Connie’s Neighborhood

I kind of fell off the face of the blogging world for a few days there. Sucks, because I fully intended on participating in National Blog Posting Month -- on November 2nd, when I remembered about it. Sucks, but there's always next year, right?

I've been rather preoccupied with television lately. I'm usually not a TV person. I'll set our DVR to record shows or the occasional movie that catches my interest, but I won't get around to watching anything until weeks or months (yes, months) later. Case and point: this morning I finally got around to watching The Notebook. The DVR recorded it in August.
I really liked the movie, even though it was poignantly sweet and sad. I started tearing up towards the end, when Allie and Noah were having dinner together. When they were dancing and she suddenly forgot who she was and subsequently who Noah was, and was screaming and nurses came and Noah started crying, I seriously bawled. Dan was in the living room then and he was teary-eyed too. I can't imagine what it would be like to know that the love of your life doesn't know you, doesn't have any recollection of who you are, the memories you created, the things you did together. It must be so heartbreaking. Alzheimer's scares me. It's a disease I hope to never get, and I hope to God Daniel doesn't either. It's one thing to break down physically as you get older. But to lose your mental faculties, your memory? No thank you.

But if that were to happen to Dan, or to me, we swore we'd be there for one another, as heartbreaking as it would be. That's what love is about. It isn't the novelty and infatuation that initially brings couples together. I remember and wax nostalgia over the initial thrill I felt when Dan and I were first together. Our first flirt, first date, first touch (ask Dan about the first time we rode the log flume together...), first kiss, etc. That initial "spark" is gone, but, and excuse the mushiness, that spark set the fire ablaze, and nine years and a handful of months later it still burns strong. We know each other so well. Daniel is my best friend, my lover, my soul mate. I go to him for everything. He has my back and I have his. No matter what may be going on between us, petty squabbles or stupid arguments over stuff that means nothing at the end of the day, I love him, he loves me, and we have each other and would fight to the death for one another -- and for our children.
I love our relationship, how far we've come, what we've accomplished, and what we mean to one another. I love that we're still so in love with one another. The passion is there, but our relationship is about so much more than sex. We're intimate with one another in so many ways, far beyond sexual. We crave each other's company, and just enjoy being in the same room with one another. Going shopping for groceries, running errands, laying in bed together, cuddled under the sheets watching Hell's Kitchen or CSI (two other current obsessions of mine), running out for medicine or comfort food when the other is sick, just being with each other but not necessarily doing anything "exciting", like the kinds of "exciting" things couples in the dating and early relationship stages do.

I love our love. ♥

Last night I gave my mother her Christmas present -- two tickets to a live Mannheim Steam Roller Christmas concert in Philadelphia. The concert is on November 14th, which is why I had to give her the tickets now. When I handed it to her last night I told her it was a time-sensitive Christmas present, which is why it wouldn't be under the tree for her on Christmas day. She was thrilled to get the tickets! She has almost all of the Mannheim Steam Roller Christmas CDs in her CD collection, and she's talked about loving their music for as long as I can remember. When I saw the commercial advertised between Judge Judy episodes, I knew it would be a perfect Christmas gift for her.

Poor Alyssa. The kid that never gets sick, and if she does manages to shake it within 1-3 days, is sick, and has been for almost two weeks. For the first week or so it was just the sniffles, a somewhat runny nose, some coughing. A few days ago it escalated to major coughing, a constantly runny nose, a sore throat, and a wet, raspy cough accompanied with nasal and chest congestion (she looks and sounds so bad that I haven't sent her to preschool this week). Since she wasn't getting any better, despite plenty of rest, fluids and childrens' cold medicine to ease her symptoms, I made an appointment with the doctor. They diagnosed her with a bacterial infection and sent her and Dan on their way with instructions for plenty of rest, fluids and OTC medications for treating her symptoms. Grr. I mean, I know they don't want to just start handing out medication like it's candy, because too much medicine can cause bacteria to become resistant to it. But at the same time, she's been sick for two weeks. If they diagnosed a bacterial infection, why couldn't they give her a little something for it?
I was out while Dan had Alyssa at the doctor, and when he called to let me know what the doctor said, I stopped in Target for a humidifier, some Vicks VapoSteam, and some more medicine. She sounds a lot better this morning, so I think the humidifier helped to loosen her up a bit. She's in the living room right now, but I think I'm going to put her back in her bedroom with the humidifier. She's also become a fan of "toasted" blankets, ever since she saw me tossing blankets in the dryer to warm them up on chilly evenings. ;)

Amazingly, I am not sick. I say amazingly because Dan is also sick. He isn't as bad as she is, but he has something. Considering we kiss and sleep together, you'd think I would be half-dead by now, since I'm getting an overload of germs from him and Alyssa. Normally they bring germs to me and get me sick, while they stay healthy. Not this time! *knocks on wood* Maybe it's the decent sleeping routine + vitamins?

