I didn't disappear

I'm not going to say I've been busy. I hate when people say that as in, "Sorry I haven't called/came by. I've been busy." No matter how sweetly or honestly intended someone says that, it just always sounds like,"I've been too busy for you." So I haven't been busy, I've been running a mile a minute with my sister and nephews. The past few days have been a blur of sun, wind, water splashing, water parks, water in my eyes, Peanut, pools, sunscreen, the ocean, little boys running around yelling "Auntie, watch this! Auntie can you fix this? Auntie look! Auntie guess what! Auntie I caught a lizard! " Good times. I say this with all affection and honesty, anyone who is brave enough to have more than one kid should be awarded sainthood right now. They're here for another week so I imagine my posts and visits will continue to be sporadic until then. I only get to see them once a year since she lives a gazillion miles away so we've all been pretty much joined at the hip.

*Miss Ellie bee has honored me with a rockin female blogger award! YAY! Thank you! I have to wait until I have more than a minute to myself to pass it on. Hope everyone has been having as much fun as I have this weekend.

(Don't) Take me out to the ball game

I'm not a huge fan of sporting events. If I go to a game, I usually have a good time but it's not an activity I would seek out if I didn't have a husband who enjoyed them. Last week I was lucky enough to attend a rained out baseball game.

Nice view. Good seats. I was a good sport. Really, I was. The things I do for my husband... really.
We kept thinking the rain would pass over and the sky would clear up. For about 45 minutes it did stop raining but it took them so long to prepare the field, the rain started up again by the time they were finished and ready begin the game.
Whoever bought tickets for the seats under this leak had a wife who, I'm sure was as unhappy as I was just by the look on her face. The announcer said," A bad day at the ballpark is better than a good day at work," and everyone cheered. I looked at the poor woman and we shared a smartass smile because I know we were both thinking,"F- this, I'd rather be at work!" We sat there for about 2 hours before we(I) got sick of it and decided to leave. The game was canceled shortly after we left which just so happened to be the same time as the afternoon traffic rush. Fun. I do love rain though just not baseball. Or ballpark food.

The effect I have on boys

Yep.

Something Sunnier

I don't have time to post or blogvisit but I hated that my last post was so dark. So here are a couple happier pix. I bought this hibiscus plant half dead at the grocery store for practically nothing not even knowing what color the flowers would be and look! A pretty dark peach with a pink center. It didn't really need much nursing, just some morning sun and water.
This one is for Hel, since she's experiencing winter on the other side of the equator . Wishing you a bit of summer!

I'm having so much fun with my nephews. I don't get to see them as often as I'd like to so we're really making the most of it. Oooh they wear me out! In a good way. More pictures later. Hope everyone is a having a beautiful weekend.

Public Service Announcements

Rats! Alcohol kills. Stay away from alcohol. Oh and stay away from rats.



WTF is up with this guy? I don't even know what to say.......Don't be like this guy.


I've been lazy with my posts lately-including this one. Only because my sister is here visiting with her 3 boys(!) I'm trying to catch up with my blog visits too.

Wanna hear something really creepy? The anesthesiologist present during my surgery last September was found dead in his home with his wife this week. The police reported that it was a murder suicide-he was the murderer, suicide-r. (or is it suicidee-I'm not making jokes, honestly I don't know the correct word.) They were newlyweds too. It's still new so I don't know anything else but it's scary and very sad. He seemed like a nice man and was very kind to me. He had a very soothing presence and I still remember hearing his voice while I was under the meds. This had me and Mr.Pea talking about what could possibly make someone snap? Someone with a good job, beautiful spouse, nice home, what appears to be a wonderful life. I've been livid at my husband before but at no point have I ever felt like shooting him....or myself.

Cat has a taste for rabbit

I'm not quite sure how to feel about this? Thoughts?

Feeling Random

-I miss coffee. I haven't had a drop in over a month. I only started drinking coffee a couple years ago when my in-laws came to visit and I had to get a coffeemaker for the visit. It was an instant addiction. I always quit when summer starts because I get nauseous just thinking about having a hot drink when it's 90 degrees out and I hate cold coffee drinks. This does not mean that I yearn for winter, I hate winter. It just means that I drink a lot of sun tea.

