Dollar Store Obsession... Is there a support group?

Okay so I have a mild obsession with Dollar Stores. Is that wrong? It all started when after trying everything to get our daughter to use the potty we resorted to "Potty Prizes". It got way too expensive to go to the regular stores so I said "Let's try the dollar store"..... boy have those stores changed.... in a good dollar store you can just about find anything your heart desires. In the dollar store around us they even have a frozen food section....... CRAZY. I mean you can get a package of hot dogs for $1.00!! Don't get me wrong... I am paranoid about parishable foods and I could NEVER buy real food at a dollar store. But that's just me... I am one of those people who reach to the back to check every milk carton for the expiration date that is the furthest away. I examine every food I buy that has an expiration date the same way. Although, now adays there are even expiration dates on soda, water and stuff like that. I don't check them, but anything that is cold who I know doesn't have a long shelf life I check and double check. I can't help it. So, anyway, these new dollar stores have everything. I've gotten so use to visiting them every couple of weeks or so, and now that Emily is potty training and I know I dont need to get her little prizes. I am a little disappointed... but I enjoy going into a place with a $20.00 bill and buying 15 things and STILL HAVE MONEY LEFT. I mean that is way cool! I really think that there are two types of people.... no not good or bad people... but people who will visit a dollar store and people who will NOT. Those people would rather spend $3.49 on a gift bag then $1.00 on the EXACT same gift bag. That's just stupid people! No offense but really it is.

Sleeping Emily

These pictures are from about 3 years ago. Emily is holding her favorite stuffed buddy Mr. Quackers in both! Just thought they were cute, and wanted to share them.

Yummy Jersey Corn

Tonight for dinner we had Jersey Corn on the Cob. New Jersey is known for it's tomatoes, but our corn is pretty good as well. It was yummy. Corn on the cob is one of those foods that brings back memories. Okay... here's a tip for making good crispy not mushy corn on the cob. Don't put it in cold water and then bring up to a boil. Boil the water first and then add the cobs, return to boil.. cook no longer then 5 minutes, there you have it.... Delicious and Crisp corn on the cob. YUMMY.

Family Day FUN!!!

SATURDAY means Family Day........ Todays family fun fest was STORYBOOK LAND!!! Okay for those of you reading this (I'll just pretend there are actually people reading this-ha ha) and don't know what Storybook Land is, it's a kiddie themepark for younger kids with kiddie rides, cement attractions based on children's fairytales,and restuarants etc. Really cute place for kids 2-9........kids older than that may get bored. Although they do have a Rollercoaster!!! That maybe I "might" even go on. Although I didn't!!! It was such a nice day. It was like 79 degrees & sunny. The other really nice thing about Storybook land is that the whole park is pretty much under shady trees. Emily had such a great time!!!! She loved all the little attractions... little red riding hood, alice in wonderland, snow white & the 7 dwarfs, and most of the rides. (although the turtle twirl was a little much for her and she was very scared!!) It was so much fun for Brian and I to see how much fun Emily was having! Precious memories, you know.

Cellulite, and dieting....

I hate dieting.. I need to lose weight but I can not stand dieting. I'm a stress eater, and a bored eater. I use it as a comfort. I know I shouldn't but I do. I think that is part of the reason I started this blog. So i could write instead of eat when I was bored. BUT as you can tell by my sporatic writting... I've been eating more than writing. I am trying a little... I've been drinking 100 ounces of water a day for the last 5 days. I actually read an article that said if you drink 100 ounces of water a day that you'll reduce your cellulite. NOW, That's something I'm willing to try. I'm not much of a water drinker.... and I'm sure I've been slightly dehydrated for years. I'm sure of it. Anyway.... Don't really have alot of plans for today. I'm working at the office today for my bookkeeping job. I'm really liking it. I've always been a person who likes having specific task and being able to mark things off. That's pretty much what I do there. HAPPY HAPPY.... just finished my first 20 ounce bottle of water for today!! Yay!! Emily has been watching too much TV. I know she shouldn't but it's hard. It's easy entertainment and sometimes Moms need that. I know that I need to have a moment to myself once in a while but I do feel guilty about it. You know, maybe after I'm done writting this I'll take her out side to ride her bike. She's doing good with her bike. She just got a two wheeler w/ training wheels. I think that is what we will do. Maybe I'll post some pictures of her riding it. OKAY, well have a happy TGIF, I'm gonna go outside with my daughter now!!

