Anything But Gray

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  • oh my….

    Almost a month?
    Seriously?

    the longest drought ever….since I started this blog.

    I don't like it. I miss my blog..
    and I don't even know why I stopped for so long….

    The craziness of the holidays…
    Having nothing to say….
    I feel guarded, at times, on what I can write on this blog…..because at some point, everyone does stop by…
    A wee bit sad about "life" in general for a little bit there.
    Of all the friends and family I have, very, VERY few people read this….so why bother?

    Because it's for ME and I LOVE having it…..and some people DO read it, faithfully.

    So back to it, I go…..I hope to not let this happen again…a friggin' month. Just crazy.

    Right off the top of my head…..what has been going on in the last few weeks…okay, okay..almost MONTH.

    • Thanksgiving was nice…quiet, uneventful and just….nice. 🙂
    • Jaime made honor roll!!!
    •  J got a web cam and I get to SEE HER TALK NOW!!!! Amazing….and I am so addicted to it. I love getting to "see" her, love getting to see her son….it's just an awesome thing.
    •  A little girl I love dearly….is so growing up and it makes me miss her so bad.
    •  I got my Christmas cards out—watch your mail, they are on the way!!–THAT makes me so happy.
    •  Rode the roller coaster of Zak's work….had a potential multi million dollar client change their mind about moving to NH. It's not completely over with, though. They are not 100% sure what they are doing. They know they are leaning toward not New Hampshire right now, but it's not definite and they LOVE Zak. So if they DO decide NH after all, it will be Zak they use. That right there, is cool. That they dug him so much. But it was quite the roller coaster for  a bit. lol.
    • Benjamin is going to be Rudolph in his class play….!!! I CANNOT WAIT!!! It's the 23rd.
    • I injured myself really, REALLY bad. Fell off one of our high dining room chairs and fell about 2 feet ONTO the chair, right on my ribs. Pretty sure I did some serious damage…..it's finally better but it was almost 2 weeks of hell. Couldn't sleep…couldn't hardly walk….couldn't bend. Just sitting was painful if it I did it for too long…I'm still feeling it, but I can function now. Zak and my mom really stepped up and saved me. They did the laundry and dishes and were just amazing…thank God.
    • My business is doing pretty good. I have made enough money in the last couple of months, to pay for Christmas. I am pretty freakin' proud of me! And I love having my business!!!! So nice to be doing what I love and get PAID for it! I haven't done much marketing, just because I keep getting clients and work without having to do much marketing, so I've just been working with the business I have and keeping things at a reasonable pace. After the new year, I will start putting a plan in place and I am really excited to see what kind of  business I do once I do some marketing! VERY exciting.
    • I had started going to the gym and then hurt myself so I haven't been able to. THAT is a little frustrating.
    • I am annoyed as hell that I STILL have not "reviewed" Bon Jovi's new album.
    • Mariah Carey is coming in concert, within in driving distance of me, THREE TIMES in January. I am really bummed I will not be able to see her. She is one of my all time favorite artists and I've never seen her in concert and I would do anything to be able to. BUT….I think I am going to bust my ass with my shop and see if I can manage to earn the money to go. Kind of a birthday present to myself. Good Luck to me!!!
    • Very excited about the new year and knowing it's going to be a better year for us.

    Sooo…that's it. A little run down of the major things going on. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff or leaving stuff out…..meh…one step at a time, right? LOL 

  • Just us…

    So there isn't anything spectacular or even really noteworthy to report. But I thought I'd just throw some going on's out there for you.

