The invitations for my parents party came in yesterday. My brother Paul and I addressed them all and Paul promised me he would get them in the mail on monday. My brother is a pretty funny guy. He was coming in from work just as I pulled into his driveway at about 2:30. He has to unwind for a few minutes before we could start writing. Then he had to take the dog out for her after work pee. Then he had to show me how he taught his cockatiel how to whistle One Way Out by the Allman Brothers.The bird, however, was in a Pop Goes The Weasel type of mood, so he spent like 15 minutes trying to get the bird to sing for me. The bird finally sang the song, we laughed and clapped and 40 minutes after I got there, we unpack the box with the invitations. We wrote for about 30 minutes, with him keeping track of the names that we had just written on the envelopes. My brother is an extreme perfectionist.He had to make sure all names on the list were accounted for. So, he went thru the stack of envelopes and made sure he had a check mark beside each name when we heard this ungodly screech. His 3 year old niece was there with her 4 year old brother. My sister in law had just given her a bowl filled with trail mix to share with her brother. The baby fell and somehow managed to pinch her finger between herself, the rim of the metal bowl she was carrying and the hardwood floor. So we spent a half hour "fixing" the childs finger and cleaning up several cups of trailmix. We got back to work and the kids father showed up to take them home. Dave does drywall for a living so Paul had to take him downstairs and get his professional opinion on rebuilding the flood soaked walls in his basement.We went back to writing when the kids and Dave left. We got maybe 10 more envelopes addressed when he decided he was hungry and we should order a pizza. So we ordered the pizza and we left to go pick it up. On the way, he stopped for gas. His truck is a big work truck with 2 gas tanks. $150 later, we got the pizza and went back to his house. By the time we finished writing and packing everything up, it was almost 9:00pm. I didn't get back home til almost 10:30. BUT, the invitations are on their way out and the party is not even a month away. I can't wait to sit back and relax!!

3 Names you go by:
Anni
Smoopy or the Bitch..depends on if we are getting along or not
Mom

3 Screen Names you have had:
dgbasschick
poeme70
ann_spncr96

3 Things you like about yourself:
Hair
Brain
My ability to laugh

3 Things you don't like about yourself:
Fat
tend to be stubborn
hard to relax

3 Parts of your heritage:
french
irish
lithuanian

3 Things that scare you:
not doing the right things for the people I need to take care of
Snakes
Financial Ruin

3 Of your everyday essentials:
Moisturizer
coffee
cigarettes

3 Things you are wearing right now:
jeans
wife beater
socks

3 Of your favorite bands or musical artists:
Pantera
Avenged Sevenfold
Queensryche

3 Of your favorite songs:
Welcome Home-Coheed and Cambria
This Love-Pantera
Hush-Dogfight

3 Things you want to try in the next 12 months
Get new floors in my house
Cover my ugly furniture
Keeping my House Clean (man, I am SO Boring!)

3 Things you want in a relationship:
Trust
Respect
fun and laughter

2 Truths and a lie:
Red is my Very Favorite Color
I'm feeling kind of smug right now
I have enough money


3 Things about the opposite sex that appeal to you:
The Penis has it's own appeal
They have enough hand strength to tighten stuff I thought was tight enough
They are willing to drive when I don't feel like it

3 Things about the same sex that appeal to you:
They're neater & cleaner
They don't mind when you are in a whiny mood and just need to vent
They understand when I am having a bad man day

3 Things you just cannot do:
wink
snap my fingers
let things go if I can't do it

3 Of your favorite hobbies:
fixing up the house
reading
gardening

3 Things you want to do really badly right now:
Have enough money
make my back stop hurting
go to Home Depot and get the stuff I need to finish my bedroom

3 Careers you are considering:
The one I have now,
Becoming a supervisor at same place
Being independantly wealthy

3 Places you want to go on vacation:
Whats a vacation?

3 Kids names:
Mickayla
Grace
Eve or Ava

3 Things you want to do before you die
Pay off my house
Own a brand new car
buy a biiger house with a yard big enough for all the animals I want

3 Ways you are stereotypically a boy:
Not afraid of bugs, spiders or blood
Rock & Roll baby, all the way
I own an amazing array of tools and I'm not afraid to use them

3 Ways you are stereotypically a girl:
Afraid of Snakes
Baths
Getting my hair done

3 Celeb crushes:
The guy who plays Grisom on CSI
Sam Elliot
Zakk Wylde
3 People you would like to complete this quiz:
I dunno, nobody reads my blog except for Becky

I have no idea how, but I have blown my back out. I am home from work today because of it. Tom is home too. The whole area is flooded after we got somewhere around 12 inches of rain since friday. Roads are closed, the governor has declared a state of emergency. We are signing papers on our new mortgage today at 4:00. The lawyer called first thing this morning to find out if the roads up here are safe to travel on. So far, everything looks good. Aside from the weather anyway. We should have a break from the rain in another 2 or 3 days. There should be a lot of damage from this one. Our neighbors down the hill is just waiting for their garage to break apart and float away. I have never been happier to live at the top of a sizable hill as I am this week. We have not gotten any water or anything from this storm. I have my fingers crossed

