used it last when he cleaned his room, hadn't.  I see something yellow... WTF??  it's a condom!  He FUCKING vacuumed it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm outside emptying the cylinder now. Son comes outside; the following conversation ensues:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ME: Next time you vacuum your room, don't fucking vacuum up any more condoms!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;SON: (reddened face) ..buh, I  didn't...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ME:  You used the vacuum last didn't you???&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Son:  well, yeah, but...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ME:  We'll your father and I sure as hell don't use those and I doubt your father is cheating on me; so please, next time you clean your room DON'T vacuum up your condoms!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;SON: (laughing) but, I , didn't...well, I didn't mean to...  I didn't do anything with it&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ME:  This isn't funny, you do that again and it breaks the fucking vacuum - you're buying us a new one!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, before this entire conversation/yelling incident occurred outside the house on the front lawn, my 5 year old sees me pull said condom out of the vacuum bin as says "Is that a RUBBER????"  I inform her that yes indeed it is a rubber and tell her to take it to daddy so he can see it!  (LOL)  (It wasn't used or anything - it just had dust and dirt from the vacuum on it)  Ken sees it and says "EWWW  where'd you get that?!?!?"  "From mommy - it was in the vacuum - do you like my balloon Daddy??"  "No!, now go throw that away and wash your hands!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, you may be wondering why I'm not horrified that a condom came out of my 14 year old sons room.  Well for one, that means if he is sexually active - which i seriously doubt, at least he's using protection.  And 2 I was sexually active at his age, so it really wouldn't surprise me if he was.  So that was my funny mommy story for the day and just thought I should share!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Muah!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-6226267040114061064?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/6226267040114061064/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/02/rubbers.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/6226267040114061064'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/6226267040114061064'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/02/rubbers.html' title='Rubbers'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-4421640683184862560</id><published>2009-01-28T08:12:00.005-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-28T09:38:04.742-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='my story'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='crack'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='recovery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='drugs'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='meth'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='addiction'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='about me'/><title type='text'>Crack is Whack, Yo!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SYBtVe5k_rI/AAAAAAAAANc/FjXc4gbSfqc/s1600-h/large_CrackSun.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SYBtVe5k_rI/AAAAAAAAANc/FjXc4gbSfqc/s320/large_CrackSun.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296353377626947250" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:lucida grande;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;After some serious thought, I've decided to share some fairly personal information.  My life was not always as it is now.  Actually I grew up in a divorced home, but I was a well-off, happy kid.  Did great in school.  Got accepted to 3 or 4 colleges right out of high school. (Northwestern Illinois and Arizona State to name a couple) Shortly after I graduated high school (Lyons Township High School in Illinois) my parents decided that they were going to sell the Chicago house and move to the Englewood, FL house.  I said "Eww I don't want to move to FL.  Can I go live with Dad?" and I ended up in NJ.  (I know WHAT was I thinking??)  So I moved in with my Dad, got some piddly jobs and started going to college again. (I had been attending The University of Illinois-Chicago and then College of DuPage before)  Then I met Boy#1.  Boy #1 was very nice, shy, quiet, liked Hockey, and had apparently never had a girlfriend before.  I met him online.  We hit it off pretty good and well, we were together for 3 years. (I think)  Eventually I ended up moving in with him (he still lived at home).  We were like 19.  I had started working at a police station as a dispatcher and things were good.  Life was good.  But as karma would have it, we drifted apart.  This is where things get graphic and Rated -R.  I meet Boy #2.  Also via the Internet.  Boy #2 is a BAD boy.  Boy #2 has spent time in prison for assault with a deadly weapon.  Boy #2 is COVERED in tattoos and Boy #2 is a BULLSHIT artist.  Of course, I don't realize any of this until .... 4 years AFTER I meet him!  Boy #1 and I break up, amicably, and I start seeing Boy #2.  Boy #2 and I get a place together, I get 4 tattoos and a piercing, Boy #2 buys (read steals from his dealer) the BEST dog I've ever had; Boy #2 tells me that his son (yeah) and ex are moving to FL and he wants to go too (yeah); I say okay!, resign from the PD and we head to FL.  We head to FL with no money, no job prospects and no where to live and, oh yeah, in the  brad new car that I had just LEASED because I had this GREAT job at a PD.  By this time I had started smoking weed daily.  Not for any other reason except that it was there - he had it.  Hell there was always at least a "brick" in my freezer - he was selling it.  Yes, in case you were wondering, we made the trip down here with LOTS of weed - Thank GOD we didn't get caught.  We did actually get pulled over. THAT was scary.  To speed things up a bit.... Over the course of our "relationship" i held meaningless jobs because we were constantly moving from place to place.  He maintained his "profession" of "pharmacist" -  and let me be the FIRST to day that #2 was the shitty-ist businessman EVER!  At one point because we had no other place to live we lived with his Ex.  Yup, that's right!  I've also lived in a car and in a tent with #2.  For a little while, #2 managed to hold a decent job with a plumbing company&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;, but then some tools came up missing..... so back to "pharmacist" he went.  He convinced me that if we moved away from where we were at the time, we could start over.  So we went to Okeechobee.  Again i got a piddly job at the Dunkin Donuts there.  We had NO vehicle, were living on the porch of a Meth addict, and my boss was gracious enough to pick me up and take me home everyday.   Next thing I know we're now living in the house of the kid making the meth and , you guessed it, we're doing it.  Now this didn't seem like a huge step for me.  I'd already, by this point, tried acid, crack, cocaine, and Ecstasy (this should TOTALLY be legal).  The people we knew were shooting it.  