A weekend of babysitting

So, I am at it again, yep you guessed it, BABYSITTING! I hate babysitting. I have been doing this since I was eleven years old. I used to made $2.50 an hour for 2 kids. Ya, it wasn't much, but you won't believe the amount of money that I had saved up from babysitting. Its a pretty prosporus job. The only problem is that you have to work in the prime hours, such as Friday and Saturday nights, and on the weekends. This is when everyone wants to go out on dates. Or you work the holidays like New Years Eve. Babysitters make prime money these days.
I however have had my fair share. I am tired of it. I love the kids, but I don't want to give up my entire weekend anymore to watch someone else's kids. Ya the money is okay, but if you have the money and can't spend it then who cares right? I think that this is my last weekend. There are other things that I want and need to do on the weekends, and laundry is one of them. When you are older there are responsibilities, and I am sure that the kitchen in my mother's house is looking horrible and that I need to be there to clean it. Because I am sure that the dishwasher is full of clean dishes, but there is no way that my mother will empty it. I swear its a game we have, see who empties it first. I always lose. I just get to a point and I can't take it anymore. I can only handle dirty for so long.

Well, say farewell to the babysitting days!! This is my last weekend, unless I get like $750 to do it. Saying farewell to another chapter in my life.

Golfing with Poppy... My memories of those days

So my sister decided to write a post about golfing with Poppy on the weekends when we were kids. I thought I would write my memories about those times. Its amazing how two people can go and do the same thing but have different memories and recollections of those times. Its pretty cool and makes me miss those days as a child.
Mom was usually working on the weekends, so Dad was left taking care of Andi and me. It seemed like we went golfing almost every weekend when we lived on Ft Bragg. As my sister said we would always get there early, usually Pope or Striker. I liked Striker better myself, but Andi liked Pope better. Anyways, when we first got there Andi and I would ask Poppy to get a cart. We loved driving the cart, but I don't remember ever getting one. He would always say, "we can either get a cart or go to Burger King afterwards." Well, my sister and I loved food and still do, so we would always say Burger King. However, I never remember dad taking us afterwards, lol. We Would get a snack before we started though. We'd eat whatever unhealthy thing dad got us at the first hole. Then it was time to walk, and walk we did. We ALWAYS did 18 holes. I always loved the 8th hole, because dad would give us money to get food at the snack bar, and by the time we got our food we would meet him at the back 9 holes. I remember pulling dad's clubs, but that only lasted a hole or so before I gave them back. He would always laugh because we could never last that long. Andi and I would get bored, so we would play with the golfball retriever. I forgot about that until she mentioned it, but it was true. We would try to retrieve forgotten golf balls from the lakes. It was crazy, but we usually only got grass and crap. But, it gave us something to do. I remember that I used to love to clean the golf balls. They always have a little cleaner at every hole to wash the ball, and for some reason I really enjoyed this.
Andi mentioned some rules that dad taught us for golfing:
Be quiet
Don't laugh when people go into the woods or water (they got mad)
If there is a coin on the green, don't pick it up, its to mark the ball (note, dad and his friends thought it was hysterical when I thought I found a nickel on the green. They had to explain that it was there to mark the ball.)
Hold the flag still
Don't walk between the ball and the hole on the green, it will affect the next shot
Always bring a jacket


There is one memory that I am really fond of. This was when Andi was older, so she didn't go anymore. It was a REALLY COLD day. We drove about an hour to this really great golf course. I just thought it was a long drive. The weather wasn't the greatest, it was misting outside. I had brought plenty of clothes, but it was cold. I was miserable the entire time. It was so cold outside that we were the only idiots playing. Everyone else was inside the clubhouse. AND, the was ice forming on the golf clubs when it misted! It was horrible!! I was so miserable, I swore I would never again go with weather like that. Dad played terrible, it was really cold and so did his friend Mike. I don't think I will ever forget that day.

