Freaking Monumental Day Up In Here!

I know, I know, followers don’t mean a thing to most of you, but to me they mean something. When I started blogging I had no idea that anyone would even care what I had to say let alone decide to push that button over on the sidebar and want to be a follower.  This evening something monumental happened. I hit 300 followers!

I was writing a post about shitty last week was when I noticed that I had 299 followers. So, of course I hit up Twitter and sent out a tweet.

Then, I got this one back, almost immediately!

But I want to show some love to Amy from Transplanted Thoughts! Amy is quite an amazing person and has been through a lot so it just is fitting that I show her some love and I really hope that you do as well!

Mommy Guilt

Here I sit at work while my poor little Peanut is very ill with my mom right now. Being a mom is hard, but being a mom who works outside of the home full-time can be even harder at times. (Now don’t get in a tizzy SAHMs. This is not saying that you don’t have it hard as well.) Peanut is very ill right now and all that I want to do is sit and hold her all day long but I can’t because I have to work. I wanted to stay and hold her all night long last night while she coughed her little lungs out and tried her hardest to breathe through all of the congestion in her little nose. But, I couldn’t. Luckily Dave took over for about an hour and she was so exhausted that she fell asleep, only to wake up 4 hours later. I needed to get at least a couple of hours of sleep so that I could function at work today. Of course I can barely keep my mind on work today as I sit here and think about my little girl feeling all kinds of miserable.

As moms we just want to be there to take care of our kids and take away their pain, but we can’t. We can’t always be there, even if we don’t work away from home. There is always something. When does this Mommy Guilt ever go away? I am sure that it transforms over time depending on what situation you are in, but for me, right now, I just want to take Peanut and crawl into bed with her and not wake up until she is all better.

If only it were that easy!

Do the dads feel this same guilt?

Makeup Monday-Nails Edition!

It has been quite some time since I have actually painted my nails. I know, I know your nails should always be painted! But, I haven’t had a ton of time to relax and actually paint my nails. Also whenever I have to paint mine, Peanut always wants hers painted and that is drama and a half!

So, I pulled out my nail file and nail polish and there was Peanut right on my lap with her legs on my legs saying…paint my nails mom! It wasn’t enough to just paint her finger nails she had to have her toe nails done too. She is such a diva!

So here are Peanut’s adorable little finger nails.

And yes those are my new countertops! So go and enter the giveaway that ends Friday night!

I used E.L.F. nail polish, of course, in Berry Pink! I love bright pink nails on little girls! it is so cute!

Now, for myself I wanted something darker and fun.

I used Rimmel’s Lasting Finish Professional Nail Polish in Steel Grey. I love how the darker muted colors are in this year (or they were, I am always behind on trends). I did see a cool color on Ulta’s site in Purple Rain! I love the name of it cuz I love Prince so I may need to add that to my arsenal. It may give me a reason to finally step in Ulta. We have had one for a few years now but I still have not stopped in there.

And I LOVE this nail polish brush because it is flat, unlike the typical rounded brush. I think that it makes the polish easier to apply. I suck at putting nail polish on my own nails!

Are there any nail polish colors that you are loving this season? I love nail polish and I am always looking for a new color.

The Blond Chronicles-Lost in the Middle of Nowhere!

So I need to start out by explaining that I have no sense of direction. I get this from my dad. He is the worst at directions. Thank God that I have Dave because he is good with directions and he should be because he drives around all day for work. But anyramble, I got lost on Sunday and scared the hell out of Peanut in the process.

My next door neighbor invited me to her baby shower this past weekend. Her family is from a small town on the outskirts of Toledo. It is so small that it is not even considered a city, it is a village. And of course I haven’t been there before so this was going to be an adventure for me and Peanut. I estimated that the time would be about one hour from my house to the hall. I used my VZ Navigator on my phone for my GPS because it hasn’t failed me…yet.

I made sure that I had plenty of gas because in these small towns finding a gas station can be difficult. There are no shortage of farms though! So we were barreling along making good time car dancing to all of our favorite songs and then I missed a turn. Some of the street signs are hard to read when you are zooming down the country roads at 55 mph. So I figured that I would just turn around but there was no place to turn around. It was just farm fields and lots of cars zooming past me. No place to turn around.

Lucky for me the GPS rerouted me. Well, at least I thought so. I went to the next street and it took me on my way. Now these streets were not as clean and snow/ice free as the main roads (plus it was in the negative degrees here)  so I was getting slightly concerned but I had faith in the VZ Navigator. So we drove along for about 10 minutes and I noticed that signs of civilization were few and far between but still I just drove along.