Not me!  Hell no!  Comes to be that the people we were living with got busted and we sorta stayed living in their house for a while because #2 charmed the pants of this couples mother who lived next door.  #2 thinks that he should still try and sell this kids product so we can have money.  He dicks some guy over, the guy breaks into the house and what does he steal??  MY FUCKING DOG! YES, my pure-bread American Staffordshire Terrier, who was all white!  My FUCKING PIT!  ASSHOLE!  why take my shit when Asshole was the one who screwed you over???!??!?  Well the dude thought that #2 loved me enough to make amends to get my dog back - nope.  He was wrong.  He did how ever get the awesomest dog alive from it.  We snorting, smoking, eating Meth on a daily basis now.  Meth causes you to not sleep, not be hungry, and not be thirsty.  I was forcing myself to eat and drink.  I think I ate mac -n- cheese and drank kool-aid for like a month.  After like a week long binge, I finally  crashed and slept. I slept for 20 hours (this is "normal").  I got up went to work at DD, came home and slept again till the next day when I had to work.  This pattern went on for like 4 days.  I started to kinda freak.  I was wondering what the hell was wrong with me.  I insisted that I had fucked something up inside while taking meth, so I went to the clinic.  Told the doc what was going on with me and asked what was wrong.  Doc ran some tests and advised me that nothing was wrong I was just pregnant.  5 months pregnant!  Oh shit!  I'd been doing all those drugs during the most important stages of fetal development!  So i yanked my head so far outta my ass and said this is it - NO MORE!  I tell my parents (my mom) and she says so what.  (I had burned her bridge so many times before this that I kinda expected her to react that way)  We end up moving back in with #2 mom.  He gets back in with is old buddies and into the Crack scene.  I'm 8 months pregnant and smoking crack in his mothers upscale condo.  I'm not using everyday, but once is enough.  And it was more than once.  I'm clean for month 9.  I guess I should mention that I had a job I  LOVE at a party store making balloon decorations like centerpieces and balloon arches, and stuff like that.  I worked there up until the day I delivered.  #2 managed to get arrested for possession of cocaine when I was 7 months preggers.  He got put on probation and was supposed to attend rehab as part of it.  Brooklyn is born.  We have to move out of his mothers because the condo association is complaining.  We go from hotel to hotel.  We're now at one where we pay weekly.  I'm working at Arby's.  He's still selling.  Oh yeah, I left something out.  Before we got this hotel we had gone to this place for assistance in finding housing and they made us both take drug tests.  He was positive for marijuana and cocaine.  I was positive for cocaine.  My daughter was 1 month old.  Child services was involved.  I had 2 options give her to the state or sign her over to his mother.  i chose option 2.  We also had to attend outpatient drug counseling.  This was the deal breaker.  Because I had helped him with a deal - I tested positive .  I had been holding his dope (crack) in my mouth. I complied with Child Services - hell if they had told me I had to kill someone to get her back I would have.  I was on the phone with my Investigator daily.  To the point where he told me to stop calling him.  He would ask me about #2 and he hadn't changed.  He was still selling and still using.  We were now living with a dealer friend of his and I was working for Sketchers.  The child services case was dropped because we complied so well and our random drug screens (that were NOT random) had all been clean.  #2 decides that he was going to check himself into rehab.  (remember he needed to do this as a condition of his probation anyway).  He thinks that if he goes on his own - it will look better for him.  I go to visit him, I'm still living with the dealer friend of his, and when I come back - the apartment is EMPTY.  I mean EVERYTHING gone.  Everything except for my daughters things, thank God, and my stuff.  I guess at least he was thoughtful enough not to take our stuff. I guess.  I freak out! Call the cops, Call #2 in rehab (he's not supposed to get any calls, but I figured this qualified as an emergency), call #2's mom.  I end up calming down.  While living in this apartment we had made friends with some guys that were living in the apt below us, mainly because they smoked weed.  But #2 had decided that this bunch of guys was responsible enough to watch our 2 month old daughter when he went to go sell.  And one of them was.  He's #3.  I tell #3 that I have to get away from #2.  #3 tells me that #2 treats me like shit and that I shouldn't put up with it and that it's now way for me or my daughter to live.  Now mind you my parents had told me this THOUSANDS of times and I didn't listen.  But this time it hit home, sank in and I wanted OUT!  #3 tells me that in 1 week he'll be going to New Mexico to go home and help his mom out and asks me if i want to go too.  I see this as the ultimate opportunity to get out!  I jump on it.  I tell No one.  I don't elude to it to #2 or to his mother.  I call my mother and tell her what is going on.  She begs me to just come home - they can help me.  I explain to her that I understand they can, but I need to get out of Florida, but that i would stop and see her on my way to NM.   So a week later, I had chosen what I though was important enough to bring and #3 and I were headed to NM.  I was there for a month.  Then I needed to go home.  I went to my mothers.  I was home.  I basically start my life all over again.  My parents got me a car, i got a  job and I met Ken.  I met him thru Match.com.    We've been through a lot together.  His divorce, my almost dying, his almost dying, getting Brooklyn's biological father's parental rights revoked, getting married and adopting Brooklyn.  We will be through a lot more together.  He is my rock.  I've been sober for 5 years now.  It's a good feeling and for me it's not really a daily struggle.  It's a choice and and easy one at that.  Why would I ever want the life I had??  How easy of a choice is that?  I can't say that doing what I did was all bad.  If either of my kids are high - i'll fucking know.  I know what weed smells like, I know what burning cocaine smells like, I know what meth smells like, I know what Crack smells like.  I know the paraphernalia for all looks like.  I know the code names for all of them.  I was immersed in the culture - I know it!&lt;br /&gt;I'm not so worried about Matt, because his mom has her own issues with this subject and he despises her and what she does. But, Brooklyn had the tendencancy for addictions that comes from both sides, although, she does display the leader attitude so she might be okay.&lt;br /&gt;sorry this is so long.  It actually should have been MUCH longer.  I left out quite a bit.  Something in me decided that this should be shared.  Feel free to ask me any questions as i have NO shame in talking about this period of my life.  I actually enjoy them.  :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-4421640683184862560?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/4421640683184862560/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/crack-is-whack-yo.