White legs. Brown chicken, brown cow

Anything can turn into a compulsion, once you do it enough. After two straight days of cleaning, I find myself walking through the house looking for some surface that hasn't been vacuumed, dusted, scrubbed or polished. I'm bordering on OCD at this point. All I have left to do is iron a tablecloth and Alyssa's adorable little dress and I'm officially done! Oh, and whiten my teeth. I recently sent some pictures of myself, in my new bikini, to Bruce and the one I took which showed a close up of my face was almost scary. They looked.... um, not white. They're really not that bad so I attribute it to the lighting in the room, but either way whiter teeth=looking younger. So, off I went to buy the new Crest whitening strips... the two hour advanced kind 'cause I don't have time to mess around. Random fact: did you know that white wine stains your teeth more than red wine? Yep, it does, due to the acids found in the white wine. They get underneath the enamel and cause more staining than red wine. Good thing I prefer reds, huh?

I hate to admit it, but I've been allowing Sesame Street, Dinosaur Train, and Word World to babysit Alyssa the past two days. She thinks it's fabulous, but I feel very guilty. It IS cute to hear her sing the songs and watch her dance, though. I think she got her dancing genes from my father. When I watch her, I swear she's about break out with "Wooly Bully" at any moment. Speaking of my dad, yesterday was his birthday. I missed the party **sniff, sniff** They all (crazy, lovable family) went out to his girlfriend's house to cookout and swim. When I spoke to him yesterday morning, he told me he'd bought new white swimming trunks.... which is funny on no less than three different counts. 1: I haven't seen him in shorts, of any kind, in many years. 2: He has the most protected skin (which translates into "Whitest legs around") and 3: White swimming trunks??? Oh, lol, I had to warn him about the dangers of a wet, white bathing suit. I told him to be careful and check 'em out before going for a dip with everyone, only to find out, too late, that his downstairs mix-up could be seen. I may have hit a nerve because he then brought up the fact that he has a picture of me that's he's going to auction off to my brother and sister. Supposedly, he has one of me with a plumber's smile from his last visit down here. I love going for the shock factor, though, so I may just send them all one of a full moon. Sure beats being blackmailed.

Now, I'm going to toot my own horn for a moment. I'm tan, my toes are rockin', poppy hot, and I have finally hit 130 pounds. I did my color and highlights, too. So, all-in-all it's not gonna get any better than this... without surgery, that is. I'm feeling pretty cute, very excited, and enjoying the clean house. Not too long, and I'll be enjoying my husband! **Bow chica bow bow** ;)

Stick a fork in me, I'm done!

I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned today. I'm firing the maid for allowing my bathroom to get so dirty. But, it is now cleaner than it has ever been. Even cleaner than the day we moved in... and it was brand spankin' new at that point.

My muscles are revolting now, specifically the ones in my shoulders, but the upstairs sure smells mighty nice.

Tomorrow I'll tackle the downstairs, but that will be pretty easy. More fun, too, because I can turn Pandora on through the stereo system.

I'm going to start on my hair when the kid goes down for her nap. That's all she is right now is "the kid". She acted like she was two years old from the moment she woke up from her nap.... yeah, she's two, but that's no excuse. Drove me up a wall today. Bless her heart. If she pulls the same stuff tomorrow though, don't be surprised if I start offering a "perfectly good white baby" to anyone who wants one.

Well, I'm going to try to cram in about six hours of sleep before I get up to Skype with Bruce.

Yosemite Sam and Superman

I feel like Yosemite Sam right now.... except it is not the clean version. I swear! There is a very special place in hell for insurance companies and the people who make the decisions on what is approved or denied. It's no secret that they tend to slap "DENIED" on just about anything the first time it comes across their desk. Seriously.... I am vibrating with rage. I just received my "DENIED" letter in the mail today, which is most surprising considering my procedure was listed in the "approved" portion of the benefits they chose to include as to the reason why my procedure was denied. RIGHT THERE ON THE PAGE!

I'll be back.......




OK, after throwing myself on the floor, kicking my arms and legs while screaming, I don't feel any better.



On to another subject. My excitement is climbing with each day that passes. Soon, Alyssa and I will be driving to the airport to pick up our Superman. I have saved almost all the cleaning to do until now. I don't usually wait on it, but I figured it would give me something to do while I hurry up and wait. The only thing is, is that he just realized he has several days off, which means we can Skype at night, which means I've got to figure out how to get some of this stuff done when we're not chatting. I'd made a list of things to do on each day and now I have to rearrange a few things. There are several things I can't do while Alyssa is awake. Coloring and highlighting my hair is the biggest thing at the moment. I may just bring the computer in the bathroom and make him suffer through it, too.