Lazy Day
Usually, I have a million things to do on the weekends. Not today though. We had an appraisal done on our house Thursday so we have spent the last week painting, cleaning,updating and so on.The house is still in relative order, although I could probably sweep and vacuum. I just don't feel like it though.I really busted by ass cleaning up the past week so I am giving myself a little break.
I didn't really tell anyone about the appraisal,first of all, I don't want to jinx it. Secondly, I didn't want to face disappointment if it all falls apart. I am hoping to get a large sum of money when I refinance. I have a lot of stuff I need to replace around here. I owe a lot of money out to different people, and it would just be nice to put 3 months worth of mortgage payments in a savings account.
I am planning on doing two things today. I have a laundry pile from hell that I would like to whittle down and I am doing a big load of groceries. We spend like $220 a week on Sunday food shopping and we always run out of food by Thursday. Oh, we have enough for dinners, but its always a miss-matched flavor of rice or pasta and a conglomerate of frozen veggies. You know, you have one package of broccoli and you need two, so you throw in a package of cauliflower to make enough for everyone.Or you have to make a casserole type of thing to stretch out the meat. Just once, I would like to have a piece of fruit on friday. So its looking like a two shopping cart type of day. Or I could go to one of the big wholesale places and shop, but my membership ran out and I am to cheap to renew it. I guess I'll have to wait for the hubby to wake up and see whats on his agenda. I know he will be trying out a drummer for his band later. He will be gone all afternoon. I could start a new book, but I'm not ready yet. I just got done reading "The Davinci Code" and it was so good that I just am not in the mood to start a new book yet. I'm still dwelling on that one.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 3:15

2. Diamonds or pearls? both

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? 8 Crazy Nights, with the kids. Blair Witch with the hubby. We don't get out much

4. What is your favorite TV show? CSI Vegas and Soprano's

5. What did you have for breakfast? yogurt with berries mixed in

6. What is your middle name? Margaret

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian

8. What food do you dislike? fish, pork, mayo,french fries, the list goes on

9. Favorite chips? Plain Lays

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? a mix of songs my son picked out

11. What kind of car do you drive? 95 Geo Prism

12. What characteristics do you despise? Lying, Cheating, Insincerity & Snottyness

13. Favorite item of clothing? wife beaters and drawstring pants

14.If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Alaska

15. What color is your bathroom? cream and periwinkle blue

16. Favorite brand of clothing? Stuff that fits, no brand

17. Where would you retire? Right here where I am

18. Favorite time of day? Morning

19. Where were you born? Hale Hospital, Haverhill Ma

20. Favorite sport to watch? Hockey

22. Person you expect to send this back first? Since it's going on my blog I'd like to get links to anyone who does it.

23. What laundry detergent do you use? All small and mighty

24. Coke or Pepsi? Ginger Ale

25. Are you a morning person or night owl? morning

26. What size shoe do you wear? 9

27. Do you have pets? 2 cats, 2 dogs

28. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with your friends? We are in process if a refi

29. What (who) did you want to be when you were little? A Cook

30. Favorite Candy Bar? $100,000 bars

31. What is your favorite childhood memory? Too many to list

32. What are the different jobs you have had in your life? Cook, waitress, telemarketer, sales in a clothing store,welder,warehouse

33. What color underwear are you wearing? None, those bad boys came off after work

34. Nicknames? Anni, or monkadoo ( only my dad calls me that) or #6

35. Piercing? yup

37. Ever been to Africa? Nope

38. Ever been toilet papering? Yes

39. Love someone so much it made you cry? Yes

40. Been in a car accident? Yes

41. Croutons or bacon bits? neither

42. Favorite day of the week? payday, or as I like to call it, white envelope day

41. Favorite restaurant? Bugaboo's

44. Favorite flower? Orchids, iris, rose

45. Favorite ice cream? Choc chip from Carters in Haverhill

46. Disney or Warner Brothers? both

47. Favorite fast food restaurant? BK

48. What color is your bedroom carpet? none...yet

49. How many times did you fail your driver's test? None

50. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail? Kim

Where are questions 51 & 52???

