Attitude Changes Everything

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I went through a little bit of re-discovery. Tuesday I was happy to get back to normal, but the next day I did absolutely NOTHING. (Although I managed to beat my high score on Scramble over at facebook.) I had a big ol' case of the 'blahs.' There was no particular reason I had these feelings. There's the possibility that it was the crappy Pittsburgh weather. But I woke up on Thursday morning, and my attitude changed.

The sun was shining, and I had a new peace. As I was drinking a cup of coffee that morning in my kid-less house (they were at school), my brain started thinking what my life would be like if I had all the money I ever needed. I imagined my bank account just overflowing with cash. You want to know what I figured out? My life really wouldn't be much different.

Sure, I would buy more stuff, and possibly go more places. But my daily life would be pretty much the same. I would still be getting up in the morning. I would still be getting the kids to school. There would still be toys to clean up, laundry to do, birthday gifts to buy and dinner to make. I would still live in this house, drive my car and drink the same coffee. Yes, if I had a crapload of cash, we may not own the restaurant anymore, but I'm not so sure about that. I mean, it's like our child right now. Most likely, I would still have that hour or so in the morning to catch up on restaurant work. Yeah, I could hire somebody to do the grunt work. So I might get a couple more hours to myself each day. But what would I do with that time? I'm sure for a month or so, I would just enjoy the fact that I HAD some time. But I would start some project and get involved in something.

And I'd be back to the same place.

So, I've reached another plateau of happiness. Acceptance is good. I'm really not a worrier. So, if we're low on cash one month, I actually handle it pretty well.

That's not to say that I wouldn't take some cash if it came along.

Mama doesn't NEED a new pair of shoes, but I sure wouldn't mind a few. And hardwood floors. Ooooh, and a maid to do the scrubbing. (Yeah, I don't scrub all that much. So again, money wouldn't really change my life, but it might make my house more clean!). I think my kids have felt this new calmness. They've been great the past couple of days. We've had fun, and we haven't really done anything special.

Yup, it's all about the attitude :)

Just an update

Just thought that I'd let everybody know that my letter never received any kind of response from anybody official. I sent that letter not only to Dan Onorato, but to all of Allegheny County Council. And I didn't sent it as one big ol' spammy email. I sent it to each person as an individual. So, my final thought on that is...how annoying.

In other news, I didn't think it was exactly appropriate to post this on the Downey's House Blog, so I posted it here. This is just a little message to the two ladies (and I'm using that term VERY loosely) who attempted to destroy the pictures of my children.

Oh wait...you didn't hear this story. Let me back up. Seems that there was a table of women in their late twenties in the restaurant last Wednesday. Long story short, they were tipsy and acting suspicious. They took the picture of Chloe (located in the ladies' room) off the wall and put it in the garbage. That picture was rescued by Tony (DH). Later, they went into the ladies room and tore the picture of Becca off the wall, ripped the print out and crumpled it up. Um, WTF?!?!?! Tony had some very choice, loud swear words for these chicks. They are barred. (and just in case you didn't know, you only get barred from Downey's House once). They then proceeded to walk out on their tab. I'm going to leave all of the loud, adult, descriptive conversation out of this post. The police did send these ladies citations. I have to say, that if I was at the bar when this happened, I might have gone all crazy on these chicks. I mean, taking a picture off the wall as a joke or on a dare is one thing. But if you touch the pictures of my kids, you life is seriously in danger. Just had to share. Oh, and my message for them is that I hope I can see how karma gets them back. Karma has a great way of taking care of bad people.

Have a great weekend!

Rat Germs

Well, we went to our birthday parties this past weekend. And yes, now we are sick. Again. It feels like I have an army of teenie tiny employees working overtime in the booger factory located in my nose. Fantastic. Plain and simple, Chuckie Cheese = Big Fat Germs. That's my addition to parent math.