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/4421640683184862560'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/4421640683184862560'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/crack-is-whack-yo.html' title='Crack is Whack, Yo!'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SYBtVe5k_rI/AAAAAAAAANc/FjXc4gbSfqc/s72-c/large_CrackSun.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-6605833993384568420</id><published>2009-01-24T19:40:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-24T19:54:27.490-05:00</updated><title type='text'>It's a good thing if it hurts</title><content type='html'>As I mentioned last post - I joined the YMCA.  I went to my first class on Tuesday and I hurt until yesterday!Last night I went to a Yoga class.  I went with my sister, Liz, and well, it was interesting.  First of all we were the youngest ones in the class - by 30-40 years!!!! (She's 16 years younger than I am)  So, there we are, doing our stretches when I realize the music that is playing in the background is actually The Lord's Prayer!  Which is fine if you're in church, but um, HELLO! this is the Y folks!   It says nowhere in the class description that we would be exposed to such things.  We also took time out in class to "pray" and count our blessings.  Now I understand that Yoga has a spiritual component to it, but if that is going to be included in the lesson - I think that it should be included in the course description.  There was no working out today because the Y closes at, get this, 5 on Saturdays!  Apparently people don't work out after 5 on the weekend. &lt;sigh&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On all other fronts: the kids are good, hubby is busy working on schoolwork, cat is a pain in the ass (but cute as hell), and I'm still up to date on my school work and understanding it all - yay!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wow, this was a stretch for a post - I have no creative juice left in my body for this after doing English homework :( &lt;br /&gt;Sorry for the crappy post...till next time!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Muah!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-6605833993384568420?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/6605833993384568420/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/its-good-thing-if-it-hurts.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/6605833993384568420'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/6605833993384568420'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/its-good-thing-if-it-hurts.html' title='It&apos;s a good thing if it hurts'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-1960843082461379159</id><published>2009-01-20T12:37:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-20T13:06:08.189-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Obama'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='speech'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='zumba'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='exercise'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='YMCA'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='kickboxing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='inauguration'/><title type='text'>There are muscles where??</title><content type='html'>I did it.  I joined the YMCA near my house.  I went to my first class today.  FitBall &amp; Sculpt.  Well I can tell you that I now know that I have muscles in places I didn't think they could exist.  I also learned something more unpleasant - I really need to work on doing some ore Kegel exercises.  Jumping Jacks are NOT my friend!  I didn't realize that my pelvic muscles were THAT weak!    The class was AWESOME though!  I worked hard; broke a sweat and plan on going back on Thursday!  My husband, Kenny, says he'll be surprised if I'll even be able to walk tomorrow - I'm kinda scared.  I must have worked every muscle group from my abs down.  We used the balance ball and just did various balances, lifts, and other moves that targeted EVERY muscle I had!  &lt;br /&gt;My plan is to go 6 days a week.  Not the same class, I'd do this one on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Then on Mondays and Wednesdays I want to do "Zumba", which is a Latin-dance based aerobics and strength class.  On Fridays there is the Intro. to Spin class and then Kickboxing on Saturday mornings!!  I REALLY want to do the Kickboxing class!!!  I just hope I can move by then!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The other thing I need to mention after watching the Presidential Inauguration, President Obama is TRULY an amazing speaker. I was captivated listening to his Inaugural Speech.  I'm  not going to analyze his speech - I'm not the  right person to do that.  I have not enough experience or the knowledge to do so.  I'm just amazed in the President's ability to give speeches.  I wish I had that confidence and ability for speech.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I shall update you more frequently with my exercise stories - which could possibly be quite funny - maybe if you're lucky!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-1960843082461379159?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/1960843082461379159/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/there-are-muscles-where.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/1960843082461379159'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/1960843082461379159'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/there-are-muscles-where.html' title='There are muscles where??'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-8251366777138008695</id><published>2009-01-14T09:14:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-14T09:14:16.636-05:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;p width="100%" align="center"&gt;&lt;embed pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://www.yourminis.com/Dir/GetContainer.api?uri=yourminis/twittermoms/mini:tmnetwork"  wmode="transparent" width="210" height="210" FlashVars="fontsize=12&amp;cr=10&amp;dividerVis=0&amp;view=full&amp;appparam=http%3A%2F%2Fblogsearch%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fblogsearch%5Ffeeds%3Fhl%3Den%26scoring%3Dd%26q%3Dlink%3Awww%2Etwittermoms%2Ecom%26ie%3Dutf%2D8%26num%3D25%26output%3Drss&amp;auth=&amp;numberlines=5&amp;subtext=0&amp;inline=0&amp;tooltips=1&amp;newwindow=1&amp;mininame=tmnetwork&amp;textcolor=13123841&amp;imgalpha=34&amp;color=8130817&amp;fontstyle=Cambria&amp;isPlaying=true&amp;skinimage=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Etwittermoms%2Ecom&amp;inlineview=false&amp;appparam2=anchor%20and%20bird%20%20four%20years%20exactlyqQqanchor%2520and%2520bird%2520%2520four%2520years%2520exactlyqQqanchor%2520and%2520bird%2520%2520four%2520years%2520exactlyqQqanchor%2520and%2520bird%2520%2520four%2520years%2520exactlyqQqanchor%2520and%2520bird%2520%2520four%2520years%2520exactlyqQqanchor%2520and%2520bird%2520%2520four%2520years%2520exactlyqQqanchor%2520and%2520bird%2520%2520four%2520years%2520exactlyqQqanchor%2520and%2520bird%2520%2520four%2520years%2520exactlyqQqanchor%2520and%2520bird%2520%2520four%2520years%2520exactlyqQqanchor%2520and%2520bird%2520%2520four%2520years%2520exactl&amp;uri=yourminis%2Ftwittermoms%2Fmini%3Atmnetwork&amp;swfurl=%2Fwidget%5Frsscontainer%2Eswf&amp;width=200&amp;xwidth=210&amp;height=200&amp;xheight=210&amp;title=TwitterMoms%20Blog%20Network&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.twittermoms.com" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter Moms: The Influential Moms Network&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-8251366777138008695?