life

A Typical Day In My Life…

/ life, ronni

Lauren (laurenbarnholdt) did one of these, so being the copycat I am, I decided to do one too. So here goes:

6:45am – ALARM RINGS. Hit snooze.

6:54am – ALARM rings again. Hit snooze.

7:03am – FINALLY get up. Kiss Aidan’s cheek.

7:04am – 7:22am – Get dressed, do hair (HA), put on little makeup, brush teeth.

7:23am – Kiss Aidan. Feed cats and fish.

7:30am – FINALLY leave.

8:07am – 11:29am – WORK. Get cup of ice water from water machine. Check email. Eat candy for breakfast. Chat with cubemate if it’s a Monday, Wednesday or Friday. Turn on music. Check email. Look at inbox. Check email. Wish I could go home and write. File if it’s a Tuesday or a Thursday. Check email. Write emails. Wish I could go home and write. Change music. Check email. You get the drift. :)

11:30am – LUNCHTIME. Sometimes I eat with all of the people on my team at a huge table in the cafeteria, sometimes I skip and catch up on Live Journal, Miss Snark, emails….

12:20pm – 3:59pm – Lunch over. Back to work. Usually, this is when I hit the copy machine and start processing stuff. Routing, copying, etc. Attend meetings. Wish I could go home and write. Write emails. Change music. Check email. Yeah.

4:00pm – Quitting Time! If it’s a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I drive out to Pataskala to get Aidan from my mother-in-law’s, if it’s a Tuesday or a Thursday, Aidan is right across the street, so I go home, park the car, and walk over to pick him up.

5:00pm or 5:30pm – Finally get home for real. Get mail. Play with Aidan. Watch Danger Mouse or Dora with Aidan. Thinking longingly of computer. Wish I could write. Know that if it’s a Monday and Chris is working ’til 10, I won’t get any writing done that day, but any other day, hope for 6:30pm to get here so I can have some help with Aidan. Do a million things for Aidan. Wonder if I am spoiling him. Wish I could write.

6:00pm – Cringe as the phone rings because I hate that sound. Listen to Chris talk away on the answering machine. Get on computer, but know that I won’t be able to write without being interrupted, so IM or play Boggle instead. Get interrupted over and over.

6:35pm – Chris gets home. The volume in the house gets about 20 times higher.

6:45pm – ??? – It depends. Sometimes people come over, sometimes we go out, sometimes I get to stay home and try to write. Chris cooks. We eat. I get on my computer to write FINALLY. :D

11:00pm – Feed fish. Eat raw cookie dough. Take a shower or a bath.

12:00am – 1:00am – BEDTIME, finally. Read a book before falling asleep. Know it’s bad news if the book is good. Then bedtime could be pushed to 2am or so. Oops.

1:00am – 6:45am Finally sleep, but get interrupted by nice “bladder-is-full” signals from time to time. Blah.

There you have it. A typical weekday for me. :)

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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Lots (Pictures)

/ family, life, pictures, recap, Uncategorized

I am EXHAUSTED! Last week was long:

Wednesday: Family stuff/mourning/support.

Thursday: More family stuff, then a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get a coat rack. I ended up picking up some canvas storage boxes for $2.99 each, and a Santa Claus who was on clearance for $3.74.

Friday (around midnight): Out of town relatives showed up, and we took some of the cousins to our house. They were tired, but we stayed up really late talking anyway. It was good to see them, even though the circumstances were sad.

Friday evening: Calling hours. They showed a DVD full of pictures of Grandpa. The cousins and I were in and out. It was really sad, but the support was amazing. After that, all the cousins went to Max & Ermas to eat a late dinner, and a few of us went to Meijer in search of long underwear.

Saturday: The funeral. Needless to say, it was very, very, very sad. There were three eulogies (Chris gave one), and a song, and their pastor spoke. After the service, we went to the cemetary, and there, the American Legion did a service, and there was a 21-gun salute, and they played taps. It was heartbreaking. It still doesn’t seem real. 🙁 As an aside, the Johnstown cops are PIGS. I hate them. One of the pallbearers had expired tags on his car. THEY IMPOUNDED HIS CAR. He didn’t get to be a pallbearer, he was at his UNCLE’S funeral, and he was already upset–they couldn’t have just let him have a ticket? The cops were supposed to be there to help escort us to the cemetary, not towing cars. Grrrr. Anyway… after the funeral services, we went to a lunch that the church had provided for the family, and then some of the cousins and I went home for much needed naps. They woke up after an hour (AN HOUR!) and headed to Grandma’s. I slept for a few more hours, and so did Aidan and Chris. We were so tired. After we got up, we headed to Grandma’s where the mood was a lot lighter than it had been. People were laughing and talking and it was good. We were also taking pictures, some of which I’ll put under a cut. The cousins stayed with us again (YAY) and we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and half of Hitch before we all got tired and pooped out.

Sunday: BIG BREAKFAST made by Chris. We talked and hung out with the cousins, then they left about 10:30am to head back to Illinois. I miss them. THEN we went to Aurora to drop off the Booba. Mommy had us take her grocery shopping, and I was cranky and tired. We also ate Ruby Tuesday. We came back home, I finished reading A Bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl (Tanya Lee Stone tanyaleestone) and crashed.

