Nope, I'm not pregnant and don't plan on being one for awhile, but I "borrowed" my friend's baby yesterday. He's three months, and they really wanted to be able to have a nice Valentine's Day together, and their baby sitter bailed at the last minutes. I offered to take him ... and wow, it was a lot of fun!

I've always wanted more than one child, and now I can't wait to have another. I wouldn't mind having another one by myself, but of course, I would want to be better off in my financial situation. Obviously.

Anywho, we had an awesome night. My daughter is in LOVE with babies, so I was really curious to see how she would take to having him around. The only time she was jealous was when I was holding him when we stopped for dinner at Moe's ... mmm Moe's ... and she wanted me to hold both of them. She's 30lbs and he's 15lbs ... needless to say, that was heavy.

So ... since I am not in the spot to have another child, at least for the next couple of years ... I offered my services as a free babysitter as often as once a week. I know how stressful it is to have a new baby, and since they are both my best friends in the whole world ... I want to make sure their relationship stays strong. PLUS, if I do decide to become a single mother of two ... well, I'll be able to cash in on free babysitting for a number of years. Tehe .. there is always a method to my madness.

Whew ...

I love Florida. Today we were hit with a monster of a storm (though, not nearly as bad as other storms have been around the country, thank goodness.)

It all started around 4pm today, right around the time I was getting ready to leave work. That's when they made the announcement to the employees ... there was a tornado warning. Normally, these things don't scare me, but when I am not with my child, well, I get worried. So, I decided to leave (my shift was over, I just didn't want to leave b/c of the storm.) My boss comes up and asks me to stay for a minute, to see if the storm settles a little ... but I am still a little worried since my daughter isn't with me ...

Then my manager comes up to us and says "Remember ladies, if something does happen, the safest place in the building is the walk-in cooler." So ... in case you didn't know, if a tornado is coming, run to the walk-in cooler. I filed this under "Crap I don't want to ever have to use."

So, after waiting for about 15 minutes (the rain finally started letting up) I ran for it. I love how people run through the rain. We aren't made of sugar, you aren't going to melt ... but I ran for it as well. Cracks me up. What, am I afraid I am going to get wet!?!? The drive to Julie's school was pretty uneventful, the traffic was actually doing the speed limit (shocking!)

At Julie's school, they have a great rainy day procedure. You park two cars at a time under the cover and they run and get your child for you. I should mention it was lightning pretty bad at this point. After I got Julie buckled into the backseat, we drove home. Again, people were actually doing the speed limit! I was sooo surprised. I am sure this isn't something unique to Florida, but since most of us are pretty used to horrible weather, people seem to drive like insane morons when it's pouring outside.

We get home ... and was 5:30. It took over an hour and a half to leave work, get Julie and get home. It usually takes 45 minutes. WOW. I decided to check the news ... since we loose power in the house usually with the first flicker of lightning.

Our cable is out ... ugh. I called and called ... and it's out around this area a lot. Strange that I have internet, but not complaining. The only thing I really wanted to watch was the news ... since a tornado hit near my g-ma's. I quickly fixed dinner, and made sure we had candles and flashlights.

So far though, we haven't lost power. YAY! I called my mom ... and supposedly the really bad storms are coming around 2am ...so I don't know how much sleep I will get tonight. Flashights/candles are on the bar just incase. I also made sure there was room for us in the closet ... just in case.

However, my roommmate has come downstairs FOUR times asking if the cable has come back on. She's more annoying than my daughter. LOL.
Me: Did you check your tv?
Roomie: Yeah, nothing. Did you call the cable company?
Me: Nope, not since the last time I called.
Roomie: Oh. Man. I was hoping they would have let us know something by now.
Me: Well, when I called before ... remember, I told you they said a lot of cable was out ... I don't think that's changed much ...
Roomie: Yeah ... I know.

ARRGH. I wish I could sit the roomie infront of "Little Mermaid" that's been keeping Julie pretty occupied.

So ... on to the things I learned toda:
1. Walk-in coolers are reinforced, therefore making them safe during tornados.
2. Roommates can be more annoying than small children if they don't have cable.
3. I have WAY to much stuff in the freezer, so I am hoping we don't loose power for any length of time. Seriously, how many people do I think I shop for?!?!
4. Driving in the rain isn't fun .. but when people do the speed limit ... it's actually a little enjoyable.
5. My windshield wipers make an annoying squeaking noise. Oh, and driving without a/c and with the windows up is HOT.

LOL, needless to say, it's been an enjoyable day. I'm looking forward to tomorrow ... a beautiful day off. Complete with baking cookies to send to the troops and cupcakes for Valentine's Day for Julie and my coworkers. Who says I'm not nice/

Well, Julie and I have been working on potty training for like ... ever. Seriously. She started doing #1 on the potty way back at 18 months. She LOVED going potty. It was fun, it was new.

And then it stopped.

Finally almost a year ago, she got really into #1 on the potty again. YAY! It was a constant thing, something she was really into. YAY! But, no #2. Nothing.

So, last week, Julie and I had a discussion.

Momma: So, what if you got something really cool if you go poop on the potty.
Julie: No, I like to go poop in my big girl panties.
Momma: But isn't going poop in your panties YUCKIE?
Julie: Nope, I LIKE it. A LOT.
Momma: What if you got something really cool, like tattoos when you go poop on the potty.
Julie: Hmmm ... let me think. What kinda tattoos?
Momma: I don't know. Let's look online. Oooo, look Monkey tattoos, that would be neat.
Julie: I MIGHT go potty if you got me some monkey tattoos. I really like the purple one.

