A [Boring] Post With No Pictures

Hi there. Remember me? My name is Ashley. I'm that person at the bottom of you blogroll/the one who is never highlighted on your Google Reader. [hi ashley].


Tap.....Tap.....Tap...... are you still out there loyal readers? [all 2.5 of you?]


You who've followed my blog for a little while know that I am infamous for disappering from Blogville for weeks at a time, then returning with a sudden burst of ten posts. I'd like to say that this is another one of those moments, but.....it's not. Too busy to blog. Darn that part of me that keeps me responsible and doesn't allow me to put [slightly] more important tasks ahead of my blog time. In my dream life I would be an awesome blogger with lots of followers and people who constantly commented "You so funny" in an Asian accent because my blog would be so awesome it could pick up on accents from typed comments. [I know. Cool.] I would get paid for blogging and blog stalking and shopping on the internet. How cool would that be? [Cool.] But I digress....


Oh well. That's not my life. Instead I'm caught neck deep in numbers, brochures, and annoying people calling me asking why "I" [bear in mind I don't do any hiring] have not called them to interview for a position in my company's new facility that is currently being built. To all of you who have called or who are going to call me in the near future: The building is not open. It's under construction. We do not have jobs yet. We will call you when we do. Capice? Besides, do you really think that calling and harassing/badgering your potential employer is really the best job-hunting practice? Because honestly, when you pull attitude, your application suddenly finds a new home in my trash can.


So life is busy, and no matter how hard I try, I just can't get myself ahead of the game. I'm getting so sick of "I'm so busy" being a part of my daily mantra. Got any other suggestions for ways of saying, "No Time''? I'm all about euphemisms. They make the crummy parts of life seem all flowery. [or at least funny].

I do have some things I want to post on this little virtual journal of mine. I've just have so many things going against me right now. The aforementioned [impressive, huh?] lack of time, and the fact that my travel camera got left at a friends house nearly two weeks ago. It has a lot of pics I wanted to post about on it. If hubs doesn't go pick it up tomorrow, I'm going to resort to stick figure drawings. I know. You're on the edge of your seat.

In honor of this throw-it-all-on-the-table-catch-up post, I'm going to give you a glimpse into what's been going on in my life bullet style. Enjoy.

• First off, there is the all time consuming thing of "work". I've decided that my job description has gotten so 'grey' that I've narrowed it down to an all-encompassing title of office guru. Yes people, I do it all. You need budget numbers? I'm here. You want to know the best way to terminate an employee? Give me a call. You need brochures designed. Yep. Right here. What? You want to buy stuffed animals on ebay? I can do that. Floorplans? Yes. I've always loved to dabble in architecture. Interior design? I don't have a house to decorate right now, why not. And the list goes on. I keep telling myself things will get better, but with these two new buildings getting closer and closer to completion, I realize the only person I'm fooling is myself.

• We've been doing a lot of house hunting. Fun, but stressful. We are so lucky to be on the buying end of what could be the best buying economy of [my] lifetime. Unfortunate thing: It's sooooo nerve-racking. You feel like if you don't jump on a house that you like, you might as well kiss it goodbye. Problem is: I don't rush into anything. I have to feel very zen about it. The other funny thing about home-buying is that you will look up homes online that look very intriguing. Then when you drive past the actual house, there always seems to be some sort of fatal flaw. I'm talking fatal. For example, the last three homes I was rather interested in: first one had nearly .50 acres of property, but the listing failed to mention that a water retention ditch about 10 feet deep takes up 80% of that. Not a hazard to children at all. Second home: so cute. Lot's a custom features inside. Driveby reveals that it shares a fenceline with some sort of mink farm or something. Yep. Coops lined right up against the fence, and the large windows out back have a beautiful view of a crummy [yet huge] barn. Score. Third home: beautiful. Dream home. One problem: builder didn't finish it due to bankruptcy. It's on a super sale, but needed about $50,000 in final work in order to get occupancy. Me being conservative, it made me nervous, so we passed. Now it's looking like our best bet, and someone else went under contract. It's been a little daunting, but I have faith that the right home will come along at just the right time. I just hope I have that for-sure feeling in my gut when it does, or else I migh him-haw around too much and watch it slip through my fingers.

