Top 10 Reasons Why I wouldn't trade my Mother for all the money in the World... VIA Her Quotes...

10- "Jimmy, I told you not to let me cook or use knives when I'm drinking!"

9- "I LOVE HIM SO MUCH"- she says this after anyone talks about Rex her grandson.

8- "Cari, will you consider Eloping and having a baby now... seriously"

7- on my Voice Mail "Cari, this is your mother... why aren't you answering your phone?" This is said in my favorite high pitch southern voice.

6- "Cari, Can you call your sister?"

5-"Y'ALL STOP MAKING FUN OF ME!"

4-"hey, do that voice of that guy on that show... com'on do it for me"

3-"Casey... would I like Pineapple Express?"

2-" LUDJ YOU!" she says this in emails and in person.. its her cute way of saying love you!

1-"I love you"- People don't say this enough to their kids... my mother has said it to me everyday for 25 years.

bonus reason: she's crazy.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Boyfriend?!?

Can someone please explain this to me?

Note: I didn't notice the dog eating off the kitchen chair until I uploaded this pic. And sorry for the shit-tastic picture. It was taken with my POS cell phone.

....But YOU'RE the one who has to wear it FOREVER!

So, just in case you have never gone shopping for a wedding band let me start by saying .. its truly a fun and heartwarming experience. To buy something that symbolizes something so monumental in our lives yet, such a sweet and ancient message.

Did you know what the ancient Greeks started wearing rings on the 4th finger of the left hand because it was supposed to be a direct line to your heart?


Fiance and I recently purchased our rings, and I love them. It's amazing how men are such different creatures sometimes... Here's how buying his ring went..



"Baby, you need to tell me what kind of ring you want"


"one that fits on my finger... oh and is black."


"That's it, that's all the requirements?


"Yep, I'll wear whatever you like best"


"So I'll Pick it out and You will Wear it FOREVER"


..fiance makes a pucking noise because he's a romantic...


"YES CARI!"


"FINE"



But me however, it needed to match my engagement ring, and be pretty on its own. Now my engagement ring isn't very traditional so it was so hard for find one that didn't' get lost next to it. So the ring we bought for Fiance, which in the stores was anywhere from 200-400 bucks I found the same brand and design on Overstock.com for $70, and the ring we bought for me, of course I had to go back to the store like 6 times, and try on rings at every other jewelry store first, and take pictures of it on my cell phone and send it to friends to see what they thought...Now we have them and they do not match, do not look traditional in any sense of the word.. but we love them, and I love that we bought mine on Valentines day 5 minutes before the store closed. The clerk asked me if i wanted to wear it out of the store.. truth is YES I DID!! Why wouldn't I.. diamonds are kinda fun.. but there is also something exciting in knowing that this piece of jewelry is much more than a good deal or a perfect fit.. its a very serious commitment that in 7 months I will be making, and I can't wait!

** Note, mine is much shinier in person!**

**Next to the engagment ring**

Valentine's Day, Schmalentine's Day

So I had someone ask me today if I had made any "big Valentine's Day weekend plans" with my significant other. What? Are people seriously making a weekend out of this because Valentine's Day is on a Saturday? When I told him that we weren't really doing anything he said that my guy was a lucky man because if he doesn't spend at least $200 on his wife then she doesn't speak with him for weeks. I'm hoping that this woman is in the minority becasue if not, then I really feel sorry for you guys...

We went out to dinner for our first Valentine's Day. We agreed that there would be no gift exchange, so that part was easy. Dinner was insanely busy at the restaurant (big surprise, huh?) so we decided that night that we probably weren't going to do that again. I think we may be going out to dinner sometime after Valentine's Day this year, but if we don't get around to it, I will not feel un-loved. Valentine's Day has always been just a "greeting card holiday" to me. I just never really found it that important.

I remember realizing that Valentine's Day sucked when I was in Middle School. The student council always had a fundraiser where you could buy valentines and/or carnations and have them delivered to your "special someone's" homeroom on Valentine's Day as a surprise. For three years I hoped that I would have something waiting for me on top of my desk when I walked into first period. And for three years - nothing. Imagine my sad little face looking around to see everyone else's flowers and then looking back at my empty desk. I like to think that was a character building experience and that it helped me become the well-adjusted adult that I am. The reason I think this is because all of those girls who got flowers are now whores.