-I like bumblebees. I prefer them to regular bees. Why? Because they don't sting and they're fat. The fact that they're fat makes them cuter. Honeybees get all the glory because, well, honey is awesome on fresh biscuits and bumblebees are kind of big and scary. Sometimes, when I'm out walking, they bump into my head. But still, they're pretty cute.

-There's a small bat that flies through our breezeway everyday at dusk looking for bugs. I'm scared to death of it. I swear the noise it makes sounds like a baby saying,"Rabies, Rabies!"

-I'm also afraid of vultures. There are a few that roost in the trees near my building. I was walking Peanut one day and looked up and there they were. In the branches watching me silently with their beady eyes, 3 of them almost the same damn size as me. I always envision them grabbing me by my ponytail and flying away to poke my eyeballs out.

-I started jogging again. There's a few men that jog in the fitness room at the same time I do and I feel like such a badass because I always outrun them. A couple of them are senior citizens so I really shouldn't get so uppity.

Folk Groupie?Me? I would have never thought

One of my favorite memories as a kid is being in the backseat of my Grandparents' car while they were driving me to Dairy Queen. This memory sticks out because there are four kids in my family and I have tons of cousins there so whenever I was visiting, we were always all together but this time I was alone with them. I was about 8 or 9 and we were driving down the hilly, winding road where they lived. It was a beautiful West Virginia summer day and the colors in my memory are yellows and greens. There was a folk song from the 60s on the radio and they were singing it together and I remember being so happy because they were singing. Even though it was the first and only time I had ever heard that song(at the time Madonna was the end all and be all in music for me) I always remembered it because it was such a happy moment for me. Skip 10 years later and one of the women in the group who recorded that song ended up being my neighbor and became one of my closest and dearest friends. She's not one to brag so I knew her for a long time before I even figured it out. Even then I didn't want to come out and say, oh my Grandparents are huge fans! I did end up telling her about that and she was proud that she got to have a small part in one of my favorite moments of my life.


I'll find any excuse to tell everyone who she is because it embarrasses her. (in a good way) One day at Costco I saw a folk music compilation cd and I knew her group would be on it and when we saw the name I got really excited and said, really loud, just to embarass her really good,"Dee, Let's check if your song is on here. Look! It's you! Everyone in the music section stop and observe! This woman's voice is on thishere cd! When you guys go home, you can tell all your friends you had a moment with greatness. This a damn compilation cd, folks, this means it's important. Here she is at the very Costco you shop at buying pretzels!" The whole time she was mortified(in a good way) and trying to run away from me but there were only 3 people there- one looked at me like I was an idiot(which didn't offend me since I was acting like one anyway) and the other two laughed at us. (I do this to everyone. I once ran after my sister at the grocery store yelling,"Hello, you forgot your Preperation H! Don't you need it?"If I were at Costco with one of you, dear readers, I would do it to you-not the Preperation H thing but something more appropriate for the situation, of course. I expect and invite reciprocation, it's funny.)
A few years back, her group had a reunion concert thingy. When she got back, I bothered her and bothered her to let me watch the video because it was going to be on PBS and I wanted to see it first. I had never seen her sing and had only heard a couple songs before. She wasn't really that excited about the whole thing so I had to really pester-something I'm very good at(in a good way). While we were watching it, she told me during one of the songs, for her part, she had to hit a high note. So every time they had to perform that song, she was always a little nervous. And when she would hear a recording of it, she cringed a little just before that high note, even though she knew it was a recording and of course the high note was just right! I have a couple of the group's songs on my ipod, including the high-note song, not because I love it so much but just to have it, you know? The funny thing is today, while I was listening to my ipod, I had it set to shuffle and that very song came on-and right before the high-note, I found myself cringing a little too. In a good way.

Cat Dog Gang War

Bad Engineering

Last weekend, while we were at the beach, we were too lazy to move ourselves away from the rising tide. So we decided to build a levee with our feet. It's a losing battle, we both knew that but we had to try.

Well, Mr.Pea did..... I watched and every now and then offered an enthusiastic,"Good Job Brownie!" and a thumbs up.



For a good 15-20 minutes it worked.

But the moment we noticed a slight breech, we realized it was no use.
It all went downhill from there.

