After

We managed to carve out a nice Christmas after all. The kids got their Christmas spoils on the 24th because they flew to their dad's on Christmas Day. Smiles are the best thanks yous in the world.

After putting them on the plane the next day, The Husband, The Mother and I drove to Ft. Lauderdale so I could see our new condo (our Christmas present to each other). We close in about four weeks, and I'm so excited I could die right there on the gorgeous hardwood and spanish tile floors.

We had dinner at some trendy little beach restaurant where our entrees were unpronounceable and the dessert came in a box you could eat. And we did.

The day after Christmas we went furniture shopping for the condo (the stuff in the photo is all from the model), and had lunch at this funky little dive called Le Tub, where you will get the biggest cheeseburgers known to man... if you just wait about an hour for them.

I took The Mother home last night, and she went on and on about what a fabulous time she had. Hmmm... could have fooled me, but some people show appreciation in strange ways.

I'm gearing up for our NYE trip to Jamaica. There's tons to do today, which is why I'm blogging instead of knocking off items on the list. Later today The Husband and I will make one last trip to Kinks in Ybor for last minute "outfits" and "supplies". Tomorrow morning we head for the airport. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be drinking rum out of a 32 oz. mug and burning my naughty bits at Hedo.

Happy New Year, y'all!

So THIS is Christmas?

So about a week ago my mom guilted me into driving two hours to get her so she wouldn't have to spend Christmas alone. Why would she be spending it alone? If you've been reading awhile, or have know me for awhile, you'll remember that she chose to have herself BAKER ACTED, rather than move in the retirement village near my home. Two years later she bought a house down the street from my sister who lives two hours from me.

So anyhow, my sister, she got the hell out of Dodge for the holidays, leaving my mother alone.

So I drove over and got her yesterday so that she could spend the holidays with us. I fixed up a room for her, my husband went shopping for her so that the house would be stocked with food that she would eat, and I even granted my teens the night off with friends so that I could properly entertain my mother.

All she has done from the moment I picked her up yesterday is bitch.

Bitch.

Bitch.

Bitch.

And I swear to all that is true, she has not let up for a single moment. It's passive-aggressive bitching too, which makes it so much harder to deal with.

I have run myself into the ground trying to entertain her because when she sits, she's gets bored. But when we run, she gets tired, or frazzled, or hungry, or thirsty, etc...

And we have her for two more days.

God help me, if this is Christmas then next year I'm celebrating Ramadan.

On the UP side, it did make me think of my dearest not nearest friends who I KNOW would appreciate spending the day with me, because they love me unconditionally.

To you guys -- have a very very merry, crazy-mother-free Christmas.

I get to dump her back off at her house on Wednesday, but we're leaving Thursday for Jamaica, Mon. So I'm going to wish you an incredibly awesome New Year as well.

See you in '07... and believe me when I say...

Wish YOU were here.

Robin

p.s. Tim, miss you and Suz a bunch.

I Am Mean When I Am Drunk

That is all ;)

Alive, Not Kicking

Hi.

I'm pulling the covers back for a few minutes so's you'll know I'm alive.

But I'm not kicking the covers off because it's warm in here.

And quiet.

And still.

I finished my semester and the diploma is in the mail. I got the highest grade in the class. I would like to take a bow, but I won't because there was a far more talented tyke in my class that quite frankly got robbed of the highest grade by some strange and cruel twist of fate (actually, it's his inability to consistently handle the focus feature on his camera.)

Then I sat back and exhaled, and tried to figure out where to go next. I thought I had it all figured out. I was going into some nursing field... respiratory or radiology, or occupational... I even enrolled in Anat and Phys. Then I found out nursing school requires a full-time commitment. This is when I crashed and went under the covers.

I can't can't can't work full time and go to school full time. I can't quit my job (insurance) and I can't leave my kids alone every night (deliquents).

After much gnashing of teeth, I decided to drop A&P and take Digital Photography I instead. Next fall I'll take A&P, then the following three semesters I'll tackle one each of the other four pre-reqs. That delays the full time committment by two years. If my teens aren't settled in then, I'll go back to the drawing board and figure something else out.

Also, while I was hiding under the covers, I managed to finally hit the magical 50 pound lost mark. I think it was the dry toast and nyquil diet my current health status forced me into.

So's I'm alive, but I'm not kicking off the covers yet. Maybe Christmas morning. Someone has to make the donuts.

Love and peace,
Robin

It's Voting Time!

Who's a bad blogger? Who, hmmm? That would be ME! Bad Bogger, BAD!

Honestly, if I had a prehensile tail, I would have it tucked between my legs.

But it's Sunday now, and that means there's all kinds of chores to do, so I can finally blog instead. (My poor husband -- I know he didn't bargain for this when he said "I do")

There have been all sorts of things I wanted to shout out this week. But it's like this; the engine runs at full speed during the day, so as a result, I'm out of gas by the time evening rolls around. I suppose I could try sleeping a bit more, or a bit earlier. But that's neither here nor there. So let's just get on with this, shall we?

Okay, I have two exciting bits of news. The first one it pictoral. My final photography assignment was studio portraits. The only thing Mr. Cutie-Professor-Patooty provided was the lighting and backdrop. Concept, model, etc... was up to us. Oh yes, and the prop; the assignment mandated either a cube or a sphere as the main prop. The model? No-brainer -- The Step-daughter. She has always proved to be ready, willing and extremely able to pull off a great shot under any conditions. She is so beautiful, and so unassuming, and so much a natural in front of my lens.
So we shot last Thursday, and it was incredible. I had several, "I hate you" and a few "Bitch" thrown at me (by my classmates) as I shot. The Step-Daughter really is THAT good. Prof said I kicked ass on this assignment. I deflected by telling him that my model kicked ass -- I just hit the shutter release.
Then he told me to chose ONE photo, have it printed, and bring it in next week for our final critique. ONE PHOTO?
So it's voting time again, dear ones.

http://www.flickr.com/gp/68458455@N00/Ls0CKU

If you click on the link, Flickr should take you to the set. I tried to upload them, but you know how Blogger is. Sigh. So click on the link, then click on Detailed View. They're numbered one thru six.

I really don't know~ I love them all, but I only get ONE!

The other news... wow... this post is long enough. Next time.