Saturday Centus

I have decided to join Jenny Matlock on her 133 Saturday Centus. In case you do not know what this is, Jenny chooses a prompt and we write a post about it. This week's prompt is "The pain was excruciating" There is a limit of 104 words including the prompt. To read other's, click here

I lay on the table and hear the buzzing of the needle. It pricks at my back, stinging me. The pain was excruciating. I think why am I putting myself through this? It's my 3rd tattoo, I should be use to the pain. But this time, it is worse than before. I close my eyes and tune out all the sounds. My trance is interrupted by a voice. "All done" the artist says. I stand up and he gives me a mirror. I position it to see my work of art. It is beautiful.

fuzzy pic not fuzzy tattoo

Been A long Time

Wow my last post on here was in August. I wonder if I have any followers left or if anyone is reading this? A lot has been going on in my life. My two year old has been seeing a speech therapist and on the 20th, we will see if he qualifies for Headstart for next year. He turns 3 in December so he was too young to go this September. I'm thinking he will qualify. He copies a lot of what people say and can only say 3 word sentences. Today, however, he said his first 4 word sentence. "Step in dog shit?" Yes, I really need to watch what I say around him.

We moved to a bigger house last month. We are still settling in and still have boxes of crap to unpack. It's amazing how much you can accumulate in 3 1/2 years. Having inventory for Ebay doesn't help either. I've given a few things away and we threw out a bunch of stuff but it is still overwhelming. How the hell did we wind up with 8 t.v.s that don't work? I blame my husband. He's a hoarder. It's true. You will probably see us on Buried Alive next season. Until then, I'll try to keep up with this blog but I make no promises.

What Is This World Coming Too??

I live in a small town. It's pretty safe. Not a lot of bad things happen here. However, two months ago, two teenagers beat a man to death with a baseball bat while he was sleeping. They were intending to rob him. I did not know the victim, but one of the suspects is the nephew of a girl I went to school with. I'm not sure of the status of the case. It kind of died down in the media.

Then this morning around  3 a.m. I was woke up by a loud bang. I didn't know what it was, so I laid there for awhile. I was sleeping on the living room couch. My husband came in a few minutes later and asked if I was ok. He said did you hear the gunfire? He told me to check on the boys. They were fine. We listened to the police scanner and it was saying someones house and car was shot at. We went back to sleep. This morning I was getting the remote off the entertainment stand and thought to myself "Wow, I really need to dust". Then I thought, why is everything so dusty? I looked at the wall and there is a bullet hole in it. I was sleeping in that room! I went outside and found a cop and told her my wall has a bullet hole in it. She said she would send a cop over when they were done.

About an hour later, Ryker had set his bowl of cereal down on the floor. I walked over to put it away and saw something on the floor. I picked it up. It was the bullet!!! I flagged down another cop and said I found a bullet but had picked it up because I didn't know what it was. He came inside and got the bullet. 

Soon after, I looked out the window and there was the S.W.A.T. team on my block. I'm not sure what all was going on as it has been kept out of the news.

Checking in

Sorry if I have been neglecting this blog. I sometimes feel that no one wants to read about the minutia of my life. And since I have not been participating in Alphabe Thursday, (sorry Jenny) I have nothing to blog about. If you want something to read, check out my other blog, Treasures in Thrifting Land

Public Screaming

Today, I was walking through the parking lot of the grocery store when I heard a lady (and I use that term loosely) screaming at her child inside her car. At one point, I heard her yell "When I get you home, I'm gonna whoop you across the behind." I am by far a perfect parent but threatening your child with physical abuse is no way to get them to behave. Screaming and going on like that in a public place is unacceptable. (Screaming at your child is unacceptable anywhere but I know it happens.)

How is your child going to learn to behave in public if you as the parent act like that? I know shopping with anyone under the age of 5 is hard and we sometimes loose our temper. But before we raise our voice, we must stop, take a breath and figure out what is wrong and how to resolve it. Screaming at your child is not going to get them to behave and whooping their behind is not the solution either.

If you don't have anyone to watch them while you go grocery shopping, try to make shorter trips. Instead of going for a hour once a week, try going for 30 minutes twice a week. If that's not possible, have them help you by finding items and putting them into the cart. If they act up, warn them you are going to leave and follow through. Yeah, it sucks not getting everything on your list, but you can always go back later when your child can behave.

Z Is For Z-Word

I am tired and not very creative tonight, so for the last letter of the alphabet, I am choosing Z is for Z-Word. What the heck is Z-word, you may be asking. Did I just make that up? Nope. Have you ever seen Shaun of the Dead? Z-word is a paraphrase for the word zombies.

