Adventures In Babysitting

Well, I am on day three of my new found adventures. I have taken on the job of babysitting 2 little boys. One of them is 8 months old and as cute as can be, the other is almost 3 and has apparently never been talked to, because when he talks you can't understand him and he doesn't understand what anyone says to him. On the plus side, he is potty trained. That is an adventure ALL by itself.
The first time that I took him to the bathroom, it went all over the floor. I had him sit on the toilet and before I could do anything he was already going and I found myself with a mess to clean up. It sounds funny (now), but at the time I was not amused.
Sierra loves having the boys here, it gives her someone to play with and she spends a lot less time crying. I, on the other hand am exhausted.
This is not the first time that I have watched these boys, the first time was October of last year (it didn't end well, but I'm giving their mom a second chance). Needless to say I'm not sure how long they will be here. Today is supposed to be payday and the mom is already trying to weasel her way out of paying me the amount that she owes me. I have even given her a reduced rate ($125 a week for 2 kids), and she has started lying already. What lie you ask? The one about still owing money to her last sitter. Her mom watched the boys and didn't charge her anything.
Its not like she owes me a huge amount, its only $50 for two days. Was I wrong to take them back? Probably, but I wanted to put my degree to good use and be able to bring in some extra money. Oh well.
On a happier note, we turn our attention back to a favorite topic in the Bennett household, wrestling. Monday night WWE fans found themselves with new tag team champions. Shawn Michaels (HBK) and John Cena found themselves in not one, but two 10 team (20 man) battle royals for the tag team championship belts. They made it through the first, but during the second HBK tossed John Cena over the rope, eliminating their team. The new champs, the Hardys, the best tag team (in my opinion). When I first started watching WWF, they were my favorites and still are. Jeff can be a little on the "out there" side, but they more than make up for that with their high flying antics and the chemistry that they have. That and Matt is a sweetie. If only I wasn't married. ;) (Take that Mark). I love you honey.

Breaking News

Today, when I woke up I was thrilled with the outcome of Wrestlemania 23, but frankly I just don't care anymore. I just received a phone call from my niece, Megan, that was very disturbing and brought me to tears. My sister, whom I have not spoke with in almost 4 years, has BREAST CANCER. The same exact thing that killed my mom. My sister, Missie, is only 37 years old, that's about how old my mom was when she found out. And I am absolutely terrified that history is going to repeat itself, and I am going to lose my sister forever.
No matter what she has done in her life, I don't care. I love her, she's my big sister and I don't want her to die.
I ask now that everyone who reads this, please please please pray that she can make it through this. Ask everyone that you know to pray for her too. Not only that she survives, but that she can find salvation, as she doesn't believe in God.

Thank you.

Wrestling Fever

It is safe to say that Sierra-Lynn is not the only member of the Bennett family to be struck with "Wrestemania Fever". I caught myself (yesterday) trying to talk one of the neighborhood kids into talking her parents into ordering it, so she could tape it for me. She only wanted to watch it to see John Cena (which there is nothing wrong with that). To the left you see a photo of my choice to win the money in the bank ladder match, the one and only Matt Hardy. I thought about posting a photo of him in bed, and thought against it (don't want to make Mark mad, and that would do it). How long until it comes out on DVD?
As I said, I would love for Matt to win, but I will be happy as long as Edge loses. If I ran the WWE, Edge would have already lost his shot to appear at Wrestemania 23. Why should he? He won't wrestle any other time, he doesn't deserve to be there.
Sierra has made a new claim to what she is going to be when she grows up. She is going to be a wrestler. Now isn't that what every mother wants her little girl to become, I guess that will be fine (as long as she stays away from "Playboy").
In closing I want to send my thoughts and prayers to Matt Hardy, John Cena, Bobby Lashley and Ashley. Here's hoping that you are victorious in your matches later today and that Vince is the Billionaire that leaves bald.