We had no choice but to move! So what's funnier: the fact that we were too lazy to move but not too lazy to build a 'sea wall' or the fact that we actually tried to ward off the Atlantic Ocean with a few handfuls of sand? Or should say footfuls?

I don't have as green a thumb as this post implies

Blondie asked me to post a photo of my orchids so these are for her. I didn't go on a wonderful and exciting odyssey to acquire them as she did for her beautiful orchids. I wish I had. But mine were on sale for $9.99 at the grocery store on a table next to the potatoes. I've never been able to keep moth orchids alive past their bloom but these seem to be doing ok and one of them has started sprouting a new leaf after its bloom finished. I'm sure they have a cool Latin name I can't spell or pronounce but I'm too lazy to look for it so if you know it, feel free to enlighten me.

This one has been blooming for over a month and a half now.



This one had big,beautiful white blooms that lasted about two months. I just cut the stem a few days ago. I was concerned about it for a little while because when I brought it home, the leaves began to turn a little spongy and had a few black, crusty spots that I picked off with some tweezers. But about a week ago I noticed a new leaf that looks healthy so I gave it a little friend to keep it company since it had no more flowers.


While I'm at it, I've also been growing tomatoes on my patio that I refuse to share with anyone since there aren't that many.

I haven't been around the past couple days so it'll take me a while to get caught up with my blog-visiting. Hope everyone is having a good week.

*I just realized that I accidentally had the picture size set to small and now I'm too lazy to go back and fix each one so sorry if it's hard to see.

Don't you wish your pet could talk?

This bird is awesome and you can tell he much he is loved. There were some more cute videos of him if you want more. :o)click here

Why I hate talking on the phone

There's always that one person everyone calls when they feel bad. That person is always me. I feel good that people think of me and look to me for comfort when they're having a hard time. I want to be a comfort for anyone I love. But sometimes it becomes a drain. Especially when it's people who have so many unnecessary problems but don't do anything about it. Especially when it's someone who really doesn't have any problems but is just negative about every thing to the point where you don't even want to be around them. I start to feel like I'm being held hostage on the phone because I can't just say, ok sorry gotta go. Even though, and I feel guilty for admitting this, I don't want to have to sit there and listen for hours. I want to pull the phone out of the wall and throw my cell phone into the sea.


"Hello"


"problem,problem,problem.....misery,misery,misery."

"Really? That's too bad."

"yeah and guess what else, problem, problem,problem, misery, misery."

"Oh. I'm so sorry about that. Have you tried...."

"No because problem,problem,problem...more misery."

"Well I wish things could be better for you."

"Problem."

"Is there something that can be done to solve any of this or at least make you feel better?"

"Well problem,problem,problem,problem,problem. Plus there's misery,misery,misery."

At this point I still care, but I'm sick of it because I don't call people for this. I call to say hi-How are you- I miss you-I love you, not to dump and dump and dump all the negativity in my life on anyone. I have problems too. And when I'm sad or need support I'll say so but I don't use people like emotional landfills. If this were just a once in a while thing, I wouldn't even be complaining about it. It's almost everyday. Like I don't have a life of my own or something else I'd like to be doing than sitting here on the phone listening to problem after problem after problem without even pause to ask how I am. I'm beginning to feel like everyone just thinks,"Oh Angel doesn't work, she has time for all this crap. I'll call her and torture her because no one else wants to hear it. She doesn't mind." I want to be there for a loved one in need. But I don't want to spend my life talking on the damn phone about problems. Saying all this would make me a selfish bitch. This can't be healthy for anyone.

Everyone gets one

I went to the dentist today for my torture,I mean my new filling. It was not even the beginning of the hell that will ensue in the next month or so because I've been told that my wisdom teeth are completely impacted and need to be extracted(it rhymes, what fun!!) as soon as possible. I had no idea I even had wisdom teeth. I thought they were something only people in ancient Egypt got. The best and most exciting part is the part where they tell me I need a specialist because it's possible that he will need to drill into my jawbone because...I missed the rest of the explanation because I stopped listening at this point since the words drill and bone were echoing in my brain. But that's a few weeks away so I'll hide that horror from my self for a little while. I don't want to talk about that, I want to say something else.

