Driver license renewal

I had to go in and actually renew my driver license. The last time I renewed was online and that was about 6 years ago, so when I tried to renew it this time, I got a message saying I needed to come in and take another picture. I made an appointment and had it set that I would go in and get this picture taken and be done. NOT!! Well, I didn't have time to go by the bank and withdraw the money I would need to pay for my license, so I just figured I could just pay for it with my debit card that has a visa logo on it.

I was already flying through traffic when I left work so that I would not be late for my appointment and when I arrived and found a parking spot, I looked at my watch and realized I still had a few minutes left. I hurriedly walked inside to find a line and wondered if I could skip this line by telling them I had an appointment.....until I saw this big sign that said, "We do not take Visa, but we take Discovery and Mastercard." What the sheezy! Now what am I gonna do!!! I kindly asked someone in line where was the quickest ATM. The young man pointed up the road and said that one was at that store.

I looked back at my watch wondering if I got back in my car, then went to the ATM, then get back, would I still be on time or would I have to reschedule. Hmmm, no time to think...I hopped in my car and drove to the store....until I got to where I had to cross and wait for a light....that light took FOR-EVVVVVER to change. I kept praying the whole time that I would not have to reschedule. The light FINALLY changed and then when I got to the ATM, them jokers wanted to charge me a freaking $1.75 to use my own money. Holy crap!! I had no choice. I was up turd creek with no toilet paper. So I got the amount out for my license and proceeded to head back to the DMV......NOW WHAT!!!!!! Gotta wait for this darn long light to change again. By the time this light changed, I could have walked to Atlanta and back.

I finally arrived back at the DMV, short of a minute of being late.....but this time, no line. Whew. Thank ya Jesus! The lady asked me to come forward and I'm glad I had every document I could think of just in case because she asked for my passport or birth certificate (I had them both) my SS Card, a utility bill, my old driver license, and my car registration, and then it was over in an instant.... Now instead of the 6 years, Florida has changed it where we keep it for 8 years; but I got a pretty picture done that will last me until the next time.

Lovingly yours,

Back at work

After returning to work after being off for a whole week, I walked in to find piles of work on my desk. I somewhat expected that and looked up at the clock and thought to myself that it's going to take me all day to get it done. I didn't see anything that had any deadlines on it so I just started at the top and worked my way to the bottom. Yes, the bottom. I finished every single thing that was on my desk because I am one of those people that even if I don't finish the work that at least my desk will be clean.

Now I am sitting back just waiting on the time to roll around so I can go home and start it again on tomorrow. Whew, that exhausted me......Side note: only 14 more days to go until I will be off for two more weeks for our Christmas break. Halleluyer!!

Lovingly yours,

Maxed out

Here I am, at home. No work this week. We are allowed so many hours of annual leave, 330 to be exact. If we go over 330, then HR takes the excess and does something or another with it but the thing is, if you go over 330, then you can't get them back. I was like, "Huh!" Ain't no way I'm gonna be having hours that I've earned and for them to be floating around in a sick leave pool somewhere. It was a good thing I checked on this and when I did, I had just rolled into 330 the very same day. I told my boss that I needed to take a couple of days off because I was at my maximum number of hours and I didn't want to lose them. She agreed. I told hubby that I may want to take a couple of days off throughout the year so that I won't be forced to take off.

So here I sit at home...WITH PAY....of course and not doing a dog gone thing. I told myself that I would take this time off to work on my paper for class. When I woke up on Monday morning, I just laid around on the couch trying to find me a few lifetime movies to watch. Hubby said he was glad to see me resting and relaxing and actually NOT doing any school work, because it seems like that is my life now. It did feel good to do absolutely nothing but I will be working on my paper later on today and tomorrow also. I will not be working on no paper during Thanksgiving. That's gonna be my family time. I'm not even gonna take any books with me when we go to MS to see my folks. Somebody, please write that down! That's gonna be a miracle.

Lovingly yours,

Birthday Blah Blahs

On yesterday, Sunday, November 21, 2010, I awoke to my 40th birthday. I was indeed grateful and thankful that the Lord allowed me to see such a glorious day and year. I had been waiting for my 40th birthday for such a long time. I can't explain why. I had wanted to go all out and throw a party for myself. It was something I had talked about for at least two years prior but nothing came into play. Life is what happened and I got busy doing STUFF. If it wasn't one thing, it was ten-thousand more. School had/has me busy like I'm writing a journalist column or something and then after my car ended up having to get fixed TWICE in one year, it just didn't happen.

