Yeah, I'm up late, so sue me. Well actually, don't, because you won't get much, lol, but Michael's up late playing a PS2 game he rented, and I'm just up late chatting with a friend online because I'm not sleepy...and that is when I got the news....

I haven't been vague in quite some time, so HERE GOES...

I just got put in a stinkin' rotten mood, and I DON'T really WANT this thing I just found out to put me in a rotten mood...I don't want to care....I don't want to be mad....but I do care and I am mad. I just can't help the way I feel. I'm not good at pretending I feel one way when I feel another way. I mean, seriously...how would YOU FEEL if someone you've been somewhat semi-close to, oh, let's say you've shared all your innermost feelings about EVERYTHING with that person for the past 10+ years, and then they turn around and basically slam the door in your face, but then open the door wide for ANOTHER person they've known just as long and also shared a close relationship with? I mean, was there a JOB INTERVIEW or something? And only one applicant gets accepted?!?! And if SO, then what WAS the selling point that won THAT person the job over ME?? WTF?!?! I don't want to care, I said, but I DO!! I have let a lot of things go, but this...this just sucks.

There, you happy now? If you read this, you pissed me off beyond words, and I'm not supposed to hate you, but this is definitely the closest I've ever come to hating a person in my life. There sure is a fine line between love and hate, don't you think??

Please deposit 25 cents...

And just when you think you have seen or heard the absolute dumbest thing on the planet known today as Earth, you find out there's even a dumber Earthling out there. Can't we just send these people to the moon? Last night before the Friends' finale, I was trying to figure out how to change the recording speed on my VCR to cram more footage on the tape because I only had ONE BLANK TAPE, and I wanted to record not only the 2-hour Friends Finale, but also the Jay Leno thing afterwards. The on-screen menu had NOTHING about recording speeds, and there was no button on the front of the machine. I have no manual because the VCR was given to us, and Lord only knows where the remote is. So I looked on the internet thinking that maybe I'd luck out and find some sort of instructions for my VCR's brand that would clue me in. I did find a 1-800 number, and I called it, and I asked the foreign lady on the other end my question, and she said in her whatever accent it was, "I'm sorry, but there will be a $15 charge for me to provide assistance over the phone." To which I replied, "What? You can't just answer me 'yes' or 'no' if there is a switch on the back of the VCR that changes the recording speed?" And she said "I'm sorry, but there will be a $15 charge for me to provide assistance over the phone." So I replied "It's not worth $15...I will just figure it out myself" and I hung up. The VCR was all hooked up, and there was NO WAY 15 minutes before the show that I was going to unhook it to look at the back of the darn thing. So Michael ran to the store and bought me a second tape. Wasn't that sweet?

Escape....at last! For a minute anyway, until the next crisis of the day....

I had it all planned out what I was going to write in here when I got up this morning, but plans change.

What was going to be my quote of the day yesterday, which was said by Michael , "Your worst day at home (as a stay-at-home mom) is better than your best day at work.", woke me up this morning and slapped me in the face. The quote, not Michael.

Since about 9 a.m. this morning, I have been dealing with Ebay, credit card companies, my husband, and puking kids for the last hour, so I need to type something to get it all off my chest before I go legally insane. I won't go into the long story (the shortened one maybe), but I woke up already feeling bummed today, kind of like the feeling you have the day after a funeral. Last night was rough. Seeing Friends go off for the last time was hard. I cried. Michael thought it was silly I think, but oh well.

First thing this morning, Michael tried to pay for something he won on Ebay earlier in the week, using his credit card, and the card was declined, and he was in a hurry to get to work, so I offered to take care of it for him and get to the bottom of the problem. Turns out his lovely wife forgot to pay the bill. I guess it got shuffeled in the wrong pile of papers on my desk or something. I'm only human, but that human mistake cost us a $35 late charge. So I made a payment by phone, but the "hold" on the card won't be removed 'til Monday or so, and I had to "pretend" to be Michael and e-mail the person on Ebay and explained the situation. During all of this, Travis puked twice...once on the couch, once on the rug, so I was scrubbing carpets and furniture between phone calls. I kind of knew it was coming though, because when he got up this morning, he was really quiet and even went back to sleep...not his usual self at all. So I put a towel where he was sitting, and as his loving mother's luck would have it, he missed the towel altogether. So I cleaned up the mess, stripped his clothes, started laundry, and scrubbed, scrubbed, scrubbed. I'm not even going to ask "Could this day get any worse" because as soon as I ask that, it will.