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/8251366777138008695/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/twitter-moms-influential-moms-network.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/8251366777138008695'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/8251366777138008695'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/twitter-moms-influential-moms-network.html' title=''/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-6334809521000133963</id><published>2009-01-11T08:14:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-11T09:10:08.397-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='semester'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='college'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='absent'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='forgotten'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='oops'/><title type='text'>Come on! Hang out here with me under my rock!</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;Hi my name is Nicole and it's been 7 days since my last post.&lt;br /&gt;Seriously where does the time go??  Not a whole lot has happened to my clan throughout the week.&lt;br /&gt;Ken and I went up to school to get our school books since classes start tomorrow.  He's already done with the assignments for his programming class - thru MARCH! (NERD) I'm trying to be good and not fall behind, so I've started assignments in Both my English class and my Medical Terminology class.  Those are my 2 online classes this semester.  I have 2 other classes that I actually have to go to campus for and those are Spanish 2 and Art History 1 - ewwww.&lt;br /&gt;So let's start by discussing my English class.  I have to pass it to graduate.  It's a "Gordon Rule" class (which means it goes towards the some 24,000 words I need to write to graduate).  This is the 3rd attempt I've made at it.  It's all about analyzing short stories and poetry and crap!&lt;br /&gt;Now I didn't fail my first 2 times around.  I actually withdrew myself.  Once because there was this MAJOR group project assigned and my "teammates" were all like 18 (literally).  they had all just graduated from the same school and were already all buddy buddy.  Which is cool, except for the fact that they wanted to sped EVERY weekend together.  None of them worked, they ALL lived at home with their parents, none of them had kids and well - I'm not into sleepovers and pot anymore.  Although sometimes I wonder if i should reconsider that last one.  And the second time I withdrew was this past summer.  I has signed up to take the class online, in 6 weeks.  I had also signed up for the Art History class.  The English got dropped because well, we were in Disney World -  who wants to do homework while they're on vacation??  I mean we walked around Epcot all day and then I was supposed to go back to our hotel room, read some crappy sonnet, and then make discussion board posts in response to it?? I don't think so! All I wanted to do was rest up so we could go back to the park at nite!  the Art History  class got dropped 1. becuase it too was a Gordon Rule class and 2. because of that it required me to write a 10 page paper.  Now 10 pages, that's not bad.  But I also had Art History 2 - with the same teacher, same Gordon Rule requirements, and in the same 6 week time frame.  Yeah that would be 2 10 page papers in 6 weeks.  I'm not the paper writing type.  I don't know what i was thinking - I just REALLy wanted that Degree.  Maybe if I had had some Meth for those weeks, MAYBE, I could have finished all that work - but not alone.  I was so crazy for even trying. so where was I even going with this?? OH yeah, my current English class.&lt;br /&gt;It's online and it's already starting to fill up my binder with papers!   Not one's that I've written, but ones that the teacher is filling up with instructions and stuff.  I only have ne assignment left for the orientation module - to write a response to someone else's discussion board post, but there arent any new ones.  There are some 50 kids in this class - 3 of us have posted so far.  I think, that if I blog more regularly, my blog posts should count towards the 24,000 words I need to write to graduate!&lt;br /&gt;The first "Unit" we're doing is Peotry - UGH!  The Haiku! WTF is a Haiku?!?  I mean I know what it is - but WHY?  What's the point??  I'm going to HATE this class, but I'm trying not to because if  I let my hatred get un the way I'll never graduate.&lt;br /&gt;The Medical Language Terminology class, HA!  Easy Peasy Japaneesy!  Like who doesn't know what AB/NORM/AL means??  That's right abnormal.  It's a medical term meaning "pertaining to away from the norm".  Or how about what an ANTI/TUSS/IVE is for??  All you moms out there know this one I'm sure! It's just a big fancy word for "an agent that works against coughing".  Like cough suryp!  How about GASTERO/ENTERO/LOGY?  Yup, that's right!  That's the "study of the stomach and intestines"!  I'm sure it gets harder somewhere along the line, but right now this is GREAT!  The fact that I worked in a hospital for a year and the Microbiology class I had last semester will probably help out a lot for this class!&lt;br /&gt;So that's what I've been up to.  Getting prepared for this semester to start, working, and just hanging out.  I hadn't forgotten about this blog - I just couldn't find the time to write anything.  Not that this is all that great, but it's something.&lt;br /&gt;I'll try my best to keep up with regular posts for my 3 adoring fans!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-6334809521000133963?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/6334809521000133963/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/come-on-hang-out-here-with-me-under-my.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/6334809521000133963'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/6334809521000133963'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/come-on-hang-out-here-with-me-under-my.html' title='Come on! Hang out here with me under my rock!'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-1011069935060203912</id><published>2009-01-04T18:53:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-04T18:53:57.325-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Tree</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3168761588/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/3168761588_47fa409c00_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3168761588/"&gt;005&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nicolesmeier/"&gt;Mommielicious&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;I have taken more - yes more pictures - you may all see them on flickr.com&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-1011069935060203912?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/1011069935060203912/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/tree.