I'm addicted...

To these awesome and yummy holiday teas provided for my yummy pleasure each holiday season by Celestial Seasonings.  I'm diggin' me some Sugar Plum Spice and some Gingerbread Spice as seen here:

But I am on a desperate search for Nutcracker Sweet...I had it a few years ago and haven't been able to find it since.  Figures. Everything that I like, they discontinue.  If you find this:



Old packaging style...




Using age progression imaging, tea may look something like this...

If you see this product, immediately buy a palette of it and have it shipped DIRECTLY to my home of residence. Thank you, in advance, for your support and all your help.

G

FOUND!!

I found it. THIS is the necklace and chain that I want. I'll worry with James Avery later. THIS is it.  First of all, the horseshoe is properly displayed so as the "luck" won't fall out and second...HELLOOOO!!! It's Tiffany & Co.!!!  The charm itself is $125 and the chain is another $50. So all in all, $175...plus tax and shipping and blah, blah, blah.  But isn't it pretty?  I love it.  I can't spare $200 plus dollars right now to splurge on myself but it's out there. My perfect necklace is out there.  She has been found and I will wear her someday. Fucking bills... Why do they always have to spoil the fun?

G

The Dating Game.

Most of you know that I have some crappy luck with guys and the outcome is never good.  I am, sad to say, always the one who is betrayed, lied to, cheated on, and abandoned.  I'm tired of being a victim wallowing in my own misery and self-pity because that just makes me bitter.  And if it's two things people really don't like, it's a bitch and a bitter bitch.  I don't want to be either.  Been there, done that.

Recently, I joined eHarmony.

It's the dating site that matches you with other people based on a 29 dimension personality profile kind of thing.  Within a weeks time, they matched me with 80+ men. Once you are "matched" it's up to the two of you to communicate with one another.  They have what's called "Guided Communication" which is started by either person sending 5 questions for the other person to answer. You choose these from a list of pre-selected questions. There is a wide range of these questions. 

**As a matter of fact they just matched me with a man named Fred in Austin...I went to his profile and WOW. Aside from being a self-professed romantic who also watches football, a single father (SU-WEET!! That means he understands the demands on a personal life that children can make...), family oriented, 8 years my senior (hey, don't judge...I'd rather date a 45 year old who treated me right than someone my own age who wouldn't...he's not 45.), likes comedies and romantic comedies (YEA! No fighting over me "owing" him a horror flick for dragging him to a romantic comedy!), sounds like he's just an all around great guy, and (enter shallow comment here in 5, 4, 3,2, and...) he has a very (read: VERY) nice smile and kind eyes.  Ok, so maybe that's not "shallow" but in addition to being attracted to someone intellectually, I believe that you must also be attracted to them physically in order for things to work out.  Some people's opinions may differ from that...buuuuut.  Hopefully I hear back from him.  By what he has indicated on his profile, he is a "hopeful".  As in I am "hopeful" that he responds and things go well.  :)  *fingers crossed*

If you send first, the other person answers (or in some cases doesn't) and sends you 5 of their choosing.  If you so choose to answer, you do so and send them a list that you have already made of "Can't Stands and Must Haves".  These are 10 things in each category that you can't stand in other people (i.e. rudeness, cockiness, ill-manners, belligerence, illegal drug use, etc...) and that you must have (i.e. affectionate, caring, selfless, acceptance of your children, kindness, etc...).  If they are still interested, they send you theirs.  At this point, you send them a list of 3 more questions. This time they are "free speak" answers as in your own words. The 5 initial questions are multiple choice with an option to answer in your own words.  These last 3 are solely in your own words.  Again, if still interested, they will send you 3 questions back.  After this third step, the next step is to "free speak email".  None of your personal information is ever revealed to your matches.  Your personal email and phone number are kept secret unless you personally give your match this info. (I like this.)  Now, you are free to talk about anything and everything under the sun.  In the beginning of the communication process you also have the option to skip right to this last step but I prefer to do the guided thing.  You also have the option to "close" the match and this can be helpful if you run across a rude, sexually harassing kind of person or someone you are generally not interested in.  It closes off any future attempts for communication.

Why eHarmony you ask? Well,...I've met guys in bars, I've met them at work, I've met them through friends,...and nothing has worked. I am an asshole magnet according to what my dad said once.  LOL  And I heard a statistic somewhere that 1 in 5 relationships these days is started online.  One of my best friends is one of those statistics and they are married today and have been for 7 years or so now.  So, why not?  You never know.  My Knight In Shining Armor may be waiting on eHarmony.   I figure I'll give it a shot.  They say that on average, members are on here for 3 months or longer before you find the one.  It's been like, a week.  So, we'll see how it goes. I'll keep y'all updated on the goings on.