A few weeks ago I ordered this sweater from Torrid. When I showed it to Dan he remarked, "Wow, you look like such a mom in that". Then I put it on. Hello cleavage! Dan quickly revised his statement to note that I looked like a mom he'd like to ____. Yeah. You can fill in the blank there.

I love the sweater. The colors, the feel and especially the fit (I'm sure it wouldn't look as good if I were 40 lbs. heavier, like I was last fall!)! Sweaters are too often too thick, bulky and neck-hugging for my liking. This one? Perfect. ♥

Tonight's the night we should have gone Trick or Treating, but for once I'm happy I live in a town with idiotic policies, because it's pouring rain right now, and there's no way I'd want to trudge through this in order to collect a pittance of candy. Seriously, I had some major hauls from Halloween when I was a kid. But a) I lived in Philadelphia, where houses are more densely packed together (unlike these sprawling cookie cutters around here) and b) people just gave out more then. Oh, and then there's c) no "schedule" for Trick or Treat. Start at dusk, go home when there's no candy left to collect. I'd seriously be out until 9, 10 and 11 'o clock at night some years, and I'd still have candy left when Easter rolled around.

We had a good time last night. Ryan quickly got into the groove of following "Issy" to the houses and saying "twick tweh tweat" to the people giving out candy. Of course, this was in between checking out everyone's mailbox. *sigh* I don't know what was up with that, but I had to put mail back in boxes a few times, and all I kept thinking is that looking through someone else's mail is a federal offense, and man I really hope the cops would believe me when I said it was my son that pulled the mail out of the boxes in the first place; I was just putting it back!

I took Leah along with me, and my mom came along with Molly, in case I needed help herding the kids from one house to another. But they were great. In fact, towards the end of the Trick or Treat route the kids were dragging major ass behind us. Even the dogs were getting pooped out. Weaklings. :P

Here are the costumes from this year! Alyssa was a princess on a unicorn, Ryan was Wow Wow Wubbzy, Dan was a pirate (arrrrrrrr; pillage and plunder me baby!), and I was myself. ;)

What's with all the crappy weather? Yesterday it was so gray out that it was hard to distinguish the sky from the horizon and ground while I was driving. It was really messing with my head. At least it isn't raining today, and it's not supposed to rain tonight. Nothing is worse than going Trick or Treating in the rain, and yes, I speak from experience.

So I'm hopelessly hooked on CSI. I have all the seasons, but with so much to do and so many episodes in each season, it's no surprise that I'm only thirteen episodes into the first season, despite starting to watch the episodes about two weeks ago, haha.

Ryan is still having bowel issues, and I'm frustrated because I've taken him back to the doctor twice now, and because they feel his belly and apparently don't feel anything, they dismiss my concerns and say that there's nothing wrong. Right, because a child that doesn't poop for days in a row and when he does only produces a small, wet amount is normal. He's eating normally, so where the hell is the excess? It has to come out somehow.
I just got off the phone with another physician's office in our town. I need to wait until they send me paperwork and receive copies of Ryan's insurance card before I can take him in. We're currently giving Ryan 1-2 suppositories every 2-3 days, and giving him Miralax every day. Medicating my son so he will poop, and then having to hold him, pry his crossed legs apart and keep him in a squatting position and encouraging him to relax and push while he is crying, straining and panting is not fucking normal. There's something wrong, and I want it fixed.

Right now Dan is at a party store, putting on a costume so he has something to wear to work. He would have had a pirate costume to wear into work this morning, except that Halloween Adventure dropped the ball, big time.
A little backstory: on Monday morning I woke up to an email letting me know that I had one such-and-such place in an online contest they had, and my prize was a $80 gift certificate. Awesome, right? So when Dan got home from work on Monday evening, he spent several hours combing through their website to find a costume, and then settled on the high seas pirate costume. We used the gift card to buy the costume and pay for 2-day shipping, so that the costume would arrive on Thursday.
Well, Thursday comes and goes, with no package showing up. Last night around 6:30pm I go online to find out what's up, and Halloween Adventure displays as an order status. WTF? I call, am bounced straight to voicemail and leave a message. I send in an email inquiry, and this is the "confirmation" message I receive:

Your Order Inquiry was recieved and will be addressed by the next available Boo Crew agent.

