15th Anniversary Today

Despite years of conflict and spitefulness from the other side, the ex did fail on one front - she failed to get in between my husband and I despite repeated attempts.  Today we celebrate our 15th anniversary still in love and attracted to each other (woo hoo for us:).  Too bad for her.  She celebrates being alone now for 16+ years with not one date in all of that time ("ugly is as ugly does" applies here).  Yeah, too bad for her again. 

She might think she "won" because she succeeded in alienating the kids from their dad but when you emotionally and mentally manipulate your children and cut off the one loving and emotionally healthy half of who they are and where they came from, and allow your children to grow into emotional handicaps who can't function in society without drugs or very inappropriate conduct, you're not winning a thing.  That just makes you sick and pathetic. 

Happy 15th Anniversary To Us!  My stepdaughter turns 18 this week and the countdown is on to her graduation and my stepson will follow in two years and then we will truly be free of the legal ties to the ex.  Lots to celebrate!! 

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Think I'm Done with the Step "Kids"

I think I'm done with the stepkids.  They're spoiled, ungrateful "kids" who are old enough to know better at this point.  This year has been crap as far as they are concerned..  Between them not even contacting their dad in any way on Father's Day, them being too busy all summer to come here for even a week, my stepdaughter's emotional blackmail recently, and now the kids not doing one darn thing for their dad on Christmas, I've had it.  My stepdaughter turns 18 tomorrow.  My stepson is two years behind her.  They're old enough to know better.

As with Father's Day, hubby was quiet on Christmas.  Must hurt to know you love your kids more than anything and that they might not love you back all that much.  It seems the ex has fully succeeded in alienating the kids from their father.  It's been creeping that way for about five years now when they gave into her and dad became unimportant.  I hope she's proud of herself. 

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Blessed Yule, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Our stray kitten enjoying the tree.

Hey everybody!  In case I don't post within the next few days, I wanted to wish everybody a Blessed Yule, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!  I hope y'all have a happy and healthy holiday!

The stomach flu has hit my kids here but I have my fingers crossed it'll be gone within the week, before Santa makes his visit to the kids.  I doubt even the stomach flu will keep the kids down for long!  My five-year-old said this morning, "It sucks to be sick on break.  I'd rather be sick during school."  Yeah, wouldn't everybody.  Funny kid.

I was bracing for 5 inches of snow but the weather forecast has changed (whew!) to manageable levels of snow.  Unfortunately, a little bit of ice is coming with it on Tuesday.  Should make for a slippery week but a pretty Christmas morning for my kids.  I think it's time to hook up with a great Disney vacation planner and plan a winter vacation next year at Disney.  Brrr!  Baby, it's cold outside!

A few days after Christmas, my husband and I celebrate our anniversary.  We've come a long way, and made it through the chaos (that comes with his ex) still in love and happy.  Good for us (and good for our kids:)  Too bad for her - her years of vindictiveness pushed us closer together instead of her intended farther apart.

Anyway, I hope everybody has a great holiday!  If I'm not back this week to say it, enjoy!!  Don't let the stresses of the blended family take away from your enjoyment and love of the holiday season.

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Updates, Xmas Break

No word from the ex about spring break parenting time.  I know she's waiting until after xmas break to tell the husband no.  Once xmas break is over, and once she denies spring break parenting time, there will be no available time left for the kids to come here this school year.  I know how she works.

With all the obscenities from my stepson lately, I am ok with that right now.  Usually, I'd be pitching a fit and prodding hubby with a fork in his butt to not let her dictate the schedule but I honestly do not want my stepson's influence on my kids, especially my son. 

We're almost all set for the holidays.  Two more gifts to buy and then I'm done shopping.  Christmas break started this past Friday for my kids but now two of them are down with the stomach flu.  My five-year-old who has the flu said today, "Being sick on break sucks.  I'd rather be sick during school."  Gotta love her!

My teenager and I need to sit down over break and talk about her health class (they discussed STD's like herpes simplex and more right before break) so she's a little grossed out and embarrassed about it all. Should be a fun talk. 

