Just another Manic Monday.....

and Tuesday through Friday as well.

Wow this has been a busy week. I really intended to keep up with the blog, but I have been super busy with that crazy little thing called work.

I'm so tired I'm envious of the birds falling out of the sky because they can rest. Whew.

I don't have anything witty or enticing to say today so I guess I will do a quick and disjointed update of my scattered thoughts:

* Brat has scheduled us for like 14 hour school days. If she adds any more subjects she won't finish the year until 2014.
* When everyone in the house is too busy to clean, it begin to looks as though the Goodwill exploded and left the rejected items.
* By the time Grumpy gets my website up, I will be too old to write anymore
* By the time we get Brat's website up she will be past the age limit to use it
* I can write really powerful songs in my mind when I've slept less than 5 hours in 2 days, but chances are by morning I've forgotten them
* Brat can make herself gargle while she sings...its kind of odd yet unique
* Brat can write some pretty awesome songs for a 12 year old girl....though she might need to learn to write music unless she expects everyone who tries to sing them to have telepathy
* Summer makes up for winter in Michigan. Summer makes up for winter in Michigan. Summer makes up for winter in Michigan. Maybe if I keep repeating I'll believe it.
* I'm almost over losing my poems....almost
* If I leave the Christmas stuff up for one more week does that make me extra spirited or extra hillbilly?

Well thats my random thoughts for today. Tune in next time where we hope to be back with your regularly scheduled comedy.

I'm naked....and everyone can see it

If you still read this blog after my long hiatus, bless you, and you may have noticed that it's looking a little funny. My background has disappeared along with all my little buttons.

See I host my images on a personal webspace I've had for years. I use it simply for hosting my images and holding onto things I didn't want to lose track of....such as poetry I had written and didn't want to lose if my computer crashed.

This isn't just free space. I PAY for this space. Needless to say I don't check it regularly. And since I've been away from the blogosphere for a bit, I didn't realize my attire was gone and I was showing the world my pure naked glory.

So I thought maybe I was due for a payment. It happens. I tend to never realize payments are due until after the fact. So I went to the website to check.

It's nowhere to be found.

I thought maybe it was just an outage. They have them often, but its cheap hosting and I don't have to have a domain name, so I put up with it. So I did a little investigation.

Turns out they've been MIA for several weeks. The company and owner isn't returning emails, phone calls or any other communication. Some people have 10,000 page websites on the server. I merely had a lot of images, some irreplaceable photos and a few poems I had written and do not have anywhere else.

It appears I've lost it all.

It was not a good start to my day. I know it seems small, but I don't handle losing things well. This is why I placed those things on this service I paid for. So I wouldn't lose them.

Good news is I have backups of all my blog images. Better news is I am working on developing a website which will give me hosting for my images.

Bad news is, until its all set up I will continue to be naked. And it won't replace those items I lost.

2011.....not going well so far

The longest New Year's Resolution in history....

So I decided to keep my New Year's resolution simple. I didn't want some long drawn out list. So I shortened it to one word.

Consistency.

Yes you read that right. Consistency. I decided that for 2011, I was going to be consistent in more than just bitching about what isn't done correctly and playing Super Mario Bros on the Wii.

Everything I needed to do in my life-- increase my earnings, become financially stable, lose weight, eat healthier, be a better teacher....all of it boils down to being more consistent in the things I begin and attempt. If I put half the effort into what I try that I put into capturing that damned Princess I would get somewhere.

So I kept it simple. 2011 would be the year of consistency.

So we are sitting outside on New Year's Eve because it was unseasonably warm here in the Frozen Tundra. And Brat begins to tell her resolutions. And Grumpy looks at me.

So I say consistency. Then I start explaining how I can be a better teacher by being more consistent in getting prepared to teach and how I can lose weight by becoming more consistent in how I exercise and eat right. And then I went into a long explanation of how if I get my website set up and start attracting clients I can improve my writing and my income which would also lead to financial stability. And how I can blog more often and try to have more time for myself.

So I went on for a few minutes.

Grumpy looked at me and said "You said a simple word and I thought you had a simple resolution. You then turned it into the most confusing and complicated resolution I have ever heard anyone give"

So see, I've already started. Rambling. It's consistent.

The Christmas Card we selected from Shutterfly!

Joy And Happiness Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shutterfly's Christmas Cards Rock My Socks...Seriously...

I admit it, I have been slack about Christmas cards for like...ever. So I decided this year I was going to do Christmas cards. I had the image in my head. I would have Brat in front of the tree in a Santa hat. I went so far as to buy her a scarf/top set I saw for the photo. I was SERIOUS that this Christmas card would happen.



