Oh, Snap!

Peyton learned this past week how to snap not one, but both sets of fingers. Instead of announcing his presence by the general loudness that is his mouth, now all you hear is just snap, snap, snap. Which, by the way, is a welcome change, although I'm sure we'll grow tired of it as well. He snaps all day long. Snap, snap, snap. (Snap looks and sounds really funny if you say it over and over. Go on, try it.) Snap, snap, snap. ha ha

On the other hand, we are implementing a new discipline plan tonight. Peyton has gotten pretty mouthy lately, the whole copycat thing and just generally being a pain in the rear. So, after work, I am going to the local Targe't and buying a timer. From here on out, he receives one warning, after that, the timer is set for 5 minutes and he goes to time out. While in time out, no one will speak with him and he will NOT be allowed to go to the bathroom, which strangely enough every time he goes to time out, he has the most urgent need to pee. Imagine that. Hopefully, this will force him to use the brain God gave him to think rather than act like he was raised in a barn. I'll let you know how it goes.

WiFi Earns Hi-Fives

What a great technology progressive world we live in. Seriously, what did people do before they could run to their local coffee shop, or sit on their couch, or even ride down the road (not drive!) and be connected to the Internet via a wifi connection. Adding a wireless network to our house is definitely one of the best things we could have done. My husband would probably argue the surround sound is way cooler, and it is, but we absolutely use the Internet more often than the glass shaking, tremor inducing surround sound. I highly recommend for anybody with an internet connection to spend the extra $100 or so and hook yourself up with wireless and secure networking!

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This post is sponsored.

And the answer is . . . .

I don't bite my toenails, because, huh, just ewwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

Now, I didn't say liver was my favorite, just that I liked it, and also, even though I hate washing my hands, I do on occassion. (I know, I know, how dirty. I just can't help it, my hands are so dry and it just adds to the problem.)

So, last I checked comments, Dixie was the winner (and my mom, who e-mailed me). She wins, well, she wins another link . . . Deep Fried Southern Style and a compliment, Dixie is one funny chick, if I do say so myself.

So there you go, happy Friday! And keep your feet out of your mouth!

Tag, I'm It

Dixie tagged me, so here we go. I have to tell you seven weird things about myself. Six will be true, one will not. You choose the false one.

Larry and I have been "married" three times. The first was in Alabama as after we lived together for 6 months, we were common law married. Second was in a courthouse with just us and a woman justice of the peace. The third was the formal ceremony in front of everyone.

I have a muscle in my lower lip that I can move on command. I've never met anyone else that can do this, and it's only on one side.

I actually like liver.

I hate washing my hands after I go to the bathroom. Gross, I know, but true. (or is it?!?!)

I bite my toenails when I'm anxious.

When I was growing up, i didn't have an imaginary friend, but rather a whole group of friends. We would have contests on my swing set and I always won.

Aside from the group of imaginary friends, I had an imaginary mother who lived in a tree. Whenever I was upset with my mom, I went to "live" with her.


Let's see

Suz
Chell
Nicole
Bonnie
Mel
and Julie

Tag! You're it!

Where do Regular People Go?

With everything in the news about celebrities such as Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan entering drug addiction treatment, one has to wonder where regular people can go when they face the difficult challenge of overcoming drug and alcohol addictions. Even though this post is sponsored by Stone Hawk, I looked around the website, and it does appear to be a nice and helpful place to seek help. The grounds are well maintained and the staff look friendly. If a loved one you know needs help, whether you choose Stone Hawk, or another facility, getting professional help is the best option for you.

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This post is sponsored.

A First

Last night I had to swing by Walgreens to pick up a prescription, and being the good wife that I am, I hit McDonald's to grab some hot fudge sundaes for the family as well. Shey was all over having ice cream, so I put some in a bowl for him and we sat down at the kitchen table. He was having a fine time shoveling ice cream in his mouth, when he apparently bit off more than he could chew, so to speak. All of the sudden he dropped his spoon and screamed in pain. Brain Freeze! He looked horrified and shot the bowl devil eyes. I tried to explain it would go away and it did in a second or two, but he was done with the ice cream. He eyed it mistrustfully and then asked to get down.

I tried not to laugh, but really it was too cute.

Pay Per Post

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that I've tried a few different ideas to make money blogging. There were the greeting cards, which I actually spent money on to buy sponsored clicks, but made me absolutely nothing. Then I tried a new blog "Book Reviews by Me" and inserted Amazon links to try and make money, but I didn't keep up with it, and I doubted anyone would buy the books I recommended anyway. I've spent countless hours scouring the Internet for money making ideas.

I have finally found one that actually works. Pay Per Post offers advertisers the chance to post opportunities for bloggers to write about on their blogs. These "opps" range from 50 to 300 words and can pay anywhere from $5.00 to $1,000.00. That's right. One thousand dollars. To take advantage of an opp that big, a blogger would need to be pretty popular and have a high page rank (For example, mine is 3/10), but the chance is there.

