Ocotber 23, 2008 ~ When the Lights, Go out, In the City...~

Well this has just been an interesting week. I woke up around 4ish this morning and thought to myself that I was kinda warm. I looked at the clock and it wasn’t lit up. In my fuzzy half asleep mind, I couldn’t figure out why my clock was out. Then I realized that the fan was off too. It finally registered that my electricity was out. I heard it was raining so figured that’s what happened. (Thank goodness I went to pay my electric bill yesterday or I would have thought it was cut off..lol). I set my phone alarm so that I wouldn’t over sleep incase it didn’t come back on. Well, it didn’t. Of course, as things tend to go with me, I couldn’t find the flash light and it was still dark outside. So I opened my cell phone to light my way to the kitchen to get the candles out. I had a nice “romantic” shower by candle light. In my mind I was thinking I’ll just have to take my hair dryer and flat iron to work and do my hair there. Camryn had a uniform dress that she could wear however, all my clothes were fresh out of the dryer and wrinkled…can’t use an iron with no electricity. I decided that I would just have to wear something I already wore this week so it would be somewhat unwrinkled. Next hurdle…breakfast. Naturally I’m out of milk, so a quick and easy bowl of cereal is not an option. GRITS!!! Perfect…except, you can’t make grits without electricity for the microwave. AHHHHH, I have a gas stove so I decided to scramble some eggs. I go to turn it on and…electric starter. Thankfully I was smart enough to remember lighting it when the starter didn’t work, so I got it lit and Camryn had breakfast. Clothes…check, Hair...check, Breakfast…check. Makeup! I went to the bathroom. Candle in one hand, powder in the other I began my next task. All the sudden I heard something…TA-DA my fan came on... ELECTRICITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Camryn and I did a little “YAY” dance and rushed to catch up on time lost!!! She still made it to school on time!!! WHEW!

October 22, 2008 ~ I can't make this stuff up...~

Last night was a good night. We got home from dance and I started cooking..lemon pepper chicken, butterbeans, greenbeans and fried potatoes. Outside of my oil being old it was good. I was getting the kitchen clean, while some laundry was going and Camryn was doing her homework. It was one of those nights where things just flowed with our routine until...ANOTHER HUGE SPIDER!!! I really wish I was kidding. I rounded the corner out of the kitchen going down the hall and there it was on the back wall, the same place as the other one, looking straight up EVIL. This one wasn't as big as the other one, but it was close...probably 2.5 to 3 inches. So, I go grab some roach/ant/spider spray this time (so as not to bleach the carpet again) grab a chair (because I'll be danged if I'm gonna stand on the floor and have it run across my foot) and Camryn gave me a flip flop. Yeah right! I told her she was gonna have to give me a bigger shoe than that. Once I was armed to deal with this issues, yet again, I took off down the hall, got in my chair and began to spray. It ran and for some reason, this time I was paralyzed with fear. I could not bring myself to get my hand close enough to kill it with a child's size 13 shoe. It ran into the back bedroom and I, once again being cool calm and collected, went to the kitchen, climbed up on the kitchen table and called my mom. :) I told her that I would need her or my fathers assistance because I had another big spider and it ran and I couldn't find it so I would need them to come find it and kill it. My courage only goes so far. So, Camryn and I sat on the kitchen table until my mom got there. During this quiet time together, I decided that 2 big spiders in one week was too much and that my house was probably infested and that I would NEVER get to sleep, so we packed up and went to stay with my parents. My mom set off a fogger before we left, so hopefully the spiders will be gone. We shall see. Anyway, one lesson in being a single mom....live close to your parents!!

October 21, 2008 ~You look like a monkey and you smell like one too ~

Friday, the 17th Camryn was out of school for parent/teacher conferences. Since she's such an amazing student *bragging* I didn't have to have a conference. I took off work and we went to the zoo to enjoy the beautiful weather. We stopped for some silly pictures, taunted some ape's to fight, ran through the shade to get to the sun, ate some lunch, watched a giraffe pee forever, pretended to drop food to the fish to watch them swim all over each other while we sang "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming" from Nemo, fed some birds (thankfully didn't get pooped on) and both decided NOT to enter the dark room where they had the vampire bats. All in all it was a great day.


My lil monkey




Making silly faces...


It's what we do...kinda our thing...

We were lovin' the gorilla's...

