smittenqueen’s blog

Hello! How are you? How busy is your life? Wanna hear about mine?

I am not sure if you knew or not but my hours were cut at work. Instead of working 40 hours a week I now only work 12. Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8:30 to 12:30. It was quite a shock but soooo welcomed! I am absolutely loving the opportunity to spend more time with Aiden and actually work outside for the first time in my life. I've spent 20 hours a week raking my yard, rearranging the azaleas, planting a vegetable garden, and planning for a patio that I am going to be building myself. I feel like a workhorse. But I am loving it so far. The only thing that absolutely aggravates me is that it keeps raining. We need it, Georgia's been in a drought for years. Goodness, I am not sure if you keep up with the USA trends much, but in case you haven't noticed, THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS GOING GREEN! From HGTV giving away a 'Green Home' to every company producing ridiculously priced organic goods that just don't stop at food. I've recently been bombarded with 'Shaklee' cleaning products. Apparently I am a terrible mother because I use store bought cleaning products around my son. Hey, I've switched the important stuff... laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, and bathtub cleaner. The rest…homemade products are cutting it so far! It is unbelievable. Now, I feel guilty when I don't unplug the computer every night and haven't totally switched to organic sheets! Haha. We're surviving though. Anyway, as far as organic foods, I'm taking care of that with my garden. I've teamed up with a buddy of mine and we're planning a 2 family garden. He lives right up the street and we figured we could plant more and have it actually not go to waste if the two of us and our families consumed it all. I'm looking forward to turning my black thumb green!

I will definitely be bringing Aiden up to Michigan this summer. Probably the last week in June and first week in July. Unfortunately I will not be bringing Brandon as we can no longer afford for him to miss so much work. The good part is that I will be able to spend more time up there! Oh, and Brandon says that I cannot go alone so I will be bringing my BFF Sarah. You'll love her. She's a little bit of all the parts of people that I love. My only problem now is finding a place to stay since I will be bringing her with me. We will probably be sharing a bed the same as Brandon and I would have. We've actually convinced a few people around town that we're lesbians (because I'm seen more with her than Brandon) with an adopted son. People around here are so judgemental and gullable it's a hilarious little joke that Brandon thinks is funny so it's okay. Anyway, I would come myself but I can't afford to fly and rent a car and Brandon forbids me driving 1000 miles with his son and noone to watchover us. Silly boy, with all his love and protection stuff. :)

Much love,

Ashley Marie

I haven't written anything in 6 days...according to my day stamp on the last blog that I wrote 6 days ago. Life is hectic here lately.

Saturday was marvelous. Sarah and I spent a few hours in Clarkesville. She waited patiently as Sidney took hours to transform the rats nest on top of my head into something that now resembles a fabulously 80's bob. Now all I need are huge hoop earrings, a mini skirt, and some blow and I'd be set to rock. I already have my star! So anyway, Saturday started out marvelous and ended promptly at about 3:30 when I retired to bed with a migraine. I'm telling you, I'm sick of my life being wasted away by these stupid things. Why not during the week? At least those are not pretentious enough to ruin whatever 'free' time I may have during a whole 7 day week. I only have 52 weeks a year which I have already meticulously planned out to accomplish the most I can in my life.

Sunday was spent with Sarah, Ben & Lori and cutie pie Draven. Lori and I made homemade chicken and dumplings that were absolutely amazing. They were the best I have ever had! I was shocked at how simple they were to make and am looking forward to making them plenty of nights in the future. I need to attach the recipe...*Note to Self

Monday I worked and then was able to spend yet another Monday evening with the best surrogate family I know...my inlaws. I'm telling you, if you get lucky enough to have great family to marry into, do it! My Grammy always told me that you don't just marry a boy, you marry a boy and his family. At least, you want to. What does it say about a man who doesn't even want to be with his own family? Granted, there are fine lines and boundaries but THANK THE LORD I never have to worry about that. Anyway, I decided to convey my appreciation by serving over spiced burnt hamburgers. I tell you, I've lost my mojo. I think Robby stole it. Well, at least I can live vicariously through him now!

Tuesday I had to pay a doctor to confirm that I have stuff wrong with me. Of course! Not only do I have problems but I tend to ignore them and guess what? They just get worse. Imagine that! So now, I will go through this next chapter in life chemically enhanced. It isn't so bad, it's better than being physically enhanced. At least I don't have to worry about that! And then there is Aiden. Poor pitiful little baby Aiden. He got sick. But decided not to tell us...

Wednesday it was too late. Aiden had to be poked and prodded. Turns out, the poor boy had two severe earaches, what appears to be RSV but is only closely resembling pneumonia, topped off with a fever that turns his whole little body red. I try to tell him that if he could just act sick, give me a hint, it wouldn't get so bad. Although, how can I blame him for being just like his mother and father... and certainly other ancestry? They filled him with medicine and sent him home instead of to the hospital but it was just as bad seeing as how we had to administer the breathing treatments ourselves. Aiden hates them. They really aren't so bad, I wouldn't mind them, but I think that the steam scares him. Understandable. He started doing better by nightfall and enjoyed being tucked in between Brandon and I for another night.

