*flipping off IKEA*

*insert uprighted middle finger here*

Totally the worst $200 I have ever spent.

Am so tired of fixing the freaking drawers on this thing.

Let's count them... 4... out of 6 drawers... broken.

Know what IKEA?

You suck.

>.<

Pushup dilema!

Me at 9. I was a boy beating-up machine!

I'm a little skurred. (*Note the font color..bock bock..)

Once upon a time, I was a freaking studette. I was able to crank out 150 pushups without breaking a sweat. 250 crunches? No problem. I was b r a v e. I would volunteer myself to spar with men. Not boys, men. Like with jobs & tattoos and shit = Men.

Recently, my son started karate. He's training with the same boys ... er... men I trained with many moons ago. Like when I would have to take a quick break during class to change Bry's diaper. That kind of MANY moons ago.

Anyhow, last weekend he had his yellow belt test. *squealing* It was a rough 2 hours on his almost 13 year old body, but is joyous for me! I hadn't stepped foot in a dojo in nearly 11 years. (*Note to readers: Never date your martial arts instructor. They're crazy & the breaks-ups are horrific.) Yet, right away, it felt like I belonged. A few of the instructors kinda-sorta remembered me. I think. *pfft* Sweeeeet.

Watching Bry made me think, "Wow. This is something that he and I can do together! The girls are with their dad on Tuesday nights... It's mom and son time!" So, I signed up for a private lesson next Tuesday, before class. Ya know, just as a 'refresher course'. ;)

After watching his class tonight, I'm having second thoughts. I'm not sure I can safely execute even one pushup now. Uh-oh... Rugburn on the forehead, here we come...!!

Christmas is coming!!

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!

Yea, I know.

Halloween hasn't even arrived yet and I'm already stressing out about Christmas shopping. . .

Can't help it, it's part of my charm.;)

This year has, financially, been a tough one. The soft economy hit and I had a huge pay reduction at the Escrow Co... So, I left for a new job making less money but more stability... lol.*sigh* Then I got laid off.*groan*

Well, I'm at my new job (which I love to pieces) but the pay's pretty sucky.::sigh:: I kinda feel like I'm back at square one, knocked back about 5 years.

Without the risk of sacraficing time with my children, I can't get a 'normal' 2nd job. I'd rather have a super tight budget then to give up that time...

So, I've been pondering ways to bring in some Christmas shopping money.;) I tend to get pretty darn creative around the holidays. 2 out of the last 4 years I have made Christmas Ornaments. One year I spent a total of 80 hours in the kitchen canning salsa... that almost killed me after I accidently wiped my eye with a jalapeno finger.. Salsa's dangerous.

Anyhow, last year I actually started the ornaments from square one: glass bulbs. Paint. Creativity. WALAH! I made about 45 total for friends, family and co-workers. I'm kind of bummed out that I didn't take pictures of them all, no two were alike. Drats.(Hey family and friends that received ornaments from me, wanna send me a snapshot of them? LOL)

Could I possibly sell them this year...?? I think I may try! Each takes me about 2 hours to complete depending on the design you want... With shipping, packaging etc I'm thinking of selling them for about $9 a piece. I have a few pictures of the ones I did last year. Lemme know what you think!

Pick-Apart

So, I'm in a 'mood'.

Quite frankly, I'm not sure as to what the aforementioned mood is exactly. *blank stare* Perhaps it could be described as a 'hodgepodge of emotions'. How random.

Anyhow, to sort my thoughts I have made the following list of emotions I'm feeling and why. Enjoy the peek inside my melon.

Sad: The passing of my grandpa and the pain my dad's feeling.
Content: With myself as a mom, a friend and a sister.
Disappointed: In the recent turn of events that may leave me regretting my actions.
Perplexed: By the Y Chromosome. I need to find my users manual, I think it's in storage.
Frustrated: By the unknown, I process facts... not assumptions.
Overjoyed: With the man my son is turning into.
Delighted: With what great girlfriends I have. ♥
Confused: As to what steps should be taken next.
Accomplished: Work work work. I love it even when I detest it.
Love: Writing, it has always been my saving grace.
Pride: In how much I've grown as a person these last few years.
Serenity: In knowing that I give everything 100%, regardless of the chance it may implode.

I feel a little better now that I've picked them all apart.

Now, back out of my anti-social bubble. I'm locking the door for a while.

::slam::

Five steps forward, zero steps back...

For as long as I can remember, I have been an aspiring writer, doodler and a professional reader.

As a child, I was often scolded for 'wasting every piece of paper in the house'. (Sad but true, my mom used to hide the notebook paper from me and give me rations during the school year.) I had more pen pals then I could keep up with, often pawning the 'not so cool' ones off on my friends who were in need of a NKOTB fan/friend on the east coast.

My kindergarten teacher said the following words to my mom (circa 1983): "I am going to get Sherilynn's autograph because one day, she will be famous..." Sweet words from a woman I detested because she made me take a nap on a rubber mat. Eh.

During elementary school, I would write short stories about my family... just for fun. I discovered the thrill of reading when I was about 8, starting with Judy Blume and then moving onto the Babysitter's Club. I would read & re-read the books until the covers were mangled and the ink on the pages was smeared. Funny, but my favorite place to read was the bath tub. My fingers would be crinkly and the water would be ice cold, but I would keep on reading. My brothers would pound on the door and I would rudely shoo them away... "Leave me alone, Claudia's watching that awful kid!! I have to see what happens! Use the other bathroom, stupid dork!" (Yes, I had anger management issues as a child. Being the only girl out of 278 children will do that to you.)

