Am I a "minority?"

I have to wonder if I am a "freak" or a "minority" compared to my peers. Here are my "reasons."

1. I was a virgin until my wedding night. So was my husband. We had the chance but decided to never take it.

2. I have never been drunk. There was a time in Spain, but it wasn't on purpose and in my defense, those Spainards know how to mix drinks!

3. I have never smoked a cigarette. Never even wanted to smoke.

4. I have never smoked weed. Never even had the desire.

5. I have never taken an illegal drug.

6. I don't spend my weekends playing beer pong or doing stupid things....I guess this could go with #2.

7. I have never broken a bone in my body. Until recently I had never had stitched. Gallbladder surgery and childbirth ruined that for me.

8. I don't have a tattoo. Doesn't mean I don't want one, I just currently don't have one.

9. I'd much rather spend a quiet night at home with my husband and son than a noisy night at a bar.

10. Until about a month ago I had never been inside of Crickets. I have had a Cricket burger and YUMMO!

11. I can't, and therefore I don't, dance. Kind of odd and random, but oh well.

12. I lost 30lbs. when I was pregnant. It was great! I was buying smaller sized jeans instead of bigger!

13. I have traveled outside the USA 3 times. Once to Canada (we were in Detroit and my Uncle wanted me to be able to say that I had left the country) and twice to Europe. I guess that makes me fortunate, not weird, but it's still uncommon.

14. I ran away from Auburn (freshman year of college) and then came running back. The "running back" is the odd part. Not many people do. Ever been to Auburn? (I really do like it, I just crack a lot of jokes about the lack of things to do).

15. I have only been pulled over once. The expiration sticker on the license plate was on the wrong side. Thanks Dad! It was my senior year in high school and it was the DARE officer that pulled me over, so I don't think it really counts.

16. I never skipped school (in high school). In fact, I actually got caught sneaking into school. I was out with pneumonia and was supposed to be at home resting, but you can only watch so many videos on VH1 before becoming bored.

17. I never was called to the principals office or kicked out of class. Never "earned" a detention or Saturday school.

18. I didn't plan my wedding, Ayron did! The spring semester of 2005 was very difficult for me (course load wise) and I told him that if he wanted to get married that summer he'd have to plan it all and I would show up. He planned it all and I showed up.

That's all I can think of for now. I am sure there are more, but does this list make me "odd?"

Cancer

I have a lot of thoughts swirling in my head and I'm not sure how to compose them, so forgive me if this post isn't very organized.

Cancer sucks. This weekend we lost a family friend to the disease. The disease stripped her of her former self and broke bones. It just seems so unfair. Now her husband and young child must pick up the pieces and carry on.

Last week my Uncle's father was diagnosed with cancer. That family already dealt with this horror before when my Uncle's mother had the disease.

Another family friend, who has been horribly ill, is going to see a specialist on Tuesday. One doctor thinks it could be Chron's disease. Another doctor says that colon cancer often has the same symptoms as Chron's disease and he wants to do a scope.

It seems like the stupid thing is running ramped these days. I am honestly surprised cancer isn't the #1 killer of humans. I am sure we all know someone (if not a family member) who has dealt with the disease. Heck, my grandmother died due to cancer and her sister battled breast cancer (2x if I am not mistaken).

So how do we beat this stupid thing? Is there one thing we can do to prevent it? It seems like every week some study says, "If you eat lots of item 'X' you can prevent cancer." The following week another study says, "Eating too much of item 'X' can cause cancer." Can we not make up our minds? Do we really even know?

Thinking about how ramped the disease runs I have to wonder if I will be forced to deal with the disease. My grandmother had ovarian cancer and my great aunt successfully kicked breast cancer, so am I going to have to fight the same battles they did? It seems a bit unfair to be 25 and wondering if cancer will effect me, but I can't help it.

School Bus Rant

This morning I got stuck behind a school bus. I had dropped TJ off at the sitter and was driving thru the housing addition I grew up in. The school bus stopped every other driveway. What's the point? Are these kids not capable of walking?

(Crack out the cane and dentures for the following paragraph)

Back in my day, we walked to the bus stop. The bus didn't stop at the end of our driveway? If you were lucky, the bus stop was in some one's driveway. If you were really lucky, the owner of that house had a porch they'd let you use when it was raining. Back when I went to school there were only 4 bus stops in my addition. One at each corner. Are the kids to lazy to walk to the end of the street? It's not that big of an addition. A little exercise won't kill them. Is there some sort of new safety hazard I don't know about? One that warrants the students being picked up at their door? Come on now, we walked to a bus stop and we all survived!

Ok, rant done.

