I just don't understand.

(Not to be confused with things parents just don't understand).

People throw out "terms" at the drop of a hat these days. And with the endless "urban dictionary" (thanks a lot for encouraging teenagers..... asshole) at our disposal it's near impossible not to hear or even be referred to as one of these "phrases."

Case in point: "You're my Ride or Die girl." (They use the term "chick" as in- "you my ride or die chick" but I just can't bring myself to go with that).

Urban Dictionary Definition: A girl who is down for her man in any situation; a girl who's not afraid of throwin down side by side with her man, even if she's the only female; she's the girl who rides in tha passenger seat with the heat ready on her lap and knows all the targets.

Umm..... What?! First of all, is it really that hard to put a "g" on the end of throwin and do we really need to say "tha" instead of "the"? Come on guys, you're killing me!!

Aside from that I still have the question of- What?!! Is this like a "Bonnie and Clyde" type of thing? Is that how it's supposed to go and feel? If that's the case, doesn't anybody remember how that story ended? In case they haven't I would like to point out that Bonnie got flowers at the end of that roadtrip, but only because they matched her tombstone. Is that how we measure love these days? Geesh. Tough crowd.

I ask this question, because two guys that I used to work with have called me their "ride or die girl" on more than one occasion. I let it go the first couple of times, but now it's just kind of nagging at me, because it's confusing.

First off, I'm pretty sure that being someone's "ride or die girl" means that you aren't in fact some other guy's "ride or die girl" to. I may be wrong on this one, but I'm pretty confident in my logic at this point. I mean, it wasn't "Riding like Bonnie and Clyde..... and THAT OTHER GUY". Was it? I think not. So, how do you pick which one to go with?

On one hand dude could teach me how to land after jumping out of an airplane/ helicopter and smoke a side of beef, BUT, the could teach me how to survive prison and make distilled liquor out of toilet water. Decisions, decisions.

And if you're someone's "ride or die girl" doesn't that somehow imply that you guys are romantically involved? I feel like it's implied. And if that's how it is, then I'm not either for, well, either. I've never dated either of the two, we're just simply friends. Can it go like that? If not, then that opens up a whole other area that I don't want to get into, because I'm already confused enough as it is.

I don't know. All I do know is I would totally be Boyd Crowder's "ride or die girl" at the drop of a hat. And sorry guys, but neither of you are Boyd Crowder. I guess we'll call it even..... or I could just not tell either and still be both without having to actually make decisions and see where that gets me. I'm so confused.

I guess my only other question (since I'm no closer to answering my original one) is- We get to ride in a car/ truck not on a bicycle..... right? Because if one has a vehicle that I can ride in and the other has a bicycle that I have to steer, peddle and do things to, then I have instantly made my decision.

Final decision: I choose neither of those pricks. I'll just wait for the legit "ride or die" friend.

It's like a scene from a Mad Max movie out there.

(People are starting to get "cabin fever").

This weather can't make up it's mind and therefore everything is in utter chaos. People are psychotic, birds don't know which way to fly and the supermarket rarely has bread and alcohol stocked on their shelves. It's like the apocalypse has come. Remember the first scene in 28 Days Later? It's just like that.

Kidding..... mostly. Things are really confusing though, because the weather can't decide what's happening. Over the weekend I wore just a tshirt and my long sleeve flannel and had to take it off at some point because it got so warm. And then by Monday night the temperatures had plummeted so by early Tuesday morning we were greeted with snow and ice for the drive to work.

Fun times.

But don't worry, we're all staying eternally optimistic (that's a lie) and the good news is that as of yesterday (Wednesday- February 17) we have a pretty new furnace installed in our house. Ours has been screwy since the beginning of January (on and off) and finally the company we rent from okay-ed the furnace guy to put in a new one (yayyyyyy!!!!!!).

Despite all of this cold happening and sickness going around (and trust me when I say there's A LOT of that) we're all just kind of dealing with it and going through our normal routines. And wearing more layers than usual.

And watching Justified while snuggled up with our pups in the evenings (maybe that's just me).

Somewhere between eighteen and eighty- seven.

(I may or may not be exaggerating more than slightly).

This past Saturday was my twenty- sixth birthday. 26. Veintiséis. No matter how many times or however many languages that I say it, it still sounds so strange to me.

