A lovely surprise in my mailbox today

Oh. My. Edward.

And...as an added bonus Vampire Bill! (And yes, he does look a bit sick or perhaps he's constipated from all the TruBlood...haha).

Personally, I would have preferred it if Edward Cullen (aka Robert Pattinson...swoon!) had the bigger photo...but oh well.

I cannot wait to read this issue -- the 20 greatest vampires of all time! This is what makes me happy tonight.

I guess you'd have to love books/movies/shows about vampires to understand! (Anne Rice, Twilight and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and True Blood just to name a few of my faves!).

OK...off to read.....

....and swoon at the cover a little longer....

[see EW's story about this cover and the new 'poster boys' for vampires]

An update

Had my interview today.

I think it went well...the person interviewing me actually said "You know, I really enjoyed this interview." [this was after telling me what an "interesting" resume I had @ the beginning of the interview].

A few things about the job....

- the job is in marketing at a non-profit agency
- the position opened up 'suddenly' last week
- it's not really part time, not really full time (30-35 hours a week)
- the hourly rate is the same as what I was making at BGSU (so more work, more hours, but the same amount of $$ per hour)
- daycare will be MORE expensive because the kids will be there longer - even though Olivia will be at kindergarten 1/2 a day each day...so in the end I won't really be making more money.

Don't get me wrong...I think it would be an interesting job. But if they offer it to me, I'm not sure that the money is enough. That might sound stupid, but if you have kids in daycare it will make sense to you.

Anyway, we'll see what happens -- they were interviewing a few other people too and it's very possible that one of those candidates is way more qualified than I am.

Until then....back to the search...

Wait! What? Good news? On my blog?

'tis true.

I have a job interview tomorrow.

So random

Today is one of those "gosh, I have all these random thoughts running through my head" kind of day...and so, I thought I'd blog about them. Why? Because I want to.

- Olivia starts KINDERGARTEN in 33 days. Seriously? How in the heck did this happen? How did my BABY suddenly get to be 5 1/2 years old and be on her way to 'real' school? Oh boy. I just KNOW that I'm going to cry on August 31st.

- The guy on the SlapChop commercial scares me. A lot. And really, what is with that ear piece/microphone thing? Who does he think he is, Britney Spears? SCARY.

- I've been without a job for a month now. And yes, it still sucks. Granted, it has been GREAT to spend every day with my girls (I really missed them when I worked and suffered from serious 'mommy guilt')...but that being said, I'd still rather be working. And using my writing/editing skills for something other than writing witty status updates on Facebook and Twitter.

- My hair is graying so quickly lately. I blame the stress in my life. I used to be able to go 8 weeks between color appointment....now I'm thinking 6 weeks might be the tops. Grr. Getting old sucks too. ;)

- Filing for unemployment was unbelievably irritating. For anyone out there who works for a university and then happens to lose that job...be prepared to jump through many hoops to prove you aren't a faculty member who is just "off" for the summer or a student employee trying to milk the system. But as an added bonus, I'm happy to report that the federal government is paying me an extra $25 a week - thank you Prez Obama.

- The weather so far this summer has been for crap. Where is the sun? And the heat? Where is summer?

- I need a vacation. I'm hoping our weekend trip to Cedar Point (with my parents, sister and her family) is going to feel like a mini-vacay.

I'm sure there's more random crap floating around in my noggin...but the 2 year old is chatting at me right now and that makes it rather difficult to concentrate on other things.....

Cleaning house

My house is full.

Full of clothes that no longer fit the girls.

Full of toys that they girls no longer enjoy - actually, they are toys that are no longer "age appropriate" for them (most are for babies/toddlers).

And so, I am having a garage sale on Saturday.

The last time I had a garage sale I swore that I'd never do it again. I detest garage sales - collecting everything, pricing everything, sitting in my garage for 8 hours on a Saturday. It's not fun.

But, it is necessary.

I have so many plastic tubs full of baby girls clothes and absolutely NO plans of needing them again (we tried to sell some at consignment and made a paltry $36 - which is why consignment shops irritate me).

And so, a majority of the garage sale stuff.....baby girl clothes sizes 12 months to 2T (winter and summer).

I'm also selling our old Graco stroller and pack-and-play.

And a crib/toddler bed mattress.

And a TON of toys - Fisher Price, LeapFrog, Baby Einstein DVDs.

I'm really hoping that it will all be gone by Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. It's not even about making money .... I just want the stuff gone! [But yes, making some extra cash will be nice].

Now THIS is funny stuff

I find this to be rather amusing.

Um, yeah...you aren't REALLY at the symphony

We took the kids to Music Under the Stars tonight at the Toledo Zoo....it was the "Disney" night and since I am a complete and total crazy Disney fanatic, we thought it would be fun.

And rather than sitting in the amphitheater with two kids who want to just eat cotton candy and RUN around like wild animals, we chose to sit near the cheetahs - on the observation deck. It was a great spot - you could hear the music and still let the kids be crazy.

A few other people were seated there too, including the MOST INCREDIBLY RUDE family I think I have ever seen.