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/1011069935060203912'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/1011069935060203912'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/tree.html' title='Tree'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/3168761588_47fa409c00_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-463819257845576783</id><published>2009-01-02T09:22:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-02T09:45:37.682-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Me, Wasn't I cute??</title><content type='html'>I have no pos&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SV4k57B4GqI/AAAAAAAAANA/KsR1ihmlyHM/s1600-h/Me+3+years+old+again.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SV4k57B4GqI/AAAAAAAAANA/KsR1ihmlyHM/s320/Me+3+years+old+again.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286703590096247458" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;t worthy of the new year so I sill take &lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SV4k5cxvZyI/AAAAAAAAAM4/LVuJ1MMdv9Q/s1600-h/3+years+ols.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SV4k5cxvZyI/AAAAAAAAAM4/LVuJ1MMdv9Q/s320/3+years+ols.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286703581975504674" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;this space and share with you some pictures:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you go to my Flickr account(http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/)   and look at those fotos - you will see that my daughter is unquestionably my "mini-me".  That's awesome!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SV4k5CBzOqI/AAAAAAAAAMw/cm0Hficgmgk/s1600-h/Christmas+%2779.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SV4k5CBzOqI/AAAAAAAAAMw/cm0Hficgmgk/s320/Christmas+%2779.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286703574795106978" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SV4k6MoUCJI/AAAAAAAAANI/nkzXJAPyRkg/s1600-h/Pac+Man.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 250px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SV4k6MoUCJI/AAAAAAAAANI/nkzXJAPyRkg/s320/Pac+Man.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286703594820864146" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-463819257845576783?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/463819257845576783/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/me-wasnt-i-cute.html#comment-form' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/463819257845576783'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/463819257845576783'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/me-wasnt-i-cute.html' title='Me, Wasn&apos;t I cute??'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/SV4k57B4GqI/AAAAAAAAANA/KsR1ihmlyHM/s72-c/Me+3+years+old+again.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-1624220712942598957</id><published>2008-12-29T20:16:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-29T20:35:57.463-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='drug use'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='neglect'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='bad mothers'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='angry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fustration'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='abandonment'/><title type='text'>Happy Birthday!</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;Today is my step-sons 14th Birthday! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We have sole- custody.  She has an "alleged" drug problem.  I say alleged so that I don't get into any trouble for slander or liable.  I could pull court records and arrest records to prove such "allegedness", but I won't.  At any rate, the last time she called to talk to her son was Christmas - OF LAST YEAR!  She saw him on his birthday last year too.  Bought him an iPod shuffle with like ALL her money and told him that was all she had too.  Nice, make your kid feel like shit on his birthday cause you bought him a gift.&lt;br /&gt;Hasn't called all year.  We weren't sure if she was still in the area for a while.  Until I saw her on the County Sherrif arrest site anyways.  So we knew she was at least alive and where she was for a month or so.  But still no letters, no phone calls, no nothing.  Poor kid.  But you know, I think...no I know he's better off without her.&lt;br /&gt;Her father, his grandfather, sees him on a semi-regular basis.  But he has no idea where his mother is either.  Well I mean he has a general idea and tries to "smooth over" (read bullshit us) what's going on with her.  (I think he fails to realize that all that arrest stuff in a matter of public record and I can just go look it up at the courthouse.)&lt;br /&gt;I mean she listed herself as an "unemployed escort" on her arrest record for christ's sake!&lt;br /&gt;Ken's had Matty since he was 7 (maybe 8).  She dropped him off one day (this is what I heard) and said that she had things to take care of.  That was the BEST thing she ever did for her son.  The only inkling of mothering she ever showed in my opinion.  The only selfless thing she's probably ever done.&lt;br /&gt;You would think that after this womans younger sister died (i think it was an overdose - the family says otherwise) while she was in Prison she would learn, but nope! &lt;br /&gt;You would think that after my own issues with drug use, I might be a little more understanding - NOPE!&lt;br /&gt;As soon as I learned I was pregnant - stopped!  That is someone elses life.  I can fuck mine up all i want - not some innocent little one's life!  There's no excuse for what she does.  Especially to Matt.&lt;br /&gt;Shortly after their divorce was finalized, we needed to go back to court to ammend the visitation agreement.  She received Supervised visitation, due to her "drug issues".  (But it's just alleged remember).  We got word thru her father that if she couldn't see her son where and when she wanted - then she didn't want to see him at all.   Nice message to pass along to your child, huh?&lt;br /&gt;At any rate, our lives are just fine without her.  I'm truly sorry for Matt, that he can't enjoy a "normal" relationship with his mother.  But I honestly think he's better off withouth her.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I love Matt.  I hope he doesn't dwell too much that she didn't call.  I hope he had a great day today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Happy Birthday Son!  I love you!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-1624220712942598957?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/1624220712942598957/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/happy-birthday.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/1624220712942598957'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/1624220712942598957'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/happy-birthday.html' title='Happy Birthday!'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-7669514763570184605</id><published>2008-12-28T09:30:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-28T09:30:25.867-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Brooklyn's Toby</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3144272778/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/3144272778_9a5258bed6_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3144272778/"&gt;Brooklyns Pics 059&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nicolesmeier/"&gt;nicolesmeier&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;This is a special post just for Blondefabulous.  