I'm such a rebel

I called in sick today. I've never called in sick if I wasn't sick. Granted, there were days when I was just a little under the weather and could have made it to work okay, but I have never called in sick when I'm not sick at all. This is pretty nice. It's my last week at my old job, so why not? Sadly, I'll probably spend my day at Walmart shopping for stuff to make a chicken costume for Ian, and at home I'll be doing laundry and cleaning toilets. What a rebel, eh?

Word is, I'm not a skank

So we're driving to Outback Steakhouse yesterday, and Ian asks what a skank is. Why? Because someone told him I'm not a skank. That's good to know. I guess it's good he knows it, too. That way, if some punk tells him his mom is a skank, he can say for sure that I'm not. Sweet.

Molly is sleeping through the night (mostly), but I still feel the need to jump into bed as soon as she's asleep. Part of it is that I'm getting up at 5:30 every day, but still. It's 8:30 now and I'm fighting the urge to go to bed right now. I'm pretty sure that's the reason I seem to have lost all social skills. I noticed at the wedding the other night and again at a BBQ last weekend I had nothing to say. I haven't been out in so long I don't remember what to do (and I don't really know anyone either). Maybe J and I will go out for my b-day? Have a few drinkies? Haven't done that in a while either. It would be nice to let loose a bit. We'll see...as long as I don't get all skanky.

Do Prostitutes have a Patron Saint?*

*Ah, the questions children ask when you least expect them!!

Actually, I did try to google that and didn't find an answer. I thought it would be Mary Magdelene but really I think she got a bum rap with that whole "whore" thing. That was probably the Uptight Man Club of the early Church. I would guess she really wasn't a prostitute. (When I was little I used to get "prostitute" and "protestant" confused -heh heh) They were probably just threatened by a strong woman in those times.

I'm getting more excited and more confident about my new job. There is one problem, though. I noticed at my interview that there is one bathroom on the floor and it has stalls. Not a problem if I have to pee, but....I think you see where I'm going with this. Lots of people have a shy bladder, I have a shy bootay. I just can't go in that kind of situation. I'm either going to have to find a secret bathroom, change my eating habits, or be very uncomfortable. Not sure I like any of those options. We'll see, I guess. (why do I feel like I should be eating dinner right now? oh, because this is typical Herrick dinner conversation!)

Update: Due to some recent e-mails from administration to my co-worker regarding my leaving, I am more glad than ever to go. This place is so full of shit I'm surpised the walls aren't brown. I was going to try to help and ease the transition, but the e-mail I read (to someone else about me) makes me want to say "Fuck you very much, goodbye and suck me!"

Important dates for family: May 14 - Ian Graduation (evening) , May 16 - BB Graduation (daytime), May 28 Dance Recital, oh, almost forgot the most important date: May 11!! If any of my brothers don't know why that date is important I'm coming over to kick you in the balls. (Not that I was a day late for Kenny's or anything - I remembered, I just forgot to call! My bad!)

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!

I got the job! I got the job! I got the job! I got the job! Can you tell I'm exicted? You probably can't tell how nervous I am. I'm excited and nervous. Exivous? Nervited? Totally excited and totally nervous. Oh my God, I got the job! Many thanks to my SIL (H) - how can I ever thank you? I hope I don't embarass you or let you down. I can't believe I got the job!!! Wow. This is a major life change. New school for Ian and BB, new job for me, new jobs for Mom and DJ, too. Wow, that's a lot to get used to. I've already told my co-workers, now I'm off to tell my boss. This will probably feel better than it should - is that bad?

Yay! I got the job, I got the job, I got the job!!!

Karma (I hope)

Sometimes, you just have to look at your life where it is right now and say "life is good". Things may change for better or worse, but right now, this moment, this second, my life is good.

Happy 420 Day!

I'm a little dissappointed in some of my relatives...no one posted 420 day? My, how the mighty have fallen! Seriously, we were watching the gamers channel today, COPS was on, and I realize the bottom left corner of the TV says Happy 420 day (with a peace sign in the 0). A little ironic, don't you think? So, Happy 420 to you - you know who you are (wink nudge)!!!

The waiting is the hardest part.*

*Thanks, Tom Petty.

So, I went on a job interview today. Looks promising. Now, I just have to wait for them to return my call. Oh God, this is the worst part! Keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out. Will blame SIL(H) if it doesn't (just kidding - love you!!!) .