Looking forward to another long weekend with my husband next weekend (he's off work) like we had this past weekend.  Hard to believe our 15th anniversary is next week and the attraction is still there.  It's really nice:)

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Lauren Klein Promo Code for Women's Jewelry

If women's jewelry is on your holiday shopping list (or for an anniversary - my 15th anniversary is in 11 days), I have a promo code to save you some money.  Lauren Klein is having a holiday sale and with promo code shp10, you get FREE SHIPPING.

Lauren Klein

Holiday Sale

Women's Jewelry

Free Shipping with Promo Code: shp10

Who doesn't like to save a little money during the holidays?  Times are tough and belts are tight so make sure you're spending your money on quality merchandise. 

If you're ordering and sending as a gift for somebody special, Lauren Klein will include a free gift card and a pretty gift box.  My kind of shopping - no wrapping!!  With their 100% satisfaction guarantee and 30-day return policy, you can't go wrong putting a Lauren Klein gift under the Christmas tree or inside a stocking. 

So, who is Lauren Klein?  They're a unique jeweler with trendy and beautiful bling offering a great online and easy shopping experience.  They offer many different kinds of jewelry:  anklets, rings, baby jewelry, earrings, necklaces (love the charm necklaces!), men's jewelry, fashion jewelry, silver baby gifts, crosses, peace signs, engraveable jewelry, and personalized jewelry.  My personal favorite is the Evil Eye Jewelry. 

Check out Lauren Klein at their online jewelry store, on their blog, facebook, and twitter.  Don't forget that in two months, it's Valentine's Day so if you haven't hinted around enough for Christmas next week, keep the hints coming for Valentine's Day!  Hey, I like my bling just as much as the next gal and bling is always, always, always a good gift to receive. 



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Vintage T-Shirts

If you have a vintage t-shirt fan on your holiday shopping list, check out the vintage t shirts at Junk Food Clothing. I found a Joan Jett t-shirt!  I LOVE Joan Jett.  There is also Madonna, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Who.  There's more than rock t-shirts too. They have Disney, Nascar, Star Wars, Super Heroes, NBA, NFL and more.  What a cool site!

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Need Gift Idea Help For Good Friend

I just finished another round of shopping.  Everytime I think I am close to done, I remember something else.  It seems like I have a perpetual shopping list!

I still have my parents, my husband's parents, my oldest sis, and a good friend of mine to shop for (plus a few more things for our kids).  We're going with a loft bed for my son, specialty coffee beans/grinder and loose tea for my parents and sister, and probably a 3-in-1 printer for my husband's parents because theirs just broke.  Good timing for that to break because we had no clue what to get them.  For the new baby in the family, I am looking at different personalized gift baskets. 

I have no idea what to get a really good friend of mine - something not expensive but something that still means something.  No clue yet.  She loves coffee too but she also is a single mom of three active girls (with an ex who leaves a lot to be desired) so perhaps a gift certificate to the day spa in the next town for a little pampering and relaxation?  Her oldest is singing in a talent show and my friend has to work and miss it so I think I'll make her a DVD of that too.  Any other ideas?

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Stepson Strikes Again

Obviously, the ex's talk about what is and is not appropriate with my stepson and his week's grounding from his computer worked - NOT (read this and then this if you have no clue what I'm talking about)!  So what did he do now? 

My 11-year-old son has a picture on his fb of he and his girlfriend that I took at their band concert last week.  My stepson posted the comment: "Get some *insert lil brother's name here* under the photo on facebook.

Get some?

• My son is 11 YEARS OLD!!  He is a sweet, shy, innocent boy (totally unlike his older half-brother).
• His girlfriend, also on facebook, is a sweetheart who doesn't need to see that. 
• Her parents are nice people, church-going people, and don't need to see that.
• None of his friends on facebook need to see that.
• I don't need to be fielding phone calls from angry parents because of something my stepson did from his mother's house because she won't supervise him!

So, I just blocked my stepson from my son's facebook.  I didn't want to have to do it and I gave the ex's wimpy consequences last week a chance.  Obviously, that was my mistake.  I won't make it again.