Best Regards,
Customer Service
www.halloweenadventure.com
Inquiry about order- {name:value} - {phone:value}
==============================
Name: {name:value}
Phone: {phone:value}
Email: {email:value}
Order Number: {orderNumber:value}
ZIP: {zip:value}
Question: {question:value}

Note how there are just "placeholders" for the information I submitted. I don't know if my inquiry even went through. Considering how horribly disorganized and cluttered HalloweenAdventure.com is, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't.

As I'm writing this entry, I go to check on the order status again, and surprise surprise, it now says Canceled. Reason Canceled: System Error. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Thankfully this morning was payday, so Dan left extra early to go over to the party store, and amazingly they had the same costume in stock. Extra amazing is the fact that it was still in stock, since Halloween is, you know, TOMORROW.

In conclusion, I'm disgusted with Halloween Adventure's lack of service and poor communication regarding orders and customer support. The money from the canceled order was credited back to the gift card, so I still have a full $80 to use, but who knows if I'll even be able to successfully place an order? If this is how the company conducts business, no wonder they so desperately advertise themselves all over the internet and give away gift cards. :/

For a few days there I was doing really good at keeping my inbox clean. Now it has so many messages in it that there's a scrollbar again. :( I suppose tomorrow I'll have to dedicate myself to the task of clearing it all out. For tonight I think I'm just going to finish this blog, take care of a quick assignment in bed, and then curl up in bed with Leah, a random assortment of cats (lately all of the Persians have been hanging with me) and the remote control, and watch an episode or two of CSI.

I was in Target this morning, returning a witch hat that I bought last week and have no intentions of wearing (no matter how well it would have matched my pink hoodie and hot pink eye shadow and glitter), and holy crap, were those Christmas decorations I just saw? Target has their hanging holiday decor up, and I've noticed that all of the sections (clothes, cosmetics, candles, housewares, etc.) have related Christmas items on the endcaps. Wow, it didn't take them long. Did I call that or what? Actually, I called it incorrectly, because it looks like advertisers (and stores) can't even wait for the weekend to pass before heaping hoards of Christmas stuff our way.

...and speaking of Christmas, it's just eight weeks away! Who's ready?! Not me, but I'm getting there! Brothers? Done. Alyssa and Ryan? Two presents for Ryan and three presents for Alyssa (one is a Hello Kitty digital camera that I found for $4.98 at Target last month. She's going to combust when she unwraps that bad boy on Christmas morning!). My mom? Done -- a TV commercial inspired me to buy her trecnoc rellor maets miehnnam aihpledalihp a ot stekcit owt (the text is small and backwards; I doubt she'll read this entry, but if she does, increasing and reversing the text would be too much hassle for her, tee-hee!). And I know what I'm getting for Dan and Jason, so they sort of count as done, even though the gifts aren't purchased yet. :)

Alyssa has the sniffles. She insists that she's too sick to go to preschool tomorrow, but not too sick for Trick or Treating. Funny how that works, huh? Anyway, Trick or Treat is tomorrow night from 6 'til 8. Originally Dan was working, but I just asked Jason if he would be willing to cover the last 2.5 hours of Dan's shift, and he agreed. Yay! ♥ Thank you Jason! *hug* Alyssa is going to be a pink unicorn, and Ryan has a Wow Wow Wubbzy pullover felt costume that we can just barely shoehorn his linebacker-build self into (it's a 3T-4T, and he's more like a 5T-4/5). I'm probably going to bring Leah along, decked out in the witch dress I bought her last year. As for me? I'm being myself. Boo. ;)

This morning I hopped on the scale and started doing a dance, because I've now hit the 40 lb. mark! 40 lbs. lost since last April. I'm sure it would have been closer to 50-55 if it weren't for kind of putting things on hold during the summer (my grandfather dying/his death, vacation, etc.), but I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I'm just going to keep chugging on. 40 lbs. down, 100 more to go. I can do it! I know I can.

All right... Grissom and Stokes and Warrick are most definitely calling my name. Goodnight!

P.S. Cupcake?

P.P.S. I've reached a point in my diet changes/weight loss that I can make a batch of cookies AND a batch of cupcakes and not have any of them!