So, my previous list:

1. Mandarin House - We drove by the other day, and Ian mentioned we've never been in there(you know, the one that used to be Shoney's). I told him we'd never eat there, it gives you the s--ts. He said lots of restaurants do that. I said not while you're still at the restaurant. So he said, "Hmm, I guess Mandarin is Chinese for poo". That's my boy!!
2. Ian's "hot/not" chick - We went to a lovely wedding last weekend (more on that later) and we hired a 16-year-old to babysit. Not Ian, mind you, but he was home. More for Molly, really, I'm not ready to leave her with him for long periods of time yet. So some kids from his class who were at the wedding asked him where he was. He told them he was hanging out with a "hottie" from Ursuline. The kids weren't sure if he was serious, he assured them he was. Then BB blurted out "She was our babysitter!". Poor Ian.
3. There's a furniture store on the way to my office that has a huge sign outside that says "almost FREE FURNATURE". Their old sign had it spelled right. How hard can it be to reorder a sign. I'm sure whomever ordered the new sign was a graduate of Orleans Parish Public Schools. Yay, New Orleans.
4. Mr. and Mrs. Big Boy had a wonderful wedding. They are so cute together. I enjoyed watching them between photographs when they had a brief moment to themselves - so in love!! J arranged their police escorts, so after the wedding, on the way to the reception, there were cops all over (mom counted 22). I was thinking, "Wow, they sure went all out - what nice guys!" Turns out we were driving through a crime scene. The police were looking for a murderer who had recently come out of his house with his guns blazing. There's one for their Wedding Memories book! Again, Yay, New Orleans.
5. Took Hot TaMolly to the pediatrician (SIL-E, you know who this is!:) for an ear check. Finally, infection-free! While I was there I asked what to do to get her to sleep through the night. I'm tired, damnit! She gave me two suggestions: 1. Let her cry. 2. Benadryl. Yes, that's right, Benadryl. Anyone wanna guess which option I'm taking? (You might be surprised)

Whoa....

Wow, where has the time gone? I've been super busy at work and home. Had a great weekend...

Some things coming up when I have time to blog:

1. Mandarin House
2. Ian's "hot/not" chick
3. furnature (that's right, I said furnAture)
4. a lovely wedding punctuated by a trip through a crime scene
5. Benadryl, sweet, sweet Benadryl

Stir that around and I'll let you know when it's done!

Laughter is the best medicine!

Some days my kids just make me laugh...today for example:

"My Aunt Hannah must be a man because she can pick me up" - completely out of the blue on the way home from school today.

BB just recently found out about Duncan. The whole idea of another brother is still new to her, and she mentions him quite a bit. I am trying to explain to her that she doesn't need to mention him to everyone she meets, but so far it's not really sinking in. Yesterday at the school Mass, Fr. Joseph asked if anyone had lost a loved one recently. Bridget raised her hand and said "My brother." Ian said the whole school turned around to look at him. I guess they were a little surprised to see him sitting there! (Everytime I think about it I laugh until I cry - Ian's a little frustrated with me.)

And then there's the little one. We went to Panda King today. Right before we walked in, I changed Molly in the car. She is on antibiotics and therefore very diarrhea-y (is that a word? it is now!) and her diaper was gross. As I was changing her in the back of the car the diaper fell and landed poo down on the parking lot. Of course, I had to wipe it up, I couldn't just leave it there. Isn't that a health hazard? (remember that the next time you invoke the five-second rule)...then as we're walking in, out of the corner of my eye I thought she puked, but I didn't see anything and kept on walking. After we got to the far end of the dining room, all settled in, and I'm on my way to the buffet, I realize I have white baby puke all over the front of my dark purple sweater. Great...but it doesn't stop there! I am feeding her at the table, and tonight we are trying green beans for the first time. She doesn't like them. At all. We are talking The Exorcist here - green beans and rice cereal all over the floor (carpet). I wondered if this was how Jerrod felt at IHOP with Dan. I couldn't look the single guy at the next table in the eye. Needless to say he left soon after.

But, all in all they're good kids and I love them. And I love the man who gave them to me. Good night all!

Give War A Chance*

*borrowed from my SIL(H)'s blog - it just seemed to fit.

So the BB/DJ truce lasted two whole days. I'm not sure what happened, I came in at the tail end of the incident, but she is grounded for a week. She hates being grounded - too bad :( Hopefully she will learn to treat others with respect. If not, she is going to have a lonely future in her room.

Molly is better, I think the new antibiotics are working. She still has an infection in one ear. We are going to a wedding this weekend, so I hope she is in a better mood b/c we have a new babysitter. Don't want to scare her off first thing! Apparently she is a Harry Potter trivia whiz, so Ian may be meeting his match! I'm a little nervous about leaving Molly home for the first time with a teenager, but I'm sure everything will be fine. She's an experienced babysitter (her aunt has 16 month old twins she watches during the summer), and Molly is a good baby. Hopefully BB won't be too much of a handful, but I'm pretty confident she will like her and therefore behave.

This week I was off Monday (sick baby) and late Tuesday (meeting with Ian's principal), and will be off Friday (babysitter's daughter getting married). Short week!!! Might take some "naked baby" pics since she's now able to lie on her stomach and lift her head. Should be cute!

(Slap)Happy Easter!!!

Wow, what a great day! There were just too many laugh-out-loud moments to name...Molly in the Build-A-Bear wig, Kenny's room (okay, house)-clearing farts, the regular Herrick family meal humor (including: Kenny's description of his bowel functions - particularly the one that had fingers and reached up to grab him!!!; 2 separate enema refrences; and one referance to "tossed salad" - 2 if you count Ian mentioning how he spoke about it to Aunt H and his other grandmother).

