Madison has taken to calling her Daddy "Big Boy". We don't know where she got it from but it is funny as hell!
Here are some pics of Big Boy tubing on Sunday

You can do it!

Hang On Honey!

It's a lot harder to hold on than it looks!

Chilling on the back of Daddy's truck

New "Hello Kitty" bathing suit Mommy bought for the IOP trip next week. She also has
Hello Kitty shades and sandals. *rolls eyes*

Only three more days til' va-ca-tion. I.Can't.Wait.

I am off of work today and Madison said she wants to play in her room so after i've
1) got her DVD in that she wants to watch
2) made her bed up to her satisfaction only to have her UN make it
3) got her some "shortcake 'nana" (V8 Splash Strawberry Banana Smoothie)
4) found "Blankie"
5) launched an un-succesful search for "Boy" (she settled for "Sister" instead) ...

I can sit down and get this post up as fast as possible before I am paged again :) Honestly she is so funny and entertaining though it's hard to even get mad when she gets bossy or crabby.

I had alot of fun tubing but lord I am still sore from it

I can waterski but I much prefer this!
It really feels like you are flying across the water


Me and my baby girl

Carrie took Maddie out on the tube

Maddie liked it until they had a spill on Sunday then she was ready to get back on the boat. She was such a good sport though and didn't even cry!

We are so lucky we have Carrie! She takes such good care of my girl!

Yes for those of you who are wondering Stacy did tube on Sunday and i've got a couple pics of him but they are still in the camera. Coming soon.

Some pics of our week-end. We took the boat out Saturday and Sunday
The girls in their lifejackets. Actually we found one later that was like a swimsuit w/ a built-in lifejacket for Maddie that she liked better.

Helping Daddy drive the boat. That's Casey on the right.

My handsome husband!

Yours truly, I refuse to wear sunglasses and get "raccoon" eyes so instead i'm squinting like a squirrel all the time. I can't win *sigh*

More pics tomorrow of us tubing. I have bruises from knee to thigh. I have used muscles I didn't know existed on my body. But I had FUN!

Well the stars/chart is not working worth a damn. We even tried offering her double and then TRIPLE stars if she just made it through one night. Not happening. This morning she came in after 5 a.m. (we get up at 6). I told her "You have less than an hour to go, if you go back to your bed you'll get the stars" but she climbed up anyway. *sigh* She wanted "me" to take her to Carrie's instead of her Daddy and threw my whole schedule out of whack LOL I couldn't find the shoes I wanted to wear. I hate it when little stuff like that happens. I had to "settle" on a pair of sandals. I wasn't late for work though but I am not happy with these shoes.
I know we are probably in for a fight tonight but Miss Madison IS going to bed at 8pm. She has not wanted to go to bed lately and she's tired and irritable. I know she's not getting enough sleep. Time to put our foot down I guess. I can do it (keep repeating to self).

Rebel pride y'all. This was taken at the Racetrack last Saturday night. This bunch were all hanging out happily for hours and as they got increasingly drunker well you can guess what happened. Yep a good ol' fashioned redneck fight broke out. I was videoing it on my phone and one of the guys got a little upset so I stopped. Then I erased it by accident while viewing it later dang it! It was TOO funny. It always follows the same pattern. Guy A and Guy B are running their mouths. Then a little shoving starts. Then Wife A tells Guy A "Let's Go". Then Wife B says "Kick his @ss" to Guy B. Then the wives start screaming at each other. Hilarious. Then the po-po showed up and escorted one couple out. Then we had to listen to the other guy go on about what "would" have happened if the po-po wouldn't of showed up. Uh huh. Whatever dude.

Me and my Princess at one of our favorites places to eat Cre*ek R*atz. I love the southern bbq pork eggroll. Mmmm..... they have a vinegar sauce to dip it in. That and the buffalo shrimp wrap are the only things I have ever eaten there. I am a creature of habit sometimes. Hopefully we might go there tonight!

