Out with the old...In with the new...

So when we bought our house, each room was painted quite nicely. I had only a few objections, one was the "baby" room that is painted with crazy ass Beatrix Potter (is that how you spell that?) murals...picture mice in shoes, etc... and the crazy ass dining room was painted dark and light green with a grape border...at first I liked it...it was original but no more. I am/was so over the grapes. So...we painted this week-end and here are a few shots from the fun...too bad you couldn't be here to help ;)

Oh, the blond is Amelia's little sister Emily who was so easily persuaded with the promise of pizza ;)

and yes that is my hand and no there wasn't more paint on me than on the walls as some of you may suspect!

The finished product is dark gray below the chair rail and light gray above... I think it looks snazzy! Now if we could only figure out how to take down the horrible gold chandelier and spray paint it gray without getting ourselves electrocuted...hmmmm

New Year's Eve!

Wow...it is almost 2007! Can you believe it? I can't!

I have no idea what to say...this year has been amazing. Amelia and I have pretty much always felt shit on by the powers that be but this year...no way we must have been very, very, very good girls...just a few of the great things that came our way...

1. Our first house.

2. The new Vue.

3. The new kitten.

4. Two NEW jobs...yes two, not one but TWO NEW JOBS!

5. Loads of new friends...

6. Publication

Now I know these things are quite material but no matter what anyone says you just can't be without most of them.

To end 2006. I'd just like to say thank you. You know who you are and what you have done. You all have been an immeasurable part of this year and though the pendulum seems to be swinging our way I know each of you had a part in pushing it... I love you.

Peace and Hair Grease my peeps...

ABC's of Me(me)

A- Available or single? Those are the same thing, I think…but no neither for me.

B- Best Friend? Whoa this is a hard one…I’d have to say…nope I can’t...never mind too many feeling out there to hurt.

C- Cake or Pie? Pie all the way baby…I really do not like cake very much. I do like Little Debbie cakes though, does that count?

D- Drink of Choice? Coca-Cola of course.

E- Essential Item? A book to read.

F- Favorite Color? Today…it is blue.

G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Gummi everything but bears if I must choose and I prefer the clear ones, I believe they taste like Pina Coladas ;)

H- Hometown? Warner Robins, Georgia

I- Indulgence? Starbucks Venti Iced Chai, light on the ice.

J- January or February? February. For no other reason except that it isn’t packed full of expectations from forgotten resolutions.

K- Kids and names? I have no children…I kind of hope it stays that way. I do have four pets though…Bridgette the Lhasa Apso, Raven the black cat with white panties, Max the MaineCoon cat who is dumb as a rock, and Charlotte the crazy crawled out of the woods in Homerville, Ohio kitten who I swear was born to be wild!

L- Life is incomplete without? Books and music.

M- Marriage Date? Not married

N- Number of Siblings? 2 sisters Diann and Joann and 1 new found brother David

O- Oranges or apples? I don’t particularly care for either. But If I had to choose one I’d most definitely choose oranges.

P- Phobias/Fears? The dark, car crashes, drowning, and saying something that can never ever being taken back or forgiven.

Q- Favorite Quote? “I am here to live out loud.” ~Emile Zola

R- Reason to Smile? Snow makes me smile…puppies and kittens also make me smile…I know it is sickening isn’t it?

S- Season? Winter all the way baby. Haven’t you read my license plate? I LV SNOW. Or as my friends say ILVS NOW (Elvis Now) or I Las Vegas Now (whatever freaks)!

T- Tag three people! Panda, Beth, and Kristine.

U- Unknown Fact About Me? Very few people know that in 5th grade I had a horrible accident that left me in a back brace for about a year and a half. If you want the whole story you gotta ask ;)

V- Vegetable you hate? I hate pretty much all vegetables but I could never, ever, ever see myself eating Collard Greens. Those are all kinds of wrong.

W- Worst habit? Laziness and I am all kinds of lazy...but not anymore. I was just asked to be a bride's maid yesterday so I must, I must, I must get on the damn treadmill. Today I have already walked by the Rolo's about 5oo times and I haven't eaten one. I did think about how good they are melted on top of pretzels but still...I haven't even licked one.