I expected to feel some kind of difference on turning 40 but I didn't. You know like when you walk into a glass door expecting to walk inside or outside but instead you hit that door or when Patti LaBelle does her songs and it makes you feel like you are a backup singer for her..... WOW!

There was no one jumping from behind a door to punk me like Ashton Kutcher is always doing and Richard Gere didn't even take a limo here and surprise me. There was no cake and no ice cream, and not even no barbecue ribs off the grill. I do know one thing I did: I went to church and got a wonderful message and since there wasn't anything planned, I decided to pose for the camera a few days prior and have fun my own self. So here are my birthday pics just for you. Gotta luv yourself cause I know I luvs me sum me. :-)

Lovingly yours,

How mess gets started

I was sitting at my desk trying to do a little work and an instructor came in and wanted to know if he could just sit and chill until his next class got started. I didn't have a problem with him sitting in there as long he didn't interrupt me from doing what I had to do.

Well he wasn't in my office long, when he said, "You drinking rum?" Yall know I had to look at him quiet strange because first of all, I don't drink and then second of all, it wasn't his business if I was. So I asked him what in the ham and cheese made him ask me that?

This is what he saw on my desk:

except that he said the other part was covered up and all he saw was rum and he was gonna ask me if he could have some. Even Stevie Wonder could see this wasn't what he thought it was. Some people, I tell ya!

Lovingly yours,

Party like a rockstar!!

Whew, hubby and I have been the uncommon party peeps lately.  We went to our next door neighbors wedding one weekend, then we had free tickets to attend an Ashley Brown concert at the college where I work, then we were  invited to a 50th birthday party this past weekend and will be attending a 40th birthday party next weekend.

Hubby and I have really been enjoying ourselves because there was a point where we didn't go many places without our children, or we didn't bother with a baby sitter; but as they have gotten older, shooooot, we leave them rascals at home and party on, like totally!

We were in for a shock our ownselves when the 50th birthday party didn't kick off until 8:00 p.m. - normally, by that time, it's close to heading back to the house. I told hubby that we should get out more often and live life and enjoy ourselves more. Shoooot, we got our daughter, who is a senior and our son, a freshman, and you would think we could and should go out every now and then and party like a rockstar.

I will say, we had a fantaboulous time and is looking forward to the next shindig that we will be invited to.

Lovingly yours,

Dear Abby,

I received something that was so unbelievable that I decided to share it with you. The thing I received was a letter from my co-worker, via e-mail at that. See what had happened was this, I send out a newsletter every two weeks informing the department of pertinent information they need to know about grades, last day to withdraw, meetings and so forth. I don't change the way I type it up and I always keep it in the same format because I do know that some of my instructors are not computer literate and I've been doing this for four years. The only thing I change is the information. Well, this do-do brain of an instructor calls me and tells me that he can't read it. (DUH! Why are you calling me?) So I asked him what did he mean that he couldn't read it, and he said the font was too small. I tried to offer him a solution as to how to go in and change the font from his computer to a larger font where he could read it, and I guess he didn't like that, so he hung the phone up on me and then sent me this e-mail:

Each time I ask you anything, your tone of voice indicates to me that either I’m asking an assinine question or you just don’t want to be bothered. I must admit that I’m not as adept at using computers as some are, but I DO NOT appreciate being made feel that you feel that my questions are a waste of your time. From now on, I will do my best NOT to ask you any more questions. But I must add that I am not the only one who feels the way I do about your phone manners.

Well I was a little thrown off because I was trying to help the old man and I've been nothing but helpful to everybody in my department, especially on the phone. What I wanted to respond back to him and say was this:
Dear balding greyhaired man, If your tail go on and retire, since you are knocking on the door of 90, then your deceiving eyes won't be playing tricks on you cause it seems to me that you are blind in one eye and can't see out the other one. Yes, you are wasting my time by calling me with that crap that I am tolerating and my patience has worn out on your pettiness. It really doesn't matter if you DO NOT ask me any more questions, that will be less of your elementary drama that I have to deal with. You are beginning to look more and more like an oompa loompa anyway and if anyone else has a problem with me, then they need to take it up with me instead of having you be their little prissy maidservant. God Bless You.

BUT I DIDN'T.  I typed up the letter and erased it because I felt that I was bigger than that. I refused to stoop to his level, just because he couldn't get his way. For goodness sake, the man is 84 years old. It's way past the deadline of retirement. I didn't even respond to him, I just kept on smiling and went on about my joyful and blessed day.

Lovingly yours,

What do you want in life?

