a {very} short story

first, allow me to preface this by saying, only parts of this story are true. much of this is product of my imagination, however morbid it may be...it is something i needed to get out. enjoy.

the car slowed as we rounded the curve. to the left, i saw flashing blue lights atop a police car. to my right--in the ditch, crashed into a telephone pole--a black dodge truck. immediately, i knew--it was him. i looked aruond, and then i saw him, sitting in the back of the police car. my emotions raged like the devil's fury. and i was sure.

drunk.

*****

i stood, numb, as i stared at the body in the casket in front of me. the emotions of mourning, cancelled out by rage, anger, dissappointment, and embarassment.

dead. in the name of selfishness, satisfaction, pride, and the sweet taste of beer and liquor and God only knows what else.

trust. broken trust. empty promises. suspicion in those around me who have done nothing to warrant that lack of trust.

fear. anger. betrayal. embarassment. dissappointment. hate. confusion.

because you couldn't admit you had a problem. because you were an alcoholic. because we are the masters of our own destiny.

you got yours.

tagged!

yay! i'm it! thanx erica!
so more info than u care to know....

1. First time you got kissed: Umm...I think I was 5 years old. My kindergarden boyfriend. He was a sweetheart and would bring me flowers when I would get sick and have to miss school. Too bad he turned out to be a crackhead!! Last I heard he was in jail for starting a meth lab (seriously). Clearly my judgment was no good back in the day.

2. First time you drove a car: I was real young. I'm from KY, ok?

3. First time you scrapbooked: I was 17 when I scrapped for real. I had saved newspaper clippings and pics and stickers in photo albums since I was 10 though! It is in my blood! :)

4. First time you went on a date: In 8th grade my boyfriend's mom took us to the movies...after that...I think it was my sophomore year when I went to the prom with a guy that was 15 inches taller than me. NO LIE.

5. First time you fell in love: This is a hard answer. I love people too easily.

6. First time you cooked for someone: My mom claims when I was 3 years old, I was standing on a chair in the kitchen attempting to make mac and cheese. However, I first remember cooking for someone around 13 or 14.

7. First time you got on a plane: I was 18 and I was flying to HAWAII!!!! I got sick and ran thru the SanFran airport with a bag!

8.First time you shaved your legs: I was 10! Seriously! I swear to you, I had the hairiest legs ever!

9. First time you put on make up: I'm not sure! Too young I'm sure!

10. First time you moved out of your home: I was 18 and going to college!

A ton of ppl have been tagged already...so I'm not gonna tag anyone for now and instead do the oh-so-fun task of folding some laundry! ugh!

for kicks--i think my scrappin mojo is somewhere on this table. need to tackle this task. ugh.

$ cha-ching $

ladies and gentleman, today i took a very large step. a step towards my future.

i started a Roth IRA.

me, who knows basically nothing about this type of stuff...i brought it up to t.j. that i had been thinking about it, and he said "that'd be a good idea." i waited, and he said, "i can help you." whew! i am so not smart with IRAs, mutual funds, and all that mumbo jumbo.

so, he schooled me a little bit, read up with me about our banks offerrings, explaining the differences, and i completed the process. i feel smarter...literally, and financially. i can now tell you the difference between a Traditional and a Roth IRA. I realize this makes me a big big nerd.

in other news...i haven't scrapped in over a week. my scrappin table looks ridiculous. it has so much CRAP on it that it is not funny. did I say crap? yes I did. before we move I am going to do some serious purging...seriously. i say that now.....but I have way too much stuff. it totally does not look like it once did. that table...you can barely see the surface of it. i have 3 additional drawer thingys now, a sewing machine, and just way more stuff. i need some major organization and purging and giving to the goodwill....or once before, i gave a bunch of my stuff to this children's camp for physically disabled or otherwise impaired kids. i thought that was a good place to give my stuff to :)

i didn't get to run today. at the gym there were NO, and I mean NO, parking spots. it was closing in a half hour. i drove around the

parking lot...and no one was leaving! so no running for me. my buddy says i have to get up early and go running tomorrow. we will see. i will try. i am never going to lose weight or again look hott in a bathing suit if i don't keep running and stay off the Coke (I mean coca cola, not drugs). considering san juan & the virgin islands are quickly approaching, i think it'd be wise of me to get up early tomorrow morning. i should put on my super-motivating new shooz and hit the treadmill.