Today's post is dedicated to everyone who is brave enough to lay helpless in a chair while someone you barely know puts drills and sharp instruments in your mouth. It really says a lot about a person who can do this without slapping anyone or running out the door to hide in the bushes because I can honestly say, that while I was laying there receiving my wonderful Novocaine injections, those options crossed my mind at least 80 times. And of course I had to have special nerves that are not wired like everyone else in the population so I needed injections in several places. It was fun. Anyway back to my dedication. This trophy is for you and me. My dentist going brothers and sisters! We deserve a damn trophy. We deserve one of those gold stars on our foreheads that tells everyone, I am AWESOME, I rock at the dentist. Because dammit it takes so much f-ing mind over matter to willingly participate in the kind of things they force upon us at the dentist. Today, in LittlePeaville is officially Dental Patient's day. Indulge yourself my fellow tooth&gum conscience friends, you deserve it!
:o)

Ms. Maurey tagged me

I got tagged for this meme the other day but yesterday was my day for penance :o) so here it is today.

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.

1) You da Mom
2) Worker Mommy
3) Whiskeymarie
4) Gettin' It Wrong
5) Little Pea



Next, select five people to tag:

But as always I'm just going to say whoever wants to because I don't like volunteering people for stuff they might not be interested in doing.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was a newlywed getting ready to move to Charleston, South Carolina. We ended up only staying for a couple weeks, came back to Fl and spent the summer with my parents until we moved to California.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
I was starting this blog and trying to sign up for classes so I could go back to college and finish. Thyroid cancer canceled out my college plans when fall came but I will finish, dammit!



Five snacks you enjoy:
I rarely snack that much but if I had to choose
1) Quesidillas and salsa
2) Oreo cookies with milk
3) Grilled cheese sandwich with tomato
4) pecans
5) Cool Ranch Doritoes or Cape Cod potato chips

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:

I sing all the time(that doesn't mean I'm good at it) so I know so many songs by heart. So here are a few I know by heart that I wish I could forget.
1) "Like a virgin" by Madonna, well ok I know by heart just about every song by Madonna. When I was 8, I wanted to be Madonna. Some of her songs are still fun but most of them bore me now.
2)"We are the World" I had to sing that song fifty f-ing times every Tuesday and Thursday in elementary school for music appreciation. I cringe just thinking about that song. There was always that one kid that would request that song for everyone to sing-I hated that kid.
3)"I love you, you love me", by Barney that infernal purple dinosaur. My nephew was about 2 years old when Barney got really popular and drove me asskicking crazy with that song. He was cute though so I put up with it and sang along for him. He turns 18 tomorrow and that makes me feel like an old hag.
4) "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricki Martin. I lived near Miami when this song came out and everyone was blasting it from their cars. I hated it the first time I heard it and I hated it the 87,oooth time too. I love Latin music but this was just, no...ok?
5) "Hit me baby one more time" by Britney Spears. Was never a fan of this song either but before XM radio and itunes I had no choice but to suffer through it on the f-ing radio. I'm not a Britney basher, I did enjoy that song "Toxic" and that one she did with Madonna was ok.

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1)Travel of course
2)Buy a home in Hawaii so we could move back there.
3) Buy a basket of puppies(hey it's my millions right?)
4) Start an animal rescue shelter-I guess that's better than buying a basket of pups
5) Take my sisters shoe shopping

Five bad habits:
1) Forgetting people's names 5 seconds after they tell me-really bad! But I don't forget a face.
2) Grooming-I'm not a makeup and hair queen but I have to feel clean and neat not greasy and unibrow-y
3) Telling people what they want to hear instead of my real opinion when asked for advice
4) Procrastination-I hate this habit so much
5) Obsessing over where my keys are and did I forget them or did I forget to lock the door. Hello! Latchkey kid!

Five things you like doing:
1) Walking and biking
2) Outdoor/Beach things(like walking and biking at the beach)
3) Taking pictures
4) Reading
5) Singing/Dancing
I didn't forget shopping-this is a given.

Five things you would never wear again:
1) Anything with pleats or seemed pants
2) Those awful MC Hammer puffy pants-ok I was 12 don't make fun!
3) The color fuchsia
4) Turtle necks-I hate them, they are uncomfortable, if I'm that cold, I can wear a scarf
5) Vests- Ne.Ver.