X- X-Rays you've had? Um geez…spine, teeth, arm, leg, foot…let’s just say X-Ray techs. have seen it all ;)

Y- Your favorite food? Green olives or dill pickles.

Z- Zodiac? Gemini

Christmas Engagement

CONGRATULATIONS MEGAN AND CHAD...

SOON TO BE MARRIED!

So Near to Christmas

As Christmas approaches I am reminded that friendships are so very dear and I wanted each of you to know that although I may not always be in touch, that you are always on my mind. I guarantee each and every one of you that on Christmas day you will cross my mind and I will send a wish of peace to you. Please know that I value and love each of you.

Peace---

Dawn

I stood beside a hill

Smooth with new-laid snow,

A single star looked out

From the cold evening glow.
There was no other creature

That saw what I could see--

I stood and watched the evening star

As long as it watched me.
- Sara Teasdale

GOD DAMN VENDING MACHINES!

Today at work I really, really, really wanted to buy some Cheddar and Sour Cream potato chips. I not only wanted them but I NEEDED them...but the only ones are in our cafeteria at the Hill...and of course there was a fucking meeting going on in the cafeteria so I could have waltzed in and gotten some in front of about 40 people , who undoubtebly would have been thinking...she does not need those or I want some of those...or I could just wait...I chose to wait.

So I waited until the meeting was over, got my wallet out and realized I only had a ten dollar bill..after asking around, Chelsea gave me nine bucks for my ten becasue I was desperate for the chips and didn't care that she didn't have all ten for change...so I went to the vending machine, put in my dollar bill and pushed the numbers 122 for the chips and what did the mother fucker say? It said invalid entry...what bitch are you crazy...so I looked at the chips and looked at the number below them...it sho' nuf was 122...so i typed 122 and it said invalid entry...so I put my dollar in the change machine got 3 quarters and ass loads of nickels and tried again with exact change...75 cents and that mother fucker still wouldn't give me the chips...so I sucked it up and got Fritos...so...not...the...same.

I got tagged...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper but I am the WORST at it!

2. Real or artificial tree? Real but I am trying to convince Amelia to buy a fake one this year after they go on sale ;)

3. When do you put up the tree? Right after Thanksgiving…only because Amelia pesters me until I give in…I’d prefer to do it the week before Christmas

4. When do you take the tree down? As soon as I can convince Amelia that we need to…usually the week after Christmas…geez I sound like a Scrooge

5. Do you like eggnog? Never had it, have no idea…doesn’t even sound good.

6. Present you asked for as a child, but never received? Piano Lessons…I’m still asking…

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Amelia does and she puts it up…I hate them.

8. Hardest person to buy for this year? My mama!

9. Easiest person to buy for? Myself ;)

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A coffee mug…I don’t even drink coffee and I hate, hate, hate receiving mugs

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail all the way baby

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I’d like to say throughout the year or in the summer but it’s usually in December, 'cuz I suck like that

14. Have you ever re-gifted a Christmas present? No

15. Favorite things to eat at Christmas? I love that ribbon candy but I never ever have it…so Chocoalte covered cherries ;) that made my stomach growl ;)

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? This year blue and white…I don’t really have a preference.

17. Favorite Christmas songs? Do you hear what I hear?

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel, also against my will ;)

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? I can try…Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph…it that all of them? I have no clue…What’s up with the slutty reindeer Vixen…geesh.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel but I prefer bows

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? 1 Christmas eve and then first thing in the morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Lines at stores, but this year the most annoying thing is that it is 60 fucking degrees outside and it is December 19th….GRRRRRRRRRRR...that’s freakin’ warm yo!

Graduation

So...this past week-end my oldest sister graduated from Cleveland State University as did Amelia's sister...so we were able to kill two birds with one stone ;)

We had a great time and here are some pictures to prove it...

This is my sister (I'm no photographer) Dianna (Dede to me because I couldn't say Dianna when I was a kid ;)

She graduated with her Bachelors of Science in Education Degree...she has already been accepted into the Masters Program at Cleveland State so she is the big cheese right now...woohoo Congratulations!

These are my nieces Brittany (in the front) and Tiffany (in the back)...I never get to see Tiffany because she lives in Arizona so it was a good time...