It's pizza night for Alyssa and wine night for mommy. Better get started on both.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day! Enjoy your cookouts, friends, family and have fun.

Oh, I'd also like to wish the other Superman in my life a Happy Birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! You rock! Words cannot express how much I love you. You are such an amazing man. Thanks for putting up with Melissa and Eddie.... lol.

Drive for wine

We took a drive over to South Carolina this morning. I was out of wine and the Aldi there has some fabulous prices on some pretty fine wine. I bought several bottles that I haven't tried yet, too. Reds and whites and a few in between. Bruce had mentioned that he wants to try out the Vinturi Aerator he sent me for my birthday, which completely surprised me seeing as how he's never been a wine drinker, so I stocked up for when he gets home. Speaking of which, I can honestly say I am more excited about this upcoming day than I EVER was about any Christmas, although the one when Alyssa was born was special in its own way. I didn't expect her to come on that day, so I never had a chance to get excited about it beforehand. Anyway, the excitement of him being here is so intense that I get butterflies when I think about picking him up at the airport. My soul begins to sing, and the world seems to be a better place just thinking about it. Sure beats the grumpies.

Alyssa and I are jammin' out with Pandora. I am now officially hooked on this site. It is so easy to click on the songs you don't like and before you know it, it's formulated a series of songs that you're guaranteed to like. I've discovered another artist that I didn't know much about... Duffy. She's a mix of Amy Winehouse and Adele. Scratchy, yet still smooth.

Since we've got a TV-free day, I guess it's time for me to get in the kitchen and do some cleaning. I've made a list of all the things I have to do before Bruce gets home. It's better to space it out, rather than trying to cram it all in in the last few days. Pace yourself... that's my motto, and the only way to avoid breaking a sweat. I want to have the house sparkling when he gets home so that I really don't have to do much the month he's home. My priority then will be to hug, kiss, pet, rub, tickle, and pick on him.... oh, and to sleep late, too! He said he's going to give me a break and get up with her in the mornings while he's here. That's one of several things I'm looking forward to. **wink, wink**

Bikinis and the upstairs mix-up

I bought a little yellow bikini today. I think I look pretty good in it.... all things considered. Which, before I forget... do you know what crepe-y means? It is actually an old french word that is a combination of "creepy" and "drapey". My butt told me that today.

My friend is moving next week. She can't be replaced, either. It was so funny how we met, too. I had taken Alyssa to the park one day last fall and there were two moms chatting together. We all said "Hi" to each other and I joined in their conversation. When I started chatting with Heather, I found out that her daughter was only three months younger than mine. I asked if she lived close by and she said she lived in such-and-such neighborhood... which is my neighborhood! I then told her which street I lived on and she looked surprised and said "So do I!" Turns out we lived right across the street from each other. Well, now she's off to Maryland. It's just not fair **stomping foot** Do you know how hard it is to try to make new friends at my age? It's not that it's that hard to make friends, but rather finding one that you actually like, doesn't drive you up a wall, and has no drama? Hard, I tell you... very, very hard. What's a girl to do?

I went and had my passport photo taken this morning. There was a little glitch with their printer so I'll be picking it up in the morning. I guess I'll have Alyssa's picture taken when we go. She didn't go with me today. I had a babysitter this morning because I had several things to get done, and I really enjoy the one day a week where I can get out by myself for a couple of hours. I can not wait for that man to get home! Not too long now, and he'll be here for almost a month long visit. I better change the subject... my mouth is beginning to water.

The doctor called me two days ago. For some reason he wants me to have another test done. I don't know if I should be alarmed or not but I'm simply not going to waste the energy thinking about it right now.