I'm twenty- six. No longer classified as early twenties and certainly creeping up on that thirty mark much sooner than what I expected. Am I still considered mid- twenties or is that reserved for twenty- five year olds only?! I was twenty- five practically a cough ago, so come on guys, cut me some slack!!

The strangest thing about all of this is that I don't feel twenty- six. Or, I may feel twenty- six and I just haven't realized it yet. I'm not sure, because I've never been this old before. I wrote a letter to a friend of mine the day after my birthday and told him that it's funny. It's funny that I am eight years past eighteen, but still feel exactly like I did then (with slightly more back pain).

But in any event, age is a state of mind and luckily for me, I have and forever will be a little old lady at heart. And you might not see it now, but ask anyone that knows me or has known me for any amount of time and they will tell you that I've always had little ole lady tendencies (and not just because I like to keep hard candy and tissues in my purse).

And now here I am. Twenty- six and some odd days old. Somewhere between feeling eighteen and eighty- seven. I celebrated with Momma's chili and cake. And all was good (the chili, cake, and day in general).

You'll be happy to know.

(You definitely won't care).

Last night was Super Bowl 50 and you'll be happy to know (unless you're a Panthers fan) that the Broncos took that shit home 24 - 10. I don't really care either way, but I do have to say, I have a mighty large soft spot for good ole Peyton Manning (have you seen those Nationwide commercials?!). Momma and I went down to watch the game with Aunt Poot and Uncle Darrell (and to eat enough to kill a horse) and of course I had to make people gather for a photo. I look really exited, huh?! I didn't give a shit about the halftime show (I'm not a Beyonce fan- I know, I know, you didn't think people like me even existed), but the National Anthem in which Lady Gaga performed?! EPIC.

Remember on Friday when I said that the third season of Bates Motel was coming to Netflix on Saturday so I needed to prepare for said event? I was more excited for that than for the Super Bowl. And ..... I kind of watched the entire season. Like, the whole thing. And I have no regrets. Because that show is addicting and I demand Dylan and Emma to be together and I needed a show to fill my Sons of Anarchy obsession (even though I'm still all about some SOA)..... and ..... and ..... Oh, screw it. My name is Katie and I watched the entire third season of Bates Motel and ate a bag of Salt & Vinegar chips while doing it. NO REGRETS. Well, one regret. The fourth season doesn't come on cable until March 7th and I have to wait for that. Other than that though- NO REGRETS.

This week is a short one for me. I asked Dani if I could take this Friday off a couple of weeks ago and she okay'd forever ago. The whole reason why I took it off was so that Momma and I could go to lunch together (for my birthday that's actally on Saturday- I'm getting old as shit). But then Momma wanted to invite Aunt Poot, so that made lunch for three. And I was informed yesterday that Solae was out of school Friday and Monday, so she would be joining us as well. So now I guess it's lunch for four. I don't care either way, as long as I get tex-mex.

And now, I just wait for Friday.

I'm not going to tell you that we had a mouse.

(And Tayder and I hunted him down..... mostly just me though).

I feel better today than I have in a week and a half.

Here it is Friday and I'm beyond ready for this weekend. Do I have amazing plans that I've been looking forward to all damn week? You bet your sweet ass I do.

Just kidding. I have "me" type of plans (i.e. sweatpants, Netflix, alcohol, randomness), but nothing that would actually qualify as "having plans." At least not to other people.

But I'm not other people, I'm me and I am very happy that it's Friday. This has been a yuck kind of week (this weather and my stomach issues can kick rocks together) and I'm ready to stay up late, sleep in (I say that like I still don't get up before 7:00 am even on my days off) and can I get some McDonald's breakfast over here?!!

If you can't tell, I'm all over the place right now. As I said earlier, I feel better than I have in a week and a half (stomach issues and no appetite- I blame this horrendous weather that is obviously going through menopause at the present time) and I just found out that Season 03 of Bates Motel comes on Netflix tomorrow (I NEED SUPPLIES TO PREPARE FOR THIS).

Also, I did my taxes this morning. And while taxes don't make me particularly giddy, the fact that they're done and I no longer have to deal with them or act as though I'm an adult about it anymore does.

