It's okay Thursday

It's been on of those days... But it's okay. 

... that at one point today I felt the anxiety and OCD take over. I told everyone to leave me alone for 5 minutes and organized my space. Then I popped a Valerian root pill. 
... That I filled a drawer full of "I'll do it laters..."
... that I was so excited I shrieked to see the company not only on the local news but TMZ as well.  I should really be used to the media by now, but I am not. Even after 25 years. Lame I know.

... that I have put off cleaning all week. I plan on catching up this weekend. 

... that I am so excited that my bestie is home from Washington and we are planning her wedding. I am more excited about planning her's than mine. No pressure with her wedding. lol kidding Emma. Kinda... 

... that every time I hold baby K someone asks if I plan on having one soon. This doesn't mean we have to jump on the band wagon. I have time right?

... that I feel the winter depression setting in. I will not go on a prescription again. I have my husband and my family and my friends and you guys. I will be fine. 

.... that I am obsessed with my new cornbread and honey candle by 1803 Candles . Is there anything more southern than cornbread and honey? 

... that I am so ready for Friday. It doesn't mean I love my crew any less. I have 2 families. 

18 negative nelly's

Lately I have been in a blogging slump. My posts have had very little meaning and it shows by the lack of views and emails. I am sorry guys, I really am. I was sitting here staring at my computer trying to figure out where the hell my writing bug went, when it hit me.... 

I work with 18 "men", I use that term loosely, but day to day I deal with 18 men for 12 hours a day. Thank about that for a minute. How many of you live with one and want to scream? Try 18. 

My family owns a towing company and a police impound lot. I deal with grouchy people with broke down cars, who think that obviously it's my fault that there car left them stranded. I get yelled at frequently. I deal with 911 dispatch and work with them to get the roads clean and criminals put away. It's stressful and dangerous. Then I get to tell these 18 men where to go and what to do. That is the worst part of the job.

The boys bicker and tattle and complain and whine and play just like 5 year olds, all while we are trying to run a business! That is where my mojo has gone. I left it where at my desk, where I broke up the last argument between two boys I mean MEN over who got the better paying call. Oy! 

It's not that I don't love the guys. Some of them are family, most are friends and the others eh... they won't last. We can fight one minute and the next minute as a DUIer or local drug dealer is threatening me because we impounded their car they've got my back. It's a strange feeling to know that the guy I wanted to strangle five minutes ago and who was probably complaining about me to all his buddies, will beat anyone's butt if they try to hurt or hinder me. It's almost like I have 18 brothers. I guess I gotta love them. 

I promise I will get back to being me, but I have just been exhausted. We are all stressed at work. The long hours, stress of accidents and being together 24/7 is starting to wear us down. Especially me, stuck in the middle of the boys and the clients, but I promise better days are coming here on this little blog. 

The easiest mac and cheese

I know you guys cannot wait for me to spill the Thanksgiving fun that occurred at the Hermann/Castleberry households. I am going to keep it very brief, because Saturday AM I thought I had manly muscles and lifted a box that weighed a ton. That resulting in my back muscles pulling. This post is fueled by wine and maybe a 303 pill. This should go swimmingly.

Me and sissy Anna!

So Thursday we woke up and made amazing mac and cheese for my family's dinner. It was seriously the easiest and we made it in the crockpot. I forgot to take pictures but here is the recipe.
16 ounces elbow pasta
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs beaten
1 can (12oz) evaporated milk
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cheddar soup
1 cup 2% milk
1/8 teaspoon paprika (I left this out)
*Cook the macaroni and drain it. Put it in the crockpot and pour butter on top. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl and pour them in the crockpot. Stir it all in and let cook for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. YUM.

We went to my gradmother's house and had lunch there. It was pretty low key. No drama, just people in every corner mapping out Black-Friday strategies. I passed on that fun. We then rushed home and through on rolls for his family dinner. My A.D.D kicked in and video games and youTube cause us to burn the only rolls I had prepared. Oops. I swear I can never smoothly prepare for any of his family get togethers. We ended up going to the store and getting the last brown-n-serve rolls they had. Sorry I suck Hermann family, sorry I suck.

We then went to mom's where our little show horse decided to come down with a case of lamnitis, which could potentially put him out of work forever. It can even kill him. We caught it early and took turns cold hosing his sore legs.