as always, just for fun. a shot from the 1.8...i need to work on steadiness, thus the slight blur.

peace, love, and money for retirement ya'll :)

helloooooo to you, blog readers.

helloooooo to you, blog readers. it has been a very, very long week. TJ has been on a schedule where we do not see each other...and I don't know why but it has been harder than usual. yeah, not much of this left before we leave for CT...but that won't last long...and after that, he'll go out to sea. ...*sigh* :(

i have a large zit that is not helping my mood. what a great way to start the week, right?

i also have a big ol' bruise on my right knee that i got while dancing friday night. yeah, ow.

to liven things up....i've wanted to post this picture for awhile, but have felt kinda dumb about it! you see, i bought napoleon while i was christmas shopping. if you push him (vote for pedro), he says quotes from the movie. "dang!" "stay home and eat all the frickin chips kip!" "its a liger." yunno, fun stuff.

and another picture, just for fun. my sweet lilly dog :)

have a great monday, everyone. i always seem to be "counting down" the mondays...but to what, i dunno!?

scrappity

So yesterday, while TJ was watching sports, I got a lil scrappy. Completed part of the "christmas" page while I was watching Despereate Housewives, using my cool lapboard/clipboard that Mandy (my SIL) got me for Christmas! :) If you click on the layouts, you can leave me praise...and I'd be super appreciative :)

And for my other page, well, I just had to document the Weston undies story!! :)

my weekend was fairly uneventful! even though i did a lot around the house (inc. finally taking down my christmas tree!!) and scrapped, i didn't really feel like i accomplished a ton! ah well. tj is kind of in the mindset of "the heck with it" since we are moving so soon! ha! i told him i didn't want to live in a pigsty for the remainder of my time in this apt! i think that is just his way of getting out of housework and chores! men!

in other news...someone hit our car and just drove away! omg! i have been so mad about this, it just makes me sick. now granted, it is only some paint scrapes, and no dents, but still--the car is BRAND NEW! we have had it barely 2 months. it looks like someone has scraped the front end of their car on our bumper. how do you just hit a car and drive away?! i will be so glad to get a house with a garage to put my car in!! stupid people, i'm telling you.

anyway...have a great monday everyone!

tagged! finally!

Woo--I was finally tagged! By Miss Andrea, thankyaverymuch :)

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. JC Penney's
2. Computer lab girl (this was the best. job. ever!!!)
3. Waitress
4. Office jack-of-all-trades

Four movies you would watch over and over again:

1. Legally Blonde

2. Sweet Home Alabama

3. You've Got Mail

4. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Four places you have lived:

1. Crab Orchard, KY

2. Lexington, KY

3. Richmond, KY

4. Goose Creek, SC

Four T.V. shows you love to watch:

1. The Bachelor (yay - Bachelor in Paris just started this week!)

2. Sex & the City

3. Desperate Housewives

4. Gray's Anatomy

Four places you have been on vacation:

1. Las Vegas

2. Hawaii

3. Myrtle Beach

4. Disney World

Four web-sites I visit daily:

1. Gmail

2. 2 Peas

3. usaa

4. google

Four of my favorite foods:

1. pizza

2. chicken enchiladas

3. macaroni & cheese

4. chocolate

Four places I'd rather be right now:

1. Paris

2. the beach

3. Hawaii

4. Virgin Islands

I think everyone has been tagged so I'm gonna leave that part out! Happy Saturday! :P

Ok, to be truthful, I

Ok, to be truthful, I really have nothing worthwhile to say. I have not had a coke or soda of any kind since Monday and gawd I would *kill* for one! I think I could drink a whole 2 liter by myself right now! *gulp* But, I am gonna resist the temptation. I know it is best for me.....especially since we are goin on another cruise in March! yee-aw! This time to San Juan (puerto rico), St Thomas and St Maarten. Woo!

