So Many Words, So Little Time

Hi everyone. I am gonna be all over the place with this post. I am angry and I am sad, but I'll get to that in a little while. Right now, I want to tell you what I done went and did last week.

Now, ya'll know that my husband is a truck driver. You may or may not have known that he was leasing his own truck. That can have an upside and a downside. Sometimes, the money was good, but most of the time, it sucked. In the end, we were about $5,000 in the hole with his company. And then, last Wednesday, after I read the pay statement saying he was again $741.67 in the red, I called him and said enough. I'd had enough of him being gone for 6 weeks at a time and still not making money. I'd rather be poor and together, than alone and poor anyway. So, I told him to come home.

So... He did. He made his way to Atlanta, where I had to go pick him up. Oh My God. It was crazy. An ice storm hit while we were en route. We left Henagar at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, and got home at 5:15 am on Thursday. Within 30 miles, there were 14 wrecks that the minion and I counted. Then, at around the 290 mile marker on I75 South, we came to a halt. It took us 45 minutes to crawl a whole 3 miles. The reason? A Fed Ex truck with 53 ft trailer, flipped and was hanging over a bridge. On I75 North, traffic was backed up for 5 hours, because 2 tanker trucks collided and Hazmat was called in to clear it before traffic could go through.

I myself, lost control and slid. I was extremely lucky and was able to change lanes, and slow down before getting hurt or hurting someone else. Below is a video of the I75 North traffic jam. No, I didn't take the video. Connie was in the passenger seat.

Alright, moving on. Do you remember this hot mess?  Ok, this is what I'm angry about. Chris and I had made our peace. He had apologized for what happened. We were fine. Well, apparently, a year or so ago, he made a pass at Tabby, the other night shift girl. When my boss found out about him kissing me, she had him banned from the store. Now, it seems they want to press charges against him. That is a big negative. I refuse to do so. Like I said, he and I got straight. I'm so dang angry. I see no point for him to be banned. I see no point in filing charges. I definitely don't see a point in his job being threatened. (We have customers that have charge accounts for fuel. His company fuels at our store.) Alright, there is the anger off my chest.

I end this post with sadness. My favorite customer died. I didn't know him long, but he made an impact on my life. Elder Edward Mines was a good man. He taught me that you can still be young, no matter the age of the body. He showed me that you can be nice even when in pain. He showed me that you can be a Christian without proselytizing. He often told me that I worked too hard and that I was only sweet when sleeping. I hope he finds the home that he believed in. I hope that his passing was easy and that he didn't suffer. Rest in peace, sir. I'll think of you often.

Love to All,
Allie



Baby It's Cold Outside.

Baby, it's cold outside... Do you know that song? I am currently piled up in my bed, with the demon dogs, watching Eclipse. (Ok, so I'm technically watching it again and blogging. Bite me.) All I am going to say about the movie is this. Son, I am dissapoint. If you don't understand that, go to Internet Meme Database. Which is not to be confused with IMDB. I love both of those sites.

Speaking of things that I love.... some of you know that I am a huge movie person/nut/whatever. I try really hard to stay on top of movies and when they are coming out, so that way when Mike is home, we can go do something without actually having to do any research. Let me tell you, it is all about making his life easier.

I don't mean that in a sexist or bad way, it's just that.. When he gets home, he doesn't really want to make any decisions. He just wants to eat good food, relax with me and the demon dogs, and decompress.  And who can blame him? With a week like the recent one, he needs some downtime. In the last 3 days, his windshield has cracked all the way across due to extremely low temperatures, and a newbie backed his truck too close to Mike, ripping off the mirror and damaging paint. So, yeah, I'd say my honey deserves to relax.

Back to the movies. (Sorry ya'll. I tend to be random and ramble back and forth.) I've seen a few that are looking pretty good, according to previews anyway, so I'm going to post a link to the video with a brief description. All you have to do is click the link and it will take you straight to the website that plays it. (Website is IMDB. I trust it. That's all I can say about that.) I tend to like lots of action. Oh ha ha, smarties. I'll throw in a chick flick or two if I can find any that I want to back.