Along with a photo of Brat, I planned to take individual photos of each of the 3 animals in a Santa hat. I actually purchased a santa hat for the animals. This card was in the works.

Have you ever tried to keep a Santa hat on a chihuahua, yorkie and a cat?? It was a quick photo session. Sophie was resigned to suffer.



Peanut was eager to be done.



Sebastian wondered why he had anything on his head at all.



Cute huh?

The vision in my head was all four of them individually and then the words Ho Ho Ho. Surely I could find that. Sadly, in my search I have discovered that it is truly hard to find cards that accommodate four photos. They have 3, 5, 6, even 8. But 4 seems to be an odd number.

This isn't true with Shutterfly's Christmas Photo Cards. Searching through their site I found numerous cards that were made for four photos. I spent hours playing with each one trying to decide which one I liked best.

I will say that they did have a Ho Ho Ho card. It was, however, for 3 photos. So I either had to get rid of an animal or move on. That's okay because I found several that I liked. I think I have decided on the Joy and Happiness 5X7 Folded Card. I like the simple message. It doesn't include from the *** family which always sounds so not like me. It wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and brings about what I wish for them. Joy and Happiness. Best of all, it is a folded card so I can write inside it. Perfect when your loved ones live 900 miles away!

My favorite part is that Shutterfly is actually less expensive than most everywhere I checked. I mean I could get a set from the drug store but the designs were not the same high quality and I didn't just love them. For a nice card that I'm proud to send out, the prices are very good.

Being me, I had to browse the rest of their site. Because of course I had heard about them but had never really surfed the site. I realized I've been missing a lot.

I am actually consider having one of their personal photo calendars made as gifts for Christmas. I know several who would love them and I have a lot of pictures.

I might pick out a notepad or two for myself. I love notepads and use them often.

So I highly recommend you browsing the Shutterfly site. It is filled with many gift ideas and loads of holiday cards to choose from!

Where's Waldo....

Sometimes my life feels like those crazy Where's Waldo pictures. It's all chaos and I am looking for this one particular thing amid a frenzy of activity.

No I didn't die. No I didn't give up on my blog, although it may seem that way. No I didn't forget how to log in and post.

What I did do was follow a goal of mine forever. I took my love of writing and turned it into a job as a freelance writer. The good news is that I am doing something everyday that I am really good at and I make a bit more money than I made before doing something I was only semi good at. The good news is that I can officially say I am a writer.

The bad news is that I am nowhere near writing what I want to write. I write content for web pages, articles about products, articles for online publications, and who knows what else its for. I just write it, I don't ask questions. Often I'm given a set of words and told how long it needs to be and viola I come up with an entire page of information.

It isn't glamorous or exciting, but it is a step in the right direction. However it leaves me wiped out. So I've neglected anything considered fun. Well that's about to change. I've decided to incorporate real life into my life as well.

So watch out world, the Queen is back. And I will be as sarcastic and crazy as ever.

I changed your diapers without bitching and you will do the same for me...

I have a theory. I gave birth to Brat. I changed her diapers. I was spit up on. I was peed on. I was pooed on. I was thrown up on. I held her when she was scared. I made sure she didn't run into traffic. I made sure she was fed. I braved the unknown and baked cookies at Christmas with her. I took her to multitudes of appointments. I sat on the bleachers when she cheered. I was in the audience when she sang in the talent show. I was there. Taking care of her. I will continue to do so until she no longer needs it. Even past the point of her wanting me around.

Turnabout is fair play. When I'm old and I need diapers. When I need spongebaths and my ass wiped and someone to feed me...she damn well better be there. Period.

And she KNOWS this.

We have established that if she's a world famous singer she can hire someone to be home with me while she travels...but I digress..

So today we had duel doctor appointments. Meaning I scheduled Brat and myself back to back. Well there was this lady with her elderly father in the waiting room. He asked to go to the bathroom. She chewed him a new ass. Yelled at the top of her lungs how he didn't need to go. Told him he had just gone on their way there. Screamed that he was like a 'fucking two year old' and to find something to keep himself busy.

Seriously?

This is how you treat the parent who raised you?

I cringed every time her mouth opened. I seriously wanted to knock her down.

So I did what any good mother and homeschool parent would do. I used it as a learning opportunity. I looked at Brat and said:

"When I'm old and need you to help me, if you EVER treat me like that, I will either beat your ass or pay someone else to do it for me"

I think she got the message.