Here's the background on the "medical issue": When I was six months old, my mom had to take my brother to the doctor. I think my sister had stabbed him in the hand or something equally damaging. The doctor checked him out, but then decided that my coloring wasn't good and wanted to take a look at me. So, he took me for a few minutes, came back with me and told my mom "They're waiting for you at the Vanderbilt ER. Go straight there and do NOT stop for lunch." From what I understand, a portion of my left lung was enlarged, had pushed out of my rib cage and collapsed on top of my heart. They removed almost 75% of the lung (because I was so little when this happened, the lung somehow grew to the correct size as I developed). I had an exceptional recovery and was out of the hospital within about two weeks. They thought I'd be there for at least six weeks. I still have the newspaper article that was written about it five years later. So, fast forward 15 years to the jokes my sister would make about my left boob not matching my right boob. That's the great thing about family... they know everything about you and will mercilessly tease you. The scar runs from my back to the front, around under my armpit. This caused my left breast to develop not as nicely as the right one. After a few years of the teasing, at the age of 20, I had a small implant put in so that it would match my other breast. The Dr who did it did an amazing job, too, and I was quite happy with my new rack. Well, back in February, I was taking a gander of my skinnier self in the mirror when I realized "OH MY GOD! My left boob looks like a Tara Reid botch job and my right one looks like a black diamond ski slope compared to it!". Turns out the implant had herniated/encapsulated. After the last three months of trials and tribulations with two less than stellar doctors, I'm finally making some great progess with a specialist off base. I met with him two weeks ago and he's convinced me that he's the Dr. for the job. Then he called me two days ago and said he thinks I need a mammogram. There's a little something there (on the MRI) that's not too clear, other than the encapsulation of the implant. After that's done, we'll be moving forward with having the implant removed and both boobs being brought "up to par". So, there. That's it. I just really hope that 5mm spot is nothing.

Going Postal...

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon here. My daughter is napping, and although I tried to take a nap, after about 30 minutes I gave up and came downstairs. Too much caffeine warped the idea of that little luxury.

I tried to write this awesome post the other night, but the site was down, so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say it was going to be one of my best entries. Wish I could remember what I was going to write about....

I had a great week! I was able to get several things accomplished. I went up to base to get some information about my passport. I only had to wait a couple of minutes until my name was called and the woman who helped me was incredible.  I guess she's either one of the nicest people on earth, just bored, or a combination of both, because when I mentioned that I had gotten on the Social Security website to see about updating it myself and that it was confusing, she simply pulled up the site and did it all in five minutes. Made me feel kind of dumb, BUT she does do this sort of thing everyday and knew exactly what to do. All I have to do is get the passport pictures made and we're set. I walked out of there knowing I had just received some of the best customer service possible. Thanks, Ms. Woods... you rock!

After that errand, I went by the post office to see about putting in my claim for the broken music box that Bruce sent me around my birthday. The top was completely broken when I opened it. I thought I had everything I would need to get our money back. I had the receipt from him purchasing it. I had the box it was shipped in, which had all the labels. I had the music box itself. You'd think they would have a purpose for all those labels but as it turns out, they've only been created to ensure job security for all the postal workers. They make you fill out three labels, pay for insurance in which they slap on another three labels, and then give you a copy to keep. This process creates long lines at the post office, which makes them appear as if their jobs are very, very important when any supervisor might possibly walk through. Can't you see it?... "Well, we can't cut any jobs in the Postal Service. Have you seen the lines?!?!" After waiting in line... that is after waiting in the wrong line, only to be told I had to go wait in the right line once I'd made it to the front... I filled out this damn form four... I kid you not.... four times. It must be filled out in pen without any mistakes. The guy told me that since I didn't have the proof of insurance that my husband had paid, all of my stuff would be sent to St. Louis for "review". They don't subscribe to the same book of common sense that I do, so when I asked "Can't you just subtract the amount of the FLAT RATE SHIPPING COST from the total paid to determine how much insurance he paid for???" The guy looked at me confused. Yes, confused. His response was "Oh, I don't work the lines." Yeah, I believed him... he's probably just snorting them. Well, I have to admit I did get a little.. um... diligent on my end of things. Before I would let him brush me aside for the next customer I made him make copies of everything and took pictures of the box with my phone. He tried to tell me it would all be fine and that I didn't need copies, and I told him that while I appreciated his reassurance, I was ultimately responsible in making sure all my bases were covered at this point, considering there might be another issue and that I didn't feel safe leaving it to chance... Oh, and can you make another copy of this?... It's not quite clear. Whew...

Then on Thursday I went and got a $5 haircut. Best haircut I've had in a while, surprisingly enough! Now, I just need to color and highlight it myself and it'll be done. The first of many things on my looooooong list of beautification things I must do before Bruce comes home to visit. I won't go into all that since it'll probably leave me feeling hopeless, but I hope the couple of weeks I have 'til he gets here is enough time. I miss the days of just slapping on some gloss and mascara and being done with it.... oh wait, I never did have those days. Maybe in my next life...