Here's what happened....

At one point during the performance two women (who were also seated on the observation deck and who I will call Green Shirt Lady and her friend) were WHISPERING to each other when all of a sudden the matriarch of the Stupid Family leans over and says "SHUT UP!"

At first I thought perhaps she knew these women and was just kidding around. But then Green Shirt Lady said "Excuse me?" And Psycho Mom says "I said shut up. You aren't at a restaurant."

Um, what?

Green Shirt Lady said something like "What is your problem?" to Psycho Mom and looks at me and my sister with this "WTF?" look on her face. Then Psycho Dad says to her "You're being rude. We are trying to listen to the performers."

WTF is right.

Here's the thing -- we were at the zoo for crying out loud. We were NOT at the Peristyle watching the symphony perform. People walk around outside the amphitheater and eat ice cream and dance in the aisles and generally HAVE FUN. Music Under the Stars is NOT a "serious black tie affair." It's fun. We even had another "older" couple tell us how much fun they had watching the kids dance and play during the concert. They even said "if we wanted it to be quiet, we'd sit in the amphitheater." Exactly.

Cleary Psycho Mom and Dad didn't get that message.

The best part was this: at intermission the other woman with Green Shirt Lady stood up with her walker and CRASHED into the lawn chair of Psycho Mom (boom! crash! bang!). Priceless. Absolutely priceless. Then, after Psycho Mom got up to leave, Green Shirt Lady sat down next to Psycho Dad and proceeded to tell him off.

We stood there and cheered her on. Quietly. So as to not disturb anyone. ;)

It still boggles my mind that this woman told a complete stranger to shut up. At an outside concert. At the zoo. Outside of the actual "performance area". I mean really....who does that?

I'll say this .. it's a damn good thing she didn't tell me or my kids to shut up.

Just a normal day at my house

"Mommy!!!!!!!"

Emma is yelling for me.

Crying. And yelling.

Olivia says: "Mommy! Emma is poopy!"

[Yes, this IS going to be a poop post].

So, I grab the wipes and a Pull-up and find Emma standing in the living room. Actually, she was sort of squatting and bouncing up and down -- as if to dislodge something.

And she has huge tears rolling down her face.

"Mommy! Poop! STUCK!"

"Your poop is stuck?"

"YESH! Ow!!!!! STUCK!" And she continues to bounce up and down....yelling "poop! stuck!"

And this, my friends, is the comic relief for my day.

(For the record, nothing was "stuck"....it was just Emma being overly dramatic. As usual. THAT is why it was so funny. I'm not a horrible mother who would actually LAUGH if her child was in REAL pain.)

Well it's certainly not the Disney Channel

Olivia - who is 5 1/2 years old - LOVES Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International on SyFy. Oh, and Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel.

Yes. I let my kindergarten-age child watch a show about the paranormal and ghosts. Is there something wrong with that?

It started out innocently enough - I got hooked on Ghost Hunters a few months ago when I stopped watching LOST and needed something else to watch on Wednesday nights. I found Jason and Grant to be mildly amusing and I've always been fascinated by the paranormal and ghosts...so I was instantly hooked.

Then Kevin started watching. And it quickly became our Wednesday night ritual. Olivia happened to watch it a few times and now she waits for Wednesday nights and stays up to late (10 pm) to watch with us.

She says that it's not scary. I believe her. She told me today how "cool" it was last night on the episode she watched because "they saw a shadow!" My little ghost hunter.

But the funniest thing about this had to be her comment earlier this evening when she looked at me, completely serious and said: "What am I going to do on Friday night? I can't watch "Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana AND Ghost Adventures!!!!!!" I assured her that one or both shows would be Tivo'd just for her.

And all was right with the world again.

Her choice in favorite shows really shouldn't surprise me....after all, she decided that her new favorite ride at the Magic Kingdom was the Haunted Mansion. [That WAS surprising...I figured she would FREAK OUT as soon as the lights went out. But nope...we rode that ride probably 10 times that week].

My girls

My life might not be perfect, but it's my life

One of the best things about blogging is the community of people who blog right along with you. If you check out the list on the left of the screen you'll see the names of blogs that I follow on a regular basis.

I don't know most of those women. But I consider every single one of them my "blogger friends". Whether we have met face-to-face or not, I cheer them on in their successes and happy life moments and support them in their down moments. In other words, I treat them the same way I treat my "non-blogger, real world friends" - except I do it through posting comments, retweeting and commenting on status updates. Yeah, I'm an equal opportunity friend. :)

Right now my professional life is in a major downturn. Any of you who read my blog know this. I try not to dwell on it here, but since it IS a blog about my life, it's a bit hard to avoid. However, I also blog about my kids, politics, crazy Michael Jackson fans, Twilight, and other odds and ends.

I try to keep it honest and real and sometimes that means my posts are not always upbeat or positive or funny.

While my professional life might be at a crossroads, my personal life is good. I'm happily married - celebrating 7 years in October. And, I have two wonderful, beautiful, loving daughters who make me smile every day. Case in point: today, Emma walked over to me as I sat on the floor, hugged me as only Emma can (a mini bear hug) and proceeded to kiss me on each cheek, on my forehead and then on the lips. Seriously the BEST moment of my morning.