Well the day has finally come. The day Friends fans around the world will gather around the TV tonight, for one last Thursday night. Grab the tissue. Sure, we'll still have the re-runs, the DVD collections, the memories...but it simply will not be the same...knowing that they aren't "there" for us anymore. It's almost a feeling like high school graduation. You say you'll always keep in touch with your friends, but will you? Personally speaking, I've only kept in touch with maybe 4 people tops that I knew in high school. Everyone else in my life, besides my side of the family, I didn't even know existed during high school. What about the other 200 and something graduates?

Some folks I've come in contact with think the show is stupid, and it's ridiculous to get so attached to a tv show. Well, I don't usually get attached to shows either, but this is THE one show I did grow to fall in love with. I can relate to the characters...certain pieces of each of them, at least. Especially Rachel. She was always my favorite, hands down. She was beautiful, fashionable, witty, etc., but besides those things that you can see on Google 716,000+ times, I could relate to her and the situations she dealt with on the show. She went through some similar relationship trials and tribulations that I went through. It's like I could feel the sinking feeling Rachel felt when she went to meet Ross at the airport to tell him her true feelings for him, only to see him step off the plain with another woman he met on the trip, Julie. Or the passion and triumph Rachel felt when she and Ross kissed for the first time outside Central Perk. Or the pain she felt when she wanted to tell Ross she was still in love with him, but couldn't because he was married to another woman, Emily.

I've hit on this before, but all in all, Friends has been the one show I've used as an excuse to put things on my calendar on hold. Michael has actually skipped school to watch it. (We just now figured out how to record on our VCR.)

Last night I watched the 2-hour NBC Dateline Special where Katie Couric and Matt Leur (sp?) interviewed each cast member, and the idea that certain cast members almost didn't take the part, or that one cast member was almost cast as a different cast member, it just made me really appreciate the show even more. It's like a "what-if" scenario. WHAT IF Jennifer Aniston had been cast as Monica, and Courteney Cox had been cast as Rachel?? I mean, seriously! One wrong move and that showed could've been a huge flop.

I must run now...it's almost lunch time, but in honor of "Friends" day, have a soup-bowl sized cup of coffee just the way you like your coffee (I did this morning), heck, even if you don't like coffee......and don't ever forget who your real friends are!

Is the weather gorgeous today, or what? At least HERE it is.

I just got back from taking my little guy to the dentist. In case I never mentioned it on here, some of his teeth grew in with the enamel partially missing, so I took him to get it all checked out. My wittle boy was such a good boy at the dentist! He had no problem with the dentist looking in his mouth and poking and prodding around! Anyway, they put some concentrated flouride stuff on his teeth that turned them orange, and said that he doesn't want to cap his teeth RIGHT NOW because he's so little, but that later on down the road we are more than likely looking at capping them. So FOR NOW that means no more scary dental visits, but just to put this stuff he gave me on his teeth every other day and come back for another visit in 3 months to see if there's any change. YAY!

After we left, I took Stateline Rd. home because Goodman Rd. was a mess, as always, and I realized I hadn't even eaten any lunch, so I stopped at Sonic and ate...YUM. Then I decided to turn down Millbranch and cut through to get onto 51. Well right there on the corner of Stateline (which is now Main Street, by the way) and Millbranch they are building a Walgreens, right across from Rite Aid, to boot! Somebody tell me why Southaven/Horn Lake/Olive Branch, or ANY of Desoto County for that matter, NEEDS another Walgreens with over-priced novelty items, and cashiers with no personality or skills in friendliness? There's already one at the corner of Goodman & Horn Lake Rd., Goodman & Hwy 51, Goodman & Swinnea, Goodman & something in Olive Branch, Stateline Road & Airways, and probably a few others I forgot about. I guess Stateline Road feels like Goodman Road has it out-numbered.

One more thing before I wrap this up, do you ever find yourself complaining too much over really stupid stuff? I'm sure most of us are guilty of it at times. But have you ever sat down and really thought how blessed you really are? If you sat down and made a list, what all would you write down? I don't even think the blessings we receive DAILY can even be counted. But here's a start to my list, and they are really in no particular order:

1. I was able to get up out of bed this morning.
2. I am able to see.
3. I am able to talk.
4. I am able to walk.
5. I have a roof over my head.
6. I have food to eat.
7. I have clothes to wear.
8. I have a husband that loves me.
9. I have two beautiful healthy children.
10. My husband has a job that pays the bills.
11. I have a wonderful church to go to.
12. I know who both of my biological parents are.
13. Both of my biological parents are still married.
14. I have plenty of family around nearby to help out when we need it.
15. I have a dependable car to drive.
16. I live in a safe neighborhood.
17. I have clean water to drink, bathe in and cook with.
18. I have a Bible I can read.
19. I can read my Bible and worship where I want without fear of being harmed for believing in God and believing that Jesus is my Savior.
20. I have a few really great, close friends that I can share anything with.
21. I have a warm bed to sleep in every night.
22. I have my own piano to practice with.
23. I have a computer so I can e-mail my friends, keep a journal, and chat with friends.
24. I have a fenced-in back yard for the kids to play safely in.
25. I am able to stay home with my children instead of having to put them in daycare.
26. I have wonderful in-laws.
27. I am in pretty good health.
28. I live in a country where there is plenty of food.
29. I live in the greatest country on the planet.
30. I live in a country where women have just as many rights and priviledges as men.

