Oh. My. Angry. People

I was so mad when I heard this on the news this morning! What has happened to our world??
I know I am taking a moment to stand on my own soapbox, and if you really don't care, then just visit one of my friends' blogs while I take a moment to rant. (They have cute pictures on them).

This enrages me so much, as I have had very similar things happen to me TWICE now and both times I nearly called 911 myself. First of all, I do NOT consider myself an aggressive driver, as I rarely speed, I do NOT tailgate-EVER-and have even pulled over to let a$$holes riding my back end pass me, as their point of destination seems to be MUCH more important than mine. Second, I'm human-and I HAVE cut people off, or almost cut them off, but I ALWAYS give them the "oops I am so sorry" look with a wave, as it is rarely intentional, especially since I now have Gage in my vehicle 99% of the time.

So about 2 years ago, I was driving to the Burnsville Mall in Bursville, MN when I happened to notice at the LAST possible minute a man with his blinker on in front of me, wanting to get into my lane. By the time I noticed, I would have had to slam on my brakes to let him in, risking my own butt to get smucked, so I just revved it up and went forward, hoping that he could get in behind me instead. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN what I had to put up with! Seriously. This man was so angry at me, he was flipping me off, calling me EVERY NAME in the book with such force, that I could read his lips from my rear-view mirror, AND hear him with my own windows up (I think his were down). He kept this up the entire time we were sitting at a light. I finally (stupid of me, I know), turned around in my car and mouthed "Are you done yet? I get it!" and THAT just made him even more angry. This screaming and calling me horrendous names (c-word, b-word, f-word) and flipping me off continued for what seemed like forever when the light changed. He followed me into the parking lot, and I grabbed my cell phone, dialed 911 and just waited to hit the send button. I finally turned down a lane, and he continued on, seeming to leave me alone. I was shaking!!! I swear I saw him in the mall, too, but that was the end of that. Thank GOD!

Then, about a month ago, I was driving out of New Richmond when the lane I was in ended. I made a split-second decision to speed up, rather than slow down, and the guy that I ended up cutting off rode my back-end SO CLOSE for about 10 miles, all the way from New Richmond to I-94. I passed 2 cars on my way and both times he followed, crawling up so close to my bumper that I was sure he was going to hit me. Again, my paranoid self grabbed the cell phone ready to call for help when he finally passed me.

Again-I am human. I do not cut people off to be ruthless, or to try and make someone mad. We all make split second decisions when we are driving, and some of those decision could be life-threatening. Obviously with lunatic drivers out there, they could be life-threatening in more ways than one.

Drive safely. Stay away from the psychotic drivers please.

One Great Weekend

What a wonderful weekend, and it's not even over yet!

My sister flew in last week Wednesday as she was missing Gage and wanted to spend a few of her days off with us. I was so glad that she was here, as I had a very busy month with my jewelry sales and along with a lot of computer and paperwork to catch up on (This job is keeping me BUSY!) Gage was experiencing a terrible bout of teething (all 4 incisor teeth are coming in at the same time) AND our internet went out for a day. While she was here, I was able to get caught up on cleaning, work, and get ready for a "Beezatch" night that I hosted on Friday night.

Due to bad weather in NJ, Katie ended up staying overnight on Friday and becoming an "honorary" beezatch, even though there really isn't anything formal that needed to be done. She just needed to drink a bit, eat bad food with us, and talk a little dirty every now and then. I think she did alright. :) As mentioned in previous posts by me as well as Jaci, Mar, and Leah (the only Beezatches currently with blogs!!) Beezatch nights are SO much fun and very well needed by each one of us. We celebrate job promotions, motherhood, pregnancy, and offer support to one another (and well needed mental health breaks) when jobs suck, spouses are driving us crazy (these are my words, hubbies, so no freaking out) and kids are sick or being challenging! We did all of the above (eat, drink, and talk dirty) as well as "Try" to play a game of Catch Phrase. It's amazing how alcohol can get in the way playing those games...

On Saturday I had a jewelry party and work to do, so Tim and Gage had a really nice time playing outdoors (heat wave of about 30 degrees!) and we spent the evening indoors playing and watching the Disney Channel. Gage was so cuddly all day. It was great.

Now for Sunday, I am still doing my work, getting ready for our meeting with our tax guy and Gage JUST woke up from a nap and we are headed to the Y to go swimming. With that being said, I'm signing off, and will hopefully have more to update on later in the week. Thanks to my friends for a great Friday night-looking forward to the next one!

Pictures

We had Gage's 18-Month pictures taken this past weekend (only ONE month late this time!) as well as some fun family pictures this past weekend. We travel all the way back to the twin cities for these pictures, as we get a one hour session with outfit changes and GREAT service that results in EXCELLENT smiles from our little guy. As most of you with small children know, picture-taking can be extremely stressful. But not with John Engler . Not only do the pictures turn out wonderful, you get the entire CD with a session. I then order what I want through my own photo service of choice. We even got our pictures back the same day! It is just great. I LOVE THEM ALL!!!

Cancun 2008

Here they are, finally. I ALMOST went to bed, but thought twice. I have two much running to do tomorrow and I know I won't get it done. They are pretty much all the same pictures....Tim and I, Katie and Johnny, Katie and I, etc...
Tim and I ate at an outside sushi bar and the picture is just too dark, so I didn't share. We also got pretty lit up in a dancing night club, but the fog machine was messin' with my photos that night too...
or maybe it was the tequila?? Either way, the whole trip was a blast and we really hope we can do it again next year. Maybe we will go for one extra day or two...3 nights wasn't quite enough, but it will get me through the winter!

Tequila Sunrise

Tim, Jill, Katie and Johnny

I didn't check out the background before taking this photo.....

Looks painful, doesn't it?! Happens EVERY time!

Tomorrow, I promise!

This is in response to Leah's comment about the vacation pictures....
I know, I know, I know. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry!

The weekend was a lazy, yet busy one, and I didn't really set foot into the office, unless it was to do something related to my jewelry stuff. Then, I had a show last night in my hometown, so I just got home this afternoon, and Tim isn't home from work yet (9:30) so I just set foot in the office a little bit ago...
I can't do anything via the computer with Gage around as he DESTROYS this office. All of my jewelry and paperwork are laid out in here, and the kid is faster than lightening these days. So I only get a short naptime break in the afternoon and 8pm and later to do anything on the computer!

SO. With all those lovely excuses, I promise to get some new pictures up tomorrow-Valentine's Day of all days, when I will MAKE myself get those darn pics uploaded and posted!

As a good friend would say... "Happy VD" everyone!

Man, it's sure cold here!

If I hadn't been sitting on the beach, in 80 degree weather with sand between my toes, feeling the Caribbean breezes running through my hair for the past few days, I wouldn't be bothered by this brisk air. (sigh)

Well, we're back! (Anyone want to shoot me now??) I PROMISE to post pictures before the end of the weekend, however today is major laundry/clean/grocery day.

We had a nice time. Thanks Johnny and Katie! We can't wait for the next one!

Adios! We're off to MEXICO!

Goodbye everyone...
we are leaving for Neillsville today to drop Gage off at the grandparents' (my mom and dad are splitting time up for the week) and then we are heading back to the airport to try and catch a 7pm flight to Newark, NJ. We are then spending all day tomorrow and into Sunday with Katie and Johnny, spending some time in NYC and just hanging out!
We are leaving for Cancun on Sunday and will be there through Wednesday, hopefully returning to Minneapolis Wednesday night, even if it's really late. We are flying stand-by on all our flights, so we just hope that there are available seats to where we need to go!

I can't wait to post some fun pictures of our trip when we return next week!