As an adult, my love of reading hasn't faded. Reading is therapeutic to me. It allows me to be in a different place and time, almost as if I am cutting up the rotting corpse with Kay Scarpetta. *gack* I've learned to love the Salvation Army book shelves. Why buy one book at Target for $6 when I can get 4 for that price at the thrift store?

I started blogging about 7 months ago after a bit of encouraging words from my girlyfriend Kadi. Her blog had me in stitches on a daily basis (She's a 30 year old mother of 7... how can her life be anything but raw in humor and chaos??) and I thought to myself, "Geeze... crazy stuff happens to me on a regular basis. Most of it seems pretty far fetched, but it's true! The black eye from the dog and the crazy ex in the flannel that broke into my home... I should put this on paper." And I did. Kinda. Blogging has given me the opportunity to spew my mind filth. It doesn't matter if anyone reads it, truthfully. I find joy in the art of expressing my thoughts whether it be on the Internet or chicken scratch on the back of an envelope.

Very recently, I was approached by #1 brother (I forget their names at times, there's so many of them...!!!) with some encouraging words...

"Charlotte's been showing me the friggin funny posts you make about your kids. You have a talent, an awesome one. Here's what I suggest you try. Write a novel. Seriously. You have a knack for storytelling right up there with John Grisham. Pick any subject you're interested in... like... say... your kids. Write a story about yourself, changing the names to protect the innocent. I'll help you get it published. Force yourself to write one page per day come hell or high water. Give it a year to be completed, don't rush it. Rough-draft it once. Re-write it twice, and then call it done. Don't do what some noob authors do and get frustrated because it isn't perfect.Seriously - you can send me rough drafts for editing."

Wow.

Right away, I asked myself.."Self, do you feel like writing a freaking book?" And then I answered myself (bear with me, I talk to myself a lot. M'kay? M'kay...) "Helltotheyes!" I've wanted to for as long as I can remember!

I'm at an awesome point in my life where I feel that I'm extremely content with all aspects of it. My job is chaotic, but I love everything about it (even the boys I work for!). Friends and family come first because, after all, they are the ones who have kept me semi-sane these last few years. *wink wink* And as for my love life... well, I suppose the best way to describe it is that I have stopped seeking 'love' in the generic definition. There's someone out there for me, I'm sure of it. Have I met him yet? Quite possibly. Who knows? However, I will not rush it. Period. See? Content.

Which brings me to the main point of this post.

It's time for me to break out of the Sherilynn Comfort Zone.

For the last 22.5 years, I have been the reader. I have read thousands of books, no joke. I have them seeping off my book shelf, my night stand, a stack on the floor next to my bed, boxes filled in my shed with books I've read that I'm not ready to let go of yet, etc.

And now, I am ready to be the writer.

*crossing fingers*

Wish me luck!

Re-evaluation.

I lost my grandpa today. I'm sad for the loss but grateful that he isn't hurting anymore...

When I lost Gina last year, it pushed me to a point in my life where I needed to re-evaluate who I was as a person. Was I happy? If not, then how was I going to change that? Unhappy with my job? Friends? All of these things can be changed. So I began taking baby steps in a direction that would enrich my life. I cut ties with 'anchor' friends that would willingly drag me to the bottom of a piranha infested swamp just to have me involved in their petty drama. I made a drastic change in employment, which bit me in the ass but I'm glad that I did it because it eventually lead me to an even better opportunity.

I've taken a few months to plant my feet in the 'okay' happiness I've had, not ready to make any tweaks or adjustments to my life. Until now. :)

If something makes me happy, I'm going to do it. (As long as it isn't illegal.. heh..) I will be more cautious about who I surround myself with, no more dating just to fill 'voids'. My words of kindness will flow more easily to my friends and family. And when I say something, I will mean it - good or bad.

*deep sigh*

Bed time.

Mishaps happen... to me.

Stuff happens to me. I'm not sure why. Quite possibly because I have such a unique look on life. Disasters in my life are always bloggable and I am able to pull the humor out of the most stressful situations.

Last Week: I was getting ready to go out to dinner. I parked my car in front of Cousin J's house. I had the flashers on... I returned to the car a bit later and it was dead. *egads* She lent me her car to go to dinner. Her friend-boy, our girly friend Amberly and the neighbor attempted to jump start my car. No bueno. It had to be pushed back to my place. The next day I got a new battery and installed it, no problem.

::fastforward a few hours::

During the drive out to Corona to see my brother and sister -in-law before picking up the kids, I noticed that my car was overheating. AHHH!! I pulled over as quickly as I could and called AAA to come rescue me. I got out of the car to pop the hood and noticed that there was anti-freeze splattered all over the hood of my car. *groan* I patiently sat in the car and waited for the tow truck driver.

He took me to Pep Boys where I was told that if they couldn't fix my car that day (this was the very late afternoon) it would have to wait until morning. Fanfreakintastic. A few hours later, I was informed that all I needed was a new radiator cap. Awesome.

::fastforward a few days:

I attended a BBQ with friends. Somehow, during the duration of the evening... I lost my freaking cell phone. Now, for those who know me, I have a problem with phones. I break them, I lose them, I drop them, etc. Some would say I commit "phone abuse" almost on a daily basis.

...Ok, I can't talk about this anymore. I'm having flash backs and cold sweats...