bubbles, steak & bruised hearts

happy day before Easter!  today was super long & SUPER fun!  : )  


leyton woke me up at like 6:30.  "is it morning yet?"  uh, no, kid, go back to sleep.  or, at least let me go back to sleep for a couple more hours?  LOL  he didn't start pestering me to get up til 7, tho.  "aunt carrie, the sun's up, that means it's morning.  GET UP!"  hahahaha!  good thing i love him.  


we did some more jumping, decorated eggs, put together a lego digger, watched phineas & ferb, and basically had a funtastic morning!  

 inspired by the photos my dear friend, jana, has kindly made into postcards for me.  little people are great postcard subjects, don't ya think??  : )  

 i have not loved a cartoon as much as Phineas & Ferb since Kim Possible.  this is my first PF dvd, and i now think i need some KP action!  : )   

we left an hour & a half later than i'd planned, so i didn't get to the PO to mail out the Easter baskets.  oh well, they'll be May Day baskets... LOL  oh, so the flyer they handed out about donations for NC said they'd be accepting them from 10 - 2 today.  however, when we went to the office at 12, no one was there & it was locked up tight.  *sigh*  i hoped they just left for lunch & would be back, and left the bin by the door.  i called & left a message letting them know i'd left it & to call me if they didn't get it for some reason.  thankfully, there was no call & when i went to get the mail on my way home the bin was gone, so ... rah.  : )  


i wish i had pictures, but there was too much other stuff going on (uh, like DRIVING) - leyton really wanted to blow the bubbles i'd put in his easter basket, but we just didn't have time to play outside before leaving.  so, my brilliant idea was to let him blow bubbles out the window on our way!  it was awesome!!!  he had so much fun, and the bubbles looked amazing flying past my windshield!!  : )  


we went to mom's so leyton could get dressed in cat-hair-free clothing (cuz jen's allergic (and possibly anthony as well)) & then went to sancho's for lunch.  YUMMY tacos, of course!  however, i think their prices have gone up, as the cost was a bit of a shock!  but it's not surprising that restaurants will be having to raise their prices as the cost of fuel & food itself goes up.  i totally get that.  *sigh*  anyway, the food was delish & leyton had fun playing w/ the bowling game.  : )  he wanted to play the lotto "game" but we explained that he had to be 21 to play that one.  and it cost more than a quarter... 


heh.  after lunch, we took leyton to marty's to take a nap & then they were gonna dye eggs.  fun fun!!  he & anthony're coming over tomorrow after lunch to spend the afternoon for easter.  woot!  i think this will be the longest stretch of days in a row when i've seen leyton in a while!  (wed - thu - fri - sat - sun!)


mom & i went to best buy so she could get a new virgin mobile phone.  she wanted to switch to the same kinda plan i have.  actually, she wanted to get the same phone i have, but they've discontinued it!  LOL  so she got a different one & i'm a little jealous, actually, because it's a slide out keyboard!  heh.  anyway, we spent about an hour in best buy because they very kindly called VM to set up the phone for mom.  : )  EXCELLENT customer service.  now, about the virgin mobile customer service ... eventually, they did the right thing & got everything squared away properly.  but it was a struggle, and i don't understand why it always is w/ them?  their phones & system work GREAT, their plans are reasonable & fair, they are a great company!  so... why the difficult customer service?  if it was just one rep, then ya know, shrug it off.  but every time one of us has had to change phones, there are issues.  they get resolved, eventually, but should it really take two or more reps and over an hour?  i don't think so... 


on the drive home i played w/ her phone, adding in her contacts & picking a ringtone for myself that sounds like a yanni song.  : )  sweet!!  


when i got home, i watched celebrity apprentice - computer only shut down 3 times, so i got thru the episode in just under two hours.  : )  finally mr. trump did the right thing!  sad that the men's team had to be so decimated first, tho.  grrr.  hopefully w/o captain crazy pants they can win some challenges!  i switched over to renegade around 8:30 & have been greatly enjoying this show!  


aunt carol called & asked how i liked having my house to myself again.  i was like, "oh, so apparently bret has talked to everyone BUT me about officially moving in w/ nick???"  and she was shocked that i didn't know.  *boggle*  seriously how can he do this to me?  i am so hurt by his actions, and most especially because every time i send him a note, he posts on his FB something about being a man of God or Jesus knows his heart or something "Christian" when he's treating me in a very un-Christian manner!  every time he posts some status like that, 30 seconds after i've written an entreaty for him to just talk to me, it feels like a punch in the heart.  it feels deliberate.  it feels ... well, mean.  is that what he's going for?  i can't think it could be!  