Listening to LUKA

God... I found on the web a copy of that song/video "Luka" by Suzanne Vega. That brought back memories of my high school era. I think it came out in 1987.. my freshman/sophomore years in HS. That was a really sad little song but really beautiful too. I just kept listening to it over and over again. I don't know why I couldn't stop. Every time it went off I would just listen to it again. I was organizing our CD storage bookshelf we just bought that is suppose to hold like over 500 CD's and it is already almost filled. Oh shit. We dont have room for another one. I probably own 30 cd's.... all the rest are my husbands. He is CRAZY about music. He is one of those people who usually has some kind of music on. I like music but he LOVES music. Anyhoo... after that my friend invited us to go with them to Chuck E cheeses. Emily LOVES LOVES LOVES chuck E Cheeses. So we went. We were only there for about an hour and 1/2, but all the kids had a great time. Emily is a little scared of the big steps to get to the slide and everytime we go, she has a little meltdown because she wants to go up those steps but is so afraid. I know if she does it a few times she'll get over her fear but she's still not ready yet. But she really wants to SLIDE down that SLIDE. I keep telling her one day she'll find the courage. SHe's is so special.. I just love her. Brian's working late tonight. Which sucks, becuase his trip to Ireland is soon and I'm really gonna miss him so I wish we could have a little extra time together. He gets home from work so late and then is in bed by 10 so our together time has been really lacking lately. Oh well... hopefully we'll find some "our time" soon. I guess I'll go since I can't think of anything to write about anymore. My life is kind of dull. Can you tell?

Great Weekend

Our family had a really nice weekend. My mother in law visited from New Mexico. On Friday we went to a BBQ at my bro in law's house and visited with his family. Emily LOVED seeing her Grandma and jumping on their trampoline. FUN FUN FUN. We also roasted marshmallows on their fire pit. It was nice visiting with our nephews and Pat. On Saturday we had brunch with the whole gang, and then we took Pat out so that she could get Emily a reward for FINALLY being potty trained. Emily got a new Leapster cartridge and some pretend plastic food. Later on Saturday Emily showed Pat how she could ride her new bike. On Sunday... I made breakfast for Father's Day, we had blueberry pancakes, eggs and bacon. Yummy. After that Brian, Emily and I sat on the bench in our yard and blew bubbles. It was just a nice family time. Very nice.... Until I saw a tick.... okay, lets go in. Them F#*Kers!! Gotta ruin everything. But really it was a very nice weekend!! But the weekend ended for me at 3 pm on Sunday because that's when I had to start work at the deli. ( thus joy interupted, real world takes over. )

Missy Movies

Pretty in Pink
Circle of Friends
Man in the Moon-Reece Witherspoon
Fatal Attraction
Jersey Girl-Jami Gertz
Splender in the Grass
Overboard
To Kill a Mockingbird
Double Indemnity- Barbara Stanwick( I think)
Sixteen Candles
Reality Bites
Singles
Dogfight-River Pheonix
Parenthood
Presumed Innocent
The Wedding Singer


I worked in a video store for many many years 1990-1998. I started out as a part-time associate and worked up to a store manager. It was a LOT of fun and I met a LOT of really nice people there. In fact, that is where I met my husband... he was my BOSS. You would think from working there for so long that I would LOVE all KINDS of MOVIES. But I'm actually really picky.. I like comedies, dramas, mysteries, and documentaries ..... I don't care for Act/Ad, I HATE most Sci/Fi!! ;) Anyway.. just thought I would share that with u. Don't know why? Have a nice day.

Going, going, going...mind, places, time.

My husband and I saw the movie, KNOCKED UP... It was Hysterical. I really loved it. I think that actor Seth Rogan is so likeable. Just really fun, if you just want fun, you should go see it. We hadn't seen a movie in a looonnnngg time and I'm trying to even remember the last movie we saw before that. Maybe CARS with Emily. Not sure. My husband just reminded me that we saw Disturbia... I even wrote about it in my blog and it wasn't even that lonnngg ago. Oh well.. my mind is going at 35.. I'm in trouble. Ha Ha. Today, I spent most of the day cleaning my house. Although, I did go out to lunch with my best friend and her two kids. She has a four year old little girl and a 10 week old boy. They are so cute. I love em. It was very nice. Went to Don Pablo's--- love Mexican food YUMMY. The cable guy is here right now trying to fix our signal strength or something like that. My mother-in-law, Pat is visiting NJ on Friday too. SO I thought today was a good day for a good spring cleaning. Pat is only visiting for 2 days, she's really just coming to take our nephew to California. (Brian's brother's family lives like 5 minutes away from us). Pat has decided when her grandchildren turn 13, she'll take them anywhere in the US they want to go. I wonder if she cares what the parents think? You know, Oh well. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Maybe it's just another Manic Missy thing. I'm listening to a Reba McEntire CD right now. I'm not a huge country music fan but some I really like. I really like Reba's ALOT because it reminds me of my Mom. I've been thinking and missing her very much today. Just feel like a need her right now. I don't care how old you are, sometimes everyone needs their Mommy. You know. Reba's music makes me feel close to her. I like that. Emily only has 2 days of school left... then she will be a 1st grader. It seems like just yesterday I was putting her on the bus for the first time ever. The year went so quickly. She's becoming such a BIG girl. It's amazing. I hope that next year doesn't quite seem to go so quick. I want her to stay little for a little while more. Time is just going, going, going. Wish there was a pause button for just a little bit. You know.