See? My life isn't all that complicated or depressing. Granted, it's also not always wine and roses and fun, but really....can anyone claim that their life is perfect and happy 24-7? I think not.

And so, this is MY imperfect, crazy, hectic life and I am going to blog about it. And tweet about it. And update my Facebook status to reflect my mood.

And I'm not going to sugarcoat it.

I will be honest. And snarky. And sometimes I'll be just downright brutal in my honesty and snarkyness.

That's who I am. That's my life.

And I refuse to apologize for it.

My life may not be perfect, but it's my life.

And this is MY blog.

When filing for unemployment....

Yeah, it's a bit like this.

Yeah, I'm going there....

Right now, my television is tuned to CNN.

And yes, they are doing a live broadcast of Michael Jackson's memorial service/media circus.

Does this bother me?

Not so much. While I'm not glued to my TV, I am listening every now and then to the reports.

I understand that a lot of people are beyond pissed (to put it lightly) that he is getting so much media attention.

Personally, I don't see what the big deal is.

I heard a great discussion last night on one of the nightly news shows - all the panelists answered "NO!" when asked if they would have ever left their kids with Michael Jackson, and yet they all agreed that he was a musical genius, a pop music icon and that you really had to separate the two Michaels.

Yes, on one hand, Jackson had some very serious issues - charges of child abuse, pedophilia, etc. He was freakishly private. He wore face masks in public. He paid MILLIONS of dollars to his accusers to either settle the cases or silence the charges. He had problems. He had personal demons.

But on the other hand, he was incredibly talented. He has billions of fans worldwide. He was a musical genius. He was likely the biggest celebrity in the world. He did a lot of humanitarian work. He co-wrote "We Are The World" for crying out loud.

[One entertainment reporter noted this morning on Twitter that perhaps people are mourning the Michael of 1989 and not that of 2009. A very valid point, I think].

Does the bad outweigh the good? That's not for me (or anyone else) to decide.

Do I think he did the things he had been accused of doing? I don't know. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. Would I have left my kids alone with Michael Jackson? No. A million times no. But it's not my place to pass judgment on him.

Do I think the media is sugarcoating the bad to focus on the good? Maybe. But then again, they have been talking about the criminal case and the payouts and the accusations. They haven't swept it under the carpet. But we all know that the media (and the general public) is ADDICTED TO celebrities and this story is like crack to them. They can't give it up and the won't give up the ratings that come with it.

Do I think it's wrong to have such a huge public memorial for him? No. I don't. His death was shocking, unexpected and is still somewhat unbelievable. (If you were ever a fan - which I was - I think it's safe to say that a little bit of your childhood died right along with him on June 25th). And quite honestly, this will likely go down in history as the biggest news story of 2009. As a journalist, you can't NOT cover it.

You don't have to like it. You don't have to watch it.

However, I think people need to remember that he has a family who loves him and is in mourning. He has children who are now fatherless. Regardless of his history and the wrongs he may have done, his family and friends deserve a chance to say good-bye and mourn his passing.

And if they want to do their mourning in such a public manner - and pass out tickets to it - then I suppose that is their right, and really who are we to question it?

Let his family and fans mourn. Let today be a somber day, but a day of celebrating the good in his life.

Save your judgments for another day.

[A postscript: I watched the entire memorial service and I will admit that I shed many tears. So many different people poured out their hearts and shared their memories. And then to hear his daughter say "daddy was the best father" -- that was heartbreaking.]

Happy July 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

24 hours

It's been a whole 24 hours since I walked out of my office and into the world of the unemployed.

I cried a lot yesterday. Every time someone came to see me and tell me how much they were going to miss me the waterworks started - for everyone involved. There were a lot of Kleenex being used around the office yesterday (it was the last day on the job for two other people in my department too).

There were some good parts to the day though. My coworkers put together a nice breakfast for those of us who were leaving - and food always makes things better, especially when there are doughnuts involved.

A lot of my coworkers also chipped in for a 'going away gift' - and they gave me a Starbucks gift card, a Target gift card and an American Express gift card (shopping and frappucinos...two of my favorite things!). My boss...who is the coolest boss ever...gave me a gorgeous pair of earrings and a heartfelt note. She totally rocks.

I had a nice lunch at El Zarape (you BG folks know how yummy that is!) with two of my friends/coworkers.

And then, there was more crying.

And at 2:30 p.m. I walked out of my office for the last time.

Now, 24 hours later....my now former boss e-mails me and says "we miss you so much already!"...which practically reduced me to tears again.

On the bright side....it is likely that I will be doing some contract/freelance work for my former department, so that's good.

And, my (former) boss is still fighting to get my job reinstated. It's all about the budgets when you work for a university and that's the issue right now. They have to find the money and get the job approved for a permanent status...and that could take a few months.

So, until then ... I've filed for my unemployment benefits and I'll keep looking for something else. And I'll try not to miss my friends/coworkers too much on a daily basis.