• Christmas is officially stressing me out. 20 days till the big dance, and I haven't even made my Christmas list yet [this is no exaggeration]. I feel old because I keep finding myself saying: "Why do we even do gifts in the first place? Let's just enjoy the season." That's totally something parents say, and I'm not a parent. Oh? What? I am? Well, I'm not an old parent. But now I totally "get" what my parents were saying when they mentioned that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost in the shuffle. I really would love nothing more than just time to spend with family and friends this holiday. No strings attached. Don't get me wrong. I love gift-giving. I love finding something that will make a person's day. I just don't like all the stress of feeling like I might have forgotten someone on my list. Totally a downer.

• My business is growing out of [my] control. I feel bad even putting a somewhat whiney slant to this statement because I realize there are so many people out there struggling to survive right now. Then there is me complaining about having too much work. But it is the reality of my life, and I shall feel free to blog about it. I currently have 5 companies who I run the books [among other things: see above] for. My 6th and 7th will be up and running in January. This week I had the opportunity to pick up another, and as much as it makes me sick to my stomach, I think I am going to decline. I'm having such a struggle because I'm very overwhelmed work-wise right now, and I am having to learn to set boundaries so that I can gain my life back. However, I feel like eventually all this stressed-out-of-my-mind time will pass, and I will have regretted passing on any prior opportunity. That's just the way I am. Always working for the future good. But this time I'm going to have to put my foot down and just say no. I can't possibly do it and keep my sanity. It makes me feel like a failure, because I don't give up on anything. Why oh why do I put so much pressure on myself? I explain to everyone close to me how I'm feeling about all this, and they just laugh. So I'm going to take on that attitude. Just laugh. Hope it works.

• A couple of weekends ago I got to enjoy my first internet dating experience. Not really, but kind of. Whitney and Kristina put together a blog meet n' greet, and I got up enough confidence to show up. So glad I did because I got to meet some of my favorite bloggers in person. And guess what? They totally rock. I hope this is the beginning of some beauiful friendships [albeit some of them long-distance]. Score one for the internet.

• I'm officially still a member of my book club. I've been a total slacker the past few times. I was out birthing Kaeden for one [I know], then adjusting to having a newborn for the next. The third one I was just totally a slacker. So my best friend Jenny emails me to tell me the next bookclub meeting would be on December 1st, and I panicked. There was no way I could show up to her house and not have read the book again. Besides this is my Jenny we are talking about. I love her too much to not read the book [for some reason I view it as some sort of insult to have not read/liked whatever book is chosen]. Since I had Thanksgiving weekend ahead of me before we would meet [never mind we have had a solid month and a half to read the book], I decided: No problem. I'll just pick up the little sucker and crank through it over the long weekend. I was so stoked about my plan as I walked into the library to pick up the book on hold. Then I was deflated to see that the darn thing was 563 pages! WTH Jenn? ☺ I'm proud to say I got through it with relative ease, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. We dedicated about 5 mins to the book, and then the other 115 mins to Edward, Bella, and other girly stuff. You know, everything important.

• I've been a total slacker on my Pay-It-Foward challenge. Cute Whitney gave me some fun festive holiday decor [pics to come], and now it is my turn to pay-it-forward. I will get to it Whit. Sorry to be so lazy.

• I need to find a good dentist. Any suggestions? Just thought I'd throw that out there since I think it's blasphemous that my husband who is an executive in the dental field cannot even give me a solid referral. C'mon, where's my perks here people? Pretty sure I'm gonna need to get my first root canal. Imagine my excitement.

• I went to see Twighlight with some bloggy buddys [thanks again girls for inviting lil' ole' me!]. I know there are haters out there, but I'm easily entertained, and I loved it. I didn't go in expecting much, and I was happy with the final outcome. Not all wear-vials-of-blood-around-my-neck happy, but satisfied. Weird thing is, something about the Twighlight saga makes me have high anxiety. I remember reading the books early on in my pregnancy and having this weird anxiety feeling because I wanted my own Edward [I mean Jeff is as close as anyone could get, obviously], but I really want my own Edward. I don't even know why because when you break him down with a non-lustful slant, he's just a total freak. Anyway. Seeing the movie brought back that anxious feeling. What is with it? I am sooo not that type of person. I'm not right? Please don't tell me I'm becoming that type of person.

• Lastly [but not least!] Kaeden-baby turned 5 months. Seriously? Five months? He will be six months on Christmas Eve. I cannot even fathom it. I'm dying to post pics of my cute little boy all over this blog because let's face it: he's cute, and pic posting is the best way to post [especially if you've got skills like this chica]. I might be just another one of those blogs that post pics of their "cute" kid all over it, but hey. That's what's up in our household. Little man is my life.

More later.

It's been real.

It's been fun.

But it hasn't been real fun [I kid].