Another Rambling....

This has been a crazy week! My husband has been in Orlando Florida for a TECH ED convention. It's for IT people. My husband is a computer programmer and very smart. He is amazing becuase he only went to college for (something like a 1/2 of a semester) but he was just born BRILLIANT. I on the other hand was going to write innate and not sure how to spell it so I changed it from Innately brilliant to Born brilliant--- because I am not brilliant. Although Brian can't spell at all and to tell you the truth. I may actually be a BETTER speller then he is. He has a much BIGGER VOCABULARY then I do, also he can write much better than I can. I never know when to use then or than, and OR or nor. My grammer sucks!! He knows words that I have NO IDEA what they mean. It's because he READS alot. He can read like 5 books at a time. Weird. Really. Emily really takes after him. She's amazing. Tonight she wrote a book about 4 butterflies looking for their mommy. They befriended a Panda and with his help have tried to find her. So far the book has about 12 pages and becuase her arm gets tired from writting she recites it to me and ask me to literally write it on the paper for her. And becuase she has me wrapped around her finger I do. SHe's a stinker but so SMART. I'm happy Brian's coming home tonight. His flight was delayed so he isn't home yet. But soon hopefully I've missed him. I've started working as a bookkeeper for a friends business. I enjoy it alot but I'm in that beginning phase when you have to ask a LOT of questions and kinda feel like an idiot. So tonight I'm feeling dumber "then" usual. ( like I didn't know if I should use then or than right there--- DUMB) Oh well, I'm glad tomorrow is family day. I think we are gonna go somewhere special for it since Brian's been gone all week. Although he probably doesn't want to do anything but be at home since he hasn't been and I just want to be out since I have been. We'll figure it out. I am babysitting for my best friends infant tomorrow. Yay, I love watching him. It's the closest thing I'll have to another baby. He's so cute to0. I dont' watch him until 6 or so. And "then" I have to work at the DELI on Sunday. Oh how I hate the DELI. I really need to quit, Brian has told me that I should just quit, but I'm trying to hold out for a little longer. I think when I am positive that the bookkeeping job will work out completely, then I'll quit. I also kind of like the idea of having 3 jobs even if all together I might work 20 hours a week total. It's still kind of cool to say yeah, well I have 3 jobs. It makes me feel important. I am such a LOSER. You can say it... I know.

OVERWHELMED

If I stop and think about all that is going on in the world right now, I become so depressed. I mean Global Warming, The war in Iraq ( which angers me everyday), all these killings of innocent people-- here and abroad. Terrorist plots, corruptions in politics and businesses, AIDS, starving people, gas prices, the bee shortage (which could affect our crops)........ and so many other things. Maybe there have always been problems and every generation gets to a certain age and wishes they knew what to do to make the world better, but you feel so helpless. Remember the good old days, when you were young and didn't worry about anything but the moment and having fun. And you didn't know or maybe care about what was going on. I mean now you have to live your life and pay your bills and manage "your" world. Then there are those moments when you begin to think about everything going on and wish that it would all change and know that people need to do something.... but what, and how. Where does Saving the World come on our to do list. You have to take dog to vet, chaperone field trips, go grocery shopping, get new sneakers, doctors appointments, write your blog, have family days, clean clean clean your house, do endless laundry, etc..... We should have personalize people to tell us what we can do ( like accountants but only save the world representatives). Becuase no one knows.. and you feel so helpless, the problems are so HUGE and is it to late? I mean I already changed all my lightbulbs to the "Energy Star", swirly ones. Can I just pretend that is enough? SO you just live you life and you give to charities and hope that the money goes where it should. If you're religious, you pray and wonder why if there is a god..... but that's another story. I DO believe in god but I just think "we" have done this. He is just a guide. I wonder what rich people are spending their money on and I wonder if I was rich would I spend my money on $250,000 cars too... or would I give it to charities and buy just a nice $35,000 car. I really think I would buy the $35,000 car becuase I'm just not frivalous. I am really not. SO maybe a lot of the rich are just really selfish. DON'T get me wrong I know alot are generous but could you just imagine if more where like Brad and Angelina, or Bill Gates. How much better our world would be?