    The kids are doing great. School is good for them both. We have their teacher conferences tonight and I am excited to talk to their teachers. Jaime scored really low on her reading at the beginning of the year and we've been really working with her to improve and I'm curious to see if any improvement has been noted. I am not worried or upset about her reading, in the slightest. I want her to improve, no doubt…she'll have a really tough time as she gets into the upper grades if she doesn't get her reading to a high level but that is the only concern. She's a fantastic speller, she loves writing her "books", she's very creative with her stories and follows a structure….(beginning, middle, end) she comprehends what she reads most times….the girl is just a slow thinker. Just like Zak. I know she will be fine and my only concern for her is that she is reading at a level that will make it easy for her to keep up with her work.
    Socially…she is good. She isn't talking about many kids from school or wanting to have play dates or anything like that. Which I was hoping she would grow out of her shell a bit this year, but so far no. And she's not unhappy and she is well liked ….she just isn't hmmm…i'm not sure how to explain this. She's just Jaime. The girl has never met a stranger but when it comes to her peers…she is a bit timid. It's surprising, to say the least. But as long as she's happy, I try not to push her. I give her a little nudge, here and there by making a little phone book with her and suggesting she gets a couple of classmates phone numbers and invite them over…but nothing major. She plays with all the kids in the neighborhood and is quite content with that. All in all she is great.

    Ben is good. He is doing great in school and he likes going. He is doing well, academically. He practices his sight words while the girls (Jaime and Gabby) do their homework and he LOVES having "homework". He has a notebook and I practice his sight words with flash cards with him and then have him try to write them in the notebook. Or he practices writing numbers in there. He loves it! I think it makes him feel like the older kids to have "homework". It's cute.  He talks about the kids at school and really enjoys it, so that is good. He is a super meticulous writer….his fine motor skills are fantastic. And he's getting smarter and smarter. Just coming up with the funniest things. He's as obnoxious, loud, crazy and stubborn as ever….and I am so madly in love with this boy it's not even funny. He's still crawling into our bed with us a lot of nights even though he loves his new (ish) bed. I think he just loves us more and I'm okay with that! LOL

    Zak is busy at work and has lots of "potential" clients. This is good! He had one buyer that was in an accepted offer, not happen after all. That kind of sucked. Well, really sucked….but he got a different buyer into a deal within a week of the first deal falling through. Which is good. But the paycheck will be half of what we would have seen. No fun. And super crappy timing. Right before Christmas….seriously? Another super tight Christmas for us.  Which is okay with us, at least we are in good company….

    I am good. My Etsy shop is doing okay and I am excited about that. There are a couple of things I am really, REALLY excited about with my shop and I'll explain more about them when it's ready to roll….but I'm really keeping my fingers crossed for big things…well, big to ME. We'll see…..

    When the kids get home today, they won't have school for the rest of the week and I am actually looking forward to spending some time with them. Isn't it funny what a little separation does for people?  Absence really does make the heart grow fonder!!! LOL  Anyway, I can't wait for them to be home with me…..we're gonna have a blast!!!!!   

  • Favorite pic…

    I have this picture up in my living room. Artistically speaking, it's my all time favorite pic of the kids.  I didn't know where it was, digitally, for the longest time and I found it last week when the internet was down and I did something productive with my time. (went through pictures…) thought I'd share…

    Pics of kids 2_24_04 (14) copy2
    Pics of kids 2_24_04 (14) copy2

    So love this picture!!!
    Enjoy!

  • He’s trying to make me crazy…

    Husbands are supposed to bug the shit out of wives. Everyone knows this. It's like the earth spins, the sun sets, I loathe the Giants and men irritate their wives.

    Now some of them are much better at this than others.
    My husband has a fantastic knack for it!

    This exchange has happened more times in our relationship than I can count…

    Zak spends hours trying to bug me. Doing stupid shit that he knows bugs the hell out of me.
    I laugh at him, ignore him, don't let it bug me….whatever. And then finally I reach my limit and snap at him…I tell him to knock it the fuck off or something equally rude. He then gets mad at me.  I throw up my hands and say,

    "Okay..let me get this straight…you spend all day trying to irritate the shit out of me. You have finally accomplished your goal, you have managed to irritate me so bad I want to shoot your big toe off. (a common threat of mine…lol )  And now YOU are mad at ME? You have GOT to be kidding me!!!" 

    I have said that sentence at least 10 thousand times in our relationship. At. Least.

    Now you are probably wondering…what could the the guy be doing that's that bad. 
    Let me show you….