But anywho. The last post seem to do kinda well with the pics I posted...so I figured I'd post some more! :)

The best kind of stocking stuffer (pls ignore the enormous zit I have, ew)

This face makes me feel like poo

Lilly and her Christmas box

I'm not doing the photo of the day stuff, but I just figured I'd throw out some pics to keep things fun :-) One more day of work till the weekend! woo!!

christmas undies

ok, so last post i promised a funny christmas-related story...and granted it has taken me nearly a week...i'm a bad blogger. tsk!

anywho. so we always spend christmas eve at my aunt's for my dad's side of the family...we don't do a big gift exchange, just hang out and eat and stuff like that, and thats cool. usually my granny gets us gifts though...and granted, some of her gifts caused quite a few laughs this year :)

weston is 3 years old. what do 3 year old boys like for christmas? TOYS TOYS TOYS!! duh! so he's opening gifts and stuff...and he gets two boxes from granny. poor kid, he opened the wrong one first! :P he opens the box, makes a face, and yells, "WHAT THE HECK?! WHATTT THE HECK?!"

clearly, he wasn't pleased. "but weston, those are big boy underwear! they're from OLD NAVY!"

he was so upset, he didn't open the second box till at least 20 minutes later! poor kid!! (beneath the underwear...there were socks and white t-shirts, hehe) and if that wasn't funny enough....look at what she bought my cousin stephanie!!

there is no way she read what the undies actually said! heeeheee :P (thankfully, the undies she got me...were solid colors, haha)

in other news, my in-laws left this afternoon. we just had christmas with them this weekend, and i racked up!! made out like a bandit! gotta lotta loot!! it was a heidi swapp christmas! woo!

and now, for tj's most favorite gift of all..... *drumroll please*

dinosaur tattoos!! woo!! i'm gonna tat him up for work tomorrow! ha! :P

thats all for now folks...have a great day!

it's been awhile...

and that is an understatement!! i have just sooo not been back in the groove over the past week. tired, house is a mess, been feeling bleh, just general post-holiday blah!

so happy 2006, everybody! thought i'd at least get off on the right foot and make a blog post, right? we are so old and boring--we did nothing, i repeat nothing, for new year's eve. which is totally ok with me, it is just kinda funny. we did not even stay up till midnight. i was feeling really crappy all day yesterday (i have been throwing up a lot the past few days), and tj was real tired from work. so there ya go ;)

in another effort to get 2006 started off right, i did some scrappin today! woo!! :)

if you click my layouts below, it will take you to the associated page in the 2peas gallery (just in case u'd like to leave me some layout luv or something...since i did post these late in the day *wink*)

so, i am pretty bad at making and keeping new year's resolutions. so bad, in fact, that i only remember one of my resolutions / goals for 2005--and that was to get published. i did that, and am really grateful for the opportunities i had in 2005! i really hope to get some more in 2006. in addition to hoping to get pubbed this year, i would also luv to get on a DT. getting a DT gig has been a goal of mine for awhile now, but i know in more ways than one that the timing just hasn't been right for me...nor have i truly been ready for it. while i don't know if i am at that point still, its still a dream and goal...and in order to get there, i know i have to put myself out there more. so, thats what i need to do!

also in 2006--get off my big arse! i am so yuck, you guys. while i am not really tipping the scale or anything, i certainly don't look the same as i did a year ago, or two years ago, even though my weight hasn't changed that much. gotta do something about this. assuming i don't throw up tomorrow (which would be the first day out 6 that i didn't), i'm going to the gym!

so hopefully i can make it back here in a day or two. i have some really funny holiday pictures (w/a story) of my little cousin weston! ciao for now! :)