For those of you interested in super cute and economical decoration ideas for the impending Halloween, head on over to Mrs. Adventure's blog.  Yea!!!

Hope y'all have a wonderful day!  Thanks for reading!! 

G

Shepard's Pie

OK...I think this is gonna be a short one though knowing me and how long winded I can be...

First off, Lady Gaga has lost a lot of respect from me (not that she had very much to begin with) with her disgusting display of lack of "keeping cool" skills the other day when she went on a screaming rant about the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy.  Um, did YOU ever serve this country? No. You didn't. So how in the HELL would you know what it's like to serve with someone who is of the same sex and sexually harassing you? Or trying to lay down cover fire for you team mates and being distracted by the fact that the guy next to you just hit on you 30 minutes ago?  I've known gay men and lesbian women and have been acquaintances with both.  I am straight. I do not agree with homosexuality nor do I like it, but if that is your preference, fine.  Just don't throw it in my face and we can be cool.  The military is predominantly a male military.  In 2006, the total DOD (Department of Defense) female members was 14.6%.  The Air Force had the highest percent of female members at 20.3% and the Marine Corps (in which I served for 5 years) was the lowest with 6%.  It's my opinion that men (especially those who must live, work, sleep, and attempt to stay alive) while maintaining close contact with members of the same sex.  There are some infantry jobs that require 2 men to operate particular weapons where one lays behind the weapon (it's a large caliber gun) and the other has to overlap the first guy by placing one of his legs over one of the gunner's.  I think it's pretty safe to say that I don't think the gunner wants or needs to feel the other guys boner against his leg while trying to concentrate on the task of keeping them alive by focusing on what's in front of him. I think he would rather know that his straight buddy has his leg over his own out of necessity and neither of them thinks anything sexual of it.  But that knowledge of the shooting positions required for particular weaponry would only come from personal experience in the military.  Regardless, everyone has their own opinions on this particular issue and those are mine.  Lady Gaga, in my opinion, made a fool or herself getting extremely animated and screaming into a microphone like a child instead of conveying her opinions in a calm and collected (read: respectable) manner.  Disgusting.  She should stick to singing.

And WHAT is up with THIS crap:

This particular one irritates the shit outta me...

Enough of her... So, Kim Kardashian is gorgeous. We all know that.
So lately I've been wanting to get a whiff of Kim Kardashian's new fragrance.  Unfortunately I am no where near a Sephora to get to it.  I don't do much getting out for personal shopping trips so to find it, and smell it, are goals I have yet to achieve. But I must smell it...it WILL happen.  Here is what I am after:



We all know she's beautiful...



Hopefully it smells good...I like her logo too...

Fragrance Notes: Jasmine, Tuberose, Gardenia, Jacaranda Wood, Sandalwood, Tonka Bean

 ANYWHOOOOOO,  since I have only been gifted jewelry twice from a significant other, and my tastes in jewelry are relatively simple, I have decided to gift myself.  I like James Avery jewelry and have wanted a necklace for quite some time for everyday wear.  I used to wear necklaces all the time and stopped when we couldn't wear them in uniform (unless they were tucked into our undershirts) while I was in the Marines.  While getting back in touch with my feminine side, I have decided to expand my collection of costume jewelry to include that of quality, too.  There are several pendants that I like as well as chain types.  What do y'all think?




Fluer de Lis

 



Key of Faith

 





Open Adorned Heart



Stylized Scroll

 

Mother's Love


 


 

(Wow. Y'all have no idea what a pain in the butt those pictures just were...)

I went up to Ft. Worth this past weekend to visit some friends that are married.  It was nice to see them and have some fun. Monkey did surprisingly well and both friends said he a well behaved child for being only a year and a half.  I told them it's because he knows his mama's a ninja and she don't take no shit.  LOL  I thanked them.  Unfortunately, on the way back, about an hour north of home still, Monkey puked all over himself.  The poor baby.  He has allergies and was pretty congested because as good a mom as I try to be, my ass walked out of the house without the children's Claritin (yes, his doctor knows and also suggested that we use it to combat his allergies...he only gets a partial of the recommended dose for older children) the day before.  So, my best guess is that his tummy wasn't feeling good after being so congested that it gagged him and that was the end result.  I felt bad because we were still an hour from home.  I cleaned him up the best I could but if you're a parent, you know how it is.  Tonight I've got to clean the straps of his car seat and make them not stink.  Leave it to me to buy the only car seat I know of that you can't take the straps off of to clean... Retard. LOL

Other than that...stay tuned for the next episode as Gracie finds out what eHarmony is all about...

Always,

G

p.s. maybe not so short...

If only...