I pass over this bridge in the five minute commute between my new home and work at the Crying Cow Bank every day. It's very beautiful and peaceful. I even saw a doe last week. Fabulous!

Sometimes my kid is just too cute to be believed!


Random Brain Dump:

I spend way more time at work wishing I were away from it. It's not that I hate my job and I actually like the people I have the most contact with I just feel restless and very, very bored. Thankfully SFG and the hub keep my spirits up via email!

I wish my husband could get to know some of my blogging buddies by reading their blogs or comments. Honestly you guys are the greatest bunch and i'm afraid due to the past events he will never give you a fair chance.

I wish people didn't think that friends you make via the internet are somehow not "real". My internet friends show more interest and concern in my daily life than people I am related to and/have known for YEARS.

I am just feeling really really bitchy and negative this morning and I hate it. Hate.It.

The song "Waiting On A Friend" by the Rolling Stones keeps playing on a loop in my brain.

I wish I would get a nice surprise today.

I am so sleepy this morning! Do I look it? LOL This is the last pic in my "haunted" house when we were moving. I am SO glad to be away from there. I love the house we are in now and am pretty sure we will end up buying it. The kitchen and bathroom both need to be re-done but that's okay. We would take that into consideration when we do the mortgage. I like the way the house is laid out and I love my huge closets in every room.
Tonight we oficially start the "earning chart" to get Madison to sleep in her own bed. I just need to put a small nightlight in the Hall so when she gets up to come to our room she can see the chart and (hopefully) think "Oops I have to go back to my own bed so I can earn a star". Cross your fingers. She picked out the stars herself and was mad because I wouldn't let her have them this morning. I explained she has to earn them so we have a little learning curve ahead of us but I think she'll catch on quickly. After five stars she gets a new toy or DVD of her choosing.

Wow am I glad it is Friday! We are picking up my favorite nephew tonight (well one of two of my favorites - they are brothers) and he is staying with us all week. Hope he gets to catch lots of Fish :)
Madison is still getting up at night. She's not scared, not talking about the boogeyman or anything but she wakes up. I guess she's still becoming acclimated to the new place. She does love her room and she goes to bed fine. *sigh* I guess it's just a small glitch we have to get through.
I do love our new place, it's kinda cold there right now though........

Okay I bought some Nature's Miracle. Still waiting on the cushions to dry. At least when I walk in I am not overwhelmed with a cat pee smell! Thanks for all of your good advice yesterday!

I love the word humpday....humpday~humpday~humpday!

We met our neighbors to the right of us. They are: Dad: Leon, Mom: Kenya, 13 y/o girl (I can't remember her name), 8 y/o boy, Lafayette and 5 y/o boy Jordan who is Madison's buddy. They were riding in her Barbie bug last night all around the cul de sac. Too cute! So much nicer to have normal neighbors now.

The Ice Cream Man came by and I was so shocked because all of his stuff is only $1! He said he at least comes by every Tuesday but he'll try to come at the end of the week too. It was so funny - Stacy beat the kids running to him! LOL

I want a cupcake this morning - BAD. Might have to make a CJ's Bakery run when I get off work. Okay that's all i've got this morning! Have a wonderful Wednesday all!

EDITED TO ADD: My hard drive crashed right after I finished this entry so I haven't been able to respond to any of your comments or visit any blogs and now I have to get "some" work done! Waahhh!!! Thanks for all of your kind commments on Friday. Maybe some things will die down now that we have the move behind us. If not I'm in for the biggest battle of all. Keep praying and your fingers crossed for me.