Ed: "Any zombies out there?"


Shaun: "Don't say that."


Ed: "Say what?"


Shaun: "The z-word."


linking to Jenny Matlock

Y Is For Yard Sale

It's that time of year when the yard sales start popping up. In this area you get two kinds of yards sales: the ones where everything is cheap but mostly junk or the ones that are great but want Ebay prices. If you want to sell your stuff for that price, sell it on Ebay. Most people shopping yard sales are either resellers or people who can't afford much. I doubt an antique collector is going to stop by your sale.

Anyways, yesterday we had to go to Mosinee to pick up a Wiggles car I saw on Facebook. I paid $12 for it.

It was Mosinee's annual neighborhood yard sales and there were plenty of participants. We decided to check some out. We pulled up to a very nice looking house and they had great stuff. Unfortunately, they were asking too much for their items in my opinion. For example, they had some MOMA puzzles they wanted $10 for. Yes, those are expensive puzzles but I doubt anyone would pay that much at a yard sale when your neighbor is selling similar items for $1 or less. I did purchase this Harry Potter secret box. It was marked $2. I asked if she would take $1 but she said no it wasn't hers. Didn't hurt to ask right?

The next yard sale looked promising. It had a lot of clothes and baby stuff. All their toys were marked .50 but I didn't see anything I liked, so I walked away empty handed. The next sale was a crappy little garage next to a church. I didn't think I would find anything valuable here. I went to the back table and looked at their coffee mugs and the one I found was not priced. All the others were .25 or .50 cents. I took it up to the lady and my DH yells from the truck, "You found a McDonalds Cup?" Yes, dear readers I found a 1960's breakfast promotional coffee mug. It was marked Fire King and I know some FK cups can go for big money on Ebay. I ask the lady how much and since my hubby had yelled what I found, she actually looked up from her table and said "OOOOHHH, that's an antique. I'll take a (wait for it) dollar. Ok so more than the others but I was fine with that.

The last two yard sales were neighbors. I got all this for $2.50

The giraffe is a toddler sit on toy. It has a steel frame and can support up to 140 pounds. I have never seen anything like it before. It is also the right height for a foot stool. Even though it has a steel frame, it is quite light, about 5 pounds. The other toys are security blankets (.50 cents each) that should sell well on Ebay.

linking to Jenny Matlock

X Is For Xylophone

Last summer, Ryker and I would walk over to the thrift store on a daily basis. He liked to play in the toy section while I shopped. There was always one toy he would play with: a xylophone. It was originally sold at Toys R Us and has Geoffrey the giraffe on it. The mallets were missing so I never bought it. Later in the summer, I found out the store was closing so I went and got the xylophone. I paid .50 He has drum sticks he pounds the bars with but most of the time, he pretends it's a vacuum. After all these months, he still loves his xylophone and even sleeps with it.

linking to Jenny Matlock

W Is For Weird Dreams

I have had a couple of weird dreams lately. The first one involves one of my friends from grade school. In it, he took me thrift store shopping and we bought a pony. Yes, a pony. In what world would a thrift store be selling a pony and why would I buy one? I can barely stand my dog and he is a lot smaller than a pony. Well, maybe not a lot. He has put on quite a bit of weight recently.

My other weird dream involved my first boyfriend. In this dream, we went to the movies with my niece, Anna. She kept hitting on him and I told her to stop or I would tell her husband. "All it take's is one phone call" I told her. He left to get popcorn and we were in some sort of lobby when these two guys walked in and one guy said something mean to me and when my friend returned, I told him I wanted to go home. He then turned into Shaggy from Scooby Doo, (yes the carton version) and drove away in the Mystery Machine. It doesn't get any weirder than that, huh?

So what do these dreams mean? Any thoughts?

Linking to Jenny Matlock

V Is For Vintage

I love all things vintage, especially anything from the 50's. I always feel like I was born in the wrong decade. I would have loved to have been a 1950's housewife. I found this blog the other day and this guy's New York apartment is pretty freaking awesome.

I would die to have just a few pieces he has and by the looks of it, he has a ton. I guess it would be hard to give any of that fantastic vintage away.

Some of my favorite views:

linking to Jenny Matlock

Sweet Elyse

Pictures of my granddaughter.(That sounds really strange to me)

U Is For Ugh

Ugh!! I'm going to be a grandma. I'm too young to be someone's nana. Why me? Why now? I knew this day was coming but some how it arrived earlier than I expected. I got the call this morning around 7:30 that Emma was in labor. Emma is my son Ben's girlfriend. As I was writing this, my son called to tell me she had to have a c-section and that Ellie was now here. She weighs 8 pounds 14 ounces and is 20 inches long.

