Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

The flashing blue lights of two cop cars are what I awoke to early this morning. Talk about surreal! It turned out we had a visitor on our property that shouldn't have been there.

For those of you that don't know, my Father-in-law lives with us. He is more than a little eccentric, and the recent bout of mini-strokes he has had has left his perception of reality a little off (to say the least). Anyway, in the past we've had an issue with an ex-acquaintance of his showing up at all hours of the night for the sole purpose of money extortion. Not fun. She was an ex-employee of his that he was OBSESSED with while she worked for him, but after quitting her job she basically became a homeless junkie. A homeless junkie with a penchant for extortion. Usually, the in-law doesn't let us know when she is around, he just gives her cash or whatnot and tries to talk with her before she leaves with her dealer. But last night, he had the presence of mind to give chirodad a call when she showed up. Progress!! So, Chirodad had to go listen to the drama (her mom died...for the third time) while keeping her on the grounds long enough for the cops to show up. Once they came, Chirodad told her she wasn't allowed on the grounds ever again (which is something we were told over the past year we had to do, she just kept leaving before we could catch up with her to tell her not to come back), and the cops took her away. I'm hoping that this little drama is all played out, as the past few times we've had anything to do with her, property of some sort (car, lawn care equipment, DVD's, etc) has gone missing. But, I have a feeling I'm going to be on pins and needles for a few days.

Bee Babe and Mom find Pumpkins

 

In the Pumpkin Patch

Lots of pumkins, only one Bee Babe! 

Tis the season...For Pumpkins!

The ChiroFamily went on a search for The Great Pumpkin last night. Many pumpkins were found, but none Great enough. The search continues... 

My Green-eyed Lass

Here she is...my One year, One month, and 4 day old daughter!

This time last year, I was struggling with the concept of having to leave my adorable and very attached newborn daughter to return to work. I remember waking up every morning absolutely depressed because it was one day closer to returning to work. Thankfully, Chirodad managed to deal with me and reminded me that the BeeBabe would be with HIM rather than a day care provider, and would be brought to me daily for her lunch. How very glad I am that he has been able to keep our daughter with him at his office. Especially when I get phone calls from an aghast father (and very proud daughter) proclaiming the BeeBabe's new found talent of stripping. In less than 5 seconds. She takes after her father's side of the family! 

More Bridezilla....

 

Bridezilla - the Early Years

She's the blonde, I'm the brunette...and I have no clue what the small animal is that we seem to be torturting... 

Oh the week I had...

Last week started off well enough...but began a quick spiral downward once Wednesday came. It was my duty, nay privilege, to pick up the birthday cake for one of the old codgers here at work. Why the heck he is still here while celebrating his 68th birthday, I'll never know. Must be all the free booze. And the wonderful office staff. Anyway, as usual, I was running a tad late. So I hit the asphalt running towards the grocery store to grab the cake before I headed to the office. I managed to successfully dodge the insanely happy store manager and two workers that dared darken my path towards the bakery section under the pretense of wishing me a happy day, grabbed the cake out of the display case, and high-tailed it to the checkout. The card aisle caught my attention while I did a mental head-slap, 'duh' and steered my whirling dervish course towards the cards...Found a sufficiently insulting yet humorous card and turned to leave. Mistake one - all this time, I had heels on. Mistake two - grocery store floors are freshly polished at night, rendering a VERY slick surface for the first shoppers in the morning. Mistake three - trying a triple axle jump-like move on slippery floor in said heels. Needless to say, you can all see where this is heading...I managed to fall, break a toe, and IMPALE myself onto my car keys, but damnit, that cake stayed in my hand unharmed and my skirt didn't fly up around my ears. So, I get up, brush myself off, pull my key out of my leg and head to the checkout, all the while making sure that no damage was done to the damn cake. Once I finally get to the office, I notice that I can't feel my toe...Remove my beautiful heels and find something similar to the below picture. Only, now, my entire leg is black and blue from toe to knee. Lovely.


Adding insult to injury was my yearly review at work on FRIDAY afternoon (tell me that wasn't something to look forward to) and finding out that the bossy co-worker just might be put into a position of authority in the next few weeks. All because I've got such a great attitude and can handle any work load and can work with anyone. Talk about encouragement. Oh, and before the lovely review on Friday, I managed to fall ON THE SAME LEG at work and spill coffee all over the wall, floor, and my sleeve. Fun, fun, fun.

Just in case you were wondering...the cake was enjoyed by all. As were many a joke about my gracefullness.

A Meme! I've been tagged...but it's ok, it didn't hurt a bit!