To keep my readers (Hi mom!) happy, I try and only take opportunities that I can relate to and offer personal stories on. I don't want to look like a total advertisement blog, but I have to admit, I have been paid about $100 so far and I have another $75 or so coming to me. It's nice to look in my paypal account and see a little extra spending money there for the frivolous things in life. Also, Pay Per Post requires bloggers to disclose that the entries are sponsored, so you're not lying to your readers.

If you do want to check it out, help me out by clicking on my affiliate link to sign up. It's free. And just so you know, I just made $15.00 for telling you about Pay Per Post. :)

Check me Out

Kumiko, a fellow PayPerPoster, is interviewing bloggers for a new site she has started and I am up! You can read the question and answer session here. While you're there, look around. This is a great idea.

Who Knew?

Somehow Peyton managed to set the nice shiny foil valentines my mom sent him into some water last night, which effectively ruined them. Oh, I tried to dry them and lay books on top of them to flatten them out, but to no avail. I even went so far as to fill them out for Peyton's class, but by the time I got to Shey's class, there were hardly any worth salvaging. It was 8:30, Larry is gone again, so I was frustrated and now I hate to go to Walgreens to buy more valentine cards that the kids will just throw away in a day or two anyway.

We load up the car, boys in PJ's and sandals and head to Walgreens. Let me just say MADHOUSE. The parking lot was full, the store was packed and adults with children in tow were scouring the aisles for cheap chocolates and conversation hearts.

I always thought Valentine's Day was created by Hallmark. Who would have thunk it has been Walgreens'idea ALL ALONG?!

Monday Mention

SEX - Yep that's what this series is all about. We're already two lessons in, so here you go - Bringing Sexy Back and Big Sex are available for download.

A brief synopsis. For those of you who hadn't heard, God invented sex. And according to Genesis, all that God created is Good. Hence, sex is good. Within the right cicumstances, of course. Pastor David explains that the church should discuss sex and how it relates to our lives. He stressed that God wants us to have BIG sex, with our spouses. He explained that God intends for Sex to be a valued item in our life, and just like other valued items (cars, big screen TV, etc.) there are rules around sex. When we limit sex to the physical and just see partners as an assembly of body parts, we are missing the bigger picture. We have little sex. We need to understand that as humans, created in the very image of God, we are multi-faceted and engaging in an activity that connects us to another human being is a very big deal.

Pastor David also explains that on the continium of sexual regrets, most people are on the more regretful side. He shows that you don't have to live with these regrets. Jesus leaned towards the people who are in most need of a friend. He used the people who made the biggest mistakes to show great examples of forgiveness.

These lessons are quite humorous in spots and I recommend them for anyone who has been reading these Monday Mentions, but not yet checked out the service.

As a plus, I've been reading You: On a Diet, and they suggest regular healthy monogamous sex as a means of losing weight. Go figure! Have fun. :)

Jealous?

Another reason living in South Florida is nice.

For Zachary

I will be back with the Monday Mention later this afternoon, but for now, check out Zachary Wins Again. This is completely heartbreaking, so anything anyone can do to help, I'm sure his mother would greatly appreciate.

Roar!

I have to admit it, I am a hairy person. Over the course of my 29 years and 10 months (eek!), I have tried every kind of Hair Removal product on the market. For a time, I went to several different specialists in order to have Electrolysis treatments on my chin. They would work for a while, but I never had the money to keep them up long enough. Also, I would have to run home immediately afterwards to put a cold compress on my chin to keep down the redness and swelling. Plus, my hair is STUBBORN like the rest of me, and grew back eventually. I also saw a dermatologist, who wrote me a prescription for a Hair Inhibitor, but it broke my face out and I decided I would rather tweeze the hairs than pop the bumps. Every once in a while I will try a new Hair Removal Cream, but they tend to make my chin all red, and then break out. Double whammy! (More money, more money!)

Now I've settled on a routine of tweezing almost every morning and waxing occasionally. I purchased a wax heater a while back, one reason for my eyebrows and two because it's so embarrassing to ask someone to wax your chin. Look at me though, dangle some money in my face and I'm writing a whole post on it. Times are rough and my dignity is low. ha ha I purchase wax for sensitive skin and it works pretty well. I'm actually pretty good at doing my own eyebrows. (My mom even let me do her's once, but I think she just felt bad for me because I was pregnant and miserable.) So, if we ever meet in real person, don't gaze too long, because I'm sure you'll find a stray hair somewhere or another.

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This post is sponsored; however, the stories are all true.

