Happy Halloween!

IT'S HALLOWEEN It's Halloween! It's Halloween! The moon is full and brightAnd we shall see what can't be seenOn any other night. Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls,Grinning goblins fighting duels,Werewolves rising from their tombs,Witches on their magic brooms. In masks and gownswe haunt the streetAnd knock on doorsfor trick or treat. Tonight we arethe king and queen,For oh tonightit's Halloween! ~Jack Prelutsky~

Sometimes it's hard to change...

"We can do more for other men by trying to correct our own faults than by trying to correct theirs."
-Francois Fenelon

It's hard to admit when you need to change. After all change is scary. Sometimes a bad situation is easier to stay in because it's comfortable, at least you know what you are getting. It takes a lot of courage to change the path you are on.

Today I'm trying to have courage. I'm trying to change my path.

I think I'm in love...

Josh made the mistake of showing me Pups. I am in love with him and really wish he could come live with me. He looks like he has a shiner. He's just SOOOO cute!

What gives you strength?

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable."
— Helen Keller

For me, it is the people I love. My husband, my friends, my little sister. I know that when I am not strong enough to stand on my own feet, they will lift me up.

It is also the possibility of tomorrow. None of us knows what tomorrow can bring. To me that is an exciting prospect. Tomorrow is always a fresh new chance and a new adventure.

Is it live or is it airbrushed?

You know you do it. You are flipping through a magazine and noticing how perfect all the models are. "If only I could look like her...." Well she's not so perfect after all. Check out these airbrush jobs:
(roll over the image to see original.)http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/blonde/index.html
http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/bikini/

Something to keep in mind next time the media makes you feel less than beautiful!

I have so many stories to share...

I wish I had more time to share them all... I'll try to keep updating through the weekend.

Ok, so last night.... I went out to my parents' because it was our Thursday belly dancing class. My sister had just done a lovely french manicure on herself and her nails were still wet. Unfortunately she was wearing snowman pants. Not that I'm against snowman pants or anything, but this is not acceptable attire for our pre-class dinner at Applebee's. She didn't want to ruin her polish but she had to switch pants. Naturally I volunteered to help. So while laughing hysterically, I took her pants off and helped her into new ones. We were laughing and hopping about so much that we almost fell into Nemo the chinchilla's cage. Poor Nemo. Oh the adventures we have...

My cute new 'do!

Here it is!






It's a little shorter than I would have liked, but it's growing on me. An inch or two longer and it will be perfect.

Pictures, pictures, pictures

These are from my high school reunion:
Me and Hubby, Josh....



Me and best bud Amy...




VIVA LAS VEGAS!
Here's Josh and I at the Venetian. This is the restaurant Canaletto (http://www.venetian.com/dining/dining.cfm?ID=10) that we had gone to on the night we got engaged. We decided to go back 4 years later, and here we are!



Here's us at the top of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris. This is the spot where we got engaged!



Picture from the Gamma Chi Diamond Ball:

Here's me and my sis!




And a gratitutious embarrassing picture of my sweet hubby....

I had a tail!

So tonight I'm standing in the hallway with my other classmates waiting to get into the lab and take the midterm when the lady next to me says "Uh, you have something sticking out of your pants". Oh my, what could it be? I reach back and much to my horror discover it's toilet paper! I had a TP tail! Luckily I hadn't walked very far from the bathroom to the class so probably no one saw me. I'm glad she told me considering the midterm was conducted at lab stations and we were constantly standing and moving around the class. Geez....

ZZZZZZZZZZZ

I don't know how I'm going to stay awake today.

Sweet little Abby has eczema. Because of it she didn't sleep through the night for the longest time. I had forgotten how lucky we were when the eczema was calmed down enough for her to be able to sleep. But last night she didn't sleep because she was itchy and I was dragged back to reality. Nothing is as horrible as seeing your child suffer and not being able to stop it. I laid awake most of the night listening to her whimper and going in her room every few hours to put more Vaseline on her painfully dry skin. Finally we both fell asleep.

So today I'm exhausted. And I have my Biology mid-term to take tonight. I feel really fuzzy from the lack of sleep. I'm crossing my fingers that a nap is in our future today.

And this is why you don't....

...try to give your wife a hickey after you drink a bottle of wine at noon! Hello, aim a little south next time hubby dear!



AAACK! I have to go to school like this tomorrow. Goodness.

And this is what happens...

....when you stay up until midnight doing Math homework

Back to reality!

I'm coming down off of my partying high (worry not..it's a natural high!) and it kinda sucks. For the past 3 weeks our schedule has been packed with fun events. First my high school reunion, then our Vegas trip, and last night the Gamma Chi fundraiser ball. It's been a lot of fun, not only the events but the anticipation of them for the past few months.

Now I sit here on Saturday night and feel shocked at how much homework I have to catch up on. For instance I have an entire chapter of Math homework plus a quiz to do by midnight tomorrow. Also there are 2 chapters of History and 1 of Sociology to read. I also have to study for my Biology midterm that I have to take on Monday. Add to that I have to go out and do something wacky and write a paper about it for Sociology. I feel tired just thinking about it.

All I have to say is thank goodness for the 9pm pizza deal at Pagliai's, my parents generousity with babysitting, and my supportive hubby. I wouldn't be able to get through this month otherwise.

That's some wacky wild stuff...

