Saturday, December 3, 2011

Rocking Good Night, Rocking Great Day



Last night I had the great honor of hosting a room for the Xbox Live Community Playdate with my friends at The Married Gamers. They're all great people and I was flattered that they asked me to participate. After having many bad experiences gaming with people on Xbox Live I've kind of avoided it for a while, but I was pleasantly surprised that everyone I played with was awesome. Sure, there were some people that didn't get the whole idea of how the game night worked. One kid didn't even own the game and was waiting for me to invite him to play, another didn't have an XBL Gold subscription, and I did have to report one person for his "Wanna see my...?" message in my inbox. But for the most part I had a blast.

An hour or two before the gaming started I fired up the Xbox and spent about all of the 1800 MS points I had on new songs. Oddly enough I didn't get a chance to play any of them during the game night, do people not like country songs? My oldest daughter and I played (SHE likes country) for an hour before I realized I should probably not exhaust my voice before the night starts. Hailey even played along with us nicely thanks to me giving her the Little Tikes guitar I had planned to use as a Christmas present. This is a great guitar if you have a toddler that likes to play along with you, definitely worth the money. I picked mine up for only $9.99.

After we were done with our game night I recorded with the others that participated and that podcast should be up by Sunday, I'll try and post the link if I decide to blog again. Don't want to make too much of a habit of it.

If last night was great, today was even better. I had my stepdaughters over and our day was filled with Rock Band playing (them not me) and me serving up an awesome do it yourself sub buffet, and for dinner a "season your own chicken wing" buffet. The kids really liked picking their own flavors and the honey soy sauce creation was the favorite for me and Ashley. The other girls lack creativity and adventure and just stuck to BBQ sauce.

We watched the movie Beneath the Blue while we did lunch. The movie has crummy reviews and it is a cheesy predictable movie, but the kids all loved it and wouldn't stop talking about it during and after watching. It has to do with dolphins and young love or something like that.

After dinner we watched The Smurfs and chowed down on some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, I forgot how great those things are right out of the oven! The Smurfs was the winning choice of the day. All the kids were excited to watch it and Hailey even sat still for most of it, taking short breaks to beat the dog and the other kids with her princess wand. ( I didn't give her that thing...)

I even got a great present from Grandma Sally. A tshirt and kitty from The Big Bang Theory :) I'd post pictures but I'm too lazy right now, if you're on my facebook you've already seen them as most of the people I care to share my real life with are on there anyhow.

I ended my day off with a bubble bath, a good book (thanks again Grandma Sally) and am now going to try and get a little WOW time in before bed. Night everyone and thanks for those of you who love me no matter what :)

Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Perfect Housewife


I recently recorded with a new podcast this week. I had tried to work my whole day out so that the kids would be asleep and I'd have some time for a glass of wine and my favorite show to unwind before recording. But instead I had one of those long stressful days that I am trying to get used to since my husband has been gone. The baby is teething and not napping, my oldest is on strike from cleaning her room and angry at me for taking away her video games so she was giving me extra attitude that day. In addition to all that I was mad about some other things and royally pissed at my Astronomy Lab assignment (what else is new right?).

I may not have been my best on the show, but I'm new and it takes some time to get into a groove, time for people to get to know my personality and for me to know the personality of the others on the show. For the most part being on a new show should be a fun experience. However as soon as you put yourself out there you fall victim to comments and negativity.

Having spent 3 years on SGPink I never knew what it was like to be a new person on a show. I have a whole new respect for every girl we brought on over the years and what they must have gone through. I was nervous, petrified actually of screwing up so I was more abrasive and more Jax than I normally am and it was too much. I rubbed a few people the wrong way and stuck my foot in my mouth which is something I am unfortunately quite good at doing. For the most part, I thought the show was great. You don't realize as you're recording what a show sounds like until it's all put together. It really was a good show.

What I hate though is all the dumb comments you get from people who don't know a thing about you. I know they should never be taken seriously but one just rubbed me wrong:

"As a married women with children, I always put my family above gaming. It’s a hobby for me, it appears to be her JOB!!"

Now I am never going to be housewife of the year, but those who know me know this is the biggest load of crap on the planet. I am a stay at home Mom which you'd think would allow me more time for gaming but in all honesty...it really does not. I will get my AA degree in a couple weeks, a degree I earned while going through a pregnancy, then raising a baby, surviving a huge move for my husband and our FIVE children, and have spent the majority of this semester with a husband who has been too far away to help. I am on the honor roll, as are my children, we have even taken the time over the last couple months to raise a huge chunk of money doing the Breast Cancer walk last month AND the Extra Life fundraiser which benefits sick children. I cook real meals, I have a clean house, and I've spent the last couple days getting crafts and fun meals planned for a weekend sleepover party.

I WISH gaming were my job, I wish I had more time to play. During the daytime I might get a little gaming in, but it's all about the kids. Luckily my kids also love games which means I get to game with them. But to say all I do is game is silly. I've put 8 hours into Saints Row since I got it, and probably barely that much time into Skyrim. I don't get to go out. Gaming is my release, my break from my day once the kids have gone to bed and the toys have been picked up.

I will admit that I screwed up and didn't really portray myself the way I want people to see me. I really am a good person as my friends all know, I'm just not sure why I don't want the whole world to see that me. This has been an eye opener for me, and I know I have some things to work on. I am not perfect, for the most part I'm a big fat screw up, but don't call me a bad mom.