*sigh*  anyway, so my last note to him was that since he didn't want to talk to me, please come over on monday after work to pick up his hollister coat & toiletries & whatever else he's left here, and leave the key & my dad's duffel bag that he borrowed to go to KC.  i guess we'll see if he does it.  i'd hate to have to change the locks because he won't give me the key back.  actually, i'd sell his hollister coat to pay for a new lock.  *grumble*  okay, you're right, i probably wouldn't do that.  it's not like i think he'd do anything bad w/ the key.  really, i'm more concerned w/ getting the duffel bag back, because mom really wants it back.  that's the way it goes when you lose someone, ya know?  you cling to things that were theirs... and are irritated when other ppl don't treat them w/ respect... (not to say that has happened w/ this duffel; just a general statement.)


so... after that phone call w/ aunt carol & the subsequent FB drama (seriously dislike playing out drama on fb.  i think that's dumb.  i just can't think of any other way to do it since he's not answering me!  i am kinda hoping that one of his friends will read it & be like, "yo, bret, you need to be more respectful of your sister cousin who helped you out!" ) - i decided steak sounded good, so i called up applebee's for some curbside to go service.  steak, baked potato & veggies w/ a diet pepsi.  YUMMY!  and the steak & potato were both big enough that i cut them in half & will have lunch for tomorrow!  woot!  : )  


anyway, praise the Lord He mends the bruised heart!  i pray His forgiveness for my sins, and His help to forgive others for any wrongs or slights i feel against me.  i pray JOY to you on this Easter, and i pray HEALING to each of us this day as well.  


ttfn!  

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS a mi mama y mi tia carol!!!! : )

idk why i put that title in spanish.  just for kicks.  : )  today was mom & carol's birthday, and so i say HAPPY day to them!  i love them both lots & lots!!!  


and, so, also... wow, it's been a long, hectic, painful week!  thank God it's now the weekend, and also that the pain is mostly gone, and please keep me in prayer that it STAYS gone.  thank you!  :)  


today wasn't as hectic as i thought it could be, and i even managed to feel okay w/ leaving ON TIME.  : )  next week i'll be doing the late nights again, but i gave myself tonight!  


don't you hate when ppl who don't know anything about something get to make the decisions about that something?  it happens way too often, IMO.  it's illogical, and it drives me bonkers.  just thought i'd share! 


it was deli bar in the cafe today, and our trusty food service guy did an EXCELLENT job choosing stuff to bring up!  he made up a huge fruit bowl as a side.  and he said it's going to be a new regular thing twice a week.  woot!  excited!!  i love fruit, but it's so expensive, and i can't eat a lot of it now, and so buying it fresh for myself ends up being more of a waste than i'm comfortable with.  so, this is perfect, and will give me a serving of melon every week.  hooray for awesome food service peeps!  


after work, i balanced my checkbook & then went to arthur's to pick up dinner for myself and bret, and mom because she called to say she was getting off work earlier than expected.  yes, arthur's is a deli, and yes, i had deli bar for lunch.  lol  but every deli is DIFFERENT you know!  plus, i was really craving a baked potato.  YUM!  


mom picked me up right when i got home (actually, she was waiting for me at my house) to go hang out at her house w/ her & phil & leyton.  : )  bret wanted to borrow chloe to go to his friend's for the evening.  his car is almost drivable!  he & his brother found tires today, and yesterday he & mom went to the DMV & got his license plates & stuff.  hooray again!  


hanging out was lots of fun, of course!  leyton wanted to go outside to play, so we bundled up & did just that.  we brought some airplanes out.  the clouds were gorgeous tonight, btw.  

some of them were rain clouds, tho, and they opened up on us!  thankfully, they did so while we were under the shelter of the car port!  heh.  

 notice how it's still sunny here?  

 and then... 

still, when the wind kicked up, we thought it best to go inside & play w/ bubbles.  