When I received a message earlier (from Momma) asking me if I wanted/ needed anything in particular from the store I replied with: "Just maybe some Tropical Fruit (Dole if they have it) and some chips (Salt & Vinegar). And alcohol. SEASON 3 OF BATES MOTEL COMES ON NETFLIX TOMORROW AND I'M GOING TO NEED SUPPLIES TO PREPARE FOR THIS!!!!!"

That should tell you what my current mood for today is. TGIF. 

Where in the hell was I when all of this happened?!!

(This weekend I had a realization).

January has already come and gone this new year and I'm sitting here like- ?????

To be honest, I don't really keep up with time all too well. My intentions are good, but I just never have the follow through. I feel like I'm not the only person that has this issue though. I feel like most people are either very structured people (i.e. they know everything down to the exact date) or they're kind of willy-nilly with it (i.e. me). It makes life much more interesting. Or at least to me, it does.

For instance, this past weekend Aunt Poot asked Momma and I to go with her to her youngest grand-kids (my cousin) birthday party. We had no problem with going, so come Saturday we went to her house and all rode together. Would you like to know what I realized that day at his party?

You see, little Sammy there was born January of the year I graduated high school. How old was Sammy on his birthday? Eight. Do you know what that means? That means that this May I will have been graduated from high school for EIGHT YEARS. And I had a mild panic attack. Because how am I this old?! How was that so long ago?! When in the hell did Solae get so tall?! All very valid questions that I felt needed answered immediately.

And then I chilled the eff out.

Because so what if I'm going to turn twenty-six in a few days (the 13th). I'm happy with life and I feel like I'm at a good point in mine (for the most part). I do what I want, when I want, with whomever I want (you just wait until James Spader gives me a call) and I'm surrounded by people that I love and care about. And when I actually do take those moments to realize what time it really is, I always find myself surrounded by my loved ones arriving somewhere between laughter and wine. 

And that's my comfy spot.

The randomness that is my existence.

(I have nothing of substance to share).

It's currently 16° outside right now which considering that the day before yesterday when I came to work (I usually leave the house a little bit before 6:00 am) it was 1° isn't really all that bad. I'm not sure how the weather is supposed to go from here on out, because I don't pay too much attention to the weather/ news of today. I know that I really should, but let's be honest with each other- the easiest way to get depressed these days is to watch the news.

But with all of that aside, things have been fairly..... dare I say it..... quiet. There's the usual fuss that always seems to be happening within a family (and I got to say I'm beyond happy that it's not in our house), but for the most part there's just alot of hanging out, staying in, watching tv and eating yummy food. I haven't got to partake in too much of the yumminess that is food in about a week, because the "Winter Stomach Bug" finally caught up with me (I was hopeful that it would skip over me this year- alas, it is not so), but luckily I haven't been "deathly ill" or anything, just don't seem to have a hearty appetite as of yet. Don't worry about me though, my appetite ALWAYS comes back.

A friend of mine (I guess? I think I call her a friend even though we don't know each other back and forth yet) was texting me yesterday evening and in the midst of our conversation she suggested that her and I (and probably Momma and Tayder) should have a movie night. She wasn't sure what I had seen out of Redbox though, but mentioned that she really wanted to give the new Mad Max (Fury Road) a go. I let her know that I had already seen it and actually own it. Her reply was- "Oh, well since you've already seen it then I guess....." And I had to stop her right there, because I had to say- "Dude, I only told you that so you wouldn't rent it, not because I don't want to watch it again- I meant we could just watch my copy." And she made sure that I didn't mind seeing it again and the only thing that I could think of was-

"IT HAS IMPERATOR FURIOSA AND IMMORTAN JOE AND WAR RIGS AND TOM HARDY IS AMAZING AND JOE'S BREEDING WIVES (WHICH SOUNDS DISGUSTING AND TOTALLY IS) AND NICHOLAS HOULT'S CHARACTER IS SUCH A CRAZY DUDE AND OMG WE NEED TO WATCH THIS IMMEDIATELY."

Because you know, I wouldn't be dramatic or anything like that. We haven't decided exactly which night we will share in the epicness that is Fury Road, but she's informed me that she's free this Friday and next week and while we usually run errands on Fridays, it never takes more than a couple of hours so it just may be tomorrow night. And maybe we'll have Taco Bell for dinner (wine too, but that's a given). We'll see about it though.