Five favorite toys:
1) Peanut
2) Ipod
3) Camera
4) Scanner
5) I don't have one yet but my future favorite toy is a photo printer for my camera.

Tuesday Confession once again

Just because I haven't confessed any wrongdoings lately doesn't mean I've not participated in any....

I stole a baby aloe.










Someone in my neighborhood has a really beautiful, healthy aloe plant on their doorstep that I admire every time I walk Peanut. Last week I noticed a bunch of baby shoots coming up on the side of its pot. I knocked on the door to ask for permission to pull one out for myself. No one answered so I just took the smallest one and put it in this mini pot. Am I an asshole?

Hacking ruined my night

Last night MrPea and I went to see Pirates3, well I should say we tried to. When we go to the movies, we try to get there early because my tall,long-legged husband is most comfortable near the aisle. My 4'11" self could care less as long as I have extra butter on my salty as hell popcorn and the people behind me don't put their nasty feet on the back of my chair or next to me. On my way to get said popcorn that costs a damn arm and leg, I stopped by the bathroom and I could hear someone in one of the stalls coughing really loud. I thought to myself," I recognize that cough. I had that cough just weeks ago. Sounds like she's got that never ending dry cough when one gets rid of a nasty flu, poor thing.(Then selfishly)Oh, I hope she's not watching the same movie I am...." Sure enough, when I got back with our munchies MrPea whispered to me(in French so as not to hurt her feelings because we're polite like that),"There's someone sick in here, coughing. Do you want to move?" I don't mean a little, "heff, heff" every five minutes, this women was hacking loudly every 5 seconds. By this time the theatre had filled up so unless we wanted to blind ourselves by sitting in the front row, there was really no where else to go. I said,"Maybe she'll stop."

-15 minutes into the movie I thought to myself,"Surely she'll pop a cough drop or something."
-30 minutes: "Wow she's really hacking it up, surely she figure out it's disturbing and excuse herself. She should see a doctor."
45 minutes: "Great. I'm going to catch her disease."
1 hour: "How rude! She has to know how distracting this is. She should really leave! If I hear her cough one more time I'm going to strangle myself. I don't even know what the hell is going on this movie because I can't hear a damn word over her infernal effing coughing!"

We weren't the only ones who were annoyed. I saw more than a few people turn around in the dark to see who it was and heard people whispering things they wish would happen to that woman that I won't repeat here. Finally we looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and just left. I guess most people would have said something or complained to the manager but really what good would it have done? We probably should have just left right away and came back another time or tried to trade our tickets for a later showing but, naively, I always believe the best in people. That really, most people are polite and care about whether or not they are ruining someone else's good time. I truly believed that she would figure out her coughing was disturbing everyone and excuse herself because that's what a polite person would do. That woman had to know that her coughing was ruining the movie for just about everyone in that theatre. Actually she knew and she didn't care otherwise she would not have went to the movies in the first place. I get disgusted by that kind of attitude:"Well I'm having a good time, screw everyone else!" When I'm sick,which, if you've been reading here a while, is often, I quarantine myself because 1.nobody wants my sick germs 2.the coughing and sniffling is gross and rude 3.my grandma taught me good manners dammit!

But anyway.....I got over it.

We went to get some hot wings since it was still a nice night and I didn't really feel like going home yet. I wasn't very hungry so I just ordered some squash and had a couple of MrPea's wings. Big mistake(the squash not the wings) because at 3 in the morning I woke feeling soooo nauseous and crawled to the bathroom to do some hacking of my own.(sorry if I grossed you out) Food poison, my favorite. I even fainted in the hallway as a cherry on top. I'm not sure how long I lay there, wondering if I should curse the restaurant where we ate or the hooping cough disease infested, germ spreading, Johnny Depp movie ruining bitch!(and you know how I feel about Johnny) After a while I felt ok enough to run some water over my face and wet a wash cloth to put over my forehead so that I could go back to sleep. If you're wondering why I didn't call for my husband to come to my aid, it's because he's been through so much, worrying over and nursing all my sicknesses in the past damn year(and lately there has been a worrisome occurrence that may or may not be related to my thyroid cancer that I will post about later that has us a little concerned) I just didn't want him to wake up to his wife passed out and suffering on the floor in the damn hallway. I'm pretty sure one of these things would have happened: him having a complete total nervous breakdown or him freaking out and rushing me unnecessarily to the emergency room. But all is well now. I went back to sleep, not before explaining to him, the light sleeper he is, what happened. I'm feeling better. He didn't get sick so I'm thinking it was the effing squash. So I don't send any curses to anyone. It wouldn't be polite.