I had such a great childhood with so many wonderful memories. Its weird how soemthing will make you think of a time in your childhood that was forgotten, but now you remember it like it just happened.
I can't wait to have my own kids one day (no time soon many years away), so I can create these awesome memories with them.
Thanks mom and dad for giving me and Andi a great childhood. Thanks Andi for being there for me to kick my ass all the time and to allow me to make your life a living hell when I was a kid. It was fun. Remember me kicking your bedroom door all the time? I think of that and laugh now, lol

Catching Up. Life is GREAT!!!

Its been a while since I have posted anything. Life has been really crazy. Things are really good right now. Its almost surreal, because everything is going so well. I finally finished my internship for college and my last class is done! The only thing I have left to do is to write my 25 page paper and take a test and then I am done with school!! I have been working as an Admissions Coordinator where I did my internship. Its okay, not my favorite job, but its a job none the less. I will start my AIT internship there in about 2 months, and that will go for 5 months. Then I will be a licensed nursing home administrator. I can't wait to finish and get my own facility. I will finally be starting my career and making a decent living! Its all coming together. I am also dating a really great guy, Adam. Adam is a 3rd grade teacher here in Fayetteville. He's awesome. We;ve been dating for about a month now, and he is unlike any other guy I have dated. Uusually I say, "oh this guy is great, BUT" Well, there is no but with Adam. He has never been married, engaged, and doesn't have any kids! He has a good career he enjoys and seems to be really good at. He owns his own home and even has a car! This guy sounds too good to be true! He likes to go hiking and we will be doing this sometime soon. Wants to go to the vineyard also, which I think is great. My sister asked me if he wants to do things I like, and amazingly I said yes, cause he does. He actually asks my opinion on things and doesn't like it when I tell him to decide. He actually wants my opinion and cares if I am having a good time. Adam likes to golf, and even wants me to go with him. This reminds me of the times when I went golfing with my dad as a child. He used to take my sister and me with him almost every weekend to the golf course. I have fond memories of golfing with dad. Andi and I would raise hell on the golf course. Good times. So I am really excited about going golfing with him. I am really excited about this whole thing. My sister was teasing me and giving me a hard time about Adam. It was finny. This is the first guy that she hasn't said "what are you thinking you idiot" Well, my sister was right. Finding someone who really cares about you is worth it. You shouldn't settle. This is so different from the last 3 relationships that I had. I am just really excited to see what the future will bring. We are going to see Hoobastank tomorrow night. They are an awesome band. I can't wait.
Life is GOOD!! And I will be going to England to see my sister, brother-in-law, and my dad. Its gonna be great. Can't wait.
One more thing. We finally have LIGHTS in the bathrooms!! No more dark showers!
AWESOME!

Drywall removal, don't try this at home

Have you ever wanted to do a do it yourself (DIY) renovation? Well, don't. Its not easy let me tell you. All I wanted to do was take down the ugly wallpaper from the bathroom, paint the walls, change the vanity, and retile the floor. I expected this to take 1 week. Well, I'm going on week 3!! The wallpaper didn't come off that easily, took 2.5 days, and when it did come off, it took off the backing of the drywall with it. So, I thought, "oh, I'll just take down the drywall and put up new and improved drywall." Not the smartest idea I ever had. I have spent 3 days now trying to take down drywall. ITs messy, dusty, and just not fun. But, the good thing is that we will now have moist/mold/termite resistant drywall. Plus, I will not have to scrape the wallpaper glue from the wall, so that's good. I figure once I get that up it'll be a piece of cake. All I will have to do it paint and do the floor. Luckily the bathroom isn't too large, so the floor should be pretty easy. I do like doing the renovations though, because when it is all done its a good sense of accomplishment. I will have done it, nobody else. Plus its cheaper, and it will look so good when it's done. I can't wait for it to be done. Then I get to start on my mom's bathroom. What joy. I will NOT remove the drywall this time though, as I think I have had enough of that. Plus, I want to finish her bathroom quickly, as I know it will be a pain for her not to have a bathroom. It will be a nice present for mom, and she deserves it. I know that there are many things that she wants to do to the house, and I want to do them all, cause the house will look nicer, but also because mom works hard and she deserves to come home to a house she loves. Once the bathrooms are done I will paint, and then I will talk her into buying plantation blinds. They are expensive, but they are so pretty.
Have a good night everyone. I have to go to sleep so I can finish will taring the wallpaper down tomorrow.