If only a lot of things right now actually.  I wish that my phone got better reception in my office because it temps me to make it very familiar with the wall when I can't get what I need to show up!!  UGH!!!  I need a hair trim and a dye job like, baaaaad.  LOL  It's aweful how much of my head is freakin' gray already.  I turn 30 next month and though I welcome my 30s with wide spread open arms...I'll bet if I quit dying my hair (which I've done since I was 21) I'd add 10 years to my looks.  No shit. I'm serious.  It's genetics. Freakin' genetics.  My mother started graying at 18. Me?  Got my first one when I was 16.  Uh, yeah. Helloooo?  How cruel is THAT!!  I was pissed!  PISSED, I tell you!  Anywho,...so I need to get my "her did". LOL

I have NO earthly clue WHERE in the HELL my Crystal Avalanche MAC eyeshadow is...been missing for a whole minute though...gonna have to purchase another. Bugger.  It was brand spanking new too...

Mrs. Adventure has graciously agreed to humor my artistic need for a particular painting...seen below:

I saw it on ETSY and it was being sold for way more than I could afford but I happen to know that Mrs. Adventure likes painting (and one of these days when she's not looking, I'm gonna swipe the one she did that hangs over her bed as seen here...though I think if I asked her, she'd probably paint one just like it for me. Note to self: ask for the birdie painting) and I figured that since she is on this never ending hunt for things artsy-fartsy to do, this would be a great thing to do!!  I am in no way, shape, or form artistically inclined. Not. At. All.  I have brief spurts or artistic creativity but then my crayon breaks and I throw a fit...

On with the other news...

I've decided to give eHarmony a shot. What the hell, right?  So far, they've slapped me with over 80 matches...did anyone else just say HOLY CRAP?

Gracie

Wordless Wednesday

Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid...

Who's been MIA for quite some time but is now taking a break from her tasks at work to bring you a brand new blog?  HINT:  GRACIE!!!!!  Yes, yes. I know.  "Boo!" for those who neglect their awesome blogs but hey, I've been dealing with some shit and am finally ready to upchuck it in the form or legible literature for your entertainment pleasure!!  Righty-O, here we go...

It's been just a few days shy of a month since my last post and I must be truthful when I say that sometimes, when things are just 10 kinds of fucked up in my life, I do not have the urge to write until I have analyzed it about 30 times in my head and gotten over it.  With this being said, Mr. NRN is no longer in this film. I have written him out and no longer have the desire to keep him as a character.  He finally (after I told him to just say it and put it out there so I can stop thinking about him all the time and hang it all up) told me that he does not have the same feelings for me that I have (had) for him.  I mean, I DESERVE to have someone pay me equal amounts of attention as I pay them and it just wasn't happening. Furthermore, if you do not have the same feelings for someone, freaking TELL them instead of keeping them on that string you tug on once in a while and have some compassion for the other persons feelings.  I'm a big girl, I can handle it.  As a result, I am quite happy to say that I don't think about him NEARLY as much as I used to and find it calming and feel a sense of relief that I am recovering quite nicely from this particular rejection.  This is good.  Where's the "like" button?  LOL

Yesterday, BD texted me and asked "How's the baby doing?"  ...  Really?  How impersonal.  So I answered, "He's fine." and promptly left it at that.  As of right now, it's been a little over 13 months since BD has come up to see Monkey.  If you really want to know how he's doing, come and see for yourself.  And just so you know, we don't have a "baby" anymore. We have a toddler who is running around this place with his hair on fire, has 16 teeth in his head and eats table food.  Also, his name is "Monkey"...or did you forget that as well as how to save a few dollars every pay period to be able to "afford" to come see your child?  ...things left unsaid...

I finally got to take my ASSETT test and just in time to figure out that I waited long enough to not get into classes this semester.  The goal is to hit up the spring semester and roll that ball then.

I am pleased to say that Blondie and I have begun to get closer as friends and I just love it.  I miss having girlfriends so close to me that I can see that particular day if I so feel the need.  She's having a rough time with life right now and I am thankful that I can be her comedic relief sometimes when she is down.  She's made me laugh at myself and my situations more times than I can remember and it's nice to repay the favor.  LOL  Please keep her in your prayers as she is in mine.

Which brings me to my next topic.  For a really long time, I did not go to church.  But recently, as in the last few months, I have done my best to go when life allowed and I wasn't out of town or home with a sick child.  I find that I am feeling better about myself, my situation and that I am able to better help my friends when they need comfort and/or a solid friend.  Red also found herself up against a wall last month and I bought her first Bible for her and sent it through the mail.  She loves it and has also found strength in it.  That makes me happy.  :)

Unfortunately, I must get back to work.  Sucks, but I gotta make some money. LOL  Hope y'all are doing well!!

Ciao!