Sometimes I wish I had a video camera in my car. While I'm driving around, I see the most bizarre behavior displayed by other motorists. This afternoon, I saw the one that takes the cake. At a stoplight, there was a Cadillac in front of me. The driver was a middle-aged man, probably about 50. He was totally jamming to some tunes. He was shaking his right finger and wildly tapping it on everything inside his car: his dashboard, the passenger seat, steering wheel and even his rearview mirror. He was so wild that he was rocking his car a bit. I couldn't help but laugh my fanny off at him.

Confessions of a Chocoholic

What kind of person hangs out in their bathrobe past noon with toothpaste on their chin, sobbing and eating cupcakes? Well, me. That's the kind of day I am having.

I have a big honkin' zit developing on my chin (just in time for the ball of course) and so I must do the toothpaste treatment. My face usually doesn't break out, but I think all the smoke exposure in Vegas started this.

The stress is just really getting to me. I LOVE school. What I don't love is the stress of it. And then, well there are other things getting to me.

At 12:30, I finally felt capable of taking a shower. Taking a shower is not ever the nice relaxing experience it should be during the week. Now that Abby knows how to close the door, I wind up hopping in and out of the shower to deal with her shutting herself in the bathroom and freaking out. She also steals the vital ingredients for my shower like my soap, shampoo and conditioner. But she's a helpful little bugger too...she passes me her rubber ducky and several assorted combs.

I really feel like I'm losing my mind. It has to get better soon right? I certainly can't keep eating cupcakes to cope.

Another one bites the dust...

Mr. Crabs has died.

Mr. Crabs was a mean little thing, but I still had a soft spot in my heart for him. I could tell on Friday when I gave him a bath that he wasn't doing well. Today I knew for sure.

I don't know why Pinchy can't keep a roommate in the crabitat. This is our third crabbie casualty. It's too hard on me to keep getting attached to them and then having them die. I know that crabs don't like to be alone, but I don't think I'll be getting Pinchy a new roomie anytime soon.

Back from Vegas!

We got back from Las Vegas at 5:15 this morning. Yikes that was a long night! Unfortunately Josh and I didn't get seated together on the plane. I wound up sitting next to newlyweds who alternated between arguing about rental cars, making out and displaying ultra-annoying habits. The guy had THE MOST annoying laugh. I fell asleep only to be waken up by his laugh on 3 different occasions. Hey buddy, this is an overnight flight....some people want to catch a few ZZZ's.

So we went to Vegas to kind of get away from it all for a few days. It was nice to have the alone time, go out to eat, gamble and shop. But I am more tired now than I was before we left. So the goal of relaxing wasn't attained for me. We did win about $120 and that was pretty cool. I won the jackpot on one slot machine. It was a nickle slot machine, so the jackpot was $50. The machine even sang "Macho Man" to me as it spit out my nickles. We also had some really nice meals and a lot of fun in Downtown Vegas.

You don't even really have to do much in Downtown Vegas to have a good time. The people watching is amusing all on its own. I saw 3 different guys dressed up as pimps. I noticed a lot of people with children which I was thought pretty wrong. A 5 year old child has no business being out among drunks and smut peddlers at midnight. I can see bringing the kiddies to a themed casino hotel and taking them to the pool and shops, but they don't belong in the other areas. I can't imagine how I would explain prostitutes and strippers to my 9 year old son.

We sort of retraced our steps from the night we got engaged. We went up in the Eiffel tower, ate at the Venetian and visited the same pastry shop at the Paris. It was a nice experience and I got a little weepy with happiness. We also went to a nice little French restaurant where the waitstaff sang to us.

All in all it was a fun trip, but it wore me out.

I have the sweetest Hubby ever...

Tomorrow is my 3 year wedding anniversary, but I don't need a gift. What? I'm turning down gifts? No, I'll gladly accept whatever sweet gift Josh has gotten for me. But I got my real gift today.

My sweet hubby just drove 30 miles home from work because he forgot to put on his wedding band after his shower this morning. He said he couldn't think right without it on. Wow. Knowing that he would make a 60 mile roundtrip to get his wedding band back on his finger shows me how much he loves me. I'm really really lucky.

The countdown begins....

3 days until my anniversary!!!
4 days until my birthday!!!
WOOHOO!!!

So I went to my high school reunion....

Last night, Josh and I went to my 10 year high school reunion. I was pretty nervous as we drove up to the banquet hall. I was suddenly wondering why I had even decided to go. I mean, wasn't there a reason I elected to go to summer school so I could graduate a semester early?!? Why did I want to see these people again? After we went in and sat down with my best friend and her hubby, I remembered exactly why I did NOT want to see these people again. I felt super freaked out, but luckily we had chosen to sit right by the open bar.

After Josh got me liquored up, I started to relax. I noticed that the so-called popular crowd had gotten a little chunky, some more than others. At least I had about the same amount of belly bulge as I did in high school. Most of them were there solo while I had my hunky hubby on my arm. Ha ha. After a few Fuzzy Navels I even got out onto the dance floor.

The only real dissappointment of the night was the one I didn't really expect. For $60 a person we had like the yuckiest food ever. Dark meat chicken, icky veggies, salad and rolls served buffet style. Josh and I were so hungry that we had to stop halfway home at a Steak N Shake to eat dinner.

I will be posting pictures (provided none of them are hideous) after they are developed and scanned.