Also, I talked her into giving Bates Motel a try. She won't be disappointed.

All I know is that Momma, Tayder and I have been snuggling down this last week (it's cold and gross out) and I'm completely over this snow and ice (I was over it before it even began). And I know that this Winter hasn't been as hard on us as it has other places (even my loving Tennessee has received quite a bit of snow- which is kind of unheard of- this year), but that doesn't keep me from longing for chilly yet no snow, ice, rain or sleet days. I don't mind the chilly weather, it's all the crap that comes with it that I dislike.

Winter is hard.

Because we were in cahoots.

(This happened the day before New Years Eve and I'm just now getting around to tell you about it..... Oops?!).

Remember when I told you that my cousin Ashley wanted to set me up on a date with a guy that she worked with? And my reaction was all- "hell no, you're smoking crack rock and there's nothing that you can say or do to make me change my mind." Yeah well, cut to a week later with round the clock incessant bothering and I finally caved and was like- "I'll go if you agree to never talk to me again."

We decided that it would be a double date since neither of us had ever met each other (and I'm convinced that everybody is a secret serial killer). The good news is me and dude liked each other enough to be friendly, but not enough to actually date. Plus, I got pizza, onion rings and beer, so all is fair in love and war..... Right?!

His opinion on me: "She's cute and very sweet..... And also, VERY opinionated." Why yes dude, I am very opinionated. Thank you so much for noticing. It just comes naturally to me.

My opinion on him: "He's nice and has pretty teeth..... And also, I think he would rather have a boyfriend." Which is completely and 100% fine, I just think it's sad that there are still so many people that are hateful out there that people feel like they have to hide their true selves.

Now I know that I hate dating for a fact (I was pretty sure that I did, but needed to confirm it) and Ashley leaves us both alone. All in all, I think dude and I totally win. Here's looking at you, kid.

Hello- it's me..... Coming from the frozen side.....

(Current mood: You've got to be effing kidding me).

I want a burrito and a bottle of wine.

We're eleven days into this new year (2016) and I have to say that I'm thoroughly unimpressed so far. I mean, nothing bad has happened (if you don't think my furnace going out the coldest night of this season so far is bad- I'll get to that in a minute) and it's been perfectly fine thus far, but basically any year that doesn't resurrect Heath Ledger and make him my boyfriend (we are extremely committed to each other, but neither of us likes the idea of "marriage") is pretty much a disappointment to me.

Things have been incredibly cold around these parts lately. If you're wondering what I mean by incredibly cold- it was seven degrees outside this morning when I ventured off to work. Seven. Like, single digit. And while that might not seem cold to some, like the states that are currently dealing with -28 degree temperatures, to me, it's effing cold. We have a few inches of snow and at least an inch if not more of ice below that. Oh, and our furnace went out Saturday night. Yes, instead of the chilly yet livable nights that it could have went out and been fixed before the ice storm, it chose Saturday. Which was about 10 degrees, so you know, fun for the whole family.

Luckily, I managed to figure out how to reset it to keep it semi-decent until this morning where it then crapped completely out and our house was about 35 degrees. I tried calling my landlords "emergency maintenance" line from Saturday until this morning and you'll be happy to learn that apparently "emergency maintenance" line means "we don't return phone calls and really mean nothing at all" lines. If you can't tell, they never returned my call. But after two fairly bitchy calls to my actual landlords office, they came and fixed our heat. And from what I hear, Tayder is very happy about it.

Other than that I really have no other news. We're all trying to avoid more snow and if you're like me then you're handling this all like "Winter Katie"- there's basically a whole lot of staying in the house, drinking wine, eating burritos and watching Netflix. Which coincidentally is just like "Spring/ Summer/ Fall Katie." Such a glamorous life that I lead. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to hit publish on this, go microwave a burrito and Momma and I are going to embark on the cinematic adventure that is- Magic Mike XXL. Because watching Channing Tatum dance is amazing (just check out him and his wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum on LSB- it's fantastic!!).

And also, two words- Joe. Manganiello.

Stay warm out there, folks!! 

Back to the ole salt mills today.

(Or something dramatic like that).