Can I just say that my husband is one of the hardest working men I know? We are polar opposites because I am inherently lazy and need someone to crack the whip on me when it comes to manual labor. We got all moved this week-end and Thank Bob my sister and niece were there to help me stay focused and organize is all I can say. Stacy busted his ASS doing the heavy labor.
He didn't call his friends to help so I can't talk any shit about them this morning. Dang it. Foiled again!
There is still lots to do but i'm happy for the most part. I sat outside on the back stoop and listened to crickets last night.
Oh and our backyard neighbors catty-cornered, Brittany has a crush on the little boy from school, so guess who will be at my house 24/7 if she can!
LOL She was so funny. Standing up trying to peep over the privacy fence. She's alot like me at her age.
Yep, I was boy crazy!


Happy BirthdayPat!

I feel a storm front moving in... and I don't know what to do about it

It may not look like much but we've rented this house on the Isle Of Palms,SC (outside of Charleston) the week of August 18 -25th. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and 2 screened porches. We got a really good deal. I know it's not the taj mahal but the pictures looked nice enough and the rental company has a very good reputation. So.... now I can get through all the stuff of moving with something to look forward to!!!
**Oh and I won't even be all negative and blog about the fact that Stacy mentioned inviting his mega drunk friends down to stay, um, the ones I probably like the least. I see a little trouble brewing on the horizon but i'll overlook it for now.

Well my baby has slept peacefully for two nights now. Mommy not so much. I feel like I have to watch over her. Heard some noises last night but they could have been my imagination and nothing so clear as the first night. (Thank God).
Kris (first time commenter - welcome!) mentioned my asking Madison what he looked like. Well, I did and she said "He nasty boogey man, he was white" and I asked was he little like her she said "No Mommy he big".
Tammy mentioned how she "whoooshes" her ghosties out in the trash. We tried several things. Daddy beat him up, Lala got rid of him, she was all in agreement but still... she'd say at night that he was there.
I know I have some skeptics and I don't blame you but if you stood in my shoes I guarantee you would feel somewhat differently.
I stopped at a healthfood store last night that I thought might have sage but they didn't. Anybody have any ideas? Would a sage candle work as well?

Okay you know Madison has been having sleep issues for about two weeks now. She has been waking up every single night at home.
Well Saturday I was talking to Carrie and she said she thinks there might be something to Madison always saying the boogeyman is in her room. She slept fine the two nights she spent at her grandma's (when we went to Folly Beach).
Sunday night we put Madison to bed at her usual time. She never argues or cries when it's time to go to bed and she likes her big girl bed and has "boy" and "sister" and her big stuffed dog in there with her. So that's not an issue.
Well about 10 minutes she comes back out. "Boogeyman in my room" I said "Maddie there is no boogeyman" She is looking at me with wide eyes "Yes Mommy, he touch my hair. He throw blankie on floor but I put it back" (My girl gonna FIGHT the boogeyman lawd have mercy).
I told Stacy "This is it. This child has got to have a good nights sleep so we're moving her toddler bed into our room". and we did.
I must also say Saturday night I even offered to let her sleep with us but she told me she wanted me to rock her and then she said "I ready to get in my bed now" (at 2:30 am) but it wasn't long before she was back saying the boogeyman was in there. But I digress.
I had went in her room with a Bible and told whatever was in there that it has to leave. It has to go to God, to the Light, I don't care WHERE but it's got to leave my babygirl alone and let her sleep.
After we moved her bed into our room and we all went to bed I heard some loud knocks coming from her room.
Y'all my heart leapt into my throat but I was too chicken to get up or say a word to Stacy. The next morning he said he could hear something moving around in her room. The cats were outside all night, Reilly sleeps in the livingroom, and her door was shut tight. I don't know. AND she slept soundly all night long.
I don't know what to believe exactly, do I think a spirit or being has been stirred up because we are moving. You betcha. I think maybe I made it mad when I ordered it out. You can scoff or laugh but that's what I believe. I know we are getting the hell out of that house as fast as we can and my baby will be sleeping in her toddler bed in my bedroom until we do.