Sissy Sara came home to take care of him because he is her baby and it looks like she may be staying. Thank God. My mom was worrying herself to death. Let's hope she stays home where she belongs. By the end of the night she seemed more like herself. We watched movies and looked at cows ( yes, cows) for the farm up here. Two cattle farms will be interesting. I am excited though. Ranching is what hubs loves to do and dad really seems to want to add another herd. 

All in and all it was a peaceful Thanksgiving. Now to to kick it into gear for Christmas!

The truth about holidays

Thursday is Thanksgiving. Sigh... I have mixed emotions about the holidays. It's warm and cozy and you get to eat good food. You also get to see your family... the whole family. This is where it gets hard. I love my family, but since my grandfather passed it seems like something is missing when we all get together. To me the holidays kind of shine a spotlight on those that are missing. It is so hard and depressing. I am hoping Baby K feels that void a little bit this year. Maybe we can all find happiness in this Thanksgiving.

That's the sad part of dealing with the family...  And then you have cousin "Joe" who is gross and loud and you have to deal with him and his kids and his wife who isn't friendly. There are the snarky in-laws commenting on your cooking (I have something up my sleeve for this relative.). There are the kids screaming and fighting and pitching fits. Oh and did I mention that relative who comments on your new car and house and how it must be nice to get whatever you want? Um, no I work for my stuff, maybe if you would get a job instead of coming up with fake excuses, you would have nice things too.

 

This year my sister threw a wrench into it all and told my parents she wanted to move out Monday AM. My mom is devastated and is not attending Thanksgiving. My sister has no idea what she is giving up. My parents bought her a gorgeous horse, a truck, she is in school. She has the world ahead of her, but some stupid boy is in the picture. If they show up to Thanksgiving it is sure to be awkward. If they don't show up mom will be depressed all weekend. 

So grab a drink and prepare for Thursday. I am sure we will all have stories come Monday.

Side note: My husband just looked at me and said can we look at hairstyles for me. Oh lawd.... what is going on in this family.
By the way I sponsored Grin and Barrett this month. Wow, so much traffic
from there and she is adorable. Check out the page now for the Marriage Chronicles.

Weekend re-cap

I did it! This is the first layout I did all by my lonesome. I am actually finally happy with it. I hope you guys like it too.

Moving on... Today has been crazy stressful. Work is insane because we only are taking Thursday off. Chris wasn't scheduled to be off but dad said it would be okay since we will be so slow. Thank God. Thanksgiving is usually hurried because we are technically on call. I think this will be a nice treat.

Speaking of nice treats... If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen this little beauty.

 

That is right, no more raking for me! I was so excited, then we put it together. After about eh.... 15 30 minutes my arms were killing me. I thought this was supposed to make it easier! It cut the time in half but my arms are aching today. I need to get to the gym or something... yeah, right. Anyways, I did tell hubby this is the one time I will be just excited as he is about power tools. Is a leaf blower a power tool?

Another adventure of the weekend... I tried to paint. By myself. With no painters tape. Let's all take a moment to absorb that.... as you can guess it was a disaster. We started like this:

 

All nice and neat and ready to go! Shortly after that, I had paint in my hair, on my hands, on the floor (it wiped up!), on the trim (also wipe-able) and even on my feet. I had rags with paint on them every where. I still painted one whole wall before giving up though. My final straw? One of the paint brushes fell into the paint tray and I proceeded to roll it with paint. At that moment, I decided painting just isn't my gig. I will stick to bossing around tow trucks and riding horses thank you very much. 

Another dog? Am I crazy?

Dear Starbucks fatass Venti peppermint mocha frap, 
You have no idea how loved and needed. I am hyper beyond words. This is the first peppermint mocha of the day. This has made my Friday.

Dear office, 
I am going to attempt to paint you by myself this weekend. BY MYSELF. I just hope your pretty hardwoods don't end up "Rushing Stream Blue". Heck, I hope I don't end up "Rushing Stream Blue."

Dear Riley and Lacey-Lou, 
So, mommy has that itch. You know that "another dog needs me" itch. I have looked at a few, and I am thinking pit. They need so much help. There are two in particular that I feel drawn too, but it's completely up too you guys. Do you want a brother or sister?

 

 

 Dear weekend, 
I plan on being productive. Don't ruin it. Don't tempt me with your lazy lull, shopping ect. It's not going to happen. I need to paint and clean and blog.

