Scribbles 'n Scraps

Have you ever wondered about a situation that occured in your life, but as you piece together information, there are still pieces missing?  Have you ever gotten those pieces? I have been wondering about something for EIGHT years. Something that has to do with a friend who is no longer a friend. I have my whole puzzle and a variety of people with matching stories, which tells me that I do have the complete puzzle.

So – when you get your confirmation – what do you do with it? It has made me angry, resentful and hurt over the whole thing as I continued to be friends with her for seven years afterward. It just kills me to finally have the pieces and to now be angry all over again. I haven’t spoken to her in close to about a year and a half now – and I was truly at peace. So now why, am I angry when I get the confirmation on what I already knew all along?

Ugh! Sometimes I think “friends” are more hassle than they are worth. My advice? Select your friends VERY carefully and don’t allow anyone toxic into your life.

We had a great time last night trick or treating. It was kind of bittersweet for us, since our two oldest (both 14) don’t think they will probably dress up next year. I think we might actually miss it a little, but they say they are okay. It’s their choice. We saw some MUCH older kids out last night that didn’t compare in age to our two oldest.

I at least have a few years left with the other three.

Here they are in all their costume glory:

Jess is an asian princess, Brie is a southern belle, Ryan is a gladiator, Melissa is a nerd and Vanessa is a Japanese geisha girl. They loved the costumes they picked and they all played the part going from door to door completely in character. So funny.

Have you heard of Hotel 626? I hadn’t either until about a week ago. And it’s only open from 6pm to 6am so you only have a certain window of opportunity to take advantage of it. You can leave your email address though and they will email you to remind you that your “reservation is ready”, which just means you get to sign on and start playing.
It is a game that has been created by Goodby and B-Reel for Doritos in conjunction with their release of the Taco and 4 Cheese flavored Doritos release. Well, that and I’m pretty sure because of Halloween.

The game is not exactly easy and takes some thinking time to get through it. It is also recommended that you have a web cam as one “level” requires the use of it, and a microphone is another thing that is helpful (but if your webcam has a microphone you’re fine) because another “level” requires you to utilize it. I believe the game works without one, but you would need to skip those levels. (oh and you can get a pretty cheap webcam for about $20 at Target – or simply borrow one).

If you decide to check into Hotel 626, come back and tell me about it. We did it twice last night and tonight and my kids were all into it. Oh, and don’t freak out about leaving your phone number for them – they do call you and to my knowledge is the only way to get through that level.

It was actually yesterday, but we went to his 75th surprise party last night at a wonderful restaurant. In fact, as a writer, the restaurant was inspirational for me. I got some ideas just walking around – it’s so old and fits into the mold of the story I plan to write next month for National Novel Writing Month.

Unfortunately a lot of the night was outside on the patio so pictures really did not turn out heavenly. However, I got these three pretty decent shots of everyone.

My Five Babies!

Just Us Girls!

Just look at him! He’s taller than me and only 14!

I am so freakin’ irritated with T-Mobile right now. First of all, I don’t have T-Mobile. I have NEVER had T-Mobile service. EVER! Yet about a week ago, I sign onto my bank account and see a whopping $447.31 charge on my statement. What?

So after multiple calls to the bank, and several calls to various customer service (ha!) reps from T-Mobile, I am thinking I have everything under control and my $447.31 charge will be reversed.

However, in the meantime, I am looking at cell phone companies. I am wanting to get a new service plan, and I wasn’t sure who I was going to go with. I want the best value for my money, I don’t text a lot, but having some free a month would be nice – and really I want unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes. So, that leaves me with AT&T and Verizon. The majority of my friends have AT&T, and just about everything else in my life is AT&T (DSL, DVR, Landline) so I’m thinking I will use one of these great AT&T coupons to get my new cell phone. What wireless company do you use?

I don’t think I have mentioned yet that while we seem to have a plethora of aquariums lately (aquatic turtle, bearded dragon) we now have a third one set up that is designed for something a bit more common, yet not typical for an aquarium.
We have a caterpillar home for about seven different types of caterpillars.

It has actually been quite cool because the kids got to learn about each individual type, what they generally eat (and then find it) and basically care for them as if regular pets. A little over a week ago, we had one of our beautiful Monarch caterpillars go into her Chrysalis. If you have never seen a Monarch Chrysalis up close you have no idea what you are missing. It looks like it could be a piece of jewelry. It is simply beautiful.

When we got up this morning, I could tell today was the day. The cocoon was so black, which actually meant it was clear and we were seeing her fully inside the cocoon. I pointed it out to my daughter and less than 20 minutes later we were looking at a beautiful Monarch. She is doing well and will be released this afternoon after she has had time to dry and the kids are home from school. We still have another cocoon there ready to go, and two more Monarch caterpillars still crawling around in there. (not to mention at least a dozen other varieties – two that hibernate all Winter – won’t that be fun!) LOL

If you want to see what we saw this morning, watch this video. It’s pretty cool!

This is my baby brother and his fiance. They are getting married in two months, and I am so excited about it. Seems like only yesterday we were meeting for the first time. This is the picture that is on their “save the date” cards, and it might just be only one of about two or three that I have of them together. We will definitely need to change that. I am really excited about becoming a sister-in-law. J is a total sweetheart and really seems to love and care about my brother. I’m so happy for them.

November 29th is the big day, and Brielle gets to be the flower girl. She’s pretty excited since she knows it isn’t too often that a 10 year old gets asked.

I joined entrecard on two of my other blogging sites. So far it seems to be working well, and I’m happy with the traffic increase it has brought.

I haven’t yet installed it on this one as of today, but I am seriously thinking about it. I have found some cool blogs from entrecard, as I’m dropping each day and hope that eventually I’ll have it here too.

If you’re using entrecard, how is it working out for you?

My friends are seriously demented, but I love them. They wanted to do something special for me for my birthday.

This is what I found when I arrived at their home. Those are MY kids! LOL I love ya Portia and Eric! Oh, and the teenage girl is my surrogate daughter, Alexis. Isn’t she a cutie!

Quick note to Ryan that he can read tomorrow:

I cannot believe you are 14 today.  It seems like just yesterday I was holding you in my arms, reading books to you and singing. I know that stuff embarrasses you now, but you have to know how important those memories are to me as your mom.

I know I am blessed to still have you close to me, but I also see you excercising those wings and preparing to fly. Just remember that I’m always there for you and that I love you with all of my heart.

Wanna see what Ryan is getting for his birthday before he does? It’s been hiding in our room for almost a week now and I am so ready to give it to him already. Are you ready?

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It’s a baby bearded dragon. Something he has been wanting for a very long time that in a million years he would never suspect he was getting. Isn’t it cute?

We’re having a picnic for him today with a bunch of our friends and family. Got to go get everything loaded up in the car and give him his surprise.