Well first off can I just say you know you live in a bad neighborhood when a crackhead pays for items at your yardsale with a lottery ticket. It's probably expired *sigh* I"m glad that's over with but Stacy did 99.9% of it. He wanted to split the money but I told him keep it, he earned it. I hate having yardsales. Hate it. If you ask a dime for something somebody will want to pay you a nickel.

We had a great time at the Lake. I love it. It inspired me to get a new steering wheel cover for the car

Flip Flops rule! I've been a "flip flop" fan for years. I have several dresses and shirts with the flip flop theme. So cute!

The seat covers are cute also. I forgot to check for floor mats. Oh well. If they have them okay, if not, that's okay too. I don't have to go overboard.. or do I?

Maddie got a little too much sun under her eyes, I put SPF 50 sunblock on her. It looks worse than it was. She never complained about it and when I asked her if it hurt she said "No" but I gave her a little dose of childrens Advil anyway just to make sure she was okay. Here she is in her "Princess" nightgown!

Mommy got some sun too! (no I am not trying to flash anybody either LOL). Stacy was like "What am I taking this picture for?" I said "To put on my blog". He didn't say anything negative but I bet he doesn't even come check it out. He probably already lost the address for it. *snort*

I hope my girl Cheeky had a wonderful, fantabulous birthday and I will be checking to make sure your birthday gift was shipped.

I don't know if you can read my shirt but it says "Queen of Everything". Hah. I love it! The Kept Woman isn't the only one whose Vicki's Secrets make her boobs look bigger. Lawd Have Mercy! Oh and that is my hair in it's natural state. Ugh. That's all i'm saying about that! Happy Friday my Friends. We are going to the Lake Sunday and I can't wait. We won't even talk about tomorrow except to say it involves a yardsale. Double Ugh.

***GREAT the IT F*ckers have blocked my access to my Yahoo Mail. Those of you that have my work email can use it. Assclowns.

Tomorrow July 14th my dear CHEEKY will turn, um, 29! Yeah that's it! She is celebrating all month long so feel free to send her a belated gift (I am :( due to circumstance beyond my control).

We are going to the Lake this Sunday. I can't wait. Maddie loves it. She puts on the "swimmies" and goes to town. She is getting quite the suntan despite the 50 sunblock I slather on her.

Also I guess I should mention that yesterday (July 12th) was my five year anniversary since I had gastric by-pass surgery. Despite gaining some weight when I went back on an anti-depressent last year (after childbirth) I would do it all over again. Yes, a few people that made the journey at the same time I did, did not make it. And others gained just about all of their weight back but I am one of the lucky ones. If I put up a "before" picture you just wouldn't believe it. I think I showed one to Southern Fried Girl.
Anyway Happy Friday The Thirteenth Y'all!

I feel like a parrot but i'll repeat myself again.

When you are in the parking lot at Crying Cow Bank, and you see me pull up and my back-up lights come on. That "might" be a clue that i'm going to back into a parking space. My backing skills leave a lot to be desired Mmmmkay? In the afternoon when traffic is rather heavy in the parking lot I prefer to pull straight out. It's for best, trust me. If you persist in trying to zoom around me and then park a mere few feet away you might just get out of your hunk of junk car and find me beating you about the head in a frenzied manner.

To the lazy bitches I work withMy Beloved Co-Workers: Don't stand around and bitch and moan about "how much you have to do" and "Omigod i'm so-o-o swamped that I need help". If you are standing around talking for the length of time I actually "see" you, i'm sure it is that much more and you can't be so busy if you can spend 3 hours of the day gossiping with your neighbor.

To the dumbass who knocked on my door to inquire why all the For Sale signs are sprouting up in our neighborhood. Um, do you live around here? Do you see the crackheads loitering up and down the street at all hours of the day/night. Have they approached you and asked for money. Uh-huh? They have? Okay that should be a clue.