Match.com

Well, I have done it. I finally broke down and joined the dating website match.com! I don't really know what I am looking for, mainly just people to hang out with, nothing serious at this point, since things are really confusing and unsettled at the moment. But you know what, I think that everyone's life is confusing and unsettled. How many people do you know are completely 100% satisfied with how things are going? You may know many, but I bet you they are all old, lol. I think people my age are just like me, confused, excited and yet a little nervous about what the future holds. It seems as of lately things have really just been crazy. First my truck dies, then the VA tells me I owe them money, and then my internship falls through. I thought that by moving home everything would just work out perfectly. I would have my truck, an internship, savings, and then get a great job somewhere in Raleigh. Well, surprise surprise. Life doesn't always work out the way we want it to. I guess there is a reason for this that I will doscover later on, but right now it just makes no sense. Oh well, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I did learn one really good lesson though, and that is to save ALL documents, receipts, paperwork, etc. My mom is really good at this. She will save bills, receipts, warranties, etc. for years. She probably has warranties for things that we don't even have anymore! I used to give her a really hard time about this, but have learned why she does it. Because it may be years later, but someone will come back to you and say, you never paid for this, or this was never reconciled. But, if you have the paperwork, even from years back, you can show it to them and protect yourself. So thanks mom, you teaching me to keep all my files over the years has helped me and is paying off.
So back to the match.com thing. So, as I said, I joined, about a week ago. Its been interesting. Its kinda like we are all cattle, being put in a herd and being chosen by who looks best and has the best qualities, then to be slaughtered. Well, not really slaughtered, but you get my drift. So this is how it works. You make a profile, describing who you are, what you do, education, favorites, places lived, etc. You even have to write a paragraph about yourself and what you are looking for in a partner. Then you can post pictures of yourself. If you don't post pictures, don't expect anyone to talk to you. People are so picky these days let me tell you, and I guess I am too. So once you have your profile, you can view other guys. If you make your profile available for public view, meaning everyone can see it, and go and look at someone else's profile, then it will store in their memory as who went and viewed their profile. I have had about 200 people view my profile. Some of these people seem a little creapy, crazy, or just odd.
Also, you can "wink" at someone or write them an email. Let me tell you, I have had some really freaky people "wink" at me and email me. I forgot to mention that your profile states your age and the age of those you are seeking. So, when I get a "wink" from a 50 yr old, this is really creepy. I have had several winks from old men or really scary looking men, or those red kneck country boys that think a good date is going mudding or shooting cans off a log. Its been interesting let me tell you. However, I have had some hot, nice guys "wink" and email as well. I even met one and he seemed pretty normal. I am supposed to go out with him again this weekend, we'll see if he calls. Dunno. Whatever. Really, I just want to date several people to get a feel of what I am looking for and interested in. I have been known to date some real "winners." At this point I know my mom and sister are thinking, yup, Dwayne and that other idiot Lance. But, I also think that every person you date you learn something from. I don't regret dating anyone that I have dated, because I have learned more about myself from doing so. If you don't get out there and try, how will you know what you want? If you don't try different flavors, you won't know it when you find that flavor. I just want to settle for vanilla anymore, but am looking for the other flavors that are out there. We will see. I will have to keep you posted on how this thing turns out. Time will tell as my grandmother says.

Trying to lighten up ... think BLENDERS

I figured that since all I really wrote about this week was bad stuff (even though other people thought the posts were hysterical) I would write something that doesn't really pertain to anything. The only problem is I can't think of anything to say. Give me a minute, something will come to mind. Nope... not yet.... gimme another minute.
Okay, so I got something. Blenders. Do people even use these things anymore today? I own one, and I can count on my hands the # of times I have used it. They are a pain in the butt. You MUST add liquid, otherwise you aren't blending a damn thing, just burning up the motor. Then, when you do want to blend something liquid, like ice cream, you usually don't have it in the house so you have to go out to the store to buy the ingredients. So why have the blender, since on the way out to the store, you could just go and buy the stupid shake you wanna make. Plus, its probably cheaper just to go to McDonald's and buy the thing.
I'm currently "visiting" my mom. This means that I am staying with her for a little while until I finish school and get a job, which hopefully will happen by April. Its now January. Anyways, I noticed that my mom has a blender. I have to say that she has used the blender, but to save time, buys premade shakes. So you see, there really isn't a reason to own a blender. They just take up room on the counter. This being said, I still own mine, and probably won't ger rid of it anytime soon. I know, what can you say?
Have a good night all.. I am tuckered out and ready to go and get under the covers, because my mom's house is ALWAYS freezing. Why? Beats me, it just one of those facts.