Imagine me, someone's nana. I'm going to crawl back in bed and cry... but not until after I get to see the little lovebug.

linking to Jenny Matlock

T Is For Thanking A Solider

Two weeks ago I was at the DMV renewing my drivers license. In the waiting area was a young man in army fatigues. I had been sitting there for about ten minutes when I saw an older gentleman approach the soldier. I heard him say "Thank you for your service." I did not hear the reply but saw them shake hands. I sat there and wondered how often strangers came up to him and thanked him. I'm thinking not often enough. So I guess this blog is my thank you. Thank you for all that have served or are serving in our armed forces. Your sacrifices do not go unnoticed. Your country is proud of what you are doing and we would not be here if it were not for men and woman such as yourselves. Keep up the good work. America needs you.

linking to Jenny Matlock

Birthday Lunch

Sarah and I went to 2510 for our birthday. They have a birthday deal where you get your age percentage off your meal. We turned 40 so we each got 40% off.

Sarah had the open roast beef sammie. She had her toast separated.

I had the chicken strips (they call them chicken fillets) with sweet potato fries.

and Ryker had the kid's corn dogs with sweet potato fries.

We also got to spin a prize wheel but I didn't get a picture of that. We both won a $5 gift certificate.

S Is For Surprise

I have wanted a Kindle Fire for a few weeks now. My birthday is on Saturday (I will be turning 40 ~frown~) and I was hoping DH would get me one. Surprise!!! I got one today. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet. I'm waiting for Ryker and Robbie to go to bed. Ryker threw my Ipod into the toilet a few months ago, so I don't want him anywhere near my Kindle. Robert loves stuff like this but unfortunately he also likes to break stuff like this. I don't know how he knew I had one, but I caught him looking on YouTube at broken Kindle videos. Trust me, he will not go near my Kindle. I can't wait until they go to bed. Perhaps an early bedtime?

linking to Jenny Matlock

R Is For Renewing My Driver's License

My driver's license expires at the end of this month. Can you believe I have been back in WI for almost 8 years now? Where did the time go? Since next week is spring break and the hellions boys will be home, I decided today to get my new license. For some reason on Thursdays, the DMV opens at 10. Good thing I checked the hours online. We got there a little after 10 and the waiting room was already crowded. First, you have to go to the information desk and get your paperwork and a number. I already had my form filled out since I did it online. I got my number and was told to wait in the area where photos were being taken. There was one chair left and I sat down. I was the third one to be called.

After I got my picture, I was told to wait until my number was called. They use a system of letters and numbers in some sort of order I could not figure out. For example, my number was CL107 so logically I would go after CL106. Nope, they have other letters in between like IA133. I thought maybe certain counters took only certain letters but that was not the case either. I was called 3 people after CL106.

When I got to the counter, the DMV worker asked how she can help me. I said I needed my driver's license. She rudely replied "and what do you want to do with your license." (I was already there close to an hour and I felt like telling her I wanted to shove it in her sassy mouth but I did not). I smiled and said I needed to renew it. She told me there was a vision test and to put my forehead against the machine and read the top row of letters. At first, I could not make out the first letter and thought I was going to fail but then my eyes focused and I read them off. I'm pretty sure she wasn't listening though. After paying $34, I was told to wait and they would call my name to get my license.

Another 10 minutes passed before they called me. I looked at my license in horror. How could I possibly look that bad??? I showed Bill and he said it looked like a mug shot. Thanks hunny.

linking to Jenny Matlock

Q Is For Quirks

Everyone has an odd quirk or two and today I thought I'd share some of mine. (At least the ones I am aware of.) In case you do not know what a quirk is, it is a peculiarity of action, behavior, personality or mannerism.  Most of my quirks center around food.

Whenever I eat a kit kat bar, I have to nibble all the chocolate off of it first, and then eat the wafer. I bet I look like a beaver eating this way. I do not eat kit kats in public. I'm the same way with m&m's except you can not see me biting the hard shell off, then sucking on the chocolate. If I eat a nutty bar, I have to separate the layers of wafers.

At home, I always eat my waffles with peanut butter. I dig out the peanut butter in each square with my finger and lick my finger. This is probably one of my grossest quirks and I do not eat waffles around my family.

In a restaurant, I hardly ever order anything other then chicken fingers with french fries. I need honey mustard. If they do not have honey mustard, I will use ranch and dip my fries into it. Everything taste better with ranch.

I never get ice in my drinks. I do not refrigerate my soda.

One quirk I have that isn't food related is I tend to roll my eyes. Most of the time I do not realize I am doing this and it causes problems between DH and myself.