Oh yeah - that obscene song he sang and recorded and posted online for all to see that his mother supposedly talked to him about and grounded him for over a week ago?  It just came off his facebook yesterday!  Wouldn't any normal mother whose child had posted an obscene song online for a couple hundred other kids to see take that song down ASAP instead of waiting over a week?  Seriously?!?

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Boys Gawking Over Cheerleaders

My 8th grade daughter, and the other cheerleaders on the squad, had an away game last week.  They were practicing in one of the gyms before the game when the high school wrestling team stopped by to gawk, drool and make comments.  The guys couldn't help but leave their wrestling equipment to gawk over junior high girls? That's kind of pathetic.  They weren't such big guys though when the cheerleading coach showed up and they all took off. 

Another not so subtle reminder that my oldest daughter is growing up.  Next year - high school!  Ugh.

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Dropping More Weight!!

As of this morning, I've met one of my weight goals that I set for myself (I broke it up into several goals so it wouldn't seem overwhelming).  I can't wait until it'll be time to find new clothes - in smaller sizes - for myself!

Christmas shopping is coming along.  I have a few more people to shop for but plenty of time left.  I'm finding all kinds of things that I'd love for myself though like this coogi shirt and a way cool pair of Apple Bottoms boots I saw on the same site.  I want to wait until I meet all my weight goals though. 

Dropping pounds puts me in the mood for clothes shopping!

Check out these cool Apple Bottoms boots:

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Bite Protection for Corn Snake

We have a corn snake that my husband needs to tame again because he hasn't been handling it over the last several months like he used to.  Problem is - he's afraid of getting bit now because the snake struck at him the last time he handled him (no teeth used).  Corn snakes don't have fangs.  They have little teeth that I've heard hurt less than a cat scratch does.  He wants a pair of gloves anyway.  I'm not sure a strange pair of gloves coming at a semi-wild snake is a good idea and I have no idea what kind of gloves would work - a basic leather pair?  A pair of Mechanix gloves that mechanics wear to protect their hands?

Seeing how I refuse to handle the snake at all (the agreement with hubby was if I agreed to allow a snake into our home, he would take care of it), I can't really tease him all that much about it.  We have had this snake for about three years now and up until the past few months, he was very docile and easily handled.  Guess this was a good education for the husband - they have to be handled regularly or else.

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Family Dysfunction for Christmas

Has anybody noticed how family dysfunction becomes 100 times worse during the holidays?

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The ex is so predictable in her idiocy

It's been over a week and no word from the ex on dad's request for spring break parenting time.  What she is going to do is wait until after Christmas to tell him no so that it is too late for him to get them at Christmas too.  She's predictable in her idiocy.

I knew this was going to happen and the plan was not to let her wait until after Christmas - to give her an either/or (either Christmas or Spring Break - pick one or the other) after a week of not hearing from her. 

The problem is, after what my stepson has done with the graphic song he wrote and posted online to a child's song the other day (to Wheels on the Bus), I don't want him around my younger kids right now.  I don't trust that he won't hurt them or expose them to inappropriate stuff (talk, material, etc.).  He did it frequently as a child and apparently, he hasn't outgrown it. 

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Yeah For Me!!

The weight is coming off, a few tenths of a pound at a time.  People are asking me how to lose weight really fast and wondering if it is my thyroid medication or my change in diet due to gallbladder disease. I'd say it's a little bit of both that's been happening to me the past month or so.  I'm just happy it is! 

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Are you required to pay for college?

Does your spouse's court order require your family to pay for the stepchild's college education?   Do you think it should be required?  If yes, is that a state or county requirement or just something you agreed to?

My personal opinion is that no, it should not be required.  A parent is not legally obligated to provide a college education for children within a marriage so why should they be required to provide a college education in the case of a divorce or child born out of wedlock?  College is a privilege, not a right.  I believe the financial obligation should end when the child reaches 18 (or graduates from high school, assuming they're not a regular, consistent flunky in the school system) unless the parent wants to provide additional financial assistance.  I am glad our state does not recognize a college education as a right to ADULT children of divorce.