To my darling husband: You can stop stressing about the move now. You know you can begin next week and you are going to be busier than a one-armed man in wallpaper hanging contest. You should be content. I will be at peace because I will not hear you say every five minutes "I wonder when we can start moving". Now you know. Happy~Happy~Joy~Joy :)

To My precious two-year old. If you don't STOP getting up in the middle of the night EVERY FREAKING night (for over a week now) I am going to super glue your little butt to the bed. I'm kidding, no hate emails ok? Seriously I don't know what is going on with her but it's rough being awakened from a sound sleep, having to go rock her for about a half hour and then go back to bed and wonder if she'll show up again.

I think that is enough. Just a few things I wanted to get out of my system today. Happy Thursday!

Also I want to thank Cheeky,Tammy,SFG & Wendy again for giving me the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award! I feel so special!

CHEEKY loves me enough and has the discriminating taste to give me the above reward. Thanks Honey! (Oh and it's her birthday this Sat-ur-day!!!!)

I got a second award from the awesome TAMMY who hates people and will roundhouse kick a mofo in a heartbeat!

I'm getting weepy here. I got a THIRD award from the awesome SOUTHERN FRIED GIRL who has the best heart and hides it well under her biting wit!

OMG I have earned a FOURTH award from the darling WENDY who is a fellow South Carolinian and Mom to the adorable Jaykeb.

I am so honored y'all. Truly. You all rock to the nth degree!

I have to nominate four Rockin' Bloggers. I'm going to try and pick ones who haven't already won this fine award. It's tough. I have so many great people on my blogroll.

The Peanut Queen because she is one rockin' wild but adorable chick! She is also one of my first faithful readers!

Caroline she definitely rocks because she has came out of some tough situations in her family and love life and is stronger than ever!

Casey She and her wife Dakota just lost a parent each and yet they have the most wonderful, loving, strong supporting family I have ever known. They rock.

Gerbera puts up with stupid Cow-Workers and Custa-Morons at Big Bookstore on a daily basis. Usually gets the short end of the "sheduling stick" and yet she has a wicked sense of humor and wonderful nicknames for everyone. She rocks!

I had to go have one of THOSE. My Mom had breast cancer the first time when I was eight years old. She had a partial masectomy and radiation and was fine for 18 years and then it was discovered again. She had the other breast removed. Again, we were very lucky. She has a complete bone scan yearly and except for a few bouts with non-malignant melanoma she has been cancer-free. Therefor her daughters and our daughters and so forth will have to be extra vigilant about this particular type of cancer. Sorry for such a sobering post. The mammogram was NOT that bad. I would imagine the larger you are the easier it is and the smaller the harder. I'm a C cup so I guess I fall in the middle so to speak. Sorry TMI ....
We still don't know when we can move and Stacy is champing at the bit and driving me nuts. We told them August 1st and we also asked if he could put some things in the outside storage building and move Madison's playhouse over early but somehow he's got it in his head that we should be able to start moving in lock,stock and barrel mid-month. Oh well... I told him last night "We can't push them out of their own house. If you don't hear from them this week, call them by the week-end". That of course doesn't satisfy him and he also isn't going to like it if they don't say "Hey you can start moving yesterday". *snort*.
I can talk shit because I don't think he's ever come back to my blog and read it again. I'm sure he wouldn't be able to resist mentioning it if he did. *shrug*

We had a great time, the Watersedge Inn was fabulous. This is the sitting room.

The bed (the down comforter is white and hard to see and this is AFTER Stac flopped down and I made him get up so I could take a picture! The bed was SO comfy. I didn't even take my own pillow and I have NEVER done that before. Ever.

The Plasma TV over the fireplace. I did turn on the fireplace for a few minutes just because I could :)

The soaking tub and skylight overhead. Stacy says I take pictures of weird things. I wish I had gotten a picture of the sink. It was a "free-standing" bowl. Very Neat.

The shower was big enough for four people I swear! It had jets running up the side of the wall. I didn't use it but Stacy did. He loved it.