Renovations begin...bathroom #1

I have always wanted to renovate a house. I think that I would be awesome at flipping houses, because I love to do the work and I do good quality work. I don't belive in doing a half ass job, because it will just cost more money in the long run, more time and more frustration. I have finally convinced my mom into letting me renovate the bathrooms. I have decided to start with the one directly at the top of the stairs. It was the one my sister and I used growing up. I figured that if I started with this one I could take my time and learn along the way. I didn't want to do mom's first because I know that she wouldn't like waiting 3 weeks for it to be done. Not that I plan on it taking that long. However, now that I have started, its going to take me longer to do this thing than I thought.

I go and get wallpaper remover. I am a pro at removing wallpaper. My cousin Keri conned me into doing her house, and it was the ugliest and oldest wallpaper I had seen. I figured that if I can remove 60yr old wallpaper, this would be a breeze. Well, as usual, I was wrong. I started by taking everything off the walls, mirror included. That mirror is heavy by the way. Then I put the wallpaper remover on the walls. It was the concentrate stuff, and didn't work very well. So I just pulled off what was already peeling from being on the walls for the last 25yrs. It was cool. A lot of it came right off with no problem. I left the remaining for the next day when I would get new wallpaper remover. So I go and get the gel stuff, it works the best and paint it on. I start to peel the paper off. It comes off in the smallest pieces, if it comes off. I put on another coat, then another coat, then another but to NO avail. At this point the walls are soaked and still have this ugly wallpaper on them. It finally starts to come off, but you guessed it, it peeled right down to the drywall. So now I have brown patches everywhere that I will have to spackle. Turns out that the idiots that built this house did a crappy job. Instead of priming the drywall and then putting the glue on for the wallpaper, they just stuck on the glue and then the wallpaper. To top it off, they also put tape around the corners of the ceiling, so when I went to put off the caulking the popcorn decided to come off as well. I had planned on removing the popcorn ceiling, but wanted to wait until after the wallpaper was off. ITs now Tuesday, that's right. I have spent 2.5 days peeling wallpaper off the wall, and there is still glue all over the place. The bathroom looks horrible and I am ready to take a hammer to the damn walls. I go to Lowe's to look at replacing the drywall. Its pretty cheap and they have a type specifically for bathrooms, mold and moist resistant. So now I want to replace the drywall. The guy said its easy but time consuming. No more time consuming then peeling paper I tell him. So now the bathroom still looks like crap. I plan on taking the popcorn off the ceiling first and then removing the drywall. I want to contain as much of the mess as possible. I will add pictures of the bathroom in its current state and will also add pictures of my outfit, as I need to have a mask and goggles. This should be interesting. Will let you know what happens later. God PLEASE help me with this. I have a feeling its going to be bad before it gets better.
Well I got the supplies I needed. But I only got one roll of plastic tarp. This was me trying to save money. As usual, me saving money meant spending more of my time. So after I used all the plastic tarp in about 1 minute, I decide not to go back to Lowe's but to get creative instead. So I go and get the back plastic trash bags and cut them up and then tape them to the walls. This is to prevent the popcorn and the water from getting into the molding around the floor. It also helps to contain the mess. Now I will still have to go back to Lowe's tomorrow and buy more tarp because I plan on attaching it to one wall to the middle of the ceiling to hopefully catch all the popcorn as it falls off the ceiling. The last thing I want to do is clean popcorn up for a week, because with my great luck it will take that long. So tomorrow morning I plan on wetting the ceiling and starting on the popcorn. Wish me luck. I'm sure it will go badly, but you never know,
I might just get lucky.