And then it happened.

“You have arrived at your destination!”

Oh the hell I did! The road turned into a dead end road that ended in another freaking farm field! I didn’t know what to do. I mistakenly said “Uh oh!” And then Peanut freaked the eff out! She started bawling hysterically screaming that she wanted to go home and then screaming that I got us lost and then screaming that we were never going to make it home.  Yeah just what I needed.

So I decided to call my friend’s sister that was throwing the shower.

Our convo…

Me: Hey Amy! Apparently I am lost. Help!

Amy: Where are you?

Me: County Road WTF* and County Road I Need A Drink.*

Amy: Uh yeah I got nothing. I have no idea where you are.

Me: Crap! Ok. I guess we will be there eventually.

So I then drive to the nearest house, pull in their driveway and collect myself. By this time I am quite frazzled myself due to not knowing where the hell that I am and the fact that Peanut was a freaking wreck in the back of the car. Plus the creepy guy that owned the driveway I was sitting in was leering at me from his barn like he was going to go get his shotgun ready. You know they don’t take kindly to strangers in these parts!

So I decided to call Dave. Of course he had no idea where I was, so he told me to call Chris our neighbor who just happened to be the daddy-to-be.

Me: I am freaking lost in the middle of BFE. Can you help?

Chris: Uh no but Mel’s dad can!

He hands the phone to Mel’s dad.

Thank God that Chris was with Mel’s dad. That man is a saint and he gets me!

Mel’s Dad: Ok so where are you?

Me: BFE

Mel’s Dad: Ok, go towards County Road Frazzled* and make a left.

Me: I don’t think that I should make a left there.

Mel’s Dad: Well which direction would you be going? North, East, South, West?

Me: Are you serious? I have no freaking clue.

Mel’s Dad: No worries! I need you to turn so that the sun is on your left side.

Me: Ok then I need to make a right.

Mel’s Dad: Ok good now just follow this road and it will take you to the hall.

It worked! Mel’s dad is awesome and he knew that Peanut was upset so he kept telling me to tell her that we were in good hands and he would get us there and he did. I am so glad that he gets me!

As soon as we walked in the door Amy and Mel’s mom ran up to make sure that we were ok. I was quite frazzled and poor Peanut’s face was all blotchy from crying but cupcakes and brownies made it all better!

Next time I will make sure to do a little research before I decide to drive somewhere in BFE!

And yes, I made it home just fine!

*Names of roads in question may have been changed because I was a total basket case at the time and can’t remember where the hell I was.*

The Obligatory Thankful Post-RB Style

Here is my post from last year when I was a newbie blogger. My how things HAVEN’T changed.

• We are broke as always.
• My house is still not clean.
• There is dog hair everywhere.
• Peanut is healthy but she still strips down and throws her clothes in the middle of the floor.

But anythanksgiving, here is what I am thankful for this year…

• First and most importantly. I am thankful for my crazy family.
• I am thankful for all of my friends, including those who I still haven’t met yet. The support that I have received this year is just amazing to me. And I truly do love all of you for that.
• I am thankful for the hubs and my adorable children.
• I am thankful for my beautiful new niece, Baby K. She is amazing.
• I am thankful that I still have a good paying job.
• I am thankful for Coors Lite! Tap the Rockies!
• I am thankful that it has been one year without heart medicine! So amazing!
• I am thankful for chocolate.
• I am thankful for Weight Watchers for helping me lose almost 20 lbs. this year.
• I am thankful that my Great Grandmother is 95 years old and still kicking! It is amazing that my kids are able to know their Great-Great Grandmother.
• I am thankful for the opportunity to write this blog and that people actually like it!
• I am thankful for companies that want to do reviews and giveaways on here so that I can treat my readers to fun stuff!
• And last but not least I am thankful for JAZZ HANDS!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stinky Peanut and The “F” Word

I don’t know why but Peanut is obsessed with the “f” word. And no it is not the eff word, it is the lovely word fart. It is such an un-lady like word. But really who are we kidding I am not exactly what you would call a lady myself. When I do actually refer to myself as a lady I usually do air quotes or write “lady”.

But any”lady” Peanut has been battling some stomach flu issues and now she is on to the sinus crap. So along with all that junk comes stomach issues. I swear to GOD that my daughter’s ass sounds like a freaking motorboat most of the time. (I don’t even want to think about what actually happens when she is at school. ) So she has been quite the gas master lately and she isn’t afraid to be proud of it either.