:o)

Because I'm lazy

I got this meme from Des. Her answers were funny. Same as her, everyone's tagged and no one's tagged.

A - Attached or Single?: Attached.

B - Best Friend?: Lives a gazillion effing miles away.

C - Cake or Pie?: Neither-I'm not a huge fan of sweets even though I did just pledge my undying love for Oreo Cookie Blizzards because I like ice cream best. I make both cake and pie for the husband though.

D - Drink of Choice?: I grew up in the South so I can't live without sweet tea or lemonade. If I'm drinking, vodka and whatever juice is available. I hate beer-it's disgusting.

E - Essential Items?: Lip balm-it might be an addiction. Books-can't live without them. I-pod and camera goes everywhere with me too.

F - Favorite Color?: I like them all. For clothes though I hate fuchsia-it is offensive to my eyes. I don't even like the word fuchsia-it sounds like a really disgusting smelling casserole or something. Puke orange is also a big no-no.

G - Gummie Bears or Worms?: Worms are more fun.

H - Hometown?: Well I live here again and I've already started to get creepy email so I'm not going to say. It's in Fl. I love Fl. Fl is my hometown.

I - Indulgence?: I have a lot. I'm spoiled. Maybe shoes.

J - January or February?: February because it's closer to spring and I hate winter.

K - Kids?: Nope. I love kids but I might not ever have any.

L - Life is incomplete without?: Peanut. The ocean. The wind. The sound of birds. And books.

M - Marriage Date?: March 7- ten years ago.

N - Number of Siblings?: 3, two sisters and one brother and I am the youngest.

O - Oranges or Apples?: I live in Fl so I have to say oranges. But I like them both.

P - Phobias/Fears?: Oh my, didn't I post about this already? I have so many but here goes: darkness, ghosts, that movie The Exorcist(and anything pertaining to demons or the like), clowns, spiders, snakes, sharks, alligators,psychos,creepies, kidnappers, anyone with a voice like that crazyman in that movie Silence of the Lambs. I can't remember what else but I'm sure there's more.

Q - Favorite Quote?:

I don't really have one but this is written inside my sketchbook and I kind of like it:

"Even in that deep misery, I felt my energy revive, and I said to myself: in spite of everything, I shall rise again. I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken with great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing, and from that moment everything has seemed transformed in me." -Vincent Van Gogh

R - Reason to smile?: I don't really have a reason. I smile all the time, some people think it's charming, some people think it's annoying. My Grandma once told me it was my best habit.

S - Seasons?: Depends on where I'm living. I do dislike winter though. If I had to choose, summer then. I like to be hot.

T - Tags?: Whoever wants to be. I'm not an assertive person.

U - Unknown Fact About Me?: For a short time in my late teens, I had, what I know now is, an eating disorder. I never told anyone, except my husband.

V - Vegetarian or oppressor of animals?: I tried to be a vegetarian and only lasted a week-I caught a nasty flu and gave up. I'd like to be one because I love animals. Maybe someday I'll try again.

W - Worst Habit?: Plucking my eyebrows. I groom a lot.

X - X-rays or ultrasounds?: All the damn time. Every five minutes it seems like. I'm still not done with all my thyroid cancer crap. And I just had my teeth x-rays done at the dentist two days ago, don't even get me started on what happened and what's going to happen. I have another ultrasound and f-ing body scan coming up soon. It never ends.

Y - Your favorite food?: I can't say, I'm pretty picky. There are probably more things on the 'don't like' list.

Z - Zodiac?: Cancer. I used to believe in all that but now I think it's all a bunch of crap. I do think the stars and planets and tides affect us all. Is it freaky that I am a cancer and I had cancer?