Well, since this post is heading down that road of complaining, I might as well continue. I took Becca to the dentist on Monday. This was her second visit, because they found 5 cavities at her first visit. Before we get there, I discuss how they're going to use nitrous oxide to make her feel 'weird' and we talk about filling the cavities. We're ready. We get to the dentist office about 11:50 for our noon appointment. They called us back at 1:00. Yes, my friends, 1:00. Now I understand that things happen. Their thing on that day was that an assistant called off. That's fine. I really DO understand. But, if you know when I sign in that my wait will be more than a half an hour, please tell me. Instead of sitting in your stuffy waiting room with 10 other parents with children, I could have been running errands. Hell, there's a Wal-Mart right next door. By the time Becca got back to the dentist, she wasn't just nervous. She was bored and aggravated. And probably a little tired. But she did well, and came out telling me that she felt dizzy. By the time we made it home, she started crying that she never wanted to go back to the dentist. I think she's over it now, though. Good thing, because we have to go back on the 31st.

Poor little thing, she's really going thru the ringer lately. We just went to pick up her new glasses yesterday. She's had glasses for about a year, but the doc upped the times she needs to wear them. For tv, reading, coloring...pretty much all the time except when she's playing. She DOES look cute in them though. I do feel bad for her. Well, for all of us. I've put us all through doctor and dentist appointments. I figured I'd better get them all in before our insurance changes. I have no idea what our new insurance will be like, but because we'll be getting it on our own (because we will be self-employed), I can only imagine that it won't be stellar.

I just got a little bit of news on the status of Downey's House. I'll update later today when I know more. Happy Friday! Oh, and be careful out there tomorrow! Remember...drinking and thinking don't go together.

Some Twisted Holiday Thoughts

On this, Black Friday, I've created my first Christmas design. Did I go shopping today? Um..NO!!! I spent the day in my comfy clothes at home with the kids. That was after waking up at 2 am to down some Pepto. I'm not used to eating all that food!!! But it was good. Anyway, here's the design for today. I hope it doesn't offend anybody (um, I guess it might offend somebody who's a hoe, but who would really admit it?)

Hoe, Hoe, Ho Ho Ho!

As usual, it's available on shirts, mugs, hats and more. I made a greeting card, also. I think that would be great to send out to the family!!! It's also available at Zazzle. Hope everybody had a great turkey day!!! Get your shopping done :)

A design for the divas!

OK, here's another design from my brain. I probably would not wear this shirt, but that doesn't mean I don't think it's funny!!! And, I actually know plenty of people who either a) should wear this shirt or b) would wear this shirt. So here it is. It says "I wish I could be you so I could be friends with me."

Clicking the above picture will take you to the available products on CafePress. You can also purchase it at Zazzle, which offers some different products.

On an unrelated note...the Steelers got lucky today, and pulled it out in the second half. It made me happy. And, I actually got to watch the game without TOO MANY interruptions from the kids.

Thought this was funny...

OK..new design time. I recently saw a picture of a black and white rainbow and it said 'Straight' underneath. You can see it at T-shirt Hell. By the way...that website is totally funny. Most of their shirts crack me up. There aren't many that I would wear---and my mind is a little cleaner (I guess) when it comes to creating stuff. But it's totally funny. There's a banner at the end of this post if you'd like to check out their site.

Anyway, back to the new design. I kind of melded two rainbows together, and here's what I got:

I just thought it was funny. So, that's today's design!

By the way...awesome game last night. And I actually got to watch it! Rumor has it that my hubby didn't get home until 3 am. He's still sleeping!

Oh, here's the t-shirt hell banner:

New Thanksgiving Thoughts

OK, here's my newest design. This one has been floating around in my head for a while, and I finally got around to putting it together. It's available on lots of stuff...yard signs, coasters, magnets...you name it!

Give Thanks Long Sleeve T-Shirt

Food, Family and Football. Those are the three biggest things I think about on Thanksgiving. Well, and parades....hmmm...new shirt? Oh, and it won an award on Zazzle (today's best). Here's the link:


Thanksgiving by hdowney Get this custom shirt at Zazzle

Happy Monday!

New Design that deals with my Jesus issues

OK, here's my newest design. I have serious Jesus issues...and when this idea came into my head I literally laughed out loud. I'm just a bit tired of the whole 'Jesus Loves Me' thing. Whatever. Such a terrible phrase. Anyway, there's my rant, and here's my design:

Just in case you can't read it, it says "Jesus Loves Me But I broke up with him."