So this year, take me out to dinner on a night when I don't have to wait 45 minutes for a table after we have already made reservations weeks ahead of time. Or maybe you could cook me dinner. Hell, I'll even do the dishes! And then, maybe some wine...for me. You will be left in charge of making sure the kids have been fed and bathed before being dragged to bed, kicking and screaming because they want ONE MORE DORA!!!! I'll be watching my Netflix and drinking my bottle of Red Cat. It will be the best Valentine's Day ever!

If you're in a bad mood...

This is why I am afraid to have kids... WHAT IF THEY ARE NOT THIS CUTE!

I was in a kind of a mood until I found this link I had sent to Rachel a long time ago...

Enjoy.

So Maybe We Need a 3 Bedroom House

We live in a two bedroom place with two girls. It's temporary, but it works for now. The baby just recently moved from our bedroom to her sister's room because she was ready for the "big girl crib". By "ready" I mean she was sleeping through the night for the most part and there was a slim chance that she would wake up Big Sister.

Everything had been going swimmingly until Little Sister got sick a couple weeks ago. She had a nasty chest cold and a double ear infection so she was up periodically throughout the night hacking, crying, screaming and just plain pissed off that she was sick. Big Sister only woke up once during the two week stretch to complain about the baby keeping her up, so I thought we were doing pretty good.

Last night, Little Sister slept through the night, which meant that their father and I also slept through the night because we didn't have to sleep with a hacking, crying, screaming pissed off baby. In fact, I slept so soundly that I didn't even hear Big Sister come in our room and crawl into bed with us. When I got out of bed, I notcied she was in there and there was something on her head. When I leaned in closer, I started laughing. Hysterically.

She was wearing her earmuffs! Not the kind that keep you warm - the kind that protect your ears from loud noises.* Yes, she went to bed anticipating that fact that her sister would probably be keeping her up again and she was going to use the proper ear protection. It's just too bad she can't appreciate the irony in that fact that the first night she decided to use the headgear was the first night here sister decided to sleep all night.

*We have earmuffs for the girls because their dad is an avid race fan and we frequent the local track. Not because we're weirdos.

My Fiance's Obession...

So not having kids yet ourselves, Fiance and I have a killer Cat and a dog, Vader and Anakin. That's right.. Star Wars. Get Over it. These are our babies, we are very good pet owners and we, especially over sensitive Fiance, notice when things are wrong and take action very quickly.

Recently we had to take the dog Anakin to the vet because he was violently throwing up and not eating anything. So the vet, Dr. Hetzner of Lowville Countryside Vet Clinic who was awesome, discoverers that there is something blocking his GI Tack and he had to go in and see what the blockage was, long story short it was a piece of a Busy Buddy toy we had bought him months ago AT THE VET when he blew his knee cap out... i know i know.. if he was an actual kid they'd have called social services on us by now.

So the day after he had surgery we went to visit him in doggy hospital. Now they had shaved his whole underbelly including his :: ahem:: doggy boy parts. The first thing Fiance says when we go see our boy is..."His penis looks smaller". The vet tech didn't even know what to say..I just looked at him and he keep saying it!

"what! it does, his penis looks smaller"

I had to reassure him that he hadn't eaten in over a week and he had lost weight, so the combination of the shaving and the loose skin is creating the illusion of a small unit, and our boy was still as manly as he was before the surgery.

Fiance let it go for a while, and this morning, Anakin was stretching out on his back, a good sign of recovery, and of course with the shaved underbelly his doggy man parts were in full force on display. Instead of being excited he could again get into that position even with staples in his abdomen Fiance notices what he thinks are two lumps by the dog bits and with force looks at me and says " You have to call the vet and tell him he has two lumps by his penis, that's why he's licking it, what if its blood clots, OH SHIT!"

Remember, I love this man, and usually he's pretty spot on noticing things others might disregard, but this was too much.

So he spent the next 5 minutes looking at it and making sure things were OK. I had to tell him, he's licking it because he's a dog, they live to lick themselves then lick your face, he's fine.

Fiance finally conceded but not first with out saying, "Fine, but keep an eye on it"

Um.. can you imagine calling the vet to say "Yeah, hi, there's something wrong with my dogs penis."