Where did the time go???????

I only have one more week of school left - where did the last 14 weeks go? It has been an amazing ride this semester and with any luck I'll pass both classes =) And after next week I have an entire FOUR WEEK BREAK until I jump back in taking two more classes this summer. I have so many thing planned for those four weeks!!! I'm going to catch up around the house, do a few projects I have been putting off, relax on Sundays instead of trying to study.....I'm so excited! Of course I'll never accomplish EVERYTHING I want to get done, but that's OK - I won't have to worry about school for awhile. And I'll have a four week break from paying for extra gas to get to Baltimore once a week! Which means I can save up some money for June when I start going twice a week!......wait a minute...that kinda sucks ...

So my finals are next Monday night and I will be hunkered down all weekend with my books, laptop and notes. Wish me luck!!!!

Because I am obsessed with this topic....

...probably due to my own guilt about the choices I make....I am passing along this link to a Newsweek article on the whole working vs. non-working mom issue. This is a side I never really thought about, and I'm not too sure I agree with it...... it's a little discouraging, this article! Once again heap all the blame on your mommy! But, it was a different take on a very debated topic, and I thought some of you might find it interesting.

I'd love to know what YOU think about it.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/132891

THE TAX MAN COMETH.....

AND FILE YOUR TAXES TODAY!

(Or else we will tax you even more than we do now for the privilege of living in a country where prices are skyrocketing, investments are plunging and the almighty dollar is worth no where near what it should be)

God Bless America..

Land that I love!

(crappy economy and all)

MYSTERY SOLVED

So, my brother has been found. Safe and Sound in Paris. Of course, it took several e-mails to his friends to determine that he hadn't disappeared off the face of the Earth - he was just busy entertaining out of town guests and hadn't contacted mom or me for a while. Once I contacted Jono (long time friend of Brandon and semi-little brother to me) and asked him is HE had heard from B, mom and I both got phone calls from Brandon assuring us he was alive and well but very busy...you know. I can only imagine how the chain of contact went.

I e-mail Jono - "Hey - have you heard from B? He's not returning phone calls or e-mails from me or mom. Mom's starting to panic - can you ask Steven if he's heard from him and tell him to PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL SOMEONE????"

Jono calls Steven - "Hey, Deb and Joey (mom) are trying to contact Brandon but he's blowing them off and Joey's getting worried and Deb's getting pissed. Pass it along when you get back to Paris today"

Steven calls Brandon when he gets back to Paris "Hey man. You're in deep shit. Your mom and sister are calling all your friends looking for you because you're blowing them off so you better call before they call in the Armed Forces and tell them you've been kidnapped and held against your will by some subversive French Resistance and need to be rescued by men with guns under cover of night"

Brandon calls me and leaves a message "Hello? Um, I'm OK - David's here and we've been busy - so, I'll call you later, OK? I'm fine. Bye"

So, all is well. Except for the fact that I STILL haven't talked to him after his message to me. And all I can do is send a message to his beautiful love Angelique through this blog and ask her to PLEASE try to keep him in line...

And could you give him a good swift kick in the rear for me too? Thank you m'dear! And I hope you and Noah have a safe trip =)

They're coming to take me away, ha-ha he-he ho-ho hoo-hoo

OK - time for a nervous breakdown post....

But FIRST!!! If anyone in France has seen a tall, blondish/brownish haired, blue-eyed American walking around, with a book in his hand, spouting quotes from Kurt Vonnegut, can they please tell him to

CONTACT HIS SISTER??????????

I mean really, Brandon - I need to talk to you about some things that I e-mailed you about and time is a wastin' - Chop Chop!!

If you have seen this man, please contact me....



He is on the left side of this picture with his arm around the amazingly YOUNG looking woman next to him. Doesn't she just look stunning??? Cigarette and all?? To those that know this young woman, rest assured - the bottle of Corona Light is on the counter behind her, lest you think she suddenly stopped partaking in the wonders of alcoholic beverages. (HEY! Don't judge - whatever helps you get through the day my friend, whatever helps you get through the day...)


Anyway, send me an e-mail bro - we have things to figure out - it's April 1 - only 14 more days until Uncle Sam decides that we are no longer deserving of the crappy economy in this great country of ours and decides to take matters into his own hands....

So! On we go! I came to the realization today, after going through the past several weeks in a fog, that SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE!!! I mean, I simply can't do it anymore, you know?

(Whine alert) OK, here's the deal - I work full time - in real estate development - in the worst market in years - and I have decided to make this my CAREER??? Hello??? Bueller? Bueller? Oy.

BUT - I love real estate - always have (even as a kid - no lie), always will. But it's seriously affecting my job (along with a bunch of other things which I cannot blog about) and my income. I drive to Baltimore from work one night a week to go to school and get my Master's in (yup, you guessed it) Real estate development. Mondays I leave the house at 8 am and don't get home until 11 pm (And I pay $4,200 every three months for this privilege. Which only adds to my stress level). And then I can't sleep (sleep has always been an issue for me) so I don't go to bed until after midnight. Tuesdays SUUUUUUUCK. I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open at work. Oh, and did I mention that I have two kids??? Who I have to get up, get dressed, feed breakfast, make lunches and get to the bus stop in the mornings all while they are FIGHTING with me and each other and ARGUING while my head is pounding and I'm so tired I could just cry? And throw on top of that the typical issues - money, guilt about not spending enough time with the girls and Brian, the anxiety about EVERYTHING that must be done in a week and there just not being enough hours to do it all, oh, and did I mention? We also have a house that we have been trying to sell and are trying to get it listed (again) in a week so we don't miss the spring market and possibly our only chance to sell it for another year???

I want to run away. Just for a weekend - but I really want to run away. My husband is the greatest husband on the planet and helps me so much that I feel like an idiot for complaining. I know there are a lot of women who get NO HELP. I actually know some women who get no help. But I still want to run away. He can come with me, that's fine. So long as he doesn't EXPECT anything from me for a whole weekend. Make your own coffee...and bring me a cup.

I love my kids more than life itself, I love my husband more than life itself. But if I can't figure out how to juggle all this, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to handle it. I putter along fine for a few days and then all of a sudden I (as my best girl Meg used to say ) "hit a wall". The problem is, I'm hitting the wall more and more frequently. Like, really frequently.

OK, Enough of that!! I can't believe that I just wrote all of that down, but I actually feel revived =) I'm quite certain I'll be fine and maybe I just needed to get that off my chest?! And I'm going to go to bed early tonight and get some GOOD rest =)