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Stepson Got a Wimpy Punishment for Obscenities Online IMO

I contacted my stepson's mother about what was all over Facebook (stepson's obscene song and language) and her response was he is grounded from the computer for a week and she talked to him about what is/isn't appropriate. Big whoop. The kid sang a song about kids on the bus having oral sex and uploaded it to the world and called his sister a w*hore online for all friends and family to see.  A week from the computer? I bet he learned his lesson with that harsh punishment!  What a joke.

Side note:  If she monitored her kids' online useage, she wouldn't have had to been notified by the evil stepmother telling her about it.  Betcha that burns a bit.

If my kid had recorded an obscene song, uploaded it online, and put links all over Facebook to it for a couple hundred other kids to hear, as well as called their sibling bad words on facebook, as well as left other cuss words all over facebook, I would've grounded them from more than just the computer for a week.  A week from his computer?  Big deal.  How about a week from going anywhere?  A week from friends?  A week from his cell phone?  A week from his beloved guitar that he used for the song?  How about a couple weeks?  How about a month?  This was obscene material published online by a teenager.  I'd punish my kid until the new year for that one.

Oh yeah, she hasn't taken the song off the internet or the links to it off his facebook either (and that of his friends' pages that he posted it too).  I hope she gets 100 calls from ticked off parents.  Betcha it ticks her off that I was the first parent to notify her.  She should've taken his facebook page down right away!

I told her I didn't want to have to block him from my kids' pages because they want contact with their brother but that they couldn't be exposed to that.

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Stepson is Obscene

Well, my 15-year-old stepson apparently doesn't have any parental supervision at all.  Besides the language he uses on his facebook page (swearing a lot, calling his sister names like "w*ore"), he recorded a song to the song, "Wheels on the Bus" but made his own version of it and he's posted it all over facebook.  His version talks about what promiscuous kids do on the bus - that's the best way I can word it without offending anybody.  It's obscene and disgusting.  My husband is working this weekend or else I'd have him listening to it this second.  I'm so upset that I'm shaking.

I don't know if his mother is clueless or if she just has no control over him at all (or doesn't think she has to).  Giving past history where she never disciplined him, my best guess is she still lets him do whatever he pleases without consequences.  That'd be true to form for her - we were the disciplinarians (and he hates us for it because his mom used it to make her the favorite and us the bad guys) and she was/is Disney Mom. 

She's a pathetic excuse for a mother.

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Hot Christmas Gifts for 2010

I've found the hot gift this year for Christmas.  Actually, I found a few of them that are hard to find right now.  I should've started my shopping earlier because these were on my kids' lists. 

The first one is the XBox 360 Kinect Sensor with Kinect Adventures!  The stores are sold out and the prices online are going up.  It doesn't look like this one will be under our tree this year.

The other gifts I am finding mostly sold out in stores (but not online) , which one of my daughter's wanted, are the Monster High dolls.  There are several of them:

I found her the Monster High Frankie Stein Doll but the rest were sold out.  There is Draculaura and Monster High Lagoona Blue Doll and Neptuna Pet Piranha dolls on her list. 

I remember the HUGE craze when my stepkids were younger were those Furby things.  I called every store in southeastern Michigan tracking two of them down for them.  I swore never to do that again and I won't.  If I can't find these Monster High dolls at another Wal-Mart, I'll move onto something else on her list. 

After all the running around moms do at Christmas, I think a great gift would be slimming body wraps.  I am now under 20 pounds left to lose!  I could use some pampering myself (and a little help).

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Ex is Quiet

No word from the ex for hubby's request for spring break parenting time. She's probably scheduling appointments and anything else she can during that time so she can email back with their over scheduled schedule.  They're always too busy for dad.  I'd be surprised, enough to fall out of my chair, if she comes back agreeable to it.

I hear a hot bath calling me.  I'm going to go relax in a hot soak in a quiet house, slather some face moisturizer on to combat this wicked cold that settled in here the night before last and forget about that selfish woman.

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