This is my nephew Junior...looking at me all mean because his knees were hurting in the small ass chairs at the Wolstein Center...he is about 6'7"...Me, I'm 5' and almost 1" so I had tons of room ;)











and this is Joseph, my youngest Nephew...he is also quite tall but not as tall as his brother...he on the other hand has his ipod so loud that I had to keep elbowing him to tell him to turn it down...man I'm getting old.






GOOD TIMES, GOOD TIMES!

CONGRATULATIONS DEDE! I LOVE YOU!

Wow...

that last post was d*e*p*r*e*s*s*i*n*g*! Sorry about that...guess I was having a crappy day ;)

I felt the need to type something up quickly about how f***ing hilarious last night's Christmas episode of The Office was...so, so, so funny. I know that I will not do it justice, 'cuz I'm funny just not as funny as that sh*t was...man Michael putting a mark on the girl's arm because he couldn't tell the Asian girls apart, and Michael bringing in a used bike for the toy drive, and Pam and the other hot girl throwing their own party against Angela, and Angela singing Little Drummer Boy, and...whew that's enough...if you didn't see it...try, try, try.

I searched online for a clip without much luck...but you have to search it out...believe me it's worth it.

Would I lie to you?

I have resigned myself...

to being sad for the rest of my life about the situation with my dad...

So on December 5th my dad's house was supposed to be auctioned off in Warner Robins, Georgia and I was waiting and waiting all day for my cell to ring with the news...that we were done. I heard nothing.

So I called our (my sisters and I) attorney/the county auditor yesterday and was told that no one bought or even bid on the house so it was given back to the bank...I am so heart broken about all of this...

I just want it to be over. This is what I hate about it...
1. While waiting in the hospital I read to him, a man I didn't even know...I stood against the back wall of his room while I watched his *other* family wipe his forehead and hold his hand...I couldn't even hold his hand...i don't recall ever holding his hand as a little girl...though in pictures I am.
2. I didn't even know the bastard and I have spent SO MUCH MONEY and time going back and forth to Warner Robins...a town that I never wanted to see much less hang out in for two weeks.
3. This whole ordeal almost tore Amelia and I apart...she was studying for the bar while I was down there, I called her nightly and begged her to come, though I knew in my heart that she couldn't...I was so angry...I felt that she should have come...
4. I have had horrible things said to me....that I am a murderer for taking him off of life support, that I didn't even know him and therefore could care less about killing him, that I am...oops I mean was an insignificant speck in his life and deserve nothing,

this post was put on his online guest book at the funeral home...

We are so sorry to hear of grandpa's passing...to bad dawn was not there for him. We may not be thompson but we are closer to being thompson than you ever will be...just know that. but he loved us and claim us as thompson...the girl who wrote this is 16, 16 and she hates me that much...I met her at the hospital...

so, I am feeling like shit currently.

We are going to be screwed if the house doesn't sell, I don't even know what happens after all of this...I know that I DO NOT want to own a shitty house, in shittyville, Georgia

I cry and cry about it and him and it makes me feel dumb. I mean how is it that I didn't know him but cry a few times a month because he is gone...I don't share this with people but I'm going to today...

When we decided to pull him off life support...I asked for a few seconds alone with him...why? Hell if I know...but I thought if I could say something to him, he might come back even though he was brain dead...so I cried and held his hand and told him that he hadn't seen me since I was six and that if he just woke up we could start over...we could make up those twenty odd years, that I forgave him for not feeding me or paying our rent, for allowing us to be evicted, for choking my mom with me standing by, for everything....all of a sudden the nurses came rushing into the room because they said his blood pressure had plummeted...I'd like to think he heard me...but I doubt it. I'm sure it plummeted because he was dying, I don't know. I wonder why I said all of that...did I or do i believe it? Was it for me, was it for him. I felt this obligation to give him freedom from his past, to take it on as my own but I don't know if I did...it sure feels like it.

I am heartbroken.

On a Lighter Note...

So this year we attended Illuminata in German Village. It was breathtaking, a beautiful night...perfect for a stroll. I'm no photographer but....I took these pictures in Schiller Park, a dog park in the center of the village and thought I might share. It was a great time!