SO MUCH FUN!  leyton's sitter gave him the awesome Thomas whistle/bubble wand.  fabulous!  


when it was time to go, i forgot to make sure mom had her key to my house.  i didn't even think about her having it on a separate key ring!!  so, we got all the way here & she didn't have her key.  d'oh!!  we had to go back to her house, get the key, and then bring me home again!  but, leyton & i had fun in the backseat playing mom's DS & pacman on my phone.  leyton also called phil from my phone to tell him we forgot the key.  lol  it was cuuuute!  


and now i am totally tired (i actually took a cat nap right when i got home at like 9:30) and going to bed!  : )  tomorrow i think we're going to the zoo, and we might go see HOP (it looks cuuute!) and then i have a tastefully simple open house to go to.  i'm not sure what else is in store for saturday, but i hope it goes well, and that yours goes well, too!!  


ttfn!!
 postcrossing from indonesia today.... 

even more reasons to be thankful

oh how i love thursdays!  and thursdays when i have taken 4 hours of vacation (or, really, any amount) are just marvelous!  : )  


today i slept until almost 9. oh, it was glorious.  wonderful.  marvelous!  but i said that already.  *laugh*   before i got dressed, or put my glasses on, i had to come in the livingroom for something.  i don't remember what... anyway, i noticed that angel had taken my bookmark out of Born of Fire, and so i picked it up & began the process of finding out where it belonged.  and then i was sucked in.  i found the spot where i'd stopped - i'd had no trouble stopping, it was right after a chapter break.  but then for some reason as i was looking, the words leapt off the page at me... i started reading standing up and w/o my glasses and only 1/2 way ready for work.  then i curled up on the couch for 20 minutes.  and thankfully it did NOT give me too bad of a headache!  i did have a slight one the rest of the morning, but it went away.  : )  i love when that happens (as long as i'm not late!! heh.), when the story is SO good that it draws you in & almost holds you hostage.  sherri's books ALWAYS do that!  : )  


work went pretty well.  had a meeting at 10:30 & took a break at 11:30-ish because i was hungry.  it was a pretty quiet four hours - UNTIL 2:10, when everyone wanted something from me!  *laugh*  i was supposed to leave at 2:30 but was there about 10 minutes after, which really is okay, just funny.  i mean, from 1 to 1:30, when i was working on my visa spreadsheets, it was quite quiet!  that would have been a good time for all the email/IM questions.  *laugh*  


i went to the post office to mail a package for someone.  hopefully it will get to them all in one piece!  it's in double bubble wrap...not, like, double bubble the gum.  LOL  in case you wondered.  probably that was just me.  


anyway!  i was going to meet mom & leyton at the family museum, but when i texed she said they were coming out in a little bit & it wouldn't be worth it for me to pay admission!  so i sat in the car & read Pendragon til they came out.  the fire dept was having drills or water practice or something, and leyton was ALLLL excited!  it was pretty neat to watch, really.  

we met up at chick fil a for dinner & so leyton could play in the play area.  there were twin babies sitting behind us w/ their mom & gramma, and when the mom went to the loo, the babies got all fussy.  so leyton asked if he could go over & keep them company til their mom got back.  (the gramma was there, they weren't abandoned or anything!)  it was SO CUTE!  he sat w/ them & distracted them by chatting & whatnot until she came back.  *grin*  then he went into the play area & had it to himself for awhile.  it must've been twin day for chick fil a, because later a family of 5 kids sat by us & it looked like they had 2 sets of twins!  oh my! busy family.  heh!  leyton played w/ them for awhile, and then it was time to go.  

leyton is shocked, gramma.  Shocked!  lol  

i stopped at home to change into comfier clothes (not that my work clothes aren't comfy.  they are very!  they're just not pre-jammy comfy!  : )  ).  i got the mail first, and yay postcards!!!  *beam*  and both ppl wrote that they'd looked for turtle cards, but didn't find them.  which is okay, it's so sweet that they looked!!  the cards are from canada & japan.  i love the otter & fish!!  so cute, so sweet!  : )  

headed over to mom's & we just hung out.  mom found space invaders for the PS3, so we played that & watched wheel & Big Brother & played trains & trucks & cars & blew bubbles.  then we snuggled a bit & read & played w/ the DS (leyton wanted me to try & get the train after finishing a level.  finally, on the last training game, i got the train!!  he discovered if you tap it, the whistle blows.  so cool!) & then it was time to go home.  

Wyler Italian Icee - YUMMY!

new truck from "the baby store" as leyton calls it.  

i think the real name is Once Upon A Child?

gramma demonstrates the proper bubble technique.  

leyton pays rapt attention, of course!  ; )  

thank You, Lord, for blessing me w/ such a neat family.  i love them lots!!  i hope you got to spend some family time today, and that they made you smile at least once!  : )  


sleep is calling my name loudly!  *laugh*  take care & TTFN!  love!