I just had 3 1/2 days off in a row and I'm not going to lie- it felt pretty damn good. Just a laid back weekend (with an extra 1 1/2 days that is) filled with nothing, but relaxation and food and family. And also cleaning, but that's hardly fun; it's more like a necessary bypass in life.

What did I do on my extra long weekend? Well, a whole lot of random things. Nothing big, nothing small, just basically whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I was a little down a couple of the days, this cold just doesn't seem to want to let go of me, but that's what cold meds and Netflix are for. Right?!

That's what I'm going with.

Solae stayed the weekend (she goes back to school tomorrow) and Momma and I stayed in and I watched alot of Netflix (don't worry, we also cleaned and went out into public with other human beings- against my will- but it's too damn cold to be traipsing around everywhere) and drank alot of wine and hot damn. And yes, I drank alcohol while taking my cold and allergy meds, because I'm a rebel and I like to live dangerously (insert Austin Powers pun here- and if you don't get that, we can't be friends).

And with that my friends, I bid you ado. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch my newest obsession (thanks Netflix)- Bates Motel.

Another three-day weekend is coming.

(And it just can't get here fast enough).

You ever have those moments to where you've slept, but you're still really tired? I'm currently there. I slept a little this past weekend, but trying to tell my body that is a whole other story within itself. The way I'm pulling it around today you would think that I hadn't slept in a week. Which was kind of true last week, but like I said, I slept this past weekend. Not overslept, but a little. Still not enough? Whatevs.

I'm currently trying to get ahold of our Landlord (well, we rent from a property group- so them), because as we speak there is a nice puddle forming in my kitchen from the leaky roof and baseboards..... which could have been handles in the dry/ hot months had they listened to me, but NOOO they had to wait until the cold/ wet months..... Ok, I'm gonna let it go. The anger, not the phone call, because it still needs fixed.

Today is the first day that it's really felt like Winter to me. I know that sounds dumb saying on December 25th, but it's the truth. Most of this month has been full of 60-70 degree days and has only been dipping low few and far between. There hasn't been a need for more than a sweatshirt, if even that.

But today? Oh, today.....

The heat was out when I got to work this morning (luckily, it was fixed with a quick change of filter), the temperature is somewhere in the 20-30 range and the wind is ridiculous. Plus, it's been raining for about three days straight, so everything is already icky.And don't get me wrong, we've totally lucked out so far, but it just all caught me kind of off guard. And it shouldn't have I know, but it did. And now I'll quit complaining about it.

This is another short week for me (New Years Day is Friday). Hopefully nothing like last week (with Momma being in the hospital and all), but no Friday for me this week. Danielle is (supposed to be) taking Thursday off, so I'm sure it will feel weird again. But she needs a day or two off and a four day weekend just might do her some good. I know a three-day weekend sounds pretty nice. Until then- it's Monday.

Christmas with the Crazies.

(My family is a little bit..... well insane.)

We tend to not follow the rules and get loopy at the drop of a hat. There's about five million of us. My Grammy and Grandpa had somewhere between 11-13 kids  (I don't really know for sure) and needless to say with that many kids, we have alot of cousins. While we have that many cousins, there are only a few of us that stay in touch and are close.

-Side note: I'm watching the movie- Winters Tale and it's so amazing. Seriously, if every guy could be and act and love like Peter Lake we would all be good. This movie is just heartbreaking and loving at the same time. I need to get this book.

Anyways, back to the whole Christmas/ Family thing. As you can see from the pictures above, we have our own special set of issues. And sadly, that's not even all of us in the pictures. There are plenty more that we just don't have around too much. Of course, I see Dani and Bonehead on a regular basis, because I work with them, but they spend the holidays with their closer extended family. I'm telling you guys, there are SO MANY of us.

But we love each other, even if it's in our own weird/ special way. We bicker and fight and argue, but we have each others back. Well, the majority of us have the others backs and the rest are just assholes. Don't get me wrong, we're all assholes, but we admit it and don't make any excuses for it. It's just us. And we're mostly proud of it. If people don't like us, then we usually tell them to go on somewhere.

So, here was what my Christmas looked like this year. It was filled with laughter, food, fun, love and selfies. You can blame the selfies on me, I got a "selfie stick" for Christmas and Ashley and I are pretty sure that it's one of the coolest things ever invented. We had way too much fun with it.

Sending lots of love from me and mine.