You see, she has a Yorkie , who is undeniably adorable.  Well, My daughter Brooklyn, just recently noticed this.  She goes running into her room yelling "I have one of those!"  And promptly shoves this (what you see in the picture) into my face "SEE!".  As a result of seeing Toby, she has renamed her fake puppy Toby.&lt;br /&gt;This fake puppy has its own carrying bag (in picture), collar, leash, coat (in picutre).  This was not a Christmas present.  She has, however, found renewed interest in it ever since realizing that a friend of mine has a real one just like it.&lt;br /&gt;For that Ms. Fabulous, I must thank you.  Toby goes with us EVERYWHERE in her bag.  i get asked to buy dog food for her. And real toys again.  She's even fearful that if Toby and our REAL cat get into a fight - we'll have to get rid of the dog!  Oh to have the imagination of a  year old again!&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-7669514763570184605?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/7669514763570184605/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/brooklyn-toby.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/7669514763570184605'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/7669514763570184605'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/brooklyn-toby.html' title='Brooklyn&amp;#39;s Toby'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/3144272778_9a5258bed6_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-3887413313214547896</id><published>2008-12-25T20:30:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-25T20:30:27.366-05:00</updated><title type='text'>My Pea Coat</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3137041066/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/3137041066_b1e93a2d83_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3137041066/"&gt;My Pea Coat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nicolesmeier/"&gt;nicolesmeier&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;My husband is the best ever!  There were 2 things I wanted - aPea Coat and a new mouse for my computer.  I got BOTH!!  I love him bunches!!!&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-3887413313214547896?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/3887413313214547896/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-pea-coat.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/3887413313214547896'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/3887413313214547896'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-pea-coat.html' title='My Pea Coat'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/3137041066_b1e93a2d83_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-5884969784911682706</id><published>2008-12-25T17:40:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-25T17:40:23.364-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Brooklyns Pics 003</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3136072948/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/3136072948_e12955a7fa_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3136072948/"&gt;Brooklyns Pics 003&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nicolesmeier/"&gt;nicolesmeier&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;These are the sleigh bells that Santa left at our house!!&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-5884969784911682706?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/5884969784911682706/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/brooklyns-pics-003.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/5884969784911682706'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/5884969784911682706'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/brooklyns-pics-003.html' title='Brooklyns Pics 003'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/3136072948_e12955a7fa_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-8257958504061533792</id><published>2008-12-25T17:39:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-25T17:39:11.724-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Brooklyns Pics 031</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3136629050/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/3136629050_c36b0cbb4f_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3136629050/"&gt;Brooklyns Pics 031&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nicolesmeier/"&gt;nicolesmeier&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Poppy in the snow!&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-8257958504061533792?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/8257958504061533792/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/brooklyns-pics-031.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/8257958504061533792'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/8257958504061533792'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/brooklyns-pics-031.html' title='Brooklyns Pics 031'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/3136629050_c36b0cbb4f_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-2654250819713151232</id><published>2008-12-25T17:38:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-25T17:38:28.264-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Brooklyns Pics 016</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3136629336/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3081/3136629336_738a6ce908_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3136629336/"&gt;Brooklyns Pics 016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nicolesmeier/"&gt;nicolesmeier&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;This is the pic she wanted to take of the Yule Log that Blondefabulous made for us!!&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-2654250819713151232?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/2654250819713151232/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/brooklyns-pics-016.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/2654250819713151232'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/2654250819713151232'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/brooklyns-pics-016.html' title='Brooklyns Pics 016'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3081/3136629336_738a6ce908_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-1350980819905265656</id><published>2008-12-25T17:36:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-25T17:36:25.335-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Brooklyns Pics 009</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3135806253/" title="photo sharing"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/3135806253_11db012359_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolesmeier/3135806253/"&gt;Brooklyns Pics 009&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nicolesmeier/"&gt;nicolesmeier&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Our daughter got a camera (well 2) for Christmas this year!  I have taken the liberty of uploading ALL the pics that she took - shom are quite amusing!  Like this one of Viking daddy&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-1350980819905265656?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/1350980819905265656/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/brooklyns-pics-009.