So, the next day I went to the local party store. Of course, they didn't have any monkey tattoos, but I picked up Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony ones. My options were really limited. I brought them to school to show her, and her teachers made a HUGE deal out of it.

AND, it worked!

So far, she's gone three out of the four days with the new tattoos as an incentive. One of those days was my sisters birthday, so ... I'll be ok with an accident that day. In a pull up, we were prepared that day) ...

Of course, I have $30 worth of pullups .... lol. I guess "blowing" the $4 on tattoos is a bargain compared to all the extra pullups I might end up with.

So, fingers crossed that the tattoos don't loose their appeal. Oh, and if you live near us ... don't look at the mom with the crazy child who is covered in tattoos. Seriousy, I am wondering what the people who see us think about us. LOL.

So ... I don't have exactly the best car ever. But, I'm learning to love it, and use it to my advantage (as in, if it's running, that's a good thing). With whats coming back in a refund on my taxes, I am paying off the rest of the car and doing some pretty big repairs on the darned thing (new brakes, new tires, oil change (which isn't big, but needed) and who knows what else ...)

So yesterday on the way to Target I go to roll my window up (I live in Florida, and haven't had a/c for almost a year, UGH) ... and nothing. Not a darn thing. Oi! So, this happens sometimes, and I don't want to think anything of it. Run inside Target for the few things I need (and forgot the milk!) and then off to get Julie from school. After getting back home, and playing outside for a little while ... I try the window. Still nothing. Oh crap.

I called my mom, who told me I was pretty much SOL until the morning. So, it was calling for rain and I was just hoping it didn't. Plus, we have racoons the size of dogs living around here, and I was just hoping I didn't wake up to one in my backseat. I didn't have masking tape to do the redneck trick of garbage bagging the window.

Off to my dad's this morning ... and he was able to take the door off without much hassel and put it back on ... and he locked the doors. This is important, since I didn't know the doors LOCKED, ever since my car got broken into LAST Christmas Eve. All in all, took about an hour, and most of it was trying to put the door BACK on. He only stripped one screw, so sometime this week I have to stop and see about getting a new screw.

So yeah, door's fixed ... window is back in the up position (and my dad turned off the motor so I can't be retarded and try to roll it back down ... smart dad) .. so we close the doors ...

With the keys on the front seat.

Are you kidding me!?!?!

It wouldn't have been a huge deal, despite the fact I had an hour until I needed to be to work, and my shoes and everything for work were sitting on the front passenger seat. I think they were mocking me.

I got frustrated and slammed my hands unto the drivers side window, and somehow it magically came down about 1/4". I'm talking about the second window, not the one we just fixed. So, off to find SOMETHING that will be able to work in this tiny crack in the window.

I managed to find a fly swatter ... which after 40 minutes of working ... managed to get the window undone! YAY! I had enough time to get dressed and head off to work, and make it there less than three minutes late. I was about to call into work when my dad managed to get the lock undone. YAY again!

Did I mention that the main reason I went to Target was to get a kitty litter pan? And when I took it out of the car, it was broken? I used a check to pay for everything at Target ... and instead of refunding the money since it was BROKEN, I got a giftcard. I could have waited 7-10 days .. but I took the giftcard and bought a couple of things I had been putting off ... milk, yogurt for Julie, cake mix for Valentine's Day .. nothing crazy.

Of course, I'm really glad I didn't call in. I made $105 today, working 5 hours. $21 an hour .. I can't make anything like that around here without some sort of education ..and that's why I'm scared I'll be a server FOREVER.

There always seems to be a place to spend money, doesn't there?

This month, I am working really hard at staying out of the stores. Really hard. Don't worry, I am still finding plenty of ways to spend money. Seriously, what's up with that?

I am working on cooking out of our pantry/freezer this month. It's been pretty easy going so far, especially since we're at the beginning of the month ... but I am hoping to be able to get through this month and next with limited amounts of money spent at the store. Since we're moving in two months, it would be silly to move food with us .. unless we have to.

We've been having a lot of fun on Julie's bike. This has to be the best Christmas gift of the year. I thought she would be slightly interested in it ... but she is in love with this thing. I can't get her off the bike. I am thrilled that the apartment complex we are moving to has playgrounds and plenty of sidewalks for riding bikes. I am really thrilled with freebies we've been finding.

My mom took both of the girls (my sister who is 10 and my daughter) to see the Hannah Montana movie this weekend. It's all Julie's talked about. My mom bought her two shirts from walmart and a necklace ... but little girl LOVES Hannah Montana. LOL. Can you believe she spent $15 per ticket?!?! Jeesh!

This past weekend my momma was looking at tickets to see the Jonas Brothers. Two tickets, one for my sister and one for me to take her would have run my mother $88 after all the fees and things. My mom asked me what I would do ... LOL. Well, first I said save it, which she rolled her eyes at ... and then I slightly and not very calmly said "Disney!" For $88 we could get two adult tickets to the Pirate and Princess party. Now, I think $88 is a LOT of money, and I would honestly throw it at my debt ... but this is my mom's money so it's honestly up to her. She is looking into getting a spot for the RV, but it looks like it's out of the plan for Feb anyways since they are booked.

Oh well, what would you do with $88?