Girl, You Disappoint Me...

Bristol Palin, that is. Girlfriend has a smart mouth.

I'm not going to get into any politics here, but I will admit, I'm a fan of Sarah Palin. However, Bristol (and even Willow) is a little too cocky for her own good.

I don't really watch Dancing With the Stars, but was curious, so I turned on the finale. Ms. Palin made the comment, "Going out there and winning this would mean a lot. It would be like a big middle finger to all the people out there who hate my mom and hate me." CLASSY.

Really? A little harsh. Isn't this supposed to be fun? Newsflash Bristol, it has nothing to do with people hating you or your mom. People didn't want to see you get as far as you did on the show because clearly, you can't dance!

Looks like you need a swift, humbling, kick in the @ss, Bristol.

Gather Up Your Tears, Keep 'Em In Your Pocket, Save Them For A Time When You're Really Gonna Need 'Em

My niece left. She's gone. She turned 18 October 2nd and decided she was moving out of the house. My family is dumbfounded. She met a guy at school (she is senior in high school, but opted for the post secondary option... she takes college courses at the community college and when she graduates from high school in May, will actually have finished her sophomore year in college), dated him for 3 weeks and decided to move in with him. My niece is smart, beautiful, and has common sense (or so we thought). From the outside looking in, you would have thought S had it all... ufortunately, she didn't think so. She won't return her dad's (my brother) phone calls and has flat out said she wants nothing to do with him or his side of the family. That stings. A lot.

At first I felt bad for her. I have always had a major soft spot for my oldest niece. We share a lot of similarities. Her mom and dad were engaged, but never married. Growing up wasn't exactly easy for her. She lived with her mom and visited her dad every other weekend. It was clear that her mom didn't care much about her. Her mom was always moving from boyfriend to boyfriend. At one point, she told S that all she was to her was a child support check. There are other awful things, but I don't care to mention them here. My brother fought and fought for custody of my niece (at a time when things were pretty tough for him financially) and finally won. She always seemed much happier with my brother and sister in law, but at the same time, had the normal chores, rules, etc. and sometimes, she wasn't very happy with it. But isn't that typical? S would still visit her mom from time to time. When her mom actually made time to see her. As a matter of fact, her mom never even called to tell her Happy Birthday... on her 18th birthday! My sister in law has done more for S than her own mother ever has.

I say I felt bad her because I know what it's like to go back and forth between two households that are so completely different. I, too, lived with my mom growing up. I had no rules and basically did what I wanted. On the other hand, at my dad's house, there were rules and certain things that were expected of me. It's conflicting and can be confusing. So as far as that goes, I can sympathize with S.

But now? I'm just pissed. I'm angry that she won't give her dad the time of day after all he has done for her. He calls S every day and every day she ignores his calls and won't return them. I'm angry that she told her mother that she doesn't want her dad's side of the family "bothering" her. Are you kidding me? You mean all of the people who have done nothing but go out of their way to make her life a little easier... the only people she could really count on? All because of a boy. S was mad that she had a curfew and chores at home, so her solution was to leave so she could be with the boy ALL of the time. S was perfectly fine (and still is) with just walking away from her family. I don't get it.

Then there's my youngest niece, E (she will be 4 next month). This is what makes me the most angry. E and S are half sisters. Although, you would never guess that. They have always been tight and E absolutely adores S. As you would expect, E misses S. Lately she has been saying that sissy left her, because she doesn't understand. This Breaks. My. Heart.

I would have never guessed that my niece would ever do anything like this. At first I thought she'd be back in a few weeks. Now I'm pretty sure she's not coming back, at least not for a while. Especially after the comment about her dad's side of the family bothering her (no one even knows what she is referring to).

Picture Post

We finally got our pictures from our photographer. He put them all on a CD and now we are in the process of choosing which ones we want. There are SO MANY! Here's a peak...

I Can't Tell You What It Really Is, I Can Only Tell You What It Feels Like...

Ugh... the past couple of weeks have been a string of bad news.

It started with my car accident. While it wasn't that big of deal and the other driver was at fault, dealing with Geico insurance was a MAJOR pain. I ended up filing a claim through my own insurance company so I could get started on the car repairs.

The accident also occurred on my way to calling hours for a friend's father.

My 18 year old niece decided to move in with her boyfriend. And no one has heard much from in the past month. She's being selfish, stubborn, and careless and no one can seem to get through to her.

After that, we found out my former manager's dad was killed in a car accident.

Then, two people we know recently found out they have breast cancer. One of them is the daughter of our best friends. This one is hitting me hard.

These are friends who were just recently so thrilled to be a part of wedding party on our special day. She was my bridesmaid, he was M's best man. Friends that would do absolutely anything for us... as we would do for them. M has been friends with this couple since before I was born. And their daughter? Well, M remembers the first day he met her... the day her mom brought her home from the hospital. She is only a year older than I am. She's young and healthy. Her and her husband were going to start trying to have kids. So how does this happen?

On my way home from the gym, I persisted that M tell me NOW when I was on the phone with him. All he said was, "we need to talk later." He finally just told me over the phone... "L has breast cancer." I thought I was going to be sick.

Other than the initial conversations, I haven't talked much to our friends or their daughter. I feel awful about it, but I don't even know what to say... or what to do for them. I wish I could just make it all go away. I feel helpless. I want to fix it.

What's Been Going On...

• I ran my second 5K this past Saturday. I was pleased that I even finished... just over 36 minutes. Not great. But I ran the entire thing. I'm just happy with that, seeing as I haven't been spending much time running in the past 2 months. Back in the beginning of September, I finished my first 5K with only a slightly better time.

• I got into a car accident last Wednesday on my way home from work. I was not at fault, but dealing with Geico insurance has made me want to pull my hair out. If you are shopping for car insurance, take note, Geico SUCKS. Long story short, my insurance company is actually going to take care of the estimate/repairs and will bill Geico for it since Geico thinks it's ok to make it completely inconvenient to get my car fixed.

• Pumpkin poptarts are pretty amazing and everything I hoped they would be. My awesome mom found them and bought me two boxes.

• Seriously - have you seen the TLC show Sister Wives??? I was cranking out some thank you cards the other day and they were replaying all of the episodes. I just can't even imagine living like that. Are they for real? How could any woman possibly be ok with their husband "rotating on a schedule" with his other 3 wives? And hello, last I checked, polygamy is illegal in all 50 states.

• I just got done reading Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Awesome. If you like reading, you should pick up this book ASAP.