Kids.....You Can't Live With

Sierra knows just what buttons to push to drive me totally insane. Mark came home on his lunch break today and told her that if she wants to stay up to watch "Raw", then she must take a nap. If not she doesn't get to watch (and Raw is the only WWE show that has John Cena). The child now has a picture of him on her door that she kisses every night before she goes to bed, a poster hanging on the wall by her bed and his wrestler. She also throws a fit if she doesn't get to watch him on TV (when she does see, she practically starts to hyperventilate), its bad. So, you would think that she would take a nap without fighting me, right? Wrong, she was put down at 1:00 and it is know 1:29 and she has been up every 5 minutes.
I love you to pieces, but sometimes she just drives me crazy.
She is finally silent, so maybe she decided to stop fighting (either that or she is thinking up some other excuse to get out of bed, so far it has been "I need a hug.").

In other news, I have been getting emails from a guy that I used to go to school with. And for the life of me I have one idea who he is. I feel absolutely horrible about it. And I wonder just how many people out there are trying to find me (because they had a crush on me, or because I touched their lives in a positive way) and when/or if they find me it leaves me scratching my head, not knowing who they are. My friend Juli, as well as my husband, thinks that this is funny, I fail to find the humor, but maybe someday I will. One thing that is funny is the fact that after all this time the guy looks exactly the same now as he did in the 8th grade.
Looking back at what others were like is very easy, but have you ever tried to picture yourself (not physically) when you were in school? Were you a bully? Were you superficial? That kind of thing. I have, and let me tell you, its not easy. I remember trying to hide my home life (and my bruises) and for the most part being successful, unless you count in Juli. She seemed to know everything that happened at home, even without me telling her. She even knew about a crush that I had on a classmate, one Zach Johnson. For the life of me, when I went to Webb City High, I thought that Landon Rose was the guy that I liked, well except for the girlfriend, a cheerleader. Then a week or so after I moved, came to realize that I liked Zach, but somehow Juli knew. People like her are unforgettable, if you have someone like her in your life, please let them know how much you care about them and are thankful to have them in your life. These people are true friends and trust me they are hard to find and should be treasured always.

No Body Loves Me

Well some people do, but still. This week has been sooooooooo boring. It seems like all I have done is clean (and type recipes).
Wait, I did get a visit from Delaney, she spent most of it grading papers. I spent most of it trying to keep the girls from destroying the house. She told me that her sister, another of my friends, moved. That's right, Tegin, up and moved. No email, no call, nothing, she just bought a house and moved in like 2 weeks. The last time that I had talked to her, they were not going to be able to move for a few years, because they didn't have the credit rating for it. Whatever.
Mark has been working nonstop (or at least it seems that way). We even got into a fight about it. They have cut out the overtime (for now), so that they can get there bonuses. Yet he still leaves 30 minutes before he has to be there, is only home 15 minutes of his 60 minute lunch break and takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to get home. Now I know what you are thinking, it takes time to get back and forth from work, normally I would agree. The thing is, we only live like 2 miles from his job, so there is no excuse for it to take that long. He is forever saying that I have a boyfriend, so I told him that he needs to stop spending so much time with his girlfriend. He took the offensive, so I don't know. I was just upset last night, he never seems to want to spend time with me, unless its in the bedroom and then he gets upset when all I want to do is sleep.
Ok, so maybe this week wasn't so boring after all.

God Love The Extended Weekend

For the first time in what seems like forever Mark was given 4 glorious days off in a row. It was wonderful. On Thursday we went to Sierra-Lynn's favorite place in the whole world, Chuck E. Cheese. She had a blast, we even got to meet Chuck E. Its kind of funny depending on how you look at it. Mark and I were taking turns riding the virtual roller coaster with her (she refused to get off). On my second turn with her, she lost all interest when she saw the mouse walk by and even tried to jump off so that she could get a closer look. I still can't believe that I took second place to a mouse.