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/1350980819905265656'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/1350980819905265656'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/brooklyns-pics-009.html' title='Brooklyns Pics 009'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/3135806253_11db012359_t.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-216090430577567524</id><published>2008-12-22T09:10:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-22T09:41:02.924-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='kids'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='parents'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sanity'/><title type='text'>Am i  a bad parent?</title><content type='html'>I see how others act with their kids.  Well what they want me to see anyways, but I can't help to wonder if I'm alone in how I treat my kids.  Like if I write this, is there some weirdo who will think im being cruel or something and try and turn me in?? &lt;br /&gt;I'm not a lovey dovey mommy.  I'm just not.  I have no patience for small children and this makes me feel like the worlds WORST mother.  I don't want to play tea, or ponies or G I joes either.  I don't bake, I don't clean real well, I'm not that organized, hell I'm still a big lazy kid myself - I'm in college for Chirst's sake!&lt;br /&gt;See as I was growing up - my mother didn't do "Mommy" stuff either. She worked and was out of the house by 7am and home after 5;30pm.  I was a latch key kid in Kindergarten.  Yup that's right, at the age of 5 i was walking home by myself and then waiting for my mom to come home a little after 5:30.  I was also an only child.&lt;br /&gt;Oh sure my mom and I did stuff together like learn how to do the laundry, and the Girl Scouts she forced me to do.  And the church she forced me to attend.  We only attended church because her friends went there and she "taught" the kindergarten Sunday school class.  We are NOT a religious family.  I'm okay with that.&lt;br /&gt;I yell. A lot. A whole lot. She was away for a week and I was glad!  Now I feel wrong. Is it okay to be happy your kids are gone? Does anyone else get sick of their kids or am I the only one? Or am I the only one brave enough to admit they get sick of their kids?  Don;t get me wrong - I love Brooklyn more than anything, but sometimes she drives me INSANE!    It must be her age - 5 - i can get along fine with older kids and babies, but who doesn't love babies?&lt;br /&gt;I don't think that it helps that where ever she goes - shes ALWAYS the center of attention.   Because she thinks that this is the way things need to be at home.  I can't even take a piss w/o her knocking on the door for something ridiculous.  Which is probably precious to to others. But dammit I JUST WANT TO PEE! 2 minutes is all it will take - the precious "I love you" can wait 2 seconds.   But then i get to thinking about the people who would give anything to have their kid be able to pester them while they pee and I feel guilty.  Bad. Wrong.  Ungrateful for what I have, but COME ON! IT'S JUST A PEE!&lt;br /&gt;Constantly she's right behind me, like if I turn around too fast - I'll hurt her - honestly.  I need some space - seriously.  Everyone does.  But I don't get it.  It's maddening. Well for me anyways. &lt;br /&gt;I love it when I have school and I have to go to work - because she can't go with me!  It's like a vacation.  I was not meant for little kids.  I can only tolerate them in small doses.  I give major credit to those with a lot of their own and those who work with them.  I know I could NEVER EVER do it.  I wish I could. I wish I was a better mom.  But this is who I am. But does that make me a bad parent??&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-216090430577567524?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/216090430577567524/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/am-i-bad-parent.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/216090430577567524'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/216090430577567524'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/am-i-bad-parent.html' title='Am i  a bad parent?'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-7697602672492400360</id><published>2008-12-21T10:12:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T16:43:41.952-05:00</updated><title type='text'>I got Accepted to College!</title><content type='html'>I got accepted to University of South Florida (USF) starting this Fall!  I'm sooo excited!   I just HAD to share that!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Okay so I'm sooo bad at hiding presents or surprises.  If i could I'd give presents everyday.  I bought Ken his Christmas present today (the BIG one) and I had to give it to him!  The one sitting in the closet is what he can open on Christmas morning!  I'm horrible.  I have to wait for mine and that's okay.  I'd rather give them, although I LOVE to get presents.  Even my SIL, Michelle, knows what she is getting - I took her to the mall last week to pick out what she wanted!  I think I'm going to have her help me wrap everything up!&lt;br /&gt;I think I'm getting a Pea Coat - that's what I want.  Well, that's what I told him i wanted like 2 months ago.  He went shopping with his mom today to go get my present.  He even saw us (me, Matt, Brooklyn and Michelle) at the Sarasota Mall today.  Funny that we would turn up in the same place.  You know what I couldn't believe?  The number of stores that were going out of business in the mall!  It was creepy! There had to be at least 5 of them.  2 of them were jewelery stores.&lt;br /&gt;Other thoughts:  I want to pierce my face.  More specifically my nose, or on one side of my lip.  Not the Angel Kiss (above the lip) or the Snake Bites (on both sides of the lip) but like on one side on the bottom.  But I doubt that's going to happen :(  Maybe someday.  I had to take out my tongue ring.  For a couple of reasons. 1. It really does mess up your teeth., 2. I couldn't leave it in for any of the jobs I found down here.  It caused no concern at the Police Department I worked at, but Sweetbay says its a distraction and unprofessional.  I can name several professionals that make a lot more money than me who probably have their tongues peirced. and 3. I kinda out grew it - it got old.  I had it in for like 8 years.  Now it's time for something different.  And I'm guessing that if a piercing that one can hardly notice is against the dress code, one that is like right there on your face is out of the question too.  Grr... that sucks.&lt;br /&gt;I want more tattoos!  I need my nautical stars!  These would be okay as far as the job market is concerned because they'd be in the shoulder region, but my husband has requested that i refrain from gettin any more.  I think that this too, sucks.  I'm not sure if this is somewhat of a mid-life crisis thing, or just because I really like this stuff.  Well i really like the tattoos. I wouldn't want to be covered or anything.  I just have a few more ideas that I'd like to have done.&lt;br /&gt;Hmmm.....didn't really convey anything of much merit here.  Just some basic ramblings.  Now that everyone is thoroughly bored...I'll go now&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-7697602672492400360?