53. Bedtime? 9:30

54.Who are you most curious about their responses to this questionnaire? I couldn't say

55. Last person you went to dinner with? Tom, Shawn and Doug

56. Ford or Chevy? whatever runs

57. What are you listening to right now? The dishwasher

58. What is your favorite color? red

59. Lake, Ocean, River? To Swim in? what are we looking for here? I like them all.

60. How many tattoos do you have? 1

61. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? A little birdie told me dinosaurs had eggs before chickens

63. Favorite Cocktail? I'm a beer type of girl

64. Where would you go for a girl's weekend get-a-way? Have no idea

65. What would you do if you had to select another career? Pick something less stressful...ha ha.

66. Republican or Democrat? neither

67. Favorite Family Vacation? camping

68. All Time Favorite Concert? Eric Clapton or Queen, although Locobazooca was good too

My 13
I know this is going in early, but who knows if I am going to have time on the correct day. So here it is.

1. I moved from a three family house that we converted into a 2 family in a junky section of town to a junky house in a great section of town when I was 9. My parents did a ton of work to the house and recently sold it for a huge amount of money.

2. I met my best friend when we moved into that house. Her family life was kind of a mess, so my family treated her like she was one of us. She still calls my parents Mom and Dad. We have been friends for over 25 years.

3. My grandmother moved into the house with us. Her and my Grandfather lived with us at the old house too, they had the bottom floor apartment and I spent most of my time with them. My Grandfather died so Grammy came with us when we moved.

4. My grandfather was not actually my real grandfather. My father’s real father died when dad was 16. Al was the only grandfather I ever really knew,( My moms dad died when I was really young so I barely remember him). He treated my siblings and I like we were his. He was the best.

5. I was named after my grandmother. She passed away shortly before my second wedding. My daughter still insists she sees her once in a while

6. My grandmother eventually moved in with her two sisters. They use to have conversations about me in Lithuanian, thinking I couldn’t know what they were saying. I knew. You couldn’t be around them as much as I was and not pick up some of the language. I can’t speak it, but I know the key words.

7. My grandmother died of a brain tumor. She thought I was still married to my ex-husband and living on a second floor balcony when she died. I never corrected her. I never told her about my soon to be second husband either. She wouldn’t have understood, but I still feel guilty

8. I come from a long line of large families. My mom was one of nine. Her mom was one of 12. My dad only has one brother, but his mom had somewhere around 20 siblings, a lot of whom died at birth or shortly after.

9. My Dads parents were both immigrants. Him from France, her from Lithuania. My dad has a receipt of the bedroom set they bought when they got married. Two dressers, a bed with mattress, mirror and nightstands with matching chest…$7

10. My mom’s family owned and operated a large bakery. My grandfather invented diet bread, which was thinly sliced and later, became known as Hollywood bread. He also was the first in the United States to sell English muffins. He also invented a machine, which is still used in commercial bakeries, which slows the bacterial growth and mold in bakery products. There are rumors that he was a rum distiller during prohibition.

11. My Moms childhood home was bought by a man who turned the 18 room Victorian into condos. He invited the family over to see the transformation before he started selling it off. I refused to go. I was told he painted the mahogany staircase in the library/foyer white, along with most of the original woodwork. The stained glass accent windows were replaced with modern windows. He took out the private phone booth and dumbwaiter, as well as the single person, manual elevator. A person in a wheelchair could wheel into the elevator and haul himself or herself up to one of the other floor by pulling on the ropes. We were never allowed to use this lift, as my grandmother was afraid the ropes where so old, they would snap if we stood in there

12. When I was a child, my cousins and I were told that there was a hidden door along the fireplace in one of the 2 living rooms of the house. We spent hours looking for a loose brick or some other sign of an adventure to follow. I think we were told this only to give the adults some peace and quiet during our visits. I have 96 cousins on my moms side and between all of us, we couldn’t find a thing except for one loose brick with nothing secret behind it. We did find a secret staircase at the back of a closet, which went up to the third floor and attic. We also found a little door, which led to what use to be the “summer kitchen”. At that point, it was just an empty storage area. My mom had a housekeeper when she was child. Her name was Mame, but my mom doesn’t remember her using the summer kitchen either. She does remember being horribly bored on Mame’s days off. Mom and my aunts would follow Mame around and pretend they were domestic help too

13. There was one room on the third floor of the house that was shrouded in black velvet. That room was a mystery to all of us kids and no one dared to look into it. As it turned out, it belongs to my uncle Len, who had passed away. My grandmother put the black velvet over the door in one of those antiquated mourning rituals. We later heard that she has covered the mirror in the room also. I always wished I had found the nerve to look into that room. That house was a treasure trove for junior explorers