The Power Ranger Picture

As soon as I pulled into the parking lot at the daycare this morning, it hit me. Picture Day. I surveyed the boys as they piled out of the car. Shey: red t-shirt, with navy pants. ok, not so bad. Peyton: bright orange Power Rangers shirt and jeans. ehhhh, could be better.

I didn't say anything though, thinking it was just the group pictures, so he'd be ok. We walked in to the pre-k classroom and almost all the kids were dressed to the nines with their button down shirts and slacks and slicked back hair. uh, Peyton didn't even get a bath last night. (we went to see the shark feeding at the local pet store though, so way cooler, right?) I wouldn't have felt so bad, but as soon as he walked to the circle, this one little loud mouth girl said, "You look bad for the pictures." Peyton just looked at her like, uh? and sat down by who his friend. I've never wanted to bitch slap a child so much in my life. I walked out of the room instead, took Shey to his room, where none of the kids were dressed up, and then left. As I walked out, this one mom who has boy/girl twins was walking up. They are always immaculate and today was no exception. Little matching black and red outfits.

I made it to the car before turning around and walking back into the school. I went to Peyton and whispered, "Do you want me to get you another shirt, or do you want to wear this one." He looked down and said, "Wear this one." I nodded, said I love you and left, a lump in my throat.

It's not that he's wearing a Power Rangers shirt for pictures, because really, he's a kid, it was more the feeling lately that I just can't pull it together. I don't have anything much going on at work, and I think it's getting to me. I'm actually *gasp* bored of surfing the Internet. But the thing is, now that I am in such a rut and even bored, I don't want to get out of it. I have become complacent. When I get home at night, all I want to do it sit even though that's what I've been doing all day. And if I'm being blatantly honest, I don't even want to do anything with the boys. Peyton talks incessantly and Shey has become so clingy that I want to scream. I'm not depressed, I'm not happy, I'm worse. I'm just here. It's a funk. and a selfish one at that. I don't want to do anything.

I've been searching around and I think I may have a hormonal imbalance. I've never been regular, it took us forever to get pregnant because I didn't ovulate on my own, I have virtually no sex drive or energy for that matter. I think I'm going to get a good multi-vitamin and maybe something geared towards women's hormones and see if it helps.

And These Are the Days of Our Lives

Which apparently haven't changed much. I was checking out the section for Days of our Lives on Soaps.com and it appears the same events are happening to the same people in the town of Salem. It's funny, but it's also comforting. My life changes greatly, but not Sammi's. She's still pulling her same tricks. Remember so so long ago when she was trying to trick Austin into marrying her? Now, she's with the brother, who was as mean as she is. Bo and Hope were always my favorites, but not the new Bo, who was there for a while. I was so happy when the old Bo came back, but then Hope had died, or something, and he was with Carly for a while, but then Hope came back. ha ha But I think she had amnesia. Isn't that just convenient how these characters die and come back at will? Funny how those plot lines stick out in my head from watching the show when I was a kid.

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This post is sponsored.

My (Ex) Boyfriend's Back

(Before those who know me in real life freak out, he's not really.)

So last night, I dreamt about my ex-boyfriend from high school, and as always, this sparks a day or so of mini-obsessing about where he is and what's going on in his life. There will be google searches, and myspace lookups, which will not yield results and honestly, is a good thing. If I found him, then there would be the temptation to contact him, and honestly, that would be a bad thing, or an awkward thing, at the very least a huh? thing. It's not that I would run off with him or anything, but he was a big part of my teenage life and the curiosity is there. It's funny how someone who was once such a key player in the life of Erika is now just a faded memory.

Add this to the Reasons

I post an entry about the end of time, and crickets chirp. I post an entry about getting my boobs reduced, and I receive more comments than ever before. Once again, my boobs steal all the attention.

Seriously though, thanks for the well wishes. :)

Holy Sh*t, Batman

My insurance company approved my breast reduction.

I am pretty speechless. On April 12, I will finally get the breasts I always wanted.

Wow.

Shopping Online

I'll be pretty honest with you, things are really slow here at work. At least on my end. With the lack of hurricanes last year, we are cleaning up our workloads, and starting to market new work. As such, I do some shopping online to pass the time. I love looking for deals. There's are several websites you can go to to receive discounts and coupons and ebates.com is one of them. Love shopping at Target? Ebates offers Target coupons. Also, they offer 25% cash back on your purchases for the over 800 stores on their website. Registration is free, plus you get money back! Who can beat that.

Open in the Front

Yesterday, I went for my annual "Scoot Down to the End of the Table" exam, and man, that was FUN! Seriously, though, what is up with the paper blankets? My dignity has already been stripped, this man delivered both my boys, so he knows my vagina better than I do, is there really a need for the niceties? I guess it would be a little awkward to look down and see another man's head between my legs, but I already feel him there, is there really much of a difference? Will this post consist entirely of questions? When will these questions be answered?

At least it is done for one year.