I want you to remember something. Movies are entertainment. They are not the be all, end all of the world. They are simply here to take us somewhere else, be it the future, the past, space, or somewhere not yet created in our minds. They are meant to make us laugh, cry, jump out of our skin in horror, and think. I hope you like my choices.

Cowboys and Aliens This one is for my dad. A strange mash-up of the two things he loves... Cowboys and aliens. It looks like it will be good. I know, I know. Alot of you are probably thinking... Uh, no. Give it a chance. Harrison Ford for the acting and Daniel Craig for the eye candy.

Battle: Los Angeles I'm kinda diggin the feel of this one. Marines vs Aliens in L.A. We always knew it would get hit first. Lots of action. Aaron Eckhart, Bridget Moynahan, Michelle Rodriguez, and Ne-Yo are the top names.

I Am Number Four Timothy Oliphant is the only name I know in this one so far. An extraordinary teenager is on the run from the government/his creators/bad guys? It doesn't really say, but again it looks interesting.

The Mechanic Mmmm. Jason Statham. That man is hotness defined. Gorgeous hazel eyes. Serious hard body. And of course, the accent. Drool. (Sorry Daddy.) He is an assassin, determined to take out the upper management who decided his mentor was no longer needed. The only catch? He has said mentor's son, played by Ben Foster, along for the ride. Yes. It promises to be exactly like his other movies. Lots of martial arts, lots of killing, and perhaps, if the movie gods decide to throw me a frickin bone, another striptease. (Sorry again, Daddy.)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon This is a teaser trailer, not much info, but some people might want to know about it.

Beastly Despite the name, this is actually a love story. It's a modern take on Beauty and the Beast. Only recognizable names are Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Kate Olsen. (My husband loves to tell me there is a special place in Hades for me, between The Olsen Twins and Marilyn Manson. Me, myself, and I, would love to converse with Marilyn Manson.) And also, Alex Pettyfer, the male lead in this movie, also happens to be Number Four, from above. I didn't realize it until I was doing some research on this one.

Mars Needs Moms Animated movie. Title says it all, really. A little boy doesn't like the fact that his mother makes him eat his broccoli, do his homework, and is generally, a mom. He learns exactly how much he needs and loves her when Martians invade and take her away.

Tomorrow, When the War Began This movie actually came out on September 2, 2010. I'm including it because it looks like one of those that will make you think. I remember seeing the preview way back when and thinking... hmmm, this could be good. This is actually an Austrailian Indie flick. It just drew me in.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm sure there are tons more out there, these just jumped out at me. Now, as for that video, that's me. Yeah, I know. Totally not what you expected, right? Oh well. Me and the demon dogs out in the snow for some fun. Enjoy.

Love to All,
Allie

Craziness at the Batcave.

Has it been a full moon all week long or something? It has been craziness at work lately. It seems like everytime I turn around, something is going on.

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na... Batman!

That is what I wore to work Sunday. For the record, I am a Dark Knight fanatic. I love Batman. Adam West might be the original, but Michael Keaton is my favorite. Christian Bale comes in at a close second, simply because the movies with him are darker, harder, and of course have better graphics.

Anyway, I got all kinds of reactions to it. My favorite was this one old lady. She was probably around 70 or so, 100 lbs soaking wet, and a puff of cotton for hair. As she was leaving, she strikes a pose and says, "To the Batmobile!" I about died. Oh my god. I thought I would never stop laughing. It was great.

Is there a Flirtaholics Anonymous? If there is, I need to go. "Hi, my name is Allie, and I'm a shameless flirt." I can't help it. It is just me. Mom says I get it from Daddy. She said that it was a bone of contention between them in the early years. According to her, he swore he was just being friendly. She admits that after awhile, she could see that he didn't really mean anything, it was just his nature to be friendly and engaging.

The reason for this, is, I was molested at work. I totally brought it on myself too. My husband agrees, and he actually thought it was pretty funny. Alright, so here goes....

There is this guy named Chris. He and I have flirted with each other ever since I started my job in late July. (Definition of flirt: chat up: talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions.) We are both happily married, so I've never thought, or wanted to think, that it was going anywhere. So anyway, he was back behind the Pepsi machine and called me over. I thought something was wrong with it from his tone of voice, so I came around the counter and closed the door. Big mistake.