    First a little information…..
    I have a thing with my coffee cups. I am very, very sentimental about them. People have given them to me over the years and I honestly adore all of them. When I use any particular cup, I truly do think of the person who gave it to me. Truly. So my coffee cups are a big deal around here…

    When Zak and I sit outside for morning coffee and chat…he is forever setting the cup he is using in a precarious spot. That he swears is completely safe and I swear is completely a death sentence for my cup. Places like on his knee or something…..whatever. I get stressed. Outwardly, it's mild…inside I am freaking out. I tell him to please stop. Just set the cup down on the table…like a normal fucking person, would you?? And of course, he doesn't. Because he LOVES to irritate me.

    One morning, he sets my cup down like this…..(forgive the dirty table…it's an outside table. I can barely keep up with the inside! lol)

    Coffee cup
    Coffee cup

     
    People wonder why I drink….
    LOL!

  • Business….

    Just an update for the people I haven't been talking to, about this….for the people that I have been talking to and you're wishing I would just shut up already, sorry! LOL

    My Etsy shop is doing good and I am thrilled. 
    With very little marketing or promoting, I've gotten a few clients.

    A make up artist that wanted some writing to promote her service and a business name and tag line. 🙂 She loved what I come up with for her.

    An artist that that is taking her paintings and making them into tshirts. She wanted descriptions for the shirts, etsy/ebay shop description AND the welcome page for her website…..VERY COOL! I just finished her up last night and she is very happy and wants more stuff done. I can't wait!!! 🙂 If you are interested, here's some links…

    Chantal Monte website–the writing you see as soon as you get to her page, is me! 🙂

    Etsy Shop–the shop description and the description for the jeans, is me!

    And a mixed media artist who does custom canvases, wanted me to design a flyer and write about her service, for her.

    Everyone has been pleased and the compliments abound….I am feeling so proud! I finally took one of my ideas and made it happen. Saw it to completion, which is such a gratifying feeling!

    One of my goals is to have a lot of marketing stuff for people too. I want my niche to be "one person shops". SAHM's who are running a craft business,  ebay sellers or etsy artists….those kind of businesses are the ones I want to help.
    I'm fine tuning my mission statement and trying to get more clarity with what I want to truly do with this. What I do know is the idea of taking a small, one person business and making it more successful with good marketing ideas is so exciting to me! And would be so rewarding and it's FUN to think of creative ideas for marketing. I truly love doing it.

    Chantal had asked about my marketing services because I mention that I will have marketing services coming, in my shop description. I explained that I hadn't got it going yet as I was unsure how to sell what I wanted to offer to people….I asked her if she would mind being my "guinea pig". I want someone to give me feedback on what I'm offering….do they like it? Is it good ideas? Do they like the format? What would they pay for something like this? etc…..I am SO EXCITED to get this done for her and get some feedback! I've already thought of a couple of super cool (I think…lol) ideas for her and I can't wait to see what she thinks of them.

    So biz wise…I"m doing pretty okay and I'm loving it!!!!!
    :-)  

  • it all falls down again…

    So right when you think everything is going well and everything is gong to be just fine…
    one by one, the "good" things fall down, fall apart…fall wherever…but they ain't there anymore.

    I am just weary. Tired. Drained.

    And frankly, I think I'm having an argument with fate/karma/God…whoever.
    All I know is I do not understand…getting all this good news, feeling this huge rush of relief..feeling like things are going to be alright, FINALLY….only to have it all go away…in the span of a few days….

    What's the point?
    Why on earth give me that moment of relief?
    What was that about?
    Was I supposed to learn something, in that moment of relief?
    Was I was supposed to realize something?

    Frankly, I'm so tired of trying to figure it out…if karma/fate/God would just send me a fucking email and CLUE. ME. IN. that would be fantastic!

    Cause really…this crap is getting old.

  • as promised…finally. LOL

    Here are the Halloween pics!!
    🙂
    Enjoy!

    Jaime was a witch! Cute, huh?

    Halloween 2009 (1)
    Halloween 2009 (1)

    Halloween 2009 (8)
    Halloween 2009 (8)
    Ben was a monsterish type thing…LOL

    Halloween 2009 (7)
    Halloween 2009 (7)
    Halloween 2009 (3)
    Halloween 2009 (3)

    Gabby was a vampire…..cool make up, huh? Rick did it!

    Mummy halloween work
    Mummy halloween work

    This is my mom, at work. She was a clown! Too cool, huh? I love it!