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/7697602672492400360/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-got-accepted-to-college.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/7697602672492400360'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/7697602672492400360'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-got-accepted-to-college.html' title='I got Accepted to College!'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-3170040060949265001</id><published>2008-12-19T19:19:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-19T20:04:43.727-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='info'/><title type='text'>What You Might Want To Know</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;I guess I should fill some things in.  Like who we are, what we do, and all that crap.  I'll start with myself.    I'm 31 and a fulll time college stoodent.  Yup - I is a kollege stoodent.  I'm studying to get my Bachelor's Degree in Microbiology&lt;/span&gt;.  &lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;I am halfway there.  I'll get my Associates Degree this summer - FINALLY!  I have a part-time job with Sweetbay Supermarkets.  Which is a local grocery store here in Florida.  I work in the Liquor Store.  I LOVE my job!  The customers are awesome!  I got married on August 9, 2008 to the most wonderful man, Kenny.  Kenny and I met on the internet, thru Match.com - it really does work for some.&lt;br /&gt;Kenny is 32 and is also a college stoodent.  He's going for his Associates Degree in Computer Networking and Securities.  He'll graduate this coming May. (He's maintaining a 4.0GPA to boot!)  I'm so proud of him.  He'll be the first in his family to get a college degree.  He's not working right now.  Back in January 2006 he fell 3 stories off of a lanai (porch).  He hurt himself pretty good and as a result was put on Worker's Compensation.  It took over 2 years and 4 surgeries, but his doctor finally fixed him up pretty good.  What he hurt most severly was his left wrist - it is now fused, partialy, to his arm.  He spends pretty much most of his free time playing World of Warcraft - or watching the History Channel.&lt;br /&gt;Matty will be 14 in just a few (10) days.  He's in the 8th grade.  He volunteers every other Saturday at an Animal Shelter.  He likes to read, play Rockband for Wii, and hang out with his friends.  He is my step-son.  I could elaborate more on that, but out of respect for him I won't.  (well not now anyways)  There is however TONS of bloggy goodness around that subject - it may come out one day. (It most likely will when I start bitching about his non-existant mother, er, egg donor).  &lt;----see there I go.... And last, but not least Brooklyn Grace.  She's 5 going on 25.  Her birthday is 8 days past the cut off here in FL, so she will be in Kindergarten next year.  When she's 6!   She and her "Bubba" share one thing  even though they are not biologically related.  She has a donor too - a sperm donor.  His rights were revoked by me.  With VERY good reason.  This August, a week after Ken &amp;amp; I were married - he adopted her.  She doesn't know this.  If she learns to read anytime soon - I guess she might figure it out.  I haven't decided wether or not to tell her this information.  The last time her donor saw her, she was 2 months old.  Ken has been her daddy since she was 6 months old.  She knows NO other.   I'm afraid telling her would do more harm than good being as there's NO evidence as to another being her daddy - you know?  She's REALLY into the Barbie movies.  ALL of them!  Over and over and over again.  She likes to try and play Rockband for the Wii, but she's really good at Bowling on the Wii - she's reached Pro status! Oaky, okay - I'm really just bragging about my family here.  I shall try and update daily on the happenings here at my house and at my job - sometimes those can be pretty interesting.  And when school starts up again, I'm sure I'll be sharing my displeasure of homework, tests, and teachers with you all. (All 2 of you)! Oh and if there's something you'd like to know - wither because you're curious or because you didn't understand something, or whatever -ask me!  If I think you're overstepping the noseyness quotient - I'll let ya know - don't you worry! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-3170040060949265001?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/3170040060949265001/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-you-might-want-to-know.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/3170040060949265001'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/3170040060949265001'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-you-might-want-to-know.html' title='What You Might Want To Know'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-9197851897400503668</id><published>2008-12-19T19:14:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-19T19:15:11.662-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Claiming My Blog</title><content type='html'>So I have to "claim" my blog...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/2008121915570729/" rel="54ac882686c57adb87554b511293d17644366004"&gt;Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-9197851897400503668?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/9197851897400503668/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/claiming-my-blog.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/9197851897400503668'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/9197851897400503668'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/claiming-my-blog.html' title='Claiming My Blog'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909667045786539542.post-8092177662920031340</id><published>2008-12-19T08:07:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-19T08:32:09.972-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='start'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='first'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='new'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='begining'/><title type='text'>My First Time</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;So I decided this morning that i should blog.  Not really sure how I came about that decision.  I don't feel that my life is al that interesting, but every once in a while there's something that's just interesting enough. This post is very short, but I'm about to head off to work. I'll fill you all in with more when I'm home!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1909667045786539542-8092177662920031340?l=upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/feeds/8092177662920031340/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-first-time.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/8092177662920031340'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1909667045786539542/posts/default/8092177662920031340'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://upsdownsarounds.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-first-time.html' title='My First Time'/><author><name>Nicole</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/11350909181524164566</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp3.blogger.com/_QR_RvJL65rk/R9Kcto65s5I/AAAAAAAAAH8/8leMskNHi3M/S220/l_cb03f2f08c847a32c7e548ab4766d234.jpg'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry></feed>