Chris: You have to see this!
Me: What? I don't see anything? (My hands are kind of down by my side, palms out.)
Chris: This. He grabs my hand and puts it on the front of his jeans. (He's a bold one, huh?)
Me: Holy f**k. You can't do that!

I pull my hand away and start backing away from him. I know that I was blushing and jabbering, but I wasn't exactly coherent enough to remember what I was saying. He advances toward me with the biggest grin on his face. And then....? I smack into the door. Crap. He leans down and kisses me. (Alarms are going off in my head. All I can think is the F word.) I'm pushing against him, and reaching for the door knob. After what seems like an hour, I find it. I jerk the door open and fall backwards. I slam the door shut behind me, and race around to the counter.

"Dude! You can't do that! I'm married! You're married! There are CAMERAS!" I'm blushing and he is laughing. I remember all I could really say was dude, which comes out as doo. I don't know why, maybe my accent?

Anyway, he apologized, and promised not to let it happen again. I called Mom as soon as he left. I told her the whole thing and I could hear her voice shaking with laughter. I admit. It was funny. After the fact. He's been back in since, and while we still flirt, I know he wants more. And he knows that I stand firm, faithful to my husband.

Confession time. When I met my husband, I was dating 5 other guys besides him. If I'm lying, I'm dying. There was Kev, a man 17 years my senior, to the day. To this day, I will still remember the birthday we shared, and all that he taught me. The 2 Jasons, one of which I had tried desperately to have a relationship with, but it just wasn't right. Jeremy, the Paragod, with whom I had an extremely combustible and dangerous relationship. There was Matt, the sweet, naive church going, tied to his mama's apronstrings boy.

To be honest, there are tons more than that, I just don't remember most of their names.  For a very long time in my life, I used love and sex to fill a void in me. It's not that I was addicted to sex, I just craved the attention and affection. Mike is the only man I've ever been faithful to. He's the only one who's ever made me want to be faithful, to tie myself to.

I don't regret a single thing I've ever done. Everything I've done, has made me into the person I am today. I'm not going to say that I don't look back, because we all do. I think of some of the things that I have done, and sure, I wish that I'd handled them differently. Hindsight will always be 20/20.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't regret. If you've done something you wished you hadn't, don't keep reliving the past. Stop being ashamed or embarrassed. Let it go, and move on.

Love to All,
Allie

Wait. What?

My week has been kind of insane. Work has been hectic, home has been hectic, and I've had the flu, and those are some of the easiest things I've had to handle.

My former phone. RIP

My phone decided to commit suicide on Thursday. It was a doomed relationship from the start. I had a tendency to drop it. It had a severe attraction to water. I would lose it for hours on end, growing more frantic in my searchings until I finally found it in the bottomless pit...aka my purse.

I went on a 6 week trip with Mike during the months of June and July of this year. Right before we left, I had slipped the phone into my pocket and climbed down from the truck. There was a puddle of water 4 feet away. Somehow, the phone threw itself from my pocket into the puddle. I didnt even notice it. My husband said, "Uh babe, is that your phone?" Of course I panicked. I pulled it apart with a quickness and dried it out. I left it off for several hours. I used Mike's phone to text my mom and tell her why my phone was off before she called in the Army. (That is a whole nother blog post. I'll go there later.) It was saved.

At that time, I was a housewife. I didn't have any commitments and could just pick up and go where the truck took me. After I got back, I was extremely bored and to the point of cleaning the house for FUN. Something very wrong in that. Anyway, my mom, who works at the Sylvania store, was telling me about the Rainsville store, and how much trouble they were having keeping good help. I know this sounds wrong, but the only reason I applied there is because I felt bad that they couldn't keep good people, and I was bored. Yes, there is a reason to this whole back story. I'm getting there. Patience.

So anyway, a couple months after I started there, I was doing my job and cleaning the bathroom. Yeah, you know where this is going, don't you? I had stuck my phone in my shirt pocket, not really thinking. I had *just* finished cleaning the toilet and had bent over to pick up piece of trash that was in the floor. PLOP. Oh, fan-freaking-tastic. Thank you god, it was clean. Otherwise, well, I'd have flushed it. After I got it out, I cleaned it, then laid it out to dry while I finished the rest of my chores. I left it apart for the rest of the night, calling Mom from the store phone to let her know I was incommunicado for a little while. She really hates that, by the way. And again, it was saved.