Dear OCD, 
You have been slacking. Normally, I go crazy when things are misplaced or dirty. This week the place has gotten out of hand and you haven't kicked in at all. Is it my new meds or am I just that lazy this week?

Dear menu, 
You rocked this week. Flavor-wise not calorie-wise. chicken philly with ranch bacon fries? Yes please. Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes? Yum... Let's keep up the creativity.

Dear bloggy lovelies, 
So I am thinking about changing it up again. Is it too soon since my last switch up? What do ya'll think? Any pointers or tips? 

PS the blog is a mess. Sorry I am switching it up 

That girl with the camera

Recently, I have been getting more and more compliments on the photography on this blog. Am I talented or what? Just kidding... A lot of the photos taken around this blog were taken by the talented Ms. Anna, my 15 year old sister. She is the girl I run too when I need the perfect picture.

 

Yes...you read that right....the girl is 15 and does not have a minute of professional training. She is home schooled and hopes to graduate early and head to school to be a photographer. In the mean time she uses my parents gorgeous property as her back drop, takes pictures at horse shows, and our farm. You can find her work here and here too! And if any photographers want to give her pointers she would enjoy it!

Fall makes me wanna....

Fall seriously brings out the kid in me. 

It's my last hurrah before Winter depresses me and has me yearning for sunlight. 

Today I started things I look forward to in the fall. All the things I want to do and accomplish before the weather turns harsh. 

Here is my list... 

Fall makes me want to wear comfy sweaters and my Timberland boots and warm scarves. 

Fall makes me want to sip on apple cider. 

It makes me want to stomp on leaves and acorns just to hear the crunching noise. 

Fall makes me want to snuggle under warm blankets on the front porch at the farm and watch the deer and wildlife play. 

 

Fall makes me want to make pie. Apple, pumpkin, pecan you name it... 

Fall makes me want to pick pecans in our pecan grove with that stick contraption. We lost ours and I almost cried. It has been my pecan picker since I was a child. 

Fall makes me want to tack up a horse in a western saddle and trail ride instead of train for competition. 

It makes me wanna sleep in my warm bed until late morning. 

Fall makes me want to drink wine with the RLBFF and craft. (okay so that's appropriate year round)

And it makes me want to light candles everywhere. 

Fall makes me want to eat comfort food. My hips hate this but whatev....

It makes me want to cheer loudly and scream at the t.v and sweaty men chasing a brown ball. 

Fall makes me want to snuggle.

Fall is "love weather."

Write this down... make a little note

Linking up with Something Charming. Today you get to see my handwriting. Isn't it weird? I write for ya'll everyday and you have never actually seen my writing. Here it is.

Time to come together

 

 Yes, I am disappointed, but more than disappointed I am scared. Scared for baby K and her future, scared for my future, just scared. C Mae over at My Oh My pretty much summed up my feeling beautifully. We all just need to pray and believe. 

So, I am praying hard from here on out. If you have any prayer request email me. They will stay private. We can get better, we just have to unite and pray. 

Just Give it Away...

This month I swapped sponsorships with some bloggers that offered the chances to do giveaways. I have not had that opportunity so I was pretty excited. 

One of the giveaways is still going on over at Be Freckled. Ya'll should go check it out because there is some great stuff and there will be 7 winners! Yes, I said 7! You should go check her out anyways. She is so nice and she lives in Germany. She also has boxers. A girl after my own heart I tell ya. 

Go check her out. 

I also participated in a giveaway at Texas Lovebirds. She has an adorable little boy and a super cute blog. I thoroughly enjoyed working with her. Another reason I love her... Her beliefs are beautiful. Her prayer section is inspiring. Seriously, go look at her page just for a breath of fresh, positive air. 

I also got to do a giveaway with Erin at The view from 510. Talk about a busy month. It was a blast though and I really appreciate the opportunities given to me. 
Now get over to Be Freckled and enter the newest giveaway! 

Sick as a human? Sick as a dog?

 

I have no idea where people come up with some of these phrases. Sick as a dog? Where did that come from? I mean Riley typically just eats some grass voms once or twice and hits the ground running. I am in bed miserable. Shouldn't it be sick as a human? 