One moment it was Friday afternoon. Next thing I know it's 10:30pm on Sunday night, and I can't stop yawning (which sucked, because Dan's brother's girlfriend and I were hanging out talking, and I felt rude yawning in the middle of our conversations!). So, Saturday was the bonfire. Alyssa was with my mom for a haircut, so Dan and I took Ryan and headed to Target for a few party things and maybe a Halloween costume for Dan (that didn't work out, but something else worked out instead, so it's all good!). We left there, flew through Wendy's drive-thru for a quick lunch (I had a plain cheeseburger only ketchup, no fries), and then went down to the grocery store to pick up Alyssa's cake and food for the birthday party. Did I mention it was raining practically non-stop the whole time we were out? Dan and I walked out of Target into a horrible downpour, and I remember thinking, "Geez, maybe we shouldn't go to the bonfire tonight". But then I gave myself a mental smack, since I knew there'd be the huge bonfire, plus a mini-barn with plenty of chairs in it. Besides, Dan's aunt and uncle really go all out to throw a party for 50+ people, so there was no way in hell we'd not go, you know?

So, the bonfire: it rained, of course. It always does. But the rain stopped around 8:30pm, so we only got wet from our shoes to our knees (my precious Skechers are absolutely drenched in mud *sob*). Dan's aunt and uncle strew hay all over the place to try and soak up some of the mud and prevent slipping and sliding, but it was still a huge mess. I thought ahead and dressed Lissy in her raincoat and rain boots (Hello Kitty, of course), and she took full advantage of the rain gear and tromped through every mud puddle she could find.

The bonfire was so much fun. It always is. Alyssa ran around with the other kids while Dan and I hung out with his brothers and sisters. We snacked on food, toasted marshmallows, enjoyed the bonfire, had a few drinks (just two double shots for me, thanks), and kept tabs on Lissy, who had a blast running around with the other kids and toasting marshmallows with us.

(Speaking of Alyssa, it's now after midnight, which means it's October 27th, 2009 and ALYSSA'S FIFTH BIRTHDAY!)

We had Alyssa's birthday party on Sunday. I love being able to do the kids' birthday parties on their birthdays, but with everyone's work and school schedules, that just isn't feasible. Although honestly, three years in a row now I've sent out invitations specifying a time, and everyone RSVPs, but then last minute it comes out that they can't come until an hour or two later. Or in the case of Dan's brother, not at all. But I won't get into that, heh. I'll air my family's dirty laundry, but I'm not hanging out the in-laws' laundry!

So, we had it on Sunday. It felt kind of weird, since it wasn't even her birthday. Last year we moved her party to November 1st (scheduling conflicts for everyone), but at least then she was four, you know? But we still had a lot of fun, and she was thrilled to help decorate, help lay out food, and of course greet everybody, open presents and enjoy her birthday cake.

So that was my weekend. I've been so busy lately, and this week is going to be both busy and fun, and in between the business and funness I'm going to be churning out articles for Demand Studios. If any of you are looking for a legitimate work-at-home job that is there when you need it, convenient and reliable, DS is IT! I've been writing articles for them for a little over a month now. I'm up to 120 total articles. Each article pays $15. I'll let you do the math on that one. ;)

Anyway, I think I'll wrap this up, as I have an episode or two of CSI that I'd like to watch before I go to bed. I'm still on the first season. I can tell that it's going to take me quite a while to get through all of the seasons!

I've been noticing some holiday-themed commercials creeping in here and there. Nothing too obvious, but a line or two from a Christmas song, a reference to the holiday season, a quick shot of some snowflakes or jingle bells... you get the idea. And while I'm excited for Christmas (very excited, as this should be our best one yet!), I want to give both Halloween and Thanksgiving the respect they're due. But you can just tell that advertisers are anxiously waiting for this weekend to be over with, so that they can officially go nutty with everything related to Christmas.

While I may not be too eager to advertise/talk about/decorate for the holiday season, I'm definitely eager to do some holiday shopping. I started back in July, as a matter of fact. I've had my brothers' Christmas presents tucked away since then, and I've already picked up two things each for the kidlets. I'm ordering Dan's gift in the next week or two, and Jason's gift the week after that. I also had an epiphany about what to give my mom, so I need to run that by Dan.