This morning the day doesn't seem so bad. Aiden woke up happy, as did Brandon and I. (Which reminds me sarah, I have to prove you wrong on something...) And I am hopeful that whenever we go to the doctor's office later today we'll be able to return home in peace that he's still just a happy bouncing baby boy!

Splish Splash

Aiden adores bathtime. As I begin to fill the bathtub, I love watching him start peering over the edge of the tub grinning from ear to ear and attempting to push whatever he can reach over the edge into the water. It is also the only time during the day he doesn't fuss while I strip him to his bare little bottom. He can't wait! He starts jumping up and down and as soon as he is bare he actually tries to climb over the edge himself! During this particular bath he decided to whip the washcloth in and out of the water becuase he discovered that it makes a much bigger splash than his little hands. I was soaked. He was happy!

On overheardinathens.com

1.) 

*this reminds me of Sarah and I if WE were drunk sorostitues

2.)

*a professor after my own heart

3.)

*just for Sarah

4.)

*for Robin!

5.)

19 References You Can't Do Without

Wikipedia can serve as a great introduction to a subject, and connect you to other related ideas, people and places. But it’s not all there is. Here are some resources that can help you with whatever information you need to find:

Bartleby -- Famous quotes and full poetry texts

Citizendium -- More “professional” Wikipedia, although usually not as detailed

Answers.com -- Makes use of the information on Wikipedia and many other reference sites to become a one stop shop

ePodunk -- Information about cities and places

Encyclopedia Britannica -- An excellent source of information, and much more authoritative than Wikipedia.

Scholarpedia -- A step up from both Wikipedia and Citizendium in terms of scholarly respectability; the articles are all written by experts with peer review

JSTOR (limited access; talk to your school or library) -- All those stuffy journals around your professor’s office, and articles in your course packets

Oxford English Dictionary (limited access; talk to your school or library) -- The definitive resource when it comes to the English language

Wikiseek -- Wikipedia with a better search engine

Online Education Database -- Over 100 specific search and research tools, often relevant to specific subjects

MathWorld -- Everything mathematics from Geometry to Calculus is covered in great detail

GeoHive and Fedstats -- Public access to public agency statistics

Theoi and Encyclopedia of Mythology -- Excellent resources on the subject of mythology and ancient religions

Glossary of Poetic Forms -- You too can know the difference between a Canto and a Cento

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Foldop -- Excellent sources on just about anything philosophy related

Religion Online -- An excellent, excellent resource filled with many primary texts

Athens

Athens

 

 

 

Brandon and I fought over discussed ideas all day Saturday on how we would spend our time together for Valentines. With or without company? In the woods or in the city? Well, although we do certainly love being surrounding by people we love and I can think of nothing more romantic than spending hours at night outside in the freezing cold in the middle of nowhere and atleast 10 miles from a working toilet [yes, sarcasm] we decided that we would spend a romantic evening surrounded by people who could see two of each of us, in the middle of a city, and where I could get to a bathroom within 20 seconds atleast every other hour. Alas, Athens, Georgia. Home of an endless history of music, drunk frat boys and sorostitutes, delicious food, and Mr. & Mrs. DeFoor's Valentine's Day Number Two. We had such a delightful time, minus the last 10 minutes, aaaaas always. My alter ego, Smashley, couldn't help but want to join the party this time and since I was busy playing pool, pinball, and wondering WHY WON'T THEY LET ME PLAY DARTS?!? I was completely unaware of her ever increasing battle to appear. So, as I joined my husband on the patio I realized that all of a sudden I did not have quite the control over my eyesight as I usually like to have and so we split. I was bummed but it was 1 A.M. Luckily we made it home without a problem having gained a few more memories of our time together in life. Worth it, definately worth it.

Things to note:
1. Pabst is always a good choice. Pearl vodka is not so great.
2. "A Lady always makes sure her buttons are buttoned to an appropriate degree when walking on a street where there are boys peering out of second story windows."
3. The Max Canada's (stupid name I probably need explained to me, but great bar)
4. The Farm 255 has a fire pit on their patio. Ours did not. Next time, I want to sit on The Farm 255 patio.
5. For the 5,000,000TH time, DO NOT WEAR HEELS TO ATHENS.

Cupcakes Take The Cake

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/

Yum Ideas

Someone please take the time to remind me of this site next time I intend to spend hours surfing the web to prepare for a party that I am intending to throw in honor of one of you. Thanks.

Yeah right!

Like you are really going to find anything interesting enough to grasp your attention and feed your curiousity enough to continue to return just to read more about my not-so-mundane coexistence with a few people of select choice. You wish!