French Lavender shampoo & condition and the creamiest oatmeal soap i've ever used. Mmmmm I loved it!

Yours truly taking a pic of myself. I was on the balcony and wanted to show the Marsh behind me. Not to mention we had come up from "Happy Hour" downstairs and I had mistakenly gotten ahold of the Planters Punch and added Vodka to it so, yeah, I was quite drunk by then. I swear I thought it was cranberry juice!

Me sitting in a swing at the Crab Shack where we ate dinner. I have one of these swings but have never put it up. It's definitely going up on the deck at the new house. Fun!

The food was really good here. Stac had a lowcountry boil; shrimp, crab legs, corn, potatoes and I had fried green tomates stuffed with lump crab. Yummy! We had no problem as we got there about 6 but by the time we were halfway through the line was l-o-n-g.


We had pizza at Woodys, OMG it was the best i've ever eaten. It had five kinds of cheese on it, steak and mushrooms.

That was all the pics I got because my battery was dying on my camera but even though it rained Saturday night we still had a great time in our room. *cough* *cough*
I had cream cheese stuffed french toast for the first time. I might have to attempt that! I made reservations for us to go back in October. I hope we get to but the only way we won't is if we decide to spend a week in a beach house instead and that wouldn't be so bad either........ Hope y'all had a great week-end!

My kid sings the "ghetto" version of TTLS and it is DAMN funny!

"Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you IS".

Makes me laugh every time!

4th of July is usually the hottest, humidest most miserable day of the year. Last night while we popped off Fireworks we had throws wrapped around us. Pleasant, but very strange. I hope the rest of the summer is mild. I can't ever remember something like this. I may take a sweatshirt to the Beach just in case.

Oh Oh and also I was telling Stacy that a girl I work with, T, her sister and some friends are going on a "girls trip" to Biltmore House. T's husband WON'T LET HER GO. Yeah. Nice. Stacy said (in front of my two nieces) "I would never give Patti a hard time about going on a girl's only trip especially with her sisters or something". Uh I think my "sisters" Cheeky, Shell and Katie would agree dear husband :) :) :)

When we took our trip to Myrtle Beach a few weeks ago we took Madison to Fantasy Harbour. She had a BLAST. I love an amusement park myself and although I have to be careful about the spinny rides now (due to inner ear problems lead to motion sickness TOO easily) I still will ride just about anything. Especially a Roller Coaster and I love the Double Ferris Wheel.







I have to say my girl is like her Momma. She wasn't afraid of any of the rides. She wanted to go "faster" even. There was a merry-go-round also but I didn't get a pic of that. She's rode a ton of them (at the Zoo, Festival of Lights, Azalea Festival etc.).
I am so glad we are off tomorrow for the 4th of July. I think we are going back to the Lake again but i'm not 100% sure. I'm just ready for the WEEK-END!

Madison is happily ensconced in her bed watching The Wiggles and next up is Higgledytown Heroes... okay I just had to go in there and give her a strip for a stuffy nose and fill up her humidifier.. maybe she's not so much a fan of the Wiggles as I thought! Now she wants chocolate milk and goldfish hmmmm does that constitute a balanced breakfast?.....
We have to take Reilly to be groomed, there is a pair of sandals at Steinmart I want (if they are still there, I only saw one on Tuesesday when I was there and stupidly did not get them) and I promised Madison we would look for her a Strawberry Shortcake Nightgown. Lunch somewhere and then tonight we are meeting our friends, Stacey, Johnny & their adorable little boy JohnnyMac for dinner at Creek Ratz. Mmmmmm seafood!
THIS is what we did last night. Took Madison fishing for the first time. She did really well, she caught three!



Hopefully i'll be back in the afternoon to read/comment while she takes a nap. Cross your fingers cos' that child definitely benefits from a nap and I can't even begin to think about taking her to Creek Ratz tonight without a good long afternoon nap. I sound so "mommish" don't I? *grin*