Clean and mean

Ahhhh... the downstairs is finally clean! No dust anywhere and the carpet is speckless. I can't write spotless since it's cream carpet, but I'm satisfied with it. It was 3 o'clock before I got around to getting started. I "doodled" around with other chores until then. Once Alyssa was up from her nap, we listened to music on Pandora and I got down to business. It was a beautiful day here, too. All the windows and doors were open, so there was no lingering funky smell from the vacuum. I have two vacuums. One for upstairs, and one for the downstairs. The downstairs vacuum was my husband's before we ever met. So, the funkiness has nothing to do with me. Just so you know...

My child is STILL awake. Bless her little stinkin', irritatin', temper-tantrum throwin', "no" sayin', picky eatin' heart. Argh! I put her down over an hour ago. This is not normal for her. I guess giving her that chocolate this afternoon wasn't too bright, but I felt guilty indulging and having her watch me with those big beautiful eyes. After giving her a rather generous piece, she ate it, came back into the kitchen and began pointing to the rest of the chocolate that was on the counter. "No more", I said, to which she replied "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooore". She kept this up for about 5 minutes but I didn't give in. I WILL stand my ground when it comes to protecting my good chocolate. Kids... they have no appreciation for good chocolate. They can't tell if it's waxy, differentiate the flavor layers, or know the difference between 80% dark and 60% dark. I'll just give her the cheap stuff til she's 15. Call me selfish, it's okay... I've been called worse. Don't think for a moment that this child was hungry, though. She grazes on snacks between meals like a cow in the field.

I have my doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon. Off base. Hallelujah! The only thing I'm concerned about is the fact that the doctor has been practicing for 47 years. I saw this online when I googled him. My girlfriend, Heather, said "Well, at least he has a lot of experience to fall back on". My comment to that was "I just hope he doesn't break a hip in that fall!" Wish me luck ;)

Why do today, what you can put off 'til tomorrow?

It's my anniversary, so I didn't want to ruin it by vacuuming and dusting. I'll do it tomorrow. Maybe.

I am making some headway on the medical issue. Got the good news today. Yippee.

I didn't have a dog in the fight today. Seriously.

Received a lovely postcard from a dear friend today. She was travelling through California and just wanted to wish me a happy anniversary. How sweet was that?

I've got lots to do tomorrow. At the top of my list is to schedule my massage, which reminds me that Mother's Day is coming up soon, too. Catch my train of thought, here?

Still eating healthy. I made an Asparagus Frittata tonight, but it was nothin' to write home about. Kinda bland. Alyssa wouldn't touch it. She decided the banana was the lesser of two evils.

Looking forward to my visit with Kimberly this weekend. She rocks. We'll be didden our hair.

Celestial celebrations

Let's see... I went to the Farmer's Market yesterday morning with Heather and our girls. Lots of fun there. Then, after I put Alyssa down for her nap, Heather came over to babysit and I ran up to the mall and bought the dress and the heels... and the runner-up dress, too!!! Seriously, I couldn't pass it up. The runner-up had been marked down by $70, so I would have been a fool not to buy it. I don't want people callin' me a fool. Just to make sure I'd made the right decision, I spent two hours walking through the mall trying to find any dress that was as cute, well-made, or as flattering. Not a one! Finally, a quick stop by Sephora to get a couple of things, and I was done. I had told Bruce that I would spend "such and such" amount of money, and even with buying the second dress I came in EXACTLY $1 under budget.

Today was spent working around the house. I mowed the yard, weed-eated and did some other random chores around the house. I have still managed to avoid doing the dusting and vacuuming. Uhhhhhh... just the thought of trying to talk myself into it makes me roll my eyes. I guess I'll do it tomorrow afternoon.... unless someone volunteers to do it for me. **hint, hint**

Tomorrow is my anniversary. I am a very lucky woman. My husband makes me laugh, he listens to me, he knows everything about me and still thinks I'm fabulous, and we have so much in common that it's odd. We get each other, y'know? Two people could not be better matched. The best thing of all is that he thinks he's lucky. I'll make sure he feels that way, too, when he comes home to visit in just a few short weeks. I am soooooo excited! Oh... and my anniversary present is another massage. I like them apples.

In case you're up early tomorrow morning... take a look up in the sky. There will be seven heavenly bodies visible to the naked eye. Six planets and the moon. You'll only be able to see this alignment for the next two mornings though, and after that the moon will not be visible, but the planets will be for about three more weeks.