The list could go on and on and on and on.....but I will stop there. How many of those things are on YOUR list and you take them for granted and don't even stop and think about those things and thank God for them?

I am melting!!! No, not because I'm the Wicked Witch of the West (although some may argue)...but because Jacob said MAMA today!!!! I was putting away the supper dishes, and apparently he wanted to eat some more (the little pig) and he hollered out "MAMA! MAMA!" It was SO SWEET!!! He's been saying DADA forever, so this was a long time coming!!! Just had to share that right quick so I'd have it marked down when it happened!

Can you believe it's already May? I can't.

I did some much-needed house cleaning today...besides the usual making the beds, and picking up of toys, I vaccumed all the floors with carpet, swept and mopped all the floors with tile, dusted the living room, cleaned both bathrooms, did laundry, did dishes, made/ate lunch and fed kids, put Jacob down for a nap, and hoping Travis will fall asleep watching one of his favorite movies, "Cats & Dogs", and thought I'd sit down to scratch something down here right quick while I wait for my tub to fill up. Ah, yes, the much anticipated long awaited bath that I enjoy most afternoons while the kids nap. I am just hoping, praying, crossing fingers, etc., that the door bell doesn't ring, because if it does, I am 99.9% positive that it's my neighbor from down the street. Not ONLY does she show up at REALLY BAD times, she has a habit of bashing my beliefs and convictions, telling my kids what to do and what not to do, and overstaying her welcome. Sometimes I want to tell her to get the #$%^ out of my house and don't come back again, but I'm too nice I guess. How else do you say ithat it's time for her to leave? "Well it's time for Travis to go lay down and take a nap." Or "Michael will be home soon and I need to get supper started." How else do you say it??? She's just a wee bit too "neighborly" for me. Mr. Rogers wasn't THAT bad!!! You can count on me not answering the door if it's her!!!

My bath is ready, but one more thing before I go...Thursday is the last night of Friends EVER. This means that all Friends lovers across America will now have to get a life on Thursday nights. What a shame! I am seriously going to have a Kleenex fest when Thursday night gets here. I remember that when they showed the episode where Ross is marrying Emily and he says the wrong name, I actually took an "extended" lunch break (really supper, but we called it lunch break) and went home to watch it. I wasn't even SUPPOSED to be LEAVING the store for lunch break AT ALL, but I asked another lady in the store to man my station while I "ran home for lunch", and then the next day I got chewed out by the boss lady, but it was only my first offense, so I didn't get fired. And then after me and Michael got married, he had this preconception that Friends was a stupid show, and he couldn't understand why I liked it, but then just as if the show was a sponge, it sucked him right in, and he's already told me that Thursday night he WILL be skipping class. At least we'll still have reruns to watch, right? But they won't be THERE for us anymore! :(

The bath tub is calling me. I must soak now.

I feel like crapola. I have been feeling extremely tired the last coupla days, and ever since Thursday-ish I've had a really sore throat, except it only hurt in like one spot. Isn't that weird? The only theory I've concocted is that perhaps all of this singing is actually doing damage to my vocal chords. A lotta people at church have been out or sick or pregnant, so I've been having to sing in place of a lot of folks, and I have a feeling that it's going to be like that for another month or so. I honestly don't mind singing, but I don't want to become MUTE, although I'm sure Michael would enjoy THAT :-)

I have tons of things to go to, things to plan, things to do, etc., in May...a wedding, a baby being born (not mine), a hair appointment, an eye appointment, Jacob's dentist appointment, appointments with Jacob's physical therapist, cleaning my mom's house once a week, Michael's final exams, planning a garage sale, Mother's Day, a couple birthdays in the family, the last ever Friends episode (::SNIFF::), and last but not least, VACATION. THAT is the ONE thing I am really looking forward to, especially considering that when the end of May gets here, I'm gonna need it! But being busy is good, I guess, as long as I don't have a nervous breakdown or something.

I must go vegetate on the couch now and see what's worth watching on TV.