In the morning when we wake up.

Me: “Good Morning Peanut!”

Peanut: *fart*

After work.

Me: “Hey Peanut, I missed you!”

Peanut: “Hey mom guess what!” *fart*

And the best part was when we were out to dinner the other night. We decided to go to a sports bar for some wings with my parents and my dad’s cousin. We were having a good time when all of the sudden Peanut yells “I FARTED!” Talk about embarrassment.

Just another reason that proves how awesome my family is.

I know that you are totally jealous!

I KNEW It Was A Vibrator!

First of all, I want to thank everyone for the kind words regarding the post from yesterday. You all are so amazingly supportive.

So because yesterday was such a sad post (but hopeful too) I had to post something funny for you!

So for some reason the hubs and I are obsessed with Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett or whatever she calls herself. If you are not familiar with her then I feel sorry for you you obviously never watched The Girls Next Door on E!.

When I first started watching The Girls Next Door I was all about Bridget. I thought she was great (and still do, where ever she is). Holly was too whiney. And I just wasn’t too sure about Kendra. Well, once their show ended and they moved on to their spinoffs I decided to try watching Kendra.

I immediatley fell in love with her, and so did the hubs. Think whatever you want about her life style but I think that she is so down to Earth and totally like someone that I would want to hang out with. Can you imagine? I can!

So we usually DVR Kendra on Sunday nights and watch it at another time when the kids go to bed. it is not like there is anything bad in the show but you just never know. Well, I went ahead and was watching it the other day and Peanut was playing with her Barbies on the floor. There was a scene at the end of the show here Kendra kept hearing this strange noise in her new house and it totally freaked her out. So she went to explore what the noise was.  She was looking through her unpacked boxes and found the culprit….her vibrator! So she said something about it being her vibrator.

All of the sudden I heard this little voice yell “I KNEW IT WAS A VIBRATOR!”

Fuck me.

I didn’t know what to say, I just looked at Dave. he said, “Well as long as she doesn’t ask what it is we are safe.”

2 seconds later…

“Mommy….what’s a vibrator?”

So of course I answered..’Well, honey it is a massager for adults. Now let’s just forget about that. You don’t need to worry about that.”

I can’t wait to get a phone call from her teacher saying that Peanut is telling everyone about a vibrator.

Crap.

Scarred: J’s Story

When Mama Kat sent out her list of writing prompts for the week, I thought that I had the perfect story for “Scarred”. It was funny, light hearted and sure to make you all pee your pants a little. But then the more I thought about it I realized that I had a different story to tell. It’s not going to make you laugh. I hope it doesn’t make you cry (I did), but it is something that I want to talk about. This story is my step-son’s story. He is my son and always will be, even if I didn’t birth him. Before I get ahead of myself….

Now some of you already know J’s story. I do have a feeling though that most of you don’t, or maybe you just only know bits and pieces of his story. So I will start from the beginning.

When the hubs and I first met, it was over nine years ago. We were both waiting tables at Don Pablo’s and Dave was also a bouncer at a night club. It definitely wasn’t love at first sight, but you can read more about that here. Shortly after Dave and I started dating he told me that he had a kid. Well, more like his ex-girlfriend was pregnant with his child. (Yikes! I know!) Of course I was fine with it because I loved him. So it didn’t matter.

We celebrated after we found out he was born (we had to contact his ex’s parents to find out about this because she refused to have any contact with Dave). We were excited. We even went out and got a pack & play just in case. Well…long story short she didn’t want Dave to have anything to do with his son. Of course she wanted him to pay child support but yet have nothing to do with the baby. She even went as far as to tell a police officer that Dave used to abuse her so she didn’t want him to see her or the baby when Dave came for the paternity test. So they were whisked away and Dave didn’t get to see him.

We debated long and hard about what to do. Do we fight with all of our might? Well, we didn’t. In our minds we figured that if we just paid the child support and then let things be, it would be better in the long run for J. We figured that we didn’t want the poor kid to endure the fighting and Lord know’s what that would’ve happened between his crazy mom (who shall now be reffered to as “satan”) and us. Now don’t get me wrong, we thought about him all of the time. All that we knew was his name and the day he was born.

Boy did we make the wrong choice.

One day in September, Dave was chilling at home in his boxers, feeding Peanut (she was barely 1 at the time) and there was a knock on the door. It was someone from Child Protective Services.