Monday: WORK all day, then Barnes and Noble. I got a few books and a book light. Then I met Craig at Target and helped him pick out an iPod. Then I went to his house and set up his wireless network (can I just say $#@!*&), and helped him with his iPod. I was there a lot later than I’d intended, so I grabbed some McDonalds on the way home and ate that before reading a bit then falling asleep.

Tuesday: WORK all day, and then I plan to stop at the library to pick up a reserve, then go home and relax and write and read. I am worn out, I have a headache, and I need an evening, so I am turning off the phones and probably won’t be answering anyone on AIM or AOL.

And… here are some pictures:

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“Do You Ever Get Any Peace?”

/ life, writing

Chris asked me that yesterday when I got home from the library. I was excited because I’d gotten in an hour of good writing, despite the loud people at the Internet computers. I also managed to snag eight new books for my reading/researching pleasure.

As soon as I got in the door, and before I’d even taken my coat off, my cell phone started ringing. I didn’t pick up because hello, I’d barely had a chance to remove my gloves and hat. The house phone rang. Then after I’d finally gotten off, and settled down with my computer, I was looking forward to another hour or so of writing because Aidan was asleep. But NO. The phone started ringing non-stop. My cell phone, then Chris’s cell phone. Then the house phone. Over and over and over and over. Of course, all that ringing brought a “thump” from upstairs and a cute little voice calling “Daddy?”

I go through stages. There’s my “I LOVE MY FRIENDS AND WANT TO BE AROUND THEM ALL THE TIME FOREVER AND EVER AMEN” stage, and my “LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE SO I CAN WRITE” stage. Can you guess which one I’m in now?

I know, it’s mean. But it’s something I HAVE to do or I’ll get VERY cranky. I give give give ALL the time. I’m taking now.

Don’t worry, this is temporary. I’ll be clamoring to be a social butterfly again before long. But right now, I have to get this done.

Back to work…

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RandomNess (Pictures)

/ life, meme, pictures, Uncategorized

So yesterday, I went and got my hair done for the first time since September. It’s just so luxurious to have someone else do the hard work for me. I’ll be going back in seven weeks. 🙂

After the salon, I hopped over to Kohls and picked up two pairs of pants, a simple black shirt, pajama pants, mittens and a matching hat, and a treat for Aidan for around $47. Can’t beat that with a stick, huh? 🙂

I’m in a good mood.

OH MY GOD. I’ve been eating like whoa the past few days. I mean, I’m like starving all the time. No, I’m not pregnant. Oh wait. I just realized why I’m eating so much. : Dang it, the months go so quickly, don’t they?

Bloody hell, it’s already February. That’s just crazy. Soon, Aidan will be going to spend two weeks with his grandmommy (he’s been talking about it non-stop), and Chris will be in Phoenix for a week. Guess what I plan to do!

1. LOTS OF WRITING.
2. Lots of naps.
3. A massage.
4. MORE writing.

It’s gonna be sweet.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite pictures from Holly’s wedding:



This one gives me chills. 🙂

See more here: CLICK! and comment here at my LJ! 🙂 I did the photography and I want to know what you all think.

The Meme of Four

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I Need More Writing Time

/ life, mommyhood, writing

Anyone have any suggestions?

It’s getting to the point where the only interrupted and peaceful time I have is like … NOW and I can’t take it because I have to be up for work in six hours, and work (not counting the commute) means at least eight hours of writing time gone every day. In addition to that:

– Aidan stays up later and later;
– Chris comes home and spends all his time doing other stuff which leaves ME to entertain Aidan all evening;
– Traffic seems to be taking longer and longer to get through every day (and I use BACK ROADS);
– The house NEVER stays clean for longer than an hour after I get done picking up;
– Life, obligations, friends, family, church stuff…all that jazz.

Does anyone have any suggestions???? I feel like I’m part of a losing battle here. :(

When I wrote ONLY YOURS, I didn’t drive yet, so I had to wait for Chris to get me after work, which meant an extra 90 minutes at my desk everyday. As I wasn’t getting paid for it, I used to time to write. Aidan also had a decent bedtime–he’d go down about 9 or 10. Now, it’s more like midnight or one, later if he can help it. He fights it so much and I’m the enforcer. With me being a night owl, it’s hard to get him to sleep when that’s the last thing on MY mind.

Now, it’s HARD to find time, it truly is. And guess what? I have a cough, a scratchy throat, and probably a fever. Guess who is tempted to stay home tomorrow/today? But it’s not as if I’ll get writing done…Chris won’t take Aidan to be watched if I am home sick. :[

If I ever sell a book and make loads of money, I am SO hiring a nanny.

(In the meantime, thank goodness for legal pads and little note pads. At least I can jot things down, even if I can’t seem to find the time to put them into fruition ever.)

P.S. Aidan is still awake. So much for my peaceful, uninterrupted late night time. :( Anyone have any advice on getting headstrong/nightowl/three-year olds to bed before 2am???!??!?!?!!?!?

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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