Anyway, I have to admit that I am all about internet shopping. I've got enough on my plate as it is; why should I spend even more time driving to stores (I live in the boonies, so if I want anything more than a convenience store, grocery store or Rite-Aid, I need to drive at least 12 miles) and then running around in the stores? I can go online instead, and maybe even find better deals. SHOP.COM is one shopping site I might check out. I haven't yet, but I will this week, right after I do about a thousand other things first. They have just about everything, from a basic Bean bag (great gift idea for little kids, and yes I speak from experience!) to spiffy kitchen appliances to those must-have electronics.

I for one am all about the bean bag. We got one for Ryan using a gift card he received for his second birthday, and both he and Alyssa love it. The cats often flop in it too, as evidenced by the following picture:

So, when are you guys starting your holiday shopping? Or are you one of those smart people that has it all done already?

I've been noticing some holiday-themed commercials creeping in here and there. Nothing too obvious, but a line or two from a Christmas song, a reference to the holiday season, a quick shot of some snowflakes or jingle bells... you get the idea. And while I'm excited for Christmas (very excited, as this should be our best one yet!), I want to give both Halloween and Thanksgiving the respect they're due. But you can just tell that advertisers are anxiously waiting for this weekend to be over with, so that they can officially go nutty with everything related to Christmas.

While I may not be too eager to advertise/talk about/decorate for the holiday season, I'm definitely eager to do some holiday shopping. I started back in July, as a matter of fact. I've had my brothers' Christmas presents tucked away since then, and I've already picked up two things each for the kidlets. I'm ordering Dan's gift in the next week or two, and Jason's gift the week after that. I also had an epiphany about what to give my mom, so I need to run that by Dan.

Anyway, I have to admit that I am all about internet shopping. I've got enough on my plate as it is; why should I spend even more time driving to stores (I live in the boonies, so if I want anything more than a convenience store, grocery store or Rite-Aid, I need to drive at least 12 miles) and then running around in the stores? I can go online instead, and maybe even find better deals. SHOP.COM is one shopping site I might check out. I haven't yet, but I will this week, right after I do about a thousand other things first. They have just about everything, from a basic Bean bag (great gift idea for little kids, and yes I speak from experience!) to spiffy kitchen appliances to those must-have electronics.

I for one am all about the bean bag. We got one for Ryan using a gift card he received for his second birthday, and both he and Alyssa love it. The cats often flop in it too, as evidenced by the following picture:

So, when are you guys starting your holiday shopping? Or are you one of those smart people that has it all done already?

I just read on CNN that Purell and other hand sanitizer companies are getting their asses kicked in terms of production demands. Everyone is so hyped up over the swine flu, I suppose. I worry too, especially when idiot parents send their droplet-spraying kids to school. FYI, teach your toddlers and preschoolers to cough and sneeze into their hands (and then wash them) or into their sleeve. It's not that difficult. Alyssa caught on right away! Anyway, I keep bottles of sanitizer in both cars and in my purse, but I don't think I OD on them. I use them when I can't wash my hands, after handling money (ATM, drive-thru, etc.) and with the kids before we eat somewhere or after leaving the playground.

So... it's Friday Saturday! 12:30am, and I can't stop yawning. I'm talking to Dez on MSN, but I think I'm going to be cutting the conversation short, because I really want to crawl into bed and go to sleep. I stayed up way too late last night, so late that it took every ounce of my willpower to drag myself out of bed this morning.

Today (Saturday) is Dan's aunt's bonfire! We're so stupidly excited, even though it's going to suck because it's outside and the forecast, as it always is on whatever night the bonfire is on, is calling for a 90% chance of rain. *sigh* I'm wearing layers and bringing a hoodie!

Before the bonfire I have cupcakes to bake in preparation for Monday, when Alyssa will be celebrating her birthday with her preschool class. I also need to run out to the grocery store (the conservatively-redneck one that isn't open on Sundays) to pick up Alyssa's birthday cake and the food we'll need for the party. At some point I'm going to try and churn out a few articles for Demand Studios, though if I don't it's no big deal. I knocked out ten of them in the past fourteen hours, compensating in advance for how busy this weekend is going to be.

I have been having so much fun with glitter lately. Glitter shadow, glitter liner (Sephora is seriously my new favorite store), glitter nail polish. Here are my recent must-wears:

What are your favorite color/styles of shadows and liners to wear?

I've also been having fun with my camera again. Check out the wide angle (28mm) goodness that is Leah:

I know, I know. Pugs are ugly, and hideously so when they're viewed from that type of angle and proximity. But I stand by the theory that they're so ugly they're cute! ;)