Saying No
I have a hard time saying no to animals. Not while training them, just in general. People have offered me ferrets, cats , dogs, a monkey and an alligator. I did manage to say no to the gator and the monkey, but most of the time I am just a big pushover. My kids have brought home squirrels, mice, bugs and other assorted creepy crawlies. My husband brought home rats from the pet store once. We had a pet crab we found at the beach. Last week, my hubby was cleaning up the yard and a young cat came to him and started rubbing on his leg. He patted her for a while, then ignored her. He build a fire in the pit, then sat in a chair. She jumped in his lap. She was skinny so he fed her. Then he came in the house. She meowed all night long. The next day, she was still hanging around the house so my son hooked her up with a cat carrier and a bunch of blankets. Being New England, it was warm during the day, but dropped at night. She was still here the next moring. After school, my daughter brought her around the neighborhood trying to find her owner. She found out the some people had moved out a week or so before and left the cat behind. By the time my daughter came back with the kitty, it was snowing. The cat came in the house. WE put her in our living room in the cat carrier, just for the night. Now this whole time, hubby is saying "we're not keeping her, find her a place to go". So after work I e-mailed everyone, looked around on line and called every shelter trying to find one with a "no kill" policy with no luck. I went into our living room and found hubby on the couch with his ponytail draped over the kitty, while she was pawing at his hair. I asked him what he named her. He insisted we are not keeping her. He went out for a little while and when he came back, he said he wanted to keep her. He named her Abigail. The other cat we have will adjust, but Abby is the sweetest little girl ever. She loves attention and gets along great with the dogs. Its nice to have a cat that you can pat and not fear for your hand. Our other cat Kiwi is a demon. The only reason we still have her is my son. They are very attached to each other. Kiwi is my sons cat and Abby is everyones cat. I think 2 cats and 2 dogs should hold us over for a while.

How I spent my day
I was in a first aid class from 8:00 this morning til 3:15 this afternoon. The good news is, if anyone has a heart attack when I am around, I would probably know what to do. I can even use the defib machine. The bad news is, now I have to go out and buy all the supplies I need on my own. I now have a moral obligation to help out. Thats fine though, I'm feeling pretty damned good about myself

My 13
I have no idea what the thirteen thing is about but since I am about to clean my house, I thought I would throw this is.
13 Least Favorite Chores

1. Going to the dump. Even though I love living in rural America, this is not a good part of the privledge.

2. Dusting. Woodstoves suck. Lets just get that out in the open

3.Cleaning out the dog kennel. 2 large dogs, no explaination needed.

4. Ironing. Such a 1950's thing to do, but I am my mothers child, so therefore I iron.

5. Cleaning the toilet. What I wouldn't give for a house full of girls!!

6. Laundry. I am not the only person in this house who wears clothes, but for some reason, I do the majority of the laundry.

7. Cleaning out the refrig. Science experiments in the making.

8.Grocery shopping. Does between $200 and $230 a week sound excessive to anyone else?

9.Washing the kitchen floor. The guy who owned the house before us put in smooth marble tiles....badly.

10. Fishtanks.....eeeek!

11. Paying bills. Reason enough to make you want to jump out a window.

12. Washing windows. I avoid this at all costs. We have 24 windows in the house. This is when having kids comes in handy.

13. Going upstairs to look for cups and dishes. This is the childrens zone. Most of the time, I have no reason to go up there. In fact, I try my hardest to stay away. But when I put all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and pack only 3 glasses and I know there are none in the cabinet, I have to go on a hunt. I know, I should make them get them, but we have a no eating upstairs rule and no one wants to get busted for it so they all say they don't have any. This is usually the start of a very bad mood for me.

I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I will be playing taxi again this week. My sons went out friday and bought all the stuff to fix the youngers car, now all I have to do is motivate my hubby to actually work on it. When he is done his part, I have to wait for my friend Troy to come and replace the busted tie rods. I'm not holding my breath because both guys that I am waiting on do things at their own pace. I'm trying to be cool about it though. My hubby had last week off and I was really hoping that some of the never-ending "honeydo" list would get done. He had other things on his agenda though and pretty much nothing got done. He did clean the garage and re-wire the painting I wanted to hang. Two things down, a million to go.
I worked for 6 and a half hours yesterday. I got home and took a nappy, then set myself on cleaning. The worst thing about having a woodstove is the monumental mess it makes of your house. I was going to wash walls, but I decided it would just be easier to re-paint them. I might be able to do that in between trips here and there and basic laundry and cleaning. When are they ever going to give human cloning the thumbs up? It would make my job a hell of a lot easier.
One of hubbys old friends has moved to the area. Hubby was working one day and this guy came in to rent a tool. Hubby saw him and they exchanged phone numbers. That was a few months ago. Somehow, the remembered to use the phone yesterday and they made plans to hook up. Then hubby called him back and invited him over last night. I had met the guy about 8 years ago. I don't know him all that well, but he is a really nice guy. He spent about 6 hours over here and offered to help us do some of the renovating our house desperately needs. It would be nice having some professional help around here,especially since he offered to work for beer. It was after 1am when I finally got to bed. I planned on sleeping in and catching up on some shut eye. My body had other plans . It is just so use to functioning on 5 hours of sleep that I woke up at 6 and couldn't get back to sleep. Oh well, maybe on my next day off. That should be in another couple of weeks.