The Big Bust

I had one of those tricky days today. A tricky day is a day that starts off fine. Everything seems to be going well with no problems in sight. This is the trick. You think it's going to be a great day, and then all h-e- double hockey sticks breaks loose. First I got a phone call relaying some disappointing news about one of the girls. I won't divulge the information I received in order to protect the identity of the child(brat) in question. This information had me absolutely beside myself.

I really felt that I needed to go home and handle this situation. However, I had a final exam tonight in one of my classes. So I sent one of my sisters over to my house instead to handle the situation. The test ended up being harder than I expected. That was kind of a bummer.

As I was leaving the school, my foot turned some kind of funny way and everything I was carrying went flying. I hit the pavement and slid a little. I scraped up my knee pretty good, one of my elbows, and the skin on one of my hands. It has been years since I have had scraped knees. I bet I was about twelve the last time I fell down. Four people were witness to my humiliation. I am attaching a picture of the shoe that was the cause of all of this pain and suffering. I considered suing the school, but then realized the shoe was the cause of my little mishap. Ladies...if you own a pair of shoes like these, beware!!! They are dangerous. (That or I am just really clumsy and have absolutely NO business wearing shoes like these)
Since July I have cut both of my thumbs on two separate occasions, burned one of my thumbs trying to light a bottle rocket and now this. I am starting to see a pattern here. I may need to make sure my life insurance is up to date.

The Big Fat "F"

It finally happened. I have been in college since the spring of 05. I flunked a test. I have NEVER flunked a test. This probably is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, however I am traumatized. I am even having nightmares about flunking tests. What does this say about me? My nightmares have been consisting rats coming to get me, and flunking tests at school. In my nightmare, not only did I flunk the test, but everyone in my class flunked and blamed it on me. They were saying things like, "I should have known better than to trust a red head". I really don't know what this has to do with anything but there it is. Is this what my life has become? When will I ever be finished with school? I was so stupid to think that going to school, working a full time job, raising kids, and trying to keep a house was going to be easy. Have I lost my mind? Did I ever have one? I should have included those questions in my last blog.

School will be over for this semester next week. I am very excited to be getting almost a whole month off before I have to start again. I have signed up for three classes for the fall semester. I have NO IDEA how I am going to pull this off. I am barely pulling off taking two classes.

In other news................

A couple of weeks ago I missed a couple of my night classes. Sissy had freshman orientation the first night, and I had a sick kid the other night. Both of these classes were Tuesday night classes. I was able to attend my Thursday night class. As I was sitting in the classroom, waiting for class to start, one of my classmates from the Tuesday night class comes into my classroom, stands directly in front of me, and pretty loudly demands to know where I have been. This annoyed me......... a lot.


Maybe I have issues because I had no real authority figure in my life when I was growing up. At any rate, this person IS NOT a professor, my boss, or any kind of authority figure in my life. I was not impressed with her demand to know where I had been. In this person's defense, I am probably neurotic, and a little nutty about some things. This person may have just noticed that I hadn't been in class, and was concerned. (I highly doubt this but we will go with it for the sake of argument) This is also the same person who asked me to sit beside them the first night of class and then proceeded to steal all my answers. I never sat beside this person again.

So I kind of already don't particularly care for this person and this person has come into my class and demanded to know where I have been in a loud voice and in front of all my classmates. So I said the only thing that a mature woman of 32 could say. I told her I was up a chicken's butt getting a dozen eggs.

What's Up With That?

My favorite radio show is broadcast in another state. I download it to my Ipod and listen to it when I am commuting back and forth to work, on my school, or anytime I have a few spare minutes. They called out a list of old or unusual laws that are still on the books. I thought I would share them with everyone:

As mentioned in my last blog, it is illegal to drive blindfolded in Alabama.

In Kentucky, if you have a concealed weapons permit, it is still illegal to carry a weapon over six feet long.

In London it is illegal to carry dogs with rabies or corpses in a cab.

In France it's illegal to name your pig Napoleon.

In London it is illegal to flag down a taxi if you have the plague.

In some country that I can't pronounce the name of, it is illegal for a doctor to look at a woman's private parts. He must look in a mirror and not directly at it.

Doesn't it make you proud to live in the U.S. of A.?

I've Got Questions...Who Has Answers?

1. Why does The DQ think that we are a pack of wild pigs?

2. Why can't I ever make myself do my homework until the night before it's due?

3. Why does my sister think that you can tell the sex of a baby if you hold a ring tied to a piece of thread over a pregnant belly?

4. Is this belief known as ringtology?

5. Why can't I ever find the following items? Toenail clippers, fingernail clippers, or anything that even closely resembles a tool. (screwdrivers, etc.)

6. Why do I have to punish The DQ to get her to clean her room?

7. Why do I have nightmares about rats trying to get me after a visit from Mr. Jingles the mouse?( See previous blog titled A Visitor)

8. Has anyone seen my keys?

9. Why were my children given special powers that allow them to know anytime I have ANY extra money and this is the time to ask for something?

10. Why is it illegal in Alabama to drive blindfolded? ( I really don't see the problem)

If you have answers to any of the aforementioned questions, please feel to let me know.

The Six Flags Trip

We see who the camera hog is(Hint: It's not the DQ)

That's a pretty face Sissy

Time for me to take a break

Are you ever too old for a hug from Speedy?

I think the DQ should have been a model

This is probably the sexiest picture of me ever taken.....look out boys!

I saw entirely too much bare skin....

The Drama Queen loved that tunnel ride

This ride was really "off the hook"

The Drama Queen looks relaxed

Fun in the sun with Britt











It's not very often that we can afford to take a vacation. This summer the girls and a friend of Sissy and myself all drove up to Six Flags in Kentucky. Good times were had by all. I actually got on one of the upside down roller coasters!