Molly is sick, she was doing so well yesterday. I really think her ear infections have returned. Looks like she might follow Ian down the "multiple ear infection" route. Great. I will probably have to miss work tomorrow to take her to the doctor again. This can't be good.

Going to drag J in to the principal's office on Tues am. I am still fighting the issue from my first blog and the principal won't return my calls. I've decided he must need a "man to man" conversation, so J is going to "have my back". What a great husband!!!

7 minutes until Sopranos!!! Gotta go get ready!

I, I, I want the knife....Pleeeeaaaasssseeee

It's amazing what a good night of sleep can do. I put "little bit" on cold meds - ah, sleep, glorious sleep!! Is that bad if I'm sad when she doesn't have a cold anymore? Just kidding....maybe. She got her first tooth yesterday! It's not sticking up yet but it did break the skin. So I got one losing her teeth and one getting her teeth. No wonder I don't know if I'm coming or going!!

So Ian and I are telling corny jokes today, and I say "There is no I in TEAM" (it might not be a joke, but it IS corny). Ian says "What?" and I said "Your coach never told you that?! Think about it." So smart-ass says "There IS an I in WIN." Just as I'm thinking he's pretty quick on the come-back, he follows it up with "There is also an I in Idaho." What a doof!

SIL(E) and I walked the "Soles for Christ" 9 churches/Stations of the Cross yesterday. Wow - I'll definately do it again. It was long (5 hours) and my legs were dragging by Station 12, but it was nice. I'm still not down with the Charismatics (sounds like a band, huh?) but it was nice. Needless to say I still have my extra prayer card they gave me to hand out on the journey. I forgot my camera but SIL brought hers, can't wait to see the pics. The actors doing the stations were great. Jesus was good. (That can be read so many ways, I think I'll just leave it there.) Boy were we surprised after it was over and he took off his wig! Wasn't expecting a buzz cut!

I had something else to post but I forgot what it was. Must have been a lie.

All You Need Is Love

So last night, BB asks J if she can call H2. He calls on his cell phone and hands her the phone..."DJ, I'm sorry I've been so mean to you." Wow!! Anyone who knows the relationship between those two is probably sitting at their computer with their jaw on the floor...She told us she wants to be nice to DJ from now on. We'll see how long that lasts, but it was very touching to see.

Ian spend the night at Chia's house last night. He called me at 7:45 this morning just to say I love you. How sweet!!! We chatted for a minute and I told him I needed to call him back in a few minutes, but he said everyone else was still asleep so not to call in case they woke up, he just wanted to tell me he loves me. (Has anyone else noticed how tall he's gotten lately? If he's not 6' already then he's got to be pretty close. Holy Smokes!!!)

AND, Molly only got up once last night! Granted we spent about 90 min on the couch together, but I still got more sleep than the previous 2 nights! Thank you, PediaCare!

Can't wait....

Today I'm going to crash and burn...

Okay, I'm starting my day on 4 hours of sleep. Molly got up just as we were going to bed last night. I fed her and got her back to bed. She got up at 2:30 and went back to bed at 5:00 am. Guess what time I have to get up for work? Yup, 5:00 am. I am soooo tired. J offered to take Molly tonight so I could go to bed at 6:00 tonight (after dinner - leftovers from yesterday, more on that later), but it's dance night (which is also bath night and laundry night). Curses!

J's dad came over yesterday and we BBQd (can that possibly be right in any universe? But BBQ'd doesn't look right either) hamburgers, corn on the cob, tuna steak, and salmon. Yummy!!! He also made his soon-to-be famous pineapple/mango/avacado salsa. Throw in some asparagus and artichokes and it was a meal to remember. Also very WW friendly - thanks babe!

Saturday was the Algiers Point annual garage sale. Went with J and the girls, SIL(H), KenEllie, and her folks (always a pleasure). J left us early and took the girls to an easter egg hunt and they had a blast if the photos are to be believed. Missed mom at the garage sale, but E's mom bartered some great bargains for us!!

Looking forward to walking the 9 churches on Good Friday with SIL(E) and the kids. Should be a moving experience (no pun intended). I hear Ian's alarm going off, time to go!

You want fries with that?

Let me begin by saying that Bridget is reading, ALOT. She reads anything she can get her hands on: books, comics, street signs, restaurant banners, everything. She's been doing this for a while and sometimes I am amazed how quickly she'll catch something as we're driving by. We're very proud of her.

SIL (H) came in this weekend for a bachelorette party. Bridget wanted to have dinner with her tonight but I explained that H is leaving at lunchtime. BB wants to know why she can't stay because she loves and misses her aunt, and if she lived here she'd have more time with her. So I explain to BB that H has a job in H-town and that's why they live there. Then, BB turns to me with tears in her big brown eyes and says "Why can't H quit her job and get a job here? McDonald's is hiring."