The months wore on and my phone and I were inseperable. We went everywhere together, having the best conversations, sending humor out into our little piece of the world. Then one day, my phone started acting a little funny. It would give me the cold shoulder and freeze up in the middle of texting. It would power down in the middle of phone calls. The phone became jealous, keeping me for itself, cutting me off from the outside world.

I tried to coax it into sharing me again, but to no avail. The final straw came when I was on the phone with my dear husband, shopping in Wal-Mart. It turned itself off and refused to come back on.The little punk took all my cool ringtones and awesome pictures with it too. I walked right over to the electronics department, and picked out a new one. (Yes. I'm a Verizon prepay user. It saves money, thank you very much. And I'm a cheap hooker. Just ask my husband.)

Now let me say this. I loved my phone. I could send 5 texts within 60 seconds, easily. I knew just how to work the buttons to make it putty in my hands.

The New Hotness. Name that movie!

So this.. this is my new phone. I like it, but there are reservations. It is pissing me off-fa-fa. And that comedian is? (Sorry, but I'm in a feisty mood, and I quote movies almost as much as guys do.) It's nice, don't get me wrong, but there a few kinks to be worked out. For example, I was texting with my friend Jamie and also with my friend James. Now, maybe this is user error here, but several times, when I was replying to Jamie, I would be in the middle of typing and a text from James would pop up. I'd choose view later, and finish my text. When it sent, it would send to James. What the firetruck? I don't understand. And while the qwerty keyboard is nice, it's SLOW. I'm not as fast as I was with the other phone. I'm sure I'll get used to it, and yes, I am eventually happy. I'm just whining. I'll get over it, or get used to it, one.

Alright, so for some more awesome updates. I've lost a grand total of 39.2 pounds. And as for the blog, I've had 944 page hits since 09/26/10. And of those, I've had recurring visits from France, Russia, Brazil, Croatia, German, and the United Kingdom, as well as the aforementioned Denmark, Lebanon, Canada, and of course, the United States. I've also had referral from sites that I've never heard of. In the photo below, my website has the TOP SPOT. Sorry for the screaming, but that is just amazing to me.

I'm going to bed now, I've got tons of stuff to do before the holidays are seriously upon us.

Love to All,
Allie

Pride.

This is CJ. He's the cousin that went shopping with me on Black Friday. Yesterday, he turned 18. I don't have kids, so I don't know how Uncle Tim or Aunt Tish felt, but, for me, it's crazy. I remember him as a fat, happy baby. I've changed a few of his diapers, babysat him a ton, and abused his muscles in my yearly move.

Anyway, today, CJ got the best news of his life. (Yeah, he's young, but wait, it's awesome.) He was accepted to the University of Alabama. The letter was dated for yesterday, his birthday. He said that it was the best birthday present he'd ever been given. Really though, it wasn't given to him. He earned it. He's a straight A student, a hard worker. Yes, I know. I sang his praises in my last post. Bite me. I'm overflowing with pride at the moment.

Uncle Tim called me not moments after CJ sent the text out. I was the first person he called. The very first. Do you know how special that makes me feel? I could hear the pride and love in his voice as he talked to me about CJ. He could hardly talk for choking up. And if you've ever talked to my Uncle, you know that understanding what he says when he's choked up is no easy thing. I love the man, but he talkes 90 to nothing. He's got a Southern twang that won't quit. When my husband first met him, all he could really do was smile and nod. Afterwards, he was like, "What was he saying?!" He, like everyone, has gotten used to it. They call each other pretty much daily while they're out on the road.

I don't know what yall's family is like, but mine are texting fools. We text, forward, joke with each other all day long. I got a forward asking this. Before the end of 2010, you and I should _____? So I answered back to that person, then sent it out. What did I get back from CJ? Go shopping again! I'm telling you ladies, a catch.

That's all I've got for now. I'm in the midst of changing over to a different phone. My old phone decided to commit suicide, and that just sucks. I'll tell you more about it later.

I love you CJ! I'm so very proud of who you are, and I know you will be epic greatness. Congratulations!

Love to all,
Allie