Susie Gets Some God...For MAT, Whoever You Are

I was raised in church for the most part. When I was a little girl we went to church every time the doors were open. After dad was gone, all of the children would ride the church van. You know, where they come around on Saturday and invite you to church. My mother may have gone with us twice. I don't actually know how long it has been since she attended a church service. So we would all ride the church van to church. I think the reason we went was for the treats.

Some people may be shocked but that is the truth. When one is poor and treats are a scarce commodity, it doesn't take much to be enticed to go to church so one can get treats.

By the time I was about twenty one or so I was pretty ticked off at God and even proclaimed myself to be an atheist. This shocked and horrified my family. I didn't care what they thought. If God were real, then I had to acknowledge that He had let us go through hell. I preferred to believe that He wasn't real. That was easier to believe. By the time I was 22 I was living with someone that I was not married to. I had been raised this way. My mother lived with a couple of men she wasn't married to. Therefore, I didn't see anything wrong with it. So I continued on this way. The Drama Queen was born in August of 1998. I did marry her dad in March of 1999. In July of 1999 he left.

My whole world fell apart. The first thing I did was get down on my knees and pray. I never even thought about it. From that day on, I prayed all the time. All throughout the day I would pray. At night I prayed.

There I was, alone with two little girls to raise. At the time I separated from my former husband I had just gone back to work and I was making like 7 bucks an hour. I had no idea how I was going to be able to support my kids. God provided for us. He opened so many doors for us. We had a place to live, I got a better paying job. My sister even came to live with us for a while. Even though I had turned my back on Him, when I reached out and asked for His help He was there. In time, the bitterness in my heart began to fade. My bitterness towards my mother, my bitterness towards my ex, and my bitterness about the way I grew up. God started to heal my heart. It didn't happen overnight. It took several years. When you come from an unhealthy, dysfunctional background, being "normal" is a struggle. There are so many emotional bondages that have to be broken.

I was eventually even able to acknowledge that even though my former husband had left me, I played a part in that. My bitterness and desire to control everything had helped push him out the door.
Don't get me wrong, he played his part also. In retrospect, I really believe that him and I were just an explosion waiting to happen. It took me losing my husband and hitting rock bottom, emotionally and financially to reach out to Him. That was ten years ago. It is so amazing to me this difference in myself between now and then.

I have decided that I will not live with a man until he is my husband. I want to set a better example for my girls. We go to church on Sundays. Not like we should, I admit it. But progress is progress. I'm not perfect (I know...... this is shocking) I'm not where I need to be but Thank God I'm not where I used to be.

The Princess Diaries

Today was a special day for The Drama Queen. We had her birthday party today. Her birthday was actually Monday, but we had the official party today. Now, The Drama Queen is also The Princess. I don't refer to her as The Princess because that is name currently under use by a blog buddy. The main problem with me having a princess, is that I do not have a proper princess income. I have the income of a single mother who is not receiving child support from either father.

The Drama Queen has been to the mall a couple of times when I have taken Sissy to get her nails done. Sissy is almost sixteen. At any rate, she always feels left out. I told her she is too young to be getting her nails done. (She just turned nine). For her birthday I told her I would pay for her and a couple of her friends to get manicures and as a special birthday treat, she could get a pedicure.

She has been looking forward to this for over a month. It was all planned out. So today was the special manicure and pedicure day. I really like to think that I am a level headed mother. I provide for my children but I don't see myself as being "over the top". Sometimes they get extra treats and sometimes they don't. So off we go to the nail salon. I walked in the door with the girls and told the employee that I wanted two manicures and a pedicure. He did not speak clear English to begin with. I finally conveyed to him that the manicures and pedicure were for the children.

He looked at me like I was crazy and so did everyone else in the place. Anyone with half a brain could look at me and tell that I am clearly the one who needs a manicure and pedicure. Why in the world would a mother pay for nine year olds to be getting this stuff? Was I out of my mind? Several of the customers even asked my daughter how old she was. As I was sitting there I glanced down at my own feet. I do need a pedicure. My feet look hideous. If the truth be told, I am thirty two years and I have never experienced the joy of a pedicure. The main reason is because I just can't justify spending that kind of money for someone to scrub my feet and put polish on my toes. The other reason is I just can't justify spending that kind of money for someone to scrub my feet and put polish on my toes.

When I made the decision that I would do this for The Drama Queen's birthday I really didn't think anything of it. As I was sitting there looking at my hideous feet, one the employees asked me if I wanted a pedicure. I said no. He actually said to me something like, " You are paying for the little girl to get a pedicure but not one for yourself?" Now I am feeling uncomfortable with the whole thing. Was I one of those OVER THE TOP moms? You know the one I am talking about. The one that brings the petting zoo to the house for the one year olds birthday party. You drive by the house and it looks like a three ring circus is taking place right in your neighborhood.
(No offense to anyone who has done this, it's just too much for me)

After a while, I realized that this is not the case with me. I do for my children, but they don't get everything they want. This was a special birthday treat. Why should I be made to feel uncomfortable about doing something special once in a while for one of my children? Frankly, even if it is a little much, it's really no one else's problem but mine. After all, What I eat don't make you fat.

The bottom line is that we all do what we think is best for our children. Of course, everyone is not going to agree on what that is. What it all comes down to is that there is only one person you have to answer to for your parenting choices, and that is you.

I am glad that The Drama Queen was able to experience getting spoiled a little bit...............Dear Lord, please don't let her want a whole day at the spa next year.