Many thanks to SweetViolet for tagging me (and as soon as I figure out how to do the cool links, I'll add them to the post). Here goes nothing...

1. If money were no object, what would you be doing with your life?

First and foremost, I would be a full time stay at home mommy to Bee Babe and any subsequent children! And we would be living in either Maine or along the Welsh coast in a lovely, hand-made home by chirodad. Of course, the bees would be with us along with a menagerie of goats, Highland Cattle, and a smattering of dogs and cats. And Chirodad would have the sailboat he dreams of and we would travel yearly. I'm sure I've forgotten something, so I'll stop for now...

2. Money is just that - an object, so why aren't you doing it?

Give me a few months...I'll soon be the full time stay-at-home mommy and the rest will follow.

3. What's better: horses or cows?

Cows. Much better temperament, and they don't throw you from an English saddle on a daily basis when you are only 8 years old and learning to ride English saddle...and, I KNOW chirodad is thinking it, so I'll go ahead and type it(SV, avert your eyes)...Cows taste better.

4. What do you think the secret to happiness is?

Being satisfied with who and where you are.

5. When was the last time you had a dream that you either remember well or did not want to awake from? Can you share a bit?

I rarely remember my dreams, but one that I still haven't figured out if it was real or not happened when I was pregnant. I kept seeing a small boy, about 5 or 6 years old wandering around in our house. He kept coming by the bedroom door. He never really freaked me out, just made me kind of sad for him. I've since seen him while awake, and usually whenever Beebabe is nearby. Weird.

6. When you were a little kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to do something with children. I used to say pediatrician, and then after reading one of my favorite books, C.Everett Koop's autobiography, that changed to pediatric surgeon. I currently work in the beverage industry doing nothing with my Biology degree, but have high hopes of one day becoming a midwife.

7. Complete this statement: Love is . .

HARD! And wonderful! And fulfilling! Love is the way my daughter gazes up at me while nursing, or the way my heart fills when I glance at my husband from across the room while he is playing with our daughter. Love knows no bounds, as any parent will tell you time and again. "Love's not times fool..."

8. Can you tell a good story? (write one!)

I used to be able to. I think I was one of the only science majors that took English classes for fun (British Lit rocks!). Sadly, after the year long, 1,000 page senior thesis (where I proved Lamarkian genetics, thank you very much) I lost much of my love of pen and paper. I am hoping to regain it soon.

9. Can you remember your last daydream? What was it about?

Earlier today amidst the many numbers I was looking at, all I was really thinking of was holding the BeeBabe tonight.

10. If you were to thank someone today, who would you thank?

Chirodad, without a doubt, would be thanked for his tremendous patience with a very irritable, and sometimes irrational, chiromum. You are my rock.

Ok, that's it from me! And I'm NOT tagging anyone else because the people I would have tagged have already done this and Chirodad does not have a blog. At least, not one that I know about! Hope you enjoyed!

EEGADS...it's been awhile...

Good grief, I've neglected my poor little blog. In defense, last week was one HELL of a week at the office. I think that the majority of the people I work with can only perform in crisis mode, and thus enjoy creating mayhem and havock for all other employees. Case in point...last week, I had 48 hours to re-price every wine item in our company (something that usually takes about a week to do) by $0.24 per CASE. That's right people, a whopping $0.02 per bottle for most items. Well, on Thursday , we found out at 11:30 am that all the work I had done was for naught, because the powers that be didn't approve the change (thank you manager-wannabe for not getting approval because you have a superiority complex and can't stand to be told that you are ignorant of your job and company procedure) and all work done must be undone in 12 hours.
Top all the work shennanigans off with a visit from the parental units this weekend, mix in some mother-nature hormones, and the result is a very wired and ticked off Chiromum. Oh, and the kitchen sink got a hole in it and had to be replaced Saturday night. Thank God I married a man that knows how to do plumbing!! And that understands that my mother throws me into a whirling dervish of swiffering, dusting, and cleaning tizzy (damnit, the baseboards weren't clean...and I had a spot on the rug...). I guess it doesn't help that I have a sister whose many talents include a spotless apartment (she's in college) and the ability to scrub floors all day long while folding laundry with her toes and leaving not a speck of clutter or dust on any surface for longer than 2 nanoseconds. I can't wait till she has children and realizes that they WILL destroy a room in 5 seconds, no matter what you do to try and keep it tidy.

And guess what else we discovered this week...Old MacDonald had quite the menagerie. This is bee babe's new favorite song that must be sung for no less than 20 minutes before those sweet little eyelids will even begin to flutter closed. And among his many animals, he had a moose, an owl, an elephant, a pigeon, a llama, fainting goats (YES!!!), and a gecko.