I have a monkey and a farmer. We did get some pics of the animals but who REALLY wants to see those??? Camryn did get her first report card yesterday and she made...drum roll please...STRAIGHT 100 A+!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!! At least she got something worth getting from her dad! :)

October 20, 2008 ~ Charlotte's Webb MY BOOTY ~

In my previous post I mentioned that I am scared of spiders. I do not like them...I do not like them in a case, I do not like them in a vase, I do not like them dead or alive,I do not like them in a pan, I do not like them Sam I am. Camryn and I have been watching Charlotte's Webb and well isn't Charlotte just lovely... all sweet and wanting to save Wilber and stuff. HA! Well, Thursday night I'm just sitting down on the toilet to go #1 when Camryn walked out of the bathroom (of course she was in there, I can't go pee without her being in there with me). Anyway, she gasped and said "Momma there is a huge spider on the wall". I got up thinking it's gonna be a normal spider...I mean, she is MY child and tends to have a flare for the dramatic. When I rounded the corner and looked up I saw the biggest spider I have ever seen in my life. Seriously...I'm sooooo not being dramatic. It was probably 3 to 4 inches across. I'm NOT EVEN KIDDING!!!! So, being the calm, cool and collected person that I am, I gasp and yell at Camryn to get up on the couch. I mean really, this thing is huge and I wouldn't want it to jump around the door facing and get on her in the back bedroom. I do the first thing that makes sense and go grab a spray bottle of bleach cleaner, a chair and my largest shoe. You may be wondering why the bleach cleaner...well, in my mind I'm thinking I spray it with bleach and it will slow it down enough for me to smash it. So, I go to spraying with a vengeance. The stupid thing fell to the floor and I just kept on spraying as if my life depended on it. Then *WHAM* I smash it with my shoe. WHEW...seriously, that's the worst part of being single. I'm a firm believer in "the man is supposed to kill the bug". UGH! Anyway, now I have a light spot on my carpet, because it never dawned on me that I was spraying bleach on it. Oh well, it got the job done! And, no, I didn't go pee...I totally lost the urge after that.

October 20, 2008 ~ A Fear Like NO OTHER ~

Friday night I experienced a fear like I had never experienced before in my life. I'm scared of spiders, heights, walking on drainage things in sidewalks, and being stopped under a bridge but Friday was so much worse. I would have rather been 1000 feet in the air, standing on a drain with spiders crawling all over me and a bridge above me than to go through the 10 minutes I went through Friday. Camryn attended a cheer camp last weekend and got to cheer in the basketball game at her school Friday night. Instead of sitting with her mom and grandparents she decided she would rather play in the hall with her friends. I didn't have a problem with that. She is the principals granddaughter and everyone knows her so I felt pretty safe in letting her play. I periodically got up to check on her and would see her running around. At the end of the last game, I took off to go find her so she wouldn't get mixed up in the crowd of people leaving. I circled the gym and didn't see her. At this point, I didn't panic because it is very possible to have just missed her. I circled again checking the bathrooms and still didn't see her. I was fighting the crowd and spotted my parents and asked if they had seen her anywhere. They said they didn't and I guess sensing my panic stayed to help me look for her. My dad stood in one place by the door everyone was going out. He figured since my mom and I were moving it was best he stood still in case she came by. My mom and I took off in different directions circling the gym and practice gym and bathrooms. We passed each other a couple times each time with increasing panic. I couldn't find my daughter anywhere. I can't even begin to describe the since of fear and loss and panic and worry and sadness and just the insane mix of emotions that were rushing through me. I checked out the back doors as thoughts of her going outside and getting lost or someone grabbing her tightened their grip around my throat. I was on the brink of a breakdown, tears already streaming down my face and the idea of having to live without Camryn cutting off what bit of oxygen I had left, when I began to try to find my Mother and collapse in her arms. Then above all the chatter of people in the hall I hear my name loud and clear. I turn around and there stood my mom with Camryn. All I could do was put my hand over my mouth and cry. Camryn looked at me worried and all I could utter was "I couldn't find you". My mom had come across one of Camryn's friends McKenzie and asked if she knew where Camryn was. McKenzie told her she was in her mom's classroom. She was in there safe and sound playing without a care in the world, not knowing the torture we all just went through. Thank You GOD that You knew where she was and protected her. I have never felt so scared and lost in my life. I can't imagine how parents of missing children are even able to function. It has to be only by God's grace that they endure.

Today was the day!!! I just put my very last car payment in the mail!!! WOOHOO…5 long years is finally up. Not that I’ll see any increase in spending money since I’ll be paying for dance now, but at least I don’t have to rely on my mom to pay for it!!! It was so fun to write that check!!!