Funny From Today

I was talking with a student this morning when he told me he was to walk to the hospital (two blocks away) after school. When I asked why he was being picked up at the hospital he said, "My mom is getting neutered today."

New bed, but sleep cannot be found

Friday morning we picked up our new king sized bed. I was so excited to sleep in a big new bed. Friday night, I did not sleep. Our niece spent the night and slept in Taylor's room. I would rush in every time Taylor coughed in hopes of silencing him before he woke our niece up. Saturday was a busy day of shopping and hanging out with our niece. I thought for sure that I would sleep well......NOPE. I was exhausted last night and wanted so badly to sleep. Due to Ayron's continues nose and throat concert (I didn't buy a ticket, but was serenaded anyways), I failed to sleep again last night.

I am beginning to wonder if it is the bed. Maybe I need new pillows? A visit to the chiropractor perhaps? I'm not overly tired but I'm not full of energy either. I have to wonder if I don't sleep well because Ayron is so far away from me. That would be ironic, we bought the bigger bed to have more space and now I can't sleep because he is too far away from me.

I attempted to wake Ayron up 10 times last night. His "concert" was very loud and very annoying. Several rib pokes and "roll over" later, a nice sock to the gut did nothing to shut him up. I even smacked him upside the head in an attempt to wake him up. He sat up and looked at me, I told him, "Shut up! If you are going to insist on snoring GO TO THE COUCH." His response, "I don't wanna and you can't make me." He magically didn't remember that conversation this morning. He has offered to sleep on the couch tonight in an effort to see if I can actually sleep! I'm thinking, and hoping, a shot of Nyquil will help me sleep.

Upgrade

I haven't blogged in awhile because nothing that exciting has happened. I actually like it that way. Life is good and we are enjoying the weather, when it is nice!

We have been saving our tax refund money and have a couple of ideas on how to spend it. Last Friday we decided to spend some on ourselves. We bought a bed.

I know what you're thinking, "Big deal, so you bought a bed." Ayron and I have been sleeping in a Queen sized bed. In case you don't know my husband, he is 6'10" and not a skinny guy (I think he would look silly skinny!). I am 5'10" on a good day and I am no super skinny model either. So to cram both of us in a Queen is a tight fit. Now, add in two body pillows and there is no room to roll over.

We tried out several models last Friday night and found one we both agreed on so we bought it. We came home and crawled into our queen and decided that we had made a good choice in buying a new bed. Now our old bed seems lumpy and really small. We get our new bed on Friday and I can't wait!

Blurry Pictures

I recently used a website to print pictures to a local store. I was in a hurry when I picked the pictures up and didn't look at them. Later I discovered they were blurry and Taylor was green in several shots. I contacted (via email) the customer care associate and I was told I could take them back to the store.

On attempt #1 to return the prints we were told we couldn't because their scanner couldn't read our receipt. Seriously? You can clearly read the numbers so why not punch the numbers in by hand. I even printed out the email correspondence from the customer care associate and my order form from the on-line photo website. While we were in there, another disgruntled customer had just printed pictures from the instant kiosk. The manager couldn't figure out why the lady was mad. The lady explained, "The baby in these pictures is black." The manager didn't understand. The lady asked, "Why did it print the baby in black?" The manager replied, "Well because the baby IS black." The lady was getting really upset and said, "That child is my newborn grandchild and the baby is not black, she is white, so why did it print her face with black ink?" The manager asked her, "Are you sure the baby is white?" Come on now! Seriously? I wanted to slap the manager! I was so disgusted, I walked out.

On attempt #2 the pictures were returned easily and all was made well.

I have to wonder what possessed the manager to ask the lady, "Are you sure the baby is white?"

**I prefer the term "African American" but I caught a glimpse of the pictures and the baby surely was printed using black ink.

Should Have Known Better

Yesterday I was playing with Taylor and I was thinking about when would be a good time to have a second child. My sister and I are 7 1/2 years apart and in my mind, that is waaayyy to long of a span. I want them close in age, yet I want Taylor to be more independent than he is now. Thinking about all those things, I changed my facebook status to say, "Carma is thinking about #2." Of course, some people thought I was talking about poo...but eventually they figured it out.

Then at 6:30 last night we got a phone call from my mother-in-law asking why I was at the doctors all afternoon. Ayron explained that Taylor had his one year check up and shots. JoEllen said, "Oh, so Carma saw the doctor too." Ayron was confused so he asked his mom, "Um, no. Why?"

Come to find out, someone had read my status, automatically assumed we were either pregnant or trying again, and decided to tell my in-laws.

Seriously...if I was pregnant, don't you think I'd tell my family first instead of posting it on facebook? Just because we are thinking about #2, doesn't mean we are trying or even ready for #2. Why do people jump to these conclusions?