CPS Guy: Are you Dave?

Hubs: Yes.

CPS Guy: Do you have a son named J?

Hubs: Yes.

So then the guy proceeded to tell Dave that his son was in protective custody at the time because he had been beat by his mother. Yes, our son had been abused by his own mother.

Long story short, we finally were able to meet him and that November we received full custody of him. He has been with us for the past 4 years. We found out later that this was not the only time that this had happened. He has 2 older brothers from a different father and a younger sister from another man. She had been accused of abuse before but it never went this far. And we had never been contacted before this day.

What we didn’t realize that the time is that those “scars” from the five years of mental and physical abuse may never heal. We are doing everything in our power to help him heal. We even started counseling again, as a family. Every year there are new challenges, especially due to the fact that he still gets to see her at a supervised visit for 2 hours, every other Sunday. And every other Sunday those old wounds are ripped open again for him and it takes us a few days to try to help him heal again.

No child should ever have to go through something like this.

No matter what anyone says, J is, and will always be my son. I refuse to call him my step-son, because in my heart I believe that “satan” does not deserve the title of mom after what she did to him.

I just hope that one day the scars will fade and be a distant memory for J. Until then, we will do our best to help him and try to take away his pain.

No child should ever have to go through what my son did.

Makeup Monday: NAKED

Ha! Got ya! No, I am not really naked. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to see that. What I am showing you is my naked face. In the wake of all of the nasty comments about Katy Perry’s picture, I decided to show my naked face and all of the steps that it takes to make me this beautiful. Trust me, it takes a lot. So, be nice. I know that I have done this before, but it is hard for me to show the world what I really look like under all of this makeup.

I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. I was having issues finding a good setting for my camera. Hopefully you can see what I am talking about though.

Naked face. Sorry it’s a little blurry but I couldn’t keep my hand still. You get the idea.

Step 1: Prime and Foundation.

-First, I apply Mario Badescu Collagen Moisturizer all over my face and neck. Now I only use this moisturizer in the winter though because my skin gets so dry. it is pretty pricey but it helps.

-Next, I apply E.L.F. Studio Mineral Primer all over my face. I was just introduced to face primer recently and I really love it. At first this may seem like it may be greasy but when you rub it in it almost becomes powder-like.

-Next, I apply MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation. I have tried several foundations over the years and this has by far been the best. It covers my imperfections and my discolorations and doesn’t feel heavy.

-Finally, I apply E.L.F. High Definition Powder. At first it scared me when I saw it because it is white. But it actually is a translucent powder. I dust it all over my face with a large powder brush. I am not a big fan of the puff that comes with it. it is a great setting powder. I know it may seem like a lot of powder with the foundation powder and this one but ti works for me and is great for my oily skin in the summer.

Step 2: Colors!

*UPDATE* I totally forgot to add that I use the ELF Studio Eye Primer!

– First I apply my eyeshadow. I always use 3 different colors. One swept over my lid, one in the crease and one as a highlighter. I change it up a lot thanks to my E.L.F. Studio Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette-Limited Edition. This bad boy has 100 different colors and it is still only $10. They are out of stock now but I tell ya, if you love eyeshadows it is so worth the 10 bucks.

– Next, I apply my Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in black noir to my waterline and right above my upper lashline. Sometimes I make a thin line and sometimes it is thick. It just depends on my mood that day!

– Next, I normally use Cover Girl Lash Blast Fusion in Very Black to my upper and lower lashes. I was out of this so I used some Maybelline Lash Stiletto in Very Black that I wanted to try out. I much prefer the Lash Blast Fusion because it separates my eyelashes better and there are less clumps as well. Sorry Maybelline! Lash Stiletto does make my eyelashes look super long, but they are too clumpy.

-I then use  E.L.F. Mineral Blush in Bliss on the apples of my cheeks in an upward sweeping motion. It gives my cheeks a nice glow but is not too overpowering.

And here I am after this second step.

It’s amazing what some eyeliner and a smile will do!

Final Step: hair and lipstick/gloss.

I  love the natural color of my lips so normally I would just throw a clear gloss over them or some tinted chapstick, but today I used E.L.F. Mineral Lipstick in Rosy Tan.

And here is the final product.

So the next time anyone thinks about hating on a celebrity about how they look before they put on their makeup and do their hair, just remember what you really look like underneath it all.

It takes a lot to make me look this beautiful! I know it is a shock that I don’t normally wake up looking so fab!