Friday was spent at the video store and then at home on the couch watching movies. We rented "Flushed Away" and "Saw 3". "Saw 3" was watched while Sierra was napping, and considering our recent run of bad luck with horror movies, I did not go into this movie with high hopes. I loved it though, granted it could have bounced from one time to another less, but it was much better than "Saw 2" or any other horror flick that I have seen in the last year. We all got a kick out of "Flushed Away", if you haven't seen it, rent it. You won't be sorry. We also started our garden in our indoor greenhouse, hears hopping that this year it works. They do say the third times a charm.

Then on Saturday, we were outside all day, which ended with a BBQ. To make things more like our old house, we bought some bird feeders a few weeks ago and find the time on Saturday to make a cute bird feeder holder/flower box. It is 4x2 foot at the top and bottom and stands about 6 foot high with lattice on the top. It should be really pretty this Spring (once we put flowers in it). Here is a picture of a red bird that loves it already.

Sunday, was a little less eventful. We took a small road trip to Washington, MO, to check out the new super center that just opened, and had a picnic lunch at Krog Park. Lunch was cut short by an unexpected arrival, a bee. A few years before I met Mark he was attacked by bees/hornets/whatever and stung over 100 times. He now is more afraid of them than they are of him, which he openly displays in front of Sierra, making her panic when they are around. Lucky me.

Yesterday, Sierra and I spent much of the day outside (after getting up at 8 am). We meet some new neighbors, maybe in a few weeks when Debbie goes back to work, I'll get to babysit her two boys and have some extra money. That would be soooo nice. Speaking of nice, when Mark came home from work yesterday he brought Sierra home a John Cena action figure. Now picture this if you will. He is 6 foot 3 and she is somewhere between 40 and 41 inches tall. He gives her the toy and she leaps (from the ground) into his arms, in one leap, with him standing up. She then starts covering him with kisses and almost makes he pass out from squeezing him so hard.

Today, she has of course decided that she is going to be a royal pain in the @&& (rubbing milk into my table, spitting milk on herself, kicking/kneeing/and licking the wall after being put in the corner). She hasn't even got to see WWE Raw from last night yet. Speaking of, did you watch it Jules. The Rock was on it. For all of you that missed it, the Rock gave the English translation of Umaga's name, it means "shriveled monkey penis".

Shocking

Thursday, when I woke up, I awoke to a shock. My dad was on the phone, and no, I didn't have to call or email him first. My first thought was that something had happened to Grandma Bea, but he said that she is fine (considering that she is 92). He just wanted to see how we were doing. Maybe he does care, although it didn't bother him that Sierra called him Uncle Gary, so I don't know. I am just happy that he is finally making an effort, I guess that not contacting him (in any way) for 2 months got to him. He is even standing up to his sisters (who still treat him like he is a child). Yes, I am aware that on the subject of my dad I am wishy washy, but that is my God given right as his daughter.

My sewing machine is finally working the way that it is supposed to. For the last month, it has given me nothing but problems. We even went out and bought a new one, but I didn't really like it and it now lives back at Wal-Mart. We do, however have a brand new 32 inch TV. I love it. It is HD ready and so much bigger than our old 19 inch that I have had since I lived in Tennessee.

I know that the real reason why anyone reads this is for updates on Miss Sierra, so here you go. For the last week my sweet little baby has had a cold. She spent two straight days just laying on the couch or curled up on my lap (two things that she never does). She still has a runny nose, but she is back to her old mischievous self, never shuts up self.
She is more obsessed with John Cena than I am. She can see him on TV for a second and her little heart starts beating twice as fast as it does normally. She also as a photo of him hanging on her door, and (I kid you not) has to kiss it before she goes to bed at night. Last night I forgot to let her give it a kiss and she started throwing a fit and refused to go to sleep until the kiss was given. Lord only knows how she is going to react tonight when he and three other WWE Superstars appear on "Deal or no deal".