    Mummy halloween work (2)
    Mummy halloween work (2)

    this picture came out crappy, but I had to put it….

    Halloween was nice this year…so pretty out! It was warm enough the kids didn't need a jacket…but on the down side…so many houses weren't giving out candy…can we say recession? Blech!

    The kids barely noticed and had a blast! 🙂
    Which, in the end, is what matters….I am not a Halloween fan, it's all about the kids, for me.

  • Veterans Day Parade

    Jaime got to be in the parade today!

    Niki is leading a girl scout troop again this year and because Jaime was in the troop last year, she said Jaime could march with them. Yay!!! Jaime was THRILLED!

    We (me, Zak, Rick, mom and Ben) all went to watch the girls and Niki in the parade…well, and to see the parade.. We watched at the end of the parade route and when they walked by us, Jaime was waving her flag and prancing around and having a blast. It was adorable!

    Niki told us that at the beginning of the parade, Jaime was trying to get all the girls to line up and march, right. LOL That's Jaime for you, little director that she is. LOL ! Cracked me up and I wish I could have seen it. Niki said they were doing really good but the troop in front of them kept stopping and they had a dog with them (nice, huh??) that kept getting tangled up with Niki's girls. But what we did see was fun enough…..:-)

    Here's a bunch of pics…..yes, I know I still haven't posted the Halloween pics…I have them uploaded and I"ll post them tonight or tomorrow…yeah, yeah, yeah…famous last words. HONESTLY…this time…I really will do it! For now, enjoy these!

    Veterans Day Parade (29)
    Veterans Day Parade (29)

    how CUTE is she??? I love it!

    Veterans Day Parade (30)
    Veterans Day Parade (30)

    Gabby was on the other side, so you can't really see her 😦 but you can see Jaime and Niki in this one.

    Veterans Day Parade (31)
    Veterans Day Parade (31)

    Sistah with her troop! 🙂

    Veterans Day Parade (2)
    Veterans Day Parade (2)
    Just FYI…when we tell you we are going down the street to Shaw's….this is where we are going! This is the corner of Main St. and Lake St and that's where the Shaws grocery store is! lol 🙂 A little aside just because being able to visualize what we talk about, is nice!

    Halloween pics WILL be up later or tomorrow….

  • new album day!

    Bon Jovi's new album is out today and I am PSYCHED.

    Shelly and I are meeting up down in Fitchburg to go get it, together.
    We haven't done this in YEARS..anticipated a new album and then went and bought it together the day it came out…haven't done it since I went to Alaska….it's been that long.

    I so can't wait! We are gonna have such a blast! AND it's supposed to be nice out…..AND we're gonna cruise…the way we always did…..SO. MUCH. FUN.!!

    AND THEN….
    I get to come home with it and do my "review" for J…..which, we all know, is one of my favorite parts of a new album. I love comparing our reviews…love seeing what she likes….arggghhh! I just so love, love, LOVE every part of that…..

    As excited as I am to go get the album with Shelly, I am even more excited to get home with it and sit with my headphones and do my review….and then read J's!

    I so love a "new album day!"

    🙂
    :

  • Tell me why I’m doing this?

    Zak and I are walking at around lunchtime….

    I have been working out, trying to get rid of this stupid weight….
    .
    Anyway….we're walking outside instead of in the gym because it is BEAUTIFUL outside…..blue sky, brilliant sunshine and almost 70 degrees. Yes, you read that right…70 DEGREES!!! Freakin' LOVE it….

    ANYWAY…..boy, I get sidetracked easy, huh?….
    We're walking and at a point there is no sidewalk, so we are single file. I take the front and as we're walking,  I yell back to him..

    "Hey babe, can you see my underwear lines?" (HUGE pet peeve…hate underwear lines…)

    "No.." he answers.

    "Is my ass jiggling all nasty like?" I ask…

    "No.." he answers.

    "Do I look fat?"  I ask..

    "No…" he says again

    "Do I look chubby?"  I ask…

    "Nope…" he says…

    "What the fuck am I out here walking for then???"  I yell…

    Right????
    LOL

    Good man that he is answered that question with…"So you can stay lookin' as gorgeous as you do!"
    I love that man!
    LOL