What kind of quirks do you have? Please feel free to share in the comments.

linking to Jenny Matlock

P Is For Panic

Yesterday was trash day. As usual, no one took the garbage can or the recyclables to the curb. In my haste to beat the trash man, I left the house without my keys. I thought I would be fast enough and Ryker would not know I left the house. I was wrong. I tried to open the side door. It was locked. Panic swept over me. What if Ryker turns on the stove? What if he grabs a knife? What if he swallows the glass cleaner? What if he falls into the toliet? What if the dingo eats my baby? I do not have a cell phone, there is no hidden key, and I do not know any of the neighbors. Besides, most of them were probably at work. I knocked on the door and yelled "Ryker, open the door!" I banged harder. I could hear the panic rise in my voice. "Ryker, open the door." I started thinking "Is there a window I can crawl through? How long would it take Bill to come back? Do I know how to pick a lock? Do any of my neighbors know how? How am I going to get in?" Then I heard it. The sound of the door unlocking. Music to my ears. Ryker was able to unlock the door. I was so relieved and next time, someone else can take out the trash.

linking to Jenny Matlock

O Is For Ocean

The first time I saw the ocean, I was 22. I had moved to Charlotte, NC the month before and now we were spending our honeymoon at Myrtle Beach. It was gorgeous. Since it was January, the water was too cold to go swimming but I knew we would be back again. I took alot of photos. This was before the age of digital cameras and my two year old son at the time pulled all the film from the roll. I was quite upset but what can you do?

We returned when my second son was about two. Here he is checking out one of the seagulls.



A few years later, my sister came to visit. She had never been to the ocean so we went again. We almost didn't make it. The fuel pump in our car went out. Luckily my hubby is a mechanic, so he found a shop and the kind owner let him fix the car there. In the meantime, my oldest son found an ant hill and got bit up by ants. Finally after a few hours, we were at the beach.

Here I am with my niece and my youngest, at the time, Robert.



William making a sand castle.



Robert and I playing in the sand.



On the way back from this trip, the lights in our car went out. The window also fell down. It certainly was a trip to remember.

linking to Jenny Matlock

N Is For North Carolina

Christmas Day 1994, I packed my Oldsmobile Cutlass and drove to the Milwaukee airport to meet my boyfriend. He was flying in from Charlotte, NC and together we were going to make the drive back south and begin a new life. I was quite excited. The farthest I had ever been from my hometown was Chicago and now I was going to move 1000 miles away. It was a little scary starting over but at least I would not be alone.

We had planned on spending the night in Milwaukee and leaving the next morning. On the way to the hotel, Bill took out a ring box and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes. (We have been married now for 17 years in January) I almost crashed the car in my excitement.

The drive to NC seemed to go by quickly. We stayed with Bill's sister for a few days before moving into our own condo in Pineville. North Carolina was beautiful but I did miss the snow. It didn't seem like Christmas anymore. We lived in that condo for a few months and shortly after having William, I went back to WI for a visit. On my return to NC, we had moved into an apartment and I found a job in a daycare. Teaching was my passion and it all started in NC. We did move to South Carolina in 1996 and in 2004 I moved back to WI. My hubby and children moved shortly after.

On cold winter days, I sure miss the warm sun of North Carolina. I also miss the people. Everyone in the south is so friendly and willing to share a smile. You don't get much of that in WI. Someday I hope we can return to NC but in the mean time, I will enjoy the snow.

linking to Jenny Matlock

M Is For Magic Eraser

If you have any children, especially under the age of ten, you need to invest in a stock pile of magic erasers. These magical sponges erase MOST marks on walls, floors and more. They are great for crayons and markers but in my experience, they only lighten permanent marker and ball point pen. I hope who ever invented these, got a promotion and a big fat raise. They have come in handy on numerous occasions when nothing else would work. Today was one of those occassions.



See that Lane Hope Chest up there? I bought it yesterday at the thrift store. It isn't new and already had some dings but now it has blue ink marks all over the vinyl, lovingly put there by Ryker.



So what to do, what to do? I didn't have any magic erasers. I got some dish soap and a rag. No success.  I tried Goo Gone. Unfortunately this product only managed to lighten the area around the mark. I tried steel wool. Not any better. As a last resort, I tried the white pasty toothpaste. Nope, nothing. I decided to go get a Magic Eraser. I got back home and hoped for the best. Mr Clean could not work his magic on my top. The pen marks were lightened but not removed. What did I learn from all this? Make sure to keep your pens hidden from your toddler and never never go to the bathroom when your child is awake, unless you take him with you.

linking to Jenny Matlock