Going back to school is good but I tell ya, when you have so much other things in your life, it's like when will I be able to catch up? My cousin called me this morning from MS just to see how I was doing and I said I was doing fine, then he went on to ask me if I had plans this weekend. I said that I would be doing homework, as usual. My cousin said that everytime he calls me to check up on me, I'm always doing homework and on the weekend at that. Although that is a true statement, I have homework all the darn time and not really any time to just chill and do nothing.

The homework is basically a lot of reading that I have to go and re-read because sometimes I don't understand what I read the first time. Not only that, I'm writing papers to make sure they are turned in on time for both classes. My cousin then said to me that he was just too old to go back to school and I interrupted him and told him that he was never too old. College wasn't my thing when I graduated high school and as I got older, I realized just how important that piece of paper would mean. The majority of my high school classmates had gone off to college but I couldn't follow in their footsteps, I had to do my thing, in my own time.

My cousin then asked how much longer I had until I finished up school and I mentioned about 2 more years and he said, "whew, that's a long time", but then I thought about it. Two years isn't really that long to have something for a lifetime. I told my cousin that nothing from nothing leaves nothing.  Yes, going back to school is hard, especially working full-time and with a family; but I am determined to get it because I want it just that bad. The tunnel seems dark right now but I know I'm more closer to the light. It doesn't matter if it takes me 4 more years to finish, because our Pastor once told us, "It's not how you start, but how you finish." I'm working toward the finish line.

Lovingly yours,

Breakfast....Fast!

I'm normally the first one up and I'll get myself going and then get the kids up. I have the routine in my head that no matter which child I wake up first, that our son will still be the first of the two to get up. He'll go in the bathroom and do his manly business, wash his face and then head straight for his favorite cereal and milk. This morning when I walked in the kitchen, our 14 year old son was just pacing back and forth like he had something on his mind. I asked him if he was ok and he said yes, so I asked him what was the problem.

He said that he was going to get some cereal but we didn't have any milk. { I don't know that we don't have milk unless they tell us we are out. } So I know how my son loves to eat, I tried to suggest other things that he could eat for breakfast until we go to the grocery store on tomorrow. I said that there were some chicken tenders in the freezer....and before I could go on.....our son was laughing and saying, "Chicken??? For breakfast???" I'm like, who said you had to eat a certain thing at a certain time of day.....if you're hungry and want it, just eat it...shoot!!!

So son asked me what his other options were and I saw some instant grits and mentioned that to him and then I started being real funny...I said to him that I see some english peas and a few cans of cream corn and some potatoes....we both are laughing at this point, but his thing was....he wanted something fast....like his cereal, he didn't want to take time out to cook him an egg or something.  I told him that he could always use water in his cereal and  he gave me that look and I looked up at the clock and had to get out of there before I was late for work.

Lovingly yours,

My children are aliens

Hubby and I were sitting in the living room this morning as I was about to leave for work when our 14 year old son came in and just went straight for the kitchen. Normally, when he walks in the room, he says good morning and then go on about his day. So hubby said good morning first to him but I said, "Excuse me, son, but do you not see us sitting here where you couldn't say good morning when you walked in the room?" Son replies, "I was gonna say it....when I got done with breakfast." What kind of nonsense is that! By the time he finishes breakfast, I will be gone out the door. Our 17 year old daughter then yells out, "I GOT TO PEE" like she had Tourettes and that you had to catch the train to get to their bathroom.

Then on Sunday, our son was caught with his cell phone in Sunday School and he was highly upset this his S.S. teacher came to me and said he was texting. When I asked son about this, he said he wasn't checking and that he was checking the time....(anytime ya'll see stupid on my forehead, can somebody please tell me cause my kids won't tell me, mainly because that's what they see) I asked son why would he need to check his cell phone for the time when he wore a watch...and he stuck to his story, but I wasn't texting....Ok, let me put my mommy antennas on.....aha!!! He probably wasn't texting, BUT he was checking to see if someone had texted him. I told him he doesn't have a need for a cell phone while he is at church and he can either leave it at home on Sundays or leave it in the car. I also told son that if anybody is texting him on a Sunday, then maybe he should invite them to church.

Then on that very same day after church, our son locked our daughter out of the house just to get himself a laugh. She said if you don't hurry up and open this door...and then hubby told son to open the door and stop doing that to his sister. Our son replies, "well she does it to me." Wrong answer. Open the door!!

Our daughter then says, "I'M BORED!!" I said well read the Bible, it'll scare the hell out of you.
Who have these young people become?

Lovingly yours,