From the homepage of German Village...German Village becomes a snow globe world of lights and holiday magic. All of the shops are open with holiday treats, restaurants pour specialty drinks, and the brick streets are lined with 10,000 luminaria. The surprises are around each corner: Santa, roasting chestnuts, a reindeer, carolers, steel drums, juggling elves, hand bell choirs and more. Shop, dine and stroll throughout the Village ~ treat all of your senses to a holiday tradition!

The Kims

Not to bring everyone down but I just needed to say that I feel so, so sorry for the Kim family. If you don't know what I am talking about go... here...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16070337/?GT1=8816

I feel horrible for his wife but mostly I am heartbroken for his two daughters, Penelope and Sabine. I am not one to get all teary eyed but for some reason this story has occupied much of my mind today.

I am not religious but I hope that whomever is out there is watching over the Kim family.

:(

Peace,
Dawn

When I fly by your a** on the highway...

This is what you'll see.

I am officially a vanity plate owner...I know it's silly but I love it and won't you all be jealous when I can find my car in a lot of silver Saturn Vue's?

I've got the itch...

In September I talked about tattoos and how much I really wanted a new one...well that feeling is coming on again.

The four tattoos that I have are nice.. one on my the inside of my right forearm...flowers; one on my right calf...flowers; one on my right thigh...a BIG butterfly; and one on my lower back (yes I know what they say about tattoos there) a pretty cool paisley pattern. But now I really want something new...the feeling you get while getting a tattoo is...well I don't know I just can't describe it.

Awhile back I had my tongue pierced and I loved it..

Maybe a tattoo will be a Christmas present from me to me :)

So December was going great until...

The tree was in...

The tree was decorated...

The animals were STILL getting along...

and then...

I breathed and....

I got a f***ing flat tire. Those of you who know me know that I AM NOT very handy. I can change a lightbulb, I can kill a bug, I can shovel snow, I can do pretty much anything, but change a tire...nope not me...too damn dirty.

So this is what my tire looks like as of right now. 2 pm Saturday December 2, 2006. Merry F***ing Christmas to me!

and One for good measure!

Three names I go by:
1. D-Dawg
2. Pickle
3. Sham

Three screen names I've had:
1. Pkle
2. Sham
3. Serendipity

Three physical things I like about myself:
1. My eyes
2. My teeth
3. My feet

Three physical things I don't like about myself:
1. My hair
2. My height
3. My weight

Three parts of my heritage:
1. English
2. German
3. Irish

Three things I am wearing right now:
1. pink panties
2. pink and orange bra
3. paisley tank top

Three favorite bands/musical artists:
1. Indigo Girls
2. The Eagles
3. Ani DiFranco

Three favorite songs:
1. Heal Over- KT Tunstall
2. She's Saving Me-Indigo Girls
3. Untouchable Face- Ani DiFranco

Three things I want in a relationship:
1. Lust
2. Laughter
3. Quiet

Two truths and a lie:
1. I have two sisters, both much much older that me
2. My father is dead.
3. Daily...I feel great about myself.

Three physical things about the preferred sex that appeal to you:
1. Nice straight teeth
2. Ass
3. Eyes (I love brown eyes but have always dated people with blue)

Three favorite hobbies:
1. Reading
2. Driving
3. Writing

Three things I want to do badly right now :
1. Go shopping
2. Read at a coffeeshop
3. Change clothes

Three things that scare me:
1. the dark
2. my mom dying
3. hitting a deer on the road

Three of my everyday essentials:
1. Coca-Cola
2. Email
3. Books

Three Careers you have considered or are considering:
1. English professor
2. Archaeologist
3. Chemist

Three places you want to go on vacation:
1. Alaska
2. Belarus
3. Galapagos Islands

Three kids' names you like:
1. Adaline
2. Marco
3. Georgia

Three things you want to do before you die:
1. say everything I've ever wanted to say to certain people
2. make love in Paris
3. see something of mine published.

Three ways I am stereotypically a boy:
1. I curse a lot
2. everyone says I walk like my dad and he was a boy does that count?
3. I rarely wear dresses/skirts/etc...

Three ways I am stereotypically a girl:
1. I love pink
2. I love gossip
3. I worry about everything

Three celeb crushes :
1. Taye Diggs
2. McSteamy not McDreamy :)
3 . Lauren Graham (pretty much the whole cast of Gilmore Girls including LOGAN he is hot.