My PCOS is being a bish again. Remember when I told you about my angry lady parts. That was just a few days ago. Well, I went to the doctor today and after a year of me saying "can we look at other options?", she decided we should look at other options. My ovary looks like swiss cheese in the images and the pain is like 25 days out of the month. So, we switched meds today. I have taken one dose and I feel like I could vom at any moment. Hubs brought me ginger ale and took care of the horse and the dogs tonight. He also cooked and cleaned. He is a keeper, I tell ya. I am a crying, sick mess. ( I cry when I am happy, sad, frustrated, or pissed) I might not be keeper material tonight. Tis life. I will see ya'll tomorrow when I have my shiz together. 

Good night ya'll. 

I went to a bar with Honey Boo Boo

True story. Well actually it was my mom dressed as Little Ms. Honey boo boo. A local bar here always has a costume contest with awesome prizes and mom was determined to win. 

We got a bubble gum pink dress from a local thrift store, a blonde wig, and trashy makeup. Hallie donated her stuff pig and we took and old horse show trophy and wrote "Grand Supreme" on it. Mom put a lot of thought into it. 

But we were in a bar. Everyone was drunk. And slutty wins in that case. One of the chicks dressed as "The Wet T-shirt winner" won. Notice how I said one of? There were like 3. What happened to originality? I thought mom looked great and we had a blast so whatev. 

The rest of the weekend I organized my house, bought light fixtures and paint, did laundry and made laundry detergent. Being Suzie Homemaker is tough. I took like 3 naps. That is all I did all weekend... Some recap, huh? That is why I am blessing you guys with another awesome read today.

***********************************************************
Meet

Nicole at Living with Fletch. 

She is adorable. They are adorable. Just read the Love Story, I will wait... Did ya read it? I thought it was sweet. I also loved where she explained the sass attack. I am pretty sure a scene just like this plays out at our house weekly and I just have never had a name for it. Now, thanks to Nicole, I can tell hubs it was just a sass attack. I laughed out loud when I read about how getting a new phone led to a new number that belonged to someone with a very interesting lifestyle. Read it here. 

See even when I am boring and do old people things on the weekend (living at Lowes) I still manage to give you reading material! Now go check out Nicole and Fletcher!

Friday Letters

Dear pit bulls, You are misunderstood and I don't think it is fair. Tonight we watched Beyond the Myth. All I can say is wow. People are ignorant. I really need to do more for the breed. Maybe finish my book about adopting my guy? My fortune cookie did say something about that.

Dear nails, You are gorgeous this week. Seriously, one of my favorite color schemes ever. 

Nude, Cocoa Brown and sparkles

Dear dogs, When I got home today I had a surprise waiting. You guys threw a party! There were cans and trash on the sofas, under the tables... It looked like a group of frat boys partied with ya'll. Not cool. 

Dear sleep, I have missed you. We are reuniting this weekend! 

Dear readers, Thank you for hanging in there with me through the move and the slacking. In the next month I plan to be more active, do more for sponsors and get more real with the content.

Dear Ms. Baby, We are kinda besties. Auntie adores you. Never forget that. 

Those angry lady parts

This post is coming to you straight from the bed. I made the hubby chili, because he adores my recipe. The main reason he married me would be that I can cook like a masterchef above average home cook.

About 5 minutes after we finished dinner I started to get really sick. I must have looked awful too because hubs kept asking if I felt okay. I finally told him I was grabbing my computer and blogging from bed. I hope I am not catching something. I have been nauseous after the last few meals I have consumed. Yuck. I honestly, think that my lady parts are just angry. Here is a little fact about me... It's about to get personal... 

I suffer from PCOS. Basically, my body hates me. My hormones are out of wack all the time, it makes it hard to lose weight, my periods are ridiculous (irregular and painful), I have thin hair that gets thinner based on hormone issues that month, and I get depressed very easily. PCOS can make having a baby difficult. That time of the month is usually hell.  I am in bed with cramps that double me over at least one day of my period, and I have a high pain tolerance. I feel nauseated and have stomach issues during this time of the month and I run a fever. Occasionally, I have ruptured cysts and have had to go the E.R. for the pain and I have pelvic pain pretty much through the month. This month I have lost enough hair to make a wig and I feel like I have the flu. Fatigue is a mother. 

PCOS can cause diabetes, high blood pressure and so many other issues. So my angry lady parts want to kill me. Lovely. I am just ready for this month to be over. I am also ready to stop feeling pukey. Is that a word?

